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The Power of Carnitine:
by Robert Crayhon, M.S. & Julie Kreloff, R.D.
What if there were one nutrient which could help you lose weight, increase energy,lower cholesterol, and promote heart health? Carnitine does all that and more. Carnitine offers all these benefits by promoting fat burning. Carnitine is the only nutrient that can transport fat to the part of the cell that burns it off: the mitochondria. If you can't get fat into the mitochondria, you can't burn it. So without carnitine, no fat burning can occur. Optimal carnitine levels, on the other hand, allow our body to burn fat at an optimal rate.
Carnitine is sometimes called an amino acid, but it is not. It is similar in structure to B vitamins, especially choline. However, carnitine is not a true vitamin because the body makes it in small amounts. Carnitine is also found in animal products, especially red meat. Unless you are eating pounds of red meat a day, however, you are probably not getting enough carnitine.
Signs of inadequate carnitine intake include:
Progressive Weight Gain
High Cholesterol and Triglycerides
Weak Heart Function
Lack of Mental Focus
Poor Immune Function
Benefits of Carnitine:
|Increases fat burning
Increases energy levels
Lowers cholesterol & triglycerides
Promotes health health
Gives you more energy to exercise & increases endurance & performance
Reduces food cravings
Promotes healthy circulation
Promoted liver health
Carnitine: The Most Important Nutrient to Promote Weight Loss
Increasing carnitine intake is the most natural way to support weight loss, because carnitine picks up fat and puts it in the part of the cell that burns it off without any side effects. Scientific evidence shows that increased levels of carnitine lead to increased fat burning. Carnitine also helps increase metabolic rate while maintaining levels of muscle tissue. This is crucial, because muscle tissue is where you do most of your fat burning. Carnitine is also useful for eliminating cravings and increasing the amount of energy you have to exercise, both of which are very helpful for those who need to lose weight.
Promoting Heart Health
Carnitine is one of the most important nutrients for promoting heart health. The heart derives 70% of its energy from fat, and fat cant be burned without carnitine. Carnitine has also been found helpful in the treatment of mitral valve prolapse, angina, cardiac arrhythmias, cardiomyopathy, and congestive heart failure. Carnitine is also one of the most important nutrients for lowering cholesterol and triglycerides.
Because carnitine plays a critical role in fat burning, carnitine is a great aid in promoting sports endurance. Fat is the #1 fuel our body uses in endurance sports, and research shows carnitine enhances aerobic performance, allowing athletes to exercise longer without fatigue. Carnitine also increases the peak running speed in athletes by 6%.7 Chronic Fatigue Carnitine is an effective treatment for the fatigue seen in a number of chronic neurologic diseases. Chronic fatigue patients given 3,000 mg of carnitine saw statistically significant clinical improvement in 12 of the 18 studied parameters after 8 weeks of treatment. Increases in energy, well-being, and other parameters occurred more markedly the longer patients took the carnitine.
How to Take Carnitine
Start by taking two 500 mg capsules of carnitine before or with breakfast. After one week the dose can be increased if more energy or weight loss are desired to two 500 mg capsules before both breakfast and lunch. Carnitine can also be taken in powder form, starting with to a teaspoon before breakfast. Increase your dose of carnitine gradually until you see the results you desire. Taking carnitine after 4:00 p.m. may make it harder to fall asleep at night, so take all carnitine ideally before 4:00 p.m. This is the only side-effect of taking too much carnitine: too much energy! Heart patients and those with serious illness should take carnitine with the supervision from their physician, as carnitine can reduce the need for heart-supporting medications. When will I start feeling the benefits of carnitine? You should begin to feel an increase in energy within the first few days. Weight loss results are usually seen within the first week. For sports endurance, it may take a week or more to see the benefits. Cholesterol and triglyceride lowering effects can take a month or longer. How do I know whether to take carnitine or acetyl-L-carnitine? For weight loss, lowering cholesterol, increasing energy, and sports endurance, carnitine (also called L-Carnitine) is the preferred form. For maximizing brain health, acetyl-L-carnitine is the ideal form. For those over forty, taking both is optimal. When possible, use the form of carnitine known as L-Carnitine-Tartrate, which has the maximum purity and is completely free of the biologically inert D-carnitine.
Should carnitine be taken with other nutrients? Combining carnitine with CoQ10 is always a good idea, as these nutrients work together in your cells. Taking carnitine along with chromium and zinc can be very helpful for weight loss. Magnesium, taurine, and vitamin E, EPA, as well as CoQ10 all help carnitine benefit the heart more effectively. Remember to treat all health problems with the guidance of a health care practitioner.
Check the number of bottles you want to order, then click "Add to Shopping Cart"
You may also call 800-690-9255 or 801-281-5507 to order
Rising Star Site Map
|DR RICHARD SCHULZE'S
|WEIGHT LOSS SUPPLEMENTS||CANDIDA PROGRAM||PRIMAL DEFENSE|
RISING STAR HOME PAGE | <urn:uuid:5d3b075e-9eac-47c9-95ad-e70b56e7fef3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://risingstarlc.com/carnitine.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92071 | 1,274 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Embrocation Basics: Part I
By: Michael J. Zerinskas
BALM Co. - www.balmco.com
With temperatures dipping below 50° here in Colorado, many cyclists and runners are left pondering days in the gym, hours on fluid trainers, and 8oz curls on the couch. With the right clothing choice and a healthy dose of embrocation, you can ditch those winter blues and be back out on your favorite routes no matter how low the temps go.
In this two-part series, courtesy of BALM Co., you will the basics of what an embrocation is, how to use it, and how to choose the right one for you.
PART I - What is Embro?
When athletes refer to embrocation they are generally talking about a cream or gel that is applied to the legs prior to activity. While not always the case, embrocation has a warming effect that ranges from stimulating to ‘holy habanero’.
Embrocation has four main uses:
Warming Sensation: Embrocation provides a varying degree of warmth to the applied area due to increased blood flow, as well as the reaction to the ingredients contained in it. Embrocations are typically rated with a usable range (ex: 45-60°); this is usually based on exposed skin. Knee and leg warmers can be worn over Embro to increase this usable range and further cut through cold and wind.
Increased Blood Flow: Embrocation improves blood flow to the area applied due to the ingredients contained in it, namely capsicum. The compound, which is found in peppers, stimulates nerve endings and directs blood to the area. While your body’s initial reaction to cold weather is to draw blood away from the limbs, embro redirects this process. Increased blood flow allows for faster warm up, increased oxygenation, and the potential for higher power output.
Pre-Activity Massage: When athletes’ muscles are used (and abused) everyday, they build up stores of lactic acid within them. While a post-workout massage works wonders to flush the muscles of built up acid, some always remains. By working an embrocation into the skin pre-activity, you increase the blood flow available to the area, which in turn flushes this leftover acid from the muscles. A pre-activity massage also stretches the muscle, preparing it for exercise. Five to six minutes is all you really need; a cheap investment for your upcoming workout.
Protection From the Elements: By adding a thermal layer to the skin, the skin is isolated from the wind and elements around it. Some embrocations use a visible, thick layer on the skin to achieve this, while others have active ingredients that create a thin layer you can barely feel. | <urn:uuid:88b7c5a6-2272-444f-ad96-7045a87a3e43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://303cycling.com/Embrocation-Basics-Part-I | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928124 | 579 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Ben Franklin is not only a forefather of our nation, but also a printing icon for us. We love him, our first press is named after him, and we’re proud to pass on this tradition of the “black arts”
Benjamin Franklin was born in Boston on January 17, 1706. He was the tenth son of soap and candle maker, Josiah Franklin. Young Benjamin loved to read and at an early age apprenticed to his brother James, who was a printer. After helping James compose pamphlets and set type which was grueling work, 12-year-old Benjamin would sell their products in the streets.
When Benjamin was 15 his brother started The New England Courant the first “newspaper” in Boston. James’s paper carried articles, opinion pieces written by James’s friends, advertisements, and news of ship schedules. Benjamin wanted to write for the paper too, but he knew that James would never let him. So, Ben began writing letters at night and signing them with the name of a fictional widow, Silence Dogood. Ben would sneak the letters under the print shop door at night so no one knew who was writing the pieces. They were a smash hit, after 16 letters, Ben confessed that he had been writing the letters all along.
Ben ran away to New York and ultimately ended up in London, England finding work as an apprentice printer after a fall out with James in 1723. In 1726 Ben returned to Philadelphia and set himself up in the printing business. Ben’s work ethic combined with his exception skills as a printer won him government contracts for government jobs, quickly leading to a thriving business. It was also the year he developed a plan of thirteen virtues to cultivate his character and continued the practice for the rest of his life. Franklin didn’t try to work on them all at once. Instead, he would work on one and only one each week “leaving all others to their ordinary chance”. While Franklin didn’t live completely by his virtues and by his own admission, he fell short of them many times, he believed the attempt made him a better man. His autobiography lists his thirteen virtues as:
- “TEMPERANCE. Eat not to dullness; drink not to elevation.”
- “SILENCE. Speak not but what may benefit others or yourself; avoid trifling conversation.”
- “ORDER. Let all your things have their places; let each part of your business have its time.”
- “RESOLUTION. Resolve to perform what you ought; perform without fail what you resolve.”
- “FRUGALITY. Make no expense but to do good to others or yourself; i.e., waste nothing.”
- “INDUSTRY. Lose no time; be always employed in something useful; cut off all unnecessary actions.”
- “SINCERITY. Use no hurtful deceit; think innocently and justly, and, if you speak, speak accordingly.”
- “JUSTICE. Wrong none by doing injuries, or omitting the benefits that are your duty.”
- “MODERATION. Avoid extremes; forbear resenting injuries so much as you think they deserve.”
- “CLEANLINESS. Tolerate no uncleanliness in body, clothes, or habitation.”
- “TRANQUILITY. Be not disturbed at trifles, or at accidents common or unavoidable.”
- “CHASTITY. Rarely use venery but for health or offspring, never to dullness, weakness, or the injury of your own or another’s peace or reputation.”
- “HUMILITY. Imitate Jesus and Socrates.”
Ben bought the Pennsylvania Gazette in 1729, which he printed and also contributed pieces to under aliases. Franklin launched the Library Company in 1731, the nation’s first subscription library. In 1733 he started publishing Poor Richard’s Almanac. Franklin published his almanac under the guise of a man named Richard Saunders, a poor man who needed money to take care of his nagging wife. Many of the famous phrases associated with Franklin, such as, “A penny saved is a penny earned” come from Poor Richard. In 1736, he organized Philadelphia’s Union Fire Company, the first in the city. His famous saying, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure,” was actually fire-fighting advice. He helped to start the American Philosophical Society in 1743, the first learned society in America, an achievement to be followed by the organization of the Pennsylvania Hospital in 1751.
By 1749 he retired from business and started concentrating on science, experiments, and inventions. Among Franklin’s inventions are swim fins, the glass armonica (a musical instrument), the Franklin stove, and bifocals. In the early 1750′s he turned to the study of electricity. His observations, including his kite experiment which verified the nature of electricity and lightning brought Franklin international fame.
Franklin was elected to the Second Continental Congress and worked on a committee of five that helped to draft the Declaration of Independence. Though much of the writing is Thomas Jefferson’s, much of the contribution is Franklin’s. In 1776 Franklin signed the Declaration, and afterward sailed to France as an ambassador to the Court of Louis XVI. In part via Franklin’s popularity, the government of France signed a Treaty of Alliance with the Americans in 1778. Franklin also helped secure loans and persuade the French they were doing the right thing. Franklin was on hand to sign the Treaty of Paris in 1783, after the Americans had won the Revolution.
Now a man in his late seventies, Franklin returned to America. He became President of the Executive Council of Pennsylvania. He served as a delegate to the Constitutional Convention and signed the Constitution. One of his last public acts was writing an anti-slavery treatise in 1789. Franklin died on April 17, 1790 at the age of 84. | <urn:uuid:e0393d9d-0d1a-4f97-b232-40ea2a5fb24e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://paisleydogpress.com/about/ben-franklin/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976693 | 1,293 | 3.328125 | 3 |
At the United Nations on Tuesday, President Obama put it as clearly and well: Freedom isn’t just an American or Western value – it’s a universal value.
That’s the right response to the insanity that’s been raging through the Islamic world since a vulgar anti-Muslim video gave jihadists another opening to whip up anti-American anger.
The video was merely pretext. If it weren’t that, it would have been something else. The same rage has erupted time after time over cartoons and other insults to Muhammad or Islam. The spectacle is getting very, very old.
The Islamists’ dirty little secret is that their own clerics and other leaders have themselves been disseminating the attacks on Islam – by broadcasting them, posting them online, advertising them and otherwise amplifying them.
In fact, nearly all of the casualties – beyond the U.S. ambassador to Libya and several others – have been Muslims. On Friday alone, in Pakistan alone, anti-blasphemy riots left 19 dead and 160 injured. You would think that people with such self-proclaimed devotion to Islam would show more concern for common believers.
This is ultimately a power play. The murderous rampages intimidate the extremists’ political and religious opponents.
Those opponents are numerous, as evidenced by the backlash and the condemnations of fanaticism, in Libya, Egypt, Syria and elsewhere. Unfortunately, a faction willing to mob and threaten its political adversaries is often able to dominate a government and seize control of a country, as witness the Nazis who deployed brown-shirted street-brawlers to do just that in Germany.
This latest wave of violence has stampeded some normally reasonable Muslim leaders into calling for tougher anti-blasphemy measures – not just in their own countries, but throughout the world. Pakistani Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and others have begun pushing for the United Nations to ban attacks on religion.
Somehow, attacks on Christianity, Buddhism or Hinduism never seem to elicit the same level of concern. Efforts to outlaw blasphemy usually have the same subtext: My religion gets protected; yours doesn’t.
Talk about a U.N. policy demands pushback, which is what made Obama’s forceful comments about free speech so welcome.
Freedom of belief and speech are not accidents of Western culture; they belong to the entire human race.
Europe and the Americas learned the value of tolerance and unrestricted religious (or anti-religious) expression the hard way, through millennia of persecutions, crusades and executions of heretics.
What the blasphemy-banners want doesn’t work. Government controls on belief or unbelief beget unending rounds of repression, mutual fear and sectarian violence. This is one thing the West has gotten absolutely right. The values of freedom shouldn’t merely be defended; they should be asserted. | <urn:uuid:028f42e7-6788-44d8-aae3-e6cda001afa6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bellinghamherald.com/2012/09/27/2707543/a-united-nations-anti-blasphemy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944988 | 592 | 2.171875 | 2 |
05.What's your donation worth?
A large majority of respondents to CHOICE’s survey believe that over 80% of their donation should reach the cause, after expenses. But only 53% of donors believe this actually happens.
There's a wide variation in the effectiveness of different charities' fundraising efforts. A few years ago, one charity was found to have given less than 10% of money raised at an event to its cause or beneficiary, after all the costs were taken into account.
On the other hand, we also found examples where close to 100% of the donation does reach the cause, often because the charity’s fundraising costs are being subsidised by another part of its operations or business (see Donating effectively).
Research company Givewell estimates the average fundraising cost ratio at 19%, while the Australian Council for International Development (ACFID) says its members spend about 10% on fundraising plus a similar amount on costs like administration (and a further chunk of the money sent overseas may be used for costs there).
As a donor, you want to know where your favoured charity is placed in this wide range, but finding out isn’t easy.
Some charities, particularly the large ones we surveyed, make their annual reports and accounts publicly available, but many are less transparent. An analysis published in November 2007 by Givewell found that only 54% of the 448 charities it surveyed disclosed their fundraising costs.
Charities must comply with state legislation and complete statutory returns to regulators. The rules and requirements for charities in each state differ. Some have rules for fundraising cost ratios.
- In NSW, for example, the maximum is 40%.
- In Victoria registered fundraisers who donate less than 50% of proceeds to nominated beneficiaries may be subject to additional conditions or be asked to demonstrate how the fundraising is in the public interest.
- In WA, the costs must be 'fair and reasonable'.
Ratios are published on the Consumer Affairs Victoria (CAV) website, but the figures relate to Victoria only, so won’t match the figures a national charity publishes.
According to CAV, fundraisers must report their revenue from appeals in Victoria during the previous twelve months, and the money that was actually distributed to beneficiaries, to aid disclosure and transparency for donors.
But several charities we contacted said their costs are much lower than what might be suggested by the CAV site. They gave plausible reasons for what appeared to be high cost ratios. For example, some money may have been held back for project costs in future years, or the figures only relate to particular fundraising appeals in Victoria. One charity said there was a mistake in its figures on the CAV site, which was subsequently corrected.
The problem is, reasons of this kind aren’t apparent to donors seeking information, so you’d have to ask questions, like we did. The problem is exacerbated by the different figures that are available from different sources, which cover different jurisdictions, different expenses and even different years. | <urn:uuid:24cb77f0-baf9-4616-a980-bcde9b4a7c7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.choice.com.au/reviews-and-tests/money/investing/advice/charities/page/whats%20your%20donation%20worth.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963652 | 613 | 2.0625 | 2 |
The National Security Council is the main forum for collective discussion of the Government’s objectives for national security and about how best to deliver them in the current financial climate.
The Government's aim is to reduce the risk from emergencies so people can go about their business freely and confidently
The Cabinet Office advises on the Government’s response to cross-cutting strategic issues relating to intelligence.
Supports the National Security Council, advises officials and coordinates Government policy on foreign and defence issues
A detailed overview of the membership of the National Security Council
Cyber Security is one of the Government's top four national security priorities.
Latest resources on national security
View all resources | <urn:uuid:997357c4-242c-47c2-bfaa-361a127d5dee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://webarchive.nationalarchives.gov.uk/20120202094425/http:/www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/national-security | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915468 | 135 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Ron Arel, Coastal Images
The Lady Washington has dropped anchor in Newport Beach; she'll be there through Wednesday, Jan. 11.
FULL-SCALE REPRODUCTION: It's not often that those words come together in the modern age, given the fact that mass production means making things smaller, cheaper, and faster. And when you're building a point-by-point copy of an 18th-century sailing vessel? Well, that takes time and money and dedication and research. And it takes the kind of hearty crew that brought the Washington-based Lady Washington to life again back in the late '80s. It's a pretty famous ship, and certainly a staple of various tall ships festivals, and it just happened to have cameoed in "Pirates of the Caribbean: Curse of the Black Pearl" (Lady Washington starred as the HMS Interceptor). Mighty big deal, that. So, is your imagination properly stoked? Good. Then make for Newport Beach, where the ship has dropped anchor. It's in port through Wednesday, Jan. 11.
WASHINGTON WHIMSY: Sure, merely admiring the majestic vessel is treat enough, but there will be a pair of three-hour Battle Sails with the Hawaiian Chieftain over the Saturday, Jan. 7 and Sunday, Jan. 8 weekend. "(C)lose-quarters naval-style maneuvers" are promised. How often do you have crack to witness those on a daily basis? From the deck of a movie-pretty ship? And wait for it: Guests are invited to "verbally taunt adversaries." Say no more. Sold. Tickets and information and background of both the Chieftain and the Lady Washington can be found here. Ocean ho! (Wait, that's a phrase, right? Kind of? Like "land, ho" but water-facing? Sigh. Off to the ship we go, to be schooled.) | <urn:uuid:cc957b34-58f5-4ccf-9ecb-04c92d3dc554> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcsandiego.com/blogs/worth-the-trip/Verbally-Taunting-Adversaries-136679998.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945801 | 392 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Are Songwriters Prepared to Recapture Ownership?
After recent discussions with successful songwriters and industry veterans, I realized that many songwriters are unaware of their termination rights (also referred to as “recapture rights”) under the Copyright Act. A termination right simply means that you get a second chance to take back your copyright after an original transfer. Termination provisions provide songwriters and other copyright authors with a long-term insurance policy on the value of their copyrights. Congress has stated that these types of rights are needed because of the unequal bargaining position of songwriters, resulting in part from the impossibility of determining a song’s value until it has been exploited.
Bart Herbison, executive director of the Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI), confirms that many songwriters remain unaware of this extraordinary right despite NSAI’s eight year long information campaign. And if you are talking about songs transferred after 1978, songwriters/composers only have one opportunity to exercise the right. Herbison says that even among songwriters who are aware of the recapture concept, many are putting off the process and may eventually find they waited too long. “If you have a song from 1978 and are interested in recapturing the copyright, you better begin the process immediately,” Herbison advised. “The same advice applies to songs from 1979-1985 for which the window to submit notices is open.”
The intricacies of the termination provisions – detailed in Sections 304(c), 304(d) and 203 of the Copyright Act – are fairly complicated. The primary analysis of recapture rights depends on whether or not the transfer occurred before or after 1978. This article focuses on rights transferred after 1978 because those rights are more germane to the problems songwriters will face in the next few years. For the majority of songs transferred after 1978, songwriters, or their heirs, have the opportunity to reclaim the songs 35 years from the date of transfer.
Although the procedure and qualifications for termination often turn on factual and legal distinctions, the concept of termination is fairly easy to explain. Consider the following: Suzie Songwriter independently writes and publishes a song called “Reagan’s Bacon” in 1979. The term of copyright in “Reagan’s Bacon” is the life of Suzie plus 70 years, although Suzie is free to transfer her rights. In 1980, Pablo Publishing Company offers Suzie a one-time payment of $5,000 to transfer all the rights to “Reagan’s Bacon” for a period of 50 years. Suzie agrees and executes a written transfer. Because the contract is for 50 years, Suzie believes that the copyright will revert back to her or her heirs in 2030.
Suzie, however, will be glad to know that she can terminate the transfer beginning in 2015 under the Copyright Act; it doesn’t matter that the contract says 50 years. As long as Suzie doesn’t enter into any subsequent contracts or renewal agreements and she follows the termination procedures, she will be able to reclaim “Reagan’s Bacon” in a few years.
This concept might be hard for some people to wrap their head around, but it’s the law. Again, it doesn’t matter that Suzie contracted for a period of 50 years. Normally, you can contract with someone for a period of 50 years. In our case, however, the 50-year term is in direct conflict with the Copyright Act’s 35-year termination right. Contracts are governed by state law, but state contract law cannot provide the basis of a decision when it conflicts with federal law, as it does when Suzie asserts her termination right.
Suzie’s termination right is not automatic, though. She will have to affirmatively assert this right and follow the procedure laid out in the Copyright Act. Termination rights are put into motion by serving notice on the grantee (the copyright owner). Suzie’s termination may be effected at any time during the period of 5 years beginning at the end of 35 years from date of execution of the grant, which is between 2015-2020. The advanced notice of the termination must state the effective date of the termination and must be served on the grantee not less than two, and not more than ten, years before that date. Therefore, Suzie’s earliest available advance notice period began in 2005 and ends in 2013. Her latest available advance notice period is between 2010 and 2018. That’s right around the corner Susie (take note that there is a certain time window that Suzie must serve notice to Pablo Publishing or she will lose her right). Also, the Copyright Act, through regulations, has set additional elements that must be included in the notice. A failure to follow the exact procedures could result in a loss of rights.
I should point out that oral agreements, agreements of unspecified duration, agreements made before 1978, agreements which specify terms for less than 35 years, and grants that cover “the right of publication” will be treated differently under the Copyright Act. Additionally, works created under an employment arrangement, which are called “works made for hire,” are not subject to termination. Also, the law gets tricky when there is more than one author or when an author is dead.
The immediacy of recapture rights for certain songwriters cannot be overstated and beginning in 2013, there is likely to be a slew of litigation in federal court regarding termination rights under the Copyright Act. While the topic of termination rights can put anyone to sleep, songwriters and other copyright authors should wake up. Uncle Sam has given you a gift to reclaim your copyright, no matter what your contract says. If you transferred your copyright, don’t hit the snooze button and sleep past your termination period.
Howell O’Rear is a lawyer at McInteer & O’Rear PLC, which is based in Nashville. His practice focuses on litigating business disputes, including copyright, trademark and Internet matters. Howell’s recent experience includes litigating copyright infringement claims and issues specific to digital music rights. Howell earned his law degree from the University of Virginia School of Law. He can be reached at email@example.com or at the company website, www.mcolawfirm.com.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute legal advice – it is only background discussion about copyright issues. The author strongly recommends contacting a lawyer with questions or concerns. | <urn:uuid:2c6067a5-c9c7-42ac-9edf-9ca05675a034> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americansongwriter.com/2010/04/legal-corner-are-songwriters-prepared-to-recapture-ownership/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956015 | 1,356 | 1.984375 | 2 |
The Science of Language
- Adobe eBook Reader
Noam Chomsky is one of the most influential thinkers of our time, yet his views are often misunderstood. In this previously unpublished series of interviews, Chomsky discusses his iconoclastic and important ideas concerning language, human nature and politics. In dialogue with James McGilvray, Professor of Philosophy at McGill University, Chomsky takes up a wide variety of topics – the nature of language, the philosophies of language and mind, morality and universality, science and common sense, and the evolution of language. McGilvray's extensive commentary helps make this incisive set of interviews accessible to a variety of readers. The volume is essential reading for those involved in the study of language and mind, as well as anyone with an interest in Chomsky's ideas. | <urn:uuid:c581104e-93a3-4bf6-82c7-28785419dc44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cambridge.org/us/knowledge/isbn/item6893230/?site_locale=en_US | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927846 | 159 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Week Thirteen- Money Matters
by Faith Andrews Bedford
Forty years ago on a hot August day I first experienced what it must be like to be wealthy. Mother needed milk, so I volunteered to ride my bike to town and fetch some.
I passed the school, its swings still and silent. In a little more than a month, I would be entering the sixth grade. As I came to the edge of town, I pedaled faster. I’d been saving up to buy the little horses in Mrs. Bridges’s toy shop window and was eager to see if they were still there. I had only $4.25 left to save until they would be mine.
Ahead was the toy store and there, in the window, was the little horse family: a black stallion; a palomino mare, bent down as if to graze; and their little foal. I had long imagined how the trio would look on my bureau top; I would cut fresh grass every day and arrange it beneath the mare’s muzzle.
Still dreaming of the horses, I nearly stepped on a lump of paper. I bent down and realized it was a roll of money. I picked it up. It must be hundreds, I thought, millions! I raced around the corner toward the grocery store, almost knocking over our neighbor Mr. Peabody.
“Look what I just found!” I said, waving the roll wildly in the air.
“Well, well, well,” Mr. Peabody said. “That’s quite a find. But you need to be more careful with that bike, young lady,” he scowled with mock ferocity.
“Yes, sir,” I said breathlessly and pushed on, a little more slowly. I leaned my bike against a tree and dashed into the store. The coldness of the milk bottle felt good against my skin as I fidgeted in the checkout line. Pushing my bike back toward the toy store, I returned to the magic spot where I’d found the money. The street was still empty.
I burst into the toyshop. The little bell on the shop’s door clanged wildly. “Goodness, Faith!” Mrs. Bridges gasped, her hand flying to her throat. “Whatever is the matter?”
“Nothing.” I grinned, waving the roll of bills gaily. “I’ve come to buy the little horses. I’m sure there’s enough here.”
“My, my. There certainly does seem to be. Let’s count it.”
Mrs. Bridges carefully counted out three tens and an endless number of ones.
“You’ve got forty-seven dollars here, dear,” she said with surprise. “Last week you told me you had eight saved up.”
“Yes,” I said. “But now I’m rich!”
Mrs. Bridges smiled, retrieved the little horses from the window, and put them in a bag. I took it and ran out the door shouting a thank-you over my shoulder.
The milk bottle rattled in my bike basket as I raced home. I dashed through the kitchen door just in time to find Mother hanging up the phone.
“Mother, I found a whole bunch of money!” I shouted, hugging her excitedly.
“I know,” she said softly.
“You do? How?”
“That was Mr. Peabody on the phone. He told me he’d bumped into you in the village. Literally.” I could feel my face redden as I recalled nearly toppling him.
“He told me about your having found the money. Then he told me he met the lady who lost it.”
The heat of the day disappeared as a chill descended upon me.
“No,” I whispered, tears welling up in my eyes. “It’s mine.”
“Faith, Faith,” Mother said as she drew me close. “Mr. Peabody said that when he came out of the bank, he saw a mother with her little boy frantically searching the sidewalk in front of the electric company. When he asked her if she’d lost something, she said that she’d put the money to pay her electric bill in one pocket and her grocery money in the other. When she went in to pay her bill, the money was gone. The clerk told her they would cut off her electricity if she couldn’t pay. She was desperate, Mr. Peabody said. It was a good thing he saw her.”
“No, it wasn’t,” I cried as I buried my face in Mother’s shoulder.
“There, there,” she said, patting me gently. “You need to hush now. The lady will be here soon. Mr. Peabody told her where we live.”
“But I found it,” I shouted, pulling away from Mother’s embrace. “Finders, keepers.”
Mother just looked at me.
“And besides,” I sobbed, clutching the paper sack tightly, “I bought the little horses with some of that money.”
“Well,” Mother said quietly, stroking my hair, “I guess you’ll have to take them back.”
I sniffed and reluctantly realized that she was right. The money had never been mine. Not really. I knew I had done nothing to earn it. The pleasure of owning the little horses was beginning to dim. The sack grew heavy in my hands.
A few minutes later I heard a soft knock at the door. A woman’s voice said, “Are you Mrs. Andrews? I think your daughter may have found the money I lost.” I peeked around the corner.
“You have the right house,” Mother replied. “Come in. You’ve had a long walk. Won’t you have some lemonade?” The woman nodded. Her thin dress clung to her in the heat. One hand held a bag of groceries and the other rested on the shoulder of a skinny little boy. I had stood behind them in line at the grocery store.
Mother saw me. “This is Faith,” she said, motioning me forward. “She’s the one who found your money.”
“In front of the electric company?” the woman asked. I nodded.
“Yes,” I said slowly, handing her the rest of her money, plus the eight dollars from my piggy bank. Relief spread across her pale face like sunshine after a rain.
“Oh, thank you,” she said. “I was so frightened. I just didn’t know where I was going to come up with the money to pay our bill.”
“It’s not all there,” I mumbled in embarrassment.
“Excuse me?” she said, not quite catching my words.
“I spent some,” I said, hanging my head.
“Oh,” she laughed. “I’d planned to give you a five-dollar reward for finding my money and keeping it safe for me. Did you spend that much?”
I shook my head. “No, ma’am, I didn’t. I only spent $4.25.”
“Then here,” she said, dropping three quarters into my open hand. “Here’s the rest of your reward.”
Mother and the lady sat in the parlor sipping lemonade and talking while I showed her son how to play Chinese checkers. Then I heard the lady say, “William will be in first grade this year.”
“You will?” I asked him. He moved one of his marbles into place and nodded shyly. He looked both proud and scared.
“Here,” I said, pressing one of my reward quarters into his hand. “You’ll need some colored pencils.” I felt at once wise and magnanimous. After all, I’d been wealthy for a moment.
The day had begun to cool by the time William and his mother left for home. I stood in our front yard and watched them turn down the lane. Then I began to pick a bit of fresh grass for my little horses.
Just before they turned the corner, I heard William call out a good-bye and thank-you. One hand was held in his mother’s, but he waved the other in farewell. It was still clasped around his quarter. I could tell he didn’t trust pockets.
Many of us dream, at one time or another, of suddenly acquiring great wealth—whether it’s finding forty-seven dollars in the street or winning the lottery—that will transform our existence into endless bliss. Before you invest too much time in those fanciful thoughts, though, you might want to take a look at your Bible.
Jesus had more to say in Scripture about money and possessions than any other subject. He made it clear that there is a direct relationship between our spiritual lives and our attitude about money. Though many of us see our faith and our finances as important but unrelated aspects of life, the Lord views them as inseparable. He knows that when our hearts are wrapped up in accumulating wealth and material goods, we can’t enjoy intimacy with Him.
Do you want your children to end up with treasure on earth or treasure in heaven? We’ll take a closer look at these money matters in the days ahead.
- James C Dobson
“Finders, Keepers” by Faith Andrews Bedford. From Country Living. © 1996. Faith Andrews Bedford is a freelance writer living in Tampa, Florida. Used by permission of the author.
This devotional is taken from Night Light for Parents. Copyright © 2000 by James Dobson, Inc. All rights reserved. Used with permission. | <urn:uuid:4575c978-9c08-40d0-b365-226a43af1f1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/family-talk/read/devotionals/daily-devotions-for-parents-by-dr-james-dobson/dr-dobsons-parenting-devotional-dec-18-11661985.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976054 | 2,203 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Longitudes and Attitudes: Exploring the World after September 11
by Thomas L. Friedman
Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 383 pp., $26.00
Being America: Liberty, Commerce, and Violence in an American World
by Jedediah Purdy
Knopf, 337 pp., $24.00
The debate on the war with Iraq has become a global referendum on American power. The Bush administration wanted to call the attention of the world to the dangers posed by Saddam Hussein’s defiance of UN resolutions only to discover that the world was far more worried about the dangers posed by American use of force. The US threat to use force made inspections work in the first place, but now that inspections are finally yielding tangible results, most of the Security Council wants them to continue. Peaceful disarmament of the regime is only possible if a credible threat of force remains in place. But since the French, Russians, Germans, and Chinese are reluctant to authorize force, Saddam may believe that he can cheat even more intrusive inspections and get away with it. Unless, that is, he is certain the Americans and British would act unilaterally, without UN approval. So if they genuinely want disarmament and not regime change, there may be some logic in the American and British threat to use force unilaterally, since this is the threat that makes inspections work. But that logic has not won over the Council or the world. Nobody but the British and American governments think it is worth going to war over this issue, either now or in the future. The great coalition created by September 11 has collapsed.
The administration must now be hoping that American success in battle will reduce its critics to impotent silence. In a war on terror, however, the key battle is for opinion. The aim is to drain the pool of angry young people willing to die to avenge the humiliations they believe are inflicted by American power. If reducing this pool is a vital strategic goal, winning on the battlefield alone may produce only a Pyrrhic victory. In one battlefield of ideas—Europe—the war of opinion has already been lost. Even if America retains the political support of key leaders, like Jose Maria Aznar of Spain and Britain’s Tony Blair, together with the leaders of emerging democracies like Bulgaria, the electorates of these societies are convinced that America, and not its enemies, poses the chief risk to world peace. In Europe, moreover, there are not only disillusioned local populations that have become anti-American. The mosques contain more than a few willing young Muslim recruits for terror.
The battle for opinion in the Arab and Muslim worlds is in the same worrying state. When American writers and journalists venture out into these worlds—as Thomas Friedman and Jedediah Purdy have done—they return with alarming tales of disenchantment among former friends of America, together with fury among its enemies.
Ever since his award-winning 1989 book From Beirut to Jerusalem, The New York Times‘s foreign affairs columnist, Thomas Friedman, has been the single most influential editorial voice shaping American attitudes toward the Arab world. Corny, sentimental, folksy, he comes on like the beer drinker on the next stool at the bar, with an … | <urn:uuid:6d092352-98eb-4435-a127-8eca6690915b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nybooks.com/articles/archives/2003/apr/10/americans-abroad/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94817 | 660 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Growth Hormones Not Fountain of Youth
Treatment Offers Few Benefits but Definite Risks
Jan. 16, 2007 -- Older Americans taking shots of human growth hormone in an
effort to turn back the clock will likely be disappointed.
As an antiaging treatment, the hormones appear to offer few benefits but
significant health risks, a review of the research finds.
Stanford University researchers came to this conclusion after analyzing 31
studies that included a total of more than 500 relatively healthy elderly
The only clearly positive effect found from taking the hormones was a slight
improvement in lean body mass.
On the negative side, participants who took human growth hormones were
significantly more likely to develop joint swelling and pain, and carpal tunnel
There was also a suggestion of an increased risk of diabetes and prediabetes, but that association
did not reach statistical significance.
Authors of the review say better studies are needed to understand the risks
and benefits of human growth hormone as an antiaging treatment.
But they say studies do not support the use of human growth hormones for
"If the benefits truly are minimal, and the risks are not, this is not a
therapy that should be used for antiaging purposes," Hau Liu, MD, MBA, MPH
Use Growing Among Elderly
Growth hormone is naturally produced in the pituitary gland at the base of
the brain, but its levels decline with age.
Promoters of synthetic growth hormone as an antiaging treatment claim the
hormones can do everything from firm sagging skin to boost a sagging
According to government figures, between 25,000 and 30,000 Americans used
growth hormones for aging purposes in 2004. That is a tenfold
increase in about a decade, Thomas T. Perls, MD, tells WebMD.
"The cost of this treatment can be $12,000 a year or more, but even if
you take the cost out of the equation, there is still a huge potential for
causing harm," Perls says. "The people promoting this stuff have
absolutely no idea what the long-term health effects are."
Because human growth hormone has not been approved for use as an antiaging
treatment by federal regulators, Perls argues that doctors who prescribe it for
this purpose are breaking the law.
He first made that charge in a report published in The Journal of the
American Medical Association in late 2005.
Perls' report prompted Liu and colleagues to conduct their review of the
research on human growth hormone as an antiaging treatment.
No Fountain of Youth
The researchers limited their review to randomized, controlled clinical
trials that included relatively healthy elderly people.
The participants used growth hormone for an average of about six months.
While growth hormone did appear to increase lean muscle mass and reduce body
fat by an average of just over 4 pounds, it did not appear to have an effect on
other measures of fitness, including bone
density, cholesterol, and lipid levels.
"From our review, there's not data to suggest that growth hormone
prolongs life, and none of the studies make that claim," Liu says.
Liu tells WebMD he was surprised to find so little research has been done on
the use of growth hormones in the elderly population -- especially since so
many claims have been made about the treatment's benefits.
But he says he understands why people believe the hype.
"Elderly people today are very health conscious and they are trying to
do all they can to take care of themselves," Liu says. "But our
conclusion is that growth hormone does not represent a magic bullet or the
fountain of youth." | <urn:uuid:3d403d2e-3c70-49a6-b892-6a4c9a805a6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.webmd.com/healthy-aging/news/20070116/growth-hormones-not-fountain-youth?src=rsf_full-2951_pub_none_rltd | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946797 | 768 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Early Days in the NYPL Patents CollectionFor about a decade now it has been feasible to conduct prior art research for a U. S. Patent entirely online using free search tools available on the USPTO website. Although the availability of patent research resources online has not diminished the challenges of prior art searching, it has certainly made the activity more convenient.
For some patent research projects, however, available online tools may not be the best or easiest resources to employ. So, for those contingencies, as well as in recognition of our very important and valuable collections of patent resources here at NYPL, we're posting this revised guide to our collections of historical U.S. Patent text, indexes and finding aids in print, microform and electronic formats, as well as other patent resources.
If you are not in the New York City area, you may want to visit the USPTO's Patent and Trademark Resource Centers Program pages for more information on Patent Resource Centers in your area. The PTRCP gives information on the libraries around the United States that collect patents and trademarks. To locate the PTRC nearest you, use the Linked List by State to Libraries.
Patent Indexes and Finding Aids in Print and Microform
Other topics in this guide:
The Official Gazette of the US Patent and Trademark Office: Patents
This weekly publication lists all the patents registered in a given week, arranged by patent number, providing bibliographic information — title, inventor name(s), assignee — a representative drawing, and an exemplary claim describing what the invention does. It lists the week's notices concerning regulations, reexaminations, and expirations, and it provides an alphabetical index of that week's inventors and assignees and a list of patent numbers by class/subclass.
SIBL has print and microfilm of the Official Gazette from 1872 to its final distribution in paper format on February 22, 2005.
Index of Patents
SIBL has this annual from 1872 to the final print issue in 2002. This title has been published under various names such as Annual Report of the Commissioner of Patents and General Index of the Official Gazette. The Index to Patents lists patents by inventor and assignee name and by general subject. It provides the patent number, registration date, and the volume and page number where it can be found in the Official Gazette.
This one volume index is the specially prepared companion to the microfilm copies of the U.S.'s early, unnumbered patents (i.e., those that were issued from 1790 to 1836). It lists these earliest patents by patent class, then alphabetically by invention title and by issue date. These lists give the specific microfilm reel number where the full text, specifications, and drawings are located.
This three volume set lists all patents granted from 1790 to 1873 alphabetically by the subject of the patent. It gives inventor's names, their residences, the registration date, and the patent number for those granted after 1836. There is no listing by inventor name or registration date in this set.
These volumes include reprinted copies of the annual reports prepared by the Commissioner of Patents from 1790 to 1847. The information in them varies, but generally includes lists of the patents arranged alphabetically by subject of the patent or chronologically by issue date. The Early Unnumbered United States Patents,1790 to 1836 and Index of Patents: 1790 to 1873 (described above) present all the bibliographic information included in these four separate volumes, but in a much more useful format.
Produced by the National Association of Plant Patent Owners, this source indexes all plant patents granted from the beginning of the series in 1931 to 1993. It indexes plant patents by plant patent number, plant species, plant denomination, originator (inventor), and assignee.
U.S. Patents - Text and Images
Other topics in this guide:
Copies of patents, patent applications, and many other patent-related filings are available on the USPTO web site. Patent searching can be done directly on the USPTO's web site. Full text and images are available for patents from 1976 to the most recent Tuesday. Images, current classification numbers and patent numbers only are available for patents from 1790 to 1975. The USPTO's web page offers excellent information on all aspects of patents, including fee schedules, online versions of their most popular brochures, forms, and background information on patents.
In addition, U.S. patents are available from the European Patent Office's Espacenet website, and from Google Patents as well as various other free and fee-based online resources.
The full text and images of US patents from 1790 through 2011 in different formats are available from SIBL as follows:
Search our Catalog for More Books about Patents!
Other Patent Resources
Other topics in this guide:
This manual is produced by the US Patent and Trademark Office and details all of the procedures used by patent examiners when dealing with a patent application. It is a good source for precise requirements of a patent application. Now online, earlier versions are available at SIBL - speak to a librarian or search our catalog to find them.
Provides information in non-technical language concerning patent laws and applying for a patent.
A list by state, name, and address of practitioners authorized to practice before the USPTO.
Includes information and ordering instructions for products and services available from the USPTO's Information Dissemination Organizations.
This quarterly law reporter covers cases relating to patents, trademarks, and copyrights. It arrives in weekly advance sheets and cumulates quarterly. Additionally, it has annual and cumulative digests. | <urn:uuid:04fedaed-fdba-4c5b-af71-87ba103177cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nypl.org/blog/2012/08/16/us-patent-information-guide-nypl-collections | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91205 | 1,181 | 2.09375 | 2 |
- THE MAGAZINE
The many analytical instruments available today for obtaining information about materials properties and characteristics are as diverse as the materials used and the applications for ceramics themselves. The latest advances in instrumentation allow the observation and measurement of smaller features, achieve better detection limits and determine more accurate chemical and structural parameters than ever before.
The use of advanced ceramic materials has increased dramatically during the past few decades. For example, ceramic-based materials have become widely accepted for use in medical applications, particularly for orthopedic and dental implants. These bioceramics represent a diverse class of materials divided into the following three major categories: bio-inert ceramics such as alumina- and zirconia-based high-strength ceramics; bioactive glass or glass/ceramic composites that can form direct chemical bonds with living tissue; and ceramics that mimic natural bone, such as calcium phosphate-based ceramics.
Although most synthetic bioceramics offer physical and/or chemical properties that meet or even exceed their natural counterparts, they can result in a number of adverse physiological reactions. Thus, the biocompatibility and mechanical strength of implant materials is becoming an important focus area. Examples include the development of composite materials and the use of specialty coated base materials.
Choosing the Right TechniqueThe right analytical tool must be used for the cost-efficient problem solving and characterization of ceramic materials, (i.e., one that has the correct measurement capabilities and characteristics to address the problem at hand). Measurement-related factors include depth of analysis, detection range and analytical spot size. The type of information desired (or available from a given measurement) should also be considered. Information of interest can include bulk elemental composition, the presence of trace contaminants or dopants, chemical bonding information, crystallographic information (e.g., grain size and orientation), and roughness.
Figure 2 shows the typical depths of analysis for various analytical techniques. The depths of analysis range from only the top few atomic layers to many micrometers into the sample. Matching the problem or characterization need with a technique that has an appropriate depth of analysis is critical to providing results that are relevant, useful and meaningful. If a tool with a large (i.e., deep) analysis depth is used to characterize a very thin film or contaminant, the chances are very low that the contaminant or thin film will actually be identified, correctly characterized or even detected. Similarly, trying to characterize the bulk of a material with a surface sensitive technique may be misleading, as outer surfaces are often substantially different than the inner bulk of a material due to segregation, contamination and other processes.
Specific TechniquesVarious types of analyses can be of importance to ceramic materials developers and users, and can be organized as follows:
- Visualizing a sample (e.g., microscopy)
- Determining the composition (major elements) of a sample
- Determining trace elements (< 1%) present in a sample
- Determining the crystallographic properties of a sample
- Determining the thermal stability of a sample (e.g., weight loss or phase changes)
- Investigating the surface of a sample or a sample that has a thin film on its surface
Microscopy techniques provide high- magnification images of samples to observe topography and features of interest. Microscopy can also be performed on cross-sectioned samples to image buried features, layers, interfaces and crystalline structures.
The previously mentioned SEM and TEM are essential for applications where resolutions greater than those provided by optical microscopy are required. SEM is one of the most popular analytical tools because of its ability to provide high- resolution images with excellent depth of field. Figure 3 shows SEM images of various ceramic nanoparticles at different magnifications. Detailed information about the surface morphology and particle size can also be obtained.
Beyond particle size and morphology, another important aspect of materials analysis is elemental composition and the potential presence of trace elemental contaminants. An accurate survey analysis of all elements present may be a requirement to identify all of the constituents present, from matrix elements to trace levels. Unwanted trace level impurities can be introduced into ceramics from various sources, such as raw materials, reactors, catalysts, transferring pipelines, molding components and other equipment used in manufacturing. Techniques available for multi-element analyses with trace level sensitivities include inductively coupled plasma optical emission spectroscopy (ICP-OES), inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS), and glow discharge mass spectrometry (GDMS).
Another aspect of this test method is the determination of the Ca:P ratio using ICP-OES. Pure hydroxyapatite has a Ca:P ratio of 1.67. Table 2 illustrates the compositional data of major elements (P, Ca, O) and trace elemental impurities of As, Cd, Hg and Pb for several raw materials, as determined by ICP-MS and instrumental gas analysis (IGA) for light elements (carbon and oxygen, in this case).
X-ray diffraction (XRD) is a powerful nondestructive technique for characterizing crystalline, polycrystalline and microcrystalline materials. It provides information on crystalline structure and phase; preferred crystal orientation (also known as texture); and other structural parameters such as average grain size, degree of crystallinity, strain, and crystal defect density.
XRD peaks are produced by the constructive interference of a monochromatic beam of X-rays scattered at specific angles from the lattice planes in a sample. XRD is an extremely valuable tool for the analysis of ceramics, providing basic phase identification to more complex analyses such as determining percent crystallinity and crystallite size, and monitoring phase change processes.
Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) and differential thermal analysis (DTA) are essential tools to examine the thermal behavior and stability of ceramic materials. These techniques find particular application in the field of nanomaterials, where the properties of nanoscale materials are not necessarily the same as those of bulk materials.
Hydroxyapatite is often applied as a coating on an inert metallic implant such as Ti-6Al-4V. A typical deposition method is to use thermal spraying to coat the amorphous hydroxyapatite nanopowder precursors onto the metallic implant. TGA/DTA is vital in investigating the morphological stability of the precursors and in helping to develop the heat treatment protocols for forming hydroxyapatite coatings of the required density or porosity.
Figure 5 shows the TGA (left axis) and DTA (right axis) of bulk and nanostructured calcium phosphate samples. Nanopowder calcium phosphate exhibits a slight weight loss (~ 1.6 wt%) up to 800øC, likely due to surface desorption. The DTA data of this nanopowder form sample reveals an intense crystallization peak around 680°C, compared to the bulk material.
The modern use of ceramics and nanomaterials may involve the construction of layered laminated materials or the creation of a coating. In both of these scenarios, the surface chemistry of the particle or material may play a considerable role in its behavior. In order to address this possibility, tools must be used that have a shallow information depth (see the left-hand side of Figure 2).
Two tools that fit this requirement well and are able to analyze ceramic materials include time of flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS). These techniques have information depths within the 10-100A range, meaning that they are not suitable for bulk analysis without some means of penetrating deeper into the sample (such as with an ion beam), but they do give highly specific surface information. TOF-SIMS generally provides excellent sensitivity for species adsorbed on surfaces and can obtain elemental, organic and some inorganic information. XPS has the ability to determine the chemical states of the various elements present on the surface. These characteristics make these techniques excellent choices for the analysis of residues on a surface, such as on ceramic circuit boards.
In Table 2, it can be seen that the hydroxyapatite nanopowder has a substantial carbon content (7500 ppm by weight), as determined by IGA. IGA is a bulk analysis technique that provides the total carbon concentration only. It does not provide any chemical information or depth-specific information. In order to obtain additional information about the carbon, XPS analysis was used, as shown in Figure 6. The XPS survey spectrum shows the presence of the expected O, Ca and P, along with almost 12 atomic% carbon at the surface (i.e., much higher than the bulk amount measured by IGA).
Some hydrocarbon contamination would be expected due to atmospheric exposure; however the high-resolution XPS carbon spectrum shows that a significant percentage of the carbon was present as a carbonate within the upper 100A of the sample. This observation also explains the higher-than-expected Ca:P ratio observed on this sample (1.86 compared to 1.67, see Table 2).
These results strongly suggest that a thin CaCO3 surface layer was covering the hydroxyapatite. Small amounts of carbonate are sometimes substituted in hydroxyapatite to make them more "bone like," but this particular sample was designed to be pure hydroxyapatite with no calcium carbonate. From a biocompatibility point of view, the bone cells exposed to this sample would see CaCO3 only and not hydroxyapatite. Only a surface-sensitive technique such as XPS would be able to detect such a thin surface layer and characterize it.
ConclusionsWhile it is important to understand the physical and mechanical properties of ceramic materials used in all types of demanding environments, only a full understanding of the surface and bulk compositions of those materials allows one to understand why they may behave in a particular manner in a given test or environment. A full understanding of surface and bulk composition also enables better prospects for modifying a material to achieve even better performance.
The examples presented in this article only partially demonstrate the current breadth and depth of modern techniques available for ceramic characterization. Increasing our knowledge and understanding of new and previously established materials can help improve performance and enhance the product development cycle.
For additional information, contact Evans Analytical Group at 810 Kifer Rd., Sunnyvale, CA 94086; (408) 530-3500; fax (408) 530-3501; e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org; or visit www.eaglabs.com. | <urn:uuid:427bf451-7a94-4e59-bed7-602c9e754ae7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ceramicindustry.com/articles/91508-materials-characterization-and-problem-solving?WT.rss_f=Instrumentation+and+Lab+Equipment&WT.rss_a=Materials+Characterization+and+Problem+Solving&WT.rss_ev=a | 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 | 0.911397 | 2,207 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Some 50 million Americans suffer from allergies. These disorders start with a fateful mistake: Your immune system misjudges a harmless substance you've ingested and interprets it as a dangerous pathogen. From then on, your system raises its defenses every time it detects particles of the offending substance, or allergen, triggering a bevy of unpleasant side effects, such as wheezing, sneezing, itching and swelling. If you find yourself doing those things a lot, you might be allergic to one of these five things - the most common allergens, according to the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI).
Weeds are guilty of causing most of the allergy misery that occurs in the late summer and early fall. Top on the list of offenders is ragweed. Found in virtually every region of the United States, the 17 different species of this weed keep people sneezing and sniffling until frost. Other common weed allergens are sagebrush, found predominantly in the west, pigweed and goosefoot pollen.
Molds are microscopic plants that reproduce by sending tiny spores into the air. They thrive in areas that are warm, dark and moist. Unlike pollen, which appears only in the warm weather months, mold can lurk in your house year-round.
Dust mites are small (hundreds can live in a single gram of dust), eight-legged creatures that belong to the same family as spiders, chiggers and ticks. These culprits are hardy creatures that live well and multiply easily in warm, humid places. Favorite hideouts include carpets, upholstered furniture, bedding, clothes, soft toys and the fur of pets. The intruder is particularly malicious when trapped inside a closed-up house.
Grasses usually come along to stir up allergy symptoms after trees are through pollinating – typically from late spring to early summer. Common culprits are timothy grass, Bermuda grass, sweet vernal, red top and some blue grasses.
Trees produce pollen, the dust-like, male reproductive parts of plants that cause most allergies. In some southern states, trees can produce pollen as early as January, while pollen production usually begins in April in the north. The oak tree, which is prevalent throughout the United States, produces large quantities of pollen and is a major cause of allergies. Evergreens also can be troublemakers. Cedar, juniper, cypress and sequoia trees have all been known to cause allergies – and if you're allergic to one, you may be allergic to them all. Other suspects include elm trees, which are common in the eastern and midwestern regions, birch trees, olive trees, sycamores, and poplars, including cottonwoods, balsam and aspen. | <urn:uuid:8da9140b-9a93-4583-906e-acf0f0ba0b1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lifeslittlemysteries.com/2399-5-common-allergies.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942083 | 571 | 3.109375 | 3 |
The long-ago Russian Revolution has been fought anew in the Federal courts in New York. The case is Konowaloff v. Metropololitan Museum of Art, and it involves a lawsuit seeking to recover a Cezanne painting seized in the aftermath of the Russian Revolution. In December, the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the case, holding that the act of state doctrine barred plaintiff’s action. The Konowaloff case is interesting because it may be seen as an attempt to extend to Bolshevik-loot claimants the steps that U.S. museums have taken to address art expropriation in Nazi-loot cases. The Konowaloff decision makes clear that plaintiffs seeking recovery of, or compensatory damages for, art seized by decree during the Bolshevik/Soviet regime will not succeed under the act of state doctrine – at least not in New York.
In Konowaloff, plaintiff Pierre Konowaloff sought to recover the Paul Cezanne painting Madame Cezanne in the Conservatory (the “Painting”) as well as compensatory damages for “wrongful acquisition, possession, display, and retention” of the painting by the Metropolitan Museum of Art (the “Museum”). Konowaloff alleged that the Painting, which belonged to his great-grandfather, industrialist and aristocrat Ivan Morozov, was taken “by force and without compensation” by the Bolshevik government in 1918. The painting was later sold to Stephen C. Clark in 1933, who, as the Trustee of the Met, bequeathed it to the Museum upon his death in 1960. In May 2010, after learning the ownership history of the Painting, Konowaloff demanded its return from the Met. When the Museum refused, Konowaloff instituted an action alleging that the Museum did nothing to inquire as to whether Clark had good title, locate Morozov’s heirs, or ascertain whether Morozov’s heirs received compensation for the Painting. The Museum moved to dismiss on the grounds that Konowaloff’s claims were barred by the act of state doctrine, the political question doctrine, the doctrine of international comity, and the statute of limitation or laches, or, in the alternative, for failure to state a claim upon which relief can be granted. The Federal District Court found that the Museum met its burden of showing that the act of state doctrine applied to bar Konowaloff’s claims and dismissed the action, and the Second Circuit affirmed.
The District Court explained that the act of state doctrine precludes U.S. courts from inquiring into the validity of public acts of a recognized foreign sovereign power committed within its own territory. Further, the court noted that “[c]onfiscations by a state of the property of its own nationals, no matter how flagrant and regardless of whether compensation has been provided, do not constitute violations of international law.” Even if international law had been violated, the act of state doctrine applied and Konowaloff’s action was barred.
Although Konowaloff submitted that the United States government had not recognized the Bolshevik regime until May of 1933, the Southern District explained that “recognition is retroactive in effect and validates all the actions and conduct of the government so recognized from the commencement of its existence.” The Supreme Court and the Second Circuit have consistently held Bolshevik/Soviet nationalization decrees to be official acts. Thus, the 1918 confiscation of the Painting by the Bolshevik regime was an official act of a sovereign – and the validity of the decree under which the Painting was taken was precisely the sort of inquiry precluded by the act of state doctrine.
Konowaloff also attempted to characterize the 1918 taking of the Painting and the 1933 sale to Clark as acts of a political party (the Politburo) rather than acts of the Soviet state. The Court rejected this argument, finding that the alleged activities of the Politburo pertained only to the sale of the painting, not to its confiscation. Because the Soviet government took ownership of the Painting in 1918 through an official act of state, “the Painting’s sale abroad in 1933 – whether legal or illegal, an act of party or an act of state – becomes irrelevant, as Konowaloff lacks any ownership stake in the Painting.”
Konowaloff raised other arguments against application of the act of state doctrine, including that the Painting was not seized for a legitimate governmental purpose or operation, that the Soviet Union (which collapsed in 1991) was no longer a recognized regime, and that adjudication of his claims would not harm United States relations with the Russian Federation. Having concluded that the act of state doctrine precluded inquiry into the validity of the 1918 decree under which the Painting had been confiscated, the Court found it unnecessary to address the Museum’s alternative grounds for dismissal and dismissed Konowaloff’s claims for declaratory, injunctive and monetary relief.
The Second Circuit affirmed, and held that “[a]s Konowaloff has no right to or interest in the Painting other than as an heir of Morozov, and Morozov did not own the Painting after the 1918 Soviet appropriation, Konowaloff has no standing to complain of any sale or other treatment of the Painting after 1918” or to seek monetary or injunctive relief, or a declaratory judgment.
The Second Circuit has spoken: the Russian Revolution is over, to the victor belong the spoils. | <urn:uuid:36e3965b-cb0a-4d2a-a24b-93029cdaeede> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artlawgallery.com/2013/02/articles/art-museums-and-cultural-organizations/russian-revolution-redux/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961345 | 1,157 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Montreal (Crusader castle)
The castle was built in 1115 by Baldwin I of Jerusalem during his expedition to the area (during which he captured Aqaba on the Red Sea in 1116). It was strategically located on a hill on the plain of Edom, along the pilgrimage and caravan routes from Syria to Arabia. This allowed Baldwin to control the commerce of the area, as pilgrims and merchants needed permission to travel past it. It was surrounded by relatively fertile land, and two cisterns were carved into the hill, with a long, steep staircase leading to springs within the hill itself.
It remained property of the royal family of the Kingdom of Jerusalem until 1142, when it became part of the Lordship of Oultrejordain. At the same time the centre of the Lordship was moved to Kerak, a stronger fortress to the north of Montreal. Along with Kerak, the castle owed sixty knights to the kingdom. It was held by Philip de Milly, and then passed to Raynald of Chatillon when he married Stephanie de Milly. Raynald used the castle to attack the rich caravans that had previously been allowed to pass unharmed; he also built ships there, then transported them overland to the Red Sea, planning to attack Mecca itself. This was intolerable to the Ayyubid sultan Saladin, who invaded the kingdom in 1187. After capturing Jerusalem, later in the year he besieged Montreal; during the siege the defenders are said to have sold their wives and children for food, and to have gone blind from "lack of salt." Because of the hill Saladin was unable to use siege engines, but after almost two years the castle finally fell in May of 1189. (The defenders' families were returned to them.)
The Mameluks later captured and rebuilt it; little remains of the original Crusader fortifications. Although it has never been fully excavated, it is known that there was a set of three walls, which partially remain.
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details | <urn:uuid:cc520a7a-8100-465e-91c8-cbbbc448f5f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Montreal_(Crusader_castle) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973041 | 451 | 3.8125 | 4 |
Here is another installation in UGA professor Peter Smagorinsky’s ongoing Great Georgia Teacher series. Today, he writes about Bettina Polite Tate, a former marketing teacher at Johnson High School in Savannah who recently moved into a district-wide leadership role.
She now serves as Career, Technical, Agricultural, Education supervisor for the district and is no longer at Johnson High. She sounds like a remarkable teacher with amazing drive and energy, and I hope she will be able to reach more students in her new position in the Career, Technical, Agricultural, Education Department with the Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools.
When Peter Smagorinsky wrote this piece, she was still at the high school.
By Peter Smagorinsky
Sol C. Johnson High, located on Savannah’s east side, is known as the Atom Smashers when it takes to the sporting fields. Perhaps this moniker follows from its original name, the Powell Laboratory School, when it was founded in 1959 under the administration of Savannah State College (now University). Presently a public school described as “urban” in character, Johnson High uses “Not to Equal but to Excel” as its motto.
Such an ambition can only be achieved through the efforts of great teachers like Bettina Polite Tate, a marketing teacher and International Baccalaureate Business and Management instructor, who was named Savannah-Chatham County Public School System’s 2011 Teacher of the Year.
Bettina is a Johnson High alumna and graduate of Savannah State University, with a bachelor’s degree in business administration and master’s in public administration. She’s a ball of fire, dedicating herself wholeheartedly to the lives of young people enrolled at Johnson, especially in her provision of multiple pathways for entering the business world. She is not of the “Greed is good” persuasion that seems to govern much commerce, if Wall Street excess is any indication. Rather, she sees work in business environments as stimulating, healthy, and good for both individuals and communities.
What makes her a great teacher? Like most who achieve greatness in the classroom, no single facet of her career distinguishes her as exceptional. Rather, she brings a varied skill set to her teaching that enables her students to work at levels previously not expected of them. I’ll next describe what those assets are and how she puts them into play in her broad-based work as a public educator.
The first quality is possibly the most controversial, yet I suspect is the most fundamental to her sense of mission in education. Bettina is a devout Christian. Like many teachers, she views teaching as a calling that gives her life meaning not available in strictly fiduciary careers. She worked in the insurance industry before launching her teaching career in 2005.
A pivotal point for her came when she read Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life” and began to talk with her family about what might provide her with a fulfilling means through which to combine her quest for a higher purpose with her hopes for a robust career. These conversations led to her decision to become a teacher. In spite of taking a sizable cut in pay, Bettina feels enriched by her decision: “I help people obtain what they need, I negotiate for successful futures, and I am wealthy with respect, love, and knowledge.”
I begin with Bettina’s faith with some trepidation, given the controversies surrounding the separation of church and state (including school) and my belief in pluralistic communities. I am not promoting Christianity itself here, or urging prayer in schools; my own belief system is not based on religious faith of any kind, so I’m not one to push that agenda. As a resident of the South and Southwest for most of my life (Virginia for my first 16 years, and Oklahoma and Georgia since 1990), and as a Bible Belt teacher educator for 22-plus years, I have come to know many teachers who found their vision of education in Biblical notions of good works. This profound commitment to the public good is surely a good thing, no matter what its origin, and I have seen a similar dedication following from teachers with adherence to Jewish and Muslim faiths.
If Bettina is any indication of how a faith-based belief in the potential of young people can inspire extraordinary teaching in a secular setting, then I’m all for it, even as I recognize that many great teachers excel without relying on a foundation of religion. Undoubtedly, the higher purpose that she has found as an educator provides the spirit behind her extraordinary dedication to helping young people find vigorous and rewarding ways of succeeding in mainstream society.
I have met many such teachers in Georgia whose faith communities inspire them to regard teaching as a profession that enables them to employ their heartfelt compassion for others in service of academic and professional opportunities for young people.
So, what does that work look like in practice? When Bettina began teaching at Johnson High in 2005-2006, the school’s business offerings were slim. She launched the marketing program with three sections of Marketing Principals, and at the outset, the enrollment per section was under 20 students — all in a Class AAAAA school of considerable size. Meanwhile, the school’s Distributive Education Clubs of America (DECA) chapter included only 14 students.
Her dedication to building the school’s business curriculum produced astronomical growth and success: By 2010, the program employed three full-time marketing teachers, enrolled 212 members in DECA, increased its DECA advisory board tenfold, and provided enough courses in marketing to develop Marketing Management and Marketing Promotions & Communications pathways.
As a program builder, Bettina has been incomparable in identifying a need, instituting a plan, enduring early setbacks, and investing her considerable passion and energy into its rapid growth into one of her school’s most dynamic academic units.
Business courses can be taught out of books, and I suspect that a bookish approach would not result in the dramatic levels of interest that Bettina quickly engendered among Johnson High students. In contrast, she has emphasized real-world engagement as part of a business education. Bettina’s efforts follow from her belief that an outstanding teacher “identifies students’ strengths, talents, and abilities and provides them with real-world opportunities to enhance and perfect their natural interest and attributes.”
Like many other great teachers, Bettina does not view the classroom as an enclave discreet from the rough-and-tumble of the world outside. Indeed, among her great achievements in the classroom is that she has built a sturdy bridge from her instruction to authentic business opportunities in the world without.
To help Johnson students relate school to authentic work, Bettina instituted the student-run Smasher Marketing Firm, through which students gain experience in a variety of roles in offering marketing assistance to local small businesses and non-profit groups in Savannah. She is also the faculty supervisor for the student-run Smasher Stop and Shop school store, which is embedded in the curriculum to enable students to learn effective marketing strategies involved in operating a real business, all for academic credit. To help institutionalize her business program and provide additional means of engagement, she supervises a variety of student activities, including the DECA student affiliate and the Gulfstream Student Leadership Program.
That just isn’t enough for her, however. To help her students link their school-based learning with real-world business practices and to provide a clearer pathway from high school to college, she developed a partnership with Savannah State University’s College of Business so that her students and the SSU students work together on projects of national interest, such as the FBI Employee Recruitment Marketing campaign.
Johnson High students can also use an internet platform to take college-level marketing courses through Savannah State for college credit. To expand the business curriculum, Bettina trained in the International Baccalaureate program so that she could include the IB Business Management and Marketing course, also available for college credit, among her students’ opportunities. Bettina further instituted the Market My Company & Product project, which requires students to write a business plan, develop a product, and market it successfully, with funds helping to finance the many initiatives that she has begun at Johnson High. Her work has taken Johnson High School from having a bare-bones business program to one that has earned the state’s and nation’s top rankings for its DECA chapter.
Bettina’s interest in making school an authentic learning experience has moved her to become active, along with her students, in community service. She is heavily involved in JHS’s programs for recycling, Teachers as Advisors, Christmas for the Elderly, and SCJ Mega Fest, Johnson’s year-end event in which such themes as “Celebrating Success” are realized in student organizations’ booths and activities designed both to reward achievement and recruit new students to the good clean fun available in worthwhile school involvement. After initially bootstrapping Mega Fest into existence, Bettina now presides over a gala event that draws 1,500 participants who benefit from the updraft that her programs enable for students who, just seven years ago, had no such opportunities available.
Bettina says that her “commitment to the community shows youth and fellow educators that we all have a far-reaching responsibility and can make our community better by being intimately involved in it.” She is heavily involved in community functions, including two honor sororities, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority and Iota Phi Lambda, both of which provide young African-American women with pipelines to achievement and prosperity. She has also founded a pair of service organizations, the Youth of Elite Community Organizations and Fully Armored Teen Camp at Con-Ed Family Resource Center. Other partnerships include the relationships she established between Johnson HS and Economic Empowerment, a program sponsored by 100 Black Men of Savannah, Inc.; a partnership with the WTOC Channel 11 Marketing & Media Career Explorer Post; and an affiliation with the Savannah Sand Gnats Baseball Team.
This community involvement includes more extended charitable efforts. In 2005-06, Bettina’s marketing students raised more than $15,000 to offset the medical bills for an injured Johnson HS student athlete. She has also coordinated the school’s Hurricane Katrina Relief effort, a school-wide clean-up and recycling program, and the annual school drive to collect canned food, toys, and blankets for indigent community members. In her spare time, I guess, she is also helping the school develop a student-run newspaper.
Oh yes, she’s pretty good in the classroom, too. As a teacher, she says, “I model what I expect. I discuss my interest, career, and academic goals with students and I share the behaviors that I enact to accomplish them (the goals). In turn, I encourage students to discuss their goals with me. Then, I work as a facilitator to help them take actions to be successful.” I have never been in her classrooms, so can’t personally attest to what she’s doing on a day-to-day basis. But in the aggregate, there appears to be consensus on the fact that she does it pretty well, given the following recognition just in the last few years:
•Johnson High Class of 2008 Best Teacher Ever Award
•Johnson High CTE Teacher of the Year 2009
•Johnson High Teacher of the Year 2010-2011
•WTOC Top Teacher May 2009
•GMEA Teacher of the Month April 2009
•SCCPSS district Teacher of the Year 2010-2011
•Finalist, Georgia Teacher of the Year 2010-2011
• Georgia Marketing Educators Association Marketing Teacher of the Year 2010-2011
• Iota Phi Lambda Sorority Outstanding Educator Award 2009, 2010
• Georgia Marketing Teacher of the Year 2010-2011
Great teachers are often involved in professional leadership, and Bettina’s appointment to Gov. Nathan Deal’s Education Advisory Board and the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (Ethics Committee), along with her recognition as an Outstanding Georgia Citizen by the secretary of state, suggests that her star is rising at the state level.
And she’s not nearly done yet. She continues to increase her wealth of knowledge by completing her Specialist degree in Educational Leadership in May 2010 and pursuing her Doctoral degree in Educational Leadership from Mercer University.
Like the other great Georgia teachers I have profiled, Bettina is a multiple-tool star. She works well above and beyond her job description to make school relevant for her students. She is a dynamic program builder whose efforts have created untold opportunities for JHS students. She has built bridges from JHS to a variety of local businesses, services, and postsecondary outlets through which students may develop positive life trajectories. She’s one great teacher, and we are mighty lucky to have her on our side.
–From Maureen Downey, for the AJC Get Schooled blog | <urn:uuid:cf7cb8c2-733d-4b5e-9656-8b643d6d6e62> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.ajc.com/get-schooled-blog/2012/11/27/a-teacher-led-by-faith-and-fire-for-her-students-bettina-polite-tate-of-savannahs-johnson-high/?cxntfid=blogs_get_schooled_blog | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964246 | 2,686 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The subjects that are reasonably accessible after Calculus and Linear Algebra are:
- Real Analysis.
- Abstract Algebra.
- Elementary Number Theory.
- Elementary Set Theory.
- Elementary Logic.
- Combinatorics and Discrete Mathematics.
- Differential Equations.
Of these, 1-3 and 6 are "popular", so you want to discard them. 8 is popular among "users" of mathematics (engineers, for example).
While Elementary Set Theory and Elementary Logic will probably help with mathematics in general, they are unlikely to give you any particular insight into either calculus or linear algebra. The best possible insight into calculus will be given by Real Analysis; the best possible insight into Linear Algebra will be given by Abstract Algebra. Elementary Number Theory is the source from which many other areas of mathematics sprung, but it will give you no insight into either linear algebra or into calculus (from Number Theory and Real Analysis you can move on to Complex Analysis and Analytic Number Theory, which will likely be useful; from Number Theory you can also move to abstract algebra and from there to Algebraic Number Theory, which would also shed light on the development of a lot of Algebra).
Combinatorics and discrete math are quite fun and interesting, but again there is very little connection with calculus or with linear algebra. Likewise with Geometry.
Topology is a reach, without some real analysis "in the bag" to fall back on, or a lot more experience with abstraction than provided by one year of Linear Algebra.
It's not that real analysis and linear algebra are "independent of other subjects", it's that the gateways from linear algebra and real analysis to those "other subjects" that have intimate connections with them are precisely the subject that you want to avoid and discard because they are "popular." While "the road less traveled" may sound romantic, you may want to avail yourself of 100+ years of experience of mathematicians who have come up with, if not "royal roads", then at least well-traveled roads that help get you to your destination. | <urn:uuid:0278d5c8-4741-4c60-b727-e9404b2d3c69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/84127/accessible-topics-with-a-background-of-linear-algebra-and-calculus | 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 | 0.927407 | 431 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Why is everyone getting all upset?
1. FAT AND CHOLESTEROL
Dairy products are high in saturated fat and cholesterol . The dairy industry has cleverly expressed fat content as a % of weight. Using this system, 2%-milk sounds like a low fat product. However, expressed as a % of total calories, 2%-milk is in fact 31% fat! Whole milk is 49% fat, cheese is 60-70% fat and butter is 100% fat. Eating such foods contributes to the development of heart disease, cancer and stroke.
2. IRON DEFICIENCY
Iron deficiency is more likely on a dairy-rich diet. Cow's milk is very low in iron . In addition, clinical studies have shown that infants consuming cow's milk lose some blood from their digestive tracts. For this reason pediatricians recommend that infants below one year of age not be given cow's milk.
Insulin dependent diabetes (Type I) is linked to dairy products. A specific dairy protein sparks an auto immune reaction which destroys the insulin producing cells of the pancreas.
4. OVARIAN CANCER
Ovarian cancer is linked to dairy products. The milk sugar lactose is broken down in the body into another sugar, galactose. In turn, galactose is broken down further by enzymes. According to studies done at Harward, when dairy product consumption exceeds the enzymes' capacity to break down galactose, there is a build-up of galactose in the blood, which may affect a woman's ovaries. Some women have low levels of these enzymes, and when they consume dairy products on a regular basis, their risk of ovarian cancer can be triple that of other women. The problem is the milk sugar, not the milk fat, so low fat dairy products cannot solve this problem. In fact, yogurt and cottage cheese seem to be of most concern because the bacteria used in their manufacture increase the production of galactose from lactose.
Cataracts are also linked to dairy products. The galactose that is a breakdown product of lactose also appears to be capable of damaging the lens of the eye, leading to cataracts.
6. LACTOSE INTOLERANCE
Many people are unable to digest the milk sugar, lactose. Diarrhea and gas can result. On the other hand, they may consider themselves lucky. Those who can tolerate lactose, cannot rapidly breakdown the galactose which circulates in their blood, contributing to cataracts and ovarian cancer, as noted above. Lactose intolerance may be nature's early warning system.
7. FOOD ALLERGIES
Milk is one of the most common causes of food allergies. Respiratory problems, canker sores, skin conditions, and other allergies can be caused by dairy products. The sad thing is that many people never know that their problems are caused by dairy sensitivity. A break from dairy products often leads to surprising improvements. Asthmatics, in particular, should give themselves a long vacation from dairy products to see whether their condition improves.
Like any other animal product, mammary secretions contain frequent contaminant, from pesticides to drugs. About a third of all milk products are contaminated with antibiotic traces. The dairy industry slogan "something for every body" takes on a different meaning, doesn't it?
Dairy products, despite common myths, do not stop osteoporosis. Evidence shows that the rate of bone loss is largely unaffected by dairy products . Numerous studies have shown that the countries with the highest intake of dairy products also have the highest incidence of osteoporosis. High protein foods, such as meat, eggs and dairy products leach calcium from the body by causing excessive calcium loss through the kidneys, making the kidneys work harder and causing loss of minerals such as calcium.
One out of every five babies suffers from colic. Pediatricians learned long ago that cows' milk was often the reason. Moreover, breast feeding mothers can have colicky babies if the mothers are consuming cow's milk. The cows' antibodies can pass through the mother's blood stream into her breast milk and to the baby . | <urn:uuid:ff984a5c-a798-490b-a5fd-40e897b6f12b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macca-central.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=109558 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949552 | 858 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Phil O'Donnell, Portland, 1982
Item Contributed by
Maine Historical Society
Phil O'Donnell (1911-1996), born in Portland, worked longshore for 50 years, from 1929 to 1979.
O'Donnell was known locally as the "Harbormaster," a job he held for many years. His nickname was "The Iron Colt." His father was known as "The Iron Horse."
He operated "Driftland", his get-away on the corner of Munjoy and Wilson streets.
When asked how many men worked longshore in the late 1920s, O'Donnell said, "There would be 1,200, sure. It would look like Holy Name Sunday up at the Saint Dominic's! O, Jeepers, the place would be packed."
He recalled, "The Grand Trunk had eight piers. They would have these signs written in Irish and Italian. We couldn’t even read the Irish. They said, 'No Smoking.'"
Of hiring practices, O’Donnell said, "There was a shape-up at the head of each wharf. They would give union men time to get from one wharf to another. Everyone got along with each other."
He was interviewed January 13, 1982. | <urn:uuid:963dcb1c-74af-4ff7-b762-88858a008174> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mainememory.net/sitebuilder/site/1090/page/1558/display?use_mmn=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992206 | 262 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Guidelines on Learning that Inform Teaching
Discipline Specific Exemplars
Do it Yourself
the GUIDELINES | Overview
1. Effective learning is supported when students are actively engaged in the learning process.
2. Effective learning is supported by a climate of inquiry where students feel appropriately challenged and activities are linked to research and scholarship.
3. Activities that are interesting and challenging, but which also create opportunities for students to have fun, can enhance the learning experience.
4. Structured occasions for reflection allow students to explore their experiences, challenge current beliefs, and develop new practices and understandings.
5. Learning is more effective when students’ prior experience and knowledge are recognised and built on.
6. Students become more engaged in the learning process if they can see the relevance of their studies to professional, disciplinary and/or personal contexts.
7. If dialogue is encouraged between students and teachers and among students (in and out of class), thus creating a community of learners, student motivation and engagement can be increased.
8. The educational experiences of all students are enhanced when the diversity of their experiences are acknowledged, valued, and drawn on in learning and teaching approaches and activities.
9. Students learn in different ways and their learning can be better supported by the use of multiple teaching methods and modes of instruction (visual, auditory, kinaesthetic, and read/write)
10. Clearly articulated expectations, goals, learning outcomes, and course requirements increase student motivation and improve learning.
11. When students are encouraged to take responsibility for their own learning, they are more likely to develop higher-order thinking skills such as analysis, synthesis, and evaluation.
12. Graduate attributes - the qualities and skills the university hopes its students will develop as a result of their university studies — are most effectively acquired in a disciplinary context.
13. Learning can be enhanced and independent learning skills developed through appropriate use of information and communication technologies.
14. Learning cooperatively with peers — rather than in an individualistic or competitive way — may help students to develop interpersonal, professional, and cognitive skills to a higher level.
15. Effective learning is facilitated by assessment practices and other student learning activities that are designed to support the achievement of desired learning outcomes.
16. Meaningful and timely feedback to students improves learning.
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Guidelines Sub Theme provided by | <urn:uuid:fff4df39-c006-406c-9bf2-4c4c10795d0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guidelinesonlearning.com/overview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917745 | 532 | 3.671875 | 4 |
The Blue-Footed Booby
There is a true story of a boy whose feet turned bluish-purple because he had to soak them in medicine each day. His feet got well and the medicine finally washed off. He no longer has bluish-purple feet.
But there is a bird that has bright blue feet all the time. It is called the Blue-footed Booby. The word booby is from a Spanish word, bobo, meaning "stupid fellow." Some think the booby appears to be silly because he is so tame and clumsy on land. This makes him easily trapped by man. But in the air, the bird is a remarkable flyer. He can spot fish in the sea and dive to make his catch from 80 feet high in the sky.
The booby's wonderfully designed blue feet have a greater circulation of blood, which makes them very warm. Instead of warming (or incubating) their eggs by sitting on them, mother and father booby cover their eggs with their hot feet, keeping them constantly warm at 103 degrees. As baby boobies hatch, the eggs are held on top of mom's or dad's feet. There they will stay warm until they are able to grow feathers and keep themselves warm.
While some may call these birds with the bright blue feet "stupid fellows," they show that they know how to keep their babies warm so that they will not die. Most birds have a portion of featherless skin underneath their bodies, called a brooding patch, for warming their eggs and chicks. Who gave boobies the know-how, or instinct, to use their feet in the care of their eggs and babies? Certainly they did not learn it by themselves! There would be no boobies if that were true. The feet of boobies show amazing design.
We know that where there is design, there must be a designer. Only God is able to design the wonderful blood vessels in the feet of Mr. and Mrs. Booby, and put the instinct into their brains as to how to use them. Creatures like these show us there is a Great Designer. | <urn:uuid:c0f8708d-9e58-4e1d-8d5b-a51485146fe3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.apologeticspress.com/apPubPage.aspx?pub=2&issue=698&article=1195 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987089 | 437 | 2.859375 | 3 |
By Rodney Tanaka, Senior Communications Writer
POMONA, Calif. - 04/05/2010 -- In health care, making a mistake can have deadly consequences. Honest reporting of medication errors is vital for the public’s safety.
Western University of Health Sciences will shed light on this important issue with the annual Ray Symposium at 5 p.m. April 15 in the Health Education Center, 309 E. Second St., Pomona, Calif.
Keynote speaker Michael Cohen, RPh, MS, ScD, president of The Institute for Safe Medication Practices (ISMP), will talk about “Safe Medication Practices – Preventing Errors.”
ISMP operates a national medication error reporting program that allows practitioners – such as nurses, pharmacists and physicians – and consumers to report mistakes they made and mistakes they are aware of by others. All reports are confidential.
“The whole idea is for us to analyze what went wrong, not who did it,” Cohen said. “We turn that information around as intended by the person who reported it for altruistic reasons. The idea is for people to use this information proactively.”
Each year, ISMP's national Medication Errors Reporting Program (MERP) receives hundreds of error reports from health care professionals, according to the ISMP Web site. ISMP’s wholly owned corporate subsidiary, Med-E.R.R.S. (Medical Error Recognition and Revision Strategies), works directly and confidentially with the pharmaceutical industry to prevent errors that stem from confusing or misleading naming, labeling, packaging and device design.
Some problems are hard to detect during clinical trials. For the anti-smoking drug Chantix, ISMP called previously unidentified side effects to the attention of the FDA. ISMP found the potential for psychiatric side effects, suicides, occasionally hostile behavior, and an unusual number of accidents, slips and falls, Cohen said. These are now listed in product labeling, he said.
ISMP works with drug companies to improve labeling and packaging.
“We have been behind hundreds of product and practice changes,” Cohen said.
WesternU’s focus on interprofessional education aligns with ISMP’s all-inclusive approach to reporting errors.
“It has been so critically important not to be seen as a pharmacy organization,” Cohen said. “We really have worked hard not to have that image. It’s a multidisciplinary group that includes consumers.”
Cohen serves as co-editor of the ISMP Medication Safety Alert!, a biweekly newsletter sent by e-mail to more than 640,000 health professionals in the U.S., as well as to regulatory authorities and others in over 30 foreign countries. He is associate editor of the journal Hospital Pharmacy, and advisor on the editorial boards of the Journal of Infusion Nursing, Nursing 2010, Healthcare Risk Control (ECRI, Plymouth Meeting, PA), and the National Patient Safety Foundation’s Journal of Patient Safety. He also is the author of the book Medication Errors published by the American Pharmacists Association (2007).
In 2005, Dr. Cohen was awarded a MacArthur Fellowship noting his work in reducing preventable drug and drug delivery mistakes by formulating solutions and giving national visibility to the ubiquitous and serious problems of medication errors in the health care industry. In 2008, The Joint Commission and National Quality Forum awarded Dr. Cohen the prestigious John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award in recognition of his life-long professional commitment to promoting safe medication use and a safe medication delivery system.
“The Ray Symposium brings speakers to WesternU who can address national health care issues that appeal to the broadest possible audience,” said College of Pharmacy Dean Daniel Robinson, PharmD. “The symposium will attract students, health care providers and educators from all health disciplines, including policy makers who have a stake in improving health care and medication outcomes.”
WesternU’s College of Pharmacy organizes the annual Ray Symposium in honor of Max Ray, MS, PharmD, Dean Emeritus of the College of Pharmacy. He joined WesternU as Professor of Pharmacy Practice and Director of the Center for Pharmacy Practice and Development in 1996 and served as Dean of the College of Pharmacy from 1999 to 2006.
For more information, click here. | <urn:uuid:b046550f-b016-4d72-b361-e7f10ca0081b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wsprod.westernu.edu/news/nr_detail.jsp?id=9023&groupname=PeopleatWU | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936872 | 904 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Nora Stanton Blatch
Born: September 30, 1883
Died: January 18, 1971
Nora Stanton Blatch, an accomplished engineer in her own right, was the wife of Lee De Forest, inventor of the triode electron tube and the Audion piano. Blatch graduated from Cornell University with a degree in civil engineering in 1905 and worked for the New York City Board of Water Supply.
During the courtship of De Forest and Nora Stanton Blatch, Blatch quit her job and enrolled in Columbia University mathematics classes so she could better contribute to De Forest's work. Married in 1908, the couple combined their European honeymoon with collaborative demonstrations of De Forest’s radio equipment to potential buyers.
Nora Stanton Blatch was also devoted to women’s rights, a cause she inherited from her mother, Harriot Stanton Blatch, and her grandmother, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, both prominent in the women’s rights movement in the United States. De Forest had learned to deal with Nora’s activism, but her active work in his lab made him increasingly uneasy. Upon her marriage to De Forest, Nora had thrown herself into learning about electrical engineering. While De Forest wanted a wife who was smart, he also wanted one who was retiring, mild tempered, and who did “womanly” things. Blatch, on the other hand, wanted to supervise operations at his capacitor factory. The couple argued frequently; in early 1909, Blatch, although pregnant, moved out of their home.
De Forest and Blatch were both devoted parents, but De Forest could not understand how Blatch could continue working after motherhood. De Forest criticized Blatch for exhibiting “mentality and calculating ambition” in her efforts to “fill man’s place, to surpass him in his own sphere.” Blatch and De Forest divorced in 1911. Nora Stanton Blatch married marine architect Morgan Barney in 1919 and relocated to Greenwich a few years later, working as a real estate developer and remaining politically active. | <urn:uuid:6c4d5e5a-6720-4995-bb1f-31c99e9e5d26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ieeeghn.org/wiki/index.php?title=Nora_Stanton_Blatch&oldid=71899 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979178 | 419 | 2.875 | 3 |
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A few weeks ago, I had a chance to meet with Hector Ruiz, the chief executive officer of Advanced Micro Devices; the perennial also ran of the microprocessor business. It was a wide-ranging discussion that covered topics such as the future of the personal computer, Linux and yes the upcoming Hammer processors. In less than 72 hours the company is going to introduce its new Hammer/Opteron processors, which are likely to revive the flagging fortunes of the company, and I thought it was an opportune time to post this interview. Here are excerpts from that interview:
OM: We have had quite severe downturn in the personal computer business, and sales have slowed. To me it seems like the personal computer has matured and needs to reinvent itself. What are your thoughts?
Hector Ruiz (HR): Most peopleíÙs notion of a personal computer is that of a black or an aluminum box that runs (Microsoft) Office. But I think that notion is quite rapidly changing and the personal computer is becoming more ubiquitous device with various different segmentations. I think we are already playing around with the idea of personal computer as the hub, a control center for home entertainment and communications.
OM: How will the PC evolve? Segmentation?
HR: I think we will go from the high-end workstations to scaled-down portable devices, which will become more pervasive. The PC is morphing into a machine for everybody.
OM: But PC of today is a really boring and unimaginative device. In order to jump-start the industry we need something moreí like many variations of TV makes a consumer choose one over the other. ShouldníÙt something similar happen in the PC space as well?
HR: Traditional personal computers we know of today lack the creativity to approach this from a useríÙs perspective. (Apple being the only exception) They have not done anything to fix this. But there are a lot of little companies which are doing interesting things with this x86 architecture especially in the home entertainment and digital audio arenas. There is work being done by people who are thinking outside the box and are doing creative things with this.
OM: What is the future of the x86 architecture?
HR: The x86 architecture is very strong and it is difficult for me to imagine that its role is going to diminish over next ten years. In the 1980s there was a belief that RISCíÙs simplicity would help it win the battle over the more complex CISC processors. Frankly the progress in technology has made CISC evolve to become more RISC like and very efficient. It is hard to imagine if there are any limitations to this architecture for next ten years.
I think x86 is like the phone line and will continue to influence the technology. Less complex devices like cellular phones are going to be x86 compatible. I think embedded computing will going to extend (this) x86 architecture into less complicated devices. Our plan is to evolve and increase AMDíÙs footprint in the hardware business íÏ from the very high end of computing to the very low end of computing.
OM: How is AMD doing this?
HR: We have developed our Alchemy-chip, which can be used in a personal digital assistant/cell phone and many other devices. X-Box is another example of embedded x86 computing. Tablet PC is another example. I would like to see the other devices become a bulk of our revenue. Right now PC makes up most of our revenues. I think in five years applications (nearly) 90 percent applications are going to be PC-like applications.
OM: AMD has been a big backer of Linux and the open source community has responded favorably. Was this a conscious decision?
HR: I am a firm believer in the open source philosophy. I think it is a scary thought to some but we move faster by going open source. We are moving in that direction. I believe that the architecture that we have created has a tremendous appeal to the Linux community. Linux runs well on Alchemy and our other chips. AMD is betting the farm on Linux and Windows. With all due respect to others, these are the Operating SystemsíÙ that matter.
OM: What areas of technology have lagged in your opinion?
HR: Voice recognition (is a technology) that has been lagging and I think keyboard is one of the drawbacks right now. I think voice recognition is going to make personal computer friendlier to the consumer.
OM: So where do you see the innovation happening?
HR: I think we are going to see the productization of molecular electronics very soon and voice recognition is going to become far more real. I think the biggest innovations are going to result from the human genome with high performance computing.
OM: You have been a big proponent of broadband and have often said that it is going to be the key catalyst for technology sector revival. Can you expand on it more?
HR: I think pseudo smart wireless devices coupled with broadband and video are going to happen very soon. I think with large databases and pervasive broadband, new applications are going to be born, especially as we move from 32-bit computing to 64-bit computing.
OM: Which brings us to my last question íÏ what are your thoughts on MooreíÙs Law and the industry obsession with it?
HR: MooreíÙs Law makes common sense but what does it have to do with the real world. People are focusing too much on the MooreíÙs Law and not enough on the customeríÙs needs. I think it is important to focus on MetcalfeíÙs Law íÏ that is more relevant. | <urn:uuid:fc757caf-aa51-4241-850a-7ec3ca70cb52> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gigaom.com/2003/04/18/it-is-hammer-time-an-interview-with-hector-ruiz/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972495 | 1,179 | 1.625 | 2 |
depressed, holidays can be hard. They may bring up bad
memories, or you may feel as if you're outside looking in at people who are
having a good time. But try to take part in some holiday events. It may make
you feel better.
Here are some tips for dealing with the
March 13, 2009
Adam Husney, MD - Family Medicine & Catherine D. Serio, PhD - Behavioral Health & Lisa S. Weinstock, MD - Psychiatry & Peter Hauser, MD - Psychiatry
How this information was developed to help you make better health decisions
To learn more visit Healthwise.org
© 1995-2013 Healthwise, Incorporated. Healthwise, Healthwise for every health decision, and the Healthwise logo are trademarks of Healthwise, Incorporated.
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New cell phones can put an HD camcorder in arm's reach at all times, and have become the go-to recording device for many of us. Of course, the quality of cell phone video can vary wildly. This is partly because of the quality of the cell phones - some have better lenses and higher resolution than others. But it's mostly a sign of the quality (or lack thereof) of the person making the video.
1. Get the Wide Shot!
Remember this: All cell phone videos should be horizontal. It's tempting to turn the phone and frame a video shot, but that will be sideways when you watch on your computer or TV!
This is a mistake I see people making all the time. The shots can be rotated during editing, but then you end up with some serious pillar-boxing.
2. Record Phone Videos Outdoors
Bright light makes everything look better, including and especially cell phone videos. Try recording a nighttime video on your phone, and you'll be disappointed. And even shooting indoors with lights on can be problematic, with white balance and other issues to contend with.
For the best quality, shoot outdoors, but out of direct sunlight. The colors will pop and the video will be the best you'll ever get from your phone.
Watch Video: Outdoor Recording Tips
3. Keep the Lens Clear
I can't tell you how many videos from my phone feature a pink blob, creeping in from the side of the frame. Yes, the edge of my finger, once again obscuring the lens. As I, too, need to be reminded: Be careful to keep your fingers away from the lens on your phone. Let's not ruin anymore videos, ok?
4. Keep the Mic Clear
In the spirit of the previous tip, figure out where the mic on your cell phone is, and keep it uncovered and clear when you're recording video.
5. Keep Your Phone Steady
Phones are so light, that it's easy to jiggle them when recording video. For steadier cell phone videos, you can invest in a little tripod with a phone clip - or make one yourself, either with your elbows resting on something or braced at your sides.
6. Keep the Mic Close
Speaking of audio, it's often the worst part of recording video with a phone. Most phones don't have microphone inputs, but you can keep the audio quality up by recording in quiet spaces, and keeping the phone as close to the subject you're taping as possible.
Read more: Audio Recording Tips
7. Upgrade to a Good Phone for Video
Most cell phones can record video - even the flip phones from the early part of the century. But these older and cheaper cell phones record videos with a small frame size and low bit rate.
If you plan to record a lot of video with your phone, upgrade to one that shoots in HD. It's worth it, and you'll find it quickly replaces other, bulkier camcorders you may have been using!
8. Edit Videos on Your Phone
If you have a smartphone, you can download app that let you edit video right on your phone. As an iPhone user, I really like the editing feature included in the free Vimeo app, and I also have the iMovie app.
9. Upload Videos From Your Phone
YouTube makes it easy to upload videos directly from your phone with the YouTube app. If you don't have the app or a smart phone to support it, you can still upload videos by emailing them from your phone to a unique address available in the mobile setup section of your YouTube Account Settings. | <urn:uuid:9f3b2f06-cdac-4e9f-b2ba-ad13991afc44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://desktopvideo.about.com/od/homevideotips/tp/Phone-Video.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943373 | 743 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The Fed as Central Bank to the World
I'm not sensing the world is going to remain very comfortable with this arrangement. There is no real security in the global financial order so long as the world looks to the debt-backed greenback as its default paper asset. I honestly feel that some major announcements regarding an emerging financial order are imminent, and that perhaps China and Russia will be the first to act... either solo or in concert with each other. Even Europe is calling for a new Bretton Woods agreement, suggesting the status quo of the dollar's preeminence is seriously in question in light of this year's events.
The Fed as a central bank to the world
Jacqueline Thorpe, Financial Post Published: Sunday, November 02, 2008
Nicolas Sarkozy may be pushing for a new financial order but Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson have beaten him to it.
While the French President dreams of global economic cooperation ahead of the G20 summit in Washington, the Fed is quietly becoming central bank to the world, backed by the full might of the U.S. Treasury and a teflon-coated greenback.
Last week saw a new program added to the barrage of bailouts, backstops and stimuli announced by the United States -- US$30-billion currency swap lines for Brazil, Mexico, South Korea and Singapore. This is on top of the unlimited supply of greenbacks the United States has provided to the major economies.
The United States will swap wons for greenbacks, allowing South Korean banks to fulfill local demand for U.S. dollars, which had been starved by the freeze-up in the inter-bank lending markets. Banks can then provide those greenbacks to their local customers to allow them to carry out international business.
In April, South Korea will swap its wons back, for a fee of course. David Rosenberg, chief North American economist at Merrill Lynch was quick to pick up on the irony. "The U.S. was supposedly the basket case nation with the massive deficits whose currency was destined to lose its reserve status and whose credit rating was going to get cut at some point," he said in a note last week. "It is the U.S. that is being called upon to provide unlimited swap lines with Europe one day, and funding for emerging markets the next."
Marc Chandler, chief foreign exchange strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in New York said the emerging market swap lines mark a new step in the evolution of the response to the credit crisis.
"It underscores the U.S. leadership role and the Fed's role as defender of the system, which is increasingly broadly conceived," Mr. Chandler said. "This is something that other central banks do not seem prepared to do.
Admittedly several Asian countries are talking about pooling reserves and increasing swap lines, but the role of the U.S. and the dollar are different."
The U.S. dollar's status as the main currency of international and central bank business has barely been tarnished by the whole sorry credit crisis. The flight to the perceived safety of U.S. treasuries has been unstinting.
The swap lines give a small "stamp of approval" to each country of their good financial husbandry but also send a message to those left swinging in the wind, Mr. Chandler adds
"Being a friend of the U.S. still matters," he said. "Venezuela, Argentina, and Russia for example, are unlikely to be thought of as likely candidates for a similar swap program with the Fed. Over time, who is regarded as a friend of the U.S. may impact valuations."
From a sheer tactical perspective, Europeans have missed an opportunity to push euro a reserve currency, consumed as they are with their own problems and intent on blaming the United States for the meltdown. Of course Venezuela and Russia have the oil wealth to provide their ownbailouts and to be fair, the United States was not alone last week in swinging into action.
China, Norway, South Korea, Taiwan and Japan all cut interest rates, and Japan and Germany announced plans for fiscal stimulus. The Bank of England and the European Central Bank are expected to slash interest rates next week.
The actions, combined with a 50 basis point cut by the Fed, which brings the world's benchmark interest rate to 1%, appear to have finally brought some rationality markets, making one wonder what there will be left for the G20 to do at its summit.
Michael Gregory, senior economist at BMO Capital Markets runs down his credit crisis checklist. Provide near limitless liquidity - check. Provide capital injections to the financial sector - check.
Provide a way to get rid of soured assets and/or clarity on what they're worth - check. Give a guarantee on interbank lending - check.
The focus at the summit then will undoubtedly be on regulation and how to prevent a similar crises, a prospect that amuses Carl Weinberg, chief economist at High Frequency Economics
"So far we haven't had any doubles," he said. "This time it was the housing market and asset-backed securities. The last time it was equity investment in Asia, the time before that it was loans to Latin America and the time before that it was S&Ls [the U.S. savings and loan crisis]. Every crisis we've had is a different set of circumstances the only common element is people tend to get irrationally exuberant about investing in a commodity and when it goes they get nailed."
Many analysts are skeptical of the notion of a global regulator while Mr. Sarkozy's idea of creating a new global financial system a la Bretton Woods II - the original had a fixed exchange rate system - seems pie-in-the-sky. "The Canadian government is not willing to cede to Washington or Basel or Bombay, the right to tell its financial institutions what to do or what it's doing is wrong," said Edwin Truman, a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics. "That does not mean one could not have an international understanding on the best way to go about financial business, supervision and regulation. That process is already under way."
The Financial Stability Forum, which brings together representatives from central banks, treasury departments and regulators around the world, was set up after the Asian crisis in 1998 to do precisely that. It has already issued some 67 recommendations on the current crisis on a host of issues from capital requirements to credit rating agencies.
Europe may push for something grander but Mr. Truman is wary. "If they think they're going to use this to gang up on the United States and get the United States to issue mea culpa after mea culpa and turn the supervision of our financial system over to a college of officials from the rest of G20 for the next five years, they have another thing coming," he said.
Until the greenback falters, the United States is firmly in the driver's seat. | <urn:uuid:e665633b-c960-4fec-a00d-27e2d8791993> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://caps.fool.com/Blogs/the-fed-as-central-bank-to-the/105555 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96486 | 1,440 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Marine Wildlife Encyclopedia
Green Paddle Worm Eulalia viridis
Although this beautiful green worm is usually found crawling over rocks, it can also swim well. The name paddle worm comes from the large, leaf-shaped appendages called parapodia that are attached to the side of each body segment and aid in swimming. The green paddle worm's head has two pairs of stout tentacles on each side, a single tentacle on top, and four short, forward-pointing tentacles at the front. These tentacles and two simple black eyes help the green paddle worm in its hunt for food. The green paddle worm is attracted to dead animals, especially mussels and barnacles, but will also hunt for live prey. However, unlike the king ragworm, it does not have jaws to tackle large prey. Instead, carrion and debris sticks to the green paddle worm's proboscis and is wiped off inside the mouth.
During spring, the green paddle worm lays gelatinous green egg masses about the size of a marble on the shore and in shallow water, attaching them to seaweeds and rocks. | <urn:uuid:580a6231-470b-446e-9454-cc814f679e0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oceana.org/en/explore/marine-wildlife/green-paddle-worm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930498 | 224 | 3.421875 | 3 |
A.D. 658 . This year Kenwal fought with the Welsh at Pen, and
pursued them to the Parret. This battle was fought after his
return from East-Anglia, where he was three years in exile.
Penda had driven him thither and deprived him of his kingdom,
because he had discarded his sister.
A.D. 660 . This year Bishop Egelbert departed from Kenwal; and
Wina held the bishopric three years. And Egbert accepted the
bishopric of Paris, in Gaul, by the Seine.
A.D. 661 . This year, at Easter, Kenwal fought at Pontesbury; and
Wulfere, the son of Penda, pursued him as far as Ashdown.
Cuthred, the son of Cwichelm, and King Kenbert, died in one year.
Into the Isle of Wight also Wulfere, the son of Penda,
penetrated, and transferred the inhabitants to Ethelwald, king of
the South-Saxons, because Wulfere adopted him in baptism. And
Eoppa, a mass-priest, by command of Wilfrid and King Wulfere, was
the first of men who brought baptism to the people of the Isle of
A.D. 664 . This year the sun was eclipsed, on the eleventh of
May; and Erkenbert, King of Kent, having died, Egbert his son
succeeded to the kingdom. Colman with his companions this year
returned to his own country. This same year there was a great
plague in the island Britain, in which died Bishop Tuda, who was
buried at Wayleigh -- Chad and Wilferth were consecrated -- And
Archbishop Deus-dedit died.
A.D. 667 . This year Oswy and Egbert sent Wighard, a priest, to
Rome, that he might be consecrated there Archbishop of
Canterbury; but he died as soon as he came thither.
((A.D. 667 . This year Wighard went to Rome, even as King Oswy,
and Egbert had sent him.))
A.D. 668 . This year Theodore was consecrated archbishop, and
sent into Britain.
A.D. 669 . This year King Egbert gave to Bass, a mass-priest,
Reculver -- to build a minster upon.
A.D. 670 . This year died Oswy, King of Northumberland, on the
fifteenth day before the calends of March; and Egferth his son
reigned after him. Lothere, the nephew of Bishop Egelbert,
succeeded to the bishopric over the land of the West-Saxons, and
held it seven years. He was consecrated by Archbishop Theodore.
Oswy was the son of Ethelfrith, Ethelfrith of Ethelric, Ethelric
of Ida, Ida of Eoppa.
A.D. 671 . This year happened that great destruction among the
A.D. 672 . This year died King Cenwal; and Sexburga his queen
held the government one year after him.
A.D. 673 . This year died Egbert, King of Kent; and the same year
there was a synod at Hertford; and St. Etheldritha began that
monastery at Ely.
A.D. 674 . This year Escwin succeeded to the kingdom of Wessex.
He was the son of Cenfus, Cenfus of Cenferth, Cenferth of
Cuthgils, Cuthgils of Ceolwulf, Ceolwulf of Cynric, Cynric of
A.D. 675 . This year Wulfere, the son of Penda, and Escwin, the
son of Cenfus, fought at Bedwin. The same year died Wulfere, and
Ethelred succeeded to the government. In his time sent he to
Rome Bishop Wilfrid to the pope that then was, called Agatho, and
told him by word and by letter, how his brothers Peada and
Wulfere, and the Abbot Saxulf, had wrought a minster, called
Medhamsted; and that they had freed it, against king and against
bishop, from every service; and he besought him that he would
confirm it with his writ and with his blessing. And the pope
sent then his writ to England, thus saying: "I Agatho, Pope of
Rome, greet well the worthy Ethelred, king of the Mercians, and
the Archbishop Theodorus of Canterbury, and Saxulf, the bishop of
the Mercians, who before was abbot, and all the abbots that are
in England; God's greeting and my blessing. I have heard the
petition of King Ethelred, and of the Archbishop Theodorus, and
of the Bishop Saxulf, and of the Abbot Cuthbald; and I will it,
that it in all wise be as you have spoken it. And I ordain, in
behalf of God, and of St. Peter, and of all saints, and of every
hooded head, that neither king, nor bishop, nor earl, nor any man
whatever, have any claim, or gable, or gild, or levy, or take any
service of any kind, from the abbey of Medhamsted. I command
also, that no shire-bishop be so bold as to hold an ordination or
consecration within this abbacy, except the abbot intreat him,
nor have there any claim to proxies, or synodals, or anything
whatever of any kind. And I will, that the abbot be holden for
legate of Rome over all that island; and whatever abbot is there
chosen by the monks that he be consecrated by the Archbishop of
Canterbury. I will and decree, that, whatever man may have made
a vow to go to Rome, and cannot perform it, either from
infirmity, or for his lord's need, or from poverty, or from any
other necessity of any kind whatever, whereby he cannot come
thither, be he of England, or of whatever other island he be, he
may come to that minster of Medhamsted, and have the same
forgiveness of Christ and St. Peter, and of the abbot, and of the
monks, that he should have if he went to Rome. Now bid I thee,
brother Theodorus, that thou let it be proclaimed through all
England, that a synod be gathered, and this writ be read and
observed. Also I tell thee, Bishop Saxulf, that, as thou
desirest it, that the minster be free, so I forbid thee, and all
the bishops that after thee come, from Christ and from all his
saints, that ye have no demand from that minster, except so much
as the abbot will. Now will I say in a word, that, whoso holdeth
this writ and this decree, then be he ever dwelling with God
Almighty in the kingdom of heaven. And whoso breaketh it, then
be he excommunicated, and thrust down with Judas, and with all
the devils in hell, except he come to repentance. Amen!" This
writ sent the Pope Agatho, and a hundred and twenty-five bishops,
by Wilfrid, Archbishop of York, to England. This was done after
our Lord's Nativity 680, the sixth year of King Ethelred. Then
the king commanded the Archbishop Theodorus, that he should
appoint a general Wittenmoot at the place called Hatfield. When
they were there collected, then he allowed the letter to be read
that the pope sent thither; and all ratified and confirmed it.
Then said the king: "All things that my brother Peada, and my
brother Wulfere, and my sisters, Kyneburga and Kyneswitha, gave
and granted to St. Peter and the abbot, these I will may stand;
and I will in my day increase it, for their souls and for my
soul. Now give I St. Peter to-day into his minster, Medhamsted,
these lands, and all that thereto lyeth; that is, Bredon,
Repings, Cadney, Swineshead, Hanbury, Lodeshall, Scuffanhall,
Cosford, Stratford, Wattleburn, Lushgard, Ethelhun-island,
Bardney. These lands I give St. Peter just as freely as I
possessed them myself; and so, that none of my successors take
anything therefrom. Whoso doeth it, have he the curse of the
Pope of Rome, and the curse of all bishops, and of all those that
are witnesses here. And this I confirm with the token of
Christ." (+) "I Theodorus, Archbishop of Canterbury, am witness
to this charter of Medhamsted; and I ratify it with my hand, and
I excommunicate all that break anything thereof; and I bless all
that hold it." (+) "I Wilfrid, Archbishop of York, am witness to
this charter; and I ratify this same curse." (+) "I Saxulf, who
was first abbot, and now am bishop, I give my curse, and that of
all my successors, to those who break this." -- "I Ostritha,
Ethelred's queen, confirm it." -- "I Adrian, legate, ratify it."
-- "I Putta, Bishop of Rochester, subscribe it." -- "I Waldhere,
Bishop of London, confirm it." -- "I Cuthbald, abbot, ratify it;
so that, whoso breaketh it, have he the cursing of all bishops
and of all christian folk. Amen."
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Comments: e-mail us at email@example.com | <urn:uuid:01154eb8-06d7-41a3-aa25-f5258f75c0c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannia.com/history/docs/658-75.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961322 | 2,263 | 2.09375 | 2 |
These days you can't point to many industries that are growing well. Deep-sea oil drilling is one of the few. The deep-sea drilling market is finally starting to come back after the Macondo disaster of 2010 and the recession of 2008-2009 which saw oil prices fall to the $30/barrel range. ENSCO (ESV) is a leader in the field, and it is reaping the benefits. This enables it to pay a 2.64% dividend, which income investors may like. Oil prices, especially Brent prices are much higher now at around $114/barrel. Brent prices are the most relevant to most deep-sea drilling worldwide. The day rates have finally returned to (and sometimes exceeded) the day rate highs of 2008. Companies are going deeper for oil. This means longer well development times (and more work for drilling services companies).
After the above cited events, there have been few new entrants into the deep-sea drilling market. Further the shipping market has been down, so there has been little competition for new shipbuilding. This means that the existing competitors are getting new, high tech ships built at bargain prices. It means the existing competitors are the ones acquiring the new ships and the new business.
An ultra deep water drillship can be purchased (usually years in advance of its availability) for approximately $650 million. The current day rate is about $600,000 for such a ship. If you estimate operating expenses at about $200,000 per day, an UDW drillship should bring in about $400,000 per day in income. Assuming 95% utilization, an owner can earn about $694 million in five years. This will pay for a drillship that has a useful lifetime of about 25-30 years. The participants in this market should be very profitable for many years. The chart below shows the historical day rates for ultra-deepwater rigs.
With all of the trouble in drilling lately such as the Macondo disaster and the relatively minor oil leaks offshore Brazil, the customers want the newest, best, most technologically advanced deep-sea drilling equipment and the most experienced crews they can find. Ensco has both of these. It has an enviable record for quality equipment and customer service. It was rated #1 in total satisfaction among offshore drillers in 2011 by Energypoint Research Inc. ESV has the newest deep water and ultra-deep water fleet in the business, although it is a close call between ESV and SeaDrill (SDRL). It is continually adding to this, and it often sells old equipment to other companies to maintain its edge.
ESV ordered two new drillships in Q2 2012. It now has 7 new deepwater rigs under construction. This should translate into a smooth ramp up of future growth. The ENSCO 8505, ESV's newest rig, commenced its initial 2-year contract in the Gulf of Mexico for Anadarko (APC), Apache (APA), and Noble Energy (NE). The ENSCO 8506 is contracted to Anadarko for 2.5 years. It will commence its contract in Q4 2012. Overall the 8500 Series fleet achieved 96% utilization in Q2 2012, and that was with above average unplanned down time in Brazil during the quarter. ESV believes that this great result showcases the benefits of standardization engineered into the ESNCO 8500 Series. Overall the complete deepwater fleet achieved 91% utilization in Q2 2012.
The jack-up segment managed 92% utilization in Q2 2012. The segment sold two cold stacked jack-ups during the quarter. This makes a total of 7 older jack-up rigs sold during the last 3 years. ESV is upgrading with three new ENSCO 120 newbuild jack-ups on schedule for delivery in 2013 and 2014. This is the link to the entire fleet description.
Many new discovery areas are ramping up drilling. The US Gulf of Mexico is 100% contracted industry wide. PEMEX in Mexico is ramping up offshore drilling in an attempt to replace its dwindling onshore and shallow water offshore production. The relatively newly discovered pre-salt domes off of West Africa are heating up. These are analogous structures to those offshore in Brazil. With many of the world's emerging economies in Southeast Asia deep-sea drilling there is heating up. The North Sea and the Bering Sea have seen major new discoveries. Even East Africa is seeing good demand. Further much of the new drilling is exploration/development drilling. There will be much more drilling in the new fields once they are delineated.
ESV grew revenues 90% year over year to $1.072B from $564.2 million. Excluding the effect of the Pride International acquisition, revenues grew 44% year over year. ESV grew EPS to $1.41 per share from $0.71 per share. This easily beat average analysts' estimates of $1.25. This was due to the purchase of Pride International last year as well as the greater demand for drilling rigs. Both the day rates and the utilization rates were up. Deepwater revenues grew by 71% excluding the acquisition. Jackup revenues grew by 31% due to an increase in utilization and in average day rates. Midwater revenues were $101 million all related to the new acquisition. All told this company's growth is looking great without the acquisition, and it is looking even better with the Pride International acquisition earnings and revenues added in.
The two year chart of ESV lends some technical direction to the trade.
The slow stochastic sub chart shows that ESV is near overbought levels. The main chart shows that ESV may be putting in a triple top. This is a very negative signal. The fundamentals presented above argue for continued upward movement. ESV trades at a P/E of 12.65 and an FPE of 8.10. It pays a good dividend of 2.64%. It has an estimated EPS growth rate of 73.60% this year, an estimated growth rate of 31.50% for next year, and a five year estimated EPS growth rate per annum of 16.00%. It is not overly indebted with a 30.07% total debt / total capital ratio in the most recent quarter. This data tells you the stock has room to move up. The Q2 earnings confirm this. The increasing day rates for deep water drilling rigs confirm this. The tight supplies and new discoveries confirm this. The relative high price for Brent Crude of approximately $114/barrel argues for a continued move up.
After saying all that, the overall market is overdue to retrace. Goldman Sachs' David Kostin has a 1250 target on the S&P 500 for the end of 2012 (on CNBC recently). Nomura Securities says the overall market may fall 25% before the Presidential election. Goldman Sachs believes earnings of the S&P 500 will fall in Q3 by about -0.1%. Other pundits have considerably lower figures. It is hard to see a lot of upside to the overall market. ESV probably deserves to move up, but will it in an overall negative environment? A key may be whether or not the US Federal Reserve announces a new round of QE on Thursday September 13, 2012, when the FOMC announces its rate decision. If there is a big new round of QE, that will likely be bullish for oil and oil dependent stocks. It should be a buy sign for ESV. If the Fed does not announce QE, oil prices may fall. The overall market may fall, and ESV may not be such a good buy in the very near term. Longer term ESV will likely still be a great buy. You probably only want to nibble a bit or wait entirely until you know the Fed's intentions, but this stock and this industry do look like a great fundamental opportunity for the next several years. If you do not decide to buy this week, you will want to keep this stock on your watch list for a good buying opportunity.
Note: Some of the fundamental financial data is from Yahoo Finance.
Good Luck Trading.
Disclosure: I have no positions in any stocks mentioned, but may initiate a long position in ESV over the next 72 hours. | <urn:uuid:ac05d12b-30e0-454b-9f2e-186f2aba68a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seekingalpha.com/article/858531-good-dividend-payer-ensco-is-a-top-performer-in-a-growing-industry | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96041 | 1,683 | 1.59375 | 2 |
I wrote the other day about how it’s insane to write about the costs of carbon pricing without considering the benefits—which is to say without considering the costs of allowing out-of-control climate change. And one should be clear that these costs are likely very high and quite possibly apocalyptic. For example, the most recent probabalistic forecasts out of MIT conclude that there’s an approximately nine percent chance that we’ll see more than seven degree centegrade (i.e., 12.6 degree farenheit) worth of warming by 2100:
The probably won’t happen. But the odds of it happening aren’t all that narrow. If you do a naive projection, that would mean an average July high temperature of over 117 degrees in Phoenix. The city would be uninhabitable. And that’s likely an underestimate, since the extremes would probably grow hotter faster than the average. More to the point, it would set off a lot of irreversible feedback loops. Melting of the permafrost and consequent leakage of gas, removal of high-albedo snow cover, vast regions of permanent desertification, etc.
These things are losses we can’t recoup. Against that backdrop, the prospect of somewhat-slower-growth is not, in my view, especially threatening especially because there are other, offsetting things one could do to increase the rate of growth. Of course precisely which policies would maximize growth is controversial, but I think everyone agree that the policy status quo does not maximize growth. But if Australia ceases to support human life, there isn’t really a good fallback alternative. | <urn:uuid:c7786c80-4bc3-470b-83e7-751f3059096a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thinkprogress.org/yglesias/2009/03/11/192102/when_considering_the_costs_of_cap_and_trade_dont_forget_the_costs_of_catastrophe/?mobile=nc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94969 | 340 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Best Life Ever with Super-mom Taylor Wells
Quote of the day:
"Practice, practice, practice."
What is a practice?
A yoga practice. A meditation practice. A gardening practice. A writing practice. A swimming practice. A reading practice. Whatever you choose to "practice," what IS it?
Every repetition of a practice is a seed. Over time and seasons and with rain and sun the tiles of the house begin to break down and the seeds take root. The roots destroy the house. The house is who we think we are. Our conventional self. "Me."
Practice dissolves the sense of separateness. But you still live in the house.
Only a practice done over time, done with sincerity, and done with integrity takes root. It's a discipline.
Everything locked up in the house is also released with practice. Selfishness. Anger. Judgment. Fear. Clinging.
With each practice, you are planting the seeds and cultivating qualities that live in you. And this has a profound effect on the way you treat yourself and others.
So roll out that mat (my favorite practice-check out pranapoweryoga.com), or find a practice that you love. And DO IT. Again and again.
Have the best day ever!
Taylor plus 5
From The Herald Blogs
1 day agoQuote of the day:“For me, yoga is not just a workout - it's about working on yourself.”Mary GloverOne of my regular 430 am...
4 days agoQuote of the day:“If you surrender completely to the moments as they pass, you live more richly those moments.”Anne Morrow...
6 days agoQuote of the day:“Everything you can imagine is real.”-Pablo PicassoA reader wrote me this:"Last night I took my son to...
Taylor & Philippe talk about the BEST LIFE EVER Inspiration Cards available on Amazon.com: "If it's taking time it's getting even better and more specific."1 week ago
1 week agoQuote of the day:“Genuinely good people are like that. The sun shines out of them. They warm you right through.”― Michael... | <urn:uuid:54ffb837-f0a4-4d19-b3d7-e7dbdecd11dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bostonherald.com/entertainment/lifestyle/best_life_ever/2011/06/practice | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918403 | 467 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Thu Mar 18 09:28:00 GMT 2010 by Ohnonotagain
I love how all the words used to describe the males behaviour are loaded with negativity and misandry.
When females behaviours are described in other articles here, lovely politically correct heart-warming-terms, are used to describe their "picky" and "fussy" behaviour.
Please stick to using non-sexual terms while describing the facts. We can add our own biases later if we choose. Just another example of subtle anti-male sexism that pervades the media and society, which is so often, blatantly accepted. Whoop whoop.
Thu Mar 18 11:00:22 GMT 2010 by prax
Sexism is a two-way street; gender stereotypes harm both sexes. A feminist reading of this article would find that typically female behaviors are seen as negative (and even that is a stretch... it gets a lot worse than "picky" and "fussy," even in peer-reviewed studies). Perhaps "selective" would've been a more neutral term, but I doubt the writer was thinking about his portrayal of all males of all species when he was writing this.
All comments should respect the New Scientist House Rules. If you think a particular comment breaks these rules then please use the "Report" link in that comment to report it to us.
If you are having a technical problem posting a comment, please contact technical support. | <urn:uuid:7253763c-bfdf-4c2c-8aed-97d4d8bf908a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newscientist.com/commenting/thread?id=dn18667-2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956972 | 293 | 2.453125 | 2 |
We want our people to feel positive and enthusiastic about what they are doing, with a clear sense of purpose and confidence in their ability to meet the challenges. This means providing them with effective leadership, clear targets, open lines of communication, excellent learning and development opportunities and a healthy, safe and energising workplace – within a performance culture in which diversity is valued and individual success depends solely on personal merit and performance.
This section of our website tells you more about key aspects of our responsible business commitment to our employees, including our approach to diversity and inclusion, engagement and dialogue, promoting safety, health and wellbeing and managing the impact of business change.
Setting the performance targets
A key priority of our people strategy is the continued development of a performance culture across the organisation. By strengthening our focus on setting high quality objectives aligned to our business strategy, we will ensure that performance at all levels of the organisation delivers value.
The AstraZeneca Board is responsible for setting our high-level strategic objectives and monitoring performance against these. Managers across AstraZeneca are accountable for working with their teams to develop individual and team performance targets and for ensuring that our people understand how they contribute to overall business objectives.
Developing global talent and capabilities
We encourage and support our people in achieving their full potential by providing a range of learning and development (L&D) programmes designed to build the capabilities and encourage the behaviours needed to deliver our business strategy. We are implementing a global approach, supported by the creation of our global talent and development organisation, to ensure that high standards of L&D practice are applied across the organisation.
What's next in this section
Diversity and inclusion
It is vital that the diversity of the communities we serve is reflected in our workforce and our leadership teams, locally and globally.
Engagement and dialogue
Open lines of communication are critical to maintaining employee engagement.Read more | <urn:uuid:6f12468f-64b7-4290-b1af-e2c0afd7c996> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.astrazeneca.com/Responsibility/Our-people | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939395 | 383 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Vanessa Ochs has written a lovely book in which she fleshes out the stories of Old Testament women - stories that, very often, are short on detail and leave us with more questions than answers. In the process of filling in the gaps with imaginative and meditative narratives, Ochs supplies ideas on how modern women may use the lessons of our Old Testament forebearers to ease our souls, bodies and minds.
The book is divided into six sections, each addressing one aspect of modern womanhood - Being a Friend, Being a Parent, Living in a Woman's Body, and so on. Each section contains several chapters, each of which focuses on a single biblical woman. The opening chapter, in a section entitled Being Wise, focuses on Eve. The imaginative retelling of Eve's story (from Eve's perspective) following a modern-English version of a portion of the bible dealing with Eve, puts an interesting spin on the story and adds layers to what we assume we understood about the oft-blamed and misunderstood woman. A short essay (I'm tempted to call it a sermon) suggests ways in which we may hear echoes of Eve's story in our own lives - the ways in which we are misunderstood and blamed for the consequences of being too inquisitive, too adventurous and ignoring our own developing wisdom. Finally, we are invited to "Embrace the Gift of Eve" and Ochs offers suggestions for making the most of our abilities to explore and learn under our own volition and without apology. She recommends additional readings, rituals and even a recipe for apple cake to celebrate our existence as learning beings.
Other biblical woman receive similar nuanced tratement. Miriam, "The [Unnamed] Woman of Valor", Esther, the titular Sarah and even Job's wife are among those whose stories gain new relevance and interest under Och's able scholarship. No longer do women seem to hold a lesser place in the bible for Ochs fills in the blanks in their narratives and offers us valuable lessons for today and helps us learn their lessons - not just with our eyes and ears, but with our hearts. | <urn:uuid:abdf1087-40b9-4ba3-a45a-8e7ca5a8c04e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amazon.ca/Sarah-Laughed-PB-Vanessa-Ochs/dp/0071462902 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94877 | 435 | 2.09375 | 2 |
|Book Title||NAFTA Revisited: Achievements and Challenges|
|Book Author||Hufbauer, Gary Clyde and Schott, Jeffrey J.|
|Bibliographic Information||Peterson Institute for International Economics, 2005, Pages : 544, $27.95, ISBN 0881323349|
NAFTA Revisited: Achievements and Challenges. By Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Jeffrey J. Schott. Washington, D.C.: Institute for International Economics, 2005. Pp. 544. $27.95.
Reviewed by John Knox.
The debate over NAFTA, the North American Free Trade Agreement, was one of the most divisive issues in U.S. politics in the early 1990s. In particular, NAFTA was a focal point of the 1992 U.S. presidential election, in which President George H.W. Bush defended the agreement his administration had negotiated, third-party candidate Ross Perot devoted much of his campaign to attacking it, and then-Governor Bill Clinton found a compromise solution: to support NAFTA only with supplemental agreements on labor and the environment. With his election, the Clinton Compromise became official U.S. policy, and the supplemental agreements were duly drafted, negotiated, and added to the NAFTA package that Congress narrowly approved in 1993.
The arguments over NAFTA did not end with its entry into force on January 1, 1994. Instead, they only shifted tense, from whether NAFTA would be a success to whether NAFTA has been a success. NAFTA remains a live issue not only because it governs the resolution of many sensitive issues arising among the North American countries, but also because the United States has sought to duplicate many of its provisions in other trade agreements. Moreover, NAFTA’s success or failure is highly relevant to whether and how the North American countries should seek closer (if not necessarily “ever closer”) integration.
As the title of NAFTA Revisited suggests, Gary Clyde Hufbauer and Jeffrey J. Schott are not newcomers to the NAFTA debate. Their 1992 book, North American Free Trade: Issues and Recommendations, was designed to influence the NAFTA negotiation, and NAFTA: An Assessment, which came out the next year, was intended to inform the discussions in Congress over whether to approve it. NAFTA Revisited seeks to inform the current stage of debate by examining dispassionately and in detail how successful NAFTA has been. There are many ways to define success, of course. Hufbauer and Schott ask how well NAFTA has succeeded on its own terms. They look to the goals set out in the agreement itself: to promote increased regional trade and investment; to increase employment and improve working conditions and living standards in each country; to provide a framework for the conduct of trilateral trade relations and for the management of disputes; to strengthen and enforce environmental laws and basic workers’ rights; and to work together to promote further trilateral, regional, and multilateral cooperation to expand and enhance NAFTA’s benefits. (pp.17-18.)
Their conclusions are that NAFTA has been successful, on the whole, at promoting international trade and investment within North America. Merchandise trade between Mexico and the United States increased by 227% from 1993 to 2004, compared to an increase in U.S. trade with non-NAFTA countries of 124%. (p.18.) While the authors are careful not to claim that NAFTA is solely, or even primarily, responsible for this growth, much of which could have occurred anyway, they conclude that “the available evidence points to a strong positive impact” from NAFTA on regional trade, and that the effect was to create trade, not just to divert it from other countries. (pp.19, 24) Similarly, NAFTA’s rules protecting foreign investments have contributed to an increase in U.S. investment in Mexico from $17 billion in 1994 to $61.5 billion by the end of 2003, and have helped Mexico attract investment from other countries as well: over the same period, total foreign direct investment in Mexico increased from $33 billion to $166 billion. (p. 30) The authors note, however, that Mexico is facing increasing competition from China and other east Asian countries in both trade and investment.
On labor and environmental issues, the authors take a middle ground between those who have argued that a rising economic tide will eventually lift all labor and environmental boats, and those who blame NAFTA for a wide variety of social problems throughout North America. On the one hand, Hufbauer and Schott argue that NAFTA has had very little effect in the United States – negative or positive – on jobs, wages, labor laws, and levels of environmental protection. At the same time, by increasing foreign investment in Mexico and promoting Mexican exports, “NAFTA has mainly had a positive impact on the Mexican labor ledger.” (p.98). With respect to the environment, they reject the concerns that NAFTA would induce U.S. and Canadian firms to move to “pollution havens” in Mexico, and that it would cause U.S. and Canadian governments to lower their standards to try to retain those firms. (p.163.) On the other hand, Hufbauer and Schott recognize that thousands of U.S. workers have lost their jobs because of NAFTA and ended up in jobs with lower wages (p.86), that many small and medium-sized Mexican firms have gone out of business because they could not compete with multinational firms (p.105), that the Mexican government devotes inadequate resources to enforcing labor standards (p.102), and that environmental conditions along the U.S.-Mexican border “are bad and in some respects may be getting worse.” (p.181.) More generally, they acknowledge that the components of NAFTA designed to improve labor and environmental protections – the Commission for Labor Cooperation, the Commission for Environmental Cooperation, the U.S.-Mexico Border Environment Cooperation Commission, and the North American Development Bank – have failed to meet their goals or the expectations of the North American public.
Most of their conclusions are not surprising; they represent the mainstream views of most NAFTA scholars. The virtue of NAFTA Revisited is that it pulls together and logically organizes an impressive quantity of information, across a very wide spectrum, to support its assessment, and that it does so without the hyperbole that characterizes much of the NAFTA debate. (A chapter on migration, written by Philip Martin, is a particularly helpful corrective to the current world-is-ending debate over Mexican emigration to the United States; he argues that emigration pressures in Mexico are likely to abate over the next five years for demographic and economic reasons, apart from any policy changes the United States adopts.)
For these reasons, NAFTA Revisited will be a valuable starting point for anyone researching NAFTA’s implementation and effects. It should not be the final word, however, for several reasons. First, a book that provides an overview of so many areas cannot give much detail about most of them. Its treatment of trade, for instance, focuses on agriculture, cars, and energy, which together comprise, in the authors’ estimation, roughly one-third of total regional trade. Their birds-eye approach may also lead the authors to occasionally ignore relevant sources, such as the 2004 TRAC report, an in-depth review of the environmental commission. Second, the book does include a few errors. Examples: The number of new investor-state cases filed under Chapter 11 has not “steadily increased over time,” (p.224) but rather has remained fairly constant over the past nine years, averaging three new cases a year. (The authors make the mistake of counting notices of intent to file cases even when the cases were never submitted to arbitration.) Most labor submissions filed pursuant to the labor side agreement are not “still under review.” (p.120.) Investigative reports prepared by the secretariat under Article 13 of the environmental side agreement do not require party approval by a two-thirds vote. (p.158.) Third, any book about the North American relationship will quickly begin to be out of date. The book only briefly mentions the March 2005 Bush-Fox-Martin announcement of a new Security and Prosperity Partnership, which in principle has the potential to oversee all North American governmental cooperation. (p.470.) And the sudden upsurge in political interest in immigration reform in 2005-06 came too late to be included.
The authors do more than merely assess the successes and failures of the NAFTA regime. In nearly every area they discuss, they offer suggestions for improvement. In general, their recommendations, like their assessments, are moderate: they stop well short of proposing a North American Community with a common currency (for that, see Robert Pastor’s Toward a North American Community (2001)), or a Mexican Marshall Plan. They recommend marginal rather than sweeping changes, including moving toward a common external tariff, streamlining rules of origin, providing more money for and high-level attention to the labor and environmental institutions, promoting private corporate labor codes, expanding trade adjustment programs for workers, developing modern hazardous waste sites on the Mexican side of the border, and so forth. On migration, the authors do not speak with one voice. Martin recommends specific programs to reduce pressure for emigration from Mexico to the United States, but he emphasizes the need to try pilot projects before adopting major reforms. He notes, “Experience shows that for most major immigration reforms, the unanticipated consequences are more important and long lasting than the anticipated consequences.” (p. 464). Every member of Congress should have to commit those words to memory before voting on immigration reform, and perhaps they should have been read more carefully by the chief authors, Hufbauer and Schott, who themselves make sweeping proposals for a guest worker program and permanent residence for current aliens.
Unfortunately, despite the modesty of the book’s proposals, many seem close to impossible in the current political climate. Rather than reinvigorating the labor and environmental components of NAFTA, the current administrations are generally ignoring the labor commission, have struggled to agree on the proper role for the environmental commission, and have even considered shutting down the North American Development Bank. Congress seems hopelessly deadlocked, at least at the moment, over immigration reform. And the authors see little or no evidence of a desire for closer economic union. Indeed, they seem gloomy even about the prospects for obviously valuable steps toward closer security cooperation, such as common visa standards and integrated screening of outside visitors to North America. (p.481-82.) They say that a Big Idea, such as border security, is necessary to capture the attention of policy-makers and lead to complementary economic integration, but in the next breath they acknowledge that this link is unlikely to be made. (pp. 472-73.)
Against this backdrop, the Security and Prosperity Partnership is interesting, since it seems to have made exactly the security-economic-social link that the authors propose. But it is still unclear whether the SPP is an important step forward or is merely a repackaging of existing, relatively minor programs. Its failure to link up with or build on existing NAFTA institutions, such as the environmental and labor commissions, is particularly puzzling, and even troubling, since the SPP does not seem to have either the institutional continuity or the commitment to public participation of those organizations. Nevertheless, the creation of the SPP, and the annual presidential summits under its auspices, suggest that even during a period of relative inattention to North American cooperation, the level of that cooperation remains very high by historic standards. NAFTA’s most important effect may well have been psychological: it made the citizens and leaders of North America far more likely than ever before to think of themselves as having something in common with their counterparts throughout the continent. That the level of North American integration is, and is likely to remain, very far from that of Europe, should not obscure the importance of that achievement. | <urn:uuid:32e33b02-3137-4e13-badb-357e7c855a7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globallawbooks.org/reviews/detail.asp?id=236 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956438 | 2,459 | 1.75 | 2 |
You are in the official current online General Catalog
for California State University, Fresno.
Department of Plant Science
Photo by Randy Vaughn-Dotta, University Photographer
The College of
Agricultural Sciences and Technology
ANDREW B. LAWSON, Chair
MARLENE MIYASAKI, Administrative Support Coordinator
Agriculture Building, Room 222
Andrew B. Lawson, Chair
Bruce A. Roberts, J.G. Boswell Chair of Agronomy
Sharon E. Benes, Co-Graduate Coordinator
John T. Bushoven, Co-Graduate Coordinator
James J. Farrar
Florence Cassel Sharma
Kent M. Daane
The faculty members hold advanced degrees in their fields of specialization from leading agricultural institutions and universities in the United States. They are well-qualified teachers who, through extensive research and interaction with major agricultural industries, bring a wealth of basic and practical information into the classroom. A faculty academic adviser is assigned to work with each student to plan and design an individualized program of study to meet the student's educational and career objectives.
Many of the faculty members are involved in one or more of the Centers
of the California Agricultural Technology Institute (Center for Irrigation
Technology and the Viticulture and Enology Research Center) and the San
Joaquin Experimental Range. These centers offer excellent opportunities
to undergraduate and graduate students to participate in applied research
projects that address and help solve problems faced by California's agricultural
Join the leader in science, technology, and agricultural management. The Department of Plant Science offers plant science programs focused on agricultural production with options in crop production management or plant health.
Courses offered by the department in-tegrate physiology, soils and nutrition,
agronomic practices, plant health management, protection against plant pests,
ag marketing, and mechanization to provide students with a well-balanced
background for positions in plant/soil sciences, and crop production. In
addition, courses in areas such as microprop-a-ga-tion and plant improvement
provide students with a background for further studies in plant biotechnology.
Each degree option integrates departmental curricula with the basic sciences (e.g., biology, chemistry, mathematics, physics) and management skills to build a well-balanced foundation.
The irrigation program is augmented by the Center for Irrigation Technology and the newly created International Center for Water Technology.
For information about laboratory units and supervised projects, contact the department office.
It is the policy of the department that every student see his/her assigned adviser at least once during the academic year.
The courses offered within each of the disciplinary areas in the department
provide the required background and experience to qualify graduates of these
programs for many exciting, well-paying careers. For a list of career opportunities,
contact the department office. | <urn:uuid:33a9f32d-5234-4752-a696-3fd97fcdcee9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fresnostate.edu/catoffice/current/plntscihd.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 | 0.90834 | 593 | 2.140625 | 2 |
|Charles Demuth, Figure 5 in Gold|
A few days ago, Sonya Chung posted this great essay on The Millions about being a teacher of creative writing and about the uncertainty that’s inherent to the writing life.
She mentions a recent visit from author Jennifer Egan, who confessed to being an “unconscious writer. The first drafts of her novels are written by hand on legal pads. The handwriting is illegible. She doesn’t consciously think about craft at this stage. She just goes, and because she’s writing by hand instead of on the computer, she doesn’t fiddle with what she’s written. It’s only after she’s hand-written a full draft that she goes back and revises and shapes and crafts and starts thinking and making choices.
Chung says one of her students raised her hand asked Egan about what sort of goals she sets, given her largely unconscious way of writing.
“Five pages,” she said. “Every day I aim for five pages. It doesn’t matter how much time I spend, I could sit for three hours and not get any pages. I’m after the pages.” I saw a number of students scribbling in their notebooks. I thought I heard a collective exhale of relief. Five pages. Something concrete, something quantifiable."
It’s worth pointing out that a NaNo participant is doing the same thing as Jennifer Egan. Some proceed with a plan, some without, but still, they’re just trying to get pages done every day. Not five, but six pages down every single day during the month of November.
The next time I hear someone criticize NaNo, I’m going to tell them that Jennifer Egan is a NaNo writer, too. And I'm going to tell them to read this passionate, articulate defense, too.
Egan's not an official NaNo Novelist, of course. She doesn’t sign up on the website or get a widget. She doesn’t need external reinforcement and the behavioral rewards system. Maybe she did once upon a time, who knows? She's come up with her own regimen, which she self-enforces.
[Which begs the question "Does writing performed with the aid of constraints or rewards make said writing less valid than writing performed without those aids?" I'll address that issue soon.]
My students are very resistant to the idea of writing a shitty first draft, to letting their unconscious minds run amok. They say to me, “I respect novels too much to write something crappy.” Or “I had three hours to write new pages today, and all I did was fiddle with what I wrote yesterday. I can’t stop myself.” Or “It’s just embarrassing to me to know that I have written all these crappy sentences. Eventually, I will have to fix those crappy sentences, so why not now?”
All their lives, they’ve had to write, tinker, turn in, get a grade. The rhythm of the semester demands that a messy first draft needs to quickly become a polished final draft. It’s interesting to me that even though I’ve said to them over and over again, “You're not required to turn that messy first draft into a polished final draft. So just write. I'm not grading this." But the impulse to “revise as you write” is so well ingrained they want to do it anyway. Some days, I have to forcibly tell them to stop it.
[Could it be that it's the "credentialed writers" especially, those who emerge from writing programs, who have the most difficulty moving from short stories to novels? I'll address that issue soon, too.]
For now, I'm going to tell my students about Jennifer Egan’s process. Five—or six—pages every day. | <urn:uuid:b5a5d759-3525-472d-b71e-1956859aea3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cathyday.blogspot.com/2010/11/five-or-six.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973387 | 833 | 1.859375 | 2 |
More than 100 Firefighters Battle 60-acre Brush Fire
by Lynne Ober
For two days firefighters fought a 60-acre blaze on the Pelham – Windham town lines. The call came into the Pelham Fire Department around 3:00 p.m. on Sunday afternoon, April 2, and within a few minutes, Pelham firefighters had responded to the fire, located under the power lines behind Castle Hill and Field roads.
Hudson Firefighters were one of the first mutual aid companies to arrive and assist in battling this blaze, one of the largest in New Hampshire this season. “I sent a crew with an officer to assist Pelham and Windham on Monday morning,” said Hudson Chief Shawn Murray.
Deputy Gary Rodgers, along with seven firefighters, spent the better part of Monday checking hot spots throughout the brush fire. Rodgers walked the perimeter, approximately 1.5 miles with GPS mapping system, to calculate the acreage. “Sunday was a red flag fire danger day,” said Rodgers. “Monday evening through Wednesday morning rains have lessened the fire danger by soaking the ground.”
Pelham Fire Lieutenant Jim Midgley said that crews found a massive brush fire that was spreading quickly in the windy, dry conditions and called for mutual aid. All in all, 16 fire departments fought through the afternoon and evening to contain the blaze that spread out nearly a mile.
Because there were no access roads in the area, firefighters worked with hand lines. They pumped water from streams and used portable pumps to draw water from a nearby pond.
“It was a very dangerous situation, but no injuries occurred,” said Pelham Fire Chief Dave Fisher.
Altogether 120 firefighters and five fire chiefs worked side by side. “The fact that they worked as a cohesive unit is a great compliment to the training that every firefighter has,” smiled Fisher, who noted that Pelham had control of the fire and ran the command center.
At times flames shot as much as 30 feet into the air. Pelham lost 1,000 feet of hose and used flame retardant foam material on the fire. Both of these items will need to be replaced.
Pelham firefighters deemed the fire contained by 6:45 p.m. “The goal was to contain the perimeter before dark because it would have been too dangerous to be fighting a rapidly spreading fire in the woods after dark,” stated Midgley.
Most of the crews withdrew by 7:30 p.m., but a fire watch was established because hot spots still existed in the area. With cooler evening temperatures and the perimeter contained, it was deemed safer to wait until morning to look for hot spots.
By 7:00 a.m. on Monday, Pelham firefighters were back on the scene looking for those hot spots and ensuring that these were stamped out. They worked until the middle of the afternoon.
Altogether approximately 60 acres burned, but no homes had to be evacuated. “The fire came within 20 feet of one home. “The firefighters worked very hard to save that home and were successful,” said Fisher.
The Salvation Army worked on the scene helping hydrate and feed weary firefighters.
In addition to the Pelham and Windham fire departments, Hudson, Litchfield, Hollis, Merrimack, Londonderry, Derry, Atkinson, Hampstead, and Lowell and Dracut, Massachusetts, were included in the departments responding to the scene.
Midgley praised everyone who worked the fire. “It was done very professionally under difficult conditions.”
American Red Cross Honors Eleventh Grader for Life-saving Effort
by Sue LaRoche
Most times your first babysitting experience is not very memorable; the parents go over instructions, you play with the kids for a little while, go through the bedtime routine, tuck them in reassuring them that Mom and Dad will be home soon, and head to the couch to watch TV. Keith Lelievre’s first babysitting experience will be etched in his memory forever as his was slightly different - he saved someone’s life! It is for this brave deed that the American Red Cross will honor Keith as Youth Red Cross Hero for 2006 at their Third Annual Heroes Awards Breakfast on April 11.
It all began when Linda and Jeff Schwartz decided to get a babysitter for their kids Alex and Andrew (then 5 and 7) while they went a couple of doors down to a neighborhood party. Keith, then a seventh grader at Memorial School, was their choice as “Keith is an exceptional young man, wise beyond his years” which made them extremely comfortable leaving their children in his charge. Fortunately for everyone involved, they had chosen the right person.
“I read Alex and Andrew a book about the First Thanksgiving and then it was time to go to bed, so I took them upstairs and had them brush their teeth. Andrew was easier to get to bed than Alex so I tucked him in and went into Alex’s room. The next few minutes (approximately 20 minutes) were as if time stood still” he relates still in awe of the situation.
Alex excitedly tells the story of what happened that night. “I wanted to show Keith a trick that my dad had shown me with a quarter so I got one out of my piggy bank. You are supposed to put the coin in your mouth and blow it up into the air but I breathed in and the coin went in not out. I almost died that night - I’m really glad Keith was there to save me.” Keith was turning down Alex’s bed when he heard a strange noise and turned to see Alex clutching his throat, his lips starting to turn blue, and a piggy bank on the floor. Fortunately for Alex, Keith had paid attention in health class earlier that year and he performed the Heimlich maneuver (three quick thrusts inward and upward on the abdomen) and up came the coin (along with the contents of Alex’s stomach).
“Andrew heard the commotion and was very upset so I calmed him down and got him back to bed, cleaned Alex up, cleaned up the mess on the rug, since I was afraid that it would stain, and put Alex to bed,” Keith said smiling. “Mrs. Schwartz couldn’t believe I actually cleaned the rug,” he laughed.
Katie Lelievre, Keith’s mom, stated proudly, “With four kids this house can be chaos and Keith is always the calming factor. If ever there was a crisis, Keith is the one you want to be around. It doesn’t surprise me at all what he did, only the way that he did it.”
After the kids were in bed, the rug cleaned, and the quarter replaced in the piggy bank, Keith went down to relax on the couch and only then did the reality of the situation hit him. “I felt relieved that I knew what to do. I think about what could have happened and I realize how lucky I am to have had learned it in school.” Keith told this story to his health teacher, Mr. Hodge (a health teacher at HMS for 30 years). “I remember how excited Keith was when he saw me in the hallway and how he thanked me for teaching the Heimlich maneuver to him. I teach the Heimlich maneuver to every seventh grade class that I have. I tell the kids that little kids can do anything and you need to be prepared. What better image can you present to kids than this?”
When Alex’s mom, Linda, called to check in later on that night Keith told her what had taken place. “I was in shock. He was so calm and cool. We are grateful that he saved Alex’s life,” she admiringly stated.
Keith’s dad, David, agrees. “He clearly has a purpose in his life and this is just the beginning. He isn’t even close to being finished.” Currently a junior at Alvirne High School, Keith is beginning his exploration of colleges and is looking at Franciscan University in Ohio to study theology/philosophy. He is on the debate team at school, serves as a eucharistic minister and works part time at St. Kathryn Church. Having a strong faith background gives him perspective on his accomplishment. “Life is so important - it needs to be cherished. I appreciate that the Red Cross and society continue to recognize the importance of life.”
In Memoriam: Andy Polak
Hudson lost another “Town Father” this week with the passing of Andy Polak. Andrew J. Polak served Hudson as police chief all through the ‘40s, ‘50s, ‘60s and on into the early 1970s.
“He was fair and good to the kids in town. He would bring them home to their parents not just off to jail,” said longtime friend Esther McGraw about her friend. McGraw could reminisce about Polak and other “old timers” all day if you let her. “Back in the early days, officers did not have radios. Andy was known to make personal house calls, relaying important messages for hospitals and other paces. He would help anyone he could; he was a peace-making man.”
Polak was the first Hudson Police officer to graduate from the FBI academy. The only other Hudson office to do so is current Chief Dick Gendron. “I started my career with the Hudson Police Department in 1978 and did not have the opportunity to work with or for Chief Polak. In my contact with many citizens of Hudson, I got to know him as a very caring and compassionate individual,” said Gendron. “When I was appointed chief in 1993, he called to congratulate me and offer some words of wisdom, such as: ‘don’t let the politics in town interfere with the duties and responsibilities of the police department.’” “Chief Polak will be missed by all and is a true credit to the law enforcement profession.”
Assistant Commissioner Earl Sweeney was a longtime friend and fellow police officer tells about the time a safe was stolen from Benson’s and his dealings with Andy on that case. They were able to bring the suspects responsible for the theft to justice, but not before a lengthy investigation with many leads to follow.
In 2003, Andy and his family graciously donated much of his personal memorabilia to the Hudson Historical Society. Included in the donation was his personal ledger of his work for the department chronicling 1946 through 1951 and his FBI experiences. His Class A uniform can be seen at the Hills House on display at events such as Old Home Days.
Andy Polak, was presented with an award honoring his long service on the Traffic Safety Advisory Board in December of 2004. Polak worked hard to improve all areas of Hudson and, as part of his efforts; he began serving on the Traffic Safety Advisory Board in 1979.
Peter Thomson, Director of New Hampshire Highway Safety Department, presented the plaque. Dick Tuck, Chairman of the committee, and Jerry Gagnon, Vice Chairman of the committee, both spoke briefly and praised Polak’s long and industrious service to the state.
Attending the presentation were Police Captain Bill Pease, Sergeant Michael Smith and Esther McGraw.
“This is a well-deserved honor and it was my pleasure to serve with Chief Polak,” said Pease.
Polak, a daily visitor to Suzie’s Diner, died during a brief stay at St Joseph’s Hospital in Nashua on April 4 at 5:35 am. “It was truly a blessing as he was in a lot of pain in his final weeks after a recent hip fracture,” shared the oldest of Andy’s two daughters, June Morin, sitting at “their table” at Suzie’s Diner on Wednesday afternoon. Nearly every day for the past several years, June and her family took the wheelchair-bound Andy to the Hudson diner for lunch for a bite to eat and “just to get out and see everyone.”
While he had slowed down a bit recently, the 94-year-old Polak still loved to “hold court” at Suzie’s. “Everybody seemed to know him,” shared Chris LaBonti, who often waited on Andy’s table at lunch. “He seemed to really like the company along with his daily omelet and decaf coffee.” “He was a very nice guy,” offered another waitress, Heidi. “He was in here all the time and we’ll all miss him.”
Andrew Polak, who lived at 140 Melendy Road since 1937, served as Hudson’s police chief for 26 years. “He actually served in the Hudson PD from 1938 to 1972, including 26 years as chief,” remembered June. “He retired as chief in 1972 and since then much of his pastimes involved fishing and hunting.” She smiled recalling the imprint on his favorite shirt, “Fish tremble at the sight of my name.”
Once Again, Town Approves Sidewalks/Crosswalks to Nowhere
by Doug Robinson
At their March 25 meeting, the Hudson Selectmen approved Sean Sullivan’s request for an additional $5,200 to the sidewalk contract, so that the town could “signalize (a) pedestrian crosswalk at the Lowell Road and Birch Street intersection.” Unfortunately, for the pedestrians of Hudson, the intersection at the corner of Lowell Road and Birch Street runs directly into a culvert, protected by a guardrail.
The intersection/crosswalk in question is located between T-Bones and Suzie’s Diner. According to the Lowell Road Sidewalk Improvement Project, “the placement of a pedestrian crosswalk on the north side of the intersection warrants the inclusion of two pedestrian signals to service that crosswalk. The pedestrian signal system is not part of the original design or scope of work.”
Selectman Shawn Jasper questioned Sullivan, Hudson’s Community Development Director,: “I am having a little trouble visualizing the placement. The north side is directly in line with First Brook.”
Sullivan replied, “The exact location has not been pinpointed yet.”
Jasper stated, “The north side of the intersection goes right into the guard rail.”
Sullivan: “It (guardrail) is on the south side; at the very least it is on the south side.”
Jasper pointed out to Sullivan that the documents presented to the Board of Selectmen stated that the “placement of a pedestrian crosswalk on the north side of the intersection.”
Sullivan then said to Jasper, “I agree with you, there is a guardrail on the north side.”
“The sidewalk will be on the Suzie’s Diner side,” responded Jasper. “A little map would have been helpful.”
This crosswalk project is part of the master plan called the Lowell Road Sidewalk Improvement Project which was originally part of a New Hampshire DOT grant written in 1998. When completed, the crosswalk will run continuously from Central Street, along Lowell Road, ending at the diner.
If a pedestrian or vehicle were to be traveling north, from Birch Street to Lowell Road, the traveler would run into a guard rail, or the traveler would end up in a flowing body of water, or Second Brook culvert, which is protected by the guardrail.
Sean Sullivan, Community Development Director for the Town of Hudson, stated that when completed this new sidewalk “will allow children to walk to school safely as well as travel to the nearby skate park without having to travel on the busy Lowell Road.”
Griffin Memorial Students Compete in Destination Imagination
On Saturday, March 25, three teams from Griffin Memorial School participated in the Regional Destination Imagination competition in Merrimack.
Bryce Desmarais, Brandon Jaffrey, Jonathan Hoffman, and Lexi and Erin Dudley participated in the non-competitive level, for kids in kindergarten through second grade, putting on a skit called 1 – 2 - Change-A-Roo. They performed wonderfully.
The Mexican Jumping Beans team, consisting of Cameron Blaisdell, Emily Baker, Mark McClure, Noel Crooker and Rhiana Desmarais, performed in the competitive level for third through fifth graders. Their skit about a Mexican chupacabra was entertaining, funny, and informative.
The last team, comprised of Sam and Madeline Mahoney, Samantha and Jacob Parzyck, Austin Baker, and Emily DeBaker, competed in the technical challenge and placed third overall.
For many of the students this was their first exposure to Destination Imagination and they all hope to compete and move up to the state competition next year. | <urn:uuid:12202edc-9f31-4bb1-bb74-53f348009113> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://areanewsgroup.com/archives/2006/0407/HLN.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980783 | 3,588 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Washington College provides self-paced virtual instruction for the working professional who wants to develop or expand their knowledge of ArcGIS Desktop, ENVI EX, and Trimble GPS. You may start a workshop at any time.
These workshops were developed with funding through the Maryland Higher Education Commission, the Governor's Office for Crime Control & Prevention, the Tuscarora Intermediate Unit 11, and the Dover Area School District. Almost all of our materials are accessible if you use the Guest log on option. Our ArcGIS 10 courses will be opening up for Guest access as we finish our updates. We encourage you to take a look around and feel free to learn.
If you like what you see, we encourage you to check out our Facebook page and "like" our program.
While you may have guest access to our courses, this guest access does not come with any support. If you wish support while you learn then you will need to sign-up for a course by using the forms supplied below.
A registered student may do the following things that a guest cannot do.
1. You will be able to submit lesson assignments and have these assignments reviewed by a working GIS professional with constructive comments to help you understand how you did.
2. You may receive technical support via phone, email, or through interactive Adobe Connect sessions where we can view your screen and also remotely show you what you may be missing.
3 You will be able to submit your final project, ask for help while you try to master the project requirements, and receive feedback on your final project.
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If interested in any of the workshops please contact Samantha Bulkilvish at email@example.com.
For pricing information on preferred and discounted group and organizational contract rates, please contact Stewart Bruce, GIS Program Coordinator at firstname.lastname@example.org.
Geospatial Workshops by Washington College by Stewart Bruce is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License. | <urn:uuid:e242b84e-cff4-483b-a857-7a06091a7528> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://geoworkshops.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916757 | 474 | 1.585938 | 2 |
I’m studying sacrificial deposits made by people of a lo-tech culture in Sweden 3000 years ago, largely in wetlands. This was long before any word relevant to the area was written. The objects were mainly recovered during the decades to either side of 1900. Yesterday while trawling through back issues of the Journal of Wetland Archaeology I came across a really cool paper on a similar theme. It’s about wetland deposits made by lo-tech people and excavated during the 20th century. But in this case the stuff was still being deposited in the 19th century AD, the objects are perfectly preserved, and the ethnic group in question is still around with an unbroken oral tradition.
People came to New Zealand only in about 1280 from Polynesia. On the islands they eventually developed Maori culture. It was one of the last areas of the planet’s land mass to be colonised by people, and also one of the last to be invaded by Europeans in turn. This happened at a time when colonial genocide was no longer comme il faut, and so the Maori are in unusually good shape today for an indigenous minority.
Caroline Phillips et al.’s 2002 paper treats Maori wooden objects found in wetlands. They range from combs and small tools over pieces of canoes to ornately carved lintels for ceremonial buildings. As so often with wetland small finds, the contexts are generally very poorly documented, but there’s enough archaeological, historical and ethnohistorical information to state that the deposits were made for several distinct reasons. Many finds can probably be explained by a wood-carving technique where pieces were stored in a bog behind the workshop between carving sessions in order to keep the wood soft and free from cracks. Others look more like votive deposits. And then there’s a fascinating episode from the 19th century that is alluded to only very briefly in the paper.
A group of Maori built a “house of parliament”on the North Island, in the traditional style with fine carvings. A brief period of use was cut short by an influenza epidemic, which I assume would have been highly lethal to the long-isolated Maori. The survivors tore the building down, deposited the carvings and structural timbers in a bog, and declared it taboo! This suggests to me that many pieces of fine wood carving found in New Zealand bogs were not placed there to keep the wood soft and did not remain there because a wood carver happened to get killed in one of the perennial raids.
Bronze Age deposits in the Lake Mälaren area, at least the subset of objects that farmers and ditch diggers have selected for submission to museums, consist almost exclusively of bronzes. There is no known practical reason to dunk them in a fen. But still, it’s fascinating to think that Maori archaeologists are in a situation relative to the prehistoric period they study that is comparable to if I had begun my research into the Bronze Age some time in the 5th century BC. I wonder if there are stone axes in those New Zealand bogs as well.
Caroline Phillips, Dilys Johns, & Harry Allen (2002). Why did Maori bury artefacts in the wetlands of pre-contact Aotearoa / New Zealand? Journal of Wetland Archaeology, 2, 39-60 Oxford. | <urn:uuid:3372eabd-d261-43ff-8baf-29215ede56e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scienceblogs.com/aardvarchaeology/2010/02/13/maori-wetland-deposits/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971631 | 699 | 3.421875 | 3 |
AT&F installs 15-foot boring mill in Cleveland
Aug 27, 2012 | 03:37 PM
| Corinna Petry
CHICAGO American Tank & Fabricating Co. (AT&F), which specializes in very large fabrications, has installed a 15-foot-tall computer numerical control (CNC) horizontal boring mill at its Cleveland shop.
Performing all functions of machiningmilling, boring, drilling and threadingthe boring mill will help AT&F offer turnkey services to its customers, executive vice president Ken Ripich said in a statement. ....
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This mexican method for presenting and preparing steak was originally created in Tampico, by a certain Club owner in the fifties, but although not everybody agrees
on exactly where the recipe came from, this mexican recipe has become one of the most representative dishes of Mexican cuisine internationally.
As we have said. this dish has originated in the town of Tampico, in the mexican state of Tamaulipas. In this recipe we roast the beef fillet, previously soaked in orange juice with slices of onion, creating a flavor that is enhanced as the meat gets cooked on the grill. The tradition is to serve this dish with entomatadas, refried beans and tortilla chips (totopos).
The tampiquena steak, served... On the left you can see the messy tortillas, which have fried in the tomato sauce...
* 1 onion
* 3 ripe avocados
* Juice from 10 lemons or 5 oranges
* 1/2 lb. Manchego Cheese, or Monterey Jack
* 2 lb. Steak; the best Beef cut you can find...
* 3 Red Tomatoes
* 1 lb. fresh tortillas
* 2 Ancho or Chiles negros (dried pasilla negros)
* 3-4 Serrano chiles
* Salt to taste
* Vegetable Oil
1) Let your meat marinate in a mix of lemon or orange juices with salt. Allow it to marinate for 30 minutes or so; in the meantime, soak the chiles in hot water; once the chiles are tender roast and devein them.
2) With the same water used for soaking the chiles, blend the chiles along with the garlic, tomatoes and half the onion, using a blender. Then in a frying pan with a little oil, cook this sauce and reserve for later.
3) Mash the avocadoes with the back of a fork, mix them with lemon juice and cumin. Reserve.
4) Grill the meat (or broil in the oven) with very little oil, preferably on a charcoal grill and add salt to taste. Grill or broil only one side and pull out of the oven. Meanwhile, cut manchego cheese slices and reserve for the next step.
5) Flip the steaks over to ungrilled side; pour the chiles and tomatoes sauce over the steaks. Place one or two slices of serrano chile over this; now arrange cheese slices over the sauce. Put back in the oven or grill to cook the other side; broil for a few minutes or up until the steak is done. Once the meat has cooked, immediately arrange the 4 ingredients on a decorated large plate: where you place a folded tortilla, which you will have been previously dipped in the sauce, a slice of cooked steak with thinly chopped onions and some fresh tomato slices on the side. Put some avocado guacamole on the side and serve to your lucky guest! | <urn:uuid:7238778b-5cc5-4950-be92-e8478e46dfa8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mexicanrecipes.me/tampiquenasteak.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904581 | 621 | 1.789063 | 2 |
In June 1916, an Indian living in California wrote a letter to The New York Times emphasizing how profoundly Indians in the United States had been influenced by the political values of their adoptive country.
“Residence in the U.S. has not made [Indians]…who returned home ‘imbued with revolutionary ideas’ but it has made them republicans.” He added, “The whole country has been stirred by their vision of a United States of India.”
The writer of the letter was Ram Chandra, the editor of Hindustan Gadar, the newspaper of the San Francisco-based Gadar Party. The party took its name from the Urdu word for “mutiny” or “revolt.” (The word is sometimes transliterated as “Ghadar.”) In its inaugural issue in November 1913, the newspaper had stated the party’s intentions clearly: “To bring about a rising…because the people can no longer bear the oppression and tyranny practiced under English rule.”
Most of the members of the Gadar Party were Punjabi, though their sympathizers were drawn from across India. Many of them had served in the British army or police services in places like Hong Kong and Shanghai and had moved to the United States to work as farm laborers or on building the railroads. A few were students at U.S. universities.
As India celebrates the 65th anniversary of its independence from Britain, the role of the Gadar Party and other Indians in the United States in helping the cause is garnering increased attention. Some of the new work is the result of African-American scholars examining the influence of the Indian struggle for freedom on the U.S. civil rights movement. Long before Martin Luther King began to study Gandhi’s works, African-American groups had established links with visiting Indian freedom fighters. Among them was Lala Lajpat Rai, who spent five years starting in 1915 as a political exile in the United States. He counted W.E.B. Du Bois among his friends, and also met with Booker T. Washington.
Other research into the subject represents the growing Indian-American community’s attempt to prove that its history in the United States is longer and more nuanced than is commonly known. These include a recent book by the historian Maia Ramnath, “Haj to Utopia: How the Ghadar Movement Charted Global Radicalism and Attempted to Overthrow the British Empire.”
Another initiative in this direction is the South Asian American Digital Archive, which was founded in Philadelphia in 2008 “to document and provide access to the diverse and relatively unknown stories of South Asian Americans.” Its collections chronicle a wide range of community experiences, and include several documents and photographs that throw light on the links between Indian-Americans and the Indian independence struggle.
“Historians will undoubtedly debate the legacy of the Gadar Party’s contributions to the overall freedom struggle for years to come,” said Samip Mallick, 31, the archive’s executive director, in an e-mail interview with India Ink. “But, symbolically, it is a really unique, extraordinary and inspiring story. The story of the Gadar Party is the story of a new immigrant population advocating for their own political enfranchisement, both through their support for decolonization around the world as well as through their fight for civil rights in their new home country.”
Here are excerpts from that interview:
How did the Gadar Party influence India’s freedom struggle?
The Hindustan Gadar Party started off as a San Francisco-based anti-colonial political organization, which advocated the complete independence of India from British rule. The specifics of its founding are slightly murky, but it’s clear that in 1913, a group of activists based on the Pacific Coast, including Har Dayal and Sohan Singh Bhakna, were organizing migrant laborers (most of whom were Punjabi Sikhs) and helped found what would later be known as the Gadar Party, its aim being the overthrow of British colonial rule of India through revolutionary means. The Gadar Party published a newspaper titled Gadr in Urdu, followed by a Gurmukhi editions and apparently Gujarati editions. Copies of the newspaper as well as the party’s pamphlets were disseminated throughout the world, including Japan, China, Hong Kong, Burma and the Philippines, and eventually Gadar bases sprung up in those areas, as well. Gadar leaders also often wrote of the mistreatment of Indian immigrants in the U.S., which tells us that this was more than simply a nationalist organization.
The Gadar Party received considerable support from the German Foreign Office, which arranged funds and armaments in a plot to incite a pan-Indian revolution (later known as the “Annie Larsen affair”) in 1915. The conspiracy was discovered by British and American intelligence, and led to the Hindu-German Conspiracy Trial of 1917, in which 29 party members were convicted in the District Court in San Francisco.
The Gadar Party continued to exist after the trial, and in 1920 began to publish the Independent Hindustan, a journal containing editorials, essays and news items relating to the global movement for Indian independence. In 1923, the party began to publish The United States of India, for several years. The full runs of these publications are available online through our Web site.
Which other organizations in the U.S. supported Indian independence?
Alongside the Gadar Party was the India Home Rule League based in New York, founded by Lala Lajpat Rai, which advocated “home rule” for India. The I.H.R.L. produced a monthly journal from 1918 onward titled Young India. When Lajpat Rai left the U.S. in 1919, the editorship duties were handed off to Jabez T. Sunderland, a Unitarian minister who was a close associate of Rai and a longtime advocate for Indian independence. Another critical organization was Friends of Freedom for India, which was closely associated with the Gadar Party and led by Agnes Smedley and Sailendranath Ghose. Their mission, according to its own membership ads, was “to maintain the right of asylum for political refugees from India” and “to present the case for the independence of India.”
Incidentally, all three groups – the Gadar Party, the I.H.R.L., and the F.F.I. – enjoyed support from Irish nationalists, and published articles from Irish/Irish-American supporters. Other supporters of Indian freedom who traveled and lectured in the U.S. include Rabindranath Tagore, Kamaladevi Chattopadhyay, Ram Manohar Lohia and Vijaya Lakshmi Pandit.
What was the U.S. government’s position on the Indian freedom struggle?
This is a pretty complex question, but it seems that before WWI, the U.S. government took a formal position of neutrality whenever possible, even while maintaining surveillance on the activities of Indians in the U.S. who advocated for independence. A few key American political figures like William Jennings Bryan, a member of the Anti-Imperialist league, wrote against British rule in India (Bryan’s 1906 essay “British Rule in India” was actually reprinted and circulated by the Gadar Party), but this wasn’t official state policy by any means. During WWI, the U.S. worked with British authorities to crack down the activity of Indian revolutionaries in the U.S., on the grounds that the Gadar radicals’ relationship with the German government was a violation of the neutrality laws. This resulted in the Hindu-German Conspiracy case of 1917.
Advocates for India’s freedom made much of President Woodrow Wilson’s “Fourteen Points” speech during WWI, which called for “a free, open-minded, and impartial adjustment of all colonial claims,” seeing this as a step forward towards decolonization and publishing praise for the president in Young India and various Gadar pamphlets. But even while most knew Wilson didn’t have India at the forefront of his mind when making such a claim, as historian Erez Manela puts it in “The Wilsonian Moment,” Wilson’s claim became part of their “rhetorical arsenal” for independence.
What explains the recent spurt of books about the links between Indians in the U.S. and the freedom movement?
Part of the reason is that connections are being drawn between Asian-American Studies and what has traditionally been known as “area studies.” Also, transnational or diaspora studies, once seen as a footnote, has given us new focal points for examining the history of the freedom movement in India. The frame for analysis isn’t so nationally bound anymore.
However, while it is true that there are a number of new academic works on the Gadar Party and transnational involvement in the freedom struggle, there has been ongoing interest for many years in keeping these histories alive, beginning with even those who were themselves involved in the freedom struggle and worried that the tremendous sacrifices they made fighting for India’s independence would be forgotten and lost to history.
In 1953, writing from Mexico City, former Gadar Party member Pandurang Khankoje wrote to Bhagwan Singh Gyanee, asking the past leader for information to keep the story of Gadar alive. “People in India are anxious to know about you all,” Khankhoje said. “We are getting old and the history of our movement should not get lost.”
In the U.S. there have been a number of individuals, including T.S. Sibia, Jane Singh, Ved Prakash Vatuk, Irene Joshi, and others who have independently researched and worked to raise awareness about these important histories. There have also been organizations formed such as the Hindustan Gadar Party Memorial Committee to draw public attention to and publicly commemorate these histories. One of their major efforts was for the dedication of the building at 5 Wood Street in San Francisco as Gadar Memorial Hall, which is now owned and operated by the Indian Consular Office.
What is unique now, from the perspective of our work, is the opportunity provided by the digital medium to unify and provide universal access to dispersed archival materials in a way that was completely unimaginable even five or 10 years ago.
How did the South Asian American Digital Archive go about collecting its materials?
Materials in the archive come to us generally in two ways. First are the materials that are held by individuals in their private collections. These are materials that have been collected over the years related to an individual’s family history or their own lives. Materials such as these would often stay in the basement or attic where they are kept and the important stories contained within these materials would not be widely shared. We work closely with such individuals to provide digital access to photographs, letters, journals and other such objects through our website while the original copies remain with their current owner.
Second are materials in institutions or archival repositories around the country. Few materials related to South Asian Americans are included in existing archives. For the vast majority of repositories, materials related to our community fall outside the scope of their collecting efforts. The materials that are available in archives are spread widely in collections across the country, making it difficult even for individual researchers to find the materials they need for their work and especially difficult for members of the community to access them. We have collaborated with a number of institutions to provide digital access to materials in their collections that are relevant to South Asian American history, but that may have otherwise been overlooked.
An example of such a collaboration is with the University of Pennsylvania Rare Book and Manuscript Library, which has a series of correspondence between Har Dayal, one of the leaders of the Gadar Party, and his close friend Van Wyck Brooks as part of their collection of Brooks’s papers. Collaboration with the University of Pennsylvania allowed us to provide digital access to these letters and allow users anywhere in the world to read Har Dayal’s words in his own hand for the very first time.
Naresh Fernandes is a freelance journalist who lives in Mumbai. He is a Poiesis fellow at New York University’s Institute for Public Knowledge. He is the author of “Taj Mahal Foxtrot: The Story of Bombay’s Jazz Age.“ | <urn:uuid:e5e8c50e-2683-4b80-83fa-e09fee38df65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://india.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/08/14/american-roots-of-the-indian-independence-movement/?ref=asia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97299 | 2,623 | 3.65625 | 4 |
In months prior, I have written about the ease at which new platforms are launched and the diversity of crowdfunding models and how they are accepted in Europe and the US. Reading those articles, you will probably know that I am sceptical about the booming development platforms and how they all consider themselves to be the financial infrastructures of the future.
For crowdsourcing purists, who sleep with copies of The Wisdom of Crowds under their pillows, the rise of the 'contest' model of crowdsourcing has been like watching an American remake of your favorite TV show: the characters may have the same names, but what made it special has gone (and where did that wisecracking robot-butler come from?).
Crowdsourcing has historically been defined from a business standpoint as little more than a series of one-off projects. Fortunately for all of us, there is an exciting sea-change underway for the crowdsourcing industry and we all need to be ready to embrace it!
Does microtasking have something to teach us about innovation? David Alan Grier thinks so, and, in this month's video podcast, eloquently tells us exactly how. Watch the video to learn how gold standard qualification tests & other crowdsourcing methodologies can improve how we innovate & understand how to predict the success of innovation.
By now you have probably heard the story of Karen Klein from Greece, New York. Karen is a bus monitor at the local middle school. On a recent trip, Karen was bullied by the children that she is hired to monitor. As happens so often in the age of Youtube, the entire episode was caught on a camera phone, uploaded to the Internet, and instantly went viral (8m views and 130k comments since June 19th).
"We're a platform." Said the third platform founder I spoke with that day. Try it. Ask any new internet entrepreneur what their business is and 4 out of 5 will tell you they are a platform.
Who is your customer? Is it the crowd or is it the end customer of your service? One of the challenges facing many successful crowdsourcing businesses is the two-face messaging problem: on one hand your website and public persona needs to be engaging for your crowd of users while on the other hand you must attract customers to purchase the final product.
I had an interesting conversation with my team recently about which brands we thought would be great candidates to harness the power of crowdsourcing. You can imagine the emerging list was long, aspirational, and varied! We see crowdsourcing techniques and community engagement gaining more acceptance every day as a useful approach to building predictive insight capacity and brand loyalty, and we asked ourselves, "What brands do we think would be a great fit for crowdsourcing?"
Crowdfunding projects online have multiple pledge levels. That's the whole idea right? You participate in whatever way you can. Even the little guy can get involved.
Over the last year, crowdfunding has moved from the fringe to the mainstream. Sites like Kickstarter and Indiegogo have become a viable source of funding for both artistic and commercial projects. Crowdfunding has helped find backing for everything from Double Fine's latest adventure game to an incredibly versatile $20 iPhone tripod mount (plus a surprisingly moving documentary on Angolan Death Metal). | <urn:uuid:868fce41-4073-4eb4-97a6-913c2a427bca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailycrowdsource.com/crowdsourcing/crowd-leaders?start=20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963406 | 666 | 1.578125 | 2 |
This is the first of an occasional series on cooking in Malden. As a passionate homecook, I am always amazed at the resources this city offers - well-stocked supermarkets, ethnic grocers, butchers, fishmongers, and fresh vegetables and fruit from local farms during the summer.
In each blog post, I will highlight one of my favorite sources for ingredients and let you now how I use them in my kitchen. In Malden Square there are two Indian grocers, Leela Indian American Groceries at 28 Pleasant Street and India Bazaar at 430 Main Street.
Both offer a wide range of Indian spices, dried beans and lentils, and Indian convenience and prepared foods. My kitchen is always stocked with spices from these stores. I particularly like cumin, coriander, tumeric, and garam masala. They are so much more affordable than in the supermarket, which allows me to experiment more freely.
In addition to trying out Indian recipes that I find in cookbooks and online, I also make a blend of spices that I use to give an Indian flavor to other dishes, like pureed soups. (The recipe is below.) My other favorite Indian ingredient is paneer, a firm white cheese that does not melt. Both of the Indian grocers in Malden sell it frozen. Adding paneer can turn a vegetable dish into a quick one-pot dinner:
- Saute an onion in a little oil, add a tablespoon or more of my Indian spice mix and salt to taste, pour in a cup of plain tomato sauce, and simmer.
- Once the tomato sauce is cooked, add a bag of frozen peas.
- Once the peas are cooked, add a block of paneer, cut into cubes. Give the cheese a few minutes to warm through and serve over rice.
Indian Spice Mix:
- 1 tbl coriander seeds
- 1 tbl cumin seeds
- 1/2 tsp cayenne
- 1/2 tsp tumeric
- 1/2 tsp garam masala
Crush the cumin and coriander seeds with a mortar and pestle, in a spice grinder, or by putting them in a small plastic bag and crushing them with the back of a spoon. Mix all the ingredients together. This combination is fairly spicy. You might want to try it with 1/4 tsp cayenne the first time. | <urn:uuid:97191024-d5ca-4751-919f-3697ca9b9264> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://malden.patch.com/blog_posts/cooking-in-malden-indian-style | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913919 | 495 | 1.53125 | 2 |
November 24, 2011
Coyotes such as this one at the Ridgefield Wildlife Refuge are more often being found in urban areas. The county has had 16 coyotes trapped this year, twice the number in 2010.
This photograph was submitted by a member of our community. If you find this photograph objectionable, please suggest this photograph for removal.Suggest Removal | <urn:uuid:c8313b8c-2a8d-4f83-a012-51672e2e496a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.columbian.com/photos/2011/nov/24/37282/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9803 | 72 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Dora Bas Rivka Silver O'H
Israel's Not So Special (Or Are They?)
Amos saw a vision of G-d's glory standing by the altar of the Temple. G-d told one of the cherubim to strike the lintel above the roof, making the supporting beams tremble. (A lintel is a horizontal beam in a building, such as over a doorway. For more about cherubim, see our synopsis on Ezekiel chapter 10.) The leaders of the nation will be destroyed first. The rest will be slain by the sword; none of those who have been marked for death will escape. If they try to hide deep down in pits or up high in mountain caves, G-d will enable the invaders to find them. Even if they run away to deserted islands, G-d will have them bitten by serpents there. (These serpents may be literal snakes or a metaphor for the enemy forces.) Even giving themselves into the hands of another nation in hopes of sanctuary will not save them.
G-d is the Ruler of Heaven and Earth. If He just touches the ground, it quakes and the people who live there are destroyed (that is, the decree for such things to occur comes from Him). G-d built the levels between the heavenly bodies (their orbits, perhaps?) and He established living things on Earth. He gathered the waters and placed them on the Earth. (Actually, He does this constantly, as water evaporates into clouds then falls back to Earth again as rain.)
G-d says that the Jews are no different from anyone else. He uses the example of the descendants of Cush; we are all descended from the sons of Noah. Sure, G-d took the Jews from Egypt, but He also took the Philistines from Kaftor and the nation of Aram from Kir. We are all G-d's children and He does things for all of us! Don't think Israel is so special that their behavior gets a free pass. (Some read it differently, saying "G-d took you from Egypt. Did He do the same for the Philistines or Aram? No. Israel IS special, which is why they will never be completely destroyed, although they are still not exempt from punishment.)
G-d has His eye on the sinful dynasty of the northern kingdom of Israel; He will eradicate them (as opposed to the Davidic dynasty of Judah, which will endure). Even though they will lose their national identity, the Jews will remain a separate people while in exile, distinct from those among whom they dwell. They will be shaken up, scattered throughout all the nations. The people expect they will never have to pay for their sins, but they will.
In the Messianic era, G-d will raise up the fallen dynasty of King David and He will gather up His scattered people, restoring things to as they once were. Israel will inherit the remainder of Edom and the other nations. Days are coming, G-d says, when produce will grow in such abundance that harvest will begin before plowing has finished. Mountains will run with sweet wine and the hills will drip with milk. The restored exiles of Israel will rebuild the ruined cities and plant gardens and vineyards, whose fruits they will enjoy. The people will be firmly planted in their land, which G-d has given them. | <urn:uuid:8973f2ea-2dde-4368-b483-5865d461e671> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ou.org/torah/article/amos_chapter_9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965428 | 696 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Welcome to the Birds of North America Online!
Welcome to BNA Online, the leading source of life history information for North American breeding birds. This free, courtesy preview is just the first of 14 articles that provide detailed life history information including Distribution, Migration, Habitat, Food Habits, Sounds, Behavior and Breeding. Written by acknowledged experts on each species, there is also a comprehensive bibliography of published research on the species.
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Editor's Note: Because Red-naped and Red-breasted sapsuckers were long considered forms of a single species (along w/Yellow-bellied Sapsucker), and because work on these two western species has been limited until very recently, BNA initially combined treatment of the Red-breasted and Red-naped sapsuckers in a single account (seen here). Future revisions of this account will provide separate treatments for these two species.
Red-breasted and Red-naped sapsuckers, together with the Yellow-bellied Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus varius), form a superspecies. These 3 species have, for the most part, separate distributions but were long treated as forms of a single species—the “Yellow-bellied Sapsucker”—until 1983, when systematic studies showed distinctions sufficient to warrant taxonomic treatment as separate species. Most of the early literature and research on this complex refer to Yellow-bellied Sapsuckers of eastern North America (found generally east of the Rocky Mountains). Limited, but more recent, work has focused on populations of the Red-naped Sapsucker of the Rocky Mountain trench region from central British Columbia to Arizona and populations of the Red-breasted Sapsucker with coastal distribution from northern British Columbia to California. The biology of these 3 species appears to be quite similar.
The name “sapsucker” has been applied to the woodpecker genus Sphyrapicus because these birds create sap wells in the bark of woody plants and feed on sap that appears there. Sap wells are shallow holes drilled through outer bark to the underlying phloem or xylem tissues. When Red-naped Sapsuckers first arrive at their breeding areas, they often drill sap wells in the xylem of conifers and quaking aspen (Populus tremuloides). Once temperatures increase and sap begins to flow, these birds switch to phloem wells in aspen or willow (Salix spp.), if available. Red-breasted Sapsuckers occupy similar areas in all seasons and usually make wells in conifers for most of the year. Both species create elaborate systems of sap wells and maintain this resource throughout the day to ensure sap production. Because of this large investment in maintenance, sapsuckers defend wells from other sapsuckers, as well as from other species. When feeding young, sapsuckers usually forage for arthropods—especially ants (Formicidae)—and some of these prey items are dipped in sap wells, perhaps for added nutritional value.
Other species make use of sapsucker wells to supplement their food intake with sap or with insects attracted to the sap. Rufous Hummingbirds (Selasphorus rufus), for example, appear to be closely associated, ecologically, with both Red-breasted and Red-naped sapsuckers; they place their nests near sap wells, follow sapsuckers in their daily movements, and may even time their migration to coincide with that of sapsuckers so they can feed off the sap wells. In addition, sapsuckers excavate nest cavities that often provide nesting or roost sites for other species of birds (for example, Mountain Bluebirds [Sialia currucoides]), and even some mammals (for example, northern flying squirrel [Glaucomys sabrinus]) that cannot excavate their own.
In areas where their ranges overlap, Red-breasted and Red-naped sapsuckers are known to hybridize. The first major study of the breeding biology of these species was by Thomas Howell, who conducted 163 hours of observations at 14 nests in a hybrid zone in Modoc County, California (Howell 1952). Most recent work on these species has focused on Red-breasted–Red-naped sapsucker hybrid zones in Oregon (Trombino 1998) and on the breeding biology of Red-naped Sapsuckers in Nevada (Fleury 2000) and British Columbia (Walters 1996). Reference to, and comparisons with, Yellow-bellied Sapsucker studies aid our understanding of these species (see Walters et al. 2002).
In this account, where the species is not noted, the text refers to both Red-breasted and Red-naped sapsuckers.
Walters, Eric L., Edward H. Miller and Peter E. Lowther. 2002. Red-breasted Sapsucker (Sphyrapicus ruber), The Birds of North America Online (A. Poole, Ed.). Ithaca: Cornell Lab of Ornithology; Retrieved from the Birds of North America Online: http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/663a | <urn:uuid:748f5bcf-6505-43d2-8c32-1a257cb5ba18> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bna.birds.cornell.edu/bna/species/663a/articles/introduction | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921184 | 1,206 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Marketing is essential for your business survival and growth. It's all about getting your products to the right people.
A key element of marketing is advertising. You can market your business through a variety of advertising means, including mail, email, developing your own website, online advertising, newspapers, magazines, television, radio and the phone book. Your advertising activities need to give your customers accurate and truthful information about your business.
Before deciding how you will advertise your business, you should analyse which advertising medium will best suit your customer base.
Develop a marketing plan
A marketing plan helps you to put together all your elements of marketing and advertising. It can give you a systematic approach to developing products and services to meet your customers' needs.
A good marketing plan sets clear, realistic and measurable objectives, includes deadlines, provides a budget and allocates responsibilities. A plan can consist of these elements:
analysis of your current market
key marketing strategies in your business
steps to achieving your business objectives
scheduling of the marketing activities being undertaken.
Remember that your marketing plan should remain an ongoing process throughout the different stages of your business. | <urn:uuid:5f08a22b-2ee5-441f-b95b-944d788807a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.watoday.com.au/small-business/resources/market-research--statistics--marketing--advertising-20091218-l0gc.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941865 | 231 | 2.078125 | 2 |
[NWPT54]Since 1940, Washington state’s gas tax has risen more than fivefold, from 5 cents a gallon to 28 cents a gallon… and yet, adjusted for inflation, the per-gallon value of the tax has actually fallen almost in half. Indeed, even when the recently enacted 9.5 cent a gallon increase is fully implemented in 2009, the effective tax rate in real dollars will still be below historically average levels.
The chart above tracks the gas tax from 1940 though 2009. The orange line represents the nominal gas tax in actual dollars (well… cents.) The blue line represents the gas tax adjusted to 2005 dollars, using the Gross Domestic Product Deflator historical data included in the US budget. (The GDP Deflator is estimated for 2004 through 2009.)
Because the gas tax is levied as a fixed dollar-value per gallon, rather than as a percentage of the sale price, the value of the tax is gradually eaten away by inflation unless the tax is periodically increased… which is exactly what the Legislature has routinely done since the tax was first implemented in 1921. Indeed, one of the reasons the recent round of tax hikes seems so shocking, is that the Legislature failed to raise the tax from 1991 through 2002, allowing real revenues per gallon to fall near an all-time low. It is no wonder that during that time, maintainance was deferred, and our transportation infrastructure was allowed to slip into its current state of gradual decay.
If we want to have a real debate about the transportation bill and the initiative to repeal it, then we’re going to have to start with some real numbers. | <urn:uuid:4422263f-c9b8-4b64-81d8-f3d24dec152b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://horsesass.org/?p=794 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957599 | 330 | 2.890625 | 3 |
It's solid info like this (reg. req'd.) that reinforces my long-held contention -- now generally accepted wisdom by everybody but the Harper government -- that investing in women is just plain good business.
Those folks at McKinsey are not exactly lefties. Indeed, corporations hire their people at mind-boggling rates just to take advantage of their expertise.
Which is why, when they say something about economic growth, it's worth paying attention.
Here's the gist of their latest intel:
Few companies make social investments specifically aimed at empowering women in developing economies, but we believe that supporting this goal is good business and good practice for all companies. In the course of our work, we’ve uncovered a startlingly wide range of ways in which private-sector companies can offer sizable economic benefits not only to women and their societies but also to the companies themselves. The benefits to businesses come from enlarging their markets, improving the quality or size of their current and potential workforce (for instance, by attracting talent globally), and maintaining or improving their reputations.
Women in developing economies are hampered by many of the same concerns that face women in other countries, but they also deal with a number of additional barriers to economic security. In some cases, these problems are straightforward—girls getting less food and education than boys, for example. In others, they are as complicated as the difficulty women in many countries have in keeping control over money they may earn (because of regulations or long-standing cultural traditions that prevent them from having secure access to bank accounts), owning property, or acquiring loans.
Women’s unfulfilled potential significantly hinders economic growth. One recent study, for example, estimates that lower education and employment rates for women and girls are responsible for as much as a 1.6 percentage point difference in annual GDP growth between South Asia and East Asia. On the other hand, educated, income-earning women are especially powerful catalysts for development because they tend to invest more of their money in their families’ health, education, and well-being than men do.
Now pay extra special attention to this bit:
Nevertheless, only 19 percent of the respondents to a recent McKinsey Quarterly survey said that their companies had invested in economic-development activities specifically aimed at women in developing markets. Yet 83 percent said that economic growth there was at least somewhat important to their companies’ success over the next ten years.
Now, let me ask you, how freaking stupid is that? What do these companies expect? To expand their markets in countries where women have no money to spend on their products?
Why yes. That's exactly right.
Companies whose social investments do focus on women in developing economies, the survey and our other research show, benefit not only women and their societies but also themselves. Among survey respondents, 34 percent say that such investments have already improved profits, and a further 38 percent expect them to do so.
It's stuff like this that made me roll my eyes when I was getting my MBA. | <urn:uuid:2cc99b05-1f97-43b3-b794-d5aa58c18820> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thestar.blogs.com/broadsides/2010/02/fertile-ground.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971609 | 619 | 2.140625 | 2 |
SHANGHAI (AP) - China has raised its quota for stock investments by foreign institutional investors, in a step toward easing controls on its tightly regulated domestic share markets.
The China Securities Regulatory Commission announced Thursday that it was more than doubling the current quota, by $50 billion, to $80 billion.
Regulators have struggled to stir up interest among investors in the local currency denominated, or "A-share" market, which has languished for years after hitting a peak in 2007.
The qualified foreign institutional investors program is the only legal way for foreign investors to buy shares in the mainstream yuan-denominated market.
The regulator said the decision to increase the quota is meant to "promote opening of the domestic stock market, expand overseas investment channels for the yuan and to meet the needs of foreign investors on the domestic stock market."
The news buoyed Chinese shares, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite Index jumping 1.7 percent to 2,302.24.
"The announcement sends a clear and positive message to international investors that the central government is encouraging further opening up of China's capital markets," Jing Ulrich, JP Morgan's chairwoman for China equities, said in a comment on the policy change.
Still, foreign investment remains a tiny percentage of total investment in Chinese shares. The original quota was about 1 percent of total investment.
The market watchdog also announced a $50 billion increase in the quota for a recently launched program allowing Hong Kong subsidiaries of Chinese securities companies to use yuan funds raised in Hong Kong to invest in Chinese shares and bonds. Originally, the quota was $20 billion.
That program allows only 20 percent of the funds invested to be used to purchase equities, with the remainder going to bonds. | <urn:uuid:05a77137-23d2-4b62-a1bb-54ce1dd67090> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vcstar.com/news/2012/apr/05/china-lifts-quota-for-foreign-investment-in/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952964 | 355 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The state normally receives 135 mm of rainfall from June 1 to July 19, but this year the total rainfall is 37 per cent less than the normal, according to the MeT department.
Eastern parts of the state received rainfall 24 per cent less than normal, while the deficit in Western parts comprising Jodhpur and Bikaner divisions is 57 per cent, it said.
The MeT department has predicted dry weather for the next couple of days.
Weather conditions may be favourable for rainfall after July 21, a weatherman said.
Except a few places, the rainfall this year has been light to moderate at most of the places.
Jaipur: Monsoon has weakened in the desert state of Rajasthan where the rain is deficit by 37 per cent during the season so far.
First Published: Thursday, July 19, 2012, 13:55 | <urn:uuid:d988d7f9-c0f3-4f84-b37f-d3ad801ebb87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://zeenews.india.com/news/rajasthan/rajasthan-has-rain-deficit-of-37_788452.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966448 | 176 | 1.976563 | 2 |
A global team of partners is working together to develop a sustainable and generalizable model for increasing independent mobility for people with disabilities around the world.
Traditional charitable models for helping disabled children gain mobility in the developing world have focused on providing these children with donated wheelchairs. These laudable efforts have resulted in a dramatic increase in the mobility of disabled children around the world. Unfortunately, in many examples, children grow out of the wheelchairs or the wheelchair breaks leaving the child without effective mobility for a period of time until they can secure a new wheelchair. In addition, the demand for wheelchairs exceeds the supply in many developing countries resulting in long waitlists of children who need wheelchairs but can’t get them.
The 4R Model for Lifelong Mobility (Recycle, Reuse, Repair, Retrofit) is designed to solve these problems by increasing the lifecycle of donated wheelchairs. This population level approach aims to achieve equilibrium between the need for wheelchairs and the level of donated wheelchairs available at any one location. Currently, there are very few options for disabled children in developing countries with broken wheelchairs because parts and tools required to repair the wheelchairs are not readily available. The 4R Model establishes a depot of parts and tools accompanied by technicians who are trained to identify common problems with wheelchairs and fix them. By extending the life of donated wheelchairs, the 4R model can decrease the amount of time a disabled child spends without a wheelchair. The ultimate goal is to develop the 4R model so that can be disseminated and used around the world.
The Benter Foundation has facilitated an active collaboration between American Wheelchair Mission (AWM) and the Teletón Children’s Rehabilitation Centers or CRITs (Spanish: Centro de Rehabilitación Infantil) in Mexico along with the Carnegie Mellon University, Mercyhurst College and the University of Pittsburgh’s Human Engineering Research Laboratory (HERL) to develop and pilot test the 4R model in one CRIT site in Mexico at Guanajuato.
- David J Dausey, Mercyhurst College and Carnegie Mellon University | <urn:uuid:1e1030b6-f494-4c5b-aedc-87f8056338c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.benterfoundation.org/spotlight/lifelong-mobility/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930717 | 430 | 2.71875 | 3 |
by Darrell Castle
Constitution Party National Committee Vice-Chairman
What do the people rioting in the Middle East and the people protesting reductions in public-sector union bargaining rights have in common?
Not much, but the driving force behind each of them is similar, and that driving force is economic hardship.
What we are likely seeing is the crumbling of a world economic order that has existed for decades if not for centuries. In the Middle East the order is one of military style-dictators or royal monarchs at the top, often installed and/or maintained by foreign powers. In the West, the order is one of an unsustainable welfare and public employment system.
One interesting difference is that the protesters in the Middle East really are freedom fighters in that they are fighting to overthrow dictators and a way of life that has oppressed them for decades. In other words, they are seeking to tear down an unsustainable and unjust economic order.
In Wisconsin and other American states, the public-sector unions are seeking to force the government that employs them to restore and maintain union bargaining rights and pay levels. In other words they are seeking to maintain an unsustainable and unjust economic order.
Government employees form unions in order to bargain collectively with government representatives. These unions of government employees are called public-sector unions. The system that allows public-sector unions to organize and bargain collectively is unjust because the public unions exist at the expense of taxpayers who have little or no say in their hiring, firing, or contract negotiating.
The public-sector unions are not the equivalent of private-sector unions at a factory or other place of employment who bargain collectively for better pay and working conditions. Those private employees have no ability or interest in lobbying their employers to constantly increase taxes for their benefit. The system that allows public-sector unions to form and exist is unsustainable because virtually every state is now technically bankrupt, as is the federal government.
In the new budget proposed by President Obama on February 14, 2011, the federal government alone will spend 25.9 percent of America’s GDP or about 26 cents of every GDP dollar. That is a crushing burden of taxation on the American public which cannot be sustained. Even the relatively modest cuts proposed in Wisconsin are unacceptable to the public unions because their members don’t seem to grasp the fact that the old order is ending one way or the other. The modest cuts are designed to keep the system afloat for a short time and possibly push it ahead to the next administration, but it is going to take drastic changes in the entire system to prevent the catastrophic chaos that appears to be in our future.
The reasoning behind the demands of public-sector unions is failed logic because by definition they are part of the government to which they object. They are, in reality, toadies of the ruling elite. This is not some poor group of under-paid, over-worked union employees in a cotton mill or factory chicken farm that is simply demanding a living wage. If those in public-sector unions object to government trying to sustain itself without destroying the taxpayers then let them join the private sector where bargaining rights are more solid.
Behind the crises in the Middle East and the crisis in Wisconsin lie the policies of the Federal Reserve. The Federal Reserve policy that it calls “quantitative easing” is causing the exploding prices of food and other commodities around the world. Flooding the world with dollars, as the Federal Reserve has done, lowers the dollar’s value relative to food and other commodities. When people live on a few dollars a day, if that, a 60 percent increase in the price of food is enough to send them into starvation. This increase in food prices is the driving force behind the Middle East revolution; therefore the Federal Reserve is responsible for it.
How then can the crisis in Wisconsin and the crises in the Middle East be diffused before they spread and take more lives? Unfortunately for the public-sector unions, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke has made it clear that bailouts are for banks, not people, and certainly not states. However, Middle Eastern governments have responded by giving money to what they call lower and middle class people. Saudi Arabia gave $37 billion to the Shiite minority and released some political prisoners.
Middle Eastern people are sacrificing themselves to end an economic and political order that has oppressed them for decades. The public-sector unions are demonstrating in order to maintain an unsustainable economic system so that they might continue their way of life at taxpayer expense. That is the difference. | <urn:uuid:56bbb540-aa21-457b-801d-7f75dde54761> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.constitutionparty.com/NewsRoom/CPCommentary/tabid/130/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/63/Freedom-Fighters-and-Public-Sector-Unions.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958582 | 914 | 2.234375 | 2 |
All the planning, promotion and even the packing are finished, and now you are on the road. The following will be important in your daily travel schedule:
- Staying on time and stressing to all travelers that being on time gives them more shopping opportunities, time to see additional museum exhibits, people watch in a corner cafe, and perhaps time to sleep in! Should you have a tardy traveler, take them aside and stress the important of staying on schedule. Do not encourage the group to clap when the late member does arrive—this is embarrassing to the late member and they may have a valid reason for being late. Respect is important for all travelers to show and receive.
- Rotating seats (at the beginning of your day, not during the travel day) to keep conversation flowing during travel. If this is not something your group enjoys, allow them to keep the same seat but change the way they get off the motorcoach—door side or driver side first.
- Keeping the spiritual emphasis as part of each day and allowing time for devotions and reflections. If your group is traveling to a destination of importance to your faith, onsite devotions are so meaningful. This should be discussed with your guide in advance so that time is set aside. It is rewarding to have the guide join you for these special moments but they should not be “pressured” into staying with you. The guide may need the time to call ahead to the next stop or to relax.
- Traveling as a faith-based organization does come with the responsibility to show your faith to others in your words, smiles, attitudes and quiet peace. As you travel with your group sharing your faith is not meant to “convert” others but to allow them to see your strength through your faith.
- Allowing for fun and lighthearted activities, with time for fellowship and bonding between travelers. Plan on some motorcoach games, perhaps with small teams. Cruising also offers wonderful times for games and activities for the group. If you want to have a group game night or tournament, contact the cruise ship in advance to have space on board reserved. Keep in mind that down time is needed on any trip.
During the trip, something is bound to go wrong – a cancelled reservation, weather delay, traffic congestion or human error that otherwise ruins a perfect trip. Expect this to happen and act accordingly. Help your travelers understand this is the nature of travel and that sometimes unexpected issues can lead to pleasant surprises. If a delay or cancellation causes a trip interruption, be ready to step in with an alternative to keep spirits high and things running smoothly. Tour members will watch you and follow your lead. If you are excited or anxious, that sets the tone for the whole group.
Creating a special bond and making everyone realize how important they are to the whole of the group will have them ready to sign up for the next trip. Visiting with each travel member for small chats is important. You do not want to show a favorite in the group. As the leader, you want to keep the spirit alive on the motorcoach or cruise ship, airplane or train. You will build on the success of this experience and have it flow right into the next tour.
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Meal Planning Tips | <urn:uuid:5863d5a5-4b72-4243-be28-03194d9495b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://insite.religioustraveldirectory.com/escorting-tips/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951493 | 699 | 1.507813 | 2 |
This blog was originally published by the National Journal.
As the clock ticks down to 11:59 on Friday night, all eyes are on the budget negotiations taking place among the Speaker of the House, the Senate Majority Leader and the President. Senate Majority Leader Reid indicated Thursday morning that anti-environmental riders blocking EPA’s ability to set and enforce Clean Air standards are among the remaining issues to be addressed.
This development came one day after the Senate voted to reject a series of amendments to a small business bill that would have constrained EPA’s authority. The White House followed up on the Senate votes with a statement saying it was “encouraged” by the Senate’s defense of EPA’s ability to protect public health, and noting that “the Senate also rejected an approach that would have increased the nation’s dependence on oil, contradicted the scientific consensus on global warming, and jeopardized America’s ability to lead the world in the clean energy economy.”
The White House statement appeared timed to signal that the Obama Administration will not accept budget riders in the continuing resolution that they are negotiating with the House and Senate to fund the government for the remainder of the fiscal year. The administration is right to reject these riders, as is Senator Reid.
In the first place, as major attempts to rewrite policy, such riders have no place on a funding bill. And although the House voted Thursday afternoon to approve a sweeping bill that would block EPA from exercising its authority under the Clean Air Act to set air pollution standards to protect public health, the Senate’s rejection on Wednesday of a nearly identical amendment is evidence that there is not sufficient support in the “upper body” for passing such far-reaching legislation through regular order.
Efforts to disable the Environmental Protection Agency would roll the clock back on forty years of using the bipartisan Clean Air Act to protect public health. The science is clear that carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases endanger human health and the environment through their contribution to climate change and ocean acidification, and in turn through reduced urban air quality and water availability. Absent a comprehensive policy solution to limit greenhouse gas emissions, it is critical that the U.S. continue to deploy all of its existing tools to address this systemic challenge.
Stopping EPA from taking action would send a terrible signal to the rest of the world, signaling that the U.S. is backpedaling on climate change, even as China, Brazil and other countries are speeding ahead. This will adversely affect not only the United States’ standing in the world, but our economy. Investors are increasingly sending clean energy investment dollars to other countries, judging that the U.S. is not serious about clean energy and addressing climate change. Blocking EPA’s authority will not help.
Reports this morning suggest EPA riders may be out of the negotiations over the continuing resolution. We can only hope that is correct.
Eric Haxthausen is director of U.S. climate policy at The Nature Conservancy
Photo by: Flickr user BC Gov Photos, used under a Creative Commons license
Trackback from your site. | <urn:uuid:3d6db553-3fb7-41a3-9804-154300d06f89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://change.nature.org/2011/04/08/blocking-epa-authority-would-send-clean-energy-dollars-overseas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945653 | 642 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Praise be to Allaah.
It is permissible for the one who is hired or given a contract to do some work, to hire other people to do this work for less pay and to benefit from the difference in payment, unless the agreement was that the first worker should do the work himself or he was chosen specifically for the task, as in the case where someone hires a well known calligrapher or designer.
It says in Kashshaaf al-Qinaa (3/566):
If one is hired to do some work for pay, such as sewing and the like, there is nothing wrong with him hiring someone to do it for a lesser fee. End quote.
Shaykh Ibn Uthaymeen (may Allah have mercy on him) said:
If a person is hired to do some work on the basis of a contract, if it is said to him: We want you to clean this house every day and you will have one hundred riyals per month, then he hires someone else to clean the house every day, in the way described in the original contract, but for fifty riyals, this is permissible, because it is similar to when we say that it is permissible to sublet a property for the remainder of the rental period for a higher rate than one is paying. And this is how people do things today. You will find the state - for example - giving a contract to a company to clean mosques, and for each mosque they pay such and such per month. Then this company brings workers to do the work agreed upon for less than a quarter of what was agreed with the government. But if there is a particular reason for hiring that specific person, then giving the job to someone else is not permissible. For example, if you hired someone to copy out Zaad al-Mustaqni (a book of Hanbali fiqh) for you, and you know that this man has good handwriting or makes few mistakes, then he hired someone who has beautiful handwriting to copy it for a lower price, the scholars say that this is not permissible because what matters is copying properly, not just beautiful handwriting. Rather what matters is beautiful handwriting, proper punctuation and minimum errors. How many people have the most beautiful handwriting but they make too many mistakes. Many students have good handwriting but they do not follow the rules of writing; many people have poor handwriting that no one can read except one who is used to it, but there are no errors in his writing. Whatever the case, the point is that whoever is hired for a skill he has, it is not permissible for him to get someone else to do it for him.
End quote from al-Sharh al-Mumti, 10/39.
Based on that, there is nothing wrong with accepting work and hiring out people to do it for less pay, on condition that the advertisements in question are for halaal things. For more information please see the answers to questions no. 93376 and 7834.
And Allah knows best. | <urn:uuid:acc482f5-2b70-47cb-839b-bf02dd9ff79e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.islamonline.com/news/print.php?newid=498532 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971431 | 622 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
The lanšados were settlers of Portuguese origin in Guinea and the Cape Verde Islands. Many were Jews escaping persecution, and many had wives from the local African groups. Although never large in numbers, they were crucial intermediaries between Portuguese nationals and native tribes, and were the "half-caste traders" that were important in the economies of towns like Bissau and Cacheu.
They were the progenitors of the Crioulo language and culture.
- Peter Mark, "Portuguese" Style and Luso-African Identity: Precolonial Senegambia, Sixteenth-Nineteenth Centuries (Bloomington: Indiana University Press, 2002)
The contents of this article is licensed from www.wikipedia.org under the GNU Free Documentation License. Click here to see the transparent copy and copyright details | <urn:uuid:e53ac117-97be-4658-a5e0-b592a56b9b99> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Lan%E7ados | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948491 | 175 | 3.65625 | 4 |
In the above article, 'scientist' Brian Thomas makes an attempt to refute the work of an evolutionist professor, while blatantly disregarding each one of the six principles of scientific thinking. Here's how he does it:
Mr. Thomas does not rule out rival hypotheses, he simply refutes those of a professor that he doesn't agree with. He asserts his views of how humans came to be, which shows his very evident confirmation bias.
In one example, Thomas says that humans and apes have 700 million genetic differences, which he views as a cause for the creationist view. What he neglects to mention is how many traits we do have in common. Upon further research in the same Oxford journal that Thomas references (located at http://goo.gl/RrDE4), I learned that 700 million is only 23 percent of genetic traits. That means that we share a whopping 77 percent of our traits with chimpanzees. Thomas was too lazy to do simple math, and did not take into account that correlation isn't necessarily causation.
Falsifiability, Replicability, and Extraordinary Claims are not applicable to Thomas's work. He does no experiment nor provide a theory, he just argues with little basis. He does argue and cite sources, but the sources include the Bible, which is not a scientific source, or are used poorly, as in the case I explained above, or are simply too weak to support his extraordinary claim. There is an astounding amount of hard, scientific evidence to support the theory of evolution. QualiaSoup is an excellent Youtube channel that has an excellent video that I wish Thomas had seen before writing his piece. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vss1VKN2rf8
As for Occam's Razor, a quick read through the article will show that Thomas does not give a simple solution by any means. His reasoning behind his points is confusing, at best, to the scientific mind. The most important principle of scientific thinking in this article, however, is 'extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence'. As I said earlier, Thomas is refuting a theory that is backed by many years of scientific research. A rational mind would see that his extraordinary claim is supported by minimal evidence, and is therefore invalid. | <urn:uuid:b93b64ca-f6c8-42d2-898a-8581471fc5a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.lib.umn.edu/hamdi002/blog/2011/09/science-or-simple-guessing.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967416 | 463 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Protein critical for insulin secretion may be contributor to diabetes
October 26, 2009
A cellular protein from a family involved in several human diseases is crucial for the proper production and release of insulin, new research has found, suggesting that the protein might play a role in diabetes.
Mice lacking the ClC-3 channel, a passageway that allows negatively charged chloride ions to pass through cell membranes, have only one-fifth the circulating insulin of normal mice, according to research published this month in the journal Cell Metabolism.
Researchers Deborah Nelson and Louis Philipson of the University of Chicago, senior authors on the paper, argue that the finding may explain a portion of what goes wrong in Type 2 diabetes and could help doctors find rare patients whose diabetes has a previously-undetected genetic origin.
"Chloride regulation is not really well understood, but it's at the heart of cystic fibrosis, and it is related to the regulation of how insulin gets made," said Philipson, professor of medicine and medical director of the Kovler Diabetes Center at the University of Chicago. "Now we see that it's a critical feature of how insulin gets converted from a precursor form to its most active form."
Insulin is made and released by specialized pancreas cells called Beta-cells. The cell first synthesizes a protein called pro-insulin, discovered forty years ago at the University of Chicago by Donald Steiner, which is then put inside structures called secretory granules.
Inside the secretory granule, proinsulin is chemically converted into insulin, and the granule moves to the cell surface where it can release insulin into the blood. Steiner discovered that the conversion of proinsulin to insulin must happen in an acidic environment, but how the granules make themselves acidic was unknown.
A team lead by Ludmila Deriy, a research assistant professor in Nelson's laboratory, studied genetic knockout mice missing the ClC-3 chloride channel. The blood of those mice contained lower levels of insulin and cellular measurements discovered that fewer granules were released by Beta-cells from ClC-3 knockouts and that the granules of ClC-3 knockout mice were less acidic than those from normal mice.
High-powered electron microscope images allowed researchers to observe that the granules of ClC-3 knockout mice contained higher amounts of proinsulin than granules from normal mice. Missing ClC-3 therefore appears to cause a dramatic slowdown of the conversion of proinsulin to insulin inside the granules, said Nelson, professor of neurobiology at the University of Chicago.
"Not only is release down, but what is released is not as efficacious a molecule," Nelson said. "It's pro-insulin rather insulin, if anything's released at all."
A mutation in the function of ClC-3 in humans could very well be the cause of a select few cases of juvenile diabetes, Nelson and Philipson said. However, while other ClC proteins have been linked to bone, muscle and kidney disease, no human case of diabetes has yet been linked to the function of this specific protein. Because ClC-3 knockout mice also experience epileptic seizures, a patient diagnosed with both epilepsy and diabetes could potentially have an undetected defect in their ClC-3 channel.
"If it happens that there's epilepsy and diabetes, it's not currently recognized as a syndrome," Philipson said. "We would be extremely interested in cases like that."
Finding a patient with this rare form of genetically-caused diabetes could be aided by efforts such as Lilly's Law, an Illinois legislation signed in August that created a statewide diabetes registry. The law requires that doctors report all diagnoses of children younger than 12 months to the state Department of Public Health. Scientists can then test those children to see if their disease is caused by a genetic mutation, knowledge that can improve the child's treatment.
The law is named for Lilly Jaffe, a girl diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes that was treated by Philipson and University of Chicago Medical Center colleagues in 2006. Lilly was found to have a rare genetic mutation in a different cellular protein, meaning her disease was treatable with oral medication rather than insulin injections.
A mutation of the ClC-3 channel would probably still be treated with insulin rather than an oral medication. But observing ClC-3 function in humans may provide insight into Type 2 diabetes as well, Philipson said, as the disruption of insulin production and secretion resembles cellular effects seen in adult-onset diabetes.
"We know that Type 2 diabetes is a progressive illness where insulin secretion is high and then goes down over time, but why does it do that? This ties some connection between chloride channels and granular function to the ability of insulin to come out of the cell," Philipson said. "This could be an important pathway in Type 2 diabetes, so it's not just the rare patient that's affected, it's 25 million people in the United States."
The study, "The Granular Chloride Channel ClC-3 Is Permissive for Insulin Secretion," was published in the journal Cell Metabolism on October 7. Alongside Deriy, Philipson, and Nelson, Erwin Gomez, David Jacobson, XueQing Wang, Jessika Hopson, Xiang Liu, Guangping Zhang, and Vytautas Bindokas are listed as authors. All authors come from the University of Chicago.
Funding for the research was provided by the National Institutes of Health and by the University of Chicago Diabetes Research and Training Center.
The University of Chicago Medicine
950 E. 61st Street, Third Floor
Chicago, IL 60637
Phone (773) 702-0025 Fax (773) 702-3171 | <urn:uuid:479a4763-c453-4c4b-b630-7f9e55248401> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uchospitals.edu/news/2009/20091026-clc-3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952763 | 1,179 | 3.203125 | 3 |
This spring, we wanted to heed the call of the North to enjoy the “summer nights’ miraculous sun,” as Norwegian novelist Roy Jacobsen put it, “Walk against the wind. Climb mountains. Look to the north more often.”
During a visit to Norway’s North Cape we did that and more, enjoying such memorable sights as reindeer running in fields near the Cape and eating flowers in private gardens of the small fishing village of Skarsvag. This coastal region of Norway is home to some 4,000 reindeer that migrate here each summer and that undoubtedly served as inspiration for legends of Santa Claus’ flying reindeer.
We met a Sami family who has a farm with reindeer. “Is this Donner or Blitzen?” a woman in our tour group asked as she snapped photos of a reindeer with dramatic antlers. The Sami family we met also ran a small souvenir shop filled with rows of plush Santa Claus dolls and other handmade merchandise. The husband was wearing the colorful traditional clothes of the Sami. The Sami are among Norway’s earliest inhabitants, preceding the better-known Vikings.
At the North Cape itself, we took in the large globe sculpture marking Europe’s northernmost point, and took in the panoramic views of the sea from the cliff, and exhibits of the area’s history at the North Cape’s Visitors Center.
Georgina Cruz, Vero Beach | <urn:uuid:bd6a12dc-38b6-461d-b140-ad4f116534cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tcpalm.com/news/2009/jul/16/heeding-the-call-of-the-north-in-norway/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963328 | 313 | 2.015625 | 2 |
What do inner-city children need to succeed in school? The typical answer is more money for more programs managed by an ever-growing expression of government education.
But as Anthony Bradley points out on the Acton Institute website recently, all the money in the world won’t replace the role played by families and churches. Nearly every study demonstrates the correlation between family stability and educational success in the inner city, but a series of studies from Howard University in 2010 demonstrated the second greatest contributor to success for inner-city students was church involvement. This is especially true for African-American students. A 2009 study reported that attending religious services often eliminated the black/white achievement gap for inner-city black students.
But our greatest concern these days seems to be keeping the church out of school -- like federal judge Janet Hall who prohibited two Connecticut schools from even holding graduation ceremonies in a church. The church isn’t the problem. | <urn:uuid:fa621a73-1d75-4390-9a82-6088e9bf158e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.breakpoint.org/listen/entry/38/17322 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958239 | 187 | 1.71875 | 2 |
By Dr. Joseph Mercola
with Rachael Droege
Coconuts are one of the most nutritious of all fruits, but unfortunately in the United States they are also one of the most overlooked. Coconuts are not a traditional part of the American diet, but have been a staple food to many populations, such as island and Asian cultures, for centuries.
Coconuts: Young versus Mature
There are several different ways to enjoy fresh coconuts, which can be young or mature. Young coconuts have either a green shell or a white "husk" if the outer shell has been removed while mature coconuts are the more familiar-looking brown, hairy variety. The nutrients and physical characteristics change as a coconut matures. Young coconuts have more ‘water’ and soft, gel-like meat, and mature coconuts have firm meat and less ‘water.’ The nutrient values per 100-gram (edible) portion vary significantly as you can see in the chart below.
|Energy (kcal) |
|Moisture (g) |
|Protein (g) |
|Fat (g) |
|Sugars (g) |
|Dietary fiber (g) |
|Potassium (mg) |
|Iron (mg) |
|Vitamin C (mg) || |
|Water Immature ||Water Mature |
|16 ||22 |
|97.0 ||92 |
|NA ||0.3 |
|NA ||0.2 |
|4.1 ||5 |
|0 ||0 |
|NA ||310 |
|NA ||1.1 |
|NA ||2 || |
|Flesh Immature ||Flesh Mature |
|77 ||389 |
|84 ||50 |
|1.4 ||3.5 |
|3.6 ||39 |
|10 ||4 |
|0.7 ||7.5 |
|257 ||360 |
|1 ||1.1 |
|6 ||2 |
|Source: Secretariat of the Pacific Community |
Coconut Milk, Juice and Oil: What’s the Difference?
Most people think that coconut milk is the liquid inside the coconut, but this is not the case. The liquid inside the coconut is known as coconut water or juice, and coconut cream is made from pressing the coconut meat. Coconut milk is made from the expressed juice of grated coconut meat and water.
Coconut oil, on the other hand, is the fatty oil that comes from the coconut meat. It’s important to note that coconut oils on the market vary dramatically in terms of quality. Low-quality coconut oils, which should be avoided, are processed by chemical extraction, using solvent extracts, which produces higher yields and is quicker and less expensive. However, the oils contain chemical residues and many are also hydrogenated, bleached and deodorized.
High-quality coconut oil is a completely different product and is truly the healthiest oil you can consume. It is a much safer alternative to other popular oils such as canola oil, where most of its omega-3s are transformed into trans-fats during the deodorization process, which increases the dangers of chronic diseases.
Because of these drastic variations, my team and I here researched coconut oil extensively until we found the ideal source. I now highly recommend and offer you what is clearly the premier brand of virgin coconut oil in the United States, Tropical Traditions. This virgin coconut oil is not only certified organic, but it also met all our other requirements, including no GMO ingredients, bleaching, deodorizing, refining or hydrogenation. Tropical Traditions also uses fresh coconuts (not "copra" or dried coconuts like most oils) that come from a rural region of the Philippines untainted by urban pollution.
If you do choose another brand of coconut oil, please be sure that it meets these requirements.
Which Type of Coconut is Best?
Coconut can be safely added to most everyone’s diet, but to determine which type of coconut is best for you you’ll need to determine your metabolic type. Young coconuts are good for most people, but are particularly good for carb and mixed types. Mature coconuts, on the other hand, are best for protein types.
Similarly, protein types will likely enjoy the firm meat and coconut cream from the mature coconut, while carb and mixed types will tend to naturally prefer the juice.
Coconuts can add flavor, variety and--best of all--healthy nutrients to your diet. Coconuts are rich in lauric acid, which is known for being antiviral, antibacterial and antifungal, and boosts the immune system.
Fresh coconut juice is one of the highest sources of electrolytes known to man, and can be used to prevent dehydration, for instance in cases of diarrhea or strenuous exercise, instead of a sports drink. Some remote areas of the world even use coconut juice intravenously, short-term, to help hydrate critically ill patients and in emergency situations.
- Other health benefits of coconuts and coconut oil include:
- Help you lose weight, or maintain your already good weight
- Reduce the risk of heart disease
- Lower your cholesterol
- Improve conditions in those with diabetes and chronic fatigue
- Improve Crohn’s, IBS, and other digestive disorders
- Prevent other disease and routine illness with its powerful antibacterial, antiviral and antifungal agents
- Increase metabolism and promotes healthy thyroid function
- Boost your daily energy
- Rejuvenate your skin and prevent wrinkles
Where can I Find Coconuts?
Unfortunately, most U.S. supermarkets do not carry fresh coconuts. However, they are widely available in ethnic grocery stores, such as Asian or Latino markets, farmers’ markets and health food stores. If you are unable to locate a source near you, try requesting them at your local health food store, as many will carry them upon request.
The first part of March I visited Jamaica for one week and was absolutely delighted to find that you can actually purchase young green coconut water in the store in bottles just like one purchases bottled water. I am actually in the process right now of determining if we can import this into the United States for sale here as it would be an absolutely stunning health food, especially if one ferments it into kefir water. I will be writing some articles about this amazing probiotic, fermented food in the near future.
And once you’ve brought your coconut home you can read my article on raw coconuts that was posted last year for more information--such as how to get it open! Related Articles:
The Truth About Coconut Oil: Why it Got a Bad Rep When it’s Actually Good
What Oil Should You be Cooking With, and Which Should You Avoid?
Coconut: In Support of Good Health in the 21st Century
Nutritional And Health Aspects Of Coconut Oil
Raw Coconuts: Good for Your Health, Ideal for Dieting
The Six Things You Can do to Have Truly Younger Looking Skin | <urn:uuid:e9afb26f-f997-4155-86ee-699d8da10b1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2004/03/10/coconuts.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944111 | 1,506 | 2.9375 | 3 |
The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sergio Pinheiro, issued the following statement on 24 August 2007:
The United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in Myanmar, Paulo Sérgio Pinheiro, calls on the authorities of Myanmar to immediately release the peaceful protestors who have been detained following a series of demonstrations against the drastic increase in the prices of fuel.
The Special Rapporteur has received reports that while over forty-five people have been arrested today, the number of arrests is estimated to more than one hundred since the 21 August 2007.
He would like to re-iterate the hopes placed in the Government's political road-map and state that no progress is possible as long as ordinary citizens can't freely express their views, peacefully and in public. The Government should recognize in this discontent that Myanmar's people are not only suffering the denial of their civil and political rights but are also feeling the severe impact on their economic, social and cultural rights. Rather than suppressing the peaceful expression of grievances the authorities of Myanmar should be engaged in public dialogue to find solutions.
The Special Rapporteur further echoes and fully supports the United Nations Secretary-General's press statement of yesterday, asking the authorities "to exercise maximum restraint in responding to demonstrations", and calling for a constructive dialogue towards national reconciliation. | <urn:uuid:4f5c517a-2c35-4da3-a759-95568ff7716a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ohchr.org/EN/NewsEvents/Pages/DisplayNews.aspx?NewsID=7455&LangID=E | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942572 | 274 | 2.03125 | 2 |
| ||What Your Doctor Is Saying || |
'Dys' Can Help You Understand Your Doctor
Last reviewed by Faculty of Harvard Medical School on January 13, 2011
By Robert H. Shmerling, M.D.
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
The language of medicine can be confusing. But sometimes it overlaps considerably with that of everyday communication. The prefix "dys" is a good example. Have you ever heard a relationship described as dysfunctional? Are you familiar with the terms dysentery or dyslexia? How about dyspnea, dyspepsia or dyspareunia?
We'll get to those last three a bit later. The prefix "dys" come from the Greek words describing something that is bad, abnormal, diseased or the opposite of the rest of the word.
Knowing this explains why a dysfunctional relationship is one that is not going well. And it's why dysentery refers to a severe digestive illness (usually caused by a bacterial infection) it combines the "dys" prefix with a form of "enteric," from the Greek enterikos, meaning intestines.
Dyslexia describes a condition in which a person has significant problems with language-based information; reading and spelling tend to be particularly difficult. Its name combines the prefix "dys" with "lexis," from the Greek word for "word." Interestingly, the term "dyslexia" is relatively new its first recorded use was in the early 1960s.
Perhaps the best, or at least the most recent, example of how this medical prefix has crept into common usage is erectile dysfunction (or E.D.). This medical term for impotence has become much more commonly known thanks to the availability of new drugs (including Viagra and Cialis) to treat impotence and the advertising campaigns for them. Perhaps advertisers promoting these new medications thought "E.D." sounded better than "impotence" or "the inability to have or maintain an erection for sexual intercourse." It's another example of medical lingo crossing over into everyday language.
Common "Dys" Words
Doctors use this prefix rather commonly. In fact, my medical dictionary has several pages of "dys" words. Some of the more common ones are described below:
- Dysarthria, difficulty in speaking It combines "dys" with the Greek root arthroun, which means "to speak clearly." Dysarthria usually is used to describe a speech problem related to abnormal brain function, such as a stroke.
- Dyskinesia, difficulty with voluntary movement It combines "dys" with the Greek root kineto, meaning motion. The term dyskinesia is often combined with the term "tardive," which means "lateness," or something that does not occur right away. Tardive dyskinesia is a dreaded and sometimes permanent side effect of taking certain medications (especially anti-psychotic drugs) for a period of time. It is characterized by involuntary movements of the lips, tongue, trunk, arms and legs.
- Dysmenorrhea, painful menstruation It combines "dys" with the Greek men, meaning month, and rhein, meaning "to flow." While a woman might complain of bloating, pain, cramps or other symptoms, her doctor may simply write "dysmenorrhea" as the diagnosis.
- Dyspareunia, painful sexual intercourse It comes from the Greek dyspareunos, meaning "badly mated."
- Dyspepsia, a medical term for indigestion that technically means abnormal digestion The name combines "dys" with the Greek peptein, meaning "to digest." Typically, dyspepsia describes a discomfort in the upper abdomen that might be caused by ulcer disease, but dyspepsia is often not related to ulcers. Doctors distinguish ulcer pain from "non-ulcer dyspepsia" the latter is much more common.
- Dysphagia, difficulty swallowing It combines "dys" with the Greek root phagein, meaning to eat. If you were to complain of food sticking in your throat when you try to swallow, your doctor might record "dysphagia" as your complaint.
- Dyspnea, shortness of breath This term comes from the Greek word dyspnoia, meaning difficulty breathing. One type, called paroxysmal nocturnal dyspnea, or PND (meaning episodes of nighttime shortness of breath), is a characteristic symptom of heart failure.
- Dystrophy, any condition that arises from faulty nutrition or development It comes from a combination of "dys" with the Greek root trephein, meaning "to nourish." One common use of this word is to describe a family of genetic muscle diseases, collectively called the "muscular dystrophies."
- Dysuria, painful urination It combines "dys" with the Greek root ouron, meaning urine. This is a common symptom among people with bladder infections or urinary tract infections (UTIs).
What's the Opposite?
You might wonder whether there is a counterpart to "dys" to describe good function or a situation when everything is normal. In fact, there are several. "Eu-" or "normo-" are two common prefixes that describe the state of normality for whatever follows. For example, "euvolemic" means the volume of fluids in the body is normal; "normotensive" means the blood pressure is normal. These will be covered in a future column.
Getting To Know Dys
Sometimes, a little translation goes a long way. Knowing what "dys" means and how it is used in medical terminology can help decipher a large number of words and phrases you may hear or read in your contacts with health care professionals. In fact, you may already be using these terms regularly without realizing how common they are in "medicalese."
Getting to know the "dys" prefix can explain terms and phrases contained in your medical record or even in medical advertisements. But it can do more than that it can also help you understand what your doctor is saying.
Robert H. Shmerling, M.D. is associate physician at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and associate professor at Harvard Medical School. He has been a practicing rheumatologist for over 20 years at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is an active teacher in the Internal Medicine Residency Program, serving as the Robinson Firm Chief. He is also a teacher in the Rheumatology Fellowship Program. | <urn:uuid:88aa3124-f00a-4068-8840-7bb3f0e452cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSRNM000/35320/35328/455764.html?d=dmtHMSContent | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948218 | 1,372 | 2.9375 | 3 |
David Gray Warns Of Music Use In Guantanamo Torture04 July 2008
David Gray Warns Of Music Use In Guantanamo Torture
Suspected terrorist detainees are repeatedly subjected to loud music during interrogation at Guantanamo and other US bases with a wide variety of songs used, from heavy metal acts such as Metallica and Rage Against The Machine, to hip-hop stars such as Eminem and Dr Dre to novelty tracks such as the theme song for Barney the dinosaur.
But speaking on BBC Radio 4's World Tonight programme, Gray called for greater public discussion of the matter.
"Only the novelty aspect of this story gets it noticed... Guantanamo greatest hits," he said.
"What we're talking about here is people in a darkened room, physically inhibited by handcuffs, bags over their heads and music blaring at them."
"That is nothing but torture."
He continued: "It doesn't matter what the music is - it could be Tchaikovsky's finest or it could be Barney the Dinosaur.
"It really doesn't matter, it's going to drive you completely nuts.
"No-one wants to even think about it or discuss the fact that we've gone above and beyond all legal process and we're torturing people," he added.
The charity Reprieve, which was associated with the recent Meltdown festival curated by Massive Attack, has created a petition to encourage artists to ban their music being used in the situations discussed by Gray.
|Comment on this article| | <urn:uuid:e766e3d4-ce49-440d-a4ce-e6b7e269cf08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.contactmusic.com/news/david-gray-warns-of-music-use-in-guantanamo-torture_1073362 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963928 | 302 | 1.648438 | 2 |
A publication of the Archaeological Institute of America
An unconvincing case, and an ulterior motive?
Simcha Jacobovici, the filmmaker behind "The Lost Tomb of Jesus," a Discovery Channel special airing at 8:00 p.m. on Sunday, March 4, believes that he knows where Jesus is buried--in a tomb in the southern Jerusalem neighborhood of Talpiot that was discovered by an Israeli archaeologist in 1980 and, mysteriously according to the filmmaker, not publicized.
He has assembled an impressive number of experts to comment upon his theories, from Israel Antiquities Authority spokesmen to forensic specialists and statisticians. It worth noting, however, that none of these individuals, with the sole exception of Jacobovici himself and his statistical expert, seem entirely convinced by the evidence presented. The constant references to the wildly popular and absurdly wrongheaded thriller The Da Vinci Code might explain the reluctance of many scholars not related to the project to buy into these conjectures. But even one of the film's proponent experts, James Tabor of the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, has said that the tomb only "arguably" might be connected to the Jesus of Nazareth.
Not one to be discouraged by accusations of fraud and impending legal complications, Jacobovici is now taking the case many leaps forward.
We last heard from Jacobovici when he decided to make a film about the "monumental" discovery of an ossuary bearing an inscription "James the brother of Jesus." Along with Herschel Shanks, who promoted the ossuary and other finds now deemed dubious in Biblical Archaeology Review, and others, the filmmaker is still touting the authenticity of that find in the face of charges of inscription forgery from the Israel Antiquities Authority. (See "The James Ossuary" saga for more on this.) Not one to be discouraged by accusations of fraud and impending legal complications, Jacobovici is now taking the case many leaps forward. In the opinion of the filmmaker and his assembled experts, the James ossuary is a lost--more accurately, stolen--antiquity from what he refers to as "the Jesus Family Tomb."
The film itself is a good deal less frenzied in its treatment of the subject than either the press conference that announced it or any of the subsequent media coverage. It is actually a rather interesting exploration of how one proceeds to reconstruct an archaeological context that no longer exists. That the filmmakers were not entirely successful in this is most because of the nature of the evidence as well as to their own absurd expectations. The tomb has been built over with an apartment block, the bones given a decent Jewish burial as Israel's agreement with its religious authorities requires in the case of skeletal remains, and only the limestone repositories remain as a provocative clue to the sacred relics they might have once housed.
For scholars, however, at least those who are not too busy fulminating on television about the publicity-seeking proclivities of those associated with this project, this case is an eminently flawed one.
The evidence is presented step by step, much as any good attorney might do before a jury, to create a compelling case to the layman. For scholars, however, at least those who are not too busy fulminating on television about the publicity-seeking proclivities of those associated with this project, this case is an eminently flawed one. Aside from the fact that many archaeologists who have recovered such ossuaries have testified to the frequency of the names "Jesus," "Mary," and "Joseph" on the burial equipment from this period, the use of statistical analysis alone, or primarily, to prove an archaeological theory is something that many of us have attempted to get away from.
At one time we archaeologists loved statistics, happily performing complex regression and cluster analyses on our data and spitting out conclusions from our computers that, likely, proved the conjectures we had begun with. In the last two decades, however, we have begun to question these facile validations of our common sense. The problem is with the data. The methods may be perfectly suited to a world in which a representative sample, normal distribution or even an idea of what the population in question might be is possible. Archaeological evidence is precisely the opposite. We do not, in point of fact, know any of these things. In the words of one former statistically enthralled antiquarian, "Even when the odds were good, we knew that the goods were odd."
We know that we have seen these names before and we know that the universe from which [the] results are drawn is a flawed one that no amount of mathematical manipulation can overcome.
Thus, unlike Jacobovici and company's impressively qualified statistician, the assertion that there was a 1 in 600 to 1 in 1,000 chance that ossuaries with the names inscribed on the Talpiot examples might be found in one tomb, has failed to impress archaeologists. We know that we have seen these names before and we know that the universe from which statistical analyst Feuerverger's results are drawn is a flawed one that no amount of mathematical manipulation can overcome.
The other part of the filmmakers' case is less complex--and considerably less compelling. Although there were no bones to be found, a DNA analysis was performed on the residue of two ossuaries purportedly having contained the bones of Jesus and his wife Mary Magdalene. While the fact that scientists were able to perform such a test on mere residues from the boxes was impressive, the results of the tests were not. The DNA samples obtained were determined to be not from closely related individuals. Since it was supposedly a family tomb the assumption was made that the individuals must have been married.
A famous tomb...not only contained ossuaries with inscriptions bearing the names Mariamne (Mary) and Joseph but also ossuaries that contained the bones of several individuals at once--including one inscribed as "the Son of Caiaphas" that contained the bones of a female.
Good assumption--if, in fact, it were possible to state with certainty that the presence of unrelated individuals either by blood or marriage in a supposed family tomb is impossible. The truth is that DNA analyses are seldom done on remains from ossuary tombs of this period so the assumption is, again, based on mere conjecture. A famous tomb found in North Talpiot, not very far away from the one in question, not only contained ossuaries with inscriptions bearing the names Mariamne (Mary) and Joseph but also ossuaries that contained the bones of several individuals at once--including one inscribed as "the Son of Caiaphas" that contained the bones of a female. Pity the poor archaeologists with this kind of record to work with but, at least, we are not often burdened these days with the mandate that we find biblically related artifacts to validate our work.
Despite its unsound premise there are two moments in this film that should speak to the scholar even if the rest of it fails to do so. In one segment Jacobovici argues with an Antiquities Authority official about the identification of an ossuary from the North Talpiot tombs with the high priest Caiaphas of New Testament fame. This is, indeed, a case of Israeli archaeology being, in effect, hoisted on its own petard. If the Caiaphas identification is a valid one--which we doubt--why not the identifications that Jacobici is proposing?
Another telling part of the film is Jacobovici's discovery of the discarded Book of Jonah in his tomb, put there in modern times by rabbis who needed to dispose of them in a consecrated space. Jonah, so the filmmaker tells us, was essentially the world's first true missionary. It is presented as yet another "coincidence" that has led the filmmaker to his inevitable conclusions but one wonders if this particular moment actually explains the motivations of the individuals connected with this project more fully than the supposed scientific evidence.
Sandra Scham is a contributing editor to ARCHAEOLOGY and the editor of Near Eastern Archaeology. | <urn:uuid:4dfc2d4a-3ab2-463f-9eaf-3b2410f2a0e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archive.archaeology.org/online/reviews/jesustomb2.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970129 | 1,673 | 2.34375 | 2 |
The Brewers Association, Boulder, Colo., reports America's small, independent craft brewers still are growing, despite the challenging economic environment. Dollar growth from craft brewers during the first half of 2009 increased 9 percent, down from 11 percent growth during the same period in 2008. Volume of craft brewed beer sold grew 5 percent for the first six months in 2009, compared to 6.5 percent in the first half of 2008. Barrels sold by craft brewers for the first half of the year are an estimated 4.2 million, compared to 4 million barrels sold in the first half of 2008.
"At a time when many of the giant beer brands are declining, small and independent craft brewers are organically growing their share and slowly gaining shelf and restaurant menu space one glass of craft beer at a time," said Paul Gatza, director of the Brewers Association. The Brewers Association also announced that the United States now boasts 1,525 breweries, the highest number in 100 years.
"The U.S. has more breweries than any other nation and produces a greater diversity of beer styles than anywhere else, thanks to craft brewer innovation," Gatza added. | <urn:uuid:0c7e9675-6f23-4995-9153-191d926cac55> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bevindustry.com/articles/print/82716 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960376 | 230 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Silver nanoparticles are recognized as effective antimicrobial agents and have been implemented in various consumer products including washing machines, refrigerators, clothing, medical devices, and food packaging. Alongside the silver nanoparticles benefits, their novel properties have raised concerns about possible adverse effects on biological systems. To protect consumer’s health and the environment, efficient monitoring of silver nanoparticles needs to be established. Here, we present the development of human metallothionein (MT) based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor for rapid detection of nanosilver. Incorporation of human metallothionein 1A to the sensor surface enables screening for potentially biologically active silver nanoparticles at parts per billion sensitivity. Other protein ligands were also tested for binding capacity of the nanosilver and were found to be inferior to the metallothionein. The biosensor has been characterized in terms of selectivity and sensitivity towards different types of silver nanoparticles and applied in measurements of real-life samples—such as fresh vegetables and river water. Our findings suggest that human MT1-based SPR sensor has the potential to be utilized as a routine screening method for silver nanoparticles, that can provide rapid and automated analysis dedicated to environmental and food safety monitoring. Figure Surface plasmon resonance biosensor for rapid detection of silver nanoparticles was developed. Human metallothionein 1A (hMT1A) was immobilized on the sensor chip surface and showed dose dependent binding to the silver nanoparticles with part per billion sensitivity.
Sabina Rebe Raz, Maria Leontaridou, Maria G. E. G. Bremer, Ruud Peters, Stefan Weigel
Plant parasitic nematodes are the most destructive group of plant pathogens worldwide and their control is extremely challenging. Plant Essential oils (EOs) and their constituents have a great potential in nematode control since they can be developed for use as nematicides themselves or can ... more
For over a century, ulcer has been a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Its treatment has progressed from vagotomy to proton pump inhibitors. However, the drugs used produce many adverse effects and are less effective than they ought to be. Therefore, there is a growing interest in alt ... more
Endophytic fungi are ubiquitous organisms found in the plants, residing intercellular or intracellular, at least for a portion of their lives without causing apparent symptoms of infection. Almost all plants are known to harbor endophytes. The choice of the plant to be used for exploring en ... more
Physicists describe how they have synthesized a new material that belongs to the iron-selenide class of superconductors, called LixFe2Se2(NH3)y, in a paper about to be published in EPJ B. The work was carried out by Ernst-Wilhelm Scheidt from the University of Augsburg and colleagues. This ... more
The U.S. federal government is significantly underestimating the costs of carbon pollution because it is using a faulty analytical model, according to a new study published in the Journal of Environmental Studies and Sciences. A more appropriate accounting of costs would pave the way to cle ... more
Springer advisory board member Vladimir V. Dmitriev, along with fellow scientists Yuriy M. Bunkov and Igor A. Fomin, have been named winners of the 2008 Fritz London Memorial Prize for their discovery and understanding of the "Phase Coherent Spin Precession and Spin Superfluidity of 3He-B." ... more | <urn:uuid:645c0b6c-ec9b-456e-b3ea-3527f76d49b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chemeurope.com/en/publications/362505/development-of-surface-plasmon-resonance-based-sensor-for-detection-of-silver-nanoparticles-in-food-and-the-environment.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940327 | 724 | 3.140625 | 3 |
When it comes to etching metals, a number of options are available. Options include the specific process used, and what type of metal will be used. Each metal has its own unique and individual properties. For example, stainless steel is an incredibly hygienic metal. Often etching uses stainless steel, aluminum, copper and brass amongst others. Brass is often chosen because of its softness, and easily malleable qualities. Its softness makes it valuable in instances where sparks should not be struck or for tools and fittings where explosive gases might be present. It has a yellowish color, similar to gold, and is fairly tarnish resistant.
Brass is an alloy of zinc and copper, giving it many of the same properties those metals possess. Since brass is so soft, it is able to be etched in shorter times and with less mechanical force compared to other metals. It is easily formed into strips, rods, tubes, sheets or plates that can be engraved or etched. This metal is also one of the best and most cost effective conductors of heat and electricity. Products that are often formed out of brass include tubes, piping, welding, weather stripping, locks, gears, doorknobs, valves, decorative embellishments, coinage and musical instruments. Its gold like color makes it great for a cheap decoration substitute.
While it used to be the perfect candidate for needle etching in artistic and custom applications, today chemical etching, often acid etching or photofabrication are using this metal to create various products. In this process acid is able to melt away select parts of the metal, leaving a depression in the work piece. Different shapes and patterns of various sizes and depths can be created in this way. Most often cupric chloride is used to accomplish this, but iron chloride and nitric acid are also good chemicals to use. | <urn:uuid:4c69806b-c63f-43ab-9dd1-5db4ef49bab3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.metal-etching.com/2012/01/24/brass-etching/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95289 | 379 | 3.359375 | 3 |
His children are falling from the sky. He watches from horse-back, acres of England stretching behind him; they drop, gilt-winged, each with a blood-filled gaze. Grace Cromwell hovers in thin air. She is silent when she takes her prey, silent as she glides to his fist. But the sounds she makes then, the rustle of feathers and the creak, the sigh and riffle of pinion, the small cluck-cluck from her throat, these are sounds of recognition, intimate, daughterly, almost disapproving. Her breast is gore-streaked and flesh clings to her claws.
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Later, Henry will say, 'Your girls flew well today'. The hawk Anne Cromwell bounces on the glove of Rafe Sadler, who rides by the king in easy conversation. They are tired; the sun is declining, and they ride back to Wolf Hall with the reins slack on the necks of their mounts. Tomorrow his wife and two sisters will go out. These dead women, their bones long sunk in London clay, are now transmigrated. Weightless, they glide on the upper currents of the air. They pity no one. They answer to no one.
Their lives are simple. When they look down they see nothing but their prey, and the borrowed plumes of the hunters: they see a flittering, flinching universe, a universe filled with their dinner. All summer has been like this, a riot of dismemberment, fur and feather flying; the beating off and the whipping in of hounds, coddling of tired horses, the nursing, by the gentlemen, of contusions, sprains and blisters. And for a few days at least, the sun has shone on Henry. Sometime before noon, clouds scudded in from the west and rain fell in big scented drops; but the sun re-emerged with a scorching heat, and now the sky is so clear you can see into Heaven and spy on what the saints are doing.
As they dismount, handing their horses to the grooms and waiting on the king, his mind is already moving to paperwork: to dispatches from Whitehall, galloped down by the post routes that are laid wherever the court shifts. At supper with the Seymours, he will defer to any stories his hosts wish to tell: to anything the king may venture, tousled and happy and amiable as he seems tonight. When the king has gone to bed, his working night will begin.
Though the day is over, Henry seems disinclined to go indoors. He stands looking about him, inhaling horse sweat, a broad, brick-red streak of sunburn across his forehead. Early in the day he lost his hat, so by custom all the hunting party were obliged to take off theirs. The king refused all offers of substitutes. As dusk steals over the woods and fields, servants will be out looking for the stir of the black plume against darkening grass, or the glint of his hunter's badge, a gold St Hubert with sapphire eyes.
Already you can feel the autumn. You know there will not be many more days like these; so let us stand, the horseboys of Wolf Hall swarming around us, Wiltshire and the western counties stretching into a haze of blue; let us stand, the king's hand on his shoulder, Henry's face earnest as he talks his way back through the landscape of the day, the green copses and rushing streams, the alders by the water's edge, the early haze that lifted by nine; the brief shower, the small wind that died and settled; the stillness, the afternoon heat.
'Sir, how are you not burned?' Rafe Sadler demands. A redhead like the king, he has turned a mottled, freckled pink, and even his eyes look sore. He, Thomas Cromwell, shrugs; he hangs an arm around Rafe's shoulders as they drift indoors. He went through the whole of Italy – the battlefield as well as the shaded arena of the counting house – without losing his London pallor. His ruffian childhood, the days on the river, the days in the fields: they left him as white as God made him. 'Cromwell has the skin of a lily,' the king pronounces. 'The only particular in which he resembles that or any other blossom.' Teasing him, they amble towards supper.
The king had left Whitehall the week of Thomas More's death, a miserable dripping week in July, the hoof prints of the royal entourage sinking deep into the mud as they tacked their way across to Windsor. Since then the progress has taken in a swathe of the western counties; the Cromwell aides, having finished up the king's business at the London end, met up with the royal train in mid-August. The king and his companions sleep sound in new houses of rosy brick, in old houses whose fortifications have crumbled away or been pulled down, and in fantasy castles like toys, castles never capable of fortification, with walls a cannonball would punch in as if they were paper. England has enjoyed fifty years of peace. This is the Tudors' covenant; peace is what they offer. Every household strives to put forward its best show for the king, and we've seen some panic-stricken plastering these last weeks, some speedy stonework, as his hosts hurry to display the Tudor rose beside their own devices. They search out and obliterate any trace of Katherine, the queen that was, smashing with hammers the pomegranates of Aragon, their splitting segments and their squashed and flying seeds. Instead – if there is no time for carving – the falcon of Anne Boleyn is crudely painted up on hatchments.
Hans has joined them on the progress, and made a drawing of Anne the queen, but it did not please her; how do you please her, these days? He has drawn Rafe Sadler, with his neat little beard and his set mouth, his fashionable hat a feathered disc balanced precariously on his cropped head. 'Made my nose very flat, Master Holbein,' Rafe says, and Hans says, 'And how, Master Sadler, is it in my power to fix your nose?'
'He broke it as a child,' he says, 'running at the ring. I picked him up myself from under the horse's feet, and a sorry bundle he was, crying for his mother.' He squeezes the boy's shoulder. 'Now, Rafe, take heart. I think you look very handsome. Remember what Hans did to me.'
Thomas Cromwell is now about fifty years old. He has a labourer's body, stocky, useful, running to fat. He has black hair, greying now, and because of his pale impermeable skin, which seems designed to resist rain as well as sun, people sneer that his father was an Irishman, though really he was a brewer and a blacksmith at Putney, a shearsman too, a man with a finger in every pie, a scrapper and brawler, a drunk and a bully, a man often hauled before the justices for punching someone, for cheating someone. How the son of such a man has achieved his present eminence is a question all Europe asks. Some say he came up with the Boleyns, the queen's family. Some say it was wholly through the late Cardinal Wolsey, his patron; Cromwell was in his confidence and made money for him and knew his secrets. Others say he haunts the company of sorcerers. He was out of the realm from boyhood, a hired soldier, a wool trader, a banker. No one knows where he has been and who he has met, and he is in no hurry to tell them. He never spares himself in the king's service, he knows his worth and merits and makes sure of his reward: offices, perquisites and title deeds, manor houses and farms. He has a way of getting his way, he has a method; he will charm a man or bribe him, coax him or threaten him, he will explain to a man where his true interests lie, and he will introduce that same man to aspects of himself he didn't know existed. Every day Master Secretary deals with grandees who, if they could, would destroy him with one vindictive swipe, as if he were a fly.
Knowing this, he is distinguished by his courtesy, his calmness and his indefatigable attention to England's business. He is not in the habit of explaining himself. He is not in the habit of discussing his successes. But whenever good fortune has called on him, he has been there, planted on the threshold, ready to fling open the door to her timid scratch on the wood.
At home in his city house at Austin Friars, his portrait broods on the wall; he is wrapped in wool and fur, his hand clenched around a document as if he were throttling it. Hans had pushed a table back to trap him and said, Thomas, you mustn't laugh; and they had proceeded on that basis, Hans humming as he worked and he staring ferociously into the middle distance. When he saw the portrait finished he had said, 'Christ, I look like a murderer'; and his son Gregory said, didn't you know? Copies are being made for his friends, and for his admirers among the evangelicals in Germany. He will not part with the original – not now I've got used to it, he says – and so he comes into his hall to find versions of himself in various stages of becoming: a tentative outline, partly inked in. Where to begin with Cromwell? Some start with his sharp little eyes, some start with his hat. Some evade the issue and paint his seal and scissors, others pick out the turquoise ring given him by the cardinal. Wherever they begin, the final impact is the same: if he had a grievance against you, you wouldn't like to meet him at the dark of the moon. His father Walter used to say, 'My boy Thomas, give him a dirty look and he'll gouge your eye out. Trip him, and he'll cut off your leg. But if you don't cut across him, he's a very gentleman. And he'll stand anybody a drink.' | <urn:uuid:c068bcf0-9a01-4142-a12a-e062b8506124> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/books/2012/oct/16/extract-bring-up-the-bodies-hilary-mantel | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985262 | 2,191 | 1.726563 | 2 |
In the survey form, reference was made to the previous definitions of laws and regulations provided for TM/CAM. Herbal medicines have been defined above in the Introduction. In addition, in some countries, animal and mineral materials may be present in herbal medicines.
Member States were asked whether laws or regulations existed for herbal medicines; if they replied yes, follow up questions asked for the year of issue of such laws or regulations, and the type of law or regulation. The options for the type of law or regulation included the same law or regulation as for conventional pharmaceuticals, a separate law or regulation for herbal medicines, or a law or regulation partly the same as for conventional pharmaceuticals.
Survey responses indicate that a majority of responding Member States (92 countries, 65%, Figure 12) have laws or regulations on herbal medicines.
Figure 12. Laws or regulations on herbal medicines
Information provided by 77 of the responding Member States about the year of issue of the law or regulation indicates clearly that the development of laws and regulations on herbal medicine is a recent phenomenon (Figure 13). Over the last 15 years, the number of Member States with laws and regulations on herbal medicines has increased dramatically. The highest number of laws and regulations on herbal medicine were issued between 1996 and 1999.
Figure 13. Number of Member States with laws or regulations on herbal medicines, by year
Responses from those Member States having laws or regulations governing herbal medicine largely indicate that these are similar to laws or regulations on conventional medicine (see Figure 14). As responding Member States were able to choose all categories of law or regulation as required, the total number of answers in the chart below exceeds the number of respondents. As many Member States have more than one law or regulation pertaining to herbal medicines, many Member States indicated more than one category for the type of law or regulation. The total number of Member States which responded to this question was 91.
Figure 14. Type of law or regulation on herbal medicines
Finally, Map 6 below illustrates the Member States responding to the Global Survey which have laws or regulations on herbal medicines.
Map 6. Member States with law or regulation on herbal medicines | <urn:uuid:12fdb43e-9393-4b3f-ad68-cd492229af5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://apps.who.int/medicinedocs/en/d/Js7916e/7.1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945052 | 434 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Rafa Nadal may wholeheartedly believe that hardcourts are "too tough" on players' bodies, but there is currently no proof to back up his claims, a leading sports scientist has told CNN.
"The evidence isn't there, which is surprising considering (how long serious sport has been played). But the proper randomized controlled trials simply haven't been done," says Edward Winter from the Center for Sport and Exercise Science at the UK's Sheffield Hallam University.
"Most of the evidence is anecdotal -- by that I mean identifying trends of injuries which can be related to surfaces or equipment is difficult to disentangle from individual anecdotes that athletes or others make," he added.
Nadal, who has struggled with knee problems during his career, criticized the ATP saying they "worry too little about players' health" adding that officials should consider reducing the number of tournaments played on hard surfaces in a bid to prolong sports activity on and off court.
"After ending the career, it would be nice to be able to play football with friends, or tennis ..." the 11-time grand slam champion said, speaking at the Brazil Open in Sao Paulo on Tuesday. his second tournament this year following a seven-month absence due to an injury to his left knee.
Read: Knee injury continues to 'bother' Rafael Nadal
"The ATP should start thinking about ways to lengthen players' careers. I can't imagine footballers playing on cement, I can't imagine any other sport involving aggressive movements such as tennis being played on such aggressive surfaces such as ours. We are the only sport in the world making this mistake and it won't change," added Nadal, who as youngster learnt the game playing on claycourts.
But Winter, a professor of the physiology of exercise, says there are many factors in play when it comes to assessing player health.
"As standards of performance increase so the demands also increase. There have been suggestions that this foreshortens people's careers, but alternatively -- and tennis is a good example -- you have Masters players continuing to play major competitions well into their 30s, 40s and 50s," Winter said.
Read: Unbeaten in 10 years, wheelchair tennis ace retires | <urn:uuid:da225bc4-4c56-4e14-9511-de10905a084a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcci.com/news/sports/-No-evidence-to-back-up-Nadal-s-hardcourt-claims/-/9357168/18531572/-/15jvxu0/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979699 | 455 | 1.835938 | 2 |
HERBERT C. KELMAN is the Richard Clarke Cabot Professor of Social Ethics, Emeritus, at Harvard University and was (from 1993 to 2003) Director of the Program on International Conflict Analysis and Resolution at Harvard's Weatherhead Center for International Affairs. He received his Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Yale University in 1951. He is past president of the International Studies Association, the International Society of Political Psychology, the Interamerican Society of Psychology, and several other professional associations. He is recipient of many awards, including the Socio-Psychological Prize of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (1956), the Kurt Lewin Memorial award (1973), the American Psychological Association's Award for Distinguished Contributions to Psychology in the Public Interest (1981), the Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order (1997), and the Austrian Medal of Honor for Science and Art First Class (1998). His major publications include International Behavior: A Social-Psychological Analysis (editor; 1965), A Time to Speak: On Human Values and Social Research (1968), and Crimes of Obedience: Toward a Social Psychology of Authority and Responsibility (with V. Lee Hamilton; 1989). He has been engaged for many years in the development of interactive problem solving, an unofficial third party approach to the resolution of international and intercommunal conflicts, and in its application to the Arab-Israeli conflict, with special emphasis on its Israeli-Palestinian component. | <urn:uuid:5ccfbba8-4d2a-474b-a091-17ff63e37c60> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scholar.harvard.edu/hckelman/home | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912432 | 296 | 1.625 | 2 |
A new set of harmonized guidelines for the management of risk factors for cardiovascular disease will make it much easier for physicians to care for their patients, according to the authors of the C-CHANGE guidelines published in CMAJ (Canadian Medical Association Journal).
The Canadian Cardiovascular Harmonized National Guideline Endeavour (C-CHANGE) Initiative harmonized and integrated more than 400 separate recommendations from 8 sets of guidelines into one comprehensive but simplified resource. Differing guidelines can lead to conflicting recommendations and become barriers to good treatment, and the guidelines group simplified and distilled practice and evidence down to 89 recommendations to help clinicians diagnose and manage risk factors for cardiovascular disease in their patients.
"With an aging patient population burdened with multiple chronic diseases, practitioners are challenged to provide the most effective guidelines-based medical management for their patients with multiple comorbidities," writes Dr. Peter Liu, cardiologist at the Peter Munk Cardiac Centre, University Health Network and University of Toronto, with coauthors. The complexity and discrepancy of the recommendations paradoxically became a barrier to good health care.
Harmonization and integration of guidelines is becoming increasingly important because of the growing emphasis on multidisciplinary care. Other regions and countries such as Europe, the United States and New Zealand are moving to harmonize guidelines.
"The [C-CHANGE] harmonized set of recommendations is intended to be consistent, scientifically rigorous and nonredundant, and to positively influence health outcomes," state the authors. This should lead to a more evidence-based approach and effective health care for our patients.
The guidelines provide recommendations on screening, diagnostic strategies and treatment, including changes to health behaviours and pharmaceutical treatments for all the major cardiovascular risk factors that can lead to complications such as stroke, heart attack and sudden cardiac death. | <urn:uuid:5a6f4838-4399-4349-8779-82c49f929896> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://medicalxpress.com/news/2011-09-harmonized-cardiovascular-treatment-guidelines-heart.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921856 | 365 | 2.28125 | 2 |
EFFECTS OF THE LACK OF ATTACHMENT
Instability or disruption in relationships in the care system may give infants or children major problems in their ability to trust and therefore attach to parents or caregivers.
The specific kinds of problems that are frequently shown by children who have experienced faulty attachments to their parents are as follows:
1. May not show normal anxiety following aggressive or cruel behavior
2. May not show guilt when breaking rules or laws
3. May project blame on others
1. Exhibits poor control; depends on others to provide external control of behavior
2. Exhibits lack of foresight
3. Has a poor attention span
1. Sees self as undeserving
2. Sees self as incapable of change
3. Is unable to get satisfaction from tasks well done
4. Has difficulty having fun
1. Lacks trust in others
2. Demands affection but lacks depth in relationships
3. Exhibits hostile dependency
4. Needs to be in control of all situations
5. Has impaired social maturity
1. Has trouble recognizing own feelings
2. Has difficulty expressing feelings appropriately, especially anger, sadness, frustration
3. Has difficulty recognizing feelings in others
1. Has trouble with basic cause and effect
2. Experiences problems with logical thinking
3. Appears to have confused thought processes
4. Has difficulty thinking ahead
5. May have an impaired sense of time
6. Has difficulties with abstract thinking
1. May have difficulty with auditory processing
2. May have difficulty expressing self well verbally
3. May have gross motor problems
4. May experience delays in fine motor adaptive skills
5. May experience delays in personal-social development
6. May have inconsistant levels of skills in all of the above areas
Unattached children have difficulty relating normally with others. How do the above problems relate to the lack of attachment? In the child's first relationship with his primary caregivers he learns what he can and cannot expect from others. Children who do not experience a healthy give and take in this relationship may not be able to experience it in other relationships.
It is most difficult for the unattached child to grow socially. They have great difficulty learning to build and maintain relationships of any sort. Having received little love, they have trouble giving it. They have not learned to care for others. They continue in their babyish ways---self-centered and acting impulsively. They have difficulty incorporating rules and laws. Their first concern is "What's in it for me?"
Because these children do not trust others, many of the kinds of behaviors seen in such children are aimed at keeping people at a distance. Some of the behavior patterns children exhibit to keep people at a distance are:
Poor Eye Contact
It has been seen that eye contact is important in bonding between the parent and child. It is not surprising that many unbonded children make little eye contact with others. Many are self-conscious or truly surprised that anyone wants to look at them. In many families there is a struggle for control. If a child looks the parent in the eye the disturbed parent may see that action as a challenge.
Many children with attachment problems withdraw from interactions with others. Some may do so physically; others seem to put a shield around them; they may be physically near, but distant emotionally.
A further kind of withdrawal resembles fear. As the parent reaches out to the child he cringes; if the parent hugs the child he pulls away or tightens up. All children who withdraw from physical closeness this way have not been abused. Some may simply have learned about the effect their behavior has on adults. The child learns that cringing, fearful behavior is effective in keeping adults at a distance.
When a child is confident that his parent will be available when needed, he is less prone to anxiety that is intense or chronic. The most frightening situation for the child is one in which he needs his parent and that parent is not available. This kind of anxiety is greater in children who have been moved without preparation, or who have had other major changes in their lives occur abruptly. Children who experience chronic anxiety are also often very possessive and clinging.
Lack of Self-Awareness
Some unattached or neglected children seem very aware of their environment, but very unaware of their own bodies. They may over-eat until their stomachs are distended, and they are at the point of vomiting. They may not react to pain and seem unaware of extremes of temperature. Many of these children are bedwetters. It is as if they never learned to pay attention to the signals of their own bodies or want to alleviate their own discomfort. Such behavior may develop in children whose parents are unresponsive to them, who take care of the child when they feel like it, rather than when the child needs it.
Some children with attachment problems appear to be over-competent and do not seem to need parents. They often insist on doing everything themselves. This is not normal childhood behavior.
Aggressive Behavior, Indiscriminate Affection, Control Battles, The Two- Twenty Syndrome,
Delayed Conscience Development are other behavior patterns that keep people at a distance.
These ideas are taken from a paper "Attachment and Separation" by Vera Fahlberg published by the British Agencies for Fostering and Adoption.
Bonding: Relationships in the Image of God by Donald M. Joy, Ph.D. Word Publ, 1985. | <urn:uuid:a5e743b6-c0ce-4bd3-8fac-c78cea70c2e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.darvsmith.com/dox/lackofattachment.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966229 | 1,131 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Send stories of your youth group (preschool-confirmation age) or craft ideas to Andrea S. Pohlmann.
A little music goes a long way to bring joy to kids at Christ Lutheran Church, Woodstock, N.Y., and to children orphaned by HIV/AIDS in Hamisi, Kenya.
Christ Lutheran became aware of Crossroads Springs Institution after a member visited Kenya in 2004. Since then the school and care center for orphans has been a beneficiary of the church's Mission Endowment Fund, which supports projects locally, nationally and globally.
Last year the Sunday school classes decided to help too. The 12 youth, ages 5 to 12, offered an adaptation of Godspell in the spring and Wish You Were Here at Christmastime. Between freewill offerings from the musicals and matching funds from Thrivent Financial for Lutherans, the youth raised more than $1,000 for Crossroads Springs.
|Preperformance photo shoots are part of Wish You Were Here, the troupe's Christmas production. The children "traveled" to the Holy Land and witnessed the birth of Christ firsthand.|
The musicals are written or adapted by Barbara Pickhardt, the children's choral group director. She schedules rehearsals before Sunday school. Additional rehearsals are held prior to the productions, but there are no problems getting these busy kids to attend. "By then, children and parents are so inspired that they show up," said parishioner Eleanor Anderson.
The rest of this article is only available to subscribers.
© 2013 Augsburg Fortress, Publishers | <urn:uuid:d5d56824-1e3f-44ab-8d5b-8f4f58d66894> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=9918 | 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 | 0.934908 | 322 | 1.601563 | 2 |
"There are close to 900,000 unemployed veterans in America right now."
Sanford Bishop on Monday, July 23rd, 2012 in an online video of an earlier speech
Congressman: Nearly 900,000 veterans are unemployed
A recently posted YouTube video had your PolitiFact Georgia scribes worried about our men and women in uniform.
It showed U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop of Albany objecting to parts of a bill setting the budget for the U.S. Department of Defense. He said it weakened labor laws that protect veterans and other workers from discrimination.
Such changes would hit veterans hard. They’re already struggling to find work.
"There are close to 900,000 unemployed veterans in America right now," the Democrat said in the video posted July 23.
Is that correct? We contacted Bishop’s office for more information.
While the video was posted recently, the speech was made in December. Bishop’s motion to change the bill failed.
Bishop’s press secretary, Maxwell Gigle, backed up the claim by sending us news releases from the U.S. Department of Defense, the U.S. House Committee on Veterans Affairs and the congressman’s office.
Two cited the U.S. Department of Labor’s Bureau of Labor Statistics, the federal government’s official keeper of labor data, as the source of their numbers.
Each month, the agency conducts what’s called the Current Population Survey. This survey collects data on employment, earnings, work hours, demographics and related issues from about 60,000 households across the nation.
The survey includes questions designed to track the employment status of veterans, which it defines as men and women who previously served on active duty in the U.S. military and were civilians when the survey was conducted.
In 2011, an average of about 11.3 million veterans were in the workforce, according to the yearly report. Some 945,000 of them were out of work.
Veterans of the wars waged after the 9/11 attacks had the hardest time. About 12.1 percent of them were unemployed last year. By contrast, unemployment among all veterans averaged at about 8.3 percent.
The number of unemployed veterans has since dropped to 806,000, according to the BLS’ June 2012 figures. That’s 7.4 percent of the veteran workforce.
When Bishop made his speech, the latest data available was from November, when 832,000 veterans were unemployed.
Veterans are faring better than U.S. workers as a whole. In June, the unemployment rate for all workers stood at 8.2 percent, according to the BLS.
In conclusion, Bishop said in his speech before Congress that there were "close to 900,000 unemployed veterans in America right now." This number is a bit lower than the yearly average and higher than the latest unemployment figures available at the time.
His statement rates a True on the Truth-O-Meter.
Published: Friday, August 3rd, 2012 at 6:00 a.m.
YouTube.com, U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop site, "Rep. Sanford Bishop Floor Statement Regarding Civil Rights Protections for Veterans," posted July 23, 2012
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Employment Situation of Veterans Summary," March 20, 2012
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Employment Situation of Veterans Summary Table A. Employment status of the civilian noninstitutional population 18 years and over by veteran status, period of service, and sex, 2010-2011 annual averages," March 20, 2012
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Employment status of the civilian population 18 years and over by veteran status, period of service, and sex, not seasonally adjusted," July 6, 2012
U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, "Data Retrieval: Labor Force Statistics (CPS)," accessed Aug. 1, 2012
U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop website, news release, "Bishop Offers Motion to Maintain Protections For Veterans and Health Care Workers," Dec 14, 2011
US. Department of Defense, news release, "Program Offers Paid Training for Unemployed Veterans," May 15, 2012
U.S. House Committee on Veterans Affairs, "VOW To Hire Heroes Act of 2011," accessed July 31, 2012
Thomas.gov, Bill Summary & Status, 112th Congress (2011 - 2012), H.R.1540, All Congressional Actions with Amendments, accessed July 21, 2012
Email interview, Maxwell Gigle, press secretary, U.S. Rep. Sanford Bishop, July 31, 2012
We want to hear your suggestions and comments. Email the Georgia Truth-O-Meter with feedback and with claims you'd like to see checked. If you send us a comment, we'll assume you don't mind us publishing it unless you tell us otherwise. | <urn:uuid:f40611a6-4536-4fef-9a02-aa99b54d595e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politifact.com/georgia/statements/2012/aug/03/sanford-bishop/congressman-nearly-900000-veterans-are-unemployed/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957114 | 1,042 | 2.03125 | 2 |
By Abby Scalf
Whether it’s Serbia or New Orleans, Greece or Wisconsin, place plays as much of a role in sausage making as do the people who make it.
Kent Kleiva knows this first hand. The Palatine dad has eaten sausages from around the globe and turned his fascination with encased meats and the people who make them into an annual event he calls SausageFest.
That fascination started early. Growing up with a Polish mom and Lithuanian dad on Chicago’s South Side, he remembers sausages on the table at every holiday gathering. He not only ate his fair share of hot dogs, but his proximity to a Serbian church gave him the opportunity to sample the congregation’s homemade links.
He said sausage often reflects the region where it’s made. In certain parts of Serbia, for instance, sausage features beef, while in other parts of the country where pigs are raised, pork is the meat of choice. Fennel and lean pork are woven into the fabric of Italian cuisine, hence those flavors in Italian sausage.
“Because there is such a wide variety, you can really find good sausages at different places,” Kent said. “It leaves an imprint on me that I’m tasting a unique type of food stuff at a time in American society when we have a lot of sameness.”
Kent readily admits that he has tried to make sausage at home but has decided to leave sausage making to the pros.
“My inclination is for tasting as many sausages as possible without having to work to make them,” he said.
So instead he searches out ways to incorporate sausage into various dishes. His recipe file includes three-sausage chili, peppers with Italian sausage, and baked beans and sausage. While some combinations are traditional, he has discovered interesting ways to use andouille sausage, such as cooking it with sweet potatoes and stuffing it into baked apples. His recipe for four-sausage gumbo is at dailyherald.com/entlife/food.
The idea for SausageFest sprouted 15 years ago on Christmas Eve. As the family dined on Cajun gumbo the conversation turned to sausage’s contribution to global cuisines.
Now, each year on Labor Day weekend, 70 to 100 family and friends make or bring sausages and join a friendly competition to find the top links and recipes. Kent said among this year’s entries were homemade crab and rabbit sausages and roasted poblanos stuffed with sausage. A Polish sausage and sauerkraut casserole earned the title Grand Champion.
An offshoot of SausageFest is his website, SausageFest.com, which he calls “the sausage portal for the free world.” The site features details from the gathering, recipes such as wild game sausage Alfredo with bison and pheasant sausages and profiles of sausage makers throughout the US.
“It is being aware that there are sausages around you almost everywhere. You just have to look for it,” he said.
As artisan sausages become more popular and sausage shakes it fatty image. Kent said he hopes more families consider incorporating sausage in their weekly menus and one day, SausageFest will be observed by link lovers across the country.
“I think we could have Sausagefest in everyone’s backyard through all the cities in America and celebrate in backyards at the barbecue,” he said.
Ÿ To suggest someone to be profiled, send the cook’s name, address and phone number to Cook of the Week, c/o Daily Herald Food section, P.O. Box 280, Arlington Heights, IL 60006 or email@example.com.Copyright © 2013 Paddock Publications, Inc. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:d4f0d51e-fabe-44ce-b840-c3552be8e756> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailyherald.com/article/20121107/entlife/711079999/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959097 | 811 | 1.523438 | 2 |
There is a growing convergence of thinking about where the US Occupy movement should go as a next step to turning its values, concerns and commitments into changing what most Americans see as broken government under control of corporate interests. When it comes to political and social movements, history shows us that they usually fail not because they disappear, but rather because they become marginalized, unimportant despite a core group of committed people and groups.
They lose popular appeal and support or never expand beyond a small early group of supporters. The nation and many supporters move on. Other movements grab the interest of the most informed, dissident-type people seeking truth, justice or change. A good example of such a failed contemporary movement is the 911 truth effort. The groups, websites and true believers keep on pushing their objectives a decade after the historic event. But the goal of revealing what really happened that the official government story does not divulge is like a moldy piece of forgotten food in the refrigerator.
Movement death by inattention happens despite good resources, charismatic leaders and even great organization and communication skills. Critical mass of public support simply never materializes, in large measure because diverse segments of the population never buy into the central arguments of the movement. The Internet is littered with websites of activist groups that persist despite clear evidence of decay and wide disinterest. True believers have a mission in life tied to their egos that prevent them from admitting defeat. They do not move on.
The biggest mistake that passionate advocates for a cause make is overestimating their ability to reach critical mass and underestimating the competition of other movements with greater appeal which rob them of both attention and supporters.
Make no mistake; I totally and enthusiastically support the Occupy movement because it offers the prospect of producing reforms to fix our broken government and attracting very wide public support for a nonviolent Second American Revolution. What worries me, however, is that many of its participants seem over confident, as if they cannot fail. On the other hand, I have become impressed by a convergence of thinking about what the next big step for the Occupy movement can and should be. I will briefly identify examples of this convergent thinking.
Canadian author Erich Koch has written a compelling article: An Objective for the U.S. Occupy Movement: A Constitutional Convention. He buys into the view that the Occupy movement could embrace the thinking of Harvard Professor Lawrence Lessig who has presented the case for amendments to fix Congress. Like others Koch is correct in saying that “No one in the movement would disagree with its main point: the fundamental problem is the corruption of Congress.” Unlike others, Koch recognizes the path for obtaining reform constitutional amendments is using the provision in Article V for a convention of state delegates, having the same power as Congress in proposing amendments that still must be ratified by three-quarters of the states. It has never been used despite many hundreds of state requests for a convention because, clearly, Congress and most status quo forces fear such a convention.
Koch cited a great article by Alesh Houdek: Has a Harvard Professor Mapped Out the Next Step for Occupy Wall Street? Most is a review of Lessig’s book. Correctly noted about using the convention option is “it bypasses the usual means of reform (Congress, presidential elections, etc.) which the lobbyists and other interested parties have learned so well to manipulate. And lastly, such a convention would be free to propose solutions that would otherwise be subject to be stricken as unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.” This is critical to understand. Houdek concludes: “Properly presented, the strategies and aims of Lessig’s book could make it the handbook the protesters have been looking for — and provide a pathway for them to ride out the winter ahead.”
Dan Froomkin also has presented the same case in: Lawrence Lessig’s New Book On Political Corruption Offers Protesters A Possible Manifesto. He quoted what Lessig himself had said in an article about the Occupy movement and the concern that I share, namely that the Occupy movement “will become too diffuse and not focused” on the root issue of corruption of government. And that the movement will only grow “if a wide range of people can be part of it.” This requires coalescing around an issue “as fundamental as the corruption of the system.” Only a constitutional amendment can fix the corrupting impact of money in politics. This is also the focus of Dylan Ratigan’s fine effort, except that the use of the convention path has not been emphasized.
A specific call for an Article V convention was made by the pro-Occupy US Day of Rage group: “We are organizing a coordinated national campaign at local and state levels, including where necessary the occupation of state capitols, in order to demand an article V constitutional convention be called to restore representative democracy to our nation.” A set of specific reforms to be fix the corruption-money problem are presented.
The 99 Percent Declaration group has also presented an important statement centered on the call for a National General Assembly, where delegates would formulate a petition of a list of grievances that would be delivered to the main parts of the federal government on behalf of 99 percent of Americans. A suggested list of grievances includes the need for constitutional amendments to achieve solutions, but only for a few of the issues. Not explicitly acknowledged, however, is that constitutional amendments, not ordinary laws, would be necessary for other solutions, such as term limits for Congress and abandoning the Electoral College. Moreover, there is no specific recognition that serious amendment reforms will not be proposed by Congress, and that an Article V convention is needed. Inattention to method was also the shortcoming of a similar list of solutions by Ralph Lopez.
Author Scott Turow has presented: How Occupy Wall Street Can Restore Clout of the 99%. His recommendation to the Occupy movement is “work across the nation for a constitutional amendment requiring Congress to regulate the expenditure of private money on elections. … The best antidote to this imbalance of income and influence would be to greatly reduce the role of private funding in our elections. …As for the Occupy Wall Street movement, it has been criticized by some for not having a realistic agenda, even though polling shows that millions of Americans, including me, are sympathetic to the basic message of the protests.” His prescription: “rally around a single goal and reinvigorate their movement.” Fine, but missing from his analysis is the recognition that Congress will never propose reform amendments, only an Article V convention will do the job.
This sampling of recent writings clearly shows convergent thinking that the Occupy movement can and should focus on key reform constitutional amendments and, second, that some better informed critical thinkers recognize, this requires advocacy for using the Article V convention option that Congress has refused to honor.
As to Occupy movement success, I want again to emphasize that there is always competition for the attention and support of concerned Americans who recognize how broken our system is. In particular, the well financed Americans Elect effort is impressive. Because it is offering an alternative path to nominating a presidential candidate in 2012, over 2 million Americans have already signed up to be delegates for a web convention, with millions more very likely as the mainstream media keeps giving this effort attention. The Get Money Out campaign has over 250,000 signatories.
Disgust with the two-party plutocracy is surely shared by Occupy participants and supporters. But for movement success based on enticing many millions of Americans, the Occupy movement cannot ignore competition such as Americans Elect. This means that the Occupy movement must explicitly start making the case to the broad public why their effort can achieve more of what is needed. This is easily done.
Here are some key concepts that the Occupy movement could use. No matter who is nominated by Americans Elect, the odds are that either the better financed Democrat or Republican candidate will win the presidency. This may just require spending even more millions of dollars on campaigns. And whoever is nominated by the group will likely be strongly linked to one of the two major parties, rather than some courageous reformer and enemy of the status quo. Moreover, this group does not offer a realistic path to getting the key reforms of the system that most of us see critically needed, such as constitutional amendments, already recognized by many Occupy supporters.
A sign of trouble for the Occupy movement is a recent national poll that found: “In the latest survey, 33 percent voiced support for Occupy Wall Street, down from 35 percent in a previous poll, while opposition to the movement climbed from 36 percent to 45 percent. Twenty-two percent were unsure.” These results are worse than earlier polls. From the left, Chris Bowers commented: “the decline in Occupy Wall Street’s image is probably more connected to the increasingly negative coverage of the clashes between protesters and police than it is to declining support for movement’s message.” Now is the time to move the message from what is wrong to solutions, using an Occupy Congress approach. Otherwise, this view from the conservative right might prevail: “OWS will linger … but I’d argue we’ve seen the movement’s high tide. It will now recede into a mere annoying shadow of itself as support is withdrawn by political figures and organizations.”
True, Occupy movement success is not inevitable. The movement must better define what success means and how it can be achieved if it is to attract and keep the support of many millions of Americans. It needs specificity for its solutions that ordinary Americans can relate to. Never underestimate the power and commitment of status quo forces to maintain control over the political, government and economic system that has so harmed most Americans. The fight against the Occupy movement mostly seen as local police violence against peaceful demonstrators and protesters as well disinformation from some news outlets and pundits are nothing compared to what could be mounted if the movement is viewed as more threatening to the status quo delusional democracy with its delusional prosperity.
About the author: Joel S. Hirschhorn has written numerous articles for The Washington Post, The New York Times and The Chicago Tribune, among many others. In the past, Hirschhorn has served as the Senior Staff for The U.S. Congress (Office of Technology Assessment), Director of Environment, Energy & Natural Resources at the National Governors’ Association and Professor at the University of Wisconsin, Madison. He is the Chair of the Independent Party of Maryland and co-Founder of Friends of the Article V Convention. He has also authored bestsellers such as ‘Sprawl Kills — How Blandburbs Steal Your Time, Health and Money’ and ‘Delusional Democracy: Fixing The Republic Without Overthrowing The Government’. To visit his website, click here. | <urn:uuid:b289bdc4-bfb6-44a0-9cdf-a06eac238054> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bravenewworld.in/2011/12/01/occupy-movement-next-step-convergence/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954793 | 2,203 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Inventory of the Chris Costner Sizemore Papers, 1952-1989 (bulk 1956-1979)
The Chris Costner Sizemore Papers span the time period 1952-1989, with the bulk of the papers dating between 1956 and 1979. The collection consists largely of correspondence; diaries and writings by Sizemore; clippings centered on film and book promotions or speaking engagements; printed materials related to her appearances; interviews and documentary materials (including film, video- and audiocassettes); and miscellaneous materials including photographs, legal and financial papers, and a general file. Most items relate to Sizemore's struggle with multiple personality disorder (dissociative identity disorder), both personally through letters, writings, and diaries, and publicly through interviews, documentary media, and clippings. The papers provide an in-depth look into the life of a woman with a rare disorder who later came to clearly articulate her life to the public. She became a mental health advocate in a time when mental illnesses were still kept secret. A biography was written by her doctors in 1957, Corbett Thigpen and Hervey Cleckley, called The Three Faces of Eve. It was turned into a film the next year. Under the pseudonym, Evelyn Lancaster, Sizemore co-authored The Final Face of Eve with James Poling in 1958. In 1977 she wrote, under her given name, the autobiography I'm Eve.
The Correspondence Series is arranged chronologically, and consists primarily of incoming letters. Dr. Corbett Thigpen, the doctor to deliver the original diagnosis of multiple personality disorder, is prominent in much of the collection; this particular series plainly documents his relationship to Sizemore during treatment and continuing well into the 1970s. He wrote to Sizemore about his writings, revealing much about the publication of The Three Faces of Eve (book), and its subsequent movie release. Other correspondents include other doctors, family members, Sizemore's editors and publishers, and organizations for which she lectured. Thus they help document earlier years, when her identity remained a secret, through its release, and her subsequent public life of art shows, lectures, broadcasts, and appearances, often for mental health organizations.
The Writings Series is comprised primarily of the holograph manuscript, typescript, final galley proofs, and paperback edition of I'm Eve, the memoir written by Sizemore with the help of Elen Patillo. This comprehensive view of the book's publication is represented from handwritten copy to final edition. All other parts of the collection provide the context in which the book was created, including a large amount of correspondence from editors, recordings of family interviews (presumably recorded for I'm Eve), clippings, and financial papers. Other parts of the Writings Series include some short descriptions of parts of her life and poetry. There are a few writings by others.
There are six diaries in the Diaries Series, kept during certain spans of the 1950s and 1970s. Here Sizemore clearly discloses inner thoughts, which reveal very personal information about enduring mental illness and its effects on her family. The Clippings Series conveys the breadth of the advertising campaign for The Three Faces of Eve, as well as clippings regarding Sizemore's books, art shows, articles, and lectures. The Printed Materials Series also includes information on I'm Eve, including newsletters, flyers, book tour itineraries, programs, and a few journal articles about Sizemore and multiple personality disorder. There is also an Interviews and Documentary Materials Series that again reflects the public's interest in her life, as well as her own desire to document and share her experiences in writing, speaking, and art. Included is a documentary film by Dr. Thigpen, and video and audiocassettes of television interviews, other appearances, and of family members discussing a shared past (sound quality of some of the audiocassettes is very poor). The Miscellaneous Series also contains items relating to Sizemore's illness and subsequent writing and speaking career, such as financial and legal papers, medical files, notes from certain personalities, and photographs. Additionally, some materials are housed separately for preservation reasons in an Oversize Materials group.
- Chris Costner Sizemore Papers, 1952-1989 (bulk 1956-1979)
- Sizemore, Chris Costner
- 8 Linear Feet, 6000 Items
- David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University
- For current information on the location of these materials, please consult the Library's online catalog.
Restrictions apply to the use of the Chris Costner Sizemore Papers. The collection is closed to use except with permission from donor.
Patrons must sign the Acknowledgment of Legal Responsibility and Privacy Rights form before using this collection.
Also, all or portions of this collection may be housed off-site in Duke University's Library Service Center. Consequently, there may be a 24-hour delay in obtaining these materials.
Please contact Research Services staff before visiting the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library to use this collection.
The copyright interests in this collection have not been transferred to Duke University. For more information, consult the copyright section of the Regulations and Procedures of the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library.
Includes letters from Dr. Corbett H. Thigpen, other doctors, friends, family members, editors, publishers, and some who had recently seen Sizemore on television or read her works. Letters are arranged chronologically with undated letters at the end. Most attachments remain clipped to the individual letters, and so this particular series also includes some photographs, royalty statements, and other miscellaneous materials. A few additional items are housed in the oversize materials.
Includes typescripts of the publication I'm Eve, as well as poetry by Sizemore and others. See also Oversize Materials group.
Other printed items are located in the Oversize Materials.
This series contains interviews and documentary materials in a variety of media formats, including audio cassettes and film. Some of the audiocassettes have very poor sound quality.
[Original recordings are closed to use. Listening or viewing copies must be made for access.]
It is likely that these were recorded by Sizemore and Pittilo in preparation for writing I'm Eve. Each tape is listed below with the first name found written on the master copy, although there may be more than one person interviewed on each tape. See Master Copy labels for more information.
Additional photographs in Correspondence Series and in Ovsz. Materials
Consists of additional items from an accession acquired after processing of the main collection was completed. Arranged in series similar to the main collection.
Two volumes written in German dating from the 1950s.
Includes contract agreements with Dr. Thigpen.
|1927 Apr 4||Born in Edgefield, S.C. to Acie and Zueline Hastings Costner.|
|1929||Traumas witnessed. First memory of additional personalities: the Red Head Girl, Ugly Girl, and Black Patent Shoe Girl.|
|1933||Twin sisters, Elyse and Louise, born.|
|1946||Married George Rodgers.|
|1948||Daughter Taffy born.|
|1952||Divorced George Rodgers. Multiple personality disorder diagnosed by Dr. Corbett Thigpen and Dr. Hervey Cleckley.|
|1953||Married Don Sizemore.|
|1957||McGraw-Hill released The Three Faces of Eve by Corbett Thigpen. Film version came out the same year.|
|1958||Co-authored The Final Face of Eve with James Poling.|
|1959||Son, Bobby Sizemore, born.|
|1977||Doubleday released I'm Eve, by Sizemore and cousin Elen Sain Pittillo.|
- Women authors, American.
- Multiple personality--United States--Case studies.
- Multiple personality in art.
- Mental illness--Personal narratives.
- Women--Mental health--Personal narratives.
- Women--Psychology--Case studies.
- Diaries--Women authors.
- Sizemore, Chris Costner--I'm Eve.
[Identification of item], Chris Costner Sizemore Papers, David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library, Duke University.
The papers of Chris Costner Sizemore were acquired by the David M. Rubenstein Rare Book & Manuscript Library from 1982 through 1989.
Processed by Lisa Stark
Completed December 1999
Encoded by Lisa Stark
This finding aid is NCEAD compliant. | <urn:uuid:c14c2b22-43ac-4357-b220-fdbd906242a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://library.duke.edu/rubenstein/findingaids/sizemore/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938313 | 1,842 | 1.671875 | 2 |
DENVER — Determined never to forget but perhaps ready to move on, the nation gently handed Sept. 11 over to history Sunday and etched its memory on a new generation. A stark memorial took its place where twin towers once stood, and the names of the lost resounded from children too young to remember terror from a decade ago.
In New York, Washington and Pennsylvania, across the United States and the world, people carried out rituals now as familiar as they are heartbreaking: American flags unfurled at the new World Trade Center tower and the Eiffel Tower, and tears shed at the base of the Pentagon and a base in Iraq.
President Barack Obama quoted the Bible and spoke of finding strength in fear. George W. Bush, still
And Jessica Rhodes talked about her niece, Kathryn L. LaBorie, the lead flight attendant on the plane that hit the south tower. She remembered a radiant smile and infinite compassion, and suggested that now, 10 years on, it is time to turn a corner.
"Although she may not ever be found, she will never ever be lost to her family and her friends," Rhodes said after she read a segment of the list of the dead at ground zero. "Today we honor her by letting go of the sadness over losing her and embracing the joy of having known her." It was the 10th time the nation has paused to remember a defining day. In doing so, it closed a decade that produced two wars, deep changes in national security, shifts in everyday life — and, months before it ended, the death at American hands of the elusive terrorist who masterminded the attack.
The anniversary took place under heightened security. In New York and Washington especially, authorities were on alert. Ahead of the anniversary, the federal government warned those cities of a tip about a possible car-bomb plot. Police searched trucks in New York, and streets near the trade center were blocked. To walk within blocks of the site, people had to go through checkpoints.
The names of the fallen — 2,983 of them, including all the victims from the three Sept. 11 attack sites and six people who died when terrorists set off a truck bomb under the towers in 1993 — echoed across a place utterly transformed.
In the exact footprints of the two towers was a stately memorial, two great, weeping waterfalls, unveiled for the first time and, at least on the first day, open only to the relatives of the victims. Around the square perimeter of each were bronze parapets, etched with names.
Some of the relatives were dressed in funereal suits and others
At the south tower pool, an acre in area and 30 feet deep, Mary Dwyer, of Brooklyn, remembered her sister, Lucy Fishman, who worked for Aon Corp., an insurance company that occupied seven floors near the very top.
"It's the closest I'll ever get to her again," she said.
One Sept. 11 relative pronounced the memorial breathtaking. An underground section and a museum won't open until next year, but for many of the families, the names were enough.
"It breaks me up," said David Martinez, who watched the attacks happen from his office in Manhattan, and later learned that he had lost a cousin and a brother, one in each tower.
At memorial services, people talked of grief and loss and war and justice. But they also talked of moving forward.
"Every year it becomes more significant," Barbara Gorman said at a service for the Port Authority dead, which included 37 police officers, one of them her husband, Thomas. "My kids are 25, 21, 18. They understand now. It's not so much a tragedy anymore as history, the history of our country." In the decade between then and now, children have grown. The second-graders who were with Bush on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001, will graduate high school next spring. And children who were in the cradle or the womb on that day are old enough to read names
"You will always be my hero," Patricia Smith, 12, said of her mother.
Nicholas Gorki remembered his father, "who I never met because I was in my mother's belly. I love you, Father. You gave me the gift of life, and I wish you could be here to enjoy it with me." Alex Zangrilli said: "Dad, I wish you were here with me to give me advice, to be on the sidelines when I play sports like all the other dads. ... I wish we had more time together." Madeline Hoffman smiled as she said to her father: "Everyone always tells me I look and act just like you." And Caitlin Roy, whose father was a firefighter, said: "I want to thank you for the nine years you spent as my dad. They were short but not without their benefits. We're taken care of now. We're happy." Obama, standing behind bulletproof glass and in front of the white oak trees of the memorial, read a Bible passage after a moment of silence at 8:46 a.m., when the first jetliner slammed into the north tower 10 years ago.
The president, quoting Psalm 46, invoked the presence of God as an inspiration to endure: "Therefore, we will not fear, even though the earth be removed, and though the mountains be carried into the midst of the sea." Obama and Bush, joined by their wives, walked up to one of the pools and put their hands to some of the names. Bush later read from a letter that President Abraham Lincoln wrote to a mother believed to have lost five sons in the Civil War: "I pray that our heavenly father may assuage the anguish of your bereavement." In a ceremony at the Pentagon, Biden paid tribute to "the 9/11 generation of warriors." "Never before in our history has America asked so much over such a sustained period of an all-volunteer force," he said. "So I can say without fear of contradiction or being accused of exaggeration, the 9/11 generation ranks among the greatest our nation has ever produced, and it was born — it was born — it was born right here on 9/11." Defense Secretary Leon Panetta paid tribute to 6,200 members of the U.S. military who have died in the Iraq and Afghan wars. One hundred eighty-four people died at the Pentagon.
In Shanksville, Pa., a choir sang at the Flight 93 National Memorial, and a crowd of 5,000 listened to a reading of the names of 40 passengers and crew killed aboard the fourth jetliner hijacked that day a decade ago. Obama and his wife traveled to the Pennsylvania town after their visit to New York and placed a wreath at the memorial.
During the president's visit, members of the crowd chanted, "USA! USA!" One man called out: "Thanks for getting bin Laden!" It was the first anniversary observance since al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden was killed by U.S. forces in Pakistan in May.
In a brief scare, two military aircraft had to escort a New York-bound American Airlines flight from Los Angeles after three passengers locked themselves in the bathroom, but it was not thought to be terrorism. Fighter jets also shadowed a Denver-to-Detroit Frontier Airlines flight after the crew reported that two people were spending an unusual amount of time in the bathroom; the FBI said a search of the plane turned up nothing but an airline spokesman said police detained three passengers.
For the most part, in New York, away from the trade center, it was a pleasant September Sunday. People had brunch outdoors. Bicycles crowded the paths along the Hudson River. Families strolled around. Sailboats caught a river breeze and drifted past the dock where emergency vessels evacuated trade center survivors.
Elsewhere in the nation, it was a day not to bring life to a stop, as it was 10 years ago, but to pause and reflect.
Outside FedEx Field in Landover, Md., fans got ready for the first Sunday of the NFL season, the Redskins and Giants, Washington and New York. There was extra security at the stadium. Scott Millar, a Redskins season ticket-holder, used the logic of post-Sept. 11 America in deciding to go to the game.
"You've got to trust the security. You've got to trust the people who are here to protect you," he said. "We're here to have a good time." In southwest Missouri, where 160 people died in May in the nation's deadliest tornado in six decades, New York firefighters and ground zero construction workers joined survivors in a tribute to the victims of Sept. 11.
The New York contingent brought a 20-by-30-foot American flag recovered a decade ago from a building near the trade center. Survivors of a Greensburg, Kan., tornado began repairing the flag in 2008, using remnants of flags from their town. The final stitches are being made in Joplin, Mo., and then the flag will go to the National 9/11 Memorial Museum. Missouri is the last stop on a 50-state tour to promote national unity and volunteerism.
"We're so far away from the World Trade Center," said Miller, who brought her mother and two children to the Joplin tribute. "But it doesn't matter how far away you are." Some observed the day as a time to serve. Thousands cleaned parks, renovated community centers and gave blood as they did in the days after the 2001 attacks. Some said they were trying to reclaim good will that they said has been lost amid political rancor and economic fear.
"As unfortunate as it was, it seemed like it put us all back into the frame of mind that life wasn't just about me," said Yvette Windham, who joined 200 people to build seven new homes in a Nashville, Tenn., neighborhood.
The world offered gestures large and small. The Colosseum in Rome, rarely lit up, glowed in solidarity. Pope Benedict XVI encouraged people to resist "temptation toward hatred" and focus on justice and peace. Taps sounded in Belgium and in Bagram, Afghanistan. In Madrid, they planted 10 American oak trees in a park, led by a prince.
And in Malaysia, Pathmawathy Navaratnam woke up Sunday in her suburban Kuala Lumpur home and did what she's done every day for the past decade — say "good morning" to her son, Vijayashanker Paramsothy, who was killed in New York on Sept. 11, 2001.
"He is my sunshine. He has lived life to the fullest, but I can't accept that he is not here anymore," Navaratnam said. "I am still living, but I am dead inside." The Taliban marked the anniversary by vowing to keep fighting against U.S. forces in Afghanistan, insisting that they had no role in the Sept. 11 attacks. They railed against "American colonialism" and said Afghans have "endless stamina" for war.
Hours later, a Taliban suicide bomber blew up a large truck at the gate of a Combat Outpost Sayed Abad in Afghanistan's eastern Wardak province, killing two civilians and injuring 77 U.S. troops.
"Some back home have asked why we are still here," U.S. Ambassador Ryan Crocker said at a 9/11 memorial at the embassy in Kabul. "It's been a long fight and people are tired." "We're here," he said, "so that there is never again another 9/11 coming from Afghan soil."
Associated Press writers Verena Dobnik, Jim Fitzgerald and Tom Hays in New York; Tamara Lush in Nashville, Tenn.; Ben Feller in Washington; Joe Mandak in Shanksville, Pa.; Jamey Keaten in Paris contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:5c6690f4-e392-42e3-acbe-681a87fc9791> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.denverpost.com/breakingnews/ci_18872949?source=pkg | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976341 | 2,438 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Labor site fills vital role
As a journalism student and Tribune reader, I am deeply troubled by your recent coverage of the day-labor center (Day-labor site falls down on the job, July 24).
I am a summer fellow with the Northwest Institute for Social Change currently working with two other students on a short documentary that situates the center within the national debate on immigration policy. Over the past few weeks I have come to know the center well.
I acknowledge that the center's system has flaws, but it hasn't even been open two months - it's far too soon to claim that it 'falls down on the job.'
The problems with Jennifer Anderson's article start with the picture printed on the front page. In it, the workers look as if they're attacking or carjacking someone, which perpetuates the (decidedly racist) stereotype of criminality among day laborers. Appealing to stereotypes rather than fairly assessing a situation is poor quality and unfair journalism.
More important, Ms. Anderson neglected to mention the crucial fact that day laborers who find work at the street corner are extremely vulnerable to abuse. They risk unscrupulous employers who subject them to unsafe conditions and often refuse to pay at the end of the day.
Such abuse is commonplace. Last year, three Portland day laborers were killed by unsafe working conditions.
Documented or not, workers have a right to safe conditions. The day-labor center's policy of taking employers' IDs assures workers' safety and dignity while providing a system that is more convenient to employers than negotiating at the street corner.
The fact that workers still stand at the corner does not make the center a failure. It is not the center's fault that there are not enough day jobs to go around. To close the center as your editorial suggests (City should cut day-labor losses, July 31) would further marginalize and endanger many members of the Portland community.
Emily Joan Smith
Day-labor employers motivated by greed
Regarding the letter 'Too soon to judge day-labor site' (Insight, Aug. 7), Kendall Taggart states that the day-labor site benefits the entire community and contractors. Please allow me, based on approximately 35 hours of observing this day-labor site, to correct you on your misconceptions.
The laborers at this site are primarily undocumented workers. The city of Portland and Voz, the nonprofit running the site, and almost all of the 'employers' utilizing this site are violating federal, state and local laws.
I have a lawsuit pending against Portland Mayor Tom Potter and Portland city Commissioners Randy Leonard and Dan Saltzman for violating the U.S. Constitution, federal immigration laws, state laws and their oaths of office by funding this site with tax dollars.
Most employers who utilize this site do not fill out the mandatory federal form I-9, which verifies the employee is allowed to legally be employed in this country. Most employers do not pay Social Security, workers' compensation or other employer taxes.
I had a legal employer stop and talk to me while I was photographing the day-labor site. He complained that he has to pay $20 per hour for his day laborers through Madden Industrial Employment Services. His competitors who utilize the illegal day-labor site only pay $8 to $10 per hour for day laborers. He wonders how long he can stay in business while following the law.
I had an American construction worker approach me at the site. He was very angry. He was just laid off from his construction job, yet his co-workers, all illegal immigrants, were not laid off. Are these the benefits to the 'entire community' you speak of?
There are eight pages in the Portland phone book of legal, private, temporary day-labor employment agencies. Why does Portland need to spend $200,000 of tax money to compete with these legal businesses?
Greed is the primary motivation for hiring these illegal immigrants. By hiring at this day-labor site, employers are undercutting the wage needs of American workers and insuring that the undocumented workers, who don't have the rights of Americans, remain second-class citizens in the eyes of the law. Is this a benefit to the 'entire community'?
If you are concerned about the safety of the day laborers standing on the corner, why not petition the City Council to pass a legal loitering ordinance and get those people off the corner? Why not call Immigration and Customs Enforcement and demand they get the illegal immigrants off the corner?
Please, come spend some time observing this day-labor site before reaching the conclusion that it benefits the entire community.
Addition of ethanol lowers gas mileage
I am a long way from Portland, although I do have family there. The article 'Who's guzzling gas?' (July 31) was about the increased number of riders on the TriMet light rail, but sales of gasoline in gallons have been increasing.
There is a reason for this: Since we are stuck with 10 percent ethanol mixed into the gasoline, my mileage - and everybody else's whom I talk to - is dropping like a rock. I have lost one mile per gallon in the past month since the ethanol has appeared in our gasoline.
Not only that, the ethanol is plugging fuel injectors and gumming up valves in the engine. Ethanol is costing us more - for less.
The Villages, Fla.
Driving style likely affects fuel figures
I live in Washington County and work in Multnomah County, and I drive a vehicle with a diesel engine.
Diesel is consistently 5 to 10 cents cheaper in Portland (and it has 5 percent biodiesel, which is good for engine life), so I've been filling up close to work lately. If a lot of people did this, it would explain how statewide consumption has dropped while Multomah County's has gone up (Who's guzzling gas?, July 31).
I also think you guys are off track with the ethanol thing. Ethanol contains about two-thirds the energy of gasoline. If you switched to a 100 percent ethanol fuel, you should expect about a 33 percent drop in fuel economy. At a 10 percent blend, the drop should be somewhere around 3 percent or about one-half of one mile-per-gallon in your 18 miles-per-gallon minivan. I'd bet that driving habits have more to do with the drop than anything else.
Justin A. Foote
Look locally to meet most of your needs
U-pick farms are a great family outing providing life lessons and treasured memories. It also may be the first time a child sees fruits and vegetables without stickers on them (Fuel hike has a silver lining, July 31).
It's good to see people looking to local sources for food and services; I'm now more apt to go to my neighborhood hardware store than make the trek to Southeast 82nd Avenue.
I look forward to more success stories from folks who find creative ways to meet needs locally.
Disabled deserve accommodations
Disabled people should pay a bit for parking (Parking tiff vexes disabled, July 31), but maybe if the vehicle has a disabled-access sticker they automatically get double the time shown on the sticker. If you are disabled, just getting in and out of a car eats up tons of extra time.
My dad suffered a heart attack that damaged one-third of his heart. He was still able to walk around, but was out of breath in less than a block. However, if you saw him park with his disabled sticker and get out of his car and start to walk, you'd have thought he didn't have a disability. Not all disabilities are obvious.
I hate those who abuse the stickers, but I'm all for giving the disabled as much accommodation as they need.
Michael C. Wagoner | <urn:uuid:ed8936a4-4d2d-4e21-8b14-f3f06c40ed5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://portlandtribune.com/component/content/article?id=72726 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964499 | 1,619 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Judge Franck Tabouring invites you to experience his story: DVD Critic: Life Behind the Computer Screen.
Thirty-three legends on the art of filmmaking.
Professional filmmaking is a thrilling art form that requires loads of talent, ambition, and patience, and not everybody out there has what it takes to create memorable big-screen experiences that will enchant cinemagoers and stand the test of time. There is, however, a group of famous directors who have successfully created one or more masterpieces during their wonderful careers in the business. Some of them are featured on Directors: Life Behind the Camera, a superb collection of interviews with talented filmmakers sharing their insight and knowledge about the craft of making movies.
Created with the help of the American Film Institute, Directors: Life Behind the Camera features approximately four hours of interviews with thirty-three top directors and a bunch of A-list talent discussing numerous topics relevant to the art of filmmaking. From what it takes to get started in the industry to choosing scripts and how to really work with actors, most of these interviews provide the participants the opportunity to revisit their careers and share their own experiences with their viewers. When it comes to discussing all things movies, this group certainly makes for the best resource around.
The program is split into several topics across two discs. Each topic runs about 10 minutes and features anywhere between ten to forty directors, which means that most of the sections consist of a series of short interview bits instead of long interviews with just a few directors. In that sense, the program is very interactive and fast-paced, letting viewers choose whether they want to watch entire topics or just listen to specific directors. Interviewees include Robert Altman, David Lynch, Clint Eastwood, Ridley Scott, William Friedkin, Tim Burton, Ron Howard, Adrian Lyne, George Lucas, Steven Spielberg, Bryan Singer, James Cameron, Spike Lee, and Lawrence Kasdan.
Directors: Life Behind the Camera doesn't exactly qualify as a quick, interactive film school on DVD, but it gives spectators a better insight into how these directors work and what they have learned during the adventurous journey to where they are today. From tips and tricks on how to survive on sets all the way to compelling anecdotes from projects they've worked on, the material they discuss is at the same time informative and entertaining. A special section on the DVDs even features detailed filmographies and a bunch of interesting trivia about the participating directors.
The interviews featured on Directors: Life Behind the Camera were recorded at different times over the years, so some of them look a tad older than others, which means that the overall picture quality of this DVD set slightly varies as well. The program is presented in a full-frame format with a sharp enough image and solid audio transfer. The discs don't include any additional extras.
Directors: Life Behind the Camera is a must-watch for avid filmgoers and aspiring filmmakers alike. Featuring great stories directly linked to some of the greatest movies of the past decades, this collection of energetic interviews has something for everyone to learn and enjoy. Definitely worth the investment and a prime spot in your DVD collection!
Give us your feedback!
What's "fair"? Whether positive or negative, our reviews should be unbiased, informative, and critique the material on its own merits.
Scales of Justice
Studio: First Run Features
Review content copyright © 2010 Franck Tabouring; Site design and review layout copyright © 2013 Verdict Partners LLC. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:88850980-2829-42cc-95b3-c5b3a54df38c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dvdverdict.com/reviews/directors.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939965 | 705 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Google Fighting Spanish Law Requiring It To Remove Links Based On Privacy Claims
from the links-are-not-content dept
We've noted in the past that while the US tends to value free speech over privacy, Europe tends to lean the other way. Obviously, this is a generalization and it's not an absolute statement or true in all cases -- but generally speaking, that's how the two regions lean. This is now playing out in a lawsuit in Spain, where the Spanish government's data protection agency is demanding that Google remove links to websites that it says include privacy violations. Google is now fighting this effort in court, noting that it should not be held responsible for the content on other sites. It notes, quite reasonably, that if the content is objectionable or illegal then the only reasonable response is to target those who are actually responsible for it, rather than a search engine that links to it. Google points out in its lawsuit that European law says that publishers are responsible for their content and making a search engine liable goes against that. Of course, European law is actually somewhat vague on that point and in some countries it has been held that 3rd parties can be liable. That this creates tremendous chilling effects on free speech is just one of the many problems this causes. | <urn:uuid:4177cedd-1ff3-4369-9b2e-1c269b1dd412> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110119/14461812734/google-fighting-spanish-law-requiring-it-to-remove-links-based-privacy-claims.shtml?threaded=true&sp=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965573 | 257 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Rescue at the Sea
Several years ago in a small fisherman village of the
Netherlands, a young man has taught the world about a
reward that a person can get from putting aside one's
All of the people in the young man's village earned a
living in fishing industry; therefore, volunteers for
rescues were so much needed in emergency situations.
One night, the wind blew strongly, the clouds moved so
quickly and a great storm almost drowned a fisherman's
boat. In panic and fear, the ship's crew sent signals
of danger, S.O.S.
The captain of the rescue team sounded the alarm and
the villagers gathered looking at the harbour. When
the rescue team ran their boat and tried to pass
through the wild wave, the villagers waited at the
shore while feeling worried, with lanterns on their
hands to give light to the way back.
An hour later, the rescue boat returned and the
villagers cheered happily to welcome them.
As they exhaustedly fell on the sand, the volunteers
reported that the rescue boat was not capable of
taking more passengers with them and they have left
one person back there. If they had taken the person,
the rescue boat must have drowned. Even though it was
only one person, he could endanger the lives of all of
The captain asked one more group of volunteers to save
the person who was left behind.
Hans, a young man of 16 years of age stepped forward.
However, his mother held his arm and begged, "Don't
go. Your father died in a shipwreck 10 years ago and
your older brother Paul has been missing in the sea
for 3 weeks. Hans, you're the only one I've got."
Hans replied, "Mother, I have to go. What would happen
if all people say, I can't go, let others do it?
Mother, this time I've to do my duty. When there's a
calling for serving, we all have to join and play our
Hans kissed his mother, joined the rescue team,
and soon disappeared in the darkness of the night.
A few hours has passed, but for Han's mother it felt
like forever. Finally, the rescue team's boat returned
with Hans standing at the edge of it.
Clasping his two palms, the captain shouted, "Have you find the person?"
Not being able to restrain himself, Hans
shouted excitedly, "Yes, we've found him. Tell my
mother he's my brother Paul!" | <urn:uuid:74864a54-777f-4dbe-a8c8-1175ec0c6b32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heartnsouls.com/stories/a/s73.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971651 | 543 | 2.453125 | 2 |
About the Author: Seth Wikas is a Public Diplomacy Officer at U.S. Embassy Amman in Jordan.
In celebration of Earth Day, U.S. Embassy Amman, in cooperation with the Jordan Environment Society (JES) and Entity Green, hosted a clean-up campaign today with 75 school students at Sahab traffic park. Following the cleanup, the students worked with students from the College of Arts and Design at the University of Jordan to transform garbage into artwork, which is going on display in the park.
In addition, the embassy hosted a talk about the environment for elementary school students at the Greater Amman Municipality Library on April 18, 2010. A representative from JES led an interactive discussion, highlighting how young students can protect the environment.
The United States has a long history of supporting environmental causes in Jordan, in cooperation with the Government of Jordan and non-governmental organizations in areas such as water resource management, sustainable development, waste management, recycling, marine conservation, and environmental protection. For more information, please visit the embassy's website. | <urn:uuid:843c7484-8ab9-42d0-9fd4-a58cbbef1079> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.state.gov/2010/04/article/us-embassy-amman-hosts-earth-day-clean-students | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939574 | 217 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Venerable Jayasaro (Shaun Chiverton) was born on the Isle
of Wight, England, in 1958. At school he excelled academically, but
a spell of three weeks in Morocco with the Venture Scouts when he was
14 had whetted his appetite for travel, and when he left school he decided
to go overland by bus to India.
asked by the senior monks of Wat Pah Pong to prepare Ajahn Chah's biography.
In 1988 the former visited the U.K. as a translator for Venerable Chao
Khun Pannananda also to spend time with his family. The following reflections
on Ajahn Chah's life are taken from a talk given at Amaravati Buddhist
Centre in June of that year.
MY OWN FIRST MEETING WITH AJAHN CHAH was on the full moon of December 1978. I had spent the 'Rains' retreat of that year as an eight-precept lay person with Ajahn Sumedho at Oakenholt here in England. After the retreat I went out to Thailand. When I arrived at Wat Pah Pong, Venerable Pamutto, an Australian monk resident there at the time, took me to see Ajahn Chah. He was sitting under his kuti having a drink. He looked at me and smiled very warmly. He held out the drink he had in his hand so I crawled over and took it. As I returned to my place I found there were tears welling up in my eyes. I was emotionally overcome for quite a while. Since that day I don't think I have ever wanted to leave the monastery or do anything except be a disciple of Ajahn Chah.
People often presumed there would be a problem with language for Westerners who wanted to stay at the monastery, but this was not the case. Someone once asked Ajahn Chah: 'Luang Por, how do you teach all your Western disciples? Do you speak English or French? Do you speak Japanese or German?'
'No,' replied Ajahn Chah.
Language was not so important to Luang Por. He knew how to see through the exterior trappings of language and culture. He could see how basically all minds revolve around the same old centres of greed, hatred and delusion. His method of training was one of pointing directly at the way our minds work. He was always showing us how craving gives rise to suffering actually allowing us to see directly the Four Noble Truths. And for him, the way of exposing desires was to frustrate them. In his vocabulary, the words 'to teach' and 'to torment' were more or less interchangeable.
Such training as this can only take place if everyone in the monastery has great confidence in the teacher. If there is the slightest suspicion that he might be doing it out of aversion, or desire for power, then there wouldn't be any benefit. In Ajahn Chah's case everyone could see that he had the greatest courage and fortitude and so could trust that he was doing it out of compassion.
Primarily he would teach about letting go. But he also taught a lot about what to do when we can't let go. 'W e endure,' he would say. Usually people could appreciate intellectually all about letting go, but when faced with obstacles they couldn't do it. The teaching of patient endurance was a central aspect of the way that he taught. He continually changed routines around in the monastery so you wouldn't become stuck in ruts. As a result you kept finding yourself not quite knowing where you stood. And he would always be there watching so you couldn't be too heedless. This is one of the great values of living with a teacher; one feels the need to be mindful.
In looking into Ajahn Chah's early life it was inspiring for me to find just how many problems he had. Biographies of some great masters leave you with the impression that the monks were perfectly pure from the age of eight or nine that they didn't have to work at their practice. But for Ajahn Chah practice was very difficult; for one thing he had a lot of sensual desire. He also had a great deal of desire for beautiful requisites bowl and robes, etc. He made a resolution in working with these tendencies that he would never ask for anything even if it was permitted to do so by the Discipline. He related once how his robes had been falling to bits; his under-robe was worn paper-thin so he had to walk very carefully, lest it split. Then one day he heedlessly squatted down and it tore completely. He didn't have any cloth to patch it but remembered the foot-wiping cloths in the Meeting Hall. So he took them away, washed them and patched his robe with them.
In later times when he had disciples, he excelled in skilful means for helping them; he had had so many problems himself. In another story, he related how he made a resolution to really work with sensual desire. He resolved that for the three-month 'Rains' retreat he would not look at a woman. Being very strong-willed, he was able to keep to it. On the last day of the retreat many people came to the monastery to make offerings. He thought: 'I've done it now for three months, let's see what happens.' He looked up and at that moment there was a young woman right in front of him. He said the impact was like being hit by lightning. It was then that he realised mere sense restraint, although essential, was not enough. No matter how restrained one may be regarding the eyes, ears, nose, tongue, body, and mind, if there wasn't wisdom to understand the actual nature of desire, then freedom from it was impossible.
He was always stressing the importance of wisdom: not just restraint, but mindfulness and contemplation. Throwing oneself into practice with great gusto and little reflective ability may result in a strong concentration practice but eventually end up in despair. Monks practising like this usually come to a point where they decide that they don't have what it takes to 'break through' in this lifetime, and disrobe. He emphasised that continuous effort was much more important than making a great effort for a short while only to let it all slide. Day in, day out; month in, month out; year, in year out: that is the real skill of the practice.
What is needed in mindfulness practice, he taught, is a constant awareness of what one is thinking, doing or saying. It is not a matter of being on retreat or off retreat, or of being in a monastery or out wandering on tudong ; it's a matter of constancy.' What am I doing now; why am I doing it?' constantly looking to see what is happening in the present moment. 'Is this mind-state coarse or refined?' In the beginning of practice, he said, our mindfulness is intermittent like water dripping from a tap. But as we continue, the intervals between the drips lessen and eventually they become a stream. This stream of mindfulness is what we are aiming for.
It was noticeable that he did not talk a lot about levels of enlightenment or various states of concentration absorption (jhana). He was aware of how people tend to attach to these terms and conceive of practice as going from this stage to that. Once someone asked him if such and such a person was an arahant was enlightened. He answered: 'If they are then they are, if they're not then they're not; you are what you are, and you're not like them. So just do your own practice.' He was very short with such questions.
When people asked him about his own attainments, he never spoke praising himself or making any claim whatsoever. When talking about the foolishness of people, he wouldn't say:' You think like this and you think like that,' or' You do this and you do that.' Rather, he would always say:' W e do this and we do that.' The skill of speaking in such a personal manner meant those listening regularly came away feeling that he was talking directly to them. Also, it often happened that people would come with personal problems they wanted to discuss with him, and that very same evening he would give a talk covering exactly that subject.
In setting up his monasteries, he took a lot of his ideas from the great meditation teacher Venerable Ajahn Mun, but also from other places he encountered during his years of wandering. Always he laid great emphasis on a sense of community. In one section of the Mahaparinibbana Sutta ('Dialogues of the Buddha,' sutta 16) the Buddha speaks about the welfare of the Sangha being dependent on meeting frequently in large numbers, in harmony, and on discussing things together. Ajahn Chah stressed this a lot.
The Bhikkhu-Discipline Vinaya was to Ajahn Chah a very important tool for training. He had found it so in his own practice. Often he would give talks on it until one or two o'clock in the morning; the bell would then ring at three for morning chanting. Monks were sometimes afraid to go back to their kutis lest they couldn't wake up, so they would just lean against a tree.
Especially in the early days of his teaching things were very difficult. Even basic requisites like lanterns and torches were rare. In those days the forest was dark and thick with many wild and dangerous animals. Late at night you could hear the monks going back to their huts making a loud noise, stomping and chanting at the same time. On one occasion, twenty torches were given to the monastery. But as soon as the batteries ran out, they all came back into the stores as there weren't new batteries to replace them.
Sometimes Ajahn Chah was very harsh on those who lived with him. He admitted himself that he had an advantage over his disciples. He said that when his mind entered samadhi (concentration) for only thirty minutes it could be the same as having slept all night. Sometimes he talked for literally hours. Going over and over the same things again and again, telling the same story hundreds of times. For him, each time was as if the first. He would be sitting there giggling and chuckling away and everybody else would be looking at the clock and wondering when he would let them go back.
It seemed that he had a special soft spot for those who suffered a lot; this often meant the Western monks. There was one English monk, Venerable Thitappo, whom he gave a lot of attention to; that means he tormented him terribly. One day there was a large gathering of visitors to the monastery and, as often happened, Ajahn Chah was praising the Western monks to the Thais as a way of teaching them. He was saying how clever the Westerners were, all the things they could do and what good disciples they were. 'All,' he said 'except this one,' pointing to Venerable Thitappo. 'He's really stupid.' Another day he asked Venerable Thitappo: 'Do you get angry when I treat you like this?' Venerable Thitappo replied: 'What use would it be? It would be like getting angry at a mountain.'
Several times people suggested to Ajahn Chah that he was like a Zen Master. 'No I'm not,' he would say, 'I'm like Ajahn Chah.' There was a Korean monk visiting once who liked to ask him koans. Ajahn Chah was completely baffled; he thought they were jokes. You could see how it was necessary to know the rules of the game before you could give the right answers. One day this monk told Ajahn Chah the Zen story about the flag and the wind and asked: 'Is it the flag that blows or is it the wind?' Ajahn Chah answered: 'It's neither; it's the mind'. The Korean monk thought that was wonderful and immediately bowed to Ajahn Chah. But then Ajahn Chah said he'd just read the story in the Thai translation of Hui Neng.
Many of us tend to confuse profundity with complexity, so Ajahn Chah liked to show how profundity was in fact simplicity. The truth of impermanence is the most simple thing in the world, and yet it is the most profound. He really emphasised that. He said the key to living in the world with wisdom is a regular recollection of the changing nature of things. 'Nothing is sure,' he would constantly remind us. He was always using this word in Thai 'Mai-naa!' meaning 'uncertain'. This teaching: 'It's not certain,' he said, sums up all the wisdom of Buddhism. In meditation, he emphasised, 'We can't go beyond the hindrances unless we really understand them.' This means knowing their impermanence.
Often he talked about 'killing the defilements', and this also meant 'seeing their impermanence'. 'Killing defilements' is an idiomatic expression in the meditative Forest Tradition of North East Thailand. It means that by seeing with penetrative clarity the actual nature of defilements, you go beyond them.
Whilst it was considered the 'job' of a bhikkhu in this tradition to be dedicated to formal practice, it didn't mean there wasn't work to do. When work needed doing you did it. And you didn't make a fuss. Work is not any different from formal practice if one knows the principles properly. The same principles apply in both cases, as it's the same body and mind.
And in Ajahn Chah's monasteries, when the monks worked, they really worked. One time he wanted a road built up to W at Tum Saeng Pet mountain monastery, and the Highways Department offered to help. But before long they pulled out. So Ajahn Chah took the monks up there to do it. Everybody worked from three o'clock in the afternoon until three o'clock the next morning.
A rest was allowed until just after five when they would head off down the hill to the village on alm sround. After the meal they could rest again until three, before starting work once more. But nobody saw Ajahn Chah take a rest; he was busy receiving people who came to visit. And when it was time to work, he didn't just direct it. He joined in the heavy lifting and carrying of rocks alongside everyone else. That was always very inspiring for the monks to see: hauling water from the well, sweeping and so on, he was always there right up until the time his health began to fail.
Ajahn Chah wasn't always popular in his province in North East Thailand, even though he did bring about many major changes in the lives of the people. There was a great deal of animism and superstition in their belief systems. Very few people practised meditation, out of fear that it would drive them crazy. There was more interest in magical powers and psychic phenomena than in Buddhism. A lot of killing of animals was done in the pursuit of merit. Ajahn Chah was often very outspoken on such issues, so at first he had many enemies.
Nevertheless, there were always many who loved him. And it was clear that he never played on that. In fact, if any of his disciples were getting too close, he would send them away. Sometimes monks became attached to him, and he promptly sent them off to some other monastery. As charismatic as he was, he always stressed the importance of Sangha, of community spirit.
One New Year's Eve I remember how, in accordance with custom, a vast number of people had come to the monastery. After the evening chanting Ajahn Chah gave a talk, and this was followed by meditation. Just before midnight someone came in and announced that a senior monk from the village monastery had arrived. I remember how Ajahn Chah went out and received the monk himself: came in carrying his bag and proceeded to lay out his sitting-cloth. He then made the three most beautiful bows of respect that I have ever seen. In every way he displayed heartfelt humility: as if he were a monk just newly ordained. In the middle of many hundreds of his disciples it was as though he were completely immune to all the unskilful feelings that many of us may have felt.
I think it was because Ajahn Chah was 'nobody in particular' that he could be anybody he chose. If he felt it was necessary to be fierce, he could be that. If he felt that somebody would benefit from warmth and kindness, then he would give that. You had the feeling he would be whatever was helpful for the person he was with. And he was very clear about the proper understanding of conventions. Someone once asked him about the relative merits of arahants and bodhisattvas. He answered: 'Don't be an arahant, don't be a bodhisattva, don't be anything at all. If you are an arahant you will suffer, if you are bodhisattva you will suffer, if you are anything at all you will suffer.' I had the feeling that Ajahn Chah wasn't anything at all. The quality in him that one was inspired by was the light of Dhamma he reflected; it wasn't exactly him as a person.
So since first meeting Ajahn Chah, I have had an unshakeable conviction that this way is truly possible it works it is good enough. And I've found a willingness to acknowledge that, if there are any problems, it's me who is creating them. It's not the form and it's not the teachings. This appreciation has made things a lot easier.
It's important that we are able to learn from all the ups and downs we have in practice. It's important that we come to know how to be 'a refuge unto ourselves' to see clearly for ourselves. When I consider the morass of selfishness and foolishness my life could have been.... And then reflecting on the teachings and benefits I've received, I find I really want to dedicate my life to being a credit to my teacher. Such reflection has been a great source of strength. This is one form of sanghanusati 'Recollection on Sangha' recollection of the great debt we owe our teachers.
So I trust that you may find this is of some help in your practice. | <urn:uuid:fe3e672a-3c4e-49ec-84fd-14b519c06268> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buddhanet.net/budsas/ebud/see-way/lp-way.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988663 | 3,852 | 1.820313 | 2 |
We don’t need no educator: The role of the teacher in today’s online education
Stephen Downes, November 13, 2011,
NFF konferansen: Utdanning i bevegelse, Oslo, Norway
How often do we read about the importance of teachers in education? It must be every day, it seems. We are told about "strong empirical evidence that teachers are the most important school-based determinant of student achievement" again and again.
The problem with the educational system, it is argued, is that teachers need to be held accountable. We are told we must fire incompetent teachers. Not just in the United States, but in the UK and elsewhere, the concern is that bad teachers must go.
The problem with focusing on the role of the teacher, from my perspective, is that it misses the point. Though there may still be thousands of people employed today with the job title of "teacher" or "educator", it is misleading to suggests that all, or even most, aspects of providing an education should, or could, be placed into the hands of these individuals.
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To link to this article, copy this persistent link:
(Jul 23, 2012) On July 18, 2012, the Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda, stated that an inquiry is being launched into the recent violence in Mali, pursuant to a letter from the Malian government in which such an investigation was requested. (Jaclyn Belczyk, ICC Opens Preliminary Inquiry into Mali Violence, PAPER CHASE NEWSBURST (July 19, 2012); Press Release, ICC, ICC Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda on the Malian State Referral of the Situation in Mali Since January 2012 (July 18, 2012).)
The letter from Mali was delivered to Bensouda in person by a delegation led by the Minister of Justice, H.E. Malick Coulibaly. It stated that the courts in Mali were unable to prosecute the perpetrators of the violence, asked for an investigation by the ICC, and included documentation. The letter was the result of a May 22 Malian Cabinet decision to go to the ICC. In addition, on July 7, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Contact Group of Mali (composed of Benin, Burkina Faso, Côte d'Ivoire, Liberia, Niger, Nigeria, and Togo) had requested that the ICC "launch the necessary enquiries in order to identify the perpetrators of these war crimes and to initiate the necessary legal proceedings against them." (Press Release, supra.) ECOWAS is a group of 15 nations in the region, formed in 1975, with the mission of promoting economic integration. (ECOWAS in Brief, ECOWAS website (last visited July 19, 2012).)
Speaking about the situation, Bensouda noted that the ICC has been watching Mali since the violence began there in January 2012, and she said that her office would determine whether the criteria had been met for a formal investigation, as determined under the Rome Statute, the agreement that is the basis for the ICC. (Belczyk, supra; Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court (July 17, 1998), 2187 U.N.T.S. 38544, available at ICC website.)
In addition to investigating such offenses as killings, abductions, rapes, and conscription of children, Bensouda noted that the deliberate destruction of shrines of Muslim saints in Timbuktu may also constitute a war crime. (Press Release, supra.)
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, and international leaders like U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon have decried the severe human rights crisis in Mali in recent months. The violence in the country began following attacks by Taureg tribesmen on Malian soldiers. (Belczyk, supra.)
|Author:||Constance Johnson More by this author|
|Topic:||War crimes More on this topic|
|Jurisdiction:||International Criminal Court / Mali More about this jurisdiction|
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It’s just part of the future for ISR according to Brooke Griffith, a senior director for Raytheon’s Information and Intelligence Systems, who expects future soldiers to tailor apps on the fly to fulfill a ground commander’s needs. He said here Tuesday at the Farnborough International Airshow that he also sees a future not necessarily littered with drones and one where cyber protection is even more important.
To keep up, the U.S. military will have to change the way it buys weapons. The advance of technology simply won’t wait for the Pentagon’s stodgy acquisition systems to catch up. Raytheon leaders who led a discussion on the future of ISR said the military must learn from the Amazon’s and the Apple’s of the world and how they rapidly develop technology.
The amount of data that is ready to drown analysts as sensor balls continue to advance will force militaries to constantly keep devising analytical computer programs to pare down the deluge and point out trends or highlight unusual activity. That’s where the apps concept comes into play. Analysts should be able to constantly communicate with deployed commanders and develop the tools they need to mine these mountains of data.
This influx of programs will further place emphasis on cyber security, Raytheon officials said. Vulnerabilities exist as most militaries depend on technologies such as GPS to run their vehicles, aircraft and equipment.
Don’t rule out established countries making a run on offensive cyber weapons if it hasn’t happened already. There’s a blurry line that separates what military officials can accomplish with ISR and a computer virus. Griffiths used SIGINT sensors as an example. Why weigh down an aircraft with a SIGINT ball when a military could introduce a virus into the cell towers to track phone conversations? The U.S. needs to do a better job at eliminating duplicated systems in this realm, he said.
U.S. military officials can’t expect to continue to depend so much on unmanned aerial vehicles to provide ISR. An enemy with even moderate air defenses will make them much tougher to operate, especially if an adversary can attack the downlink connecting the UAV to the pilot.
Griffiths said he expects a renewal in the need for manned aircraft in in ISR to counter those threats. Adding sensors and pilots will weigh down aircraft, but they will be necessary. UAVs won’t be entirely scratched, but a mix of manned and unmanned aircraft will be needed, he said. | <urn:uuid:2708b527-900e-4337-b9fc-76787ef1bae6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://defensetech.org/2012/07/10/raytheon-app-stores-to-take-over-isr/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93709 | 524 | 1.914063 | 2 |
The official DSA guide tractor specialist vehicle driving test book is:
- the full syllabus for the tests for tractors and other specialist vehicles
- an official guide to passing your driving test using a specialist or unusual vehicle
- illustrated and written in a clear and easy-to-understand style by the Driving Standards Agency
- advice you will need to pass your test on a specialist or unusual vehicle, including three-wheeled cars and trikes, agricultural tractors, road rollers, track-laying vehicles etc
Click any image to enlarge.
No Reviews Yet. Be the first to write a review | <urn:uuid:e4696196-44e7-4627-a483-cf8b4fde9650> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.learnerstuff.co.uk/official-dsa-guide-tractor-specialist-vehicle-driving-test-book-p-223537.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916201 | 126 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Managing the Quality of the Customer Support Service Center
by Skillsoft - Business
Customers who experience problems with your service represent a significant challenge to your company. If the support center is able to deal with incidents efficiently your company can benefit enormously. Reputation and customer satisfaction can be restored and procedures can be established to recognize and prevent future incidents. This course examines the processes involved in incident management and how a support center can use them to best effect. The course introduces the concepts behind incident management demonstrates how to deal with and close incidents correctly and teaches how to apply Service Level Agreement terms and Quality Assurance principles. The course helps to prepare learners interested in the Customer Support Specialist Certification which is targeted at individuals wishing to qualify to work in a customer support center or help desk environment. | <urn:uuid:990447ad-296c-4d0f-be7a-eb60d5ad55d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coursepark.com/course/market/index/page/5/perPage/50/tab/tab_topselling/genre/1%2C4%2C3/genreKey/business_management | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934838 | 156 | 1.882813 | 2 |
GESTALTEN.tv: Interview with Taxing Art
What’s the difference between design and art? What if objects could memorize their history? And how can you see with your skin? Beta Tank creates design objects based upon cross-disciplinary research that insightfully explore new technologies and social phenomena inspiring debate beyond aesthetics or function.
In our latest Gestalten.tv video, Beta Tank founder Eyal Burstein sheds light on his ironic, clever documentation and analysis of the effect traditional, bureaucratic procedures have on innovative work. His work—featured in Gestalten's Taxing Art book—spotlights the largely underestimated effect tax laws have on where design ends and art begins.
June 2-July 3, 2011: Visit the Beta Tank exhibition at the Gestalten Space in Berlin. | <urn:uuid:7cb502db-c905-4a25-af6c-e9b56e2f3c1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.labkultur.tv/en/video/beta-tank | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909013 | 164 | 1.640625 | 2 |
A comparison of Steve Job and Billy Graham
As we approach the end of what has been a reasonably easy winter weather wise, I find myself thinking how much life and the weather have in common. Weather brings sunny days and stormy days as life brings good days and bad days. The one common denominator is that with patience the stormy weather will pass. Weather has the four seasons each year; spring ,summer, fall and winter. Life can be compared with childhood, adolescence, adult and old age. In both cases many days are unpredictable. We know we can’t control the weather and although we may exert great effort we come to realize there are many things in life beyond our control.
I recently read two books. I love to read and I usually have a number of books placed within easy reach around the house. These two books were Steve Jobs (of Apple fame) biography and Billy Graham (Of Christian fame) “The Journey”. As I was reading the two books at the same time I found myself comparing the two men’s lives and accomplishments.
I expected to be impressed with Mr Jobs and found I was somewhat surprised by him and his methods. I expected to read how Billy Graham had never doubted God, the way I have, and found he had. Although I was surprised by Steve I found him to be interesting and an obvious eccentric genius who changed the world. I also found him to be an example of how you do not have to treat people well to reap great rewards. Billy Graham is nearing the end of his life and Steve was facing the end of his life when his biography was written. Both have different perspectives on the here after. Steve thought there might be something. He hoped so any way. Billy Graham is convinced and tries to convince you to believe in Christ and thus Heaven. Billy makes a convincing case for how much God loves us. Steve makes a convincing case for following your dreams and doing what you want in life, not what some one else wants you to do. Knowing he was going to die Steve quoted, “Almost everything-all external expectations, all pride, all fear of embarrassment or failure-these things just fall away in the face of death, leaving only what is truly important. Remembering that you are going to die is the best way I know to avoid the trap of thinking you have something to lose. You are already naked. There is no reason not to follow your heart.” He also quoted this, “Here’s to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the trouble makers, the round pegs in the square holes….the ones who see things differently--they are not fond of the rules…you can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can’t do is ignore them because they change things….they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones that do...THINK DIFFERENT !!”
Some interesting comments about death and life: Here is what Billy said about death: “Most of all I take comfort in the hope we can have eternal life in Heaven because of Christ’s death and resurrection for us. I’ve preached this message almost all my life, and it means more to me now than ever before.” (Taken from Time in august 2007 after his wife Ruth’s death.)
In News week August 2006 He quoted: “I have a certainty about eternity that is a wonderful thing, and I thank God for giving me that certainty. I do not fear death. I may fear a little bit about the process, but not death itself, because I think the moment that my spirit leaves this body, I will be in the presence of the Lord.”
Here is some of what Billy said about life. “The Christen life is not a constant high. I have found my moments of deep discouragement. I have to go to God in prayer with tears in my eyes, and say, ‘Oh God, forgive me,’ or ‘Help me.” “Suffering is part of the human condition, and it comes to us all, the key is how we react to it, either turning away from God in anger and bitterness or growing closer to Him in trust and confidence.” (From his book “Just As I Am”)
The internet is full of quotes from both men. Two entirely different lives but probably two men who impacted more lives in the past 50 years than anyone else. So much accomplishments and such different philosophies. I don’t know if they ever met or talked but I am going to impress upon you the importance of one common denominator, Death, that dreaded word. That dreaded end of life that we would ignore if we could. Both of these men understood the importance of death. You see if you accept you are going to die, life becomes more important. When you look at someone you love with the realization they are going to die they become more important to you. Death is part of life. Billy has the belief that life does not end with death. Steve wasn’t sure but both used death as a prime motivator. Billy, to lead as many people to Christ as he can before he dies and Steve, to lead as many people to apple as he could before he died.
So what is my point? I just happened to read these two books at the same time. I can relate to both these men. I am a Christen like Billy Graham (a speck beside a mountain) but a believer. I am a self made business person like Steve Job (Again a speck beside a mountain but an achiever.)
I have learned life is like the weather with good days and bad days and when we are going through a bad time (a storm) it will pass and the sun will shine again. When we are young we think little of death and place little value on time. Maybe we are programmed that way. As young people we are advised by parents, teachers, employers, friends and others as to how we should live our lives. For Christians we have Sunday school and Church. I don’t remember anyone telling me I would someday die and that I only had so much time on this earth to accomplish what I wanted to do or what God wanted me to do. Maybe they did but the first time I felt that realization was when my mother passed away. I had lost a father, a step father and my youngest brother but it never dawned on me that my time was limited. I had always planned to build my mother her own little house and she passed away before I accomplished that.
You see it is Death that makes life worthwhile. Death is the goal post at the end of life. For Christians, death is the gateway to Heaven. Once you realize you are going to die, each day becomes more important. Once you realize your loved ones are going to die, your relationships become more important.
Death is not to be feared. Death is to be used as a catalyst to make the most of your life. I believe both Billy Graham and Steve Job utilized the knowledge and realization that their time here on earth is limited as a catalyst for tremendous and extraordinary accomplishment. Perhaps this realization is something we all could apply to our own lives. Just a thought.
Spring is coming and I’m looking for Robins! | <urn:uuid:0fada143-de10-4eaa-a89e-c0e9041d1749> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://authorsden.com/visit/viewarticle.asp?AuthorID=31317&id=65398 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976265 | 1,557 | 1.757813 | 2 |