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South Korea, US drill begins under North Korea nuclear test cloud
A defence ministry spokesman confirmed the three-day drill -- condemned as a “warmongering” exercise by North Korea -- was underway in the East Sea (Sea of Japan) off the southeastern South Korean port of Pohang.
Although South Korean military officials stressed the drill was scheduled before the North threatened to detonate its third nuclear device, the presence of the submarine has been seen as a warning to Pyongyang.
The USS San Francisco, armed with Tomahawk cruise missiles, is joined in the drill by a 9,800-tonnes Aegis destroyer, the USS Shiloh.
“The exercise includes at-sea operating training, detecting and tracking a submarine, anti-air and anti-ship live fire training and anti-missile training,” a military official said.
The drill comes as the North has ramped up daily threats of a nuclear test in response to expanded UN sanctions imposed after its long-range rocket launch in December.
The North insists the launch was a purely scientific mission aimed at putting a satellite in orbit.
But most of the world viewed it as a disguised ballistic missile test that violated UN resolutions triggered by the North's previous nuclear tests in 2006 and 2009.
Seoul's defence ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok told reporters today that the North had completed all technical preparations for another nuclear test.
“The only thing left to make is a political judgment,” Kim said, calling on Pyongyang to
Be the first to comment. | <urn:uuid:8f3bc396-8825-4de1-b697-f15c154adbaa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.financialexpress.com/news/south-korea-us-drill-begins-under-north-korea-nuclear-test-cloud/1069122 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954448 | 319 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012
In 2012, 75.3 million workers in the United States age 16 and over were paid at hourly rates, representing 59.0 percent of all wage and salary workers. 1 Among those paid by the hour, 1.6 million earned exactly the prevailing federal minimum wage of $7.25 per hour. About 2.0 million had wages below the federal minimum.2 Together, these 3.6 million workers with wages at or below the federal minimum made up 4.7 percent of all hourly paid workers. Tables 1 through 10 present data on a wide array of demographic and socioeconomic characteristics for hourly paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage. The following are some highlights from the 2012 data.
- Minimum wage workers tend to be young. Although workers under age 25 represented only about one-fifth of hourly paid workers, they made up about half of those paid the Federal minimum wage or less. Among employed teenagers paid by the hour, about 21 percent earned the minimum wage or less, compared with about 3 percent of workers age 25 and over. (See table 1 and table 7.)
- In 2012, 6 percent of women paid hourly rates had wages at or below the prevailing federal minimum, compared with about 3 percent of men. (See table 1.)
- About 5 percent of White, Black, and Hispanic or Latino hourly paid workers earned the federal minimum wage or less. Among Asian workers paid at hourly rates, about 3 percent earned the minimum wage or less. (See table
- Among hourly paid workers age 16 and over, about 10 percent of those who had less than a high school diploma earned the federal minimum wage or less, compared with about 4 percent of those who had a high school diploma (with no college) and about 2 percent of college graduates. (See table 6.)
- Never-married workers, who tend to be young, were more likely than married workers to earn the federal minimum wage or less (about 8 percent versus about 2 percent). (See table
- About 11 percent of part-time workers (persons who usually work less than 35 hours per week) were paid the federal minimum wage or less, compared with about 2 percent of full-time workers. (See table 1 and table 9.)
- By major occupational group, the highest proportion of hourly paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage was in service occupations, at about 12 percent. About three-fifths of workers earning the minimum wage or less in 2012 were employed in service occupations, mostly in food preparation and serving related jobs. (See table 4.)
- The industry with the highest proportion of workers with hourly wages at or below the federal minimum wage was leisure and hospitality (about 19 percent). About half of all workers paid at or below the federal minimum wage were employed in this industry, the vast majority in restaurants and other food services. For many of these workers, tips and commissions supplement the hourly wages received. (See table 5.)
- The states with the highest proportions of hourly paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage were Louisiana, Oklahoma, Texas, and Idaho (all between 7 and 8 percent). The states with the lowest percentages of hourly paid workers earning at or below the federal minimum wage were Alaska, Oregon, California, Montana, and Washington (all under 2 percent). It should be noted that some states have minimum wage laws establishing standards that exceed the federal minimum wage. (See table 2 and table 3.)
- The proportion of hourly paid workers earning the prevailing federal minimum wage or less declined from 5.2 percent in 2011 to 4.7 percent in 2012. This remains well below the figure of 13.4 percent in 1979, when data were first collected on a regular basis. (See table 10.)
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). These data on minimum wage earners are derived from the Current Population Survey (CPS), a monthly nationwide survey of households. Data in this summary are 2012 annual averages.
1 Data are for wage and salary workers age 16 and over and refer to earnings on a person's sole or principal job. Hourly earnings for hourly paid workers do not include overtime pay, commissions, or tips received. All self-employed persons are excluded whether or not their businesses are incorporated.
2 The presence of a sizable number of workers with wages below the federal minimum does not necessarily indicate violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, as there are exemptions to the minimum wage provisions of the law. The estimates of the numbers of minimum and subminimum wage workers presented in the accompanying tables pertain to workers paid at hourly rates; salaried and other non-hourly workers are excluded. As such, the actual number of workers with earnings at or below the prevailing federal minimum is undoubtedly understated. Research has shown that a relatively small number and share of salaried workers and others not paid by the hour have earnings that, when translated into hourly rates, are at or below the minimum wage. However, BLS does not routinely estimate hourly earnings for non-hourly workers because of data concerns that arise in producing these estimates.
Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012, Tables 1 - 10
Characteristics of Minimum Wage Workers: 2012 (PDF)
Last Modified Date: February 26, 2013 | <urn:uuid:46f4ad7e-209b-4e78-9cbc-6c212ca15eb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bls.gov/cps/minwage2012.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958827 | 1,084 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Traumatic Brain Injury
- TBI Grant
- TBI Grant Ombudsman
- TBI Resources & Related Links
- Interscholastic Youth Sports Brain Injury
Prevention Act (HB 300)
House Bill 300 known as the “Interscholastic Youth Sports Brain Injury Prevention Act” became effective August 28, 2011. The primary intent is to promote the safety and protection against long-term injury of a youth athlete.
For information and materials regarding sports concussions you may visit the following sites:
What is TBI?
A traumatic brain injury (TBI) is caused by a blow or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. Not all blows or jolts to the head result in a TBI. The severity of a TBI may range from “mild,” i.e., a brief change in mental status or consciousness to “severe,” i.e., an extended period of unconsciousness or amnesia after the injury. (As defined by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.)
Did you know?
- 3.17 million Americans currently live with disabilities resulting from traumatic brain injury
- 14,000 Missourians are admitted to an emergency department or hospitalized every year with a traumatic injury to the brain
- Traumatic brain injury is the signature injury of our military serving in the Global War on Terror
- Traumatic brain injuries account for an estimated 34% of all injury deaths in the United States
- Prevention is the only cure for and public awareness is key to prevention of traumatic brain injury
- Traumatic brain injury is a life changing injury that affects the whole family as well as the injured person
- Fallen and hit your head
- Been assaulted or abused
- Served in active duty military in a war zone
- Been in an accident
- Had a sports injury
- Been hit by a bullet or blast
- Had a workplace accident
- Been told you have a concussion
If you answered yes to any of the above than you may have experienced a brain injury. Many mild traumatic brain injuries occur without being diagnosed but can cause long-term consequences.
- Weakness or paralysis
- Excessive Fatigue
- Vision Change
- Mood swings (easily frustrated, anxious, angry, depressed, low self-esteem)
- Ringing in the ears
If you have experienced any of the symptoms listed above you are encouraged to seek a medical professional for evaluation.
- Balance and coordination
- Forgetting things (memory problems)
- Physical disabilities
- Learning new things
- Paying attention
- Speech and language (expressing thought or not understanding what is said)
- Problem solving
If you have experienced any of the consequences listed above you are encouraged to seek a medical professional for evaluation.
For more details about TBI and living with its consequences, visit the TBI Resources and Related Links section of this web site.
- – Learn as much as possible about TBI and available resources.
- – Contact Brain Injury Association of American (BIAA) which can direct you to information/resource referral organization serving individuals with traumatic brain injury and their families.
- – Do not be afraid to ask for help. Make contact with all possible resources available to you. Engaging early into services can have a positive effect on long-term outcomes.
- – Become an advocate for your loved one by seeking information and asking questions to make informed choices.
- – Make sure the person/family's goals and priorities are communicated clearly to all involved in coordinating and planning services and supports.
- – Seek support systems that will give you strength for your journey. Support systems may include natural support (i.e. family, friends) and supports provided by community organizations and agencies (i.e. support groups, civic organizations, service coordinators).
- – Keep all important medical information in a safe and organized place. This information may assist in expediting access and coordination of services. | <urn:uuid:ec0a6ccc-bf10-4a64-858a-64f60e0f724b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.health.mo.gov/living/healthcondiseases/tbi/index.php?style=mobile1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927356 | 828 | 3.3125 | 3 |
Implants are reported to cause lumps under the skin, bleeding from the nose, tingling when separated from the surface nerves that have grown around them, and a general sense of relief from intrusion and invasion when removed. All of these symptoms would be true of any foreign object in the body, which would be a detectable lump, cause bleeding at the still healing entry point, require cut nerves for removal if nerves have grown around it, and weigh on the mind, especially if conscious awareness of the implant's purpose was not established. Unique to alien implants is their capacity to cause what many contactees describe as a jolt or buzz in the brain, a sensation they cannot biologically reconcile. Some contactees seek medical advice, convinced they have a brain tumor or, if they experience a momentary loss of muscular control, perhaps epilepsy. Combined with the ear problems many contactees experience, many also suspect a disease of the inner ear, and run repeatedly to this specialist or that, seeking an explanation. What causes the jolt or buzz, and what purpose does it serve?
Implants, as we have explained, are locating devices, allowing the contactee to be quickly located prior to a visitation. The devices respond to a signal sent in all directions, an answering call. To generate the signal, the implant utilizes the nervous system, which operates by electrical impulses of a sort, and thus is detectable to the contactee. A temporary disruption of local nerve traffic, along with a local reaction to the strength of the signal sent through brain, bone, and muscle. Within a dead body, the implant would not respond to the locating signal, thus informing the visitors, who in any case eventually learn of the death of their contactee via spiritual routes, of a death. Implants also respond with a unique signal, generated from the DNA of the contactee, so that the implant response confirms not only that the contactee is alive but that the implant is still located within the proper body. Thus, when contactees experience a jolt of buzz in the brain, they should not be alarmed. All is working as intended, and what they are experiencing confirms their link to the visitors they have asked to meet. | <urn:uuid:f4b3d5a1-197f-431c-bf27-46a1b652aed1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zetatalk2.com/visitatn/v61.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958961 | 443 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Composer Norman Martin is to blame for writing the infinite-loop children's song "This is the Song That Doesn't End" in 1988. Best known for topping lists of “Most Annoying Songs of all Time” and sending parents on car trips over the edge, this earworm has something in common with a mazurka Chopin composed in 1831: It’s meant to be performed repeatedly; forever. And, it’s intended to be funny.
There are five mazurkas in Chopin’s second set, his Opus 7, composed during his fruitful first years in Paris.
The third in the set begins to play with the boundaries of what the dance form is and how it might behave. It opens differently. It doesn’t jump right in to the main theme, nor does it come to an abrupt stop in the way most of the mazurkas do; instead, it actually ends.
And then there’s the fifth. “No. 5 is the opus’s surprise,” writes Frank Cooper, “twenty bars of music marked to be played senza fine, (endlessly!) – a rare example of Chopin having fun at the keyboard.”
All of thirty-four seconds long, no pianist on record has taken the composer up on his instruction, and prefer to stop before things get out of hand…or annoying. But suppose they did indulge the composer in his rare whim? They’d need an out. Conductor Alfred Walter figured out one for Johann Strauss Jr’s novelty piece, Perpetual Motion, saying to the audience "Und so weiter, und so weiter..." And so on, and so on... - Jennifer Foster | <urn:uuid:d3d9e9d1-1208-47ab-81af-b3f35529bbcc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://worldofopera.org/musicians/geoff-nuttall/item/870-episode-172-chopins-mazurka-that-never-ends-mazurka-in-a-flat-major-op-7-no-4-mazurka-in-c-major-op-7-no-5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958411 | 368 | 2.15625 | 2 |
While a lot seek stun guns, pepper sprays and knowledge of self-defense so that they can be able to deal with attacker and thieves, a lot of people also fear animals. One animal in particular is the dog, and not those cute French Poodles, we are taking about the big and nasty Doberman, Bull Dog and Pit Bulls. There have been many recorded attacks that were a result of wild dogs becoming overly aggressive or the result of carelessness of the dog's owner. Some recorded attacks even ended with the death of innocent bystanders who were assaulted by the blood-thirsty hounds.
One of the most interesting approaches to solving this issue and making you feel safe was developed by Mace, a brand that is famous for their pepper sprays in general. They came up with a simple and effective canine repellent that you can take around with you while you are jogging, riding the bike or put it inside your car, bag, purse etc.
It is the ideal protection for:
- Walkers and joggers
- Runners, sprinters, athletes in general who practice in the outdoors
- Those who work with delivery
The Mace Canine Dog Repellent is approved by the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and will not cause any lasting harm to the animal. The Muzzle can be used as a normal pepper spray which you may even be used to. Just lift the safety cap and burst fire towards the animals face. The effect should be instant and drive the dog away.
When facing the animal be sure to hold your ground, stay calm and stand strong. Hold your head up high and don't make any sudden moves. It is a like a stareing contest to some point. You can always choose to slowly walk backwards and away from it, but don't run (unless you can reach high ground quickly) or turn your back on the animal. Be prepared to use the Canine Repellent as soon as it comes after you.
The unit has 17 grams and can provide 10 seconds of burst. The maximum range is about 8 to 10 feet. | <urn:uuid:2d5f839d-69c9-4d12-8305-1801554e6c4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yourgreatestprotection.net/2012/03/mace-canine-dog-repellent.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9707 | 427 | 2.28125 | 2 |
(Scroll down to see more photos from this event.)
WINONA, Ohio — You knew you weren’t on a typical livestock farm pasture walk when the host said of his pastured animals, “They are still fairly wild. If we keep quiet as a group, and stick together, I think we’ll be OK.”
The Swopes raise buffalo on their 53-acre farm near Winona, Ohio. The pasture walk featured their divided paddock management system, used to raise and feed out the shaggy giants.
Swope is also the district conservationist for the USDA’s Natural Resources Conservation Service in Carroll County.
Swope, who has been raising buffalo since 1997, said the beasts are the “epitome of quality grazers.”
“They are perfectly designed to fit the grazing season,” he explained, particularly since they calve in later spring, typically April, and require only 1.6 percent of their body weight in dry matter during the winter, compared to 2.5 percent the rest of the year.
That means when forage supplies are limited in the winter, the bison are eating less anyway.
“I like that a lot,” Swope added.
He moves the buffalo in two groups of 20 and 25 head each: the cows and their calves, and the yearlings. A bull is in with the cows all the time.
His 40 acres of pasture is divided into 12 contiguous paddocks that range in size from 1.5 to 4.5 acres. Depending on the season, forage growth and the paddock size, he can graze each two to three days.
This year, he added an electrified Gallagher wheel fencing system to split the paddocks into smaller sections to control grazing even further and move the bison through the pasture.
“We’re trying to only feed what they’re going to consume,” he explained.
With the wheel fencing, he can move the bison forward as needed, with a back fence about two days growth behind them. “They like to run a lot,” Swope said.
He estimates he could possibly double the grazing life of a paddock with the system.
“We just keep further dividing and further dividing.”
The buffalo will respect a single strand of poly wire for internal fencing, Swope said, “if they’re content.”
For the year-round grazing system, they stockpile forage in the paddocks, and they make 100-120 large round bales of hay to get them through the winter, and unroll the hay bales out in the pasture.
Water is provided by a spring by the house, through a pressurized system of buried pipelines and overland pipe to three frost-free hydrants, a series of moveable tanks and one winter flow-through tank. A shallow well jet pump is located in a heated wood shop.
This is the first season for the overland lines, but so far Swope likes the system. The 3/4-inch water lines run along fence lines, and he uses a quick connect valve to channel water into portable stock tanks.
It takes between 26 and 30 months to feed the bison to a market weight of around 1,000 pounds.
The Swopes retail meat cuts, processed by Whitefeather Meats in Creston, from their farm and at farmers markets, and Whitefeather also buys buffalo meat from them to retail.
The Swopes had to completely convert the acreage from crop production to the forage system, and have been continually working to diversify the grasses, including introducing more warm season grasses like switchgrass and big bluestem that are native to Ohio.
Bob Hendershot, state grazing specialist with the Natural Resources Conservation District, was also present at the pasture walk and encouraged more farmers to consider the warm season grasses for at least 10 percent of their farm. Those species are harder to get established, he said, but have a deeper root system once they do, and get up to 7 feet tall if not clipped or grazed.
Hendershot said varieties that have a hollow stem will have one-tenth the hay loss in a large round bale of cooler season grasses, and animals will find the stem as palatable as the leaves.
He also said farmers could see as high as 4 to 5 tons of dry matter yield of warm season grasses per acre, compared to Ohio’s average hay yield of 2.2 tons per acre.
“I’m in a constant state of learning,” Swope said, and gave a shout-out to longtime Carroll County cattle grazier Earl McKarns in the crowd. “I got a lot of direct inspiration from Earl.”
And that’s what the Eastern Ohio Grazing Council is hoping will happen from events like this pasture walk: More talking and more questions and more learning, farmer to farmer. | <urn:uuid:ed418270-18b9-4c48-9142-22ea4991963a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.farmanddairy.com/news/pasture-walk-photo-gallery/27731.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962954 | 1,047 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Police forces across the country have teamed up for a two-day operation to search suspected scrap yards and suspicious transporters.
Thefts of drain covers, lead from church roofs, railway signal cables and even metal from grave stones costs the economy £360 million every year.
A rise in scrap metal prices, due to soaring demand from emerging countries such as China and India, is said to be fuelling the crime.
Assistant Chief Constable Paul Crowther of the British Transport Police said the thefts and are not victimless crimes.
"Thousands of people have seen their community facilities stolen or damaged by thieves looking for a quick gain, or have suffered service disruption to railways and telecoms," he said. "The problem ranges from opportunistic to large-scale organised theft.
"This has a huge impact across the country - not just financially, but in people's everyday lives."
Police will try to drive the thieves out of business by cracking down on unlicensed scrap dealers.
ACC Crowther said: "By removing the market for stolen metals, the theft becomes much less attractive."
Three years ago a £3 million bronze statue by sculptor Henry Moore was stolen from the grounds of a museum. The two tonne statue of "a reclining figure" is thought to have been melted down for scrap.
In May, a medieval church in County Durham suffered £10,000 damage when thieves stole lead from its roof.
Vicar Ken Steventon said: "It's always a sickening feeling, just as if your house had been broken into. A lot of people in the parish were devastated." | <urn:uuid:3d1bbe37-b2d8-42be-a16c-93706d2b6308> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/2267014/Huge-rise-in-metal-thefts-sparks-major-police-crackdown.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97612 | 329 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Dissemination of Cancer Survivorship Research: Background
June 16, 2004
Marriott Wardman Park Hotel
Background and Significance
"We are spending billions on discovery, hundreds of billions on delivery, but we spend very little trying to connect the two." Jon Kerner, Ph.D., Deputy Director for Research Dissemination and Diffusion, DCCPS/NCI/NIH
Forty-two percent of the 2003 NIH cancer survivorship research portfolio1 focuses on intervention research with cancer survivors and their families. The increasing evolution of survivorship research continues to raise the question, "what is the NCI’s role in facilitating the translation of research into practice." Recent national reports on cancer survivorship research including the Institute of Medicine’s "Childhood Cancer Survivorship," and the President’s Cancer Panel’s "Living Beyond Cancer: Finding a New Balance" indicated the need for evidence-based interventions to assist survivors transitioning from the diagnosis and treatment phase of cancer to post-treatment survivorship. Public and private organizations interested in advancing the cancer survivorship research agenda, including the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, non-profit organizations, and professional societies, have also identified the need to develop criteria for evidence-based interventions that can be disseminated at the clinical and programmatic levels.
1 Survivorship research is defined as that which focuses on the health and life of a person with a history of cancer and/or that of his or her family member, beyond the acute diagnosis and treatment phase. Studies that examined newly diagnosed survivors or those in active treatment were included in the portfolio analysis if follow-up extended at least two months or longer post-treatment. | <urn:uuid:a54454e1-53e6-44b7-b9e2-793e3bcedf30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/ocs/dissemination/background.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938114 | 345 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Northern Gardening covers a variety of gardening topics relevant to our northern climate. The program airs on the second Thursday of each month from 4-5 in the afternoon and is rebroadcast the following Saturday at 6 a.m. The program is a partnership between the Northwoods Food Project, the Cook County U of MN Extension Office, and WTIP.
The Northwood's Food Project is a non-profit organization who's purpose is to increase Cook County's long term food sustainability and self reliance by eating and growing locally produced food.
The U of M Master Gardeners And Experimental Gardeners of Cook County have put together the 2010 catalog Vegetable Varieties of Northern Minnesota.
Learn more about the partnership between WTIP, the Northwoods Food Project, and the Cook County U of MN Extension Office that makes Northern Gardening possible.
Jeanne Wright and daughter Olya, Diane Booth, and Melinda Spinler in the WTIP studio for Northern Gardening.
Do you have a question for Northern Gardening? Submit it below in our comments section. | <urn:uuid:bd68933b-8204-4546-9a69-fc3a7f6de4a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtip.org/drupal/comment/reply/49 | 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 | 0.927019 | 216 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Import records from Connexion
Before you import any records for the first time on a given computer, set the Connexion options so that all exports are sent to a file on your computer's local hard drive or floppy drive. Instructions for how to do this are in Connexion help file. (You only need to do this once per computer.)
- In Workflows, find each record you want to overlay and make sure the Title Control Number is "o########" (without the quotes, and replace the #s with the OCLC number; if the number has fewer than 8 digits, add leading zeros to make it 8 digits).
- Export the records in Connexion that you want to load into the database. (If you wish to have the system automatically add copies as the records are imported, include a Holdings Code in a 949 tag in each record.) Do not mix authority records and bibliographic records in the same file!
- Move the file from your computer to the server.
- Run the MarcImport wizard (usually found on the "Utility" toolbar)
- If the properties window comes up, click OK.
- Click Import
- Make sure "Marc" is selected, then type a unique file name in the Destination box (such as NIK-jh.010905)
- Click the gadget button to the right of the Source box, then use the Open File window to find your data file (either navigating to it and clicking once on it, or just typing the full directory path in the File name box), and click Open.
- A window will appear with the question, "Is the diskette ready?" If you're using a diskette, make sure it is. Click Yes. The system will be busy for a short while as it uploads your file. (The larger the file, the longer it's busy.)
- A window will appear with the question "Are there more files to upload?" If that was the only data file you want to upload right now, click No; otherwise, click Yes (and go back two steps to select the file name of the next file to load.)
- The system will be busy while it finishes uploading the file and runs a report on the process. When it's done, a text file will open in a separate window with the result of the load. Close the text file, and go back to the Workflows screen.
- If you want to make sure the file was uploaded properly, go to the Bib Files to Load tab (or, if you were loading authority records, the Authority Files tab), select your file name, click View, make sure MARC is selected in the resulting window, and click OK. This opens up a text file in a separate window, showing all of the records in the file you selected. When you're done, close the text file.
- Click Cancel to close the MarcImport wizard.
- Load the file from the server into the database.
- Open the Schedule Reports wizard (usually found on the "Reports" toolbar)
- Schedule a new "Load Bibliographic Records" report (a.k.a. "bibload"). There should already be a template set up for this, available on the Templates tab. (otherwise, the report can be found on the MARC Import tab.)
- Put a unique identifying name in the Report Name box. This is how the report will appear in the list of scheduled and finished reports, so it's good to be able to tell yours from all the others.
- Switch to the Load tab.
- Select the file you wish to transfer, using the File to Load drop-down box.
- If using a template, everything else has already been set properly. (If you aren’t using a template, one of the things you must make sure to do is to use the gadget to the right of the Copy Processing box to set whether you are using 949 fields to automatically add copies.)
- Click Schedule.
- Make sure Once is selected, then either select ASAP (most common) or enter a Date & time for the load to take pace (usually rare, unless there are a lot of reports currently in the queue).
- Click OK.
- If you want to verify that the report is in the queue, open the Scheduled Reports wizard. If it doesn't appear here, it either has already been completed or was not scheduled properly. This step is not necessary, but may be helpful.
- If you want to see whether the report has been completed or if you want to view the report's log and/or results, open the Finished Reports wizard. The log includes how many records were added and how many were replaced, and the results give the MARC data of the loaded records. This step is not necessary, but may be helpful. (Especially if you want to quickly check for errors in your cataloging.)
- The records have now been loaded, so you can use Modify Title to make any further changes to the records. | <urn:uuid:3adb9170-e6a1-4fdc-9e8d-3c17688ce2ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ccslib.org/Catalogers/index.php?title=Import_records_from_Connexion | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910697 | 1,045 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Bot Vid: The Naval Robot That Fights Fires
The Navy has a big plan to put smart gesture-controlled bipedla firebots onto ships. These droids are able to scramble through compartments designed for human access, so they’d be invaluable in a crisis, and they can handle fires that humans cannot. The plan needs much research, and the Octavia bot shows a step along the way. It’s a wheeled bot with a freakish face but which can respond to human commands and also recognize and tackle fires. The shiny-helmeted firebot of the future will look very different than this, but will definitely use some of its skills.
Bot Vid: How The World Looks Through Robo-Eyes
The robots we’re building now incorporate many different kinds of machine vision systems to let them “see” the world, and, frankly, it’s not the kind of thing you may imagine if you’ve seen too much Terminator. As a demonstration of what the world looks like to today’s crop of bots, filmmaker Timo Arnall has put together a mashup of the machine vision feeds of a number of robots. The clip should help you realize what a phenomenally difficult task machine vision is–making Octavia, the firebot’s responses more impressive.
Bot Vid: DIY Teacher Bot
Big, complex robots often seem to be the exclusive domain of researchers or corporations with money to burn…but that’s not always true. Entrepreneur and robo-engineer Dan Mathias is an old hand at building robots, and he’s just revealed the latest: Kate 1.0 (“Kid’s Avatar Teacher and Entertainer). The nearly four-foot-tall machine was conceived partly as a way for overseas military personnel to communicate with their families back home, and also as an edutainment vehicle for youngsters. It’s got stereoscopic vision, an Android tablet for Skypeing, and uses a Kinect sensor for situational awareness. Proof that imagination is still vital in the robot game.
Qbo on sale. Qbo has popped up in This Week in Bots a fair amount, because the diminutive little bot seems ideally suited for research and development processes, and the team behind it at The Corpora have tried some clever tricks–like teaching Qbo’s to recognize themselves in a mirror. Now the machine is officially on sale, and it’s priced reasonably in a world where research robots can cost tens of tousands. The intro kit, free of electronics, is just around $650. Qbo Lite is fully assembled, running Linux and ROS and costs $2,200. The Pro edition has a bigger processor and storage and more powerful actuators for $3,000.
Robot Asteroid Mining, The Next X-prize? A startup in Seattle is due to reveal its mission next week, but bits of information are leaking out. It seems to be destined to develop robotic space missions to explore our solar system, and in particular to travel to asteroids and dig into them in order to better understand their composition (and eventually, mine them for profit). The list of funders and advisers is impressive, including James Cameron and Google’s Larry Page. The fact that Peter Diamandis, X-Prize head honco, is listed as chairman of the company has many tongues wagging.
Robot Sex. New Zealand researchers have stirred up a big debate around a very controversial topic: Sexual relations between humans and robots. In their paper called “Robots, Men and Sex Tourism” there’s discussion of the notion of robotic prostitution as a fence against STDs, human trafficking, and underage prostitution…and a frank admission that the sex industry does make money flow. The authors argue that the current open acceptance of sex toys (which are themselves getting smarter) and robotic advances will converge in about 30 years, and our attitudes to the question of robot sex will adapt just as swiftly (something anime has been doing for a while, with the top image from a Ghost In The Shell film).
Bot Futures: Exploring Space Will Be More A Job For Commander Data Than Captain Picard
As NASA’s efforts to get humans into space aboard its own vehicles develop, and commercial space systems that could quickly turn into manned space systems advance (like SpaceX’s upcoming docking opportunity at the ISS), human spaceflight is in the limelight. It’s a matter of pride, and of inspiration–with astronauts’ existence known to interest people in general science as well as just space. And humans are better at coping with the unexpected than our robotic tools are. But simultaneously there’s an effort by NASA to develop Robonaut, with the silver-faced chap even this week flexing his muscles aboard the ISS. Ultimately Robonaut will undertake some of the external spacewalking duties of astronauts.
And thus there’s a discussion going on at the moment, relating to the future of space exploration. Many people are pushing for human exploration missions–returning to the moon, and possibly even pushing on to Mars (with Buzz Aldrin, original moonman himself, keen that a permanent base be established on one of Mars’ moons).
But the counterarguments are compelling. They start with space-borne radiation, because we’re fragile sacks of flesh really and the exposure to radiation in space can injure and kill us. A Mars-bound human mission could, for example, encounter a burst of radiation strong enough to be lethal if a solar flare erupted in its path with too high an intensity. Human life is also complicated to sustain, and our longevity is also an issue when it comes to longer-term missions (such as to Jupiter).
So it seems that the relentless push to develop humanoid (and non-humanoid) robots for use on Earth will have equally important implications off Earth. And the next generation of astronauts may actually end up being spacedroids.
View full post on Fast Company | <urn:uuid:1c5e1750-d727-40f9-bda1-125de1d6bdca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aldar.net/?p=12874 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943042 | 1,245 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Submitted to: American Oil Chemists' Society Meeting
Publication Type: Abstract Only
Publication Acceptance Date: May 1, 2006
Publication Date: May 1, 2006
Citation: Inglett, G.E. 2006. Developing functional hydrocolloids from small grains [abstract]. American Oil Chemists' Society Meeting. p. 109.
Public health concerns related to heart disease and other aging chronic diseases have created opportunities for small grain functional ingredients. The known nutritional benefits of barley and oat beta-glucan make these small grains an excellent source for developments. Although the milled grain products, flakes, and flours are the primary commercial materials, other functional compositions are available as hydrocolloids. These are now functional ingredients that are commercially manufactured. Oatrim was a pioneering ingredient that was prepared by alpha-amylase conversion of oat or barley flours to specific levels of maltodextrin without destroying their beta-glucan contents. It was developed at a time when lowering dietary fat was a popular marketing event. Nutrim was developed later also as a functional ingredient for heart healthy foods. It was a hydrocolloid that was prepared from oat bran without amylolytic action. Another functional ingredient was successfully developed from oat hulls, called Z-Trim. It was useful in expanding the market for reducing food calories. More recently, Calorie-Trim was developed as a functional ingredient with elevated levels of beta-glucan. This new product, called C-Trim with the C for calories, can have beta-glucan contents ranging from 15 to over 50% and can be used in such food products including yogurts, smoothies, and baked goods. The new C-Trim hydrocolloids and their applications are providing new functional ingredients that are helpful in reducing obesity, diabetes, heart and other diseases. All four patented technologies of Oatrim, Z-Trim, Nutrim, and C-Trim are licensed to industrial organizations that are manufacturing and selling these functional small grain ingredients. Other functional ingredients from small grains will also be reviewed. | <urn:uuid:c3ab6f2b-20f6-48d5-88cd-3db6acf3512b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ars.usda.gov/research/publications/publications.htm?SEQ_NO_115=190151&pf=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954552 | 442 | 2.140625 | 2 |
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Surveys: 1st Survey District[Record group 90-1]
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- The 1st Survey District encompassed the area of South Philadelphia west of Broad Street and south of South Street between 1854 and 1929. This covered Wards 26, 30, 36 and 48. In 1929, the 1st District was transplanted to Northeast Philadelphia and its original area became part of the 2nd Survey District. The new 1st District covered part of the 35th Ward, south of Grant Avenue, north of Cottman Avenue and west of Roosevelt Boulevard. In 1941, it was enlarged to encompass all of the area between Cottman Avenue and Grant Avenue. Small modifications in its boundaries occurred in the 1950s. In 198_, the 1st District was abolished and its territory partitioned between the 4th and 8th Districts.
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Last updated on October 29, 1999 | <urn:uuid:b54f0c78-a957-45f4-98a1-aca7fccc422f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phila.gov/phils/docs/inventor/textonly/agencies/A090-1.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941846 | 239 | 2.078125 | 2 |
In 1976, NASA Administrator James Fletcher noted that “The question, ‘What is feasible?’ can be finally answered only by future historians.” He was talking about the elaborate plans for space habitats the agency had spent a summer noodling over, but the same remark could have been made to the incredulous before the first moon landing, for example — or before the birth of transoceanic voyages in the 14th and 15th Centuries.
So begins of one of my favorite pieces of utopist NASA detritus, a document called Space Settlements: A Design Study, made over the course of a 10-week workshop at the Ames research center in 1976. Among those involved: Gerard K. O’Neill, physicist and author of High Frontier, a very groovy (and seminal) book about space colonization. The study, under O’Neill’s leadership, proposes all kinds of wild and wooly space environments, from Bernal spheres to giant spinning cylinders, with acres of plants and false clouds hanging halfway in the sky, massive windows and mirrors to catch the sun, green capsules in the black depths of space.
What’s particularly interesting about the 1976 study is not the fantastically romantic schematic drawings (although those are a plus), but the rare attention the team paid to what they called “psychological and cultural considerations.” The engineering constraints of a functional space colony are overwhelming, but technically achievable — while delicate psychological imbalances can destroy an extra-terrestrial community from the inside out. Look at what happened with the Biosphere 2, for example. And that was on Earth!
According to the NASA study, one of the fundamental problems posed to survival in an outer-space colony environment is the general feeling of un-reality of the whole operation. As a species, we are far from being flexible enough to normalize the feeling of floating in space; a space colony is the kind of environment which could trigger our brains to feel that everything is a dream and nothing outside of our own mind is real. Psychologists call this dissociative mental state “solipsism syndrome,” and it occurs in people who live in strenuous psychological environments, like the Arctic winter. Waking up every morning to dazzling vistas of interstellar space might produce the same effect, with day-to-day life becoming an unending dream with no tether to waking reality. Quoth the study: “this state of mind can be easily produced in an environment where everything is artificial, where everything is like a theater stage, where every wish can be fulfilled by a push-button, and where there is nothing beyond the theater stage and beyond an individual’s control.”
A fantastic problem.
Is it possible to trick our brains into getting over it?
The NASA study suggests a variety of options, from factoring controlled unpredictability into everyday life to ensuring that everyone feels able to contribute to something which grows (namely children and vegetables). Most importantly, however, the illusion that life is taking place inside of a kind of self-contained “theater stage” must be shattered: “it is important to have ‘something beyond the horizon’ which gives the feeling that the world is larger than what is seen.” In fact, again and again, the study emphasizes the need for a long line of sight, for a sense of massive space and openness, to counter the claustrophobia and bring the erratic (and hence reassuring) processes of nature into clear view.
These three factors — unpredictability, growth, and mystery — could define the psychological needs of the human Id in a nutshell, right?
Check out Space Settlements: A Design Study here. | <urn:uuid:e75231a8-8555-4872-ac3f-e6c99a2d01ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scienceblogs.com/universe/2009/04/21/picnics-in-space/ | 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 | 0.935591 | 769 | 3.171875 | 3 |
What if your limitations were all an illusion? What if you were being held back, not by your circumstances, but by your mind? Though it is easy to recognize the perceptual bias of another, your own perceptions are more difficult to distinguish from reality.
In many ways the world you see is of your own making. Consider what that could mean. The obstacles you perceive may not really be there if you could get your mind beyond them. The limitations against which you struggle could be gone the instant you change your viewpoint.
What may appear to be cold, hard, immutable reality could melt away and be transformed by the power of your own perceptions. Though it is foolish to ignore reality, it is tragic to be frozen by it.
What if you could change the world and didn’t know it? What if you suddenly figured it out? Look beyond the obvious. Look beyond your assumptions. Step outside the window of your perceptions and marvel at the vastness of possibility. | <urn:uuid:905603fc-2e44-4fd1-8e02-dd61ca547952> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blognutz.tumblr.com/post/12365720611/perceptions | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971336 | 197 | 2 | 2 |
Contraception Benefit Rolls Out on August 1, 2012
Beginning on August 1, 2012, millions of women across the United States can begin to access a wide range of affordable preventive and reproductive health services for women—including no-copay contraception—thanks to the Affordable Care Act. Celebrate this landmark occasion by sharing our image above with your social networks.
The Center for Reproductive Rights believes that contraception is essential to a woman’s health, empowerment, and equality, and it is a government's responsibility to ensure access to the full range of family planning services so that women can make free and informed decisions. Now in the U.S., a woman who may have had to choose between paying for groceries or her monthly birth control won’t be forced to make such a choice.
The Affordable Care Act—which was signed into law over two years ago and recently upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court—vastly expands women’s access to copay-free preventive health care, including cancer screenings, HIV and STI testing, well-woman visits, breastfeeding support, and prenatal and post-partum care and counseling. A complete listing of expanded services can be found at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
Our partners at the National Women’s Law Center have graciously allowed us to share their fact sheets with you on how to access these new benefits: | <urn:uuid:4a1c05f0-6b7c-46f4-9632-d1f936c6b767> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reproductiverights.org/fr/feature/contraception-benefit-rolls-out-on-august-1-2012 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949324 | 289 | 2.25 | 2 |
Students from all over the Valley are working on “green” sculptures made out of recyclable materials to display at Tempe Marketplace’s Art One Gallery.
Janet Blume, fine arts coordinator for the Scottsdale Unified School District, has been working with the gallery’s owner, Kraig Foote, a Coronado High School graduate, in bringing student artwork to Tempe.
The gallery is showing students’ artwork in its 8,000-square-foot exhibit space at the Tempe Marketplace, at Rio Salado Parkway between McClintock Drive and Loop 101.
The gallery was asked to show at least three sculptures that were made out of recycled materials, Foote said.
“The kids are working with natural environmental objects and finding alternative uses for them,” she said. “Desert Mountain High School has created a sculpture made out of old paper shopping bags dyed with Kool-Aid and weaved into pots.”
The gallery is working constantly on getting new schools involved from all over the state, Blume said.
Tempe Marketplace and Art One Gallery’s grand opening was Sept. 28.
The shopping center had more than 4,000 visitors its first night.
Art One Gallery is a nonprofit organization that was asked to bring a community gallery to the Tempe Marketplace.
The gallery is showing student artwork from elementary through high school levels.
“We want to create a family-friendly environment for the students and their parents,” Foote said.
The students have been displaying mixed-media artwork that they made in art classes.
Blume said the gallery is working on displaying more 2- and 3-D artwork and is looking to bring in small performing groups for exhibit openings.
Foote also works with students to develop portfolios and give them internships with the gallery.
Andy Ziskis, who works at the Art One Gallery, said the artwork the kids bring in is quite interesting.
“The kids made a huge recycled wood sculpture of wood blocks stacked on top of each other,” Ziskis said. “It’s actually really neat what they are doing.” | <urn:uuid:3348561c-3ab6-46b4-a7d1-50eb2edaa8ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eastvalleytribune.com/news/article_00cb6396-6db9-5d43-a8a9-acaa5666219d.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975465 | 454 | 2.046875 | 2 |
The United Nations needs to reform to resolve global problems such as conflict in Syria and climate change, former Prime Minister Helen Clark says.
In a speech at Victoria University this evening, Miss Clark, now the United Nations development head, echoed the concerns of Foreign Affairs Minister Murray McCully about the UN Security Council's role in Syria.
"Around the world, people are exposed to media reporting of the human toll of the Syrian crisis, and are asking why the UN cannot act to protect innocent civilians," Miss Clark said.
She said it was a good time to consider reform of the council, in particular the veto power held by its five permanent members.
Miss Clark acknowledged Mr McCully's call for veto power to be restricted because it was originally intended only for the protection of vital national interests.
In September, Mr McCully warned the UN in New York that it was losing credibility over its inability to act in Syria, where 25,000 people had been killed in a civil war.
New Zealand is seeking a non-permanent seat on the Security Council for the 2015-16 term.
Miss Clark also spoke about the risks in failing to co-ordinate a global response to climate change.
"It would be a tragedy for future generations if today's leaders and decision-makers prove incapable of taking the bold decisions which are necessary to stop catastrophic and irreversible change to the world's climate."
She said there was limited accountability for the agreements that had been reached on carbon emissions, and no meaningful consequences for failing to reach reduction targets.
There was also concern about the fragmentation of global climate change agreements and negotiations.
"Critics of this fragmentation have argued that agreements reached by only some countries are inherently flawed."
Last week, New Zealand opted out of committing to the second phase of the Kyoto Protocol, which sets legally binding targets for reducing greenhouse gases.
New Zealand would instead join the United States, Japan, China and other large economies in committing to the UN Framework, which was not legally binding.By Isaac Davison @Isaac_Davison Email Isaac | <urn:uuid:7341f542-8007-46d7-a922-a32c12024d4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10847164 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964898 | 418 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Archbishop calls for unequivocal Synod stance on homosexuality
Archbishop Kari Mäkinen
According to Archbishop Kari Mäkinen, the Synod of the Finnish Evangelical Lutheran Church, which convened on Monday, is expected to issue a clear and unequivocal stand on the position of homosexuals in Finland.
”I expect the delegates of the Synod to make an unambiguous decision that will support and encourage homosexual people and same-sex couples who have registered their civil union”, said Mäkinen.
The Archbishop warned the delegates not to focus only on policies or conceptual nuances. Such behaviour would only give a message that the church is remaining silent.
Following a gay rights panel discussion entitled Homoilta (Gay Night) on the Finnish Broadcasting Company YLE’s current affairs programme Ajankohtainen Kakkonen, the Evangelical Lutheran Church was caught in the midst of a perfect storm in mid-October.
The fallout rained down heavily on the institution of the Lutheran Church, even though one of the most outspoken panellists was not actually representing the church as such, but the socially conservative political views of the Christian Democrats.
Some people think that the pressures have been unreasonable, but Kari Mäkinen feels that people’s expectations of the church are justified.
A wave of resignations from the church following the gay rights panel discussion has also revealed the longer-term trend according to which the church has no significance for some people.
However, it has also been noticed that the church and the views it represents are still important for many, says Mäkinen.
The Archbishop sees that broadly speaking the church is going through a religious crisis.
”People have been speaking about the crisis in the national church. However, there are many signs showing that the national church is becoming more clearly the people’s church. There is reason to support this by all means at our disposal”, Mäkinen argues.
Mäkinen also thinks that in general negative attitudes in the society have apparently strengthened.
Kimmo Kääriäinen, Director of the Church Research Institute, would like to study whether the number of people who have resigned from the church has been exaggerated.
According to the eroakirkosta.fi website, which facilitates the seceding from the church, the total number of people who made their exit in October was 41,070.
However, according to the preliminary statistics gathered by the Population Register Centre, the figure is only 35,300.
In any event the numbers are greatly elevated from the norm in recent years, and feedback from those leaving has indicated that the gay rights issue was only a factor in a minority of cases.
At the end of October, 78.5% of the Finnish population belonged to the Evangelical Lutheran Church. At the beginning of this year, the figure was close to 80%.
Previously in HS International Edition:
Record numbers of Finns resign from church after gay rights panel discussion on TV (14.10.2010)
Kari Mäkinen elected Lutheran Archbishop in narrow vote (12.3.2010)
Lutheran bishops take cautious stance on same-sex couples (11.2.2010)
Polarised Lutheran Church seeks new referee between reformists and conservatives (16.2.2010)
Church expects to remain solvent despite exodus sparked by gay controversy (19.10.2010)
Gay rights organisation praises enlightened voices from Lutheran Church (23.8.2010)
Gay rights discussion cause of only one in three of recent church resignations (3.11.2010)
Evangelical Lutheran Church of Finland
Church Research Institute
Population Register Centre | <urn:uuid:b83c86d0-db9b-4e43-ad43-5ca810317ebf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hs.fi/english/article/Archbishop+calls+for+unequivocal+Synod+stance+on+homosexuality/1135261517285 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955855 | 764 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Two weeks ago, a Chinese icebreaker became the first vessel from that country to traverse the Canadian Arctic — the fabled Northwest passage, sailed in reverse. That success was thanks to rapidly melting ice in the region, but it still required an icebreaker.
[L]ast week, scientists said the area of floating sea ice in the Arctic had fallen to the lowest level ever observed. As the Belzebub II lingered in the Prince of Wales Strait, its crew — which includes Morgan Peissel, a Boston native and an assistant to filmmaker Errol Morris — received the message from Canadian ice-watching officials that set them in motion: “Good afternoon. It’s not recommended to go into M’Clure Strait, but there is a window open north of Banks. There is a lead developing all along the North shore of Banks Island.”
The ice would return soon, but the decision to go was made “in a heartbeat,” the crew said Monday in a blog post. The Belzebub II then swam into the dangerous strait as walls of ice surrounded the small sailboat, the crew uncertain of whether the ship could make the passage. …
Twenty-four hours into the attempt, going without any sleep, the explorers said they got word that walls of ice were closing the passageway behind them. They hurried ahead, and their craft knifed through clear waters for another 12 hours and finally brought them to their destination just beyond the strait on Wednesday.
Footage of the sailors taken by Canadian Ice Services.
The strait is named for Robert McClure, the first man to traverse the Northwest Passage using a combination of ships and over-ice sleds in 1854.
In a blog post announcing the successful trip, the crew notes that they weren’t the first non-commercial vessel to make it through: a motor boat piloted by mariner David Cowper beat them by a few hours.
Hat tip: Boing Boing. | <urn:uuid:f73be171-c026-4fb3-8582-7610bb685dc0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://grist.org/news/three-man-crew-traverses-northwest-passage-by-sailboat/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962767 | 412 | 3.0625 | 3 |
For many pet owners, the mere thought of putting their pet under anesthesia paralyzes them with fear.
“Uniformly, people are concerned their pet is going to die,” says Dr. Heidi Shafford of Veterinary Anesthesia Specialists LLC.
She hopes that if pet owners have a clear understanding of the anesthesia process, they will be less willing to forgo important procedures that may improve – or even save – their pet’s life.
Shafford is a board-certified veterinary anesthesiologist, which means she went through five years of residency and graduate training after veterinary school.
She’s also the only such person in the Pacific Northwest who works regularly at veterinary practices (the two others in the state teach at Oregon State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine).
Emma, a 13-year-old Yorkshire terrier with a heart condition and some periodontal disease, is a typical patient.
Shafford brought her mobile anesthesia service to North Portland Veterinary Hospital recently to safely anesthetize the three-pound dog while she underwent a complete dental exam and tooth removal.
Shafford’s presence “helps me just be able to focus efficiently on the teeth side of things,” says Dr. Pat Frost Fitch, a board-certified veterinary dental specialist. “It really is a team effort.”
While veterinarians are qualified to administer and monitor anesthesia themselves, they call on Shafford when they want to focus on a specific procedure, or they recommend her to nervous clients.
Anesthesia is never one-size, fits-all; the process always begins with a careful review of the pet’s medical history, risk factors such as age and size, and underlying health issues.
After determining a medication protocol for Emma, Shafford injected three vials of clear fluid into the dog’s leg, and she visibly relaxed.
The pre-anesthetic medication helps prevent pain, reduce stress and decreases the dose of anesthetic medication used in the procedure.
Then Shafford attached an intravenous catheter to administer drugs and fluids, which also allows access to a vein in case of emergency.Once Emma was unconscious, Shafford slid an endotracheal tube into her windpipe to help her breathe and protect her lungs from inhaling stomach contents or water.
Emma breathed in just enough oxygen and isoflurane to maintain her anesthetic plane while Frost Fitch continued her work.
Shafford points out that some people believe administering anesthesia through a mask or an induction chamber are safer methods because their pet is receiving fewer drugs.
However, she says, those methods are more stressful for the pet, much more potent and harder to monitor.
The biggest complications –heart or lung failure or a sudden drop in temperature – tend to occur because someone wasn’t watching for signs.
“I think that’s a common misconception, that anesthetic is administered and the pet just dies,” Shafford says. “I would say that happens rarely. In most cases, there are some indications that the pet is doing poorly.”
During Emma’s procedure, Shafford pointed to a monitor to show how the wavy lines of green, blue and gray tracked the dog’s heart rate, blood flow and breathing.
“It is important that a knowledgeable person is watching the patient to watch for changes that would compromise the health of the pet,” she says.
For further backup, Emma’s heartbeat sounded in the background, transmitted by amplifiers from a Doppler blood pressure monitor.
Following the procedure, the pet is usually taken to a recovery cage and should regain consciousness within five to 15 minutes.
Surprisingly, it’s this period – not when the animal is lying unconscious on a table - when the majority of anesthetic deaths occur, Shafford says.
Again, the worst-case scenario usually happens because the animal’s heart rate and temperature weren’t being monitored closely.
The risk of anesthetic-related death for healthy cats is about one in 1,000, and about one in 2,000 for healthy dogs, Shafford says. Among humans, it’s about one in 250,000.
Duration of anesthesia depends on length of the procedure; pets typically regain consciousness in between five and 15 minutes.
Sleepiness is a common side effect of the pain medication. Your pet may also urinate more or less than normal, depending on how much intravenous fluid it received.
Shafford understands that many people may be anxious about anesthesia because of their pet’s breed, age or health issues.
“These pets can do well after anesthesia, as long we treat them as the fragile pet that they are,” she says. “They often do require extra support, but that doesn’t mean that it can’t be done.”
Just ask West Linn resident Sandi Wooldridge. Her 4-year-old pug, Buddy, has a condition called laryngeal collapse, which makes the brachycephalic’s breathing even more challenging.
When he fractured his molars last December, Wooldridge was a “nervous wreck.”
“This dog means the world to me,” she says.
She was forced to weigh the potentially serious health risks of a tooth abscess against putting a high-risk dog under anesthesia to have the teeth pulled.
But after meeting with Shafford and hearing the pros and cons of such a procedure, she went ahead with it. Buddy recovered just fine.
Then in April, he broke his leg jumping off a couch. Wooldridge took him to the veterinary ER but held off on surgery until Shafford was available.
“She’s like Buddy’s little guardian angel,” she says of Shafford. “I won’t ever have him put to sleep unless she’s around.”
Questions to ask before deciding to anesthetize your pet:
- What are the most common anesthetic complications that pets like mine will experience while undergoing this procedure? (This offers the veterinary team an opportunity to explain what they know is common and what they will do to minimize complications).
- Can you describe the process in which my pet will be anesthetized?
- Will someone be dedicated specifically to monitoring my pet, or will the veterinary team be multi-tasking? (Asking this question may prompt your veterinarian to assign someone to this task).
- What is that person’s experience level in monitoring anesthesia?
- Are there things that I can do to help maximize the recovery process, such as administer or stop administering medications or supplements? | <urn:uuid:d52ad262-d4a8-417f-a400-1bf7d1499b4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oregonlive.com/pets/index.ssf/2012/10/pet_talk_veterinary_anesthesio.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955063 | 1,425 | 2.46875 | 2 |
An esker is a special sort of hill. Eskers develop underneath a glacier, so in Ohio they formed during the last ice age. The sediment that eventually creates an esker starts its life as the sand, gravel and rock deposited on the bottom of a riverbed. However the unusual thing about the associated river is that it flows under great pressure beneath a massive glacier. Instead of having normal riverbanks made of earth, this kind of river flows through a crevasse or icy tunnel at the base of a glacier. Over hundreds, even thousands of years, huge piles of sediment accumulate at the bottom of this subglacial river. When the glacier finally melts, the old riverbed remains as a long mound that rises above the surrounding landscape. To the causal viewer, they look like long, winding hills.
The Siegenthaler-Kaestner Esker State Nature Preserve features this sort of glacially shaped landscape. Since I was visiting Champaign County, I decided to check it out.
As I pulled up to the site, I was disappointed to see that the parking lot had grown into a field. I pulled in any way and looked over the kiosk that stood to the rear of the parking lot. There are no online trail maps for this preserve, so I’ve photographed the one on the kiosk and uploaded it to Flickr. After looking over the kiosk, I discovered that there are actually two eskers present on the preserve. According the map, I would follow a fence line, go along the edge of a small forest, and then arrive near the middle of the first esker. And it looked like the trail both encircled the esker and followed its ridgeline. The trail was about a mile in length, but since I’d have to repeat part of the trail to get back to my car, I figured I’d be walking about a mile and a half.
The trail was a mown path, but like the parking lot no one had mowed it for some time. Since tall grass often harbors insect pests, I sprayed on a liberal amount of DEET before heading out.
While walking through the grove, I though I could hear a deer moving about. As I drew within sight of the esker, I got to see the deer emerge from the woods, bound up the esker and out of sight.
A fence kept people from wandering away from the esker’s perimeter, but there was a grassy path around the hill. Here’s a look down the fence line at the lower portion of the esker.
Perhaps due to runoff accumulating at the base of the esker, there were a lot of bugs buzzing around at this point. But there were also moisture-loving irises growing at the esker’s base.
Because of the tall grass and weeds, the trail around the esker wasn’t that pleasant. Since I was wearing shorts (a bad choice), I had to keep my eyes out for thistles. They were interspersed throughout the trail, but occasionally they made thick patches.
Once I got to the end of the esker, I could take a look at the path up the esker to its ridgeline. Although the grass was long, it still looked more appealing than the path around the esker, so I decided to give it a go.
Once I got up to the top, I could look back to the south where the other esker was (the top picture of this post). However as I went north, there were so many trees along the esker that I soon was unable to see the other one.
There were a number of flowers at the top of the hill that I hadn’t seen anywhere else at the preserve.
But for me the biggest treat was the flower species below. I had never seen it before, and once I got home it took it took some effort to learn that it was Wild Petunia.
It was nearly sunset and I was ready to head home. However I had finally caught up with the deer that I had disturbed earlier.
I thought it was an interesting place. If you go, wear long pants and bring DEET. | <urn:uuid:a5642ff0-070a-4aea-b4be-e9ff2f13b974> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://trekohio.com/2012/06/15/siegenthaler-kaestner-esker/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982648 | 869 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Part 2 – Necessary Sorrow
May I say that it is not the necessary trouble and sorrow that weigh so heavily, it’s the unnecessary trouble and sorrow. For instance, it’s the unnecessary and imaginary trouble and sorrow that do the most damage. David became weary and said, “I shall one day die at the hand of Saul.” And yet, the truth of the matter was that he died in a ripe old age, full of years and a completed ministry – Mary and Martha suffered some unnecessary sorrow. Bible faith will bring you always to the conclusion that our Father never makes a mistake.
“My Father’s way may twist and turn,
My heart may throb and ache,
But in my soul, I’m glad I know
He maketh no mistake.
“My cherished plans may go astray,
My hopes may fade away,
But still I’ll trust my Lord to lead
For He doth know the way.
“Though night be dark and it may seem
That day will never break,
I’ll pin my faith, my all in Him,
He maketh no mistake.
“There’s so much now I cannot see
My eyesight’s far too dim,
But come what may. I’ll simply trust
And leave it all to Him.
“For by and by, the mist will lift
And plain it all He’ll make,
Through all the way, though dark to me,
He made not one mistake.”
Paul said to Timothy, “For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some coveted after, they have erred from the faith, and pierced themselves through with many sorrows,” I Timothy 6: 10. These are unnecessary sorrows for the Christian and yet so much of our time is consumed in fretting and worrying and anxiety concerning money matters and the trifles of this world. God said in Psalm 50:15, “And call upon Me in the day of trouble: I will deliver thee, and thou shalt glorify Me.”
It’s not the trouble and sorrow that bring glory, it’s the faith that brings the Saviour to the scene – It wasn’t the death of Lazarus that brought glory to God, it Was the power of Christ and His Word in the cemetery at Bethany that raised him from the dead. There’s no glory for God in sickness and suffering and death apart from the grace to bear and to give victory and deliverance.
Tears are not a blessing unless they become telescopes through which we see the Saviour. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and He shall sustain thee: He shall never suffer the righteous to be moved,” Psalm 55:22. | <urn:uuid:c508c8ea-79dd-4e63-9323-57305f830aed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gotothebible.com/blog/?page_id=1602 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930647 | 605 | 1.671875 | 2 |
In a world where the biggest security risk exists between the chair and the keyboard, weak passwords are the quickest way of allowing yourself to be hacked. A brute force attack for a 8 character lowercase password can be done in (micro)seconds. And although you should always protect your application against these attacks ( e.g. allowing three wrong password entries before suspending the account ) I’ve always felt you should be “training” your end-users. Help them create strong passwords so that this specific part of security is the least of your worries when developing a web application.
I’ve been using the the following regular expression for my passwords for some time now.
This regular expression doesn’t set a maximum number of allowed characters but it will check if the password:
- contains at least 1 uppercase letter
- contains at least 1 lowercase letter
- contains at least 1 number or special character
- is at least 8 characters in length
Now if we’d only were able to prevent people from writing down their passwords the world would be a better place for a webdeveloper. | <urn:uuid:c5727967-cc18-4501-88d5-b4a9fc43de9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lucdebrouwer.nl/testing-password-strength-with-a-simple-regex/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916278 | 230 | 2.375 | 2 |
The high heat of grilling sears the surface of beef, creating tender meat with a flavorful crust. The required cooking temperature and the method of grilling (direct, indirect, or a combination of the two) depends on the cut of beef and the quality of the meat.
A crosscut steak from the beef sirloin. There are several different sirloin beefsteaks and each is given a different name depending on the shape of the piece of hipbone that is contained within the steak: 1) pin bone, which is a crosscut from the front section of the hip, next to the Porterhouse, and is the most tender of the bone-in sirloin steaks; 2) flat bone, which is another crosscut from the front section of the hip; 3) round bone, which is a third crosscut steak from the front section of the hip; and 4) wedge bone, which is the least tender of the four because of its proximity to the rump.
Large steaks that are flexible so they can be rolled and tied to be used as an oven roast. Often, a stuffing is placed over the steak before it is rolled to enhance the flavor of both the steak and the stuffing. | <urn:uuid:d1ccb018-1521-4fd2-8a9e-7b57d0a0cff5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.recipetips.com/recipe-cards/t--4125/grilled-marinated-sirloin-steak.asp?slide=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945301 | 250 | 2.1875 | 2 |
CHALLENGE. The Melbourne Cricket Ground is one of the oldest and largest capacity sporting grounds in the world. It has great historic and spiritual significance as the home of Australian cricket and the main venue for Australian Rules Football. In 2006, the MCG underwent a significant redevelopment to 60% of the grounds. As part of a team of five architectural practices involved in the redevelopment, Populous faced the great challenge of ensuring the stadium was designed to meet current standards, whilst maintaining the ground’s inherited traditions. The redevelopment was completed over five stages and took three years.
INNOVATION. The MCG attracts a varied mix of stakeholders, from AFL, Cricket, Rugby League and Soccer. Amongst each of these sporting codes there exists a variety of membership opportunities. This varied mix of needs and interested provided a challenge when designing entrances for each stakeholder group. Populous created three main atrium entrances and meeting points within the stadium to provide stakeholders with their own exclusive entry.
The redeveloped stadium features seven new bars and restaurants providing a total of 5,000 dining seats – 3,800 of which have views to the pitch. The outstanding function spaces offer spectacular views of the city skyline and over the stadium itself. The world famous Long Room has also returned to the Members Pavilion.
IMPACT. The MCG is known the world over as one of the greatest Cricket venues in the world, and in Australia is the home of AFL – this redevelopment has helped the stadium maintain its respected position. The redevelopment was also a way to make the stadium more visible, further integrating it into its urban context, and providing a stadium for the people. As the saying goes, “there may be more to Melbourne than the Melbourne Cricket Ground. But nothing means more to Melbourne.”
Populous was commissioned to provide full architectural services for the redevelopment of the MCG as part of MCG5 Sports Architects – a joint venture between Populous, Daryl Jackson Architects, Hassell, Cox Architects and TS&E. | <urn:uuid:59d6e432-77ad-4f1d-92cb-ba81ebc29a22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://populous.com/project/melbourne-cricket-ground/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964123 | 408 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The Cleveland Museum of Art strives to be a model of cultural and intellectual excellence, attracting scholars on a global level, and promoting and facilitating scholarly endeavors locally. Countless curators and conservators have trained, studied, or apprenticed at the museum, where their interaction with an unequaled collection has resulted in some of the finest and most creative conservators and curators in the world.
The Cleveland Museum of Art houses extraordinary collections of works of art. The organization, security, preservation, research, and presentation of these collections is supported by the work of many individuals and teams from the museum’s conservation, curatorial, education, library, design, exhibitions, and collections departments. The museum distinguishes itself through the caliber of these art professionals, who are some of the most highly respected and talented individuals in the country.
Art and science meet in the museum’s conservation labs. Here you find conservators with specializations ranging from paintings to sculpture, antiquities to contemporary art, medieval manuscripts to tapestries and Asian folding screens. The conservators possess deep knowledge of artistic materials and techniques, treatment methodology, and ethics of conservation. Their mission is to study, preserve, and restore physical works of art in the collection and the works of art traveling from other museums and collectors worldwide.
Library and Archives
The Ingalls Library and Museum Archives are intellectual assets whose value is priceless and whose collections are essential to advancing scholarship and ensuring artistic excellence. The library is ranked among the top three largest art research libraries in the nation and the collection remains one of the finest in the world. The Ingalls Library and Museum Archives is poised in an excellent position to move forward within the dictates of the museum’s broader vision, and serves as a leader within the world of art museum libraries in terms of technology, services, innovative programming, and research.
The museum’s creative services and publications departments design and produce hundreds of projects a year. Whether compiling exhibition catalogues, books highlighting the museum’s collections, or scholarly periodicals, the creative services and publications departments offer a deep source of talent and experience. | <urn:uuid:17740c3f-c79a-4359-ad73-a3f172779256> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clevelandart.org/support/why-support-the-museum/scholarship | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92728 | 428 | 2.078125 | 2 |
13 Mobilisation Centres were built between 1889 and 1903 as part of the London Defence Scheme. These were not planned as forts although some of them would have been armed on mobilisation. Their main function was as a store for guns, small arms ammunition, tools and other equipment required for the batteries and infantry allocated for the defence of the neighbourhood in the event of a foreign invasion. The casemates could also be used as barrack accommodation.
Pictures from a couple of visits, once with a few off forum people and the others from a trip with UrbanX and Em_UX.
Finally found the other turret last time we went.
Thanks for looking
When she smiles it looks like an exploding pig... Erotic. | <urn:uuid:148a5ab5-f14d-43c4-8f5b-cb2789221729> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.28dayslater.co.uk/forums/industrial-sites/65054-north-weald-redoubt-again-aug-sept-2011-a.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980882 | 150 | 2.6875 | 3 |
On the 1st September 2009, 70 years after the breakout of the Second World War, world leaders will come to Westerplatte in Gdańsk, Poland, where it all began. They will pay tribute to the victims, line the paths of reconcilliation and vow to make sure similar things don’t happen again. But as delegations iron their shirts and pack bags, many people feel let down again.
Germany and Russia, the perpetrators of the 1939 attack on Poland they conducted in agreement and concord with each other, are sending the highest authorities: Angela Merkel, who is engaged in a longstanding genuine effort for German-Polish (and other) reconcilliation, and Vladimir Putin, who isn’t. Among those attending are many heads of states. The EU will be represented by the prime minister of Sweden Fredrik Reinfeldt, a country currently holding the presidency. Jerzy Buzek, the newly appointed speaker of the European Parliament, former Polish prime minister, will act as a symbol of a new era in Central Europe.
It is however the absentees, who are most talked about. It is a very important occasion for Polish politicians, and diplomatic world knows it. Absence, therefore, says a lot. French president Nicolas Sarkozy, Gordon Brown the prime minister of the UK and the American president Barack Obama decided they had more important things to do, are sending their representatives of lower rank. These decisions received very cold reception among many Poles. They feel France and Britain have betrayed Poland in 1939, by not providing military help to which they have commited themselves in treaties. And thay say, together with the USA they betrayed Poland once again after the war, leaving her for Soviet occupation. Therefore Poland, an ally that managed to defend longer than France, has become the only ally that didn’t actually win the war. And today, many feel, that these leaders can’t even manage to find three hours to appear on official celebrations. This is noted, and Poles have a good memory – as one of commentators put it on a Polish news channel.
This is a very important day. For many decades we weren’t allowed to talk freely about what happened during the Second World War. Communist dictatorship blanked out half of our war fate from official memory. Some Western countries were able to remember what happened and have moved on. We didn’t, we are remembering it now. It is the last big anniversary when witnesses are still alive. We need this – a Warsaw pedestrian told Polsat News.
Popular feelings are reflected in the press, which comments that relations with Poland have become the last priority for the United States. And that she is not getting anything in return for being America’s faithful ally. Polish effort in Iraq, and Afghanistan turn out not to be “lives and money well spent”. Oil contracts did not happen. Promised investment (off-set in return for aircraft deal) is not coming. USA are pulling off the missile shield. And on top of that Poles still need visas to travel to the US. Opinion polls on Poland’s participation in wars in Iraq and Afghanistan are falling flat.
Gordon Brown and Nicolas Sarkozy are not coming either. Is it only because standing in Gdansk, they would have to refer to their countries performance as Poland’s allies? Or the opportunities their countries missed, after the war, to talk about Stalin’s atrocities? Or is it just relations with Poland are on the far end of important issues? After all Gordon Brown did bother to visit the shores of Normandy, when Nicolas Sarkozy invited him for remembrance ceremony.
Some point this could mean that the world is going back to making politics over the heads of smaller nations.
What happened 70 years ago changed the world and shaped today’s reality, we should make sure that it is accurately remembered. It involved two wicked ideologies, that co-operated until 1941. One executing a racist plan of cleansing the Europe of Jews, Slavs and other peoples, and their cultures, treasures and sights, to make room in the East for the German ‘race’. The other intended to expand its model of murderous dictatorship and dominane worldwide on the basis of changing the social relations. Hundreds thousands were enslaved and maked forced-labourers, millions of men, women and children were killed in concentration camps and gulags. Shot in łapankas, bombings, killed in battle. It all happed in the cultured Europe, among the statues of great philosophers and musicians.
We failed to remember what happened. Most people until this day are not fully aware of the atocities of Stalin. Being among the “winners” of the war, he and his people never got their Nurenberg Trial. We failed to make sure similar things don’t happen again.
As Mrs. Angela Merkel said in her video address, it is right and it is important to be in Gdansk for the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Second World War. Maybe we can stop failing? | <urn:uuid:85cd48bc-d0ba-4072-aee1-db427b04af75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://polandian.wordpress.com/tag/uk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969116 | 1,046 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Who should have a partial nephrectomy?
If you have a kidney tumor, there are many ways to treat it. The best way depends on many personal factors. The best treatment for most kidney tumors is to remove it with an operation. Most people are born with two kidneys and only need one to survive. Recently, however, it has become clear that the more kidney you have left, the longer you live. Data demonstrates that patients undergoing a partial nephrectomy live longer than patients undergoing a radical nephrectomy for the same stage of tumors. This holds true for patients of all ages, tumor sizes and tumor locations. You can live without any kidneys, but you would have to be on dialysis. Usually you would have to go to a dialysis center for a few hours as much as three times a week. People on dialysis also do not live as long as people who are not.
The average age of patients who received a robot-assisted partial nephrectomy at Roswell Park is 59.4 years old. We have operated on patients as from 23 years of age to 88 years old.
Another factor that’s taken into account when considering surgery is a patient’s weight. Usually, doctors look at a calculation called the Body Mass Index, or BMI, that takes both height and weight into account. The range of BMI values for people whose weight is considered average is 18.5-25. If a person’s BMI is lower than this, they’re underweight; if it’s higher, they’re overweight. If the BMI is over 30, they’re considered obese.
Roswell Park patients having this procedure have ranged from average weight to obese.
Medical history is important when considering surgery. Anesthesiologists use the “ASA” score to classify patients prior to surgery based on their medical history. This is an overall estimation of a person’s physical health, based in part on whether or not there is systemic disease (problems with one of the body’s main systems). ASA scores are given in Roman numerals:
ASA I: a normal, healthy patient
ASA II: a patient with mild systemic disease, such as someone with well-controlled high blood pressure
ASA III: someone with severe systemic disease that interferes with their normal functioning
ASA IV: someone whose disease puts them at constant risk: for example, a person with a combination of serious illnesses
Among the patients from Roswell Park who have had robot-assisted partial nephrectomy, most were ASA II. | <urn:uuid:288ffb64-4372-4193-b8f2-827fbc1e6b4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.roswellpark.org/robotics/cancers-treated-robotically/kidney/eligibility | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966599 | 538 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Since just about every refrigerator automatically comes with a meat drawer, butter shelf, and egg rack, it should come as no surprise that most homes are predictably equipped with a medicine chest. Taking such inevitability further along its natural progression, those in the health care . . . I mean, disease care field fully expect to be regularly treating patients with a fair amount of body fat.
Case in point: About six years ago, my wife Michele began experiencing severe abdominal discomfort in the lower right quadrant. Ever cautious about subjecting herself to the demoralizing disease care labyrinth, she was in no hurry to visit our local emergency room. However, when the pain became too much to ignore, the emergency room is precisely where we ended up at nearly midnight.
A male complaining of pain in the lower right abdomen would’ve garnered an almost immediate diagnosis of appendicitis. For women, it requires further testing. This reality became particularly germane when we realized that the Computed Axial Tomography (CAT) Scan technician was not on duty so late at night and the attending physician could not prescribe a painkiller until a diagnosis was made (which, of course, required the CAT Scan technician). Not exactly Grey’s Anatomy or ER, huh?
Roughly twelve agonizing hours later, a scan was finally performed — but shortly afterwards, a doctor came to speak with me. It seems the test results were, shall we say, inconclusive.
“Your wife is too thin,” the man in the white coat told me. “Her body fat is so low that we can’t get the contrast we need on the scan.” Just perfect, I thought to myself. It’s absolutely ideal that a defective system like this is designed to deal specifically with those who have bought into the standard American diet/lifestyle.
Michele’s family had arrived by then and thought it was amusing to remark that the body fat/contrast conundrum proved that she needed to change her vegan eating habits. After what turned out to be seventeen hours of waiting in misery until finally being scheduled for an appendectomy, Michele was clearly in no mood to laugh.
I’ll tell you what else isn’t comical about the disease care cartels: nutrition training at America’s medical schools. An April 2006 study, published in the American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, found that “the amount of nutrition education in medical schools remains inadequate” and 60 percent of medical schools in the United States are not meeting minimum recommendations for their students’ nutrition education. Only 32 of the 106 schools surveyed (30% percent) even required a separate nutrition course. Thus, even the most well-meaning and diligent physician is often ill equipped to offer legitimate help within the structure he or she was trained in.
“Doctors typically aren’t given much training in nutrition and some so-called nutrition experts are not well qualified in that field,” says Neal Pinckney, M.D., author of The Healthy Heart Handbook. “A large sample of physicians was asked how much training they got in nutrition in medical school. The average was less than three hours, with many having only one hour or less. That’s out of nearly 3,500 hours of medical training. The truth is that doctors may get their nutrition information from the same newspapers and TV programs we do, and unless they have taken extra training in nutrition, they may not know much more about nutrition than the rest of us.”
No wonder hospital food is so, uh, frightening. The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine reviewed hospital menus in 2005 and found that “on many days at some hospitals, patients and visitors cannot find a low-fat, cholesterol-free entree in the main cafeteria or restaurant. Fewer than one-third of hospitals surveyed offered either a daily salad bar or a daily low-fat vegetarian entree” (17 percent of the responding hospitals had a fast-food establishment on the premises). When asked for their “healthiest entree” recipe, 62 percent of these offerings derived more than 30 percent of calories from fat, and a few derived more than 50 percent of calories from fat.
Hey, I guess they’re just making sure those expensive CAT Scans can find contrast. | <urn:uuid:157263b4-d2da-4e0f-830a-1b8d764b9ca8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/01/for-profit-health-care-more-than-one-way-to-scan-a-cat/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972627 | 892 | 1.664063 | 2 |
CAVE CREEK – Desert Willow Elementary School teacher Luz Ordosgoitia colors water red to show her sixth-grade science class that density affects how water and several other liquids separate when mixed.
As the liquids form layers in a beaker, she asks which is the water.
“¡Rojo!” they reply in unison.
In Ordosgoitia’s class, nobody is allowed to speak English whether they’re learning about physics, chemistry or biology. It is part of a foreign language-immersion program that focuses on teaching half of the day’s subjects in Spanish to children from preschool to eighth grade.
The program, which is in its ninth year and is one of a handful in the state, enrolls about 50 new students annually.
Educators say the program has improved standardized test scores, set up students for success in high school and shown the way for others like it in Arizona.
“It has created a reputation of being high-excellence,” said Roger Hill, the school’s principal.
In preschool, students have their entire day taught in Spanish. From then on only certain subjects are taught in Spanish, ranging from math to science to social studies depending on the grade.
Sixth-grader Julian Voitek, like many kids in the program, is the only member of his family who is now bilingual.
“I like being able to speak another language outside of my home,” he said in Spanish. “It’s really fun because I know how to translate things my friends say in English.”
Jana Miller, associate superintendent of teaching and learning for Cave Creek Unified School District and founder of Desert Willow’s program, said students enrolled in the first three cohort groups met or exceeded the AIMS test scores more often than their non-immersion program counterparts in the same district from 2007-2010.
“The test score results are basically what’s selling the program,” she said.
Cristina Ladas, the district’s world languages consultant, said higher academic performance in math and reading may be due to cognitive benefits students gain from learning another language at such a young age.
The program is so successful that there aren’t enough spots for everybody interested, she said.
“We actually have to draw a lottery for families that want into the program,” Ladas said. “We do always have a waiting list.”
Jennifer Olson, who teaches science to first-graders, often uses hand motions and drawings to help with the absence of English in the classroom.
“In Spanish … they can really get their hands on things to connect the words with those real-life things,” she said.
Desert Willow Elementary School received $465,000 in grant money from the U.S. Department of Education in 2007 to expand its immersion program. It has since become a model, inspiring other communities to adopt similar teaching methods in their elementary and middle schools.
Hill, the principal, said that while some parents are resistant to having their children learn math and science in another language, majority of people in the community regard the program highly.
“I’m just glad our district has embraced learning a second language as a good thing,” he said. “It helps [students] see that there’s a whole world out there.”
Still, immersion programs are far from the norm in language education in the U.S. The majority of school districts across Arizona and the country only offer second language learning to high school students.
Nancy Rhodes, director of foreign language education at the nonprofit Center for Applied Linguistics in Washington, D.C., said foreign languages are becoming more important.
“I think now, where we are in the 21st century and we are living in a global society, we don’t have blinders on anymore,” she said. “Whether we like it or not, we have to communicate with people around the world and we have to negotiate with them.”
Immersion programs give the best results across the board for this kind of learning, she said – and Arizona is in a unique position to provide this education because it has so many native Spanish speakers.
But in Arizona, students who aren’t native English speakers and don’t demonstrate English proficiency when entering school aren’t eligible for the foreign language-immersion program, Ladas said.
Andrew LaFevre, spokesman for the Arizona Department of Education, said Superintendent of Public Instruction John Huppenthal is a proponent of foreign language learning in general but hasn’t taken a position on immersion programs because it’s up to individual school districts whether to offer them.
For students in the Cave Creek Unified School District, the program’s benefits are clear at a young age.
“I’m going to have more job opportunities in the future,” said sixth grade student Samantha Cashman, who is now a proficient Spanish speaker. “It gives you a broader expansion of [another] culture.” | <urn:uuid:e1e909f3-f041-482e-b4a3-9474e7a45b3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cronkitenewsonline.com/2012/03/school-district-says-spanish-immersion-program-raises-test-scores/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954755 | 1,078 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Make footprints in the sand along some the East Coast's prestigious Blue Flag beaches
Chapel Point was once part of a major coastal defence line during the Second World War, and restoration work here has included the gun structure and viewing platform. In 1953 flooding devastated this area of coast, after which the sea defences were strengthened. Chapel Point is a favourite location for birders as many overseas birds visit, including the Mediterranean gull.
Park at Skegness and catch a bus to Chapel Point. From the beach huts head south towards Chapel St Leonards. Either strike out along the beach or use the promenade to get there, where you’ll be greeted with a café and pub on the seafront. Situated 3 miles from the shore is the Lynn and Inner Dowsing Offshore Wind Farm. Once fully operational, it will be the largest offshore wind farm in the world.
Between Chapel Point and Ingoldmells, a number of Iron Age and Roman salt-making mines have been discovered on the beach. A good marker in the distance is the outline of Fantasy Island, where you can ride on the Millennium Roller Coaster, the longest looping coaster in Europe. Ingoldmells combines seaside tradition with modern facilities, and there are plenty of cafés.
If your legs are tiring from all that walking on sand, then you could always cheat by catching the sand train (£1), which trundles from Ingoldmells to Butlins. It was the excellent sunshine record of Ingoldmells that encouraged Billy Butlin to open his first holiday centre here in 1936.
Once past the holiday village, carry on walking to Winthorpe, where the Derbyshire Miners Convalescent Home overlooks the North Sea.
Past Winthorpe, the dunes hide views of the North Shore Golf Course, where power from the offshore wind turbines is carried underground and on to a local substation.
Once at Skegness Pier, the seaside springs to life with families gathering behind colourful windbreaks, building sandcastles, playing ball games and enjoying traditional donkey rides.
Skegness is home to the famous Jolly Fisherman, who featured on the famous posters that encouraged people to visit the town in the early 20th century. Walk by the lifeboat station and down Tower Esplanade to the Clock Tower, then along Lumley Road to your car.
Now drive the 3 miles south to Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve, which boasts 1,000 acres of coastal habitats, including both sandy and muddy seashores, sand dunes, saltmarshes and freshwater marshes.
It is not advisable to walk along the beach from Skegness to the reserve, particularly as Greenshank’s Creek is tidal. However, from the visitor centre car park, a network of paths and observation hides enable you to see the major habitats while keeping wildlife disturbance to a minimum.
You can walk either all the way from Chapel Point to Skegness along the beach or use the promenade, which runs between the beach and the coastal road.
HOW TO GET THERE
By car: Park at the cricket ground on Richmond Drive, and cross the road to Skegness Bus Station, where you catch the regular Stagecoach No.1 service to Chapel St Leonards. A connecting bus drops you at Chapel Point.
By public transport: East Midlands Trains run services from Nottingham and Derby. Local coach operators run regular services throughout Lincolnshire.
Gibraltar Point National Nature Reserve Visitor Centre
Gibraltar Road, Skegness
Tel. 01754 898057
Natureland Seal Sanctuary
North Parade, Skegness
Tel. 01754 764345
Open all year except Christmas Day, Boxing Day and New Year’s Day, 10am, closing times vary.
Skegness Tourist Information Centre
Grand Parade, Skegness
Tel. 01754 899887 | <urn:uuid:f2545d68-4221-4a6f-8b10-2982880cd528> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.countryfile.com/days-out/skegness-lincolnshire | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905243 | 814 | 1.585938 | 2 |
How much has changed since the recent “dribble drabble” releases of census information? Nothing. Nothing much unless you count ‘awareness’ that is. Most of the census information measures the change since Y2K but its delivery of the information merely confirms what most people know -the world has changed and continues to.
Since the emergence of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) in 1994, the term “global economy” has been a growing part of our business jargon. What that led to is an industry around diversity training that some estimate well into the 8 figures. But many court cases have proven that “diversity training” by consultants has not always been the most effective at supporting most corporation’s initial goal of reduced litigation; in fact in the early 1990s, the opposite occurred due to poorly trained trainers. The smartest companies got wise and developed their own training departments and created the executive position of Chief Diversity Officer along with volunteer Employee Resource Groups or “ERGs.” Even these smart companies however, are running into challenges. In fact, it’s the companies with the most intelligent, ambitious and highest potential employees that struggle with adding the new responsibilities of workplace diversity management to their job descriptions. This struggle is in part because the goals of these groups have changed since their early inception, along with our understanding of their ability to impact workplace success.
Having participated as a volunteer both for internal and external affinity or resource groups, I have had the opportunity to witness and participate in both failure and success. Like any collection of people united by a common cause, the key to victory is:
- Clarity of the mission
- Articulation of a strategy to achieve that mission
- Identifying the right people to implement the strategy
In last month’s article What Dictators Get Wrong but Good Leaders Get Right I spent some time on strategy and tactics but here I will focus on the “Clarity of the Mission.” In my limited research I have understood diversity training to encompass many different themes including: Cross Cultural Training, Multicultural Training and Race Relations. Both Multicultural Training and Race Relations seemed to have had a focus on differences between cultures and races rather than what brings all people together. They were developed at a time when the perception was people of a different race, culture or nationality were inherently “different.” Cross Cultural Training stemmed from the idea that those who weren’t different may be going to a foreign country that by default was different and so needed training to literally “deal with” other people. None of these training concepts had insidious goals but the success of their effects were at best blurred and at times created discontent among not only minorities but also the majorities.
In a global economy where the Fortune 500 fails to exist without business dispersed among many countries, blurred success cost money. If the post-modern ideal of diversity awareness is working through ERGs then there must be a postmodernism in the way we approach the management of ERGs.
The conventional approach to ERGs is to identify high achieving, traditional minorities – based on race, age, gender, sexuality or “handi-capability” – within the organization and reward their high work ethic with, in fact, more work. Added to their list of things to do are not only the tasks directly related to their job descriptions but also the added responsibility of continuing to identify people, who may or may not want to be identified, to join the group. Once they join – or regardless of whether they do – they must then bear the responsibility of showing how this nebulous, internal, volunteer group improves their value to the company. As the members of a more experienced generation would say: that’s a tall order.
A post-modern approach to ERGs would not only identify traditional minorities as potential members – perhaps improperly highlighting differences and forcing people to self identify – but would rather be an incubator for training and traditional professional development for any and all employees. These groups could be monitored by both the Chief Diversity Officer and the Chief Development Officer or highest ranking human resource executive. Employee retention is a cross-cultural challenge meaning keeping good people regardless of origin is always hard to do. Part of employee retention, aside from monetary benefits, is training. The thoughtful employee asks, “Am I improving my career positioning by remaining with this company?” If the answer is in the affirmative, employers will rarely have to worry about losing talent to competitors. There are many benefits to this approach:
- Adding buy-in from an executive in HR who’s job description reads “employee development”
- Removing the possible stigma for an employee attending a ‘race-based’ internal group
- Removing the apparent – though often mistaken – exclusion of majority groups
- Recognizing that soon it will be difficult and irrelevant to identify all different cultures in the near future
As women, Latinos and other groups make up a larger part of the workforce, the need and mere possibility of identifying special groups and segregating them from others will become less effective. Paths to success are not exclusive to one gender, race, age, nationality or level of physical capability. Corporate culture must be created, identified and modeled from the top. To listen before speaking, treat others as they would like to be treated, and continually improve your technical and leadership skills are lessons that all employees need reinforced and all organizations can benefit from.
The world is changing and will continue to evolve. For those who are fortunate enough to be in decision making roles around diversity, shine a bright light on “Clarity of the mission.”
Jason Howell is the author of AMERICA: Still the Land of Opportunity, Always a Home for the Brave.” For more insights on success in business and in life, pick up your copy today. Also, be on the lookout for his new book on Patriotic Development™ coming this Spring/Summer (2011). | <urn:uuid:83ba0c91-7f35-4e37-bf9e-c2f8aa3b4c2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jasonhowell.com/home/2011/03/27/the-census-diversity-postmodernism-and-ergs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96777 | 1,226 | 2 | 2 |
The Los Angeles Westside is an urban region in western Los Angeles County, California. It has no official definition, but, according to the Los Angeles Times, it comprises 101.28 square miles (262 km2), encompassing 27 districts in the city of Los Angeles, two unincorporated neighborhoods and four other incorporated cities.
Map by the Los Angeles Times
Neighborhoods and districts
City of Los Angeles
Other cities
Unincorporated areas
Marina del Rey
In the 2000 census, the Westside (as defined by the Los Angeles Times) had a population of 529,427. The areas within the city of Los Angeles that Los Angeles Almanac recognized as part of the Westside had a population of 413,351. Originally, the Westside was overwhelmingly white, but it has grown more ethnically diverse. In 2000, non-Hispanic whites made up 63% of the population. Economic levels vary from middle class to upper class, and a majority of the wealthiest communities in Los Angeles County are located on the Westside.
The Westside rivals downtown Los Angeles for the number of people commuting to it from other areas, in particular the San Fernando Valley to the north and the South Bay to the south.
The proposed Pacific Coast, Beverly Hills, and Laurel Canyon freeways went unbuilt in the face of massive community opposition. A great deal of development took place in anticipation of these roadways' construction, resulting in significant congestion on the area's surface streets during peak rush hour. Proposals to widen existing freeways have been explored, and, more recently, a previous proposal to turn Pico and Olympic boulevards into one-way streets has been revived. The area is well covered by several Metro Rapid bus lines that traverse most major thoroughfares, but the routes are often extremely slow due to traffic congestion. Construction has commenced on the light rail Expo Line (Los Angeles Metro) that will connect Santa Monica to Downtown Los Angeles by 2015.
Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), the principal airport of the Greater Los Angeles area, is located in the southern Westside neighborhood of Westchester and is among of the busiest airports in the world in terms of passenger traffic and cargo handled.
Coordinates: 34°03′42″N 118°27′12″W / 34.06153°N 118.453392°W | <urn:uuid:afef5dd8-c873-4186-b7de-2ddea0434f5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/West_Los_Angeles_(region) | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93122 | 487 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Science Fair Project Encyclopedia
Thomas Samuel Ashe
Born in Hawfields, North Carolina in 1812, Ashe attended Bingham's Academy in Hillsborough, then the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, graduating in 1832. He was admitted to the bar in 1834 and began to practice law in Wadesboro in 1835.
In 1842, Ashe was elected to a single term in the North Carolina House of Commons, from 1847 to 1851 he was solicitor of the fifth judicial district of North Carolina, and in 1854, he served in the North Carolina Senate.
During the American Civil War, Ashe served in the Confederate House of Representatives from 1861 to 1864, and was elected to the Confederate Senate in 1864, but the war concluded before he was able to serve.
In 1866, Ashe was state counselor for North Carolina, and in 1868, he ran unsuccessfully for Governor. He was elected for two terms in the United States House of Representatives, serving from March 4, 1873 to March 3, 1877. Although he chose not to run again in 1876, he was elected an associate justice of the North Carolina Supreme Court in 1878 and re-elected in 1886. Ashe was still serving on the court at the time of the death in Wadesboro in 1887.
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:3e039ba7-da47-4f06-99e9-ee26739ec901> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.all-science-fair-projects.com/science_fair_projects_encyclopedia/Thomas_Samuel_Ashe | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972551 | 298 | 3.03125 | 3 |
The decision to invest in online reliability monitoring has always been an expensive proposition. Getting approval to purchase these systems requires cost justification. Evaluating return on investment (ROI) is related to equipment criticality, failure mode, frequency of occurrence, and downtime penalty cost.
Costs associated with online reliability monitoring systems, including materials, labor, and overhead, can approach $100,000. But the benefits of such a system become apparent when a sudden equipment failure leaves a facility searching for ways to prevent the same circumstance.
Many questions arise when trying to justify online continuous monitoring:
Applications for monitoring
Online condition monitoring is considered a justified solution for these operational applications:
Critical to process: Comparing the potential cost of a lost piece of equipment in terms of lost downtime is an excellent way to justify system expense and compute the time frame for ROI. For example, a process pump is not expensive; however, its impact on production time may be identified as $140,000/hr. Therefore, the value of one unplanned failure would justify a $60,000 online system. ROI would be realized by avoiding only one unplanned failure.
Rapid failure history: Route-based data collection is sufficient for most machinery, with the average collection interval 30 days. There are some machines that will exhibit problems and propagate failure on the order of hours. For example, a cracked inner race fault propagates very quickly. Early discovery is critical and 30-day collection intervals are insufficient to capture the fault.
Quality control: Another feature of online monitoring is real-time feedback on product quality. For example, on a roll process, chatter between rolls and nips can cause variations in the thickness of the rolled product, producing a "bar" pattern on the sheet. This fault is commonly known as barring.
Operating with a known fault: The first phase behind any fault is discovering the fault exists. The next question is, "How much time do we have before we must shut down" or "Can we make it to the next outage?" Trending the fault condition can reveal information important to ultimate time before failure.
Operating beyond original design: Most processes are running near capacity. It is the current trend to increase output capacity by 10-15 percent. This often puts equipment just beyond design specifications. Sometimes, this means running into a resonance speed. Condition monitoring identifies how close the unit is to ultimate performance.
A major goal of a business is to show a profit. Online system capital can be justified through careful consideration of production downtime faults along with production impact and payback time. The accompanying box shows how to calculate the cost of unplanned downtime vs the cost of an online reliability system. MT
Information supplied by William Broussard, project manager, online systems, Computational Systems, Inc., Knoxville, TN 37932-2470; (865) 675-2400 | <urn:uuid:770312c1-138e-4327-b8e8-47bce388cbf4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mt-online.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=546:justifying-the-cost-of-an-online-reliability-system&catid=138:may2000&directory=90 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928241 | 588 | 1.734375 | 2 |
History From The Hill Episode 4
The early Chinese settlers in Singapore originated from nearby British outposts like Malacca and Penang. However, as trade flourished, many others were also attracted by the opportunities that abound including the Chinese from China. There was a clear line that divided the early settlers who came to be known as the Straits born Chinese and those who’ve only arrived, known as the sinkehs. What were these conflicts and how were they resolved? | <urn:uuid:de185da4-7325-42f5-8fae-72b554b341d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://video.xin.msn.com/watch/video/history-from-the-hill-episode-4/1tubwnt6i?cpkey=ead272f7-7474-490a-aed0-2fd96717b2f4%257c%257c%257c%257c | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.996237 | 95 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Much of the article is on privacy issues -- Peter is Google's "Global Privacy Counsel" -- but I wanted to highlight his thoughts on the benefits of personalization and the future of search:
Our search algorithm is pretty sophisticated and most people end up with what they want. But there is inevitably an element of guesswork involved.When a searcher only enters a few keywords, any additional information could help. By looking back at what the searcher has done before, search engines can better determine intent and interest. By using search and web history, search engines can help get people the information they need faster and with less effort.
An algorithm ... built to take into account an individual's preferences ... has much more chance of guessing what that person is looking for. Personalised search uses previous queries to give more weight to what each user finds relevant to them in its rankings.
If you think of search as a 300 chapter book, we are probably still only on chapter three. There are enormous advances to be made. In the future users will have a much greater choice of service with better, more targeted results. For example, a search engine should be able to recommend books or news articles that are particularly relevant - or jobs that an individual user would be especially well suited to.
A minor point, but I do want to quibble with Peter's final example where he said "in the future ... a search engine should be able to recommend books or news articles." If Google wants to build a search engine that can recommend books or news articles, it need not write its own chapters in the book of search. It need only to look to the chapters already written by others.
[FT article found via the Official Google Blog and Jeremy Pickens]
Update: If you liked this post, the post from last week, "Personalization the most important part of Google's expansion", with quotes on personalization from a Google CEO Eric Schmidt, also may be of interest. | <urn:uuid:abc2d4e8-d441-4cc3-ac25-6a291d9bfaef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.glinden.blogspot.com/2007/05/peter-fleischer-on-google.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9506 | 396 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Trombonist Thomas "Tommy" Dorsey was born in Shenandoah, Pennsylvania on November 19, 1905. He is of course the younger brother of famed jazz clarinetist, Jimmy Dorsey. In early years he was equally well-known as both trumpet and trombone player, recording several hot jazz solos on trumpet in 1920s, including "The Spell of the Blues" with the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra for OKeh on 1/26/29, (OKE 41181; Matrix W.401560-B). His career closely followed that of brother Jimmy; by 1930 he was one of the most successful free-lance radio and recording artists on trombone, recognized both for his exceptional tone and legato style on ballads and for his fine solos on faster tempi.
Prior to the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, Tommy worked with such units as Jean Goldkette, Paul Whiteman and recorded with Bix Beiderbecke, (Bix & His Rhythm Jugglers); Joe Venuti & Eddie Lang and of course Red Nichols, (Red Nichols & His Five Pennies).
Tommy and Jimmy formed an orchestra together in the early 1930s known as "The Dorsey Brothers Orchestra," and included Glenn Miller, Ray McKinley and Bob Crosby. "I'm Getting Sentimental Over You" was first recorded September 24, 1932 by a pick-up recording group under the Dorsey brothers. In 1935, when Tommy quit after a disagreement between the two brothers. He formed a band of his own from the remnants of Joe Haymes' orchestra, with "Sentimental" as his theme number.
This Victor album, another "Smart Set" is entitled "Tommy Dorsey; Starmaker" because of all the amazing talent that passed through his organization. The names in the stars on the album are just some of the sidemen (and women!) who worked with Tommy: Bunny Berigan, Pee Wee Erwin, Charlie Spivak, Yank Lawson, Charlie Shavers and Ziggy Elman, trumpets; Johnny Mince, Buddy DeFranco, clarinets; Bud Freeman, tenor sax; Joe Bushkin, piano; Buddy Rich, Dave Tough, Louis Bellson drums; and many popular singers such as Frank Sinatra, Jo Stafford, Connie Haines, The Pied Pipers, Lacy Ann Folk; arrangers included Sy Oliver, Paul Weston, and Axel Stordahl.
After the brothers were reunited in 1953, the Dorsey Brothers Orchestra, led mainly by Tommy, but with Jimmy prominently featured, earned national publicity in 1955-56 through the Dorseys' own TV program, Stage Show, on CBS. During this period, the band worked frequently at the Statler Hotel, NYC.
Dorsey died suddenly at his country home on November 26, 1956. Death was caused by strangulation due to food particles. In the fall of 1957 an orchestra designed as the Tommy Dorsey band, under the direction of trombonist Warren Covington, was organized and toured dance halls throughout the US.
Dorsey's biggest selling record was his orchestrated version of the Pinetop Smith classic, "Boogie-Woogie," reputed to have sold four million copies. Some of his records were of a semi-jazz nature, made occasionally with a small contingent from the band which he called the Clambake Seven.
Some of the information in this mini-bio were obtained from Leonard Feather's "Encyclopedia of Jazz", (1960; Bonanza Books, NY) | <urn:uuid:63955b19-fc13-47d1-a61f-a4e5e5beec40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shellac.org/wams/wtommy01.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974842 | 733 | 1.578125 | 2 |
[The Buddha said:] "As I have already said, this sutra embraces all dharmas. But I have stated that the pure actions about which I speak are none other than the 37 elements assisting towards Bodhi [Enlightenment]. O good man! Separated from the 37 elements of Enlightenment, one cannot attain the fruition of sravaka practice and unsurpassed Enlightenment, and one cannot see the Buddha-Nature, nor the fruition that arises from the Buddha-Nature. This being so, pure action is the 37 Bodhi elements [“bodhipakshikadharma” - the 37 prerequisites for attaining Enlightenment; they include mindfulness, and the Noble Eightfold Path]. How can we say this? Because the 37 elements assisting towards Enlightenment are those factors which, by nature, are not inverted and indeed crush out the inversions. They are, by nature, not evil views, and can truly crush out evil views. They are, by nature, not fears, and they well crush out fear. They are, by nature, pure actions, so that beings ultimately perform pure actions."
Bodhisattva Kasyapa said to the Buddha: "O World-Honoured One! Even the defiled can also become a cause of the non-defiled. Why is it that the Tathagata does not say that the defiled, too, is pure action?"
"O good man! All defiled things are nothing but inversions [of Truth]. That is why I cannot claim the defiled to be pure action."
Bodhisattva Kasyapa said to the Buddha: "Is the first-of-the world root of good [“laukikagradharma” - intellectual penetration and insight] that which is defiled or non-defiled?"
The Buddha said: "It is that which is defiled."
"O World-Honoured One! Though defiled, its nature is not inverted. Why do you not call it pure action?"
"O good man! The first-of-the-world root of good is the cause of the defiled. So it well resembles it. As it faces the undefiled, we do not call it any inversion. O good man! Pure action takes its rise from the stage of taking one's aspiration [to Buddhahood]. It goes thus and attains the uttermost. The first-of-the-world root of good is none but one mind. That is why we cannot call it pure action."
Bodhisattva Kasyapa said to the Buddha: "O World-Honoured One! The five consciousnesses of the being are the defiled, and yet not inversions. Nor are they of one mind. Why do we not say pure actions?"
"O good man! The five consciousnesses of the being are not of one mind. They are the defiled and inversions. As defilements increase, we say "defiled". The body is not of true stuff. Due to clinging and the image, they are inversions. Why do we say that the body is not true? Because of clinging and image. Where there is no man or woman, they gain the image of man or woman. So does it go with house, vehicle, pot, clothing, etc. This is an inversion.
"O good man! With the 37 factors of Enlightenment, there is no inversion. So we can speak of "pure action". O good man! If any Bodhisattva comes to know of the root, cause, what takes in, what augments, the master, what leads, what is superior, what is true, and the ultimate, such a Bodhisattva is one of pure action."
Bodhisattva Kasyapa said to the Buddha: "O World-Honoured One! In what sense do we say that one knows the root up to the ultimate?"
The Buddha said: "O good man! Well said, well said! What you, Bodhisattva, speak about concerns two things. One is for your own good, and the other is for knowing by others. You now know, but since innumerable beings do not yet understand, you ask. So I now praise you once again. It is good, it is good. O good man! The root of the 37 elements assisting towards Enlightenment is desire. The cause is the touch of brightness; that which takes in is "feeling"; that which augments is "thinking"; the "master" is "remembrance"; that which leads is dhyana [meditation]; that which is superior is Wisdom; that which is true is Emancipation; and the ultimate is Great Nirvana.
"O good man! All the worries of the world take their rise from craving. All illnesses rest on the food cooked on the preceding day. All segregation arises out of quarrelling and disputation. All evils arise out of falsehood. The situation is thus."
Bodhisattva Kasyapa said: "O World-Honoured One! The Tathagata has already in this sutra stated that all good things are grounded on non-indolence. You now say "desire". How am I to understand this?"
The Buddha said: "O good man! If the cause is sought relating to [a good thing's] coming about, it is good desire. If the revealing cause [Jap. “ryoin”: the cause that reveals what is hidden, like, for example, lamplight that shines and shows what lies hidden when it is dark - K. Yamamoto] is sought, this is non-indolence. We say in the world that the result depends on the seed; and we say that the seed is the cause of the coming about, and the soil is the revealing cause. The same is the case here too."
Bodhisattva Kasyapa said: "O World-Honoured One! The Tathagata says in other sutras that the 37 Enlightenment factors constitute the base. What does this imply?"
"O good man! The Tathagata said before that beings first come to know of the 37 factors of Enlightenment. The Buddha is the root. To awaken depends on desire." | <urn:uuid:bfed393a-3af2-4fe7-a774-4f4befbb73ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nirvanasutra.net/nirvanasutraz12.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939311 | 1,313 | 2.046875 | 2 |
An article by Eboo Patel from the Summer 2003 issue of CrossCurrents.
Eboo Patel writes about the travails leaders should be aware of when conducting interfaith efforts (CrossCurrents, Spring 2005).
A transcript of Patel's talk at Harvard University's Center for World Religions on March 11, 2004.
As part of the NPR series This I Believe, Eboo Patel discusses his outlook on why the interfaith movement in the 21st century (originally aired on November 7, 2005).
The World Council of Churches published this study guide to help Christians living in religiously plural situations.
Patel is the founder and executive director of the Interfaith Youth Core in Chicago.
American Public Media's online services are supported by users like you. Contribute now… | <urn:uuid:a8401fed-875c-489a-9405-d03609e18cda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onbeing.org/program/religious-passion-pluralism-and-young/links_resources/1109 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919648 | 163 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Intelligent Transportation System
Intelligent transportation system or ITS is a catch-all term used to describe the paradigm in which both road vehicles and roads possess a networked sensory and telematic system to enable them to think and act as a collective entity, intelligently routing individual cars by monitoring the whole picture, managing fuel efficiency, driver safety, and congestion density in real time.
Below, we offer a selection of links from our resource databases which may match this term.
Related Dictionary Entries for Intelligent Transportation System:
Resources in our database matching the Term Intelligent Transportation System:
Essentially a collection of peer reviewed academic works, like all books of this type, Proceedings of the 9th annual conference on Intelligent Tutoring systems is a thousand page tome containing 63 full papers.
Essentially a collection of peer reviewed academic works, like all books of this type, Proceedings of the 7th annual conference on Intelligent Tutoring systems is a nine hundred page tome containing 73 full papers.
Essentially a collection of peer reviewed academic works, like all books of this type, Proceedings of the 8th annual conference on Intelligent Tutoring systems is an eight hundred page tome containing 67 full papers.
Essentially a collection of peer reviewed academic works, like all books of this type, Proceedings of the 6th annual conference on Intelligent Tutoring systems is a thousand page tome containing 93 full papers on the development of AI systems, narrative, motivation and emotional control for educational purposes, from 2002.
A gamasutra article on using "intelligent mistakes" to improve the the believability of AI opponents in gameworlds.
A prototype Israeli system designed to intelligently adjust toll rates and lane use according to actual, minute by minute, changing road conditions.
Embedding electronics directly into fabrics, and weaving intelligent clothing is quite possible these days. Thus, it is not a great step to envisage clothes which continuously monitor your vital signs, and relay that information to a computer system, also located about your person, or in your house or vehicle.
Resource Type not Available
In all the work we have done towards integrating robots into the health system and care systems respectively, one fundamental question has never really been asked. "How will humans in general react to their physical manipulation or space invasion by clearly intelligent, yet alien machinery?" Long overdue, its time to not anly ask that, but answer it as well.
A collection of peer reviewed academic works, like all books of this type. Proceedings of the 8th annual conference on Intelligent Tutoring systems is an seven hundred page tome containing 61 full papers.
Industry News containing the Term Intelligent Transportation System:
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Sunday, October 16 - Thursday, October 20, 2011
Orlando, Florida, USA
The U.S. will host the 18th World Congress on Intelligent Transport Systems on October 16-20, 2011 in Orlando, Florida. This World Congress will al...
In a pilot project in Texas, Siemens is developing intelligent transportation technology for the fast and orderly evacuation of citizens. In this project, traffic light timing systems register traffic flow and adjust the phases of red and g...
How do driverless vehicles navigate through intersections? Faster and safer than if humans were in charge, according to researchers from the Virginia Tech Transportation Research.
Autonomous vehicles will turn themselves over...
With the $35 billion Songdo city project in South Korea and Meixi Lake project in China, Gale International is creating model green cities of the future with an integrated network of utility, transportation, real estate and recreation syste...
The State of Hawaii and the Hawaiian Electric Company on Tuesday endorsed an effort to build an alternative transportation system based on electric vehicles with swappable batteries and an ?intelligent? battery recharging network. | <urn:uuid:e25f2c81-43e3-4e3c-ae40-a6d3ac44cabd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.virtualworldlets.net/Resources/Dictionary.php?Term=Intelligent%20Transportation%20System&Letter=C | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921566 | 772 | 2.625 | 3 |
Thomas Bulfinch (17961867). Age of Fable: Vols. I & II: Stories of Gods and Heroes. 1913.
XLI. a. The Druids
THE DRUIDS were the priests or ministers of religion among the ancient Celtic nations in Gaul, Britain, and Germany. Our information respecting them is borrowed from notices in the Greek and Roman writers, compared with the remains of Welsh and Gaelic poetry still extant.
The Druids combined the functions of the priest, the magistrate, the scholar, and the physician. They stood to the people of the Celtic tribes in a relation closely analogous to that in which the Brahmans of India, the Magi of Persia, and the priests of the Egyptians stood to the people respectively by whom they were revered.
The Druids taught the existence of one god, to whom they gave a name Be al, which Celtic antiquaries tell us means the life of everything, or the source of all beings, and which seems to have affinity with the Phnician Baal. What renders this affinity more striking is that the Druids as well as the Phnicians identified this, their supreme deity, with the Sun. Fire was regarded as a symbol of the divinity. The Latin writers assert that the Druids also worshipped numerous inferior gods.
They used no images to represent the object of their worship, nor did they meet in temples or buildings of any kind for the performance of their sacred rites. A circle of stones (each stone generally of vast size), enclosing an area of from twenty feet to thirty yards in diameter, constituted their sacred place. The most celebrated of these now remaining is Stonehenge, on Salisbury Plain, England.
These sacred circles were generally situated near some stream, or under the shadow of a grove or widespreading oak. In the centre of the circle stood the Cromlech or altar, which was a large stone, placed in the manner of a table upon other stones set up on end. The Druids had also their high places, which were large stones or piles of stones on the summits of hills. These were called Cairns, and were used in the worship of the deity under the symbol of the sun.
That the Druids offered sacrifices to their deity there can be no doubt. But there is some uncertainty as to what they offered, and of the ceremonies connected with their religious services we know almost nothing. The classical (Roman) writers affirm that they offered on great occasions human sacrifices; as for success in war or for relief from dangerous diseases. Cæsar has given a detailed account of the manner in which this was done. They have images of immense size, the limbs of which are framed with twisted twigs and filled with living persons. These being set on fire, those within are encompassed by the flames. Many attempts have been made by Celtic writers to shake the testimony of the Roman historians to this fact, but without success.
The Druids observed two festivals in each year. The former took place in the beginning of May, and was called Beltane or fire of God. On this occasion a large fire was kindled on some elevated spot, in honor of the sun, whose returning beneficence they thus welcomed after the gloom and desolation of winter. Of this custom a trace remains in the name given to Whitsunday in parts of Scotland to this day. Sir Walter Scott uses the word in the Boat Song in the Lady of the Lake:
The other great festival of the Druids was called Samhin, or fire of peace, and was held on Halloweve (first of November), which still retains this designation in the Highlands of Scotland. On this occasion the Druids assembled in solemn conclave, in the most central part of the district, to discharge the judicial functions of their order. All questions, whether public or private, all crimes against person or property, were at this time brought before them for adjudication. With these judicial acts were combined certain superstitious usages, especially the kindling of the sacred fire, from which all the fires in the district, which had been beforehand scrupulously extinguished, might be relighted. This usage of kindling fires on Hallow-eve lingered in the British islands long after the establishment of Christianity.
Besides these two great annual festivals, the Druids were in the habit of observing the full moon, and especially the sixth day of the moon. On the latter they sought the Mistletoe, which grew on their favorite oaks, and to which, as well as to the oak itself, they ascribed a peculiar virtue and sacredness. The discovery of it was an occasion of rejoicing and solemn worship. They call it, says Pliny, by a word in their language, which means heal-all, and having made solemn preparation for feasting and sacrifice under the tree, they drive thither two milk-white bulls, whose horns are then for the first time bound. The priest then, robed in white, ascends the tree, and cuts off the mistletoe with a golden sickle. It is caught in a white mantle, after which they proceed to slay the victims, at the same time praying that God would render his gift prosperous to those to whom he had given it. They drink the water in which it has been infused, and think it a remedy for all diseases. The mistletoe is a parasitic plant, and is not always nor often found on the oak, so that when it is found it is the more precious.
The Druids were the teachers of morality as well as of religion. Of their ethical teaching a valuable specimen is preserved in the Triads of the Welsh Bards, and from this we may gather that their views of moral rectitude were on the whole just, and that they held and inculcated many very noble and valuable principles of conduct. They were also the men of science and learning of their age and people. Whether they were acquainted with letters or not has been disputed, though the probability is strong that they were, to some extent. But it is certain that they committed nothing of their doctrine, their history, or their poetry to writing. Their teaching was oral, and their literature (if such a word may be used in such a case) was preserved solely by tradition. But the Roman writers admit that they paid much attention to the order and laws of nature, and investigated and taught to the youth under their charge many things concerning the stars and their motions, the size of the world and the lands, and concerning the might and power of the immortal gods.
Their history consisted in traditional tales, in which the heroic deeds of their forefathers were celebrated. These were apparently in verse, and thus constituted part of the poetry as well as the history of the Druids. In the poems of Ossian we have, if not the actual productions of Druidical times, what may be considered faithful representations of the songs of the Bards.
The Bards were an essential part of the Druidical hierarchy. One author, Pennant, says, The Bards were supposed to be endowed with powers equal to inspiration. They were the oral historians of all past transactions, public and private. They were also accomplished genealogists, etc.
Pennant gives a minute account of the Eisteddfods or sessions of the Bards and minstrels, which were held in Wales for many centuries, long after the Druidical priesthood in its other departments became extinct. At these meetings none but Bards of merit were suffered to rehearse their pieces, and minstrels of skill to perform. Judges were appointed to decide on their respective abilities, and suitable degrees were conferred. In the earlier period the judges were appointed by the Welsh princes, and after the conquest of Wales, by commission from the kings of England. Yet the tradition is that Edward I., in revenge for the influence of the Bards in animating the resistance of the people to his sway, persecuted them with great cruelty. This tradition has furnished the poet Gray with the subject of his celebrated ode, the Bard.
There are still occasional meetings of the lovers of Welsh poetry and music, held under the ancient name. Among Mrs. Hemans poems is one written for an Eisteddfod, or meeting of Welsh Bards, held in London, May 22, 1822. It begins with a description of the ancient meeting, of which the following lines are a part:
midst the eternal cliffs, whose strength defied
The crested Roman in his hour of pride;
And where the Druids ancient cromlech frowned,
And the oaks breathed mysterious murmurs round,
There thronged the inspired of yore! on plain or height,
In the suns face, beneath the eye of light,
And baring unto heaven each noble head,
Stood in the circle, where none else might tread.
The Druidical system was at its height at the time of the Roman invasion under Julius Cæsar. Against the Druids, as their chief enemies, these conquerors of the world directed their unsparing fury. The Druids, harassed at all points on the mainland, retreated to Anglesey and Iona, where for a season they found shelter and continued their now dishonored rites.
The Druids retained their predominance in Iona and over the adjacent islands and mainland until they were supplanted and their superstitions overturned by the arrival of St. Columba, the apostle of the Highlands, by whom the inhabitants of that district were first led to profess Christianity. | <urn:uuid:63ad5e3c-80bc-45da-86d7-b6287a9ad62f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bartleby.com/181/411.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982738 | 1,967 | 3.515625 | 4 |
Siebel Universal Queuing Administration Guide > Using Siebel Universal Queuing > Creating Routes and Escalations >
Defining Routes, Route Properties, and Escalation Rules
Work items are handled according to business logic expressed as routing rules. A routing rule has these components:
A route is specific to a particular channel. However, a channel can have many routes. For example, an email channel could have a route for email messages directed to a technical support email address as well as a route for general email messages. However, each of these routes can only apply to a channel type of email.
When creating routes, follow these guidelines:
- Always include a general route for each channel type with the lowest priority setting. This general route will catch work items for the channel that do not match any other route for the channel.
- Always define the last escalation step for a route to include the entire pool of possible agents and define the wait time as zero. This will make sure that work items will always be assigned to an agent at some point in the route escalation.
Each route depends on the selection criteria defined in its route properties to evaluate work items for routing.
A route property is a set of key-value pair criteria, which are compared to the work item's data property key-value pairs. When a new work item is sent to Siebel Universal Queuing, the routes and route properties for the applicable channel type are searched to find a route whose properties match the work item. The first route for which selection criteria key-value pairs match the key-value pairs of the work item becomes the selected route for that work item.
Routes are selected only once—when the work item is introduced into the system. Every work item is associated with just one selected route.
Each route has a Priority field. Routes are searched for a matching selection rule in priority order, from highest to lowest integer value. The priority determines the order in which routes are matched to work items, and the order in which work items are assigned to agents. If work items in two or more routes match an agent's skill profile, the work item with the highest priority is routed to the agent first.
In the example above, where you have one email route for technical support and one email route for other inbound email messages, you might assign a priority of "10" to the technical support route and a priority of "2" to the general email route. An email addressed to email@example.com would actually match both routes. However, by setting the technical support route to a higher priority, this route will be matched to the email message first. The message will be routed to an agent who can handle technical support questions.
To create a route
- From the application-level menu, choose View > Site Map > UQ Administration > Routes.
The Routes view appears.
- Type the name for this route in the Name field.
- Choose the channel type from the Channel Type drop-down list.
- Select a priority for this route from the Priority drop-down list.
NOTE: The higher the priority number, the higher the priority.
- Type the maximum number of work items you would like to see waiting in this route in the Capacity field.
The capacity for a route is an arbitrary number that you will use to gauge the activity level of a route. When the number of work items in a route at any given time exceeds the capacity you have set, an alarm is triggered and logged. If you frequently exceed the capacity of a route, you may want to evaluate the design of the routing rule logic to make sure it is meeting your needs.
- Click the Active check box to make this route active.
- Click the Non Real-Time check box to have work items for this route assigned to an employee regardless of the employee's availability.
Nonreal-time work items are assigned to an employee whether or not the employee is ready to accept work items. The work item will be placed into the appropriate queue for the employee, such as My Service Requests, My Activities, or My Communications.
CAUTION: Do not change the setting of the Non Real-Time check box in real-time.
- Type the amount of time (in minutes) in the Service Level (mins) field.
The service level is the amount of time in which work items in this route are expected to be handled. This number is not used in the routing process but sets a target for monitoring performance. You can use decimals for values less than a minute—for example, 1.5 minutes equals one minute and thirty seconds.
- Type the service level percentage in the Service Level Percentage field.
This is the percentage of work items that you want to have handled within the Service Level time.
- Step off the record to save the new route. | <urn:uuid:439446e2-c89f-4535-971e-87a49ce448e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://docs.oracle.com/cd/B31104_02/books/Uque/Uque_Using4.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913952 | 1,000 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Welcome to Pequot Library's Children’s Department—a wonderful place for kids and their grownups. Gather, relax, play, visit Belle, and select some terrific books to enjoy. Through the links below, you can discover what’s new in Pequot Library’s Children’s collection, learn about upcoming programs & annual events, find out how to volunteer, and so much more.
See the latest and greatest additions to our collection!
Good Books & Links We Like
Take a look at our favorite books and websites.
Check out the preschool programs that are available during the school year.
Learn about one-time special events that are coming soon.
Learn about all the programs for children and families that are offered regularly throughout the school year.
Annual Children's Events
Find out about seasonal activities for kids and families, indoors and out!
Secret Service Volunteers
Check out this volunteer program for kids in grades 5 and up. Assignments at the Library’s special events are fun, flexible, and keep kids involved.
Belle, the Library Bunny
Discover our beloved Belle. Find out how you can visit, take her for a stroll, or book an appointment to read her a story.
Find Pequot Library's Summer Reading Lists here, and learn how to participate in our Kids’ Summer Reading Game.
See the highlights from our Children's Programs and Events. | <urn:uuid:a90eb54a-4372-4ba8-8298-f80d5661d56b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pequotlibrary.org/index.php/children | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932989 | 296 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Even though I have written about pesticides and tea before, I wanted to address the subject again because once again the issue is in the news with Celestial Seasonings getting busted by the same group that busted Teavana last year. The G...
Even though I have written about pesticides and tea before, I wanted to address the subject again because once again the issue is in the news with Celestial Seasonings getting busted by the same group that busted Teavana last year. The Glaucas Research Group seems to be making money by exposing publicly traded companies and selling things short. It is true that they have a not-so-hidden agenda in exposing these companies, but without having proof, they could not make much. If you read the reports, you can see that an independent testing agency in Europe did a very thorough job removing whatever doubt there might be about the motives of the Glaucas Research Group.
It shouldn’t come as a surprise to anyone that there are pesticides used in commercial tea production, and that third-world countries are using some illegal ones, which are probably cheaper. The boney finger always gets pointed at China, the great polluter, with pollution in Beijing as bad as when I was a kid in Los Angeles. They give us a good run for our money when it comes to polluting the air, but let’s not forget that Africa and South America are where most exported tea is produced, not India and China, where they predominantly drink their own tea. It can all be explained in three words: cheap prices, commodity, and quantity. For the most part, bugs come in the summer. In the tropics, however, bugs are omnipresent. It’s always summer. It provides for a long growing season and an abundant yield. It is a broader truth that if you want cheap tea and cheap food, pesticides come along with the price.
How does that relate to the way we buy tea? Well, first of all, we don’t buy summer tea. I know that is an obvious one. In addition, we buy tea that is grown at a high altitude, where there are not as many bugs, we don’t buy from commercial growers, and, with a few exceptions, we buy certified organic. The truth is that the mountainous areas where we buy our tea don’t lend themselves to commercial agriculture at all. Terroir is everything in tea as well as in wine, and don’t let anyone tell you any different. The other magical thing about the tea plant in relation to terroir is that over time the plant itself develops defenses to predators as it becomes part of the local biodiversity. That is one of the functions of both caffeine and tea polyphenols.
In June, I am going to London for a meeting of the Ethical Tea Partnership (ETP) to discuss tea, pesticides, and the sustainable future. I have done some informal consulting with them about the Chinese tea industry. They have a program that teaches farm workers in China how to work safely with pesticides. I recognize the irony, but remember that the ETP is NGO funded by the major tea producers. While I think it is a great thing that they are keeping farm workers from poisoning themselves, they have ignored the possibility of reaching sustainability without chemical pesticides, something China has had in tea for 2000 years by focusing on quality, not quantity.
In recent years, the Chinese have had some shining examples of quality over quantity with their Anji Bai Cha. It is a major money-making crop that only has a spring season and pesticides are banned in its production throughout the country. Compare this to 1980 when there were only two Anji Bai Cha plants in existence. It is a good example of the dynamic nature of the Chinese tea industry. Another good example, maybe more familiar to Americans, is the case of white tea. There may not be higher standards, as in the Anji example, but Anji Bai Cha was a crop that barely existed twenty years ago and is now a very common tea. The crop was completely driven by the export market and has always fetched good prices.
Changing the agricultural model outside of China and supporting a return to it inside of China seems like a logical and tested way to sustainability in the tea industry, as is true in food production as well. It doesn’t m | <urn:uuid:f452f0bc-00de-4ec8-a988-e0e7ca2a6040> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mattters.com/tea | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974727 | 886 | 1.664063 | 2 |
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WASTE INCINERATION & PUBLIC HEALTH
is not describable by Gaussian plumes. Also, such approaches may be sufficient to demonstrate that it is not necessary to go to the expense of employing more-complex models.
Deposition on and Accumulation in Soil
Soil is formed from the weathering action of climate on rocks and minerals and from the actions of living organisms. It is a mixture of minerals, water, air, and organic substances. The proportion of these components and the characteristics of the contaminants of concern determine, to a large extent, how such a contaminant is transported or transformed in soil. A contaminant can enter soil water, soil solids (mineral and organic phases), and soil air. Soils are characteristically heterogeneous in the vertical direction, so that a trench dug into soil typically reveals several horizontal layers that have different colors and textures.
Studies of radioactive fallout in agricultural land-management units have revealed that, in the absence of tilling, particles deposited from the atmosphere initially accumulate in and are resuspended from a surface-soil layer that is 0.1-1 cm thick (Whicker and Kirchner 1987). Over the long term, there is mechanical transport deeper into the soil (e.g., by earthworms, ants, rabbits, anything else that burrows, and by frost heave and wetting/drying cycles). Particles in the surface layer can be transported mechanically in the horizontal direction by runoff to nearby surface waters or be blown by wind. Surface-soil contaminants can be transported (on particles) by wind erosion, by volatilization to the atmosphere, by diffusion, leaching, and mechanical movement deeper into the soil, by erosion (attached to particles) or dissolution in runoff, and may be transferred to plant surfaces by rain splash or via resuspension and deposition. They can also be transformed through photolysis by sunlight, through chemical degradation, and through degradation by microorganisms (biodegradation).
The roots of most plants are typically confined within the top 3 ft (about 90 cm) of soil. Contaminants in this root-zone soil, below the surface layers, are transported upward by vapor-and liquid-phase diffusion, root uptake, and by capillary motion of water; they are transported downward by vapor- and liquid-phase diffusion and leaching; and chemically transformed primarily by biodegradation, hydrolysis, and other liquid and solid phase chemical reactions.
Deposition on and Uptake by Plants
By mass, the dominant component of the terrestrial biota is land plants. Plants generally have contact with two environmental media —air and soil. Uptake of contaminants by plants can occur directly from air via particle deposition or by foliar uptake of contaminant vapors. Particle deposition and foliar vapor uptake can also take place from contaminated soil (itself contaminated through various pathways from air contamination), through evaporation or suspension, or | <urn:uuid:dd81ae46-c0cf-4ea0-8ec5-0d870dd094d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=5803&page=77 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917148 | 648 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Students will gain an awareness of the diversity of the student population to foster sensitivity in the student population, and our community. Allow student to tell you what they know, what they see and how people of different races, religions, cultures, are really the same, and want the same things for their children, and families.
Mother and Child
Time Alloted1 - 2 Hours
State Content Standards
Visual and Performing Arts Content Standards
Kindergarten, 2.2 Demonstrate beginning skill in the use of tools and processes, such as the use of scissors, glue, and paper.
2.3 Make a collage with cut or torn paper shapes/forms.
2.4 Paint pictures expressing ideas about family and neighborhood.
3.2 Identify and describe works of art that show people doing things together.
3.3 Look at and discuss works of art from a variety of times and places.
4.3 Discuss how and why they made a specific work of art.
Grade 3, 1.5 Identify and describe elements of art in works of art.
2.4 Create a work of art based on the observation of objects and scenes in daily life.
3.1 Compare and describe various works of art that have a similar theme and were created at different time periods.
4.1 Compare and contrast selected works of art and describe them, using appropriate vocabulary of art.
• Oil Pastels or Crayons
• Heavy white paper 9 x 12
• Q-tips for spreading glue
• Magazines with images of people
• “Wet-ones” for gluey fingers
• Collage: gluing pieces of paper or other materials to a two-dimensional surface to create an artwork.
Born on September 2, 1911, Romare Bearden is one of the best known artists of the 20th century. A product of the Harlem Renaissance, Bearden combined African and western aesthetics to produce work that was original and creative and depicted all aspects of the African American experience of the early 20th century. His friends and contemporaries were artists such as Charles Alston, Gwendolyn Night, Jacob Lawrence, and Joan Miró. In 1954, Bearden married Nanette Rohan, with whom he spent the rest of his life. He died, at the age of 76, in New York City on March 12, 1988.
Artists have portrayed women, children and families in many different ways, in paintings, sculptures, and drawings from the beginning of time. They may show them sitting quietly or engaged in some activity. They may choose to paint them in a realistic manner, or they may choose to make abstract paintings, collages or sculptures which show the figure changed or distorted in some manner.
Bearden was born in North Carolina but raised in Harlem, New York during a time known as the Harlem Renaissance. In the nineteen twenties Harlem was alive with black artists, writers and jazz musicians, most of whom visited the Bearden home to meet with the artist’s politically and socially active mother.
Bearden created this collage in 1968 at a time when he was experimenting with adding color, simplifying his compositions and focusing on a few figures, instead of many.
Why is this significant?
Many of Bearden’s works deliberately echo major themes in Western art, such as the “mother and child,” a theme with strong religious overtones and social manifestations. Bearden does not intend his art to be social commentary on the plight of the black American but instead to validate his own experiences as a black man and as an American.
Make a connection:
Artists show the love that parents and children have for each other. Parents hold their children, play with them, and take care of them. What do you and your parents like to do together? Perhaps you have a favorite activity you remember doing with a parent. For example, perhaps you enjoy having a story read to you, playing ball, climbing a mountain, or baking cookies. How would you and your parent dress for these activities – in pajamas, uniforms, outdoor clothes, or in an apron?
Artwork: Mother and Child
Artist: Romare Bearden, 1911 - 1988
In addition to showing the print of Romare Bearden’s, Mother and Child, have a poster, slide, print, or overhead, of other works depicting a mother and child or intimate family scene..
Available from Digital Crocker:
• The Madonna and Child with Angels in Clouds, Alessandro Turchi “l’Orbetto”
• Fisherman's Family, Marsden Hartley
• The Artist's Wife and Son, Herman G. Herkomer,
• Madonna and Child, Adolf Friedrich Georg Wichmann
• The Bath, Mary Cassatt
• Old Man and Grandson, Domenico Ghirlandaio
• The Alba Madonna, Raphael
• Family No. 1, Charles Alston
• The Bath, Mary Cassatt
• Old Man and Grandson, Domenico Ghirlandaio
• The Alba Madonna, Raphael
• Family No. 1, Charles Alston
Compare and contrast the different artworks, the time period in which they were created, the culture, and the different activities of the persons in each artwork.
• Discuss with students what activities they enjoy doing with their family. Who is in their family? How do they dress during these activities? Where are they when doing these activities? Chart the responses.
• Ask students to plan a collage by drawing a sketch first. Think about what colors they will use, what the background will look like, how many figures will be in the collage. Remind students to repeat colors and shapes so that their composition will be unified.
• After planning, students should look through magazines for relevant heads, dresses, colors and shapes, etc. Cut them out. Also provide colored paper scraps for students.
• Remind students that before pasting anything down onto the paper, they need to move the pieces around until they are satisfied with their picture. Tell students to draw the rest of the figures or any other parts that they are unable to find in magazines or by using colored paper scraps. Remind them to leave space for all the cut out parts. Remind them also to show what they are doing, what they are wearing, and where they are.
• After students are satisfied with their artwork, then they may paste the pieces onto the paper.
• After completing the artwork, students can share their artwork with the entire class, in small groups, or with a friend. The following questions can be used as a basis for the sharing:
o My artwork is about…… My artwork shows…
o My artwork is the same or different from that by Romare Bearden…….
Romare Bearden was born in North Carolina in 1911. He grew up in a middle-class African American family. At the age of three his family joined the Great Migration of southern blacks to the north and west, where they settled in the Harlem section of New York. Throughout his childhood, Bearden spent time away from Harlem with relatives in North Carolina and with his grandparents in their boardinghouse in Pittsburgh.
In Harlem, Bearden became acquainted with many of the figures of the Harlem Renaissance through his politically and socially active mother, who was the New York editor for The Chicago Defender. Sooner or later every African American of importance passed through their home at 154 West 131st Street: scholar W.E.B. Du Bois, actor/activist Paul Robeson, poet Countee Cullen, artists like Aaron Douglas and Charles Alston, and jazz musicians Fats Waller and Duke Ellington. The Lincoln Theatre, Savoy Ballroom, and a number of other nightspots were only a few blocks away from his home, and Bearden was deeply immersed in jazz and the blues as a teen-ager.
Bearden became interested in the arts at a very young age. The Lincoln Theatre, Savoy Ballroom, and a number of other nightspots were close to his home, and Bearden was deeply iinfluenced by jazz and the blues as a teen-ager. Another source of inspiration was the sculptor Augusta Savage, who taught art at the Harlem Art Workshop (later known as Harlem Community Art Center). Ms. Savage had many students who would becomewell-known artists, including Jacob Lawrence and Gwendolyn Night. Bearden and his friends would often just simply hang out in Savage’s New York Studio. According to Bearden, Savage was open and free and lived only for her art.
In 1935 Bearden graduated from New York University with a degree in education and took night classes from the German artist George Grosz at the Art Student’s League. Grosz’ artistic medium was collage. According to Bearden, his study under Grosz changed his life, and it was Grosz who convinced Bearden to become an artist. Grosz introduced Bearden and his students to the world of art – the drawings of Ingres, Holbein, Durer, Daumier, and Kollwitz as well as the composition of Vermeer, Ter Borch, De Hooch, Duccio and Brueghel. After his art studies Bearden became a social worker with the New York City Department of Social Services and at the same time found his first studio. Bearden served in the US Army for three years and had his first one-man exhibition in 1945 in New York.
In the early 1950s Bearden traveled to Paris and studied philosophy at the Sorbonne on the G.I. Bill. Although he did not paint during this time, he loved the international quality of the city and met such well-known artists as Braque, Brancusi and Matisse. Upon returning to New York his love for music inspired him to turn to songwriting in the hopes of returning to Paris. In 1954 he married Nanette Rohan, and it was his new wife who encouraged him to return to painting.
After experimenting with oil painting and watercolors in both realistic and abstract styles, he began to make collages which became his most distinctive contribution to the history of art. He died in 1988 at the age of 74. During his career, Bearden received many honors, the most notable in 1967, the President’s National Medal of the Arts.
Title and date: Mother and Child 1968
Artist and Dates: Romare Bearden 1911- 1988
Bearden’s earliest collages were crowded with overlapping figures with huge eyes and massive hands. The profile or frontal views recalled African art, and the flat, crowded spaces suggested the crowded and noisy streets of a large city. In the mid-60s Bearden began to add color to the collages, using colored papers, fabrics or painted paper. In the late 60s and early 70s Bearden simplified his collages, using less detail, less crowded compositions and fewer figures. In the late 70s and early 80s his collages became more painterly, with at times as much paint as collaged areas.
The subject matter of his collages came from his memories of life in North Carolina, in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Harlem, and the Caribbean island of St. Martin where he and his wife built a home. From his southern memories he features women doing daily chores (mothering, the wash, cooking) or as conjure women/spiritual healers as well as community or religious rituals like church picnics, baptism and family dinners. Scenes of southern blues depict juke joint singers, shacks, rundown farms, and trains passing through the depressed south to northern opportunities. Bearden’s Pittsburg collages include apartment block houses, smoke stacks, belching steam and flames, steel workers on the way to or from a shift, scaffolding, hooks and pulleys and again the trains, hauling coal and bringing Blacks north. His Harlem memories show the crowded, noisy streets with apartment buildings and brownstone facades open to show mothers fixing a meal or holding a baby, friends visiting, people gathering around a table, men sitting on stoops, and of course, the jazz and blues music and dancing in Harlem’s famous nightspots and clubs. In vast contrast, his memories of St. Martin include woodlands, rocky precipices, pools of water, panoramic ocean views and the Obeah (similar to the southern Conjure women).
Bearden looked to Western art history and that of Africa for inspiration in translating his experiences and memories into art. Thus, his Mother and Child from 1968 harks back to one of the oldest themes in art, that of the Virgin and Child. It belongs to the collection of work he created in the late 60s when he added color, simplified his compositions and used fewer figures. In Mother and Child the head and hands of the figures are classically proportioned and not exaggerated, and the figures dominate the space in a way strongly reminiscent of early Western religious depictions of the Virgin and Child that of west African sculpture. The impersonal, staring quality of the faces, composed of the mother’s collaged African mask and the child’s mask-like cut-paper shape is softened by the mother’s gesture of enclosing the child in a protective one-armed embrace. Although the figures are arranged to suggest depth with a table placed behind the mother, the vibrant green background forces the figures forward and flattens the pictorial space. The collage is created from cut magazine pictures, colored paper and painted paper.
This Mother and Child with their stylized faces is not any one specific mother and child but a symbol for every child and every mother throughout history and among all cultures. Motherhood is a universal experience of mankind. In his art Bearden seeks these universals in the everyday rituals common to all: children playing, women bathing and preparing meals, ceremonies such as baptism, family, men working, making music, dancing, etc. These experiences are continuous from the past through the present and on into the future, making those connections, which Bearden sought in his art.
His childhood during the Harlem Renaissance when he was introduced to black writers, artists and musicians formed the attitudes which carried throughout his life and work. About being an African American artist, Bearden wrote, “It would be highly artificial for a negro artist to attempt a resurrection of African culture in America. The period between the generations is much too great, and whatever creations the Negro has fashioned in this country have been in relation to his American environment. Culture is not a biologically inherited phenomenon.”
In response to the civil rights movement of the 1960s, some two-dozen black artists, including Bearden, formed the Spiral Group to help black artists overcome the difficulties of achieving recognition. It was within this group that Bearden first started making collages. He pasted pictures from magazines onto sheets of typing paper and filled them with drawing and watercolor. These small works were then photographed and blown-up to wall-sized works of art. He called these pivotal first works Projections. From then on collage became his medium of choice.
The jazz and blues music and culture which so fascinated the teen-ager Bearden also came to be a significant source of inspiration for his art making as well. When Bearden was finding his own style, he became interested in the work of the American modernist Stuart Davis. He visited Davis and discovered that Davis composed his painting while listening to the jazz music of Earl Hines. Davis encouraged Bearden to listen to Hines and to seek out visual equivalents for the way Hines played the piano. According to Bearden, he learned from Davis how to incorporate color, interval and rhythm in his art, giving it the freedom and spontaneity of jazz. He said, “The more I just played around with visual notions as if I were improvising like a jazz musician, the more I realized what I wanted to do as a painter and how I wanted to do it.” For Bearden jazz became not only subject matter but also a process for his own art making.
Ruth Fine and others. The Art of Romare Bearden. The National Gallery of Art, 2003.
Myron Schwartzman. Romare Bearden: His Life and Art. Harry N. Abrams, Inc., 1990.
Richard Carter, editor. The Art of Romare Bearden, A Resource for Teachers. National Gallery of Art, Washington. 2003.
www.beardenfoundation.org - official website with information, activities, lesson plans, and more. | <urn:uuid:1d776255-72f8-4d58-83fb-ca4739255aec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crockerartmuseum.org/school-educator/striking-gold/item/mother-and-child | 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 | 0.97103 | 3,436 | 3.859375 | 4 |
Prominent religious scholars from Afghanistan are to soon visit Pakistan to discuss the agenda for the upcoming Ulema Conference, Afghan officials told The Express Tribune.
The conference, to be held in Kabul, was agreed upon during Afghan peace envoy Salahuddin Rabbani’s visit to Islamabad last month. The conference aims to win religious backing for the peace process in Afghanistan.
Foreign Minister Hina Rabbani Khar and her Afghani counterpart, Zalmai Rassoul, agreed, during their official talks in Islamabad on Friday, to hold the conference in January.
Afghan Foreign Ministry spokesperson Janan Mosazai told The Express Tribune in Islamabad that clerics from both countries will hold consultations to discuss the agenda for the January meet, the first ever bilateral gathering of religious scholars from Afghanistan and Pakistan.
“The Ulema will also discuss names of those scholars who have the capability to play an effective role in pushing the peace process forward,” he said.
Contact with Taliban
Mosazai said Afghanistan wants Pakistan to “facilitate direct contact” between the Taliban and Afghan government, saying Islamabad can “encourage the Taliban” leaders to sincerely join the peace process.
“We also want Pakistan’s help in talks with the Taliban in a third country. Pakistan can help in arranging travel facilities for those Taliban who want to talk to the Afghan government and ensure that they face no threats,” the foreign ministry spokesperson added.
Mosazai welcomed what he called “Pakistan’s first practical step” to release some mid-ranking Taliban prisoners, and hoped that this would pave the way for more steps to push the peace process forward.
Pakistan freed nine Taliban prisoners, including senior commander Anwarul Haq Mujahid, last month, at Rabbani’s request. Four other Taliban prisoners had been freed ahead of Rabbani’s visit.
In addition, a joint statement issued at the conclusion of the day-long visit of the Afghan foreign minister on Friday stated that Pakistan has agreed to release more Taliban detainees.
“We demand the release of all Taliban prisoners in Pakistani jails as we believe they can play practical role in the peace process,” Mosazai said. He added that Pakistan’s role was not limited to the release of prisoners as “we consider it the beginning of more measures for reconciliation.”
According to an Afghan diplomat, all freed Taliban are allowed to go anywhere in Pakistan, Afghanistan or any other country and they would not be stopped or arrested under a safe passage mechanism.
Mosazai listed some issues which are to be resolved before the signing of a proposed strategic partnership agreement between the two countries. Pakistan handed over a draft of proposals for the accord to the Afghan foreign minister during his visit but Kabul has yet to officially share its own.
Masozai said there should be progress and practical steps to solve issues, including the fight against terrorism, shelling from Pakistani soil, implementation of the transit trade agreement and the refugees problem. “A solution to these problems will pave the way for signing the strategic agreement,” he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 4th, 2012.
More in WorldDiana among bookies’ favourites for royal baby name | <urn:uuid:7af640ce-e0d7-43e7-8cbd-0b22a2854f43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tribune.com.pk/story/474861/ulema-conference-afghan-pakistani-clerics-to-prepare-agenda/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948864 | 673 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Professors Pied for Invisible Children
As finals were underway at the end of the Fall 2009 semester, Honors College students and staff were treated to a unique outlet for relieving stress. Both professors who teach in the Human Situation course and student services staff members graciously donated their faces and time to the UH chapter of Invisible Children for an afternoon of pie-throwing by students, staff, and fellow professors. Participants could purchase a pie for five dollars to be thrown from ten feet, or ten dollars to be thrown from five feet, to increase their chances of accuracy and satisfying pie splatter. Many students and professors opted to use a proxy throwing arm to make sure their pie was put to good use, often employing the longer arms of senior student Andrew Thomas who was able to 'place' the pie upon most of the targeted faces.
One of the guiding forces behind this operation is Joshua Ellis, president of the University of Houston chapter of Invisible Children, who played referee to some of the devious tactics used to throw pies. Ellis is instrumental in the functioning of Invisible Children, which is a social, political, and global movement that responds to the humanitarian crisis in Uganda. Through the Schools for Schools project, the chapter, housed in The Honors College, is supporting the Pabbo Secondary School in Northern Uganda.
Ellis is a diligent leader of the group, supporting the cause in his extracurricular time: “I was accidentally dragged into it in high school, but as I began working in the group, I realized how serious the crisis is and how able we are as students in America to help it.” Invisible Children is one of the more active student organizations in The Honors College: The group meets at least once a week, hosts movie nights, and participates in activities encouraged by the National campaign like having its members wear white shirts with red Xs to symbolize the lost children in Uganda.
As the last pie was purchased by Dr. Harvey to be tossed on to the waiting smile of Dr. Mikics to repay him for earlier aggressions, grudges and rivalries were settled in the Honors College Commons, leaving a mess of whipped cream, cherry syrup, and over $400 to be given to the Pabbo Secondary school. Sophomore Joehan Garcia was especially impressed by the coordination of an event that entertained and solidified the camraderie of the Honors community plus "It was incredible to pie Josh Ellis and release some pent up feelings."
With more than thirty members in the UH chapter, Invisible Children has developed a strong presence in the Honors community, and will continue creating unique fundraising opportunities for the Schools for Schools project. | <urn:uuid:b05ded3d-4973-44ed-af4d-19849b5d5e07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uh.edu/honors/human-situation/faculty-roundhouse/pie-a-prof-2009/index.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972985 | 545 | 2.234375 | 2 |
[This is a guest post by Joshua Roth, a physics and astronomy teacher at several Boston-area colleges and community-education centers.--@JBJ]
It’s August, and that means it’s time to knock out some lesson plans, to read a few chapters ahead in what may be a new textbook, and to think deep thoughts about engagement, assessment, and cellphone policies. For those of us who teach as contingent faculty – lacking offices, shuttling between campuses, scrambling to run off copies – it also means making sure that our Road Warrior kits are stocked and ready to go.
What’s a Road Warrior kit?
For me, it’s a medium-size plastic bin (or two) with a tight-fitting lid. In go (in no particular order):
- a box of sharpened Number 2 pencils;
- a pack of ballpoint pens;
- whiteboard markers, erasers, and cleaner (I find baby wipes particularly effective);
- a stapler (and extra staples);
- a hole puncher;
- enough rulers, protractors, and compasses (the arc-drawing kind) to go around, one per small group, in my typical two-dozen-student lab sections;
- an Ethernet cable;
- a VGA cable;
- eighth-inch stereo audio extension cords (both male-female and male-male);
- several SD cards and USB thumb drives;
- several permanent markers;
- Scotch tape and masking tape;
- an extension cord;
- a baggie full of rubber bands;
- my netbook (a Dell Mini 9 running Ubuntu, for those who care about such things);
- Post-Its of various sizes;
- binder paper reinforcement rings;
- index cards;
- small flat-head and Phillips screwdrivers;
- needlenose pliers with wire cutters;
- a few spare AA batteries for remotes and whatnot;
- a USB/mini-USB charger (or two) for e-readers, cellphones, etc.;
- a battery-powered laptop/iPod speaker;
- and a box of paper clips.
Yes, it’s heavy.
The point is, you can’t always count on being able to lay hands on essentials like whiteboard markers when you need them, and when you are looking for parking ten minutes before class starts you don’t have time to anyway. VGA cables, which allow you to project your laptop through the classroom A/V system, are quite often either missing or damaged (their pins are easily bent). Post-Its have too many uses to count. Index cards are great for off-the-cuff surveys or formative assessment. Ethernet cables are lifesavers on campuses where the wireless network is stretched to the breaking point (or where you haven’t yet been given the WEP key). For other faculty members’ take on what supplies to carry, see Billie’s post “What’s In Your Bag?”, or George’s “Academic/Geek Gear: A List of Mobile Essentials.”
Much of what’s listed is for my students’ benefit more than mine. After all, they always ask for staplers and hole punchers, while nothing scores points like an emergency pen supply (after all, students also have scrambled for parking, possibly after rushing kids home from daycare or sneaking out of work five minutes early in order to make it to class on time). It’s great to be able to lend out USB drives with any copyright-free or suitably licensed materials that you are assigning (some of my students lack reliable Internet access at home and live far from campus).
On a somewhat different front, I’m thinking about uploading my PowerPoint files and the like to the cloud in case of hard-drive failures. And the day may come when I use a portable wi-fi hotspot to ensure that campus-wide network hiccups don’t cramp my multimedia-heavy style (I don’t teach enough presently to justify the expense, but the day may come).
Putting a business card (next to free, from VistaPrint.com) or contact information in or on your Road Warrior box isn’t a bad idea. I’ve left mine in a classroom or hallway more than once, and those goodies aren’t cheap!
Road-warrior faculty: how do you prepare for life on the fly? Leave your suggestions in the comments! | <urn:uuid:e258334a-3da1-4ce8-bf90-ddf2af69890f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chronicle.com/blogs/profhacker/preparing-to-teach-road-warrior-edition/41715 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913814 | 965 | 2.109375 | 2 |
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Processing data originated in the Pacific Biosciences RS platform has been evaluated by the GSA and publicly presented in numerous occasions. The guidelines we describe in this document were the result of a systematic technology development experiment on some datasets (human, E. coli and Rhodobacter) from the Broad Institute. These guidelines produced better results than the ones obtained using alternative pipelines up to this date (september 2011) for the datasets tested, but there is no guarantee that it will be the best for every dataset and that other pipelines won't supersede it in the future.
The pipeline we propose here is illustrated in a Q script (PacbioProcessingPipeline.scala) distributed with the GATK as an example for educational purposes. This pipeline has not been extensively tested and is not supported by the GATK team. You are free to use it and modify it for your needs following the guidelines below.
First we take the filtered_subreads.fq file output by the Pacific Biosciences RS SMRT pipeline and align it using BWA. We use BWA with the
bwasw algorithm and allow for relaxing the gap open penalty to account for the excess of insertions and deletions known to be typical error modes of the data. For an idea on what parameters to use check suggestions given by the BWA author in the BWA manual page that are specific to Pacbio. The goal is to account for Pacific Biosciences RS known error mode and benefit from the long reads for a high scoring overall match. (for older versions, you can use the filtered_subreads.fasta and combine the base quality scores extracted from the h5 files using Pacific Biosciences SMRT pipeline python tools)
To produce a BAM file that is sorted by coordinate with adequate read group information we use Picard tools: SortSam and AddOrReplaceReadGroups. These steps are necessary because all subsequent tools require that the BAM file follow these rules. It is also generally considered good practices to have your BAM file conform to these specifications.
Once we have a proper BAM file, it is important to estimate the empirical quality scores using statistics based on a known callset (e.g. latest dbSNP) and the following covariates: QualityScore, Dinucleotide and ReadGroup. You can follow the GATK's Best Practices for Variant Detection according the type of data you have, with the exception of indel realignment, because the tool has not been adapted for Pacific Biosciences RS data.
You will have to adjust your calling thresholds in the Unified Genotyper to allow sites with a higher indel rate to be analyzed.
Be aware that the Unified Genotyper has cutoffs for base quality score and if your data is on average Q20 (a common occurrence with Pacific Biosciences RS data) you may need to adjust your quality thresholds to allow the GATK to analyze your data. There is no right answer here, you have to choose parameters consistent with your average base quality scores, evaluate the calls made with the selected threshold and modify as necessary.
To account for the high insertion and deletion error rate of the Pacific Biosciences data instrument, we often have to set the gap open penalty to be lower than the base mismatch penalty in order to maximize alignment performance. Despite aligning most of the reads successfully, this creates the side effect that the aligner will sometimes prefer to "hide" a true SNP inside an insertion. The result is accurate mapping, albeit with a reference-biased alignment. It is important to note however, that reference bias is an artifact of the alignment process, not the data, and can be greatly reduced by locally realigning the reads based on the reference and the data. Presently, the available software for local realignment is not compatible with the length and the high indel rate of Pacific Bioscience data, but we expect new tools to handle this problem in the future. Ultimately reference bias will mask real calls and you will have to inspect these by hand. | <urn:uuid:13d3948b-7333-494a-9298-dfacee47566f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gatkforums.broadinstitute.org/discussion/42/pacbio-data-processing-pipeline | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925868 | 860 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Get answers to your child's growth, nutrition, and feeding behavior questions.
Activity - increased; Hyperkinetic behavior
Hyperactivity is a state of too much muscle activity. This term is also used to describe a situation when a particular portion of the body is too active, such as when a gland produces too much of its particular hormone.
Hyperactive behavior usually refers to a group of characteristics. These can include constant activity, being easily distracted, impulsiveness, inability to concentrate, aggressiveness, and similar behaviors.
Typical behaviors may include fidgeting or constant moving, wandering, too much talking, and difficulty participating in quiet activities (such as reading).
Hyperactivity is not easily defined, because it often depends on the tolerance of the observer. Behavior that seems excessive to one observer may not seem excessive to another. However, certain children -- when compared to others -- are clearly far more active, which can become a problem if it interferes with school work or making friends.
Hyperactivity is often considered more of a problem for schools and parents than it is for the affected child. However, many hyperactive children are unhappy or even depressed. Hyperactive behavior may make a child a target for bullying, or make it harder to connect with other children. Schoolwork may be more difficult, and hyperactive kids are frequently punished for their behavior.
Hyperkinetic (excessive movement) behavior often decreases as the child grows older, and may disappear entirely by adolescence.
A child who is normally very active often responds well to specific directions and a program of regular physical activity. A child with a hyperactivity disorder, on the other hand, has a hard time following directions and controlling impulses.
The medical history will be obtained and a physical examination performed. There may also be a review of the home and school environments.
Medical history questions documenting hyperactivity in detail may include:
The provider may recommend a thorough psychological evaluation.
© 2011 University of Maryland Medical Center (UMMC). All rights reserved.
UMMC is a member of the University of Maryland Medical System,
22 S. Greene Street, Baltimore, MD 21201. TDD: 1-800-735-2258 or 1.866.408.6885 | <urn:uuid:67c2a369-6ba3-416f-839c-4dcbd0007370> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.umm.edu/ency/article/003256all.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952749 | 457 | 3.890625 | 4 |
The Breast Care Center
Breast Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment
While most women with an abnormal mammogram do not have cancer—up to 85 percent of lumps are not cancerous—receiving a definitive diagnosis is the only way to alleviate concerns. For those who do have cancer, it is important to evaluate treatment options and determine a course of action as quickly as possible.
Research demonstrates that in medicine, multidisciplinary care—the care of a patient by multiple specialists—is the most effective treatment course. The Breast Care Center at the Comprehensive Cancer Center consolidates the services of a multidisciplinary team in a central location, giving patients access to multiple specialists during a single visit. We are accredited by the National Accreditation Program for Breast Centers, and are the only multidisciplinary breast cancer center west of the Research Triangle.
Variety of Breast Cancer Experts
Our team includes breast surgeons, radiologists, medical and radiation oncologists, plastic surgeons, pathologists, specialty nurses and genetic counselors. Known as compassionate and caring specialists, our team works together to give each patient the right combination of advanced treatment, access to the right resources and above all, hope.
Breast Cancer Diagnosis
Located next to the Breast Care Center, Outpatient Radiology offers mammography services for preventative screening and follow-up care after surgery, radiation therapy or chemotherapy. Learn more about diagnostic imaging.
Our on-site pathology frequently allows a diagnosis to be made in minutes. Learn more about breast biopsies.
Breast Cancer Treatment
If you have breast cancer, you may need breast surgery or reconstructive breast surgery. Following surgery, your individualized treatment plan may include radiation, chemotherapy, targeted therapies or clinical trials with novel agents.
Each patient is different, and we provide individualized treatment plans based on your clinical, imaging and laboratory findings, as well as your own unique lifestyle and preferences. | <urn:uuid:0724efbe-e3a3-4185-aa9b-ecb4770f9799> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wakehealth.edu/Comprehensive-Cancer-Center/Breast-Care-Center/Breast-Cancer-Diagnosis-and-Treatment.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931268 | 387 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Opitz syndrome is a heterogeneous genetic condition characterized by a range of midline birth defects such as hypertelorism, clefts in the lips and larynx, heart defects, hypospadias and agenesis of the corpus callosum.
Opitz syndrome or Opitz G/BBB syndrome, as it is sometimes called, includes G syndrome and BBB syndrome, which were originally thought to be two different syndromes. In 1969, Dr. John Opitz described two similar conditions that he called G syndrome and BBB syndrome. G syndrome was named after one family affected with this syndrome whose last name began with the initial G and BBB syndrome was named after the surname of three different families. Subsequent research suggested that these two conditions were one disorder but researchers could not agree on how this disorder was inherited. It wasn't until 1995 that Dr. Nathaniel Robin and his colleagues demonstrated that Opitz syndrome had both X-linked and autosomal dominant forms.
Opitz syndrome is a complex condition that has many symptoms, most of which affect organs along the midline of the body such as clefts in the lip and larynx, heart defects, hypospadias and agenesis of the corpus callosum. Opitz syndrome has variable expressivity,
Opitz syndrome is a genetically heterogeneous condition. There appear to be at least two to three genes that can cause Opitz syndrome when changed (mutated) or deleted. Opitz syndrome can be caused by changes in genes found on the X chromosome (X-linked) and changes in or deletion of a gene found on chromosome 22 (autosomal dominant).
Chromosomes, genes and proteins
Each cell of the body, except for the egg and sperm cells, contains 23 pairs of chromosomes—46 chromosomes in total. The egg and sperm cells contain only one of each type of chromosome and therefore contain 23 chromosomes in total. Males and females have 22 pairs of chromosomes, called the autosomes, numbered one to twenty-two in order of decreasing size. The other pair of chromosomes, called the sex chromosomes, determines the sex of the individual. Women possess two identical chromosomes called the X chromosomes while men possess one X chromosome and one Y chromosome. Since every egg cell contains an X chromosome, women pass on the X chromosome to their daughters and sons. Some sperm cells contain an X chromosome and some sperm cells contain a Y chromosome. Men pass the X chromosome on to their daughters and the Y chromosome on to their sons. Each type of chromosome contains different genes that are found at specific locations along the chromosome. Men and women inherit two of each type of autosomal gene since they inherit two of each type of autosome. Women inherit two of each type of X-linked gene since they possess two X chromosomes. Men inherit only one of each X-linked gene since they posses only one X chromosome.
Each gene contains the instructions for the production of a particular protein. The proteins produced by genes have many functions and work together to create the traits of the human body such as hair and eye color and are involved in controlling the basic functions of the human body. Changes or deletions of genes can cause them to produce abnormal protein, less protein or no protein. This can prevent the protein from functioning normally.
Autosomal dominant Opitz syndrome
The gene responsible for the autosomal dominant form of Opitz syndrome has not been discovered yet, but it appears to result from a deletion in a segment of chromosome 22 containing the Opitz gene or a change in the gene responsible for Opitz syndrome. In some cases the deletion or gene change is inherited from either the mother or father who have the gene change or deletion in one chromosome 22 in their somatic cells. The other chromosome 22 found in each of their somatic cells is normal. Some of their egg or sperm cells contain the gene change or deletion in chromosome 22 and some contain a normal chromosome 22. In other cases the deletion has occurred spontaneously during conception or is only found in some of the egg or sperm cells of either parent but not found in the other cells of their body.
Parents who have had a child with an autosomal dominant form of Opitz syndrome may or may not be at increased risk for having other affected children. If one of the parents is diagnosed with Opitz syndrome then each of their children has a 50% chance of inheriting the condition. If neither parent has symptoms of Opitz syndrome nor possesses a deletion, then it becomes more difficult to assess their chances of having other affected children.
In many cases they would not be at increased risk since the gene alteration occurred spontaneously in the embryo during conception. It is possible, however, that one of the parents is a carrier, meaning they possess a change in the autosomal dominant Opitz gene but do not have any obvious symptoms. This parent's children would each have a 50% chance of inheriting the Opitz gene.
X-linked Opitz syndrome
Some people with the X-linked form of Opitz syndrome have a change (mutation) in a gene found on the X chromosome called the MID1 (midline1) gene. Changes in another X-linked gene called the MID2 gene may also cause Opitz syndrome in some cases. It is believed that the MID genes produce proteins involved in the development of midline organs. Changes in the MID gene prevent the production of enough normal protein for normal organ development.
The X-linked form of Opitz syndrome is inherited differently by men and woman. A woman with an X-linked form of Opitz syndrome has typically inherited a changed MID gene from her mother and a changed MID gene from her father. This occurs very infrequently. All of this woman's sons will have Opitz syndrome and all of her daughters will be carriers for Opitz syndrome. Only women can be carriers for Opitz syndrome since carriers possess one changed MID gene and one unchanged MID gene. Most carriers for the X-linked form of Opitz syndrome do not have symptoms since one
Opitz syndrome is a rare disorder that appears to affect all ethnic groups. The frequency of this disorder is unknown since people with this disorder exhibit a wide range of symptoms, making it difficult to diagnose and many possess mild or non-detectable symptoms.
Signs and symptoms
People with Opitz syndrome exhibit a wide range of medical problems and in some cases may not exhibit any detectable symptoms. This may be due in part to the genetic heterogeneity of this condition. Even people with Opitz syndrome who are from the same family can have different problems. This may mean there are other genetic and non-genetic factors that influence the development of symptoms in individuals who have inherited a changed or deleted Opitz gene. Most individuals with Opitz syndrome only have a few symptoms of the disorder such as wide set eyes and a broad prominent forehead. Opitz syndrome can, however, affect many of the organs and structures of the body and primarily affects the development of midline organs. The most common symptoms are: hypertelorism (wide-spaced eyes), broad prominent forehead, heart defects, hypospadias (urinary opening of the penis present on the underside of the penis instead of its normal location at the tip), undescended testicles, an abnormality of the anal opening, agenesis of the corpus callosum (absence of the tissue which connects the two sides of the brain), cleft lip, and clefts and abnormalities of the pharynx (throat) and larynx (voice-box), trachea (wind-pipe) and esophagus.
People with Opitz syndrome usually have a distinctive look to the face such as a broad prominent forehead, cleft lip, wide set eyes that may be crossed, wide noses with upturned nostrils, small chins or jaws, malformed ears, crowded, absent or misplaced teeth and hair that may form a "widow's peak." In many cases the head may appear large or small and out of proportion to the rest of the body.
Often people with Opitz syndrome have difficulties swallowing because of abnormalities in the pharynx, larynx, trachea, or esophagus. This can sometimes result in food entering the trachea instead of the esophagus, which can cause damage to the lungs and pneumonia, and can sometimes be fatal in small infants. Abnormalities in the trachea can sometimes make breathing difficult and may result in a hoarse or weak voice and wheezing.
Both males and females may have abnormal genitals and abnormalities in the anal opening. Males can have hypospadias and undescended testicles and girls may have minor malformation of their external genitalia. Heart defects are also often present and abnormalities of the kidney can be present as well. Intelligence is usually normal but mild mental retardation can sometimes be present. Twins appear more common in families affected with Opitz syndrome.
Males and females with the dominant form of Opitz syndrome are equally likely to have symptoms whereas carrier females with the X-linked form of Opitz syndrome are less likely to have symptoms then males with the condition. In general, males with the X-linked form of Opitz syndrome tend to be more severely affected than females and males with the autosomal dominant form of Opitz syndrome. People with X-linked Opitz syndrome and dominant Opitz syndrome generally appear to exhibit the same range of symptoms. The only known exceptions are upturned nostrils and clefts at the back of throat, which appear to only occur in people with X-linked Opitz syndrome.
Frequencies of common conditions associated with Opitz syndrome
|Hypertelorism||91%||Cleft lip and palate||32%|
|Ear abnormalities||72%||Heart defects||27%|
|Developmental delay||43%||Imperforate anus||21%|
|Kidney anomalies||42%||Undescended testes||20%|
The diagnosis and cause of Opitz syndrome is often difficult to establish. In most cases, Opitz syndrome is diagnosed through a clinical evaluation and not through a blood test. This means a genetic specialist (geneticist) has examined the patient and found enough symptoms of Opitz syndrome to make a diagnosis. Since not all patients have obvious symptoms or even any symptoms at all, this can be a difficult task. It can also be difficult to establish whether an individual has an X-linked form
Sometimes a clinical diagnosis is confirmed through fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH). FISH testing can detect whether a person has a deletion of the region of chromosome 22 that is associated with Opitz syndrome. Fluorescent (glowing) pieces of DNA containing the region that is deleted in Opitz syndrome are mixed with a sample of cells obtained from a blood sample. If there is a deletion in one of the chromosomes, the DNA will only stick to one chromosome and not the other and only one glowing section of a chromosome will be visible instead of two. Most patients with the autosomal dominant form of Opitz syndrome cannot be diagnosed through FISH testing since they possess a tiny change in the gene that cannot be detected with this procedure. As of 2001, researchers are still trying to discover the specific gene and gene changes that cause autosomal dominant Opitz syndrome.
FISH testing is unable to detect individuals with the X-linked form of Opitz syndrome. DNA testing for the X-linked form of Opitz disease is not available through clinical laboratories. Some research laboratories are looking for changes in the MID1 gene and the MID2 gene as part of their research and may occasionally confirm a clinical diagnosis of X-linked Opitz syndrome.
It is difficult to diagnose Opitz syndrome in a baby prior to its birth. Sometimes doctors and technicians (ultrasonographers) who specialize in performing ultrasound evaluations are able to see physical features of Opitz syndrome in the fetus. Some of the features they may look for in the ultrasound evaluation are heart defects, wide spacing between the eyes, clefts in the lip, hypospadias, and agenesis of the corpus callosum. It is very difficult, however, even for experts to diagnose or rule-out Opitz syndrome through an ultrasound evaluation.
Opitz syndrome can be definitively diagnosed in a baby prior to its birth if a MID gene change is detected in the mother or if a deletion in chromosome 22 is detected in the mother or father. Cells from the baby are obtained through an amniocentesis or chorionic villus sampling. These cells are analyzed for the particular MID gene change or chromosome 22 deletion found in one of the parents.
Treatment and management
There is no cure for Opitz syndrome and no treatment for the underlying condition. Management of the condition involves diagnosing and managing the symptoms. Clefts, heart defects, and genital abnormalities can often be repaired by surgery. Feeding difficulties can sometimes be managed using feeding tubes through the nose, stomach or small intestine. Early recognition and intervention with special education may help individuals with mental retardation.
For most patients, the prognosis and quality of life of Opitz syndrome is good, with individuals typically living a normal life span. The prognosis, however, is very dependent on the type of organ abnormality and the quality of medical care. Patients with severe heart defects and major abnormalities in the trachea and esophagus may have a poorer prognosis.
Buchner, G., et al. "MID2, a homologue of the Opitz syndrome gene MID1: Similarities in subcellular localization and differences in expression during development." Human Molecular Genetics 8 (August 1998): 1397-407.
Jacobson, Z., et al. "Further delineation of the Opitz G/BBB syndrome: Report of an infant with congenital heart disease and bladder extrophy, and review of the literature." American Journal of Medical Genetics (July 7, 1998): 294-299.
Macdonald, M. R., A. H. Olney, and P. Kolodziej. "Opitz syndrome (G/BBB Syndrome)." Ear Nose & Throat Journal 77, no. 7 (July 1998): 528-529.
Schweiger, S., et al. "The Opitz syndrome gene product, MID1, associates with microtubules." Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America 96, no. 6 (March 16, 1999): 2794-2799.
Canadian Opitz Family Network. Box 892, Errington, BC V0R 1V0. Canada (250) 954-1434. Fax: (250) 954-1465. firstname.lastname@example.org. <http://www.apollos.net/arena/opitz/start.html>.
March of Dimes Birth Defects Foundation. 1275 Mamaroneck Ave., White Plains, NY 10605. (888) 663-4637. email@example.com. <http://www.modimes.org>.
National Organization for Rare Disorders (NORD). PO Box 8923, New Fairfield, CT 06812-8923. (203) 746-6518 or (800) 999-6673. Fax: (203) 746-6481. <http://www.rarediseases.org>.
Opitz G/BBB Family Network. PO Box 515, Grand Lake, CO 80447. firstname.lastname@example.org. <http://www.gle.egsd.k12.co.us/opitz/index.html>.
Smith-Lemli-Opitz Advocacy and Exchange (RSH/SLO). 2650 Valley Forge Dr., Boothwyn, PA 19061. (610) 485-9663. <http://members.aol.com/slo97/index.html>.
McKusick, Victor A. "Hypertelorism with Esophageal Abnormality and Hypospadias." OMIM—Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man. <http://www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Omim/dispmim?145410>. (March 28, 2000)
McKusick, Victor A. "Opitz syndrome." OMIM—Online Mendelian Inheritance in Man. <http://www3.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/htbin-post/Omim/dispmim?300000>. (February 6, 2001).
Lisa Maria Andres, MS, CGC | <urn:uuid:e2659832-5e8b-4755-9cc1-3b5437126169> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthline.com/galecontent/opitz-syndrome-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929709 | 3,428 | 3.921875 | 4 |
China Designs First Indigenous DTV Chip for DMB-T Which Outperforms DVB-T and ATSC
Elite Fudan University in Shanghai said on Monday that it has turned out China's first ever home-made digital TV chip in collaboration with two domestic companies.
The chip, known as "Zhongshi No. 1", which integrates more than 70 storages, 2 million logic gates and 20 million transistors, has outperformed European and American products in terms of sensitivity and anti-jamming capacities at far lower costs.
The chip was made by Grace Semiconductor Manufacturing Corporation and Semiconductor Manufacturing International Corporation, according to Zhou Dian, president of the School of Microelectronics of Fudan University, independent designer of the product.
Zhongshi No. 1 was based on China's DMB-T standard and has outdone European and US standards for experimental broadcasts of digital TV, respectively known as DVB-T and ATSC, in terms of definition, noted Zhou.
He acknowledged that a dozen domestic electronics makers have integrated the new chip technology into their products, including Changhong, TCL, Skyworth and Haier. Central China's Henan Province has applied the new technology to launch mobile TV programs, and at least 10 other localities -- including Beijing, Tianjin and Guangzhou -- have reported success in trial operations.
Analysts say mass production of the cost-effective chip is for sure to boost China's digital TV industry.
"Zhongshi No. 1 is adaptable to international as well as domestic standards and is cost-effective compared with similar international products," said Wu Youshou, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering.
The chip embodies the core technology for the new generation HDTVs that has been the focus of research and development for many countries since the early 1990s."Transnational IT giants have been coveting the China market and have spent heavily on developing chips for ground transmission," said Wu.
Official statistics say the world's most populous nation has more than 370 million TV sets and an average 40 million sets are being sold each year. China plans to broadcast the 2008 Beijing Olympics with digital TV and to popularize digital TV nationwide by 2015. | <urn:uuid:c795adc5-e451-4f61-889c-b808c99c09ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tvtechnology.com/prntarticle.aspx?articleid=189010 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966049 | 462 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Restoring the Missouri River Basin (MRB)
FEMA Region VII Administrator Beth Freeman is participating on the Missouri River Flood Task Force which is addressing both immediate and long-term floodplain management challenges for the MRB.
Read the latest news release from the task force to find out what was accomplished during their last meeting on Dec. 13, 2011, in Overland Park, Kansas. Learn more about the vision, mission and how you can participate at the MRFTF online.
Members of the MRFTF include federal agencies with authorities and responsibilities in the MRB, tribal members designated by their tribal chairman to participate, and state government-designated leads. Non-governmental organizations, associations, media, and the public are also being engaged.
Communities affected by a disaster often need help to recover from the loss of crucial facilities and infrastructure. Matching community needs to prospective resources—both technical assistance and funding opportunities—is critical to successful recovery.
Long-Term Community Recovery (LTCR), a FEMA program, has created resource guides to support community recovery for all four FEMA Region VII states. The guides facilitate matching recovery needs with prospective resources and help city officials, recovery stakeholders and community members connect with potential partners and agencies to strengthen development and planning efforts related to a community’s long-term recovery. The Resource Guides provide basic information about local, state and federal government and nonprofit organizations with technical assistance and grant programs applicable to recovery. General descriptions of resources, Web sites, programming objectives, eligible applicants and contact information may change over time.
Return to FEMA Region VII home page. | <urn:uuid:72f94057-e69b-4336-bf6e-fb237e42b538> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fema.gov/region-vii-participating-missouri-river-flood-task-force-mrftf | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942596 | 324 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Democratisation of technology is a topic very close to every heart that beats around the blue oval. Simply put, in line with its brand promise of ‘Go Further’, Ford has focused its efforts on bringing technology available in higher segments of vehicles to the masses. And how they go about achieving this - by equipping their latest ONE Ford products like the all-new Fiesta with the latest in auto technology, be it with respect to connected systems or powertrains – is what makes their products such great purchase propositions. The Fiesta Powershift AT, which Ford launched in March this year, is yet another example of Ford’s success with democratizing of technology. The Fiesta Powershift AT, as the name suggests, is an automatic transmission version of the award winning Fiesta.
However where it truly differs from its competitors is in the transmission technology that the car packs in – a dual clutch transmission. A dual clutch transmission has two clutch systems. In the case of the Fiesta , clutch 1 takes care of 1st , 3rd and 5th gear while the second clutch takes care of 2nd , 4th and 6th gears. Also, two different final drives are employed in the same transmission. Lastly, with more gears (6 in this case), there can be a proper and better spread of the 81PS of peak power and 140Nm of maximum torque between the ratios. This means that you have less chances of being in the low band of the engine at any given time. Additionally, there are first in class features like Hill Start Assist where the system retains pressure on the brake pedal for 2.5 seconds after you have removed your foot off the pedal.
This ensures that when moving off from a standstill on an incline the car does not roll back in the time it takes for you to move your foot from the brake to the accelerator. The system also has a convenient Creep function, which allows the vehicle speed to be controlled via the brake pedal when crawling through stop-and-go traffic or in crowded parking lots. Additionally, the Powershift transmission also features the Ford Grade Hill Assist technology wherein the transmission system engages lower gears when climbing down a hill to reduce brake usage. The result of all this is an impressive drive experience, which is a hallmark of Ford products. The Powershift is also an intelligent gearbox that changes gears seamlessly in accordance with the inputs that it gets from the driver via the accelerator. For instance, if you use the accelerator gently then the system shifts up to higher gears in the interest of improved fuel economy.
Indeed, thanks to using 6 gears, the Fiesta Powershift boasts a best in class fuel efficiency figure of 16.97kmpl as per ARAI test data, which is better than a few other cars featuring manual transmissions. While such low fuel consumption means you will be smiling on a day to day basis with the money to spare there is the additional benefit of the Powershift transmission being a completely maintenance free unit for life. The completely sealed unit requires absolutely no maintenance for 10 years or 2,40,000km! The Powershift is available in two trims – a base variant called Style and a top-of-the-line variant called Titanium – with the 1.5-litre TiVCT petrol engine. The engine in question has a peak power output of 81PS and 140Nm of maximum torque. | <urn:uuid:0c7d2eaf-698a-4855-be79-5c660cbbacc4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cardekho.com/india-car-news/ford-fiesta-automatic-test-drive-and-review-7887.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944658 | 683 | 1.59375 | 2 |
October 14, 2001
The Underlined / Linked
Texts above will take you to
The Gift Of Faithful Living
Have you ever worked especially hard at something to please someone else and all the while you worked, you did it all just to see the joy on the other person's face?
The first time I recall experiencing a desire like this, I was in third grade and we were introduced to the art of making things with clay. The teacher happened to own a small oven for firing clay and each of us got to make something special for someone. I chose to make an ashtray for my father. Dad was a cigar aficionado, and the ash trays he used were all too small.
It was an exciting day when my ash tray was finally fired and I took it home with the tremendous anticipation. I hoped he would love it and be pleased. And he did not let me down. When he opened my ash tray, he knew immediately what it was for and thanked me profusely as he went for one of his special cigars. I watched him smoke the whole thing as he taped the long ashes into his new ash tray!
As I think back on it, the ash tray was quite an eyesore actually. It was big, heavy, and gaudy.
But it wasn't so much that dad thought I was the next Lladró. The thing that pleased him so much was that I had done my very best to make him happy. As time went on, I learned that living faithfully as his son meant to do my best to bring honor and not dishonor to our family.
When I was old enough to go out and do things on my own with friends he would say, "Have a good time." But the very last thing hw would say just as I was going out the door was, "What's your last name?"
"Jewell," I would respond.
"Remember that." he would reply with a wink.
There are two central concepts in the epistle reading for today that have to do with faithful living. They seem very much like the concepts I learned from my dad.
The first one comes from the last verse of our text. "Do your best to present yourself to God..." The key here is, "...do your best..."
I may not make the greatest ash trays in the world. Most of us are not going to be the greatest saints in all the world and we may fall on our faces when we attempt great things for the kingdom of God. But God is not concerned that we have the best gifts or the most gifts. God is after our personal best!
The prayer of confession used in the liturgy of some traditions includes the words, "...we confess that we have sinned against you in thought, word and deed, by what we have done and by what we have left undone..."
Sometimes the things we have left undone are undone because we have a fear of failure. There are persons who have gotten the impression that God is a kind of accusing parent who is never satisfied with our attempts to bring honor to the cause of Christ. They have the feeling that they can not do enough or be enough unless they come up perfect. I do not remember where I phrase, "The hurrieder I go, the behinder I get!" It can be like that with our spiritual efforts.
But this demanding, never satisfied God is not the God of Paul or Timothy. Timothy's God is concerned that Timothy do his best to present himself as a worker who does not need to be ashamed. In our life with Christ, it is better to aim for the stars and only hit the moon than to aim for nothing and score a direct hit!
Timothy is to do his best for God. Here is the source of strength Paul offers to Timothy. God does not compare Timothy to Paul or anybody else! Timothy is to do his best. He is not to read everyone that Paul reached did, or walk on water like Peter - he is to do his very best for God and in doing his best, he will bring honor to the name of Christ and be numbered with those who come to know the joy of faithful living.
Remember Jesus parable of the talents? In Matthew 25, Jesus tells the parable of the master who went on a journey and just before he left, he entrusted three of his servants with his assets. The sums of money in this parable are actually quite large. One servant is given five talents to manage, another two talents and a third person one talent. A day laborer in Jesus' time would take about twenty years to earn one talent - so we're talking big money!
When the master returns, he calls in his servants to see how they did in investing his resources. The servant who managed the five talents made a one hundred percent increase and had ten talents for the master. So also, the servant who managed two talents now had four talents for the master. The last servant didn't do so well. He was afraid of taking the risk, so he simply locked the one talent away and had no gain to show.
The first two servants heard the words, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant!" The last servant was read the riot act. He hadn't even tried. His portion of the household assets were given to the first servant to manage and this one received his walking papers. The others gave it their best shot. The first servant wasn't compared with the second. They both did their best and they both brought gain to the master's household.¹
When we do our best to bring honor to the household of God, we will share the joy of the servants who heard the words, "Well done thou good and faithful servant."
The second major concept in our reading is the very first phrase of the text. "Remember Jesus Christ..."
Where do we get the strength to live faithfully? Strength for living a life that will bring honor to the family of God.
I can tell you that there was more than one occasion when my father's question, "What's your last name?" Was a factor in decision I made in my growing years. When I spoke my last name, he said simply, "Remember that." Fact is, there were a few times when the words got under my skin. I wanted to do something that would not likely bring honor to our family name, and those words would come back. "What's your last name?"
"Rats!" Everyone else was doin' it. Why couldn't I?
Because I was remembering my last name - and remembering my father - and feeling compelled to live faithfully as a member of my family.
And so it is with Christian people.
"Remember Jesus Christ!" Not only that, but this is Jesus Christ who was, "...raised from the dead - a descendant of David..." In other words, we are remembering the One who came to give himself for us. He was only "raised from the dead" after he had been crucified. He was the one and only Son of David and he gave up everything that was rightfully his in order to bring us safely home to the arms of God.
Faithful living is a gift that comes from the God who does not compare us with anyone else. We remember who we are - members of the family of God. And we remember whose we are - namely those who have been redeemed by Jesus Christ.
I hope that you will be encouraged to remember your family name. Christian
When you encounter situations and circumstances that test your patience and challenge your values -- remember who you are.
And when you are engaged by time of trial and surrounded by seemingly insurmountable odds -- remember whose you are.
Remember also that it does not matter whether you are the person who has been entrusted with the five talents or the two talents, or even the one talent. God does not compare you to anyone else. The life and the gifts you have been given are a matter between you and God. When you remember who you are -- a member of the family of God. And when you remember whose you are -- a child of Jesus Christ -- you will understand the gift of faithful living.
¹ Matthew 25:14-29 There is a sermon on this parable >>here<<
No matter what we do to box God into our tight little ideas of who God is and who is or is not acceptable in the eyes of God -- the box is never strong enough to hold God in!
In context, it is inconceivable that the God of Israel should care anything about a Syrian General's struggle with a horrible disease. The Syrians were a thorn in the side of Israel for generations. Jehoram, King of Israel thinks in a box. Ben-Hadad, King of Syria (Aram) is simply trying to incite another skirmish, he assumes. Elisha, on the other hand, tells him that Naaman ought to come to Israel, "...that he may learn that there is a prophet in Isreal." The issue of the sovereignty of God in a world full of pagan gods is a part of this story. The God of Israel is God. Naaman will be a witness of that -- even if a silent one.
There is this key thought in the last verse of this text. "...he immersed himself... according to the word of the man of God; his flesh was restored.." Implication? The word of the man or woman of God is as good as the word of God. There is an intimate connection between the word of God and the action of God. Indeed, God's word is God's action. As we are faithful to the word of God, so also the action of God is effective through the word we bear to others on behalf of God.
vv.11-17 Are peculiar to Luke and point to some of Luke's characteristic themes. God's care for social outcasts -- especially the Samaritans; healing brings praise to God and faith is the key to hope and healing.
Ten men stood at a distance -- In light of Leviticus
13:45-46, it was required that they remain separated from others...
v.14 Leviticus 14:1 ff details the requirement Jesus here asks them to fulfill. "were cleansed" = from "katharidzo" - to be cleansed -- thus "cured". The leper was to cry out "unclean, unclean" -- the intervention of God makes them "clean" once again. Contrast the word for "cure" = "iaomai" (v.15)
Important: "...as they went, they were made clean" There is a relationship between obedience and good outcomes. See Joshua 1:6-9
v.19 "You faith has made you well" In this case the KJV is more to the point with, "thy faith hath made thee whole". "whole" = "sesoken" From the root "sodzo" which is the root word for salvation or wholeness. Jesus dismisses the Samaritan with familiar words used also in 7:50, 8:48, and 18:42.
From II Kings 5: Naaman the leper, like the Samaritan is not an Israelite. This story helps to strengthen Luke's theme of God's desire to reach out to all who will respond to divine grace. As the Samaritan returned to praise God -- so the purpose of healing in the Kings passage is that God be praised in all the earth.
From our last cycle
This is the second in a series based on the lectionary passages from II Timothy during October. The four parts to this series are: I. The Certainty, II. The Promise, III. The Basis, IV. The Prize [See 10/4/98 for additional notes on the series]
II. The Promise
In his instructions to the young pastor/teacher Timothy, Paul points out that he endures imprisonment and hardship for the sake of an incredible promise.
1. The Hardship Paul Endures (vv.8-9)
The hardship is all for the sake of the gospel. Nothing is as important as the opportunity to bring the message of salvation to others. Though Paul is "chained" -- the word of God / Good News is not chained.
2. He is Faithful (vv.11-13)
No matter what may happen, the promises of Christ are certain because Christ himself is faithful. There is a promise of life to those who "die" with Christ. [See Gal. 2:19-20] There is a promise of victory to those who stay the course of faith. [See Rev. 3:21] The one who denies Christ will be denied. [See last week: II Tim.1:12 and Mark 8:38]
Yet, the foundations of the promise of life can never be shaken because they are as sure as the word of Christ -- he can not deny himself -- his own words.
3. You Must be Faithful (vv.14-15)
Verse 14 is an injunction to Timothy to keep the community of faith "on target" with the essentials of the gospel. They are not to get sidetracked with arguments. (Literally they are not to "fight over words" -- sound familiar?)
Verse 15 presents the task of the pastor/teacher in clear terms. We are not to "invent" or "come up with" a message -- but to "rightly explain" the "word of God" as in 2:9.
("rightly explaining" in NRSV or the old KJV "Rightly dividing" -- is "orthotomeo" which means literally "to cut straight". The sense is clearly and decisively teaching the "word of truth" which has been given to Paul / Timothy / us)
A Responsive Call To Worship
Leader: Let us make
a joyful noise to God.
A Prayer of Confession
Open our eyes merciful Savior, that we might see more clearly the fullness of your gifts to us. We confess that our gratitude toward You comes short of the glory that is due Your holy name. Forgive us our meager praise and lose our tongues to glorify the wonder of Your name. Amen.
A Prayer of Dedication
We bring these gifts of love to you O Lord, as a token of our gratitude. In the best of times you give us life and love and length of days. In the tough times you give us courage and hope. O gracious God, receive these gifts and bless the persons they will reach, in the name of Jesus. Amen. | <urn:uuid:d72429e4-6579-4ef6-8a58-1008da8b8c5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lectionarysermons.com/Oct.14.01.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973824 | 3,024 | 1.507813 | 2 |
To tackle traffic problems, UT revisits RITES report
- Spot-fixing: Chandila was in touch with four sets of bookies, says Delhi Police
- Chinese Premier Li Keqiang arrives, to hold talks with PM on boundary, water issues
- IPL 2013: Delhi Daredevils crash to defeat, finish last
- Jaganmohan's wife attacks CBI, accuses it of working at Congress behest
- Blast accused death: UP govt seeks CBI probe, FIR against 42 persons
RITES had proposed the construction of dedicated bus lanes in the grid system in the tricity. It had also suggested that both the Metro under the Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) and Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) System be developed at the same time. Also, it recommended integration points with the Metro and BRT to ensure effective use of bus services
Three years after the Rail India Technical and Economic Services (RITES) report was submitted, the UT Administration is now again considering the proposals that the report had mentioned in 2009, to ease out the ever growing menace of traffic congestion in the city.
A meeting in this regard was held on Monday between the officials of the UT Administration and the official of RITES.
After studying the RITES report once again, the UT Urban Planning Department and UT Engineering Department will finalise the BRT corridors to be constructed in the tricity keeping in view the future demands.
Speaking with Chandigarh Newsline, UT Advisor to the Administrator K K Sharma said, "There is nothing wrong in reconsidering the proposals of the RITES report if they offer solutions to the present traffic woes in the city. Of course the feasibility of the proposals will be studied properly. The idea is to encourage people for using the public transport and for that we will definitely first improve the services of the public transport in the city".
In its report of Comprehensive Mobility Plan for Chandigarh Urban Complex, RITES had proposed construction of dedicated bus lanes in the grid system in the tricity. RITES had also suggested that both the Metro under the Mass Rapid Transport System (MRTS) and Bus Rapid Transport (BRT) System to be developed at the same time in the tricity.
"The corridors proposed in the RITES report have been studied by the UT Administration. At that time, there were 10 BRT corridors which were proposed to be constructed. As of now, we are planning to have three corridors to fulfill the present needs," said a senior official of the UT Administration.
- Former Ranji player among 3 more held
- Rajasthan Royals to file FIR against tainted trio
- If found guilty, BCCI to ask ICC to erase Sreesanth records
- Top cops among 42 named in death of blast accused
- PM takes tough line on incursion issue
- Security forces blame Maoists, villagers say CoBRA man was killed in ‘friendly fire’ | <urn:uuid:a4e145fa-2f15-4c3c-9d44-9d5662caf749> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indianexpress.com/news/to-tackle-traffic-problems-ut-revisits-rites-report/1047258/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962847 | 609 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Mortgage Insurance Premiums Reporting and Form 1098 for Tax Year 2012 -- 16-JAN-2013
Section 204 of the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012 extended the treatment of mortgage insurance premiums as qualified residence interest through December 31, 2013.
Properly labeled, mortgage insurance premiums should be reported in box 4 on the 2012 Form 1098. Use a dollar sign ($) to report the premiums paid by the borrower in 2012.
Borrowers who receive Form 1098 should see the Schedule A (Form 1040) instructions for using this information to prepare their tax returns.
Electronic filers who use the FIRE system to report the Form 1098 information to the IRS should see Announcement 2013-10, which will appear in IR Bulletin 2013-3 on January 14, 2013, for reporting instructions. | <urn:uuid:f5060833-bf99-4876-85b1-85a71d33b6d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.irs.gov/uac/Recent-Development-2013-01-16-2012-Form-1098 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90323 | 166 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Philippa Ryan, British Museum
I’m in Sudan looking at ancient plant remains from Amara West to investigate past diet and the potential impact of climate change on how plants were used.
This type of evidence can also provide insight into social behaviour, such as differences in diet between richer and poorer households. Additionally, identifying certain types of plant remains, such as cereal processing detritus, can help to investigate the functions of certain rooms or outdoor areas in the town.
The excavators take sediment samples from archaeological contexts such as hearths, ovens, floors and storage bins for botanical analysis. Back at the dig-house, I process the bags of sediment they have collected to extract the charred and desiccated plant remains – using dry-sieving and flotation.
At the end of the dig season, these samples will then be taken back to the British Museum, with the permission of the National Corporation of Antiquities and Museums, where I will identify the seeds and fruits in conjunction with Caroline Cartwright, who is also analysing the wood charcoal. Modern analytical equipment such as a Scanning Electron Microscopes can help with the identifications.
In addition, I am taking further sediment samples back for processing in the laboratory to extract phytoliths (microscopic silicified plant cells) as another way of investigating the plant record.
Whilst here, I have also been collecting plants to compare with the ancient plant materials. I have gathered grasses, reeds and branches of trees and shrubs from the riverbanks via boat (watching out for the large crocodiles!), a trip into the desert, and from the island of Ernetta where we are living. | <urn:uuid:5d05d52d-43a5-4d49-ae64-93066ad0044a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.britishmuseum.org/2011/02/11/glimpses-of-diet-through-plant-remains/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949583 | 346 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Bill Gates made his money with the brilliant and evil idea of applying monopoly capitalism to computer software. In the early days of computers, only the hardware cost money and the software was freely shared. Indeed, for all of human history except the industrial age, the idea of intellectual property would have been considered insane if anyone had thought of it at all. The reason is simple: If I give you a physical item, then I no longer have it, so it's fair for you to give me something in return; if I give you an idea, I haven't lost anything -- there's even a good chance that we've both gained. Also, if ideas are shared by all, then everyone has the freedom and the incentive to improve them. If they are owned, only the owner has the freedom to improve them -- but the owner's incentive is to improve only one aspect of ideas: their usefulness in generating "profit," or control measured in money.
I liked Windows 98. It was easy to use, reasonably transparent, and it could run all the PC games from the mid-90's golden age. The programs that came with it were crap (except Wordpad and Minesweeper), but plenty of great free software worked on it, like Firefox and PhotoFiltre and Audacity. Also, I could use 98lite
to make it much faster and sleeker. But then Windows started to go bad -- or more precisely, the universal corporate personality forced Microsoft's programmers to define "better" in terms of profitability, increasing control, and bloat.
If you've ever been selfish, it's easy to understand why a corporation (a legal entity designed to maximize profit without compassion) would want to control your computer and make money off you. Bloat is harder to explain, but it has something to do with our pyramid scheme economy, and also with intellectual property. If ideas are owned, the owner has to pay
people to maintain and improve them. Then those people have a motive that often goes against the interests of both their employer and the public: they want to keep their jobs, so they will make the body of ideas they work on constantly bigger and more complicated.
Windows 2000 and ME were bigger than 98 without being more useful. Then, probably because of some rogue programmers at Microsoft, Windows XP was actually better in many ways -- good hardware and software support, relatively easy to use, and stable. But with updates you can't refuse, inner workings you can't change, and a "validation" system that effectively prevents an XP system from being sold or given away, it constantly reminds you that Microsoft owns your computer.
Vista is the G.W. Bush of operating systems -- it misses no opportunity to be a highly visible failure, and thereby enlightens and alienates the faithful. It's unbelievably slow, full of frustrating and pointless changes, incompatible with a surprising range of hardware and software, and it's not a bit more useful. Vista is a huge gift from Microsoft to Mac and Linux.
I don't use Mac because the hardware is very expensive and I'm on a tight budget. But I kept getting breakdowns in my old hardware designed for Windows 98, and I was ready for a laptop. So, in November of 2006, I spent a week making low bids on eBay on Dell Latitude C-series laptops with no operating system, and finally snagged a very nice C610 for $205 after shipping. Then I had to decide what exactly to put on it.
The word "Linux" is derived from Unix, an open source operating system that predates Microsoft, and Linus Torvalds, who in 1991 released some kind of Unix/GNU doodad that is hard to explain technically but that evolved into the sophisticated Linux operating systems we have today. There has been much debate about how to say "Linux," but an "incorrect" pronunciation has now become nearly universal in the English speaking world, which is to say it like it rhymes with "clinics."
Under the sufrace of Linux operating systems is the command line
, which is very much like the old Microsoft DOS prompt -- you type in text commands to tell the computer what to do. Just a few years ago, no one could use Linux without having to frequently go to the command line, which was a big turn-off for the majority of home users. But while Windows has been declining, Linux has been improving, and fast! In the slickest distros, having to use the command line is now less common, and easier, than having to reinstall Windows when it gets too corrupted.
"Distro" is short for "distribution," which means a version or flavor of Linux. Because the Linux code is not owned, anyone can make anything out of it, and they do. There are now hundreds of Linux operating systems for different needs and preferences of users, which gives us something Microsoft denies us: the burden and responsibility of having a choice. And it's not just a Coke vs Pepsi choice -- the differences are important.
My first thought was to just go with Ubuntu
. It's very popular, well-funded, and carefully designed to be easy for beginners. Like most of the big distros, it comes in the form of a downloadable live installer CD: You just find a computer with a fast connection and a CD burner, download a big file, burn it to a disk, pop it in your computer, restart, and it will boot up and lead you through the installation.
I got Ubuntu 6.10, and immediately made a common beginner error. A downloaded CD almost always comes in the form of an ISO file, basically a way of representing a bunch of stuff in CD language. But there are two ways to burn one. If you do it the wrong way, then when you open the CD, you'll just see a single big ISO file. If you do it the right way, you'll see a bunch of files and folders -- the content
of the ISO file. What you need is a program with a "write ISO to CD" feature, which (not surprisingly) Windows doesn't have. But you can download a free one, like CDBurnerXP
So I got the CD image right, installed Ubuntu in a fraction of the time XP takes, and tried to dial the internet. Oops! Ubuntu 6.10 does not include an internet dial-up utility
, or a way to install one without already being online. Something new users should know about Linux is that it's made by and for people who have a live ethernet cable to plug into the computer. Pretty much any Linux system will easily do ethernet. You might have to find something that says "network" or "networking" and poke around until you find the right box to click. Wireless is a little harder. You might have to go online and download a driver, in which case you'll need a second computer with a working connection and a way to transfer files.
If you want to do dial-up, not only do you need a connection utility (which almost every distro has), you will probably also need a special modem, because most of the modems that come built into newer computers, including mine, are built with half the hardware missing, and the other half emulated by Windows. This reflects a deeper problem: Linux will not replace Windows among ordinary users until a major computer manufacturer gets out of bed with Microsoft. In late 2007, Asus began leading that movement with the Eee PC
Anyway, I found out that what you need is an external serial modem -- one that plugs into that rectangular port on the back of your computer with nine little spikes. A USB modem is likely to work, but serial is a sure thing, so I found a used 56K V90 for $20. But by the time I'd done all the research to figure this stuff out, I had become aware of the vast variety within Linux, and I wanted to try something else.
has good summaries of all but the most obscure distros, and I also found a great utility to compare distros side-by-side
. There are other sites that give you a little quiz to help you choose, but I think they're asking the wrong questions, stuff like "how fast is your computer?" and "how much Linux do you know?" It's not so much a technical issue as a matter of personality, like choosing a car -- in a technical sense, nobody needs
an SUV or a motorcycle, but many people choose them. The nice thing is, if you have access to a computer with fast internet and a CD burner, you can try one distro after another for no more than the cost of a few blank CD's. Most major distros come as a live CD
, which means you can run the system from the CD or from RAM, and try it out before you install it to the hard drive. Once you install any operating system to the hard drive, you have to reformat it before you can install another system.
In my research, I discovered that a dial-up utility is included in Kubuntu, which is a version of Ubuntu with a different desktop, KDE instead of Gnome. Then I did more research and found out that if you want a user-friendly KDE system, Mepis is probably better than Kubuntu, and it definitely has better support for hardware, which is a big problem new users run into with Linux.
So I tried Mepis... If you want a full-featured desktop, you should definitely try both KDE and Gnome. Here's a good KDE/Gnome comparison
. Personally, I didn't like KDE. When I'm online, I like to have four or five windows open at once, each with several tabs, and the KDE toolbar doesn't leave enough room in the middle for that many windows. Also, KDE has it's own special Kult of applications that all start with K, like "Konqueror" instead of the more familiar web browsers.
Even more important, one thing I demand is the ability to use my own machine without ever having to type in a password. I was able to tweak Ubuntu to do that, but Mepis seems to not even include that option. It even required me to guess a password (the root password is root) to use the install CD! Linux insiders will jump to the defense of passwords and root users, but I think it's a holdover from the 1970's when many users shared one computer. Now that we have personal
computers, Microsoft was correct to put you straight in the driver's seat (which, of course, didn't last long).
I mentioned the distro search on my blog, and readers recommended Slackware and Gentoo. Slackware is powerful and extremely stable, ideal if you're doing advanced techie stuff. Gentoo lets you (or makes you) build your own system from the ground up, so you end up learning all about Linux and getting just exactly what you want. I'd rather get something reasonably close to what I want and not have to do as much work. Some Linux snobs think that Linux should
be hard, but I think that's silly, and it alienates the majority of users who very reasonably want easy-to-use computers without having to submit to Microsoft.
Another reader mentioned Xubuntu, a version of Ubuntu that uses the slimmer, faster Xfce desktop. That
was the doorway I was looking for! My motivation for switching to Linux is that I've always wished they would make computers faster while keeping software the same size and complexity, so I can experience
more speed, instead of losing it all in eye candy and features I'm not going to use.
I had assumed that other people were switching to Linux for the same reason, but it turns out that the full-sized Linux distros aren't any leaner or faster than Windows XP (or at least it's close enough to argue about), and the Xfce desktop is only the first step down. The next step down is Blackbox/Fluxbox, and then IceWM, and then...
Technically, Puppy Linux doesn't even have a desktop environment but a window manager, JWM, which takes up less than 200 kilo
bytes. I discovered Puppy on a forum post about hardware compatibility, and wondered how such a tiny distro managed to work on a wider range of hardware than most big ones. The answer to that question is the same as the answer to this one: with a 1GHz microprocessor and 512MB RAM, why do I need something as small as Puppy?
The answer is, 70MB is not a small operating system -- it's a reasonably sized operating system. It's plenty big enough to work with most hardware and to have graphic user interfaces for all the stuff that most users will be doing. Puppy has stuff that Windows doesn't have, like a DVD ripper, an ISO editor, and a convert-to-PDF utility. It even has stuff I don't need, like a spreadsheet utility and a code editor. When I click on a PDF link in Windows, the dreaded Adobe freezes the system for half a minute while it loads, and often crashes it. (You can get around this with Foxit
.) In Puppy, PDF's come up in two seconds on a basic viewer. After adding Firefox (Puppy comes with a smaller browser called Seamonkey) and Gimp (a powerful image editor), I'm still under 100MB.
The real question is, if you can do everything you need with a 100MB operating system, and if that system runs smoothly on old hardware, why do we need personal computers to keep getting more powerful? Well, because computer manufacturers want to keep making money -- or more precisely, because they have to keep up with a general pattern of runaway linear increase plunging toward catastrophe, what we innocently call "growth."
But after the economy of increase runs out of room to increase, we will still be doing what humans do best: adapting. And if we still have electricity and fiber optic lines, we can run quite a good internet with software that works on both old and new computers, which is Puppy's specialty. Its creator, Barry Kauler, travels around staying with different people (just like I do), so he designed Puppy to run on almost any PC without leaving a footprint. The coolest thing about Puppy is that it doesn't even need a hard drive
-- it boots off a CD and runs completely in RAM. Any changes and downloads are saved in a file that can go on a hard drive, a flash drive, or back to the CD. So you can carry around a virtual "computer" on a 25 cent disk that can run in any CD-bootable machine with at least 256MB RAM.
You can install Puppy to the hard drive if you want to, but it runs much faster off the CD because everything happens in RAM with no moving parts. Another thing I like is that I never have to enter a password. Puppy is inherently highly secure because every boot is like a fresh install. The only thing that ever gets saved is one big file in a special format. For Puppy to get a virus, it wouldn't be enough for someone to design a Linux virus -- someone would have to design a Puppy
virus. I can go to the most dangerous places on the internet and get no adware, no spyware, nothing.
It's still a young distro and it's not perfect. The game selection is terrible. The windows don't have pretty rounded edges or cool shadow effects. Sometimes it crashes. The BitTorrent downloader is primitive. It has not achieved the Holy Grail of perfect bit-for-bit CD cloning. But it continues getting better without getting bigger. The latest version has a HotPup utility that makes it easy to work with the hard drive.
Recently Puppy development was stalled while Barry Kauler spent seven months on a major upgrade from version 3.01 to version 4.00 (Dingo). It's now finished and I'm getting used to it, but in the meantime some users fattened and improved Puppy 3.01 under the name Muppy
, and other users improved version 2.14, the last one to work on some old machines, and called it 2.14R
. For the latest news, check the Puppy developer blog
Linux guide for Windows users
Vista vs Ubuntu
Puppy community web page
Puppy developer web page | <urn:uuid:7fd99a23-9826-498c-9a25-3503d3213e71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://john-edwin-tobey.org/cgi-bin/ran/2012-02-09T06:13:16/ranprieur.com/misc/linux.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961892 | 3,408 | 2.21875 | 2 |
A program of the Department of Veteran Affairs, which allows most veterans to purchase a house without a down payment.
A loan made through the Department of Veteran Affairs.
Home loans backed by the Veterans Administration which issues a 60% loan guarantee for an amount up to $27,500 as a mortgage on a principal residence only and with no down payment.
Losses incurred by owner due to tenant failure to pay rent or because property is unoccupied.
Estimated percentage of rental that won't be made because of actual and anticipated vacancies.
Percentage of unoccupied rental property. Idle space causes significant cash drain when cash inflows are not received to offset the cash outflows of maintenance. Most properties have a minimum occupancy rate to break even.
Unoccupied property, not currently being used. It may have utilities and off-site improvements as contrasted with raw land with no improvements or structures.
To leave a property. If the legally agreed upon term is not fulfilled, vacating a property does not relieve the occupant of liability.
A home owned in addition to a person's primary residence. Interest and real estate taxes are tax deductible with the IRS.
An area containing nothing. A void. A lack of atmosphere.
A piece of equipment used to measure the vacuum present in a container.
A pump used to evacuate air form a container to create a vacuum.
A horizontal panel attached to the top of a window to cover the top of curtains or draperies.
A series of fixtures positioned behind a valance providing an indirect light source.
Factual information. Representations made by a realtor to a prospective purchaser fall into this category.
An agreement that is legally binding because it is in conformity with all legal requirements and conditions.
Legally proper instrument which transfers title of real estate from seller to buyer.
1. Level land at a low point between two mountains.
2. The corner where two roof slopes meet.
Waterproofing the joint of a roof.
Roof that has a concave angle.
Value is exchanged in accordance with an agreement involving performance currently or in the future by the parties. Without reasonable consideration for performance a contract may not be valid.
Estimated worth of a property as valued through an appraisal.
An expression of monetary worth of a particular piece of real estate.
Worth of the property part which is left subsequent to a condemnation action.
Market price of all the property prior to a condemnation proceeding.
The giving of money, goods or services in exchange for another good or service provided by another party.
Discounted value of net cash to be obtained from a property calculated by consideration of annual cash inflows plus the disposal value.
One of a variety of devices used to control the flow of liquid or gas in a system.
The point in a perspective drawing where horizontal lines converge.
A bathroom cabinet in which a sink is mounted.
A fluid in gaseous form.
Material that prevents the passage of moisture. | <urn:uuid:307540f3-6ac0-4d7a-b7c3-df605f939459> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hrmls.com/tomchambers/cgi-bin/aa.fcgi?go=sc&page=reglossary&glossarypage=22&glossarypagesection=1&letter=v1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936213 | 614 | 1.648438 | 2 |
|Conceptual view of INS Vikramaditya|
One Asian navy already operates a carrier, has trained carrier qualified pilots and a plan to grow its fleet by adding 50 modern ships to its force with a few years, including more carriers. Its goal is to have three operational carrier battle groups.
A summary report from NDTV on "How Indian Navy is expanding and modernising":
According to the report of the Standing Committee on Defence, tabled in Parliament in the last week of April, the Navy's short-term plan has the following objectives:
- Augment airborne maritime surveillance, strike, Anti-Submarine Warfare and air defence capability through induction of shore-based aircraft, integral helos, carrier based aircraft, space based AIS and UAVs, along with suitable weapons and sensors.
- Develop ASW (anti-submarine warfare) capability through induction of suitable platforms, weapons and sensors.
- Build adequate standoff capability for sea lift and Expeditionary Operations to achieve desired power projection force levels, influence events ashore and undertake Military Operations Other Than War.
- Induct assets and develop suitable infrastructure to augment forces available for Low Intensity Maritime OperaINS Vtions (LIMO), protection of off- shore assets and Coastal Security framework.
- Induct force multipliers like satellite based global communications, reconnaissance and network enabled platforms to achieve Battle-Space dominance capability and perform network centric operations.
- Induct state-of-the-art equipment and specialised platforms for Special Forces to enhance niche capabilities to conduct Maritime Intervention Operations and other envisaged roles.
- Develop support infrastructure in island territories to support the planned force levels as well as support infrastructure for ships/submarines/aircrafts at ports and airbases.
Given the extensive plans presented to the Parliament, it is evident now that the Indian Navy is in the middle of its most ambitious expansion plan in the past three decades. Senior officers point out that the Indian Navy's perspective-planning in terms of 'force-levels' is now driven by a conceptual shift from 'numbers' of platforms - that is, from the old 'bean-counting' philosophy - to one that concentrates on 'capabilities'.
Naval headquarters says 50 modern ships are currently on order with majority being built in Indian shipyards. . .
Two stealth ships - INS Shivalik and INS Satpura - commissioned recently have been designed and built by public sector Mazgaon Docks Limited. The order books of India's oldest government-owned shipbuilders are full with the Navy wanting four more such guided missile frigates over the next five years.
There are more acquisitions in the pipeline. They include: four anti-submarine corvettes, four guided missile destroyers, three stealth frigates, six Scorpene submarines (being built at Mazgaon Docks with French technology and help) and two nuclear-powered submarines.
India's conventional diesel-powered submarine fleet is down to single digits right now but with the Russian-built Nerpa class nuclear submarine (leased for a decade) joining service earlier this year, the submarine arm has got a major boost. But the biggest force accretion in recent years has come in the form of Boeing Pi-8long range maritime reconnaissance (LRMR) plane that gives the Indian Navy a reach and capability to mount surveillance way beyond its traditional areas of influence.
According to its near-term plans, the Indian Navy has ambitions to become a three Battle Carrier Groups force by 2020.
While it's most prestigious acquisition-Russian Aircraft Carrier Admiral Gorshkov, to be renamed INS Vikramaditya - is likely to be inducted into the fleet latest by March 2013, one more carrier being built indigenously will most likely join the service by 2015.
Currently India operates a lone Aircraft Carrier, INS Viraat, a British-built 1960s vintage ship that is on an extended lease of life thanks to the Navy's innovative engineers and planners.
Vikramaditya, once inducted, will give India the much needed edge in its maritime capabilities since it will come with the latest MiG-29 K series of aircraft. Indian Naval Aviators are already hard at work training themselves on the planes but away from the ship
MiG-29 photo from here. | <urn:uuid:2c36af1f-c571-4974-bac8-38f9dbf4931d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eaglespeak.us/2012/06/indias-naval-growth.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943197 | 885 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The FCC Tuesday issued use rules for Dish's 40 MHz of spectrum in the AWS-4 band, and they're not exactly what the company had hoped for.
In its order, the FCC said it declined a proposal presented by Dish that would have included shifting the AWS-4 uplink spectrum up five MHz to protect the adjacent H-block, a piece of spectrum in which Sprint has expressed interest.
Instead, the FCC imposed even harsher restrictions on power levels and a larger protection band for Dish's spectrum, rules that favor use of the H-block, which the FCC sees as a major revenue source at auction.
Dish had previously offered to voluntarily designate the lowest 5 MHz of its uplink spectrum (2000-2005 MHz) as an internal terrestrial guard band, provided that safeguards were adopted to ensure that the remaining 15 MHz of its uplink spectrum (2005-2020 MHz) "could be utilized as fully and as quickly as possible for mobile broadband.”
The FCC's move to limit the spectrum could weigh heavily on Dish's plans going forward. CEO Charlie Ergen previously told The Wall Street Journal that should the FCC push further limitations on its spectrum, it would likely be a "game-changer" for the company. Ergen has repeatedly said all options are on the table, including bringing a partner into its plans, or even selling its spectrum outright, depending on what the FCC decided.
Following the 3GPP's release of technical specs for the AWS-4 spectrum, Dish had also argued that any further delay in the FCC's process could have a negative effect on Dish's time to market. In its report, the FCC called these claims "unsupported, speculative and vague," noting that the "impact of not adopting these rules is clear and detrimental to the public interest."
Sprint, which has said it will likely bid on the H-block, has claimed that if the FCC were to limit the H-block to only small cell use or air-to-ground communications, it likely would not bid on that spectrum. In the past, Dish has argued that a "full-power" H-block would cause at least 25 percent of its uplink to become unusable, a claim Sprint has said is erroneous.
Concurrent with the FCC's publishing of the rules of the AWS-4 spectrum, the Commission also published rules for auction of the H-block. The auction will include 10 MHz in the 1915-1920 MHz uplink and 1995-2000 MHz downlink bands. Sprint is interested in the spectrum because it is directly adjacent to spectrum it owns in the G-block, where it is rolling out its LTE network.
In its order, the FCC also levied a timetable on the spectrum, saying that Dish, or anyone else who might own the AWS-4 airwaves, must deploy a network that covers 40 percent of the country within four years, and 70 percent within seven years. If said company cannot meet the four-year requirement, it must then ensure that it will hit the 70 percent coverage mark within six years.
Sprint wasn't the only company that had reservations about Dish's plans. Other parties argued for more fundamental changes to the band plans identified in the AWS-4 NPRM. T-Mobile argued that Dish should be given the opportunity to relinquish 20 MHz of MSS spectrum in return for full terrestrial rights on the remaining 20 megahertz, which would have left a remaining 20 megahertz of valuable terrestrial spectrum for auction and would offer benefits such as preventing windfalls and promoting competition and a diversity of ownership. | <urn:uuid:fdfde7f1-4cae-4883-b3fc-d2d53cc8fc79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cedmagazine.com/news/2012/12/fcc-limits-dish-spectrum-sets-4-year-timetable-for-rollout?qt-white_papers_module=0&qt-most_popular=0&qt-multimedia_module=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97167 | 726 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Critter Control has Wildliferemoval offices in Delaware Valley
If you find animal droppings somewhere in or around your home, chances are you've got a nuisance animal problem and need a professional to remove animal droppings. Most commonly people find rodent droppings in kitchens, animal droppings in garages, animal droppings in attics and rodent droppings in home. If you have found animal droppings in any of these areas of your home, it is best to contact a Critter Control professional to help inspect the situation and safely remove animal droppings to get rid of animal dropping hazards.
When rats and mice infest homes, they will typically head to the kitchen in search of food and thats why you often find rodent droppings in kitchens. You may find rodent droppings in your pantry, under your sink or in kitchen cabinets. If rat or mouse droppings are found anywhere near food, it is best to dispose of all nearby food products that may have been contaminated, as rodent droppings in home can lead to animal dropping hazards. The rodent droppings will also need to be removed and the area decontaminated to prevent any health problems from the droppings.
Animal droppings in garages are usually from raccoons, field mice or rats. Just like having rodent droppings in kitchens, animals will enter garages in search of food. You may find raccoon, rat or mice droppings in hidden areas, including corners of the garage, behind insulation, along walls, under shelves or around garbage cans. If you find animal droppings in these or other areas of your garage, call a Critter Control office to assist in eliminating the animal problem. Critter Control will identify the point of entry within the garage, trap the unwanted animals and clean up the droppings.
If you think that animals may have invaded the attic of your home, it is very possible they are making a mess up there and leaving animal droppings. Animals such as birds, bats, raccoons, squirrels and rodents are known to nest in attics, destroying insulation, chewing wires and, most of all, leaving a mess of droppings. You may find droppings excluded to a particular area of the attic, or spread out throughout, depending on the animal. Raccoons, for example, will designate an area to use as a latrine and will nest on the opposite side of the attic. Animal droppings in attics can become overwhelming, especially if the droppings have matted down the insulation, ultimately affecting the heating and cooling of your home.
When animal droppings are present in or around homes, it is important to have an experienced professional assist in cleanup and decontamination. Droppings from different animals can present a host of problems. Raccoon droppings are known to contain parasites, like roundworm. Rodent droppings can contain the Hantavirus if the rats or mice are infected with the disease. Bat and bird droppings can cause Histoplasmosis, a respiratory disease caught by breathing in spores. With these and other hazards, it is best to have a professional implement effective cleanup methods to keep your family safe and prevent health problems.
For the removal of animal droppings in your home from raccoons, mice, rats, squirrels, birds or bats, contact Critter Control in your area. | <urn:uuid:701aea79-44bd-4eaa-844b-8939c25a5557> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crittercontrol.com/services/wildliferemoval/animaldroppings.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945466 | 682 | 2.140625 | 2 |
In 2000, the stretch of the South Platte that ran through the Eleven Mile Canyon was named a catch-and-release-only section. Authorities figured they had a winner when it was realized in 2003 that numbers of fish had tripled. However, by 2008 fish numbers were dwindling even though the catch-and-release regulation was still in place.
Enter aquatic wildlife biologist Jeff Spohn. Analyzing a decade’s worth of flow data from the near Eleven Mile Reservoir and Spinney Mountain Reservoir, both upstream of the Eleven Mile Canyon stretch, Spohn realized that the river was not getting the flow it needed. “If you can give us the required flow regimes during spawning, egg incubation and fry emergence, I can guarantee we will see the fishery come back,” Spohn says. | <urn:uuid:445fb0d2-3451-4c5a-8ce8-4fb1c8a00eb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://midcurrent.com/2012/05/02/give-me-water-ill-give-you-fish/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983169 | 166 | 2.90625 | 3 |
The 2011 annual summit of the International Transport Forum took place in Leipzig, Germany, from 25 to 27 May 2011, to debate the theme "Transport for Society".
The UNECE presence was marked with substantial inputs : Mr. Kubiš was a panelist in the session "Creating Liveable and Sustainable Societies" together with Mr. B.K. Chaturvedi, Member of the Indian Planning Commission, Peter Voser, CEO of the Royal Dutch Shell, Mr. Matthias Wissmann, President of the federation of the German Automotive Industry and Mr. Henry Li, Senior Director, BYD Company from China.
Ms. Eva Molnar, Director of the UNECE Transport Division chaired the session "Keeping it Clean - Transport, Health and the Environment" which included Mr. L. Burns, Professor, University of Michigan, USA, Mr. Y. Hozaki, Executive Officer, West Nippon Expressway Company, Japan, Mr. K.Y. Hwang, President, Korean Transport Institute, Mr. P. Haixiao, Professor, Tongji University, China, Ms. H. Søholt, Managing Director, Gehl Architects, Denmark and Mr. J-F. Toussaint, Director of the Institute for Biomedical research and Sports Epidemiology, France. Discussion in this session was centred on mitigation of negative effects of uninhibited growth of transport in many transport areas both in developed and developing countries.
The UNECE delegation, lead by Mr. Jan Kubiš, executive Secretary of the UNECE, participated in the Ministerial session where he made a statement highlighting the main challenges that UNECE member countries face in developing modern, efficient, socially and environmentally sustainable transport systems.
The joint UNECE and WHO/Europe project, THE PEP was presented at a very well attended side event "Bringing Health into Transport Planning". Ms. Molnar was speaker, Messrs Magold and Pesut were active discussants in this event which illustrated the economic benefits of walking and cycling. The UNECE-WHO/Europe Transport, Health and Environment Pan-European Programme (THE PEP) has supported the development of the Health Economic Assessment Tools (HEAT) by WHO Europe. It is designed to help transport and urban planners to estimate the economic savings from death reductions due to cycling and walking. The side event launched the HEAT for cycling and walking, highlighted practical examples of the cost-benefit ratio of investments and discussed how to promote cycling and walking as a "win-win" transport policy option.
See also our publication "Transport for Sustainable Development in the ECE region" and the UNECE press release related to the event.
What does Transport for Society means for you? | <urn:uuid:2b287d4f-4c82-45fd-97d8-ceefb25713b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unece.org/ru/transport/events/other-events/before-2012/transevents2011itf2011.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932244 | 571 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Virtual Water: Tackling the Threat to Our Planet's Most Precious Resource
21st July, 2011
According to Tony Allan, overuse of water is an environmental crisis in the making. So why, asks Mark Newton, aren't we doing something about it?
Water is becoming an increasingly precious resource and as the global population grows, so will demand. Add to this a future dictated by the brutal effects of climate change, throw intensive farming into the mix; and the result is that water consumption and conservation will prove to be one of the defining issues of our time. With that in mind, Virtual Water takes a very different, and somewhat revolutionary, look at water usage. Its aim is simple: to shock and to force a re-evaluation of the way we use water.
To do this, Allan introduces the titular concept, Virtual Water, by way of an illuminating example. How much water do we think goes into a cup of coffee? Is it what we pour from the kettle? Allan claims that 140 litres of water goes into making a single cup of coffee, and then explains how it is the hidden ‘virtual water’ that is at the root of the problem. Virtual water includes ‘the amount of water used in growing, producing, packaging and shipping the beans that make the coffee.’ To this, 140 litres for our coffee, we can add around 80 litres for toast, 120 litres for eggs, 240 litres for milk and so on. All in all, breakfast consists of 1100 litres - around three bathtubs of water. Suddenly, water conservation starts to look like a pretty good idea after all.
What’s more, overuse of water can’t be tackled by simply placing a brick in the cistern: patterns of consumption need to change and that’s not a simple task in the western world. A staggering amount of water, for example, goes into producing meat, which therefore means that altering our diets will have to be part of the solution. Yet how likely is this in the age of global meat production? Once it’s acknowledged that our real water footprint is hidden in food production, that it’s virtual, Allan goes on to explain just what this means in terms of agriculture and the global market. For the rest of the book, he speaks in terms of blue water [‘flows through the landscape into rivers, lakes, aquifers’] and green water [‘infiltrates into soil and is take up by natural vegetation and crops’], and of the processes in which the different types are used, notably agriculture.
Agriculture is by far and away the largest drain on water resources. The mammoth subsidies received by American and European farmers cause huge distortions in global trade; a practice that looks worse still in the context of water resources. Allen goes on to unleash a scathing critique of the EU’s Common Agricultural Policy [CAP], its wastage and its impact on virtual water. The export trade in food also creates a new concept: that of water deficits, surpluses and water security. Countries that are in water deficit are often major food importers. As Allen explains, we depend on those countries with a water surplus to ensure that our populations are well fed. Without the ‘virtual water trade,’ there would be war. It becomes impossible to look at international markets without becoming infuriated by their failure to recognise the importance of this precious, albeit invisible, resource. What this market failure does is delay any political solutions, as the invisible trade masks the need to act.
From here, Allen takes a look at the various water policies; from Spain and the UK to the USA and China, where consciously controversial, Allan claims that the family-planning laws of one child per family have calmed a population explosion that could have placed far greater demands on the world’s virtual water resources. Other solutions are offered, of course, and farmers are placed at the heart of the issue. They are the individuals who can act as stewards while it is governments who can control price incentives for less water-intensive crops, and offer long term stability.
In an effort to sound chatty, Allan does have a tendency to meander tangentially on various issues but that does not detract from a lively piece of writing. Virtual water is a concept that could easily have been presented in a far more complex manner, so it is to his credit that the subject has been rendered accessible. Virtual Water is not a book aimed at academics; it is aimed at the layman, at you and me, or at those who might influence policy. The concept is one that should make us rethink our lifestyles as individuals and how governments can begin to prepare for a potentially devastating environmental challenge that we will soon have to face.
Virtual Water: Tackling the Threat to Our Planet's Most Precious Resource by Tony Allan (£12.99, I.B.Tauris) is available from Amazon
Mark Newton has a degree in Environmental Science and is a genre novelist for Pan Macmillan. He blogs about all sorts of things at markcnewton.com, or you can find him on Twitter at twitter.com/MarkCN
When The Rivers Run Dry: What Happens When Our Water Runs Out?
From chronic mismanagement to increased demand, Fred Pearce’s analysis of the issues surrounding water supply is compelling and infuriating by turns, says Jeff Holman
The Fate of Greenland: Lessons from Abrupt Climate Change
The Fate of Greenland isn’t an easy read, says Jeff Holman, but what it lacks in style, it more than makes up in scholarship
Conserving Australia's Great Barrier Reef: 'The Best Expedition in the World'
In the first of an exclusive series, former island caretaker and ambassador for Tourism Queensland Ben Southall explains why the Great Barrier Reef needs protection and how the ‘Best Expedition in the World’ will help
The Really Wild Show: Namibia's pioneering conservancies
From the endless red dunes of the south to the teeming game reserves of Damaraland, Namibia is home to some of the world’s most important eco-systems. Ruth Styles went to find out how local people are helping to preserve them
PHOTO STORY: Drought, food insecurity and desertification blight Niger
In the first of a new series of photo-stories documenting the growing global crisis over water resources, Matilde Gattoni reports from Niger and finds a country struggling to quench its increasing thirst
Using this website means you agree to us using simple cookies. | <urn:uuid:79b5750d-e7e5-4023-b395-39e8a21e4298> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theecologist.org/reviews/books/983744/virtual_water_tackling_the_threat_to_our_planets_most_precious_resource.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935935 | 1,354 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Most columns try to sell ideas. This one is selling movie tickets.
"Lincoln" is now in some local theaters and will soon be showing up in more. See it because it is a great movie on the order of "Godfather" I and II, "Citizen Kane" and "Schindler's List." See it because Daniel Day-Lewis becomes Lincoln in a way few actors have become any character, let alone a real person.
But see it mostly because it will fill you with the wonderful, conflicting thoughts and emotions about what it means to be an American. Make it your Thanksgiving present to yourself.
If you saw Morgan Freeman in "Invictus" you probably had the same reaction I did when you later saw pictures of Nelson Mandela. The actor seemed more real than reality. Day-Lewis does the same thing.
We have seen the portraits, read the words, absorbed the descriptions of the lanky frame and the reedy voice, watched the stylized performances of Raymond Massey and Henry Fonda. They were acceptable Lincolns for their time; this is the Lincoln for all time.
Don't worry if you heard that Sally Field as Mary Todd Lincoln or Joseph Gordon-Levitt as Robert Lincoln are not up to the standard.
Critics always need to criticize something or they don't feel that they are doing their job.
When the book from which the movie is extracted, "Band of Rivals" by Doris Kearns Goodwin, came out I was not in a hurry to buy it. I had already read a lot about Lincoln and the Civil War. Besides, I was tired of seeing her in so many interviews, hearing her sound off on history, Brooklyn, LBJ, baseball and the like. And we didn't need yet another book about the most explored subject in American history.
Turns out I was wrong. The book gives you Lincoln as a man, a family man with a troubled family, a politician, a manipulator, a moralist, a storyteller and most of all a survivor of schemers and opponents and the forces of history that combined in a terrible challenge to the very existence of the nation he sought to lead.
The screenplay by Tony Kushner, who wrote "Angels in America," focuses on a part of that book, the struggle to pass the 13th Amendment to the Constitution and outlaw slavery, making sure that the accomplishments of the Emancipation Proclamation would endure.
Now, here's your homework.
Go see the movie. Discuss. Give yourself the book for Christmas. Read it and discuss some more. Share what you have learned.
As Lincoln explained, having a moral compass that leads to a goal is not enough if on the way it guides you into the swamp or off the cliff. The compass points in the right direction but a traveler needs something else to complete the journey. In government that would be politics.
We have just been through our quadrennial national debate over what it takes to be a leader. That's what "Lincoln" is all about. | <urn:uuid:17417feb-88df-4b87-b93c-bb24f6ecb9a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.recordonline.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20121122/NEWS/211220325/-1/NEWS31 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972159 | 628 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Posted on Thu, Jan. 27, 2011
last updated: June 19, 2013 11:01:23 AM
WASHINGTON — The FBI said Thursday that it had served more than 40 search warrants throughout the United States as part of an investigation into computer attacks on websites of businesses that stopped providing services in December to WikiLeaks.
The FBI statement announcing the search warrants was the first indication that the U.S. intends to prosecute the so-called "hacktivists" for their actions in support of WikiLeaks.
The search warrants were executed on the same day authorities in Great Britain announced that they had arrested five people in connection with the attacks, which temporarily crippled the websites of Amazon.com, PaylPal, MasterCard, Visa, the Swiss bank PostFinance and others.
FBI officials were unavailable for comment, and the statement did not say who was served or where the searches were conducted. The statement noted that attacks, known as distributed denial of service attacks and which use easily available software to shutdown a computer network by flooding it with millions of requests for information, violate federal law and are punishable by a prison sentence of 10 years.
The statement noted that a group known as "Anonymous" had claimed credit for the attacks. Anonymous is also believed responsible in recent days for attacks on government websites in Tunisia and Egypt.
British news reports said three of the five arrested were teenagers, aged 15, 16 and 19, and that the others were 20 and 26 years old. Dutch police last month arrested two teenagers suspected of involvement in the online campaign.
The attacks were organized through social networking sites such as Twitter in the days after WikiLeaks began publishing U.S. State Department cables that apparently had been downloaded by an American Army private serving in Iraq. Their first target was Amazon.com, which, at the behest of U.S. Sen. Joseph Lieberman, I-Conn., had stopped hosting the WikiLeaks website.
They spread to PayPal, MasterCard and Visa after those businesses declined to process credit card payments destined to WikiLeaks.
PostFinance, a bank operated by Switzerland's postal service, also closed an account that was registered to Julian Assange, WikiLeaks' founder. The account number had been published on the WikiLeaks website with a solicitation for donations. PostFinance said it closed the account because Assange was not a resident of Switzerland, as Swiss law required.
The attacks did no long-term damage and in most cases only lasted a few hours. But legitimate would-be users were unable to contact the sites while the attacks were underway.
The FBI said it is working with several European governments and the National Cyber-Forensics and Training Alliance (NCFTA) to identify the source the attacks, which the FBI attributed to a type of software it identified as "Low Orbit Ion Canon" tools. It said major anti-virus programs had been updated to block such software.
Previously, the only known criminal investigation stemming from WikiLeaks' publication of thousands of U.S. State Department cables was one that seeks to tie WikiLeaks' founder Julian Assange to Army Pfc. Bradley Manning, who is suspected of providing the cables to the website. In December, a federal magistrate in Alexandria, Va., issued a search warrant to Twitter demanding the records of five of its users, including Assange and Manning.
It was not known late Thursday whether those records had been surrendered.
MORE FROM MCCLATCHY
Follow McClatchy on Twitter. | <urn:uuid:35bf29f2-cf21-411e-b037-b9015dc1ee34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/01/27/v-print/107589/fbi-serves-40-warrants-in-search.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982145 | 697 | 1.695313 | 2 |
A pioneer in the history of women, Gerda Lerner, died on Jan. 2. She was 92.
Lerner, an author, teacher and historian, was one of the founders of the field of women's history.
She was born Gerda Kronstein to a Jewish family in Vienna. They later escaped Nazi persecution. However, Lerner did spend six weeks around the time of her 18th birthday in an Austrian jail where she met "two gentile women arrested for political work who shared their food with the Jewish teenager because jailers restricted rations for Jews," according to USA Today.
She later said this experience with the women taught her how to survive, and how society can manipulate people, and that it became "a source of courage for her and enabled her later to face with equanimity the dragons of the academic world," according to the Jewish Women's Archive (JWA) website.
After she immigrated to New York in 1939, she worked as a waitress, salesgirl, office clerk and X-ray technician while learning English, and began her writing career. Her first books were about Nazi brutality.
In 1941 she married Carl Lerner, a film editor and theater director, who was an active member of the Communist Party USA. They lived in Hollywood for some years before returning to New York.
During the next few decades, Lerner continued to write and also earned an M.A. and Ph.D. from Columbia University in 1965 and 1966, respectively.
In 1966, Lerner became a founding member of the National Organization for Women. The organization's motto: "Taking Action for Women's Equality Since 1966."
She began concentrating her efforts on the development of the field of women's history. According to JWA, her efforts were divided into three directions: As an author, she produced important writings; as a teacher she built new curricula; and as a member of the historical profession, she demanded equality for women within its ranks.
She taught what is considered to be the first women's history course in the world at the New School for Social Research in 1963, and from 1968 to 1979 at Sarah Lawrence College she established the nation's first women's history graduate program. It was at Sarah Lawrence College that she led efforts of the establishment of women's history month and a project for the promotion of African-American women's history.
In 1980, Lerner created the nation's first Ph.D. program in women's history, at the University of Wisconsin at Madison, where she later became a professor emerita of history. She also was a visiting scholar at Duke University.
Lerner was the recipient of many awards and honors, as well as 17 honorary degrees, including one from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem in 2004.
In an undated interview with Jeffrey Mishlove, Lerner explained her pursuit of making women's history mainstream as well as discussed her two books, "The Creation of Patriarchy" and "The Creation of Feminist Consciousness."
The lack of information, she said, causes problems in society for both men and women.
"The effect on men has been very bad too, of the omission of women's history, because men have been given the impression that they're much more important in the world than they actually are, and that's not a good way to become a human being," she said. "If you can think, as a man, that everything great in the world and in civilization was created by men, then naturally you have to look down on women, and naturally you have to have different aspirations for your sons than for your daughters, and I don't think that's good for men either. So it was that problem that concerned me when I undertook the research for these two books."
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- Financial Times Twitter, Email Hacked | <urn:uuid:7d3fec71-91b2-453e-a422-82046df63de5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hispanicbusiness.com/2013/1/4/gerda_lerner_womens_historian_dies_at.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982105 | 872 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Italian art experts have reportedly discovered around 100 drawings and a number of paintings by the Renaissance master Caravaggio in a find that could be worth over $860 million.
Maurizio Bernardelli Curuz and Adriana Conconi Fedrigolli found the works among a collection held at Milan's Sforza Castle by pupils of painter Simone Peterzano with whom Caravaggio studied from the age of 11.
The pieces were the work of a "strong, quick... hand" showing "the faces, bodies and scenes the young Caravaggio would use in later years," Bernardelli Curuz was quoted as saying by La Repubblica daily.
Photographs of the works, extracts of which were published in the Italian media Thursday, ranged from preparative anatomical sketches to religious scenes.
The newly unearthed works could be worth around 700 million euros ($867 million) according to the two experts who have been studying the paintings for two years, the ANSA news agency said.
"It was impossible that Caravaggio had left no trace of his activity between 1584 and 1588 at the workshop of a painter who was famous and sought after at the time," Bernardelli Curuz told La Repubblica.
The estimate of their worth is based on the average sale price at auction for drawings by Renaissance artists over the past few years.
Out of the 100 or so works found, details from 83 of them "can be traced several times in the later works, proving the young painter left Milan with styles, models, character heads" for his later works, Bernardelli Curuz added.
But while the art experts said the works found in the collection were clearly executed by Caravaggio, the city, which owns the drawings, has urged caution.
"The drawings have always been there, and have never yet been attributed to Caravaggio," said Elena Conenna, the council's culture spokeswoman, who said the city had not been informed beforehand and "will be carrying out checks."
"We'll be very happy to discover it's true. But it's strange. They weren't in a hidden place, they were accessible to all. While lots of experts come, these two have not been to see the works in the last two years," she said.
ANSA said the discovery came after a lengthy search through churches in the northern Italian city, as well as the collection of 1,378 drawings done by Peterzano and his students.
The works will be published on Friday in an e-book, along with "a protest written and signed by the young Caravaggio," the agency said.
Michelangelo Merisi (1571-1610), or Caravaggio, is known as one of history's most tormented painters. He was involved in frequent brawls and vicious beatings and fled Rome after being sentenced to death for killing a love rival.
Hailed as the master of the "chiaro-scuro" technique - the contrast of shadow and light - he died of fever in exile and was buried in a mass grave. | <urn:uuid:845202b1-14a6-459b-80e1-39e86404a96c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nzherald.co.nz/arts/news/article.cfm?c_id=544&objectid=10817807 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986062 | 640 | 2.390625 | 2 |
(born 1946 - ) - Glasgow
Born in Glasgow in 1946, James Kelman left school at fifteen to begin an apprenticeship as a compositor (where he became sensitised to the look of words on the page), which was followed by periods of work and unemployment and a brief spell in the USA. A keen reader, it wasn’t until the early 1970s, in his late twenties, that he began to seriously acknowledge his creative ability, enrolling on a writing course under the tutelage of the influential Philip Hobsbaum, alongside fellow aspiring writers Alasdair Gray, Liz Lochhead and Tom Leonard.
Variously described as gritty, essential, authentic, postmodern, existential, realist, socialist, experimental, original, traditionally working-class, traditionally Scottish, traditionally European in its similarities to Kafka, Joyce, or Beckett, or just incomparable, the work of James Kelman sparks commentators into a labelling frenzy which necessarily falls short of a true appreciation of this highly gifted writer.
Published first in the USA, Kelman had to wait until 1976 for his work to receive a British audience, in Three Glasgow Writers (with Alex Hamilton and Tom Leonard). But it was really during the following decade that Kelman’s unique voice started making waves on the Scottish literary scene. Not Not While the Giro, his first book-length collection of short stories, was published in 1983 by Polygon, and with his first two novels, The Busconductor Hines (1984) and A Chancer (1985), Kelman firmly established his artistic flair and commitment to showing real life in Thatcherite Britain as faithfully as possible (far removed from the falsities and stereotypes of the media).
The Busconductor Hines is the moving and frequently irreverent tale of Rab Hines, a family man and, as Kelman once referred to him, a ‘working-class intellectual’; a highly imaginative soul increasingly disillusioned with the monotony of his job. A Chancer, a book which the author had been struggling to finish for many years, is the brilliantly restrained narrative of a younger Glaswegian man whose only real sense of purpose is derived from the betting shop and the greyhound tracks.
In the late 1980s Kelman began to receive the recognition he deserved, when first his short story collection Greyhound for Breakfast (1987) won the Cheltenham prize and his third novel, A Disaffection (1989), took the James Tait Black award and made the Booker shortlist. With its nods to Kierkegaard and Kafka, A Disaffection brought extravagant literary comparisons on its author, and furthered Kelman’s championing of the ‘working-class intellectual’.
In 1994 James Kelman’s name shot to mainstream as well as literary prominence with the novel How Late it Was, How Late, the powerfully unsettling story of a few days in the life of Sammy Samuels, a tragic ne’er-do-well who is beaten blind by police and struggles to get by in a world of unremitting tension and danger. General astonishment followed when this most unlikely contender won that year’s Booker Prize, the most prestigious, anglocentric of book awards. Inevitably, this caused a fierce debate in the broadsheets which divided opinion between those who admired Kelman’s unwavering description of life on the edge and those who failed to see past the swearing. Simon Jenkins in The Times sneeringly referred to Kelman as an ‘illiterate savage’, while others believed that serious criticism constituted counting the instance of the f-word.
Following his Booker triumph and a new legion of supporters (although his novels have never achieved bestseller status), Kelman took up successive teaching posts on various creative writing courses, while his fiction took a rather new direction. In 2001, Translated Accounts emerged, a strange collection of anonymous testimonials introduced as originating from ‘an occupied territory or land where a form of martial law appears in operation’. While challenging his readership more than ever, Translated Accounts also offers a humanitarian, hard-hitting indictment of post-9/11 right-wing political newspeak, and wisely avoids commenting overtly on real people or places (and thereby narrowing the relevance of the message).
Kelman’s 2004 offering, You Have to Be Careful in the Land of the Free, is a return to his old style, albeit in a new setting. The first-person narrative belongs to Jeremiah Brown, a Glaswegian expatriate drinking in a small town somewhere in the USA, brooding over his past and his ex-girlfriend. There is renewed satire of governmental discourse and its treatment of ‘unassimilatit aliens’ like Jeremiah. As in the previous novels, what is striking is Kelman’s appreciation of the heroism of ordinary human beings just getting by, and Jeremiah Brown, with all his bad luck and resilient humour, is one of his best creations yet.
Of all the words used to describe James Kelman, perhaps the most pertinent then is ‘essential’. Kelman’s commitment to the ordinary individual struggling against systems of oppression, both in his work as a novelist and as a political activist (which he describes in his two collections of essays), is admirable. But it is the way he writes, his calculated subversion of the English language and his total disregard for convention, that singles him out as a truly great contemporary writer, and as much as one would like to avoid the labels, the comparisons with Kafka, Joyce, and Beckett are inevitable and much deserved.
- The Burn - Paperback
Passionate, exhilarating and darkly humorous, 'The Burn' is an extraordinary collection of short stories by a master of paranoia and an unsurpassed prose stylist.
- Add to BasketThe Busconductor Hines - Paperback
Living in a no-bedroomed tenement flat, coping with the cold and boredom of busconducting and the bloody-mindedness of Head Office, Robert Hines finds life to be 'a very perplexing kettle of coconuts'.
- Add to BasketA Chancer - Paperback
Tammas is a gambler and when he's not at home or in a bar he can always be found at one of Glasgow's many bookies or a casino. Gambling, he believes, is the only chance he'll get to work out who he is and what's important to him.
- A Disaffection - Paperback
Patrick Doyle is a 29-year old teacher in an ordinary school. Disaffected, frustrated and increasingly bitter at the system he is employed to maintain, Patrick begins his rebellion, fuelled by drink and his unrequited love for a fellow teacher.
- The Good Times - Paperback
These narratives portray ordinary people in a language that makes glory of their lives. The narrators are men and boys who come face to face with uncomfortable truths, whether musing on mortality or struggling to understand women and work.
- Greyhound For Breakfast - Paperback
This collection of short stories reflects the huge scope of Kelman's writings, from 1972 onwards, ranging in length from one paragraph to 20 pages, from the concrete to the lyrical, from casual tragedy to wild farce.
- How Late It Was, How Late - Paperback
Award-winning author Kelman's How Late It Was, How Late has been reissued. He renders the hidden depths of ordinary lives in sardonic, abrasive prose which, although gritty and realistic, is uplifting and positive.
- Add to BasketIf It Is Your Life - Hardback
Giving voice to the dispossessed and crafting stories of lives on the edge, lives almost lost, lives held in the balance, James Kelman writes about the things that touch us all.
- Add to BasketKieron Smith, Boy - Hardback
Rejected by his brother and largely ignored by his parents, Kieron Smith finds comfort in the home of his much-loved grandparents. But when his family move to a new housing scheme on the outskirts of the city, a world away from the close community of the tenements, Kieron struggles to find a way to adapt to his new life.
- Add to BasketMo Said She Was Quirky - Hardback
James Kelman tells the story of Helen - a sister, a mother, a daughter - a very ordinary young woman. Her boyfriend said she was quirky but it was more than that. Some things were important. You had to fight for them. Only Helen wasn't as strong as people thought.
- Not Not While The Giro - Paperback
'Not Not While the Giro' is James Kelman's first major collection of short stories - originally published in 1983. It follows the lives of young men, social misfits, whose lives are spent waiting - waiting for their next giro or menial job - in the pub, the dole office, the snooker hall and the greyhound track.
- Add to BasketAn Old Pub Near The Angel - Paperback
James Kelman's first collection of short stories is set among the tenements and bedsits of Glasgow, shining a light on the exploits of young and old. This new edition contains an essay by Kelman about his early life and writing.
- Add to Basket"And The Judges Said -": Essays - Paperback
'And The Judges Said -' is a collection of essays from James Kelman, dealing with matters literary, artistic, political and philosophical.
- You Have To Be Careful In The Land Of The Free - Paperback
Jeremiah Brown, a 34-year-old Scot, gambler and drifter, has lived in the USA for several years, fathering a child by a now defunct relationship. He is about to make his first trip home in years when he recalls a time with his ex-girlfriend, and the memories then keep rolling.
- Wikipedia entry on James Kelman
- British Council: Contemporary Writers on Kelman
- Interview with Barcelona Review
- BBC Writing Scotland on James Kelman
- A Disaffection - The List 100 Best Scottish Novels
James Kelman Bibliography
- An Old Pub Near the Angel - 1973
- Three Glasgow Writers (with Alex Hamilton and Tom Leonard) - 1976
- Short Tales from the Nightshift - 1978
- Not Not While the Giro - 1983
- The Busconductor Hines - 1984
- A Chancer - 1985
- Lean Tales (with Agnes Owens and Alasdair Gray) - 1985
- Greyhound for Breakfast - 1987
- A Disaffection - 1989
- Hardie and Baird, and other plays - 1991
- The Burn - 1991
- Some Recent Attacks: Essays Cultural and Political (essays) - 1992
- How Late It Was, How Late - 1994
- Busted Scotch - 1997
- Seven Stories (audio cassette, read by James Kelman) - 1997
- The Good Times - 1998
- Translated Accounts - 2001
- And the Judges Said ... (essays) - 2002
- You Have To Be Careful in the Land of the Free - 2004
- Where I Was - 2005
- Kieron Smith, Boy - 2008
- If It Is Still Your Life - 2010
- Mo Said She Was Quirky - 2012 | <urn:uuid:6da1ad04-25a6-49b2-86a0-4220bccbd3b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.booksfromscotland.com/Authors/James-Kelman | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950958 | 2,362 | 1.539063 | 2 |
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Finding total amount of permutations between edges and nodes in a cycle (self.algorithms)
submitted 4 months ago by agator2
I am interested in the graph theory problem
if you have a cycle, how many ways can you rearrange the edges and nodes such that you still only have one cycle?
any discussion is welcome
[–]jochs 3 points4 points5 points 4 months ago
So I may have no idea what I'm talking about here, but I'll give it a shot anyways.
You start with a graph G of n nodes. In this graph there is a subgraph H that consists of a simple cycle of k nodes. To generate permutations of G which maintain a single cycle you start deleting edges in H and adding edges from a node in H to a node in G but not H. There are k(k-1) ways of adding edges from a node in H to a node not in H while maintaining a simple cycle as a subgraph of G. You can apply this process of transformation to any node that is in G and not in H. This gives (n-k)!*k(k-1) permutations of G.
But that isn't all. You can also maintain a simple cycle by deleting edges from H and forming a smaller simple cycle - one with k-x nodes, where x denotes the number of nodes of degree 0 in H after you've finished deleting edges from H. X must take on a value between 1 and k-3 to maintain a cycle. The number of permutations given by this is the sum (from i = 1 to k-3) of k choose i.
So the final # of permutations is (n-k)!*k(k-1) + sum (from i = 1 to k-3) (k choose i).
Sorry, I don't know how to use math formatting. If someone wants to point me in the right direction, I'll edit my comment. Also this is probably wrong, but it was fun to try and do.
[–]agator2[S] 1 point2 points3 points 4 months ago
Wow well I guess this problem was way more complicated than I had anticipated! haha. Thanks a ton I will try and work this through and see if I follow
[–]doctor_computer 1 point2 points3 points 4 months ago*
you might be interested in reading about this : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hamiltonian_path_problem
I honestly don't have much to offer on discussion, I tried a few years ago to solve this problem, as well as TSP, but Hamiltonian paths is I believe what you are thinking of.
A Hamiltonian path is a path traversal in a set of nodes in a connected graph, where each node is visited exactly once. In order to determine absolutely, whether there exists a Hamiltonian Path in a graph, all permutations (traversals) must be ennumerated, as far as I know.
Now to me, whether you count the vertices as visits or the nodes as visits, I don't know if that matters. So generating the permutations based on either/or,.. I have tried doing it both of these ways and found no success in solving every possible special case - I was always able to find one more special case that proved my particular method wrong.
Er...but I realize now you are starting with the assumption that you know a cycle exists. So, I find that interesting, I will think about it.
[–]Antagonist360 0 points1 point2 points 3 months ago*
Your question is a bit vague but here's my two cents. Can it be rephrased given N nodes and M edges, how many graphs have only one cycle? Okay. Lets assume the graph is connected and for now let's not worry about edges. Suppose the cycle length is N, then every cyclic permutation is a valid arrangement of vertices (n-1)!. If your cycle is smaller, say length k. Then we choose k out of N nodes binom(N,k), we count all the permutations (k-1)! and then the remaining vertices must branch off. So we need to count the number of DAG's, or trees for undirected graphs. This is atleast (N-k)! kN-k (order of which you attach the vertices and which node does each branch from). I'm pretty sure you can enumerate these completely but I'll stop because there are so many parameters involved directed/undirected/isomorphic etc.
[–]Antagonist360 0 points1 point2 points 3 months ago
Woops did not realize this post was submitted a month ago. Didn't see the date on my phone
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π Rendered by PID 25717 on app-199 at 2013-06-20 08:45:40.258270+00:00 running 939e1ae. | <urn:uuid:a548085b-e1da-461b-8fbe-e070298b8af1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reddit.com/r/algorithms/comments/170q10/finding_total_amount_of_permutations_between/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942331 | 1,179 | 1.796875 | 2 |
FUENTERRABEA, an ancient town and frontier fortress of Spain, in the province of Guiprizeoa and bishopric of Pamplona, 11 miles E.N.E. of San Sebastian and 2 miles from Irun. It stands on the slope of a hill on the west bank of the Bidassoa, and near the point where its estuary begins. At one time it possessed considerable strategic importance, and it has frequently been taken and retaken in wars between Franco and Spain. The " dolorous rout " of Charlemagne, however, which has been associated by Milton with Foutarabia, is generally understood to have taken place not here but at Roucesvalles, which is nearly 40 miles distant. Unsuccessful attempts to seize Fuenterrabia were made by the French troops in 1476 and again in 1503. In a subsequent campaign (1521) these were more successful, but it was retaken in 1524. The prince of Cond6 sustained a severe repulse under its walls in 1638, and it was on this occasion that the town received from Philip IV. the rank of city (muy noble, muy leal, y muy valerosa ciudad). After a severe siege it surrendered to the duke of Berwick in the English war of 1719 (18th June) ; and in 791 it again fell into the hands of the French, who so dismantled it that it has never since been reckoned by the Spaniards among their fortified places. It was by the ford opposite Fuenterrabia that the duke of Wellington, on the 8th of October 1813, by "one of the most daring exploits of military genius," successfully forced a passage into France in the face of an opposing army commanded by Soult. Severe fighting also took place here during the Carlist war in 1837. The town is now considerably dilapidated and decayed. Its inhabitants are employed chiefly in salmon and other fisheries. Population, 772. See Palafox, Sitio y Socorro de Fuente-rabia, Madrid, 1639. | <urn:uuid:d85df024-9c99-4c9e-898c-5502040a3f7c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.libraryindex.com/encyclopedia/pages/cpxl9s995n/fuenterrabea-town-miles.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969435 | 443 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Compiling MSIL to Native Code
Before you can run Microsoft intermediate language (MSIL), it must be compiled against the common language runtime to native code for the target machine architecture. The .NET Framework provides two ways to perform this conversion:
A .NET Framework just-in-time (JIT) compiler.
The .NET Framework Native Image Generator (Ngen.exe).
JIT compilation converts MSIL to native code on demand at application run time, when the contents of an assembly are loaded and executed. Because the common language runtime supplies a JIT compiler for each supported CPU architecture, developers can build a set of MSIL assemblies that can be JIT-compiled and run on different computers with different machine architectures. However, your managed code will run only on a specific operating system if it calls platform-specific native APIs, or a platform-specific class library.
JIT compilation takes into account the fact that some code might never get called during execution. Rather than using time and memory to convert all the MSIL in a portable executable (PE) file to native code, it converts the MSIL as needed during execution and stores the resulting native code in memory so that it is accessible for subsequent calls in the context of that process. The loader creates and attaches a stub to each method in a type when the type is loaded and initialized. When a method is called for the first time, the stub passes control to the JIT compiler, which converts the MSIL for that method into native code and modifies the stub to point directly to the generated native code. Subsequent calls to the JIT-compiled method therefore proceed directly to the native code.
Because the JIT compiler converts an assembly's MSIL to native code when individual methods defined in that assembly are called, it necessarily involves a performance hit at run time. In most cases, that performance hit is acceptable. More importantly, the code generated by the JIT compiler is bound to the process that triggered the compilation. It cannot be shared across multiple processes. To allow the generated code to be shared across multiple invocations of an application or across multiple processes that share a set of assemblies, the common language runtime supports an ahead-of-time compilation mode. This ahead-of-time compilation mode uses the Native Image Generator (Ngen.exe) to convert MSIL assemblies to native code much like the JIT compiler does. However, the operation of Ngen.exe differs from that of the JIT compiler in three ways:
It performs the conversion from MSIL to native code before rather than while running the application.
It compiles an entire assembly at a time, rather than a method at a time.
It persists the generated code in the Native Image Cache as a file on disk.
As part of compiling MSIL to native code, the MSIL code must pass a verification process unless an administrator has established a security policy that allows the code to bypass verification. Verification examines MSIL and metadata to find out whether the code is type safe, which means that it only accesses the memory locations it is authorized to access. Type safety helps isolate objects from each other and therefore helps protect them from inadvertent or malicious corruption. It also provides assurance that security restrictions on code can be reliably enforced.
The runtime relies on the fact that the following statements are true for code that is verifiably type safe:
A reference to a type is strictly compatible with the type being referenced.
Only appropriately defined operations are invoked on an object.
Identities are what they claim to be.
During the verification process, MSIL code is examined in an attempt to confirm that the code can access memory locations and call methods only through properly defined types. For example, code cannot allow an object's fields to be accessed in a manner that allows memory locations to be overrun. Additionally, verification inspects code to determine whether the MSIL has been correctly generated, because incorrect MSIL can lead to a violation of the type safety rules. The verification process passes a well-defined set of type-safe code, and it passes only code that is type safe. However, some type-safe code might not pass verification because of some limitations of the verification process, and some languages, by design, do not produce verifiably type-safe code. If type-safe code is required by the security policy but the code does not pass verification, an exception is thrown when the code is run. | <urn:uuid:23f1c646-1105-4985-ba76-bbb09f76178f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ht8ecch6(v=vs.90).aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920651 | 907 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Creating Green Communities
Through its careful inspection process, energy efficiency and green building techniques, and development of communities, EarthCraft House is showing the greater Atlanta area that green building can go mainstream.
There’s a quiet revolution happening in the Atlanta home-building industry that’s having an impact on housing in every price range. This revolution is also beginning to affect the way entire communities are developed.
In 1999 a fledgling voluntary green building program managed to certify eight homes in the Atlanta area. Just six years later, the EarthCraft House program is booming, with to date more than 2,500 homes certified and more than 1,000 homes lined up to be certified this year alone. The key to this phenomenal growth has been the partnerships forged by the original sponsors, the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and Southface Energy Institute, an Atlanta-based nonprofit organization dedicated to environmentally friendly building. Alliances with builders, local governments, the DOE Building America program, and leading building product manufacturers and retailers have propelled the EarthCraft House program to its current center stage position in the Atlanta region.
“Southface has done incredible work,” says Jim Hackler, the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC’s) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes program manager, in explaining the program’s success.“They work hard at trying to understand the market and make [green building techniques] accessible and understandable—and they provide a great deal of field support.” Southface Executive Director Dennis Creech emphasizes the importance of creating a program that works for all of the interested parties. “It is essential to make green building profitable to the builder and valuable to the home buyer. EarthCraft House helps builders reduce waste, improve quality, and gain market share. Home buyers save money and time on maintenance, cut energy and water bills, and benefit from a healthier, more comfortable home.”
Builders who sign on for the certification process get a thorough grounding in green building principles; to some extent, so do their crews. EarthCraft House builders participate in a training workshop and one-on-one design review with the Southface staff before construction begins. Later, an Earth- Craft House inspector performs a predrywall inspection, often giving him or her an opportunity to interact with trades people on the job, providing continuing hands-on education. The final inspection verifies the items the builder selected to qualify for the EarthCraft House designation, and a blower door test and a duct leakage test are performed to verify the home’s energy efficiency before it can be certified.
EarthCraft House technical staff members are available to perform walkthroughs on homes at any stage of construction, as well as train builders, superintendents, quality managers, or subcontractors at any point along the way.
EarthCraft House began as a singlefamily, new-construction program, but its success inspired the creation of a renovation program as well as a multifamily homes for affordable living program. Recently, the land development community partnered with EarthCraft House to further expand the criteria and create an EarthCraft Communities program. Guidelines are provided for site development issues such as greenspace preservation, storm water management, pedestrian-oriented design,and community connectivity.
In a 2004–2005 pilot phase, five private developers, representing a variety of site and development models, launched the EarthCraft Communities program (see “Tracking Performance in EarthCraft Communities”). Several of these developments will be on tour during the Greenbuild Conference of the USGBC this November in Atlanta, Georgia.
One of the communities included on the USGBC Greenbuild tour is Glenwood Park.This 28-acre site has been transformed from a blighted industrial eyesore to a meticulously planned urban development that will provide EarthCraft House-certified single family homes, town houses, and flats to over 365 households—all with incredible skyline views and the convenience of city living.
Awarded EarthCraft Community Development of the Year for 2005, Glenwood Park was recognized for its “progressive site design, involving residents in community life, connecting the development to transportation and business districts, and revitalizing a blighted area—not to mention all the high-performance homes,” according to EarthCraft House Development Director Dianne Butler (see “Keeping Glenwood Park Green” ).
Just two miles from the heart of downtown Atlanta, residents can picnic on the lushly landscaped green near the cascading waterfall of an urban lake. The lake is actually part of the storm water reclamation system that promises to save about 35,000 gallons of water each week for irrigation of Glenwood Park’s drought resistant landscape. Nearly 1,000 shade trees were planted early in the development process to add beauty and reduce the heat island effect. Retail establishments, with living spaces above, will provide residents places to dine, shop, and play without ever having to step into a car. Situated just a mile from the MARTA train station, and located directly on a bus route, Glenwood Park is 15 minutes from Atlanta’s Hartsfield-Jackson International Airport.
The location is purely prime real estate—but that wasn’t always the case. “The site was a former industrial building supply yard, and technically a brownfield,” says Walter Brown, vice president of Green Street Properties. He and Charles Brewer, the company’s president, had a vision—and the desire to build something extraordinary that would promote and inspire more urban environmental reclamation.
In the course of construction, Green Street recycled 60,000 cubic yards of concrete. They also recycled granite rubble block—800,000 lb of it—enough to build all the walls in the community’s central park. They recycled 1/4 million lb of metal, and sent 30 million lb of wood chips that had been buried on the site to a waste-to-energy plant,where they produced enough electrical energy (assuming a 33% transmission loss factor) to power 1,355 average-size homes for an entire year, according to Brown.
Glenwood Park is also the home of the 2005 Southern Living Magazine Idea House, featuring the extensive use of innovative earth-friendly materials and methods in its construction. Additionally, the Idea House was included in the DOE Building America program in partnership with Integrated Building and Construction Solutions (IBACOS) and Southface. (See “Idea House Full of Great Notions,” p. 28.)
Anotherfeatured EarthCraftCommunity is Vickery. This Hedgewood Properties development takes the concept of an urban oasisandtransplants it25milesnorth ofAtlanta.“It’s something completely different and refreshing—from the streetscapes to the way we build these homes—compared to a typical suburban neighborhood,” says Pam Sessions, coowner of Hedgewood Properties.
Implementing this vision was challenging and required repeated interaction and site visits with code officials to obtain a variance for street width within the development. One-way streets are 10-ft widths and two-way streets with parking on one side are 20-ft widths. This strategy serves both to calm traffic and to reduce impervious surface in the development.
Vickery’s 3-acre park and greenspace is the result of another innovative environmental strategy. Using an underground oil-grit separator to protect a nearby stream from runoff, Hedgewood was able to avoid the need for a retention pond—often an eyesore and maintenance expense to a community. The area saved from a retention pond is equal to the area preserved for the park and greenspace. An outdoor fire pit in the park serves as a gathering place where young and old enjoy weekend community and conversation.
Vickery will have 125 town houses, lofts, and live-work homes as well as 431 single-family homes at build out. Of the total 214 acres, 75 have been preserved as greenspace and parks. A 150,000 ft2 retail and office area will provide shopping opportunities close to home. Hedgewood has also incorporated green building certification into the commercial development of the project.The 50,000 ft2 YMCA will be a community gathering place and is pursuing LEED certification.
Vickery demonstrates through its vertical development strategies and mixed-use approach that a high-performance suburban project can have a great impact on the lifestyle of its communities. Residents have embraced the concept and have taken the opportunity to leave cars behind for activities that no longer require transportation.
The EarthCraft Communities program helps developers adopt practical land use principles. By requiring green building certification, EarthCraft Communities also helps reduce the environmental impact of homes.According to Pam Sessions, “We’ve been building 100% EarthCraft House homes since January 2000.When you find a way of doing something that’s better for the customer and better for the environment, it’s a good business decision.” As participants in the EarthCraft House pilot program in 1999, Hedgewood tracked results and tested the market before making the commitment to build only EarthCraft House homes.
Energy Innovations and EarthCraft Communities
In a smaller development a few miles away, Hedgewood has created another green community.Westbrook, a 150- home swim-tennis subdivision, reinvents traditional suburban development where large lots, expansive turf areas, and cul-de-sac streets discourage neighborhood connectivity.Westbrook clustered the homes to create a village feel that encourages walking, and preserved enough greenspace to create seven wooded parks and passive recreation areas. Each home emphasizes outdoorliving areas ranging from Southern-style porches to private courtyards.
The model home for Westbrook is very unique for a suburban community. In addition to over 50 energy and environmental technologies, the Westbrook model home has a 2 kW PV solar-electric system. This cuts energy costs over 40% and was a demonstration in the DOE’s Building America program, representing a collaboration among IBACOS, Southface, and Hedgewood. A full case study of the home is available at www.southface.org.
PV alone won’t contribute significantly to a home’s energy needs if the house is an energy hog.That’s why the Westbrook homes, like all EarthCraft Community homes, are highly energy efficient. “One of the things we use on the roof is Tech Shield, which is a radiant barrier. It’s plywood with foil on the underside, toward the attic,” says Larry Gunner, project manager for Hedgewood Properties at Westbrook.“This keeps the attic about 20ºF cooler than conventional plywood.The cost is about $2 more per sheet, which adds up to $200–$300 more per house.”
The houses are also super sealed, through the use of Sole Sil foam strips. “We use Sole Sil foam strips under the bottom plate, either against the slab or subfloor, which keeps out all the air, bugs, and rodents,” says Gunner. “We seal all the openings—every wire hole, HVAC opening, and plumbing penetration— after the house is framed and the mechanical systems are in.Then we wrap everything with house wrap and all windows are foamed.” Gunner says that they also build an insulated box that fits down over the attic stairs, which is hinged on one side to allow it to be easily moved aside for attic access.
Organic Gardening at Clark’s Grove
Clark’s Grove is an EarthCraft Community that features an organic neighborhood garden where neither pesticides nor synthetic fertilizers are used. Families in this community— almost 300 of them at build out—can tend their own garden plots for growing flowers or vegetables. Randy Vinson, town planner and project manager for Clark’s Grove, a development by Clark’s Grove, LLC, says many earthfriendly procedures were followed during initial development. “We brought in a portable saw mill and milled the timber for our community pavilion, garden shed, and pool house with trees we had to cut down. Some of the smaller trees were ground into mulch and used for storm water management,” he says. The granite they had to blast away to make room for the sewer lines was recycled to build retaining walls. The remainder was crushed and used for riprap and road base.“We also practiced balanced grading, so we didn’t have to haul dirt off site, or bring dirt in,” says Vinson. One of the more innovative moves was to install a pair of 3,000-gallon tanks under the pool deck to catch storm water runoff. The recycled rainwater is used to irrigate the community’s ball field.
Residents benefit from the proximity to downtown Covington, according to Thomas Melton, Richport Properties’ vice president of home building and sales. “It’s kind of nostalgic, and not far at all from downtown Covington’s streets—it has an oldtown feel to it.”
Keeping EarthCraft Affordable
Before the launch of the EarthCraft House program, a team of pioneering design and development professionals created one of the first green cohousing projects in the Southeast—East Lake Commons. Their vision was rewarded with the World Habitat Award in 2000. This 67-unit town house community sits on 12 acres located just four miles from the skyscrapers of downtown Atlanta. Over 60% of the site was preserved as greenspace, including wooded areas, a village green, a pond, and a working organic farm.The site plan emphasizes storm water filtration and retention, barrier- free visit-ability to all homes, a pedestrian layout, and making the entire development accessible by wheelchair.
In 1997, buyers of the town houses began working with the nonprofit East Lake Commons development group and Southface to select energy and environmental features. Many of today’s commonplace technologies such as low-e windows and high efficiency equipment commanded a premium price. Numerous homeowners included green technologies, such as advanced air sealing, cellulose wall insulation, and geothermal heat pumps.
EarthCraft House is also hard at work on another multifamily development— Magnolia Circle—in partnership with two nonprofit affordable housing developers, the Initiative for Affordable Housing, Incorporated, and Cooperative Resource Center. Magnolia Circle provides affordable rental housing to 84 seniors with fixed incomes and was the first Energy Star multifamily and green project in the Southeast.The project has also served as a model for the state of Georgia in its efforts to adopt energy and green building standards for its Low Income Housing Tax Credit program.Thanks to Magnolia Circle, over half of all 2005 tax credit applications included energy efficiency and green building measures.
Magnolia Circle emphasized simple measures to qualify for EarthCraft House certification, but these measures make a big difference in quality of life for the residents, according to Lisa Wise, executive director of the Initiative for Affordable Housing.“The payoff for our tenants is that it’s good for the environment— but from a practical standpoint, these homes have the same comfort features a $700,000 house might have.”
One important factor in choosing EarthCraft House for this project was the freedom it offered residents. “There are all kinds of reasons to do green building, but one is that tenants are able to make more choices about their discretionary income,” said Wise. “Your money is not all going just into your house.” Another important factor was that green building makes the world a healthier and more humane place. Seniors and children are the most vulnerable to health problems from poor indoor air quality.
Magnolia Circle included the following green features:
• The multifamily development was the first project in Georgia to receive certification as a wildlife habitat from the National Wildlife Federation— achieved through undisturbed site area, planting specific species of plants, and installing over 30 birdhouses on the site.
• Densely packed cellulose insulation in party-walls between housing units saved 30% on construction costs while meeting the U370 fire rating standard and enhancing energy performance.
• The project incorporated an oil-grit separator that removes over 90% of pollutants before storm water exits the property. Stream quality improved as a result of the project.
• The development supplemented access to walking-distance amenities such as a grocery store, restaurants, banking and other uses with on-site access to Atlanta’s public transit system.
• The project targeted high performance energy efficiency and indoor air quality and used Energy Star and EarthCraft House certification to help quantify improvement and select specific measures.
Building for Health, Efficiency, and the Future
When the EarthCraft House program began, just six years ago, its goal was to promote sustainable homes in the Atlanta area. Since then, the program has expanded to neighboring communities and will soon be traveling to other states as well (see “Three Green Building Programs,” HE Nov/Dec ’04, p. 32). The key to the program’s success has been forging relationships with builders while creating partnerships to bring environmentally sustainable building practices into the mainstream.Along the way, Earth- Craft House has also discovered that their homes have inspired builders and residents to think about their health, and the health of their community.As Lisa Wise sums up, “If you live in a healthier home, it contributes to a healthier you—and that makes for a better world. It just becomes part of how you’re living your life.”
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According to most commentators, the president's press conference went a long way towards taking the spotlight off the roiling anger over AIG, bonuses, and Wall Street abuses -- and putting it back where the president wants it: on the imperative need to pass his budget.
But the best laid plans of our remarkable president may be laid to waste by a bank rescue plan that is the product of exhausted ideas put together by men far too beholden to Wall Street.
Even if the president desperately wants the spotlight to move on from the bank rescue, we should not allow it to. So today let me turn the high beam on one of the main architects of the plan -- less in the news than Tim Geithner, but no less important -- Larry Summers.
To understand why a man as brilliant and accomplished as Summers can be so wrong about what to do with the banks and Wall Street, it would be useful to turn to The Innovator's Dilemma by Harvard Business School professor Clayton Christensen. The book explains how even very successful companies, with very capable personnel, often fail because they tend to stick to the strategies that made them successful in the first place, leaving themselves vulnerable to changing conditions and new realities. So you can have brilliant managers who miss what's needed for success in the future because they are too tied to the past.
This describes Summers to a T.
He is one of the top economic minds of his generation, a tenured professor at Harvard by the time he was 28, with plenty of real word experience -- ranging from heading the Treasury to heading a major university. But his core beliefs and assumptions helped lay the groundwork for the current crisis.
As Treasury Secretary under Clinton, Summers played an important role in convincing Congress in 1999 to pass the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act, which repealed key portions of the Glass-Steagall Act and allowed commercial banks to get into the mortgage-backed securities and collateralized debt obligations game. The measure also created an oversight disaster, with supervision of banking conglomerates split among a host of different government agencies -- agencies that often failed to let each other know what they were doing and what they were uncovering.
At the signing of the bill, Summers hailed it as "a major step forward to the 21st Century."
Summers also backed Phil Gramm's other financial time bomb, the Commodity Futures Modernization Act, which allowed financial derivatives to be traded without any oversight or regulation. So it was on his watch that the credit-default swaps warhead that has blown up our economy was launched.
Indeed, during a 1998 Senate hearing, Summers testified against the regulation of the derivatives market on the grounds that we could trust Wall Street. "The parties to these kinds of contract," he said, "are largely sophisticated financial institutions that would appear to be eminently capable of protecting themselves from fraud and counterparty insolvencies and most of which are already subject to basic safety and soundness regulation under existing banking and securities laws."
It would be hard to make assumptions that turned out to be more wrong than Summers' were.
For a more accurate portrayal of what Summers described as "largely sophisticated financial institutions," check out Matt Taibbi's devastating depiction of AIG's upper management as utterly clueless about the "selective accounting" scam being run by credit-default swap pimp Joseph Cassano, head of AIG's 400-person Financial Products unit (Taibbi dubs Cassano "the Patient Zero of the global economic meltdown"):
For six months before its meltdown, according to insiders, the company had been searching for a full-time chief financial officer and a chief risk-assessment officer, but never got around to hiring either. That meant that the 18th-largest company in the world had no one checking to make sure its balance sheet was safe and no one keeping track of how much cash and assets the firm had on hand. The situation was so bad that when outside consultants were called in a few weeks before the bailout, senior executives were unable to answer even the most basic questions about their company -- like, for instance, how much exposure the firm had to the residential-mortgage market.
Taibbi describes Cassano getting on a conference call with investors in 2007 and, as his credit-default swap portfolio was racking up $352 million in losses, announcing: "It is hard for us, without being flippant, to even see a scenario within any kind of realm of reason that would see us losing $1 in any of those transactions."
These are the kinds of "parties" Summers was so confident could regulate themselves and be "eminently capable of protecting themselves from fraud and counterparty insolvencies."
Of course, not just the Financial Products unit at AIG, but also the toxic balance sheets at megabank after megabank tell a very different story.
In a speech at the Kennedy School of Government in September 2000, Summers declared: "The traditional industrial economy was a Newtonian system of opposing forces, checks and balances... While, in contrast, the right metaphors for the new economy are more Darwinian, with the fittest surviving."
He forgot to add the part about the fittest surviving by being bailed out by the rest of us.
Real economic Darwinism -- or Randian capitalism -- would mean letting old institutions that have failed die. Keeping them on life support is not just catastrophically burdensome for taxpayers, but also prevents new institutions from flowering.
In a fawning new profile of Summers in The New Republic, we discover that Summers' tired thinking extends to the way he views being tired.
Noam Scheiber reports that "Summers functions on exceedingly little sleep.... To power through the day, Summers relies on a punishing Diet Coke regimen. The combination of fatigue and extreme caffeine intake can produce the occasional verbal and physical tic: Summers is a chronic foot-tapper and sometimes turns over words and clauses like an engine that won't start."
The notion that driving yourself to the point of exhaustion and chronic foot-tapping is a sign of commitment and achievement is as obsolete as the belief that pumping more money into the same institutions that created the crisis will solve it.
Summers' old boss, Bill Clinton, once said, "Every important mistake I've made in my life, I've made because I was too tired."
Many Wall Street high-flyers could echo this -- if they had any self-awareness. Instead, they subscribe to our culture's veneration of exhaustion. Taibbi describes how Wall Streeters, when challenged, "talk about how hard they work, the 90-hour weeks, the stress, the failed marriages, the hemorrhoids and gallstones they all get before they hit 40."
The country would be better off if Wall Street execs and, more importantly, Summers and Geithner -- who, we are admiringly told, works 15 hours a day -- knocked off early and came back to work the next day refreshed... and with some fresh ideas.
Take the Steering Wheel out of Geithner's Hands
Tune in to watch me co-host CNBC's Squawk Box on March 31st, 7-9am ET | <urn:uuid:bb5f5f71-5b77-4688-867f-c96981bcd5d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/arianna-huffington/larry-summers-brilliant-m_b_178956.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965442 | 1,477 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Great Debate: Sen. Obama Vs. President Obama
(CNSNews.com) - Would Senator Barack Obama disagree with the actions and statements of President Barack Obama? That question gets a closer look in the video ‘The Great Debate’.
Among the issues touched on is President Obama’s current decision to have the Attorney General’s office on the Defense Of Marriage Act (DOMA).
“I told you I was against the Defense – the so called - Defense Of Marriage Act. I’ve long supported efforts to pass a repeal through Congress,” President Obama said in June of 2011.
The president continued, “Until we reach that day my administration is no longer defending DOMA in the courts, the law is discrinimator, it violates the constitution, it’s time for us to bring it to an end.”
Obama’s decision to have Attorney General Eric Holder stop defending DOMA seems different than how Senator Obama viewed the position of Attorney General during the Alberto Gonzales nomination in February of 2005.
“The Attorney General is not like the other cabinet posts,” Senator Obama said on the Senate floor.
“The Attorney General’s job is not just to enforce the president’s laws. It is to tell the president what the law is. The job is not simply to facilitate the president’s power it is to speak truth to that power as well. The job is to protect and defend the laws and freedoms for which so many have sacrificed so much. The president is not the attorney general’s client, the people are,” Obama added.
DOMA, military action in Libya, and the health care mandate element of Obamacare are some of the issues discussed in ‘The Great Debate’. | <urn:uuid:e4c9ff17-d230-41ca-8bf6-753a88680625> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cnsnews.com/news/article/great-debate-sen-obama-vs-president-obama | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958722 | 375 | 1.664063 | 2 |
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YOU can make a difference! Positive breastfeeding support from physicians, nurses, and other health professionals has been shown to increase the initiation and duration of breastfeeding. Mothers care what their doctors and nurses think about breastfeeding and communicating a positive message can make all of the difference in how they choose to feed their children. The American Academy of Pediatrics works diligently to ensure that health professionals are educated about breastfeeding and able to support breastfeeding families.
– Lori Feldman-Winter, MD, MPH, FAAP | <urn:uuid:d3170bca-29a5-4041-8568-b4fa71a19e3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.aap.org/breastfeeding/healthProfessionals.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946641 | 105 | 1.953125 | 2 |
A group of aldermen led by Ed Burke want legislation in place to mandate cell phones sold in Chicago come equipped with a way for parents to disable texting features for their teenagers.
The proposal aims to prevent accidents caused by teens who text while they drive.
Ald. Burke (14th Ward) proposed the law Wednesday, "requiring all cell phones sold in the City to offer a special feature allowing parents to block their teenaged children from texting while driving."
The alderman calls it a "tough new measure" and says it would be put into effect for all "mobile communication devices" purchased after Jan. 1, 2012. Those who sell phone without the blocking feature would face fines up to $1,000.
Fellow aldermen Anthony Beale (9th), Michelle Harris (4th), Richard Mell (33rd) and Ray Suarez (31st) support the proposal.
The proposal heads to a City Council committee for consideration. | <urn:uuid:bb83e018-b501-463a-98a6-3f33a8d067b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcchicago.com/blogs/ward-room/Aldermen-Propose-Texting-Block-for-Teen-Drivers-121263904.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939272 | 198 | 1.773438 | 2 |
I need some fresh thoughts on a research problem. Agnes Snider was granted a land warrant in Shelby County Kentucky. Weren't land warrants granted for Revolutionary War Service? I am trying to find out who her husband was-if there was one. Is there a way to track her husband through this land warrant even though it was issued to her? Like I said-I need new thoughts and some good research ideas on this person. She and her daughter Julia came from Virginia to Kentucky then on to Missouri by 1850. They married into the Minzes and Blankenship families while in Illinois. They seem to be of the alien race because I can't find any other info. Thank you!!
CHAPTER VI Kentucky LAND WARRANTS (1816-1873)
THE COUNTIES OF Kentucky
More Info: Grantee: Snider, Agnes
Date Survey: 7- 1-1819
Watercourse: Bover Cr (Actually Beaver Creek)
Ancestry.com. Kentucky Land Grants [database online]. Orem, UT: Ancestry.com, Inc., 1997. Original data: Jillson, Willard Rouse. The Kentucky Land Grants, Vol. I-II. Louisville, KY: Filson Club Publications, 1925. | <urn:uuid:54672f50-f555-436e-8e32-bf593c6da6be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boards.rootsweb.com/topics.Military.amerrev.ky/85/mb.ashx?pnt=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926325 | 258 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Clifford goes for his annual checkup, and Dr. Smart has to be very creative to check Clifford's heartbeat, look into his mouth, ears, and eyes, because Clifford is so big.
Clifford is very brave when he has to get his shot, and he gets a treat at the end!
- Author: Bridwell, Norman
- 32 pages; Library binding
- Recommended reading level: Kindergarten, Age 5-6
SKU #: CLI-200-9781448759354 | <urn:uuid:1e0c81ec-27f9-4075-bc0a-a0bd772de05d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tystoybox.com/books/clifford-the-big-red-dog-clifford-goes-to-the-doctor-book.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964371 | 108 | 1.859375 | 2 |
I've found a whole lot of SQL injection exploits in some systems I maintain. I know how to prevent the injection, but I would like to demonstrate to my CEO and CTO how dangerous it is if we don't have enough focus on keeping our applications safe.
Many times we need to react instead of proact when it comes to security, mainly because when a vulnerability is found it is not prioritized to be fixed because its unlikely to be exploited.
The following query is one of these examples. The server is running with PHP_MAGIC_QUOTES ON (yes I know thats really bad) and thus prevent exploits several places because the programmers have explicitly added ' ' around everyone input value used in queries (so you cant break out of it). The query I've found vulnerable now is however threated as a integer instead of string, and contains no ' ' around it.
Here is the example:
$sql = "select * from vulnerable_table where id = " . $_GET['id'] . " limit 1"; $result= mysql_query($sql);
How would you do max damage to the system considering you control the id variable.
Some examples I've come up with on my own:
id = 1;drop table mysql.user Only if semi colon is accepted id = 1;SELECT '<?php exec($_get['cmd'])?>' INTO OUT_FILE('/var/www/backdoor.php') Only if I could bypass the magic_quotes somehow | <urn:uuid:0223ce03-ad42-42b8-9b23-54edb6f5d08c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/1281/how-would-you-exploit-this-vulnerability-in-order-to-cause-max-damage | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934828 | 311 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Agile: The New Era
It’s housecleaning time again, and like last time, I stumbled across an article I wrote back in 2006 that I don’t believe ever reached publication (at least, I don’t think it did…how am I expected to remember what I did in 2006?). For the most part, I’ve left it in its original state, except that I removed the Agile Manifesto and 12 supporting principles. There are easily enough found on the Agile Manifesto website, and the article is long enough without this duplication. The wordle at right shows the most common words used in this document. Here, in it’s otherwise unadulterated glory, is Agile: A New Era of Software Development.
Agile: A New Era of Software Development
Writing code is easy, but developing software is hard. While syntax errors are common, their severity pales in comparison to the logic flaws inherent in many software systems. The difficulty in software development is not writing code or applying a certain technology stack. Instead, the challenge lies in the specification and design of the software itself. Therein lies the essential complexity of software development, an idea introduced by Frederick Brooks in his 1987 article titled, “No Silver Bullet” [Brooks]. The most difficult aspect of software development is deciding what, exactly, needs to be built.
There is certainly evidence backing this claim. The original Chaos Report shows the top three impediments to a successful development effort are lack of user input, incomplete requirements and specifications, and changing requirements and specifications [CHAOS]. No other activity, if done incorrectly, stands to compromise the system more than incorrect requirement specifications.
It might not be so difficult were software a concrete entity, existing in a world where we could easily visualize it’s structure and behavior, allowing us to more reliably assess and share the impact of change. But software is a highly conceptual, invisible construct. It is considered infinitely malleable by those not intimately familiar with the conceptual complexity of it’s structure and behavior. The contractor building your home would look at you with incredulous disbelief if you suggested that the house he has 90% complete no longer met your needs, and you asked that he move walls. Or imagine how ridiculous it would sound to suggest that a new third floor be inserted to a 100 story skyscraper. Physicists labor on with firm belief that there exist an underlying set of unifying principles to serve as guidance. Or at least, there are laws of physics that we hold to be true. There are no such rules or principles that guide software development. We are left with the imagination and dreams of our clients, and they demand and deserve rapid response to change.
We have made valiant attempts at conformity. Ceremonial processes attempting to define standardized activities that guide the development process have failed, however. We cannot define detailed up-front requirements specifications and expect them to survive the development lifecycle intact. We cannot establish an initial design of the conceptual construct and expect the structure to go unscathed throughout the process of construction. Software development is an error prone human activity involving experts with varying backgrounds and skills who must come together and attempt to communicate uniformly, working as a team toward a common goal. While tools and process do help, we must also accept that change is expected. We cannot treat change as evil. Instead, the tools and process used must allow us to accommodate change, treating it as an inherent part of software development. Changing requirements is a rule of our game. The software we develop must be malleable and adaptive to change, and the process we use must embrace change.
We often draw comparisons between software development and various manufacturing processes. As Larman points out, however, manufacturing is a predictive process [Larman]. Herein lies one of the greatest differences between software development and the manufacturing processes to which we often draw comparisons. Manufacturing is a repeatable activity, with high rates of near-identical creation where a consistent product is produced in assembly line fashion. Little change is expected, making it possible to reliably estimate and predict the outcome. Software development is much more like new product development, where evolutionary specifications and adaptive planning is necessary to deal with the many unknowns that lie ahead.
In early 2001, a small group of industry experts converged in Utah to discuss alternatives to heavy, document driven software development methods. Emerging from this meeting was the Agile Manifesto, a symbolic proclamation endorsing the virtues of a lighter, more flexible, people-oriented approach to software development, giving birth to the agile software development movement. (Since this is already a long article, I’ve snipped the manifesto and principles, which were included in the original version. If you’re interested, you can view the manifesto and its 12 principles on the Agile Manifesto website.)
The ideas behind these 12 principles are simple, and contain no hidden messages. Of course, there are different techniques embodied within various agile processes that support these principles. The one certainty is that agile teams definitely work differently from their less agile peers. They recognize there is one end goal - to create a working, functional software product. With that in mind, they work very closely with project stakeholders throughout the development lifecycle, knowing it is the stakeholders who possess the knowledge the system must embody. Agile teams work very hard to deliver working software iteratively and incrementally, and they adopt techniques representative of that ideal.
Agile project managers tend to favor intense communication and collaboration over heavy documentation. Empowering team members to make decisions enables responsiveness to change. Facilitating and negotiating requirements scope provides important feedback, helping plan future iterations, where each iteration produces a deliverable that can be shared with clients and stakeholders. Instead of forcing the team to follow a predictive project plan, agile project managers are more opportunistic. They prioritize features based on stakeholder feedback, and make adjustments as the iterations progress. Concurrent and parallel activities are favored over a phased approach. Agile project managers tend to guide the team instead of manage the team, and strongly discourage unnecessary overhead.
Agile developers work with a similar set of goals, knowing functional software must be delivered early and often. They work judiciously to grow a code base built upon a solid foundation, where each day represents a step forward. They integrate frequently, and do not tolerate failed builds. A rich suite of tests provide the courage necessary to respond to change when the need arises. They avoid the notion of code ownership, empowering other developers to make improvements to any component of the software product.
A common misconception is that agile processes discourage all documentation. This is untrue. Agile processes discourage unnecessary documentation, favoring collaboration as the preferred technique. Instead of using documentation to drive communication, agile processes favor face-to-face communication. Documents are encouraged by agile processes, so long as the need is immediate and significant.
Transitioning to Agile
Agile software development is based upon the fundamental premise that we must drive and respond to change quickly. The Agile Manifesto and 12 supporting principles serve this premise well. Advocates of agility claim speedier delivery of software, software with more business value, increased team productivity, higher quality systems, and a more enjoyable development experience. I believe each of these to hold true. Agile teams not only welcome change, they are able to respond to change at all levels of development. A project manager might discuss a changing requirement with a business client, empower a business analyst to schedule a meeting with the client to discuss further details, while a developer assesses the impact of change knowing she has the courage to accommodate the request because of the rich suite of unit tests in place.
Saying you’ll be more responsive to change and creating an environment that embraces change are separate beasts, however. Practicing agility is hard work, especially if your team is accustomed to more traditional approaches. As with many things new and unfamiliar, some resistance will no doubt arise by those who aren’t fully convinced. Agile projects differ greatly from their less agile counterparts, and skeptics will have many opportunities to express their discontent. As someone experimenting with agility, you may even have doubts. But don’t be discouraged, and give your agile transition the time it deserves.
One of the most significant changes you may experience is a feeling that you’ve been thrust into a chaotic nightmare. I doubt it’s unusual to feel this way. You’ve lost the security of detailed requirements specification and user sign-off. You are writing code without the comfort of knowing exactly what your stakeholders want. The detailed plans that have served as your security blanket on past projects no longer exist. And the celebrations accompanying completion of your various phase milestones are gone. Of course, these were all false comforts anyway. Stakeholders always changed their minds. Your detailed requirements and plans were outdated as quickly as they were completed.
Instead, you’re now working in shorter iterations with vague requirements. Initial releases early in the lifecycle may be completely thrown away. Your first few weeks may seem wasted, with little or no valuable artifacts produced. Naysayers will immediately come forward and cite the lack of progress. Previously, those first few weeks or months were spent producing very detailed requirement specifications and beautiful design models. But don’t give up yet. In that previous world, you were only delaying risk and postponing integration, avoiding the most difficult aspect of software development until the end of the lifecycle. Now you’re attacking risk early, prioritizing features, and working hard to develop a functional piece of software as early as possible. Progress may not be at breakneck speeds, but you are learning a tremendous amount about the requirements of the system, and your velocity is sustainable. Additionally, you are also performing a number of other important lifecycle activities.
Depending on the level of ceremony and bureaucracy within your organization, you will experience varying degrees of success when adopting agile techniques. As with any new technology adoption, it’s best to phase the transition. Some agile techniques are easier to adopt than others, and some serve as valuable catalysts to adopting additional techniques in the future. Don’t attempt to completely redefine how you work. It’s relatively easy to phase the agile transition, and you’ll want to adopt those principles that offer you the greatest initial reward.
For instance, if you’re struggling to produce quality software at a consistent rate, implementing a continuous integration strategy will help you frequently verify the quality of your work. In addition to the comfort of knowing you have a product always in a functional state, the ability to share the product with clients using functional demos and prototypes will tighten the feedback loop and offer valuable insight to the client’s perception of the software. In a number of cases, I’ve found this to be valuable in identifying subtle requirements that can be difficult to identify in other requirements elicitation venues.
In recent years, there has been a significant amount of research comparing agile development methods to their waterfall counterpart. In Agile and Iterative Development: A Manager’s Guide, Craig Larman illustrates the advantage of agile development through detailed analysis of multiple studies[Larman]. The compilation of his results are illustrated below.
A study by Alan MacCormack at Harvard Business School explored whether evolutionary development techniques yielded better results than the waterfall model. The study included applications ranging from application software to embedded systems, with median values of nine developers spanning a 14 month development cycle.
A key conclusion of the study, in which 75% of participants used agile techniques compared to 25% using waterfall, explained releasing software earlier, rather than later, contributed to a lower defect rate and higher productivity. There was little evidence showing that a detailed design specification resulted in a lower defect rate, however, reviews with peers did help in reducing the rate of defects. The study found that iterative and agile practices have a significant impact on defect and productivity factors, as indicated by the following points.
- Releasing a system with 20% of the functionality complete is associated with a decrease in the defect rate of 10 defects per month per million lines of code as compared to waiting to release a product until 40% of the functionality is complete, and an increase in productivity of eight more lines of source code per person-day.
- Continuous Integration, the idea of integrating and testing code as it is released to your source code repository, resulted in a decrease in the defect rate of 13 defects per month per million lines of code, and an increase in productivity of 17 lines of source code per person-day.
The study also found four practices that were consistently used by the most successful development teams. The first two are deeply embedded in the ideals of agile software development.
- Releasing early and often to project stakeholders, using an iterative lifecycle.
- Continuous integration, with daily builds including regression testing.
- Teams with broad experience delivering multiple projects.
- Careful attention to modular and loosely coupled, componentized architectures.
In a separate study [Shine], 88% of organizations cited improved productivity when using agile methods, and 84% cited improved productivity. 49% stated that the cost of development was less when using agile methods. Additionally, 83% claimed increased business satisfaction and 26% claimed significantly better satisfaction. Another study by Boehm and Papaccio [Boehm] discovered that a typical project experiences a 25% change in requirements, while yet another [Johnson] showed that 45% of features were never used.
There have also been many research efforts devoted exclusively to the analysis of waterfall methods. Below is a summary of these findings, taken from a variety of studies.
- Scope management related to detailed up-front requirements was a significant contributing factor of failure [Thomas].
- The U.S. Department of Defense (DoD), when following a waterfall lifecycle, experienced a 75% failure rate [Jarzombek]. This resulted in the DoD adopting a more iterative and agile approach.
- On a study including 400 waterfall projects, only 10% of the code was deployed. Only 20% of code deployed was used. The main factors included changing and misunderstood requirements [Cohen].
As these studies clearly illustrate, there is significant evidence showing that agile and iterative techniques offer significant advantages over the waterfall model of development. In fact, for larger projects, the statistics supporting agility were even more pronounced.
There are a variety of agile processes available to choose from, and each abide by the spirit of the manifesto and it’s 12 supporting principles. The agile movement and it’s supporters recognize that software development is a human (though not always humane) activity. Instead of forcing process on people, agile methods allow process conformance to people. Good people, working toward a common goal, can achieve great things will little ceremonial process, assuming you give them an environment that empowers them. Solid empirical evidence backs this claim. And if the quality of people is in question, it’s doubtful that any process will produce success.
- [Alliance]. The Agile Alliance. Manifesto for Agile Software Development. 2001. http://www.agilemanifesto.org
- [Boehm]. Boehm, B, and Papaccio, P. Understanding and Controlling Software Costs. IEEE Transaction on Software Engineering. October 1988.
- [Brooks]. Brooks, Frederick. No Silver Bullet: Essence and Accidents of Software Engineering. 1987.
- [CHAOS]. The Standish Group International, Inc. The CHAOS Report. 1995.
- [Cohen]. Cohen, D., Larson, G., and Ware, B. Improving Software Investments through Requirements Validation. IEEE 26th Software Engineering Workshop. 2001.
- [Jarzombek]. Jarzombek, J. The 5th Annual JAWS S3 Proceedings. 1999.
- [Johnson]. Johnson, J. Keynote speech, XP 2002, Sardinia, Italy. 2002.
- [Larman]. Larman, Craig. Agile and Iterative Development: A Manager’s Guide. Addison-Wesley, 2004.
- [MacCormack]. MacCormack, A. Product-Development Practices That Work. MIT Sloan Management Review. 2001.
- [Shine]. Corporate Report. Agile Methodologies Survey Results. Shine Technologies Pty Ltd. Victoria, Australia. 2003.
- [Thomas]. Thomas, M. IT Projects Sink or Swim. British Computer Society Review. 2001. | <urn:uuid:376ab7a0-111f-4445-88cd-f205a568a617> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://agile.dzone.com/articles/agile-new-era | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9383 | 3,397 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Chances are the campus police force or security team at a Midwestern university will deal with more fires, power outages, and incidences of public drunkenness than a single terrorist attack.
“We can’t ignore the potential threat [of a terrorist attack],” says John A. Peach, director of Public Safety at Kent State University in Kent, OH. “But, in terms of what the risks are and the compelling information we have from federal and local agencies, we have to assume natural disasters, life-safety, and public safety issues not related to terrorism are what we have to plan for and to prepare for without turning a blind eye to homeland security.”
That said, Peach and other administrative officials at Ohio’s second largest public university still reassessed the institution’s Emergency Management Plan (EMP) and updated facilities and systems across campus with new security technology in the aftermath of 9/11.
“We’ve diligently kept it current over the years but after 9/11, we added what we considered to be relevant sections,” says Michael S. McDonald, director of Campus Environment and Operations, about the EMP. Prior to 9/11, the plan contained sections covering weather, utility outages, civil disobedience, and major fires. New additions cover wartime scenarios, including terrorist and biological threats.
Safety officials also decided to upgrade the university’s emergency communication network. This upgrade consists of two major enhancements: one affecting most facilities on campus; the other affecting the campus’ internal radio communications among various departments.
About 28,000 attend the university’s main Kent campus, which employs about 6,000 faculty and staff members within roughly 120 facilities on or near the main campus complex. Most administrative and academic buildings and all residence halls now have a new paging system that puts the campus police department’s central dispatch in direct contact with a point person in each building via radio frequency monitoring in the event of an emergency.
The sophisticated paging system consists of a communications box with a removable, remote pager. The building contact person, usually the designated building curator, simply activates the system at the box or through the remote pager and reaches the dispatcher. The dispatcher also can reach the building point persons in the event they need to relay information, whether it is a tornado warning or a terrorist situation.
The system mainly is in effect during regular daytime operating hours. After hours, in buildings that are open for night classes and other evening activities, the police have a contact network established with the maintenance staff.
The new system provides university officials with a concise way to get pertinent safety news spread throughout the campus quickly, efficiently, and accurately. “We found out on 9/11 that we had an ineffective means of getting information out to the campus population,” Peach says. “It was kind of like the kids’ game where you whisper into each other’s ears, and the message that comes out on the other side isn’t the same one from the beginning. It added to the anxiety and panic.”
Campus safety officials also discovered on 9/11 that the existing radio frequency network in place couldn’t hold up to massive internal communications in the event of a major crisis, so this summer, they’ve been developing a more sophisticated trunking system.
Prior to this effort, each of the campus’ departments that rely on radio communications – food service, maintenance, the heating plant, security aides, parking services, and campus police, to name only a few – use their own separate frequencies to communicate with others in their respective departments.
As they found out on 9/11, an emergency can cause the network to gridlock and jam when each department is online at the same time, competing for a limited number of open frequencies. On 9/11, radio communication across campus virtually shut down for a short time.
The new trunking system will prevent this gridlock from happening by giving all users the ability to communicate without competing for frequencies. It automatically determines what frequency is open to transmit and still gives each department its own private frequency. Parking services will still communicate only with parking services and not intercept messages from food services, for example, Peach says. The system will operate from a base on a new radio tower installed for the campus’ National Public Radio affiliate and classical music station, WKSU.
For those not on radio frequencies or in direct contact with central dispatch, security officials have fine-tuned the campus’ broadcast voice-mail system and also are working on a way to announce campus-related emergencies on the university’s website so that status updates can be obtained from any location.
After 9/11, Peach and McDonald’s offices received numerous calls from university employees concerned about safety issues. As a result, they created an Emergency Response Handbook. This pocket-sized book provides faculty and staff with a “how-to” guide that summarizes emergency procedures in a step-by-step approach based on the kind of scenario encountered. “It gives you a sense that there are plenty of plans in effect for any emergency and that people will be informed when or if the time comes,” Peach says. | <urn:uuid:5ecf51fc-6d0d-48dc-b6df-54c01e1ab55b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buildings.com/article-details/articleid/972/title/strategic-security-4-of-4.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938688 | 1,075 | 2.359375 | 2 |
We walked across the camp grounds, my daughter and I, when she said “I like it when she wants to hold my hand”. Her daughter, 4, has that way of reaching up onto your hand and into your heart and you want to keep holding on. She says it with words too, not just action and she likes feeling her hand in yours.
There will come a time when independce is preferred and you have to take theirs in your hand. Remember wanting to cross the street by yourself or prove you can keep your hands your pocket or behind your back when your mom took you into a store? Sometimes the safest place is to have their hand in yours.
It’s been a long time since I’ve held mama’s hand. Maybe reaching out to steady her now and again as she ambled across uneven terrain or left her “stick” (cane) at home. When I visited her in March I found myself reaching for her hand and holding on for safety. Security. She needed blood work and other tests done and getting her from the car to the Dr’s office and hospital was best navigated holding her hand. Like a child, I could easier direct her way and keep her from harm of wandering off. Unsure of where she was and what was going on around her to take her hand offered comfort. Made her feel safe and she was.
Me taking her hand. Not mother and child but child and mother. The roles have changed and who could have seen this coming? Not living there I never know what to expect one visit to the next. I try to expect little other than to give and let go. Let go of how I’d like life to be.
I’m glad she took my hand. Welcomed my reach and looked to me for answers when they asked. she never says my name but will call me sis sometimes and that’s okay. Any sign of familiarity or recognition, no matter how slight, is a gift.
The old hymn my dad loved comes to my mind. Its chorus singing
“He hideth my soul in the cleft of the rock,That shadows a dry, thirsty land;He hideth my life in the depths of His love,And covers me there with His hand,And covers me there with His hand.”
It’s His hand, Gods hand that covers me. Covers us both as we walk hand in hand with His grace. | <urn:uuid:eceb6176-2570-4acb-b58a-d669225664ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://livingingraceland.wordpress.com/2012/05/10/hold-my-hand/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980886 | 515 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Temporary Colosseum to drive culture into the heart of the Hague
Plans for a large temporary theatre on the Malieveld in The Hague, a large strech of lawn measuring over 10 hectare and positioned right along the entrance of the city, have been developed by cepezed architects. The Hague strives to be European Capital of Culture in 2018 and the theatre addition should function as an important eyecatcher and crowdpuller during this year.
The plans have been assigned by the offices of The Hague Capital of Culture 2018. Last Wednesday, this institution presented its report: Entitled to Culture!, in which it published its apparoach to obtain the much desired title. cepezeds theatre fulfills an important role in this approach. The theatre has been designed as a contemporary version of the Colosseum in Rome, the best-known example of a Flavian amphitheatre, and should be able to accommodate some 5,000 people. The construction is erected out of scaffolding. On the outside, it is covered with a stretched reproduction of famous artist M.C. Escher’s Metamorfosis. Inside, concerts, performances, exhibitions and fairs can take place. On International Day of Peace, singer Bono of Irish pop group U2 should be onstage.
The report considers the race to be Capital of Culture 2018 as an appropriate opportunity to highten and intensify the cultural participation of the Hague’s population. The city, also the royal seat, has a lot of competition though, amongst others of municipalities like Almere, Utrecht and Maastricht. A final decision on which town will be European Capital of Culture 2018 will not be taken until 2013. | <urn:uuid:b1099fa4-4dbe-4e09-af74-6f0e77bbfd84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.worldarchitecturenews.com/index.php?fuseaction=wanappln.projectview&upload_id=11869 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950056 | 350 | 1.5625 | 2 |
FORT RILEY, Kan. (WIBW) -- A major training exercise is underway at Fort Riley as Big Red One soldiers prepare to deploy to Afghanistan.
Unified Endeavor is a command post exercise that's preparing the 1st Infantry Division headquarters to lead a regional command in Afghanistan. The exercise includes more than 2,000 military and civilian personnel from all services and from five different nations, signifying the joint, multi-national nature of the mission in Afghanistan. Units in Germany, Fort Knox, Kentucky and Suffolk, Virginia (another 2,100 soldiers) are also linked into the exercise.
The troops are testing their lines of communication, practicing their response to different scenarios and rehearsing their course of action when receiving an array of intelligence reports.
"What you’ll see here on exercise Unified Endeavor is a realistic state-of-the-art command exercise which is preparing the 1st Infantry Division for the mission we’ll face in Afghanistan later this year. The exercise is multi-service combined and pretty much replicates the nature of the headquarters we find in a combined joint task force. So as you go through, you’ll see a post contingent, our French allies as well, a few Brits, as well as Afghan allies joining us to work alongside American soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines and the civilian component as well," explained Brigadier General Felix Gedney, Deputy Commanding General. Gedney says the goal is to create a cohesive joint task force that is ready to hit the ground running overseas and successfully complete their mission.
"There’s a simulation, a computer simulation that runs in the background and it causes certain actions to take place. It’s like a computer test if you will and it adds to the realism. It gives realistic inputs to the soldiers that are in their different command posts to allow them to run through a series of drills," Colonel Chuck Sexton revealed. Sexton is the commander of the Mission Command Training Program. Sexton said the problem sets that the soldiers are faced with include suicide bombings, ambushes and IED attacks.
"This is the last opportunity we’re going to have to conduct exercises with our coalition partners- both the Polish (Task Force White Eagle) and French (Task Force Lafayette) defense forces that will be operating with us in Afghanistan when we get over there. So it’s more than just a 1st Infantry Division operation, it’s a joint combined operation with both coalition partners and other elements of the US State Department," said Lieutenant Colonel Mike Van Wagenen, G-3 Division Operations Officer.
"The way that the exercise is organized, it’s realistic and it’s very important for all of us to have the feeling that we are playing the real game," added General Eric Hautecloqueraysz, Commander of Task Force Lafayette.
Unified Endeavor training, run by the J7 out of the Joint Staff at the Pentagon, will continue this week on the installation. It is the largest command post exercise to take place on Fort Riley since the return of the 1st Infantry Division from Germany in 2006.
In addition to the division headquarters, Fort Riley's 1st Sustainment
Brigade and 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team are also taking part in the exercise. The troops expect to deploy in the spring. | <urn:uuid:8c75ebe1-dad3-4050-b51e-8e86c62458d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wibw.com/home/localnews/headlines/Training_Exercise_At_Fort_Riley_Prepping_Troops_For_Afghanistan_138302494.html?site=full | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960019 | 696 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack and Secretary of the Interior Ken Salazar Thursday announced a new $33 million partnership with farmers, ranchers and forest landowners to use innovative approaches to restore and protect the habitats for wildlife, including seven at-risk species and other vulnerable game species.
Called the Working Lands for Wildlife, the program will be operated through the USDA's Natural Resources Conservation Service and the Interior's U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.
"We believe that working with the Department of the Interior we can provide landowners with regulatory assurances that they can continue to make a living on their lands while implementing conservation actions to benefit declining species," Vilsack said. "Under this approach we are making a strong conservation commitment. Landowners will be assured that they will not be asked to take additional actions if species continue to decline and are listed under the Endangered Species Act."
Using the best available science, the partners will prioritize restoration actions on a large regional scale to most cost effectively focus assistance. In return for voluntarily making habitat improvements on their lands, the Federal government will provide landowners with regulatory certainty that they will not be asked to take additional conservation actions.
"The program introduces economic and other incentives for private landowners to align with these conservation goals," Salazar said. "The voluntary cooperation of farmers, ranchers and forest landowners is essential to the conservation of many of these imperiled species and this initiative rewards landowners for doing good things on their land."
Interested producers and landowners in targeted areas can enroll in the Wildlife Habitat Incentive Program on a continuous basis at their local NRCS field office. NRCS funds from WHIP will share the cost of conservation practices with landowners in areas known to support one or more of the selected species.
For more information about Working Lands for Wildlife, click HERE. To listen to Secretaries Vilsack and Salazar talk about the program, use the audio player on this page. | <urn:uuid:9e09647c-1b31-4c24-abdc-49619ec94700> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://farmprogress.com/story-agencies-partner-private-landowner-conservation-measures-0-57948 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93556 | 393 | 2.1875 | 2 |
By BRUCE McCLURE
With the hot days of summer now upon us, you might think we're about as close as we can get to the Sun. Actually, nothing could be further from the truth. On July 6, 2010, the Earth reaches its most distant point from the Sun for the year -- a point astronomers call "aphelion."
On the average, our planet resides about 93 million miles from the Sun. But since the Earth doesn't orbit the Sun in a perfect circle, its distance from the Sun varies throughout the year. Sometimes, we're as close as 91.5 million miles; at other times, we're as far away as 94.5 million.
Keep in mind, however, that it's not the Earth's distance from the Sun that determines the seasons, but the tilt of the Earth's axis. In summer, we tilt toward the Sun and in winter we tilt away.
Although aphelion comes when it's summer in our Northern Hemisphere, it doesn't always coincide with the hot season over the long course of time. One thousand years ago, aphelion occurred at autumn, but five thousand years into the future, it'll take place in spring.
Earth's varying distance from the Sun -- though not responsible for the seasons -- does affect seasonal length. At aphelion the Earth travels most slowly in its orbit, causing the season in which it resides to elongate. At the present time, that makes summer the longest season in our North Hemisphere, and winter the longest season in the Hemisphere "Down Under."
-- Bruce McClure of Norwood is a freelance astronomer and a frequent contributor to "StarDate" and "Earth and Sky" radio programs. His web site is idialstars.com. He and his wife, Alice McClure, present hand-on learning opportunities and workshops. | <urn:uuid:b3f0e40e-e00b-4813-b7a3-afad92fb5f14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://northcountrynow.com/news/earth-aphelion-norwood-astronomer-says-sun-not-close-you-might-think-03425 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962293 | 377 | 3.9375 | 4 |
by Nicole Betters
International Women's Day, March 8, 2003
Dear Barbara Bush:
I wonder if you even know that today is International Women's Day? Do you know that we, the women of San Antonio, are rallying for peace?
Barbara, I am speaking to you on behalf of Arabs and Arab Americans.
It is true that our skin color is brown and olive, and yours is white, but we have some things in common. Just like you, we are mothers, daughters, and sisters.
Remember how much you did not want your son to go to Vietnam to fight the war? Just like you, we don't want to send our sons to war.
Just like you are the backbone of your family, Arab women are the backbones of our families. But Barbara, between your husband and your son, your family is making life extremely difficult for our families.
Your son is making the lives of many Arab Americans miserable. Have you read the Patriot Act Barbara? Do you know that your son's henchman, Ashcroft can easily label anyone a terrorist? And Barbara, have you read the proposed Patriot Act II? It gives your son and his henchmen the right to strip people of their citizenship for disagreeing with the government in what it calls terrorists.
And Barbara, your son and his administration continue to support ethnic cleansing in Palestine. Your son supports house demolitions, starving Palestinian children, and ethnic cleansing Palestinians from their land so that Israel can take over. 65 Palestinian women are political prisoners in Israeli jails on this International Women's Day.
And Barbara, I've got to ask you, what is this thing that your husband and son have with Iraq??? Please explain this to me! Does your family's love of oil interests have no boundaries?
Barbara, I am sending you a picture of a young girl named Israa. You can see from the photo that she is missing an arm. Israa was nine years old when she lost her arm. She was walking home from primary school one day when the US was conducting bombing raids on Iraq. A large piece of shrapnel severed her right arm below the shoulder, and she suffered chest and abdominal wounds. A metal fragment remains lodged in her skull; doctors could not remove it for fear of killing her.
Barbara, your husband killed thousands of Iraqi children, stooping low enough to bomb the bomb shelters where children sought safety. Sanctions have killed hundreds of thousands more children. Your son plans to bomb civilian centers, how many children will he kill and maim?
As we celebrate International Women's Day, I ask you Barbara to step up, be the backbone of your family, and put an end to the killing. Do it as a mother, Do it as a woman.
Nicole Betters is an attorney, the daughter of Lebanese American and Italian American parents. She has been a member of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee for a number of years, but the post-September 11 condition of Arabs and Muslims, and restrictions on civil liberties motivated her to organize a San Antonio Chapter of ADC.
For further information contact:
1443 S. St. Mary's, San Antonio, Texas 78210
(210) 224-HOPE or 224-4673 FAX (210) 222-1097 | <urn:uuid:524078e1-408b-4cc4-b907-ec09afca16b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://salsa.net/peace/article61.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 | 0.956142 | 682 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Arizona Wallow Fire triggers more evacuations
More people are being evacuated from the path of a huge fire in the US state of Arizona as it rages out of control for a ninth day.
Remaining residents in the picturesque town of Greer have been ordered to leave and the 7,000 residents of Eager and Springerville have been told to prepare to evacuate.
Gale-force wind gusts are hampering some 2,300 firefighters struggling to contain the blaze.
Smoke is visible in six states.
The so-called Wallow Fire, which was first reported on 30 May, has now consumed 233,522 acres (365 sq miles; 945 sq km) according to a clickable map on the Arizona Republic website, and is the third largest fire in the state on record.
Several towns have already been evacuated and most of the 200 or so full-time residents of Greer had already left.
Those remaining were ordered to evacuate on Monday afternoon.'Numb'
"It's heartbreaking," Allan Johnson, owner of the 101-year-old Molly Butler Lodge in Greer, told Associated Press news agency.
He was pessimistic about the chances of saving the lodge and the hundreds of holiday homes in the area.
"We're numb - our entire family and our friends are just numb," he said.
The residents of the twin towns of Eager and Springerville are preparing to evacuate, and over the border in New Mexico residents of the town of Luna are on similar alert.
Firefighters - drafted in from as far away as New York - are being hampered by winds of about 30mph (50kph), with gusts above 60mph (100kph).
As of Monday no progress had been made containing the blaze but it was hoped some gains would have been made by Thursday or Friday, said Matt Benson, a spokesman for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer.
"It's entirely dependent on weather conditions in that part of the state right now," he said.
A state of emergency has been declared in the counties of Apache and Greenlee.
This is the third largest fire on record in Arizona - though both of the other bigger fires have occurred in the last decade.
A blaze in 2002 burnt through 732 sq miles in the centre of the state and another in 2005 that scorched 387 sq miles near Phoenix.
As well as Arizona, smoke is said to be visible in New Mexico, Iowa, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado - where some municipal health departments have issued air-quality warnings.
Meanwhile, another wildfire is burning in south-eastern Arizona and threatening two small communities.
A thousand firefighters are tackling that blaze, which is listed as 55% contained, reported Reuters news agency.
Send your pictures and videos to firstname.lastname@example.org or text them to 61124 (UK) or +44 7624 800 100 (International). If you have a large file you can upload here. | <urn:uuid:035b24d9-0b79-4c0e-be99-032cacceb3dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-13678175 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970765 | 606 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Another month is passed and the Velveteers are back! This time was Pam who threw down the gauntlet challenging us on making Laksa.
I might say that this came quite at the right moment, when the increasing cold weather makes our bodies crave for warm soups. Laksa is indeed a satisfying and aromatic soup typically done in Singapore. As consequence to its origins, this doesn't really say it all. Singapore is quite a vibrant, multi-ethnic and voracious city. Its citizens, spanning the whole Asian nationalities and not only, can delight themselves on hundreds of food establishments able to answer that midnight crave for Dim Sum or to fill the emptiness left by a disappointing day. Singaporean cuisine is then a happy fusion of influences contextualised to the local produces. Fish and crustaceans are paramount among the available on high quality standard ingredients hence all the various typical way to cook and enjoy it, Chilli Crab the most famous.
Laksa is a way to enjoy more humble fishes along with the products of land.
To summarise it shortly, Laksa soup is based on an aromatic broth finished with coconut milk served with noodles and a whole lot of toppings. Two main families of Laksa do exist and that is with or without tamarind (assam in Malay); the first go then by the name of Assam Laksa and are characterised by their tanginess, the second family consists of the Curry Laksa. This said, now you can get crazy on the garnishes!
The most traditional version of Laksa features fish balls and fried tofu puffs as part of the soup broth, served with a special thick kind of noodle, bean sprouts, cockles, fish sticks, sometimes chicken but surely with a lot of fresh herbs. Here lies the trick of the master, the fresh herbs. Don't we all love to eat our Vietnamese nems wrapped in as many leaves of fresh mint, holy basil and coriander as possible? This is the beauty of South East Asian cuisine, what we consider foraging products they call just veggies or herbs; isn't this great? Who knows how many local plants lies forgotten in the darkness of a shrub' shadow (or even in our local parks).
Among these special herbs lies the so called Vietnamese coriander or Laksa leaf. Reminiscent of bamboos at the look, though much thinner, the stalk bares long pointy aromatic leaves. To the nose they are indeed reminiscent of fresh coriander but with a more demure touch. Fragrant and floral, they seem to be born as a perfect marriage between galangal’s flowery notes and the characteristic coriander aroma (that I call soapy). To the taste they are not so strong, grassy for the most but with a lovely pepperiness at the end. They seem perfect as addition to your plain chicken soup along with some ginger and spring onions; the vendor at the grocery store though advised me, as a man, not to eat as many otherwise well, somebody might get bored at night time, if you take my drift.
Pam underlined how these leaves really bring Laksa to a whole new level and I can only agree with her. The main spices used for the curry paste are actually rhizomes or plants, being these shallots, ginger, galangal and lemongrass and so they deliver a very fragrant and light bodied broth. Not to forget that this soup is often pretty spicy either for the chillies added in the curry base or for the sambal paste with which it is usually served.
The sea affiliation of this dish is accentuated in some variations made using boiled fish then flaked and sometimes blitzed with the other spices to create the curry base or even by the use of pounded dried shrimps and/or the accompaniment of "petis udang" or "hae ko" a sweet-thick prawn dark sauce.
This dish relies as much on fish as it does on noodles. A special kind of noodle is indeed prepared to be enjoyed with it. Called simply Laksam, these "noodles" aren't other than thin strips cut out of rolled up steamed rice pancakes. As almost every steamed dough, these noodles get a spongy, springy texture out of the cooking method and are sometimes used to eat the thick soup (more of a gravy in these situations) like the Ethiopian Injera bread.
The use of coconut is evident in almost every variation of this soup. Mostly in the form of coconut milk, the flavourful nut is employed to enrich the body of the light broth base conveying it a sweet touch. Another way to exploit coconut flavourful oils it is to toast its pulp. This brings us to the second way of including coconut in Laksa, as a topping in the form of kerisik; a pounded sandy paste of freshly grated and roasted coconut.
What else is there to say? I guess by now you can just imagine yourself sipping that broth and enjoying the party of textures that this dish has: the springy fish balls, soft fish sticks or fish flakes, the crunchy bean sprouts or dried shrimps, the al dente or slippery feeling of the noodles without forgetting the heading aroma of the fresh herbs steeping in the bowl. Do you need more of a savoury note? In some interpretation of Laksa, eggs are used as part of the topping, either hard boiled or in the form of omelette strips they add that extra touch of rich savouriness typical of some Thai and Chinese dishes.
Which is my contribution to this picture then?
I wanted to give this soup a more South Italian/Middle Eastern touch including ingredients of my land. I decided to go for almond instead of coconut as the nut to use with the addition of the zingy lemon zest and fragrant basil to the bouquet of aromas.
I played a little bit with the textures and the garnishes so to maintain a regional authenticity giving more focus on the broth, now more of a cream in texture. The pro of using freshly squeezed almond milk is in effect its property to thicken up the broth. Differently to starch but more similar to an egg-liaison (a vegetarian one in this case), fresh almonds milk thicken by act of its proteins giving the final product a silky smoothness. The pro of this almond liaison is that it doesn’t develop sulphuric flavour if overcooked and it doesn’t really curdle as eggs do, but it can still produce a mild "whey" separation; to avoid this I have included in my recipe a minimal amount of starch that should help binding that extra water.
As a crossing between some traditions that want spaghetti to be used as noodle and the flatness of Laksa noodle, I went for linguine as part of the starch in my dish; tagliatelle being too thin bodied for my purpose of texture contrast.
Always on the trail of textures, I included in my recipe prawns two ways: a crispy herbal version and another more supple and aromatic in the form of Har Gao dumplings.
Finally here you are my:
Fragrant Almond Laksa with noodles, fresh herbs, Oriental garden crispy prawns and southern Italian Har Gao dumplings
Ingredients (make 500ml of soup and garnishes for 2 people):
- 140g shallots, chopped
- 40g galangal, peeled and chopped
- 30g ginger, peeled and chopped
- 2 lemongrass stalks, tender parts chopped
- 2tbsp canola oil
- 2tbsp tomato puree
- 1tsp shrimp paste
- 1 lemongrass stalk, smashed and cut in chunks
- 8 prawns full with shell and head if possible
- 300g almonds, skinned and steeping in hot water
- 1/4tsp starch
- 1tsp sugar
- sweet paprika (to taste)
- turmeric (to taste)
- 2 rice paper disks
- 2 laksa leaves
- 2 mint leaves
- 2 holy basil leaves
- Translucent Dim Sum (Har Gao) dough sufficient for 4 dumplings (roughly 30g of dry starches, you can buy the flour mixture in any Asian grocery store)
- 1/4tsp lemon zest
- 1tsp almond kerisik
- 1/4tsp cornstarch
- Basil leaves
- Rice vermicelli
- white wine
- Fresh herbs (mint, laksa leaves, basil)
The soup will take some time to simmer down so let's start with the curry paste.
Combine the chopped ingredients in a blender with the rest of the wet ingredients and the shrimp paste. Adding a little of water if needed, blend the ingredients into a smooth paste.
Warm up a non stick skillet and fry the curry dough in a little oil. Keep stirring the curry paste constantly to dry and cook it uniformly. When the oil will start separating from the paste, it will be ready for your soup.
In a soup pot, warm up some oil and slowly fry the prawns shells and heads. When they will turn completely pink and smell fragrant, add the curry paste and slowly add roughly 1liter of water diluting the paste properly. Add now the chunks of lemongrass and let the soup simmer down till it will be reduced to half (1h or so). You will need this time to let the spices and herbs infuse the soup properly.
In the meantime prepare the almonds milk. Grab a handful of almonds and blitz them into a food processor, add then roughly 50ml of warm water and process again the almonds till you obtain a fine puree. Using a mousseline cloth, strain the almonds milk into a bowl. Press the almonds so to thoroughly extract all their liquid. Discard the almond pulp into a bowl. Take another handful of whole almonds and start again. Blitz them into powder in the food processor and this time use the previously made almond milk to moisten them and process again to a fine pulp. Strain pressing the newly enriched almond milk. Continue this way till you finish all the almonds, save few almonds for the kerisik.
To continue with the garnishes, prepare the kerisik. Chop the leftover almonds in little pieces and toast them in a skillet over low fire tossing them regularly or in a oven. When uniformly golden brown, transfer them into a mortar and using the pestle pulverize them in almost a paste. Set aside the kerisik.
Let's move to the prawns now. Remove the veins running along the back of the 8 prawns. Coarsely shop four prawns using your knives, add then the lemon zest and the kerisik. Using your knife chop those all together until uniformly blended. Transfer the prawns stuffing in a small ramekin, sprinkle a little salt on it along with the cornstarch and mix them uniformly. Let the stuffing steep in the fridge until ready to use. Prepare the Har Gao dough following the package instruction or one of the recipes online like this one.
To prepare the Har Gao dumplings, tear four balls of roughly 3/4" in diameter from the dough. Oil your hands and a flat surface (I used a bench scraper, easier to hold). Spread the ball into a thin circle or roughly 2" in diameter over the flat surface using your fingers. Stuff each circle with 1/4 of the prawn-almond mixture and close the dumpling in a way or another. Refrigerate until ready to cook them.
Finely mince together 2 of each laksa, mint and holy basil leaves. Butterfly the remaining four prawns by cutting along their back almost all the way through and stuff each of them with some of the minced leaves mixture. Moisten the rice paper disks by shortly plunging them into cold water. Do not let them stand in the water for too long or they will become very fragile, they should get soft and pliable. Tear each disk in 2 parts and wrap each of them around one prawn and set aside.
By now the soup should have reduced by half and be ready, if so strain the soup though a medium mesh sieve so to recover the prawns shells and the lemongrass pieces. Chop them in the food processor with a little of the soup until finely minced. Now we need to pass the soup through a mousseline cloth to strain all the undissolved curry paste.
Place the mousseline on the sieve you used previously and strain the soup and the blitzed prawns’ shells-lemongrass mixture. Let the residual in the mousseline cool down a bit and when it will be warm enough to handle, squeeze the pouch thoroughly. Clean the soup pot and transfer the sieved soup in it. Bring the soup to a simmer, dissolve the starch in the almond milk and add it to the soup. Season with salt and sugar; adjust the soup colour with a little paprika and turmeric if wished.
Roughly 1h before you plan on serving the soup, remember to steep the rice vermicelli in enough cold white wine and water mixture to cover them.
Before serving the soup cook the linguine, steam the Har Gao dumplings, fry the crispy prawns and warm up the soup. To finish cooking the vermicelli drain them, bring the wine mixture to a boil and blanch the vermicelli for few seconds; combine them with the linguine in a bowl.
Divide the soup between two soup bowls or pasta dishes. Spoon some pasta in the centre of each soup plate and garnish with fresh herbs. Serve the dumplings and fried prawns aside.
The 4 Velveteers was started by Alessio, Aparna, Asha and Pamela, who are passionate about different cuisines and food in general. Each month, we will attempt a new dish and share our experiences and the recipes we used. If you're interested in joining the Velveteers, please feel free to drop by our Facebook group.
Check out what the other Velveteers have come up with this month:
Aparna's Vegetarian Curry Laksa;
Asha's Laksa Lemak;
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Cardiomyopathy is a disease that affects the heart muscle. In restrictive cardiomyopathy (RCM) the heart muscle becomes rigid and unable to relax and fill with blood. The function or squeeze of the heart may be normal, but the relaxation is abnormal. When the lower left chamber of the heart, called the left ventricle, is unable to stretch and fill with blood, pressure builds up causing abnormal heart rhythms and symptoms of heart failure.
Many individuals with RCM experience no symptoms. Symptoms can develop at any age and are primarily associated with heart failure.
Older children and adults
Newborns and babies
Even though some people can have RCM and experience no symptoms, they may still be at risk for complications of the condition. The most serious complications of RCM is sudden cardiac arrest. Sudden cardiac arrest is a sudden loss of heart function caused by a dangerously fast heart rhythm. Unless emergency treatments, including CPR and defibrillation, are initiated immediately, sudden cardiac death can occur. For this reason, it is important for anyone at risk to be followed by a cardiologist with experience in caring for individuals with RCM.
RCM can be inherited. When an individual is diagnosed with RCM, there is a 25 to 30 percent chance that an underlying genetic cause will be identified. Most commonly, the genetic cause results in a condition that runs in a family and affects only the heart. It is possible that parents, siblings, and even aunts/uncles or cousins of an individual diagnosed with RCM may also have a heart muscle condition. If they haven’t had cardiac screening, family members may not know they are affected.
There are other genetic causes of RCM which can be associated with other health problems. These include genetic syndromes. In some people, the cause of RCM is unknown. Other health conditions can cause build-up of substances in the heart muscle which cause it to be rigid resulting in abnormal relaxation. Some of these conditions include:
The diagnosis of RCM is based on family history, medical history, a physical exam, and cardiac testing.
The treatment for individuals with RCM can be challenging. Treatment is focused on minimizing or preventing symptoms, protecting the patient from abnormal heart rhythms and delaying disease progression.
Individuals with RCM need to be followed by a cardiologist on a regular basis. Medications are used to treat symptoms but currently there are not any medications that improve the heart’s ability to relax. The most important treatment is the prevention of abnormal heart rates, or arrhythmias.
Lifestyle changes are recommended for some individuals. Some individuals will be discouraged from exercise, especially competitive sports.
Some individuals with RCM are at increased risk for a sudden cardiac arrest. For individuals determined to be at increased risk of a sudden cardiac arrest, preventive treatments such medication to control heart rate (antiarrhythmic medications) or an implantable cardioverter defibrillator (ICD) may be recommended. If the condition is severe, a heart transplant may be considered.
Genes are packages of genetic information that tell our bodies how to develop and function. RCM can be caused by a change or mutation in a gene that encodes proteins important for the contraction or squeeze of the heart muscle. Most often, RCM is inherited. A parent that carries a gene mutation will have a 50 percent chance of passing it on to each child.
Genetic testing is available to look for mutations in the genes known to cause RCM. This type of testing is done on a blood sample. It is best to begin genetic testing in a family with an individual who is known to have RCM. If a gene mutation is found in someone with RCM, genetic testing for the same mutation can be offered to close family members. Finding a gene mutation in other family members will help identify relatives who may be at risk to develop RCM and who should have cardiac screening.
A genetic counselor and/or geneticist can assess the family history and provide information about the chance that there is a genetic predisposition to cardiomyopathy. A genetics professional can also explain and facilitate genetic testing and interpret results for patients and families.
All first degree relatives of an individual who has RCM should undergo routine cardiac evaluation. This includes parents, brothers, sisters and children. If a gene mutation causing RCM in an individual is known, cardiac screening is recommended for those family members proven to also carry the gene mutation. Routine cardiac screening would not be recommended for family members who did not inherit the gene mutation.
The timing of routine cardiac screening for family members should be discussed with a cardiologist and genetics professional who have familiarity in caring for individuals with cardiomyopathy. How frequently an individual should be evaluated is based on published guidelines and the individual’s age, personal medical and family history.
To learn more about treatment of Restrictive Cardiomyopathy at the Heart Institute at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, please call 513-803-1746.
Learn more about the different types of cardiomyopathy. Download condition sheets in portable document format (PDF):
- Left Ventricular Non-Compaction Cardiomyopathy (LVNC)- Restrictive Cardiomyopathy (RCM)- Hypertrophic Cardiomyopathy (HMC)- Dilated Cardiomyopathy (DCM)
3333 Burnet Avenue, Cincinnati, Ohio 45229-3026 | 1-513-636-4200 | 1-800-344-2462 | TTY:1-513-636-4900
New to Cincinnati Children’s or live outside of the tri-state area? 1-877-881-8479
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For some time now, Minnesota has been a refuge for immigrant communities displaced from their homes due to a variety of circumstances. One of these communities is the Liberian community, which grew rapidly in the aftermath of a series of civil wars that ravished their country. However the story of Liberians in Minnesota does not begin with these civil wars but stretches back more than 50 years.
In this radio documentary, we look at this history, along with the growth and development of the community. In a series of conversations with a wide-range of Liberians in Minnesota including Wynfred Russell, Abdullai Kiatamba, Piso Tarr, Yeamah Brewer, Mameneh George, Charles Dennis and others, in addition to other prominent figures in the community including State Representative Keith Ellison, professor of history Peter Rachleff and theatre director Wendy Knox, this programs provides an overview of where the Liberian community in Minnesota stands today, the contributions it has made to the state and what the future holds.
The documentary is produced by Liberian-American artist e.g. bailey, and his partner Sha Cage. The three-part documentary will air on KFAI Fresh Air Radio (90.3fm Minneapolis/106.7fm St. Paul) on February 16th, 21st and 23rd at 7:30pm. It can also be streamed online at wwww.kfai.org. | <urn:uuid:bc357922-3958-42fd-89d5-469cc7202a8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://egbailey.com/tag/liberia/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960994 | 289 | 2.125 | 2 |