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We’ve all been there, in conversation with an abortion supporter, showing them as best we can the obvious reality that life begins at the beginning, when it becomes shockingly clear that the facts make no difference. While pro-choice rhetoric has happily softened from ‘abortion-on-demand-no-regrets!’ to ‘abortion as a morally significant event‘, it doesn’t seem to be morally significant in any particular direction. Simply put, many are able to ignore the striking fact of the unborn child. Ultrasound images bounce off their eyes. Embryology textbooks – it seems – evade their grasps. They grow faint and distant at any confrontation over where life begins. Are we to give up on these individuals?
No. The beautiful thing about Truth is that it is a thing overflowing; it applies to more than just the immediate issue. Thus, if we cannot meet these individuals in their avoidance of the child, we can meet them in their stance of care for the woman. Similarly, the terrible thing about Evil is that it is a thing that truly sucks. Abortion is a black hole that pulls in and tears apart not just a human person, but our society, our culture and most importantly, women.
Here then, are three arguments to make in defense of women, and thus against abortion.
1. Abortion increases the risk of breast cancer. This truth, evidenced in prestigious, peer-reviewed cancer-research journals is a very important truth to disseminate. Why? Because the anti-breast-cancer movement – in its walks, marches, fun-runs, pink ribbons, shirts – is one of the most pro-woman movements in existence. Breast cancer is a modern plague on the women of our society, and abortion is augmenting its power. To support women – one assumes – is to be against that one disease that so effects women, to stand strongly against the cancer that has caused such tragedy in the lives of our sisters. To be pro-abortion and simultaneously set against breast cancer is to say that the lack of a child is worth the risk of terminal illness. I don’t claim that this position cannot be maintained – perhaps one could weigh the various costs of feeding a baby versus having chemotherapy treatment. No, I simply claim that this position chips away at the pro-choice foundation, that their’s is a movement in defense of the woman.
2. Abortion makes women sad. I do not mean that in some vague way. A study published in the British Journal of Psychiatry, synthesizing data from 1995 to 2009, shows that “women who had undergone an abortion had an 81% increased risk of mental health problems.”
From the European Journal of Public Health 2005: Researchers examining deaths among the entire population of women in Finland found that those who had abortions had a 3.5 times higher death rate from suicide, accidents, or homicides in the following year. Suicide rates among aborting women were six times higher compared to women who gave birth and two times higher compared to women who miscarried.
Have you ever brought up the issue of abortion, not knowing some one has experienced it? Now there’s a heartbreaking situation, akin to speaking flippantly about the death of a family member to someone who has experienced such a loss. I can only speak from experience: Away flies the tolerant “we all have our beliefs, you your own, and me mine” position. Instead, post-abortion women react violently, shakily, and tearfully, full of anger, or guilt, or both. If abortion makes women sad, which seems to be readily apparent, then once again, the pro-choice movement is placed in the awkward position of claiming to have the health of women as their highest priority, while attempting to increase the availability of that-which-makes-women-sad.
A study that has never been carried out: Suicide rates in mothers who were strongly considering abortion, but chose life. Why not? Probably because it would be a very boring study, with lots of not-depressed mothers being not-depressed.
3. There are other women in existence! And no, I’m not talking about the fact that most children aborted are girls, though it is an interesting question to ask: When, exactly, do women’s rights begin? I’m talking about mothers who want to adopt! A 2008 study by National Center for Health Statistics found that 33.1% of women have at some point considered adoption. Of that number 4.9% were currently seeking adoptions. That’s 901,000 women looking for babies. By most recent statistics, there are approximately 129,000 children seeking adoption. Now I’m no mathematician, but that’s 772,000 women who want to adopt a child, but will not. It seems that if we killed less of our children, this would not be a problem. Shoot, even if we take the women who were currently seeking adoptions AND had already begun taking steps – 560,000 – there aren’t enough children to go around.
Why, oh why, do we put women at risk of cancer, depression, and in the terrifying position of violence against their own children, when there are so many women looking for children to adopt? It seems obvious that between hurting one woman and helping two, the most pro-woman action one could take would be to counsel a woman to consider adoption. The most pro-woman action one might take would be to rapidly reduce abortions in America, and thereby increase adoptions.
Though I understand why there exists the rather insane idea that the better choice for all women would be an abortion: Abortion brings in cash. Who is going to pay for all those Planned Parenthood ‘don’t-defund-us’ campaigns if everyone’s putting their children up for adoption?
So there you have it. Three effective ways to make the pro-life argument to people seemingly unconcerned with the moral question surrounding the unborn child. I plan on bringing up a few more, so if there any you would like discuss, just let me know! | <urn:uuid:b19b5116-b27b-424a-9ce4-076a1c7648c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://liveactionnews.org/3-ways-to-make-the-pro-life-argument-to-people-who-dont-care-about-the-child/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971311 | 1,269 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Taunina: Gifts With Soul
CAPE TOWN, South Africa, Nov. 12, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Enough with the ties and plastic toys. Cape-Town based Taunina is a powerful call to consume and dispose of less, and appreciate and cherish more.
Representing the intersection of art, commerce and social consciousness, Taunina employs women from disadvantaged communities to lovingly handcraft one-of-a-kind heirloom-quality decorative stuffed animals. Each is embellished with exquisite embroidery and sculpted with heritage fabrics from iconic textile houses such as Liberty of London. "These gorgeous Taunina collectable soft toys caught our eye, and the story caught our heart." - Fairlady, August 2012
"In receiving a Taunina teddy bear, adults and children are exposed first hand to global and social issues, impassioning them with a desire to change the world. In gifting someone a Taunina bear, the giver grows the recipient's world, achieves measurable social impact, and is recognized as a catalyst for change." - Home-dzine.co.za, October 2012
Related PRNewswire Releases News | <urn:uuid:2eea96cc-a193-449e-8da6-b83a36e960f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pn.newsblaze.com/story/2012111213430200001.pnw/topstory.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922124 | 246 | 1.671875 | 2 |
- Integrating Mining and Biodiversity Conservation: Case studies from around the world
In July 2003, a major workshop was organised under the auspices of the Dialogue at IUCN's headquarters in Gland, Switzerland. Several case studies from around the world were reviewed and discussed to lay the foundation for the development of good practice guidance for the mining industry. Those case studies and others are summarised in this publication....
Citation: Strake, Linda. 2004. Integrating Mining and Biodiversity Conservation: Case studies from around the world. International Council on Mining & Metals.
Areas of Interest: Corporate Social Responsibility, Development, Economic - Environmental, Resource Extraction
- Land and Conflict: Resource Extraction, Human Rights, and Corporate Social Responsibility - Canadian Companies in Colombia
This report, researched by MiningWatch Canada, CENSAT-Agua Viva, and Inter Pares, looks at four case studies of Canadian extractive industry investment projects in Colombia, analyzing their associated potential human rights risks. Referring to principles developed by the UN Special Representative on Human Rights and Transnational Corporations, the report identifies issues and circumstances that clearly indicate that transparent and independent human rights impact assessments are necessary to avoid significant potential risk to human rights in existing and proposed extractive projects....
Citation: MiningWatch Canada, CENSAT-Agua Viva, and Inter Pares. 2009. Land and Conflict: Resource Extraction, Human Rights, and Corporate Social Responsibility - Canadian Companies in Colombia. Inter Pares and MinigWatch Canada.
Areas of Interest: Corporate Governance - Transparency, Corporate Social Responsibility, Human Rights, Public Policy - Regulation, Resource Extraction, SRI/Responsible Investment
- Mansfield Minera’s Approach to Corporate Social Responsibility
This document reports the results of a field study that was conducted October 11-15, 2011. After a description of the context (company, area, and social and environmental factors) and of the field observations, the results are discussed in terms of relationships at play and of the degree of alignment between the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada (PDAC) “Principles and Guidance” of “e3Plus, Framework for Responsible Exploration” and Mansfield Minera’s CSR practices....
Areas of Interest: Corporate Social Responsibility, Economic - Environmental, Economic - Social, Environment & Business, Indigenous People, Leadership, Resource Extraction
- Morality and Ethics in Organizational Administration
The article is a detailed case study of theft and fraud by an employee in an organization. The analysis suggests that in the process of dealing with the employee, the issue was not primarily one of et...
Citation: Adelman, Howard. 1991. Morality and Ethics in Organizational Administration. In Journal of Business Ethics.
Areas of Interest: Corporate Social Responsibility, Theory
- Organizing/Theorizing: Developments in Organization Theory and Practice
Wonders whether companies actually have employees best interests at heart across physical, mental and spiritual spheres. Posits that most organizations ignore their workforce -- not even, in many cases, describing workers as assets! Describes many studies to back up this claim in this work based on the 2002 Employment Research Unit Annual Conference, in Cardiff, Wales....
Citation: Budhwar, Pawan, Andy Crane, Annette Davies, Rick Delbridge, Tim Edwards, Mahmoud Ezzamel, Lloyd Harris, Emmanuel Ogbonna, and Robyn Thomas. 2002. Organizing/Theorizing: Developments in Organization Theory and Practice. Management Research News 25 (8,9,10):1-193.
Areas of Interest: Theory
- Rosia Montana Gold Controversy. Rosia Montana: A Case Study in Sensitive Mining Development in Romania.
The Rosia Montana gold deposit in the Apuseni Mountains of northwest Romania has been worked since Roman times, and is currently being mined on an uneconomic basis by a state-owned mining company, Minvest. That mine is due to close by 2007, in advance of Romania's anticipated membership of the European Union (EU). Because little other employment is available in the area, closure of the mine will mean increased hardship in an already poor region. Set against this backdrop, the Rosia Montana Gold Corp (RMGC), an international joint-venture company, plans to develop a large-scale, modern mining operation on the site of the old mine. Current plans include stabilisation and clean-up of mine wastes and acid mine drainage (AMD) generated by past mining activities....
Citation: Richards, Jeremy. 2005. "Rosia Montana Gold Controversy. Rosia Montana: A Case Study in Sensitive Mining Development in Romania." Mining Environmental Management, January, pp. 4-13.
Areas of Interest: Corporate Social Responsibility, Development, Economic - Environmental, Human Rights, Resource Extraction, Sustainability
- Water Management in Mining: A Selection of Case Studies
The mining industry has developed innovative ways to respond to water challenges in different contexts. ICMM presents this collection of case studies to illustrate examples of good water management which provide a snapshot of the leadership approaches in the industry....
Citation: International Council on Mining and Metals. 2012. Water Management in Mining: A Selection of Case Studies. International Council on Mining and Metals (ICMM)
Areas of Interest: Development, Environment & Business, Resource Extraction, Sustainability | <urn:uuid:2d7a9c9c-787f-4625-a7a9-21f1411b7747> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbern.ca/cms/One.aspx?objectId=807949&contextId=625751&SortingOrder=&AttributeId=38563&crmObjectTypeId=6212265&BrowseFilterRequest=73&SortingAttributeId=&CRMBrowseSorting=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905463 | 1,123 | 2.140625 | 2 |
hole 10 and 16 are both lefty roller holes once the grass starts drying out. the problem is they play in opposite winds. tailwind makes you put the roller down earlier. so usually only one of the two is playing as a roller hole.
the loss of a few key trees has made the back side a repeat of shots. the three pines used to protect the right side of 13. it made the righties start their drive on an anhyzer to get to a shorter upshot. hyzer drive left 350+ upshot. anhyzer increased the risk of ob with south wind. now, you can start your drive on nearly any angle you choose.
hole 14 had the one huge tree that made that hole. it was a hyzer between two flip shot holes. again, now you can start your disc on any angle you choose.
hole 15 is a skilled two in the long position and favors the lefties. the short location was put in for lions den and leagues early/late in the year where daylight is a concern. is stays short too much but the short location breaks up some of the monotony caused by 14s change.
hole 16 is designed like a ball golf hole. it pinches down with double ob where most players land their drive. the headwind provides the major challenge here. is can be a little boring without it. this hole can screw up your round if you take it for granted.
hole 17 needs it tree as well though it is still a tough hole without the tree. again like fairway bunkers in ball golf, the fairway pinches with double ob where some players land their drive. wind provides more teeth but this is a tough hole either way.
hole 18 is not a good hole. the drive on this hole is usually not meaningful. 500+ throwers can have a chance at 2 by bringing the ob in play. there used to be a lower branch to contend with on the upshot to the short, but its still usually a star par for advanced/pros. the long location makes you use your head a little more, but can bring the cars into play.
swope has had the same problems, and waterworks to some extent. can u imagine losing some of the key trees that make holes at waterworks? either the left or right tree on 1,7,8,10? remember 11 when it had the lower ceiling? it was a much better hole. how will hole 13 or 16 be if they loose their one tree?
instead of calling any hole the worst hole ever, how about bringing some extra water or mulch for the smaller trees at your favorite course? be thankful for some of the trees we still have and . . . play the Tree Love Classic on September 15th where we will be joining together to raise the awareness of this exact issue. i know, shameless plug | <urn:uuid:db6a5c49-8177-4bf6-8c41-782c54300560> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kcfdc.org/forum/index.php?topic=7857.45 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96427 | 588 | 1.742188 | 2 |
[MR2] reading a/c pressure gauges
tbamc at gbta.net
Tue Jul 8 00:58:03 EDT 2008
I bought a used set of gauges for dealing with my a/c system, and
thought using them was fairly straightforward. I then noticed that in
addition to a PSI scale, there is an R12 and an R22 scale. I 'thought'
the large PSI scale was the one to use, but then seeing the vastly
different R12 scale I started to question that assumption. Anyone know
the difference, or have a link to a site explaining it? Google wasn't
kind to me.
More information about the MR2 | <urn:uuid:25fd1fa6-e6e8-4d93-972f-f45d11fbc474> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mr2.com/pipermail/mr2_mr2.com/2008-July/002318.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952132 | 149 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Scotland should take greater control of its fisheries policy rather than allow the European Union to continue to impose regulations by "remote control", according to the Fisheries Secretary.
Richard Lochhead wants "radical changes" to the EU's Common Fisheries Policy to hand more control to local and regional communities.
He said Scotland has suffered years of "painful cuts and baffling rules imposed by the EU", including quota reductions which he blamed on "irresponsible" fishing by Iceland and the Faroe Islands. He has also called for Scottish seafood to be sold at a premium, similar to Scotch beef and lamb, to reflect its "delicious and high quality" status.
Reflecting on the challenges facing the Scottish fishing industry in 2013, Mr Lochhead said: "After years of painful cuts and baffling rules imposed by the EU, some progress was finally achieved last month at the Fisheries Council in Brussels meaning there is a chink of light for Scottish fishing. The key is now to keep up the momentum for positive change as we prepare for more crucial decisions in 2013."
He said more can be done to "capture the value of every fish landed on our shores".
"Scottish seafood is delicious and high quality, yet that is not always reflected in the price achieved for our fish and shellfish," he added. "I believe we can secure a premium for Scottish seafood, much in the same way as is achieved for Scotch beef or Scotch lamb. The Scottish Government is committed to working with the industry in 2013 to help achieve that."
Mr Lochhead's immediate priority this month is to reach a positive outcome in the EU-Norway talks, including the cod and mackerel quotas.
"The excessive fishing of the mackerel stock by the Faroes and Iceland means a quota cut is expected for that particular fishery," he said. "However, I will not accept a double whammy for our pelagic sector, and will therefore reject the European Commission's proposals for an even greater quota reduction that would only reward Iceland and Faroes for their irresponsible behaviour.
"Instead, we need the EU to finally confirm the long overdue sanction measures and take decisive action this year if Iceland and the Faroes continue to overfish the stock. My preference still remains for all parties to return to the negotiating table and to agree a fair agreement, but the ball is firmly in their court.
"Looking ahead, 2013 will be a pivotal year for the reform of the EU's ill-fitting Common Fisheries Policy, which has been highly damaging for Scottish fishing communities and the stocks. That's why we are pressing for radical changes, including changing the remote control from Brussels, with more management decisions taken at the local and regional level." | <urn:uuid:b91fd0c7-5c9f-4efb-b4f0-f38c4f6cc2ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://icrenfrewshire.icnetwork.co.uk/tm_headline=lochhead-eyes-fisheries-policy-move&method=full&objectid=32588057&siteid=63858-name_page.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962105 | 550 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Marianela de la Hoz:
Marianela de la Hoz was born in Mexico City and has lived in San Diego County for the last 10 years. Her detailed painting technique is informed by Surrealism and focuses on representational art. Heaven and Earth, the Determined Freedom of an Undetermined Life consists of an altarpiece with 11 individual paintings. The imagery alludes to well-known biblical narratives, especially the story of Eve. As a part of de la Hoz’s re-contextualized story, a modern Eve, portrayed in the upper region of the central painting, wears an apple on her chest as a type of Scarlet Letter and eats apple pie.
This dramatic altarpiece is inspired in part by the Museum’s painting, Madonna and Child, ca.1468 by Carlo Crivelli, which will be on view across from the altarpiece. While de la Hoz and Crivelli are separated by centuries, their use of tempera, Christian imagery, and the depiction of apples tie the works together visually and notionally. Although Crivelli adheres to one of the most common representations in the history of art—the Virgin Mary with baby Jesus—de la Hoz challenges the role of religion and questions its impact on motherhood and destiny. The artist states, “Personally, I feel closer to Eve because of our imperfections; the Virgin Mary is too perfect and pure for me to attempt to recreate her image.” With these two works together, de la Hoz creates a dialogue between two related but different women, the Virgin Mary and Eve.
All images of work by Marianela de la Hoz appear courtesy of the artist | <urn:uuid:3f18f6fe-a4b3-47d7-b7f5-b870e5c25434> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sdmart.org/art/exhibit/marianela-de-la-hoz | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937995 | 348 | 2.234375 | 2 |
KABUL ATTACK JACOBSON SOUNDBITES
Independent Films, Documentaries, Politics
The ISAF spokesman, Brigadier General Carsten Jacobson, talks about the attack in Kabul this morning saying it’s too early to say whether it was linked to the visit over night of US President Barak Obama.
The North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) is an intergovernmental military alliance based on the North Atlantic Treaty signed on 4 April 1949. NATO constitutes a system of collective defense in response to an attack by any external party. The NATO headquarters are in Brussels, Belgium.
DISCLAIMER: No material produced by NATO is to be sold, used for outside advertising or promotional purposes of any kind. All content taken from NATO and republished must be clearly credited or sourced to NATO. Photos, videos and articles are released under the legally recognized terms of "Fair Use" to members of the press, academia, non-profits and the general public. No material is to be used in programs, articles or online publications of any kind that defame NATO or its member countries. Material is provided, free of charge, for use in objective and balanced content, even if at times the end products may be critical of NATO. In instances where a member country is criticized, NATO wishes it to be made known that it does not associate itself with the contents of the article, publication or broadcast. NATO reserves the right to request the removal of NATO copyrighted material from any externally created content.
Transcripts / Production notes / Scripts
1. (00:00) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BRIGADIER GENERAL CARSTEN JACOBSON, ISAF SPOKESMAN
Q. What do you know about the attack this morning?
“Well what we know so far is that we had an attack of a small group of insurgents in the east of Kabul in a compound where a lot of civilian workers work and live. Fortunately ISAF did not suffer any fatalities but we have civilian casualties in this incident and particularly sad we have seen civilian children being wounded.”
2. (00:25) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BRIGADIER GENERAL CARSTEN JACOBSON, ISAF SPOKESMAN
Q. What do you know about any fatalities?
“We have no reports on fatalities yet. We do know that there are no ISAF fatalities, we do know that there are wounded amongst them children, who are in medical care.”
3. (00:38) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BRIGADIER GENERAL CARSTEN JACOBSON, ISAF SPOKESMAN
Q. Do you think this is linked to the visit over night of Barak Obama?
“I would not jump to conclusion on what the background behind this attack is. It is a small number of insurgents who made it into the city, detonated explosive charges. They have been taken out by Afghan National Security Forces and we now have to look into the background of this attack.”
4. (00:56) SOUNDBITE (ENGLISH) BRIGADIER GENERAL CARSTEN JACOBSON, ISAF SPOKESMAN
Q. Yet again, suicide attackers have managed to strike inside the city. Some would say this is a poor lapse of security.
“Well individuals have made it into a city of five million inhabitants. They made it into a location that they targeted, detonated their bombs. I would not say that this is a failure in intelligence, the important thing is the very quick spontaneous reaction of the Afghan National Police, them taking action, them taking the situation under control and clearly bringing this situation to an end very quickly.”
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Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy for HorsesBy Kentucky Equine Research Staff · October 21, 2005
Hyperbaric oxygen therapy, or HBOT, refers to a treatment in which a patient is placed in a sealed chamber and exposed to oxygen at several times normal atmospheric pressure. Oxygen is forced into the blood and other body fluids (lymph, cerebrospinal fluid, bone marrow), destroying bacteria and helping to heal injuries.
How does HBOT work?
The air we breathe contains about 21% oxygen, with the remainder made up of nitrogen and tiny amounts of other gases. Red blood cells take up oxygen from the lungs, carrying it in dissolved form to all parts of the body. Breathing more rapidly or deeply does not increase the amount of oxygen carried by the blood, and breathing pure oxygen at normal atmospheric pressure increases it only slightly. However, putting a horse in a hyperbaric chamber and increasing the atmospheric pressure to much greater than normal is very effective in enhancing the oxygen-carrying ability of the blood because oxygen is forced into the plasma in addition to being carried by the red blood cells.
HBOT aids healing in the following ways:
- Increasing oxygen to the body stimulates growth of new blood vessels in bone or soft tissue, thus allowing more oxygen-rich blood to reach the affected area after treatment.
- Swelling and inflammation are decreased, allowing blood (and therefore oxygen) to flow more freely to the area.
- High oxygen levels increase the ability of the white blood cells to kill bacteria in infected tissues.
- Anaerobic bacteria are killed directly by the high level of oxygen reaching infected tissues, even if normal circulation has been affected.
What types of injuries and ailments can be treated?
When used as an adjunct to traditional veterinary techniques, HBOT has produced excellent results in a variety of applications.
- Breeding. HBOT helps the uterus return to normal size and shape following foaling, and dummy foals improve with increased blood flow to the brain. The therapy has also been reported to increase libido in aging stallions.
- Anemia or blood loss. For horses that are anemic and those that have lost a large volume of blood because of injury or surgery, HBOT allows the remaining blood to carry a larger amount of oxygen, sustaining body functions while more blood is being produced.
- Bone infection. HBOT increases the oxygen concentration in all body tissues including bone and bone marrow. Bone infections that have not responded to traditional antibiotic therapy often clear up after treatment in the hyperbaric chamber. Joint infections in foals also respond well to this therapy.
- Wounds in skin and muscle tissue. Improved oxygen delivery and stimulation of capillary formation assist in healing, especially in skin grafts, amputations, ulcerated wounds, and injuries where tissues have been crushed and circulation has been destroyed or impaired.
- Laminitis. By enhancing oxygen delivery and minimizing inflammation and swelling, HBOT can dramatically minimize the destruction of tissue structures within the hoof.
- Post-surgical patients. Horses recovering from colic surgery and other procedures benefit from HBOT to oxygenate damaged tissues, restore blood flow, and reduce swelling.
- Connective tissue injuries. Torn ligament and bowed tendons heal more quickly when HBOT is included in treatment.
How do horses respond to being treated?
Protocol is different for each horse, and many conditions are treated with HBOT sessions of 30 to 90 minutes per day over a period of several days or weeks. Operators monitor their equine patients with audio and video equipment. Most horses show no reluctance to enter or remain in the chamber, with some even going to sleep during treatment. Human patients report a feeling of mild elation and wellbeing after HBOT, and there is no reason to think that horses respond any differently to the experience.
Where is this technology available?
Pressure chambers designed to treat horses are large, heavy, and extremely expensive to produce, so they are not yet widely available. Central Kentucky has the largest concentration, with several veterinary clinics, rehabilitation facilities, and breeding farms using the therapy on a regular basis. Chambers with space for one to three horses are in operation at various locations in California, Colorado, Tennessee, and Texas. The design is constantly being updated, and the newest models resemble circular stalls with enough room for a horse to walk around and even lie down during treatment. Smaller chambers can be moved from place to place, offering on-farm treatment to horses that can't easily be moved.
What research has been done regarding HBOT?
Practitioners and horses owners are quick to sing the praises of this therapy, and very few negative results have been reported. However, while use is increasing, relatively few controlled equine experiments have been performed. The therapy has been used on human patients for a number of years, and this has been the basis for establishing basic guidelines for use with horses. A 2002 University of Kentucky study using HBOT to treat advanced septic osteomyelitis in foals concluded that the therapy was successful in reducing swelling and lameness. The report emphasized a key point: by itself, HBOT is not a magic remedy for any and all conditions. Traditional treatments for illness or injury should be pursued, with HBOT used as an additional tool to promote healing. | <urn:uuid:719aa0c9-a034-4b06-932f-13fcae988133> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://equinews.com/article/hyperbaric-oxygen-therapy-for-horses | 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 | 0.947901 | 1,083 | 3.09375 | 3 |
On November 11, American fast food chain Wendy’s announced the launch of its new and improved french fries. The new carton of fries offers a “natural-cut” that displays the potato skin and is seasoned with sea salt.
This fry facelift is part of an initiative to address the modern consumer’s interest in nutritional content and food’s source of origin that falls in line with Wendy’s trademark phrase, “Quality is our Recipe.”
This may all be old news to some Austinites because when it came time to field test the new fries the ginger princess of fast food decried they be sent to capitol of Texas. And why not? Austin is smack in the middle of an archetypal meat-and-taters kind of culture, so if these new-fangled peace potatoes can last here they’re bound to catch on.
Unfortunately for Wendy’s, they may fall victim to an unforeseen backlash. While the new fries will probably fare well with mainstream consumers—most will hardly notice the change—there are cells of hardcore fast food junkies. They need those golden morsels fried in hydrogenated oils, oozing with trans fat and guilt. The release of a healthier french fry will just drive these addicts to the seedy underbelly of the fast food industry in search of a new fix.
Wendy’s needs to tackle this problem head-on and launch companion facilities for all its restaurant locations. Facilities that offer refuge to the fast food junkies that society is leaving behind. Facilities that provide equally unhealthy food counterparts to wean these poor souls off the high-fructose corn syrup and processed meats their bodies have become dependent upon.
On second thought, they could just build next to Taco Bell. | <urn:uuid:3e666d29-9961-424a-a587-c4ed995a3a31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.examiner.com/article/would-you-like-to-biggie-size-your-peace-potatoes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936876 | 370 | 1.742188 | 2 |
At age 17, Craig King was an athletic honor student, playing both football and baseball at his South Carolina high school. At the beginning of his senior year, Craig noticed a lump on his leg and overlooked it as a sports injury. Although the lump grew as his senior year progressed, Craig played every game. With hopes of one day becoming a teacher, he graduated from high school and prepared for college.
Less than two months after graduation, he bumped his leg and was shocked by the pain. He saw multiple doctors before he was diagnosed with osteogenic sarcoma — bone cancer — in his left leg. Instead of packing for college, Craig underwent eleven months of chemotherapy to aggressively treat the cancer. During his chemotherapy, Craig had limb salvage surgery to save his leg and his life. His tibia was removed and replaced with a donor bone and his knee was reconstructed using orthopaedic cement and chrome cobalt.
Craig underwent intensive physical therapy after his surgery. "One of the biggest challenges was learning how to walk again," Craig remembers. He experienced significant pain in his leg for months after surgery. He used a wheelchair to get around, and eventually progressed to crutches, then a walker, and eventually was able to walk on his own. "Physical therapy was hard, but the hospital provided a great support staff and my family and faith played a significant role in my rehabilitation."
Osteogenic sarcoma is one of the most common types of bone cancers in children and young adults, representing 35% of all bone cancer cases. It most frequently affects the larger bones of the arms and legs. To prevent the spread of the cancer, patients with osteogenic sarcoma require surgery for removal of the bone tumors and surrounding tissues. To help patients maintain use of their limbs, new techniques and materials in limb saving surgery, reconstruction, and prosthesis are constantly being developed. Recovery requires extensive physical and occupational therapy, the use of prosthetic devices and often, counseling.
While Craig is no longer able to play physically demanding sports, he was able to return to school and pursue his teaching degree. In 2007, Craig earned his Master's degree in Rehabilitation Counseling. He serves as an adjunct professor at South Carolina State University teaching leadership development to incoming freshmen. Now the Director of Governmental Affairs the Palmetto State Teachers Association, Craig serves as an advocate for public education in South Carolina. Recently, Craig developed an institute for male teachers. Craig is also active in many community organizations serving children with cancer, particularly Camp Kemo. Craig will be having his second Celebration of Life Gala to raise money for Relay for Life and Camp Kemo this May.
Craig, now an 11-year cancer survivor, serves as an Ambassador for the American Cancer Society, traveling throughout South Carolina to advocate the need for further research. Additionally, Craig has traveled to Washington, DC, several years to advocate for musculoskeletal research on Capitol Hill. "Without musculoskeletal research, I might not be doing the things I am doing today," Craig says.
Additional research funding can improve the lives of people suffering from bone cancer by helping to develop better surgical techniques, advancements in materials and technologies that can save limbs and avoid amputation, and maybe even provide a cure for the hundreds of children affected by this disease. "This type of research might allow others who, like me, are given a chance to reach their goals with a powerful testimony on life."
The American Academy of Orthopaedic Surgeons
6300 N. River Road
Rosemont, IL 60018 | <urn:uuid:f075a9f6-6d69-4f61-8877-0e3e1780c5c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.orthoinfo.aaos.org/topic.cfm?topic=A00688 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977851 | 727 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Tomorrow, May 1st, marks the 161ist anniversary of the opening of the The Great Exhibition of the Works of Industry of all Nations in London. The Great Exhibition was a display of arts, culture, and of course industry, from around the world and remained open until October of that year. It was the first grand international exposition of the type that would later be called “world’s fairs”.
To house it, the Crystal Palace, an extraordinary structure with over a million feet of glass, was built in Hyde Park. The palace itself was moved after the exhibition closed after the exhibition and moved to Penge Place Estate in Sydenham.
This beautiful colored lithograph is one of several reproductions of original paintings presented to Prince Albert following the Great Exhibition of 1851. Dickinson’s comprehensive pictures of the great exhibition of 1851 . . . contained 55 colored lithographic reproductions of works by Joseph Nash, Louis Haghe, and David Roberts. A fully digitized version of this title is available through the Internet Archive.
For a bibliography of words fair material, see “Revisiting the World’s Fairs and International Exhibitions: A Selected Bioblography, 1992-2004″. Read more about world’s fairs and the Smithsonian Libraries on our May 2010 blog post, “International World’s Fairs and Expositions”. The next worlds fair will open in Yeosu, South Korea on May 12, 2012. | <urn:uuid:9f518f58-0206-4e99-98e3-2a5febc10ae3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.library.si.edu/2012/04/3660/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940947 | 309 | 2.859375 | 3 |
January 9th, 2013
Some BIG solar news from New York! Today, in his 2013 State of the State, Governor Andrew Cuomo made some significant solar proposals. Proposals that will work to fundamentally transform the state’s solar market while broadening access to solar, enabling the industry to scale and reducing the cost.
The Governor called for a major expansion of his NY-Sun Initiative. The original NY-Sun, announced by the Governor at last year’s State of the State, called for doubling solar installations in 2012 and quadrupling in 2013. However, that program was too small and too intermittent–while helpful, it fell short of accomplishing the job of market transformation.
This year, the Governor announced a long-term commitment to NY-Sun, expanding the program into a 10 year, $150 million/year program. If we’re doing our math right…that’s a billion and a half dollars to develop a world-class solar industry and unleash the many benefits that solar energy delivers.
Here’s the money quote from the Governor’s speech (full text found here).
» Read the rest of this entry «
November 14th, 2012
Guest blog post from our friend & former colleague Shaun Chapman, SolarCity.
Even two weeks later, the air quality in the hardest hit areas of New York City is still extremely poor. There is an enormous amount of dust, human waste, and previously buried pollution in the air.
The stench of gasoline is also pervasive. Since the storm hit, you can smell gas all over parts of Rockaway and Staten Island, as people line up in cars or on foot waiting for to get what little gas is being rationed each day. It’s ironic that gas is so scarce yet, due to all the emergency gas generators and stoves, our lungs are filled with the stuff.
In the hardest hit places like Rockaway and Gerritsen Beach, people have two choices each day: (1) go get some food for the day, maybe find someone to fill a prescription, or inquire about FEMA assistance; or (2) do none of those things, and wait in a four-hour gas line so they can have some heat that night.
It is in this bleak context that the Solar Sandy Project was conceived. » Read the rest of this entry «
October 31st, 2012
Amid the havoc wreaked by Hurricane Sandy, we’re glad to share some good news from New York . . .
The Empire State is at it again, making moves towards ensuring that solar energy is a significant part of its energy landscape. Having increased the state’s commitment to solar development with the NY-Sun Initiative in early 2012, Governor Cuomo and his team are back to work expanding the legacy of this program. » Read the rest of this entry «
August 3rd, 2012
Two weeks ago we caught wind that Central Hudson Gas & Electric (CHG&E) in upstate New York had surpassed its net metering program cap of 12 MW and chose to suspend any new applications. To the dismay of many, particularly local solar installers operating in the Hudson Valley, this program suspension came as a bit of a surprise.
Local solar installer, Hudson Valley Clean Energy, quickly filed a petition with the NY Public Service Commission requesting both an increase to the utility’s net metering program cap and for the Commission to urge CHG&E to continue accepting applications. » Read the rest of this entry «
June 26th, 2012
The New York legislature shut its doors for 2012 without passing the Solar Jobs Act or any long-term solar program. Although the Empire State missed a tremendous opportunity for solar power, we gained a tremendous amount of people power.
We diversified and strengthened our solar coalition, highlighted real solar jobs in communities up and down the state, showed a supermajority of voter support, and partnered with actor Mark Ruffalo to add his star power to the cause. Altogether, tens of thousands of New Yorkers spoke up for solar. The Hulk aside, that’s a lot of muscle.
» Read the rest of this entry «
November 21st, 2011
11/25 – Update!!!! The NY solar industry’s open letter got through to Mr. O’Reilly – he’s now working with a “legitimate guy” to go solar on his Long Island home. How’s that for proof that Americans, regardless of political orientation, love them some local solar power?
No surprise that Fox News isn’t exactly presenting spin-free rhetoric when it comes to talking about our nation’s growing solar industry. Take the case of just last week when Bill O’Reilly of the eponymous Fox Business show made a claim that he’d go solar if only he could find somewhere it was available . . . » Read the rest of this entry «
June 14th, 2011
In this final run up to the end of the NY legislative session on June 20, the New York Solar Jobs Act has been getting some serious attention in the press. And rightly so considering that if it DOES pass, it’ll be one of the most significant new solar policies to move anywhere in the country this year.
Some top hits from the New York solar bill’s time in the media spotlight:
The New York Times.Celebrating a City’s Solar Muscle.
The Huffington Post. Solar Energy: Time for New York to Get in the Game by NY sports greats Mike Richter & Sage Rosenfels. » Read the rest of this entry «
February 8th, 2011
Send Albany a Sunny Valentine
There are plenty of reasons why solar is New York’s perfect match. Solar creates green jobs in communities from Long Island to Buffalo. It produces electricity when our strained grid needs it most and improves energy cost reliability by tapping a free local resource. It reduces air pollution and offers hope in the fight against climate change. It’s good-looking and exciting while still being stable, clean and financially secure. It’s really got everything we’d want in a long-term relationship. » Read the rest of this entry «
June 11th, 2010
We just need to show the legislators a sign. A really big sign. Literally.
We’d like to buy space on an electronic billboard on the 787 Interstate–practically the driveway of the Capitol. We have some chuckle worthy messages that send a clear directive: Pass the Solar Jobs Act today.
There are two ways you can help make this happen:
First, can you donate to help cover the costs? At a minimum, we suggest 39 cents, which is the average monthly cost New Yorkers would be paying to jumpstart their new solar economy. But feel free to give more if you’d like.
Second, if you have your own clever suggestions for billboard tag lines, please share them in the comments. We’ll be updating our messages as the week unfolds.
To get your juices flowing, here’s our initial list of ideas (as suggested by our funnier friends):
When there is a huge solar energy spill, it’s just called “a nice day.”
We like The Egg…Sunny Side Up
Enough already with the fracking natural gas. Give solar a shot.
Solar Energy. The perfect combination of Woodstock and Wall Street
The Red Sox installed solar on their ball park. Just saying.
It’s the new energy economy, stupid.
The irony of the coal-powered billboard is not lost on us.
Solar: It’s actually a $30 billion global industry. Please do not tell the hippies.
NY Solar, what are you waiting for? A sign?
We could have a new energy economy for just 39 cents a month. Solar: It just makes cents.
Cost-effective solar energy is just around the corner… Really. This corner.
The sun’ll come out! Tomorrow! You can bet $20 billion dollars in increased wages. That…tomorrow! There’ll be sun!
Solar is 99.9% reliable in New York. You’re thinking of the moon-power panels. Those are useless.
Shovel Ready? You’re looking the wrong direction.
The Solar Industry does $1 billion a year of business in New Jersey.
I know. New freakin Jersey.
Don’t let 22,000 jobs be eclipsed by partisan politics.
Get it? Eclipse!
What about the huge, free nuclear power plant in the sky? What if we just used that?
Q: How many New Yorkers does it take to jumpstart a solar economy?
Update: the deed is done!
Thanks for your monetary and comedic contributions to help make this happen.
October 14th, 2009
Good news, the Governor of New York continues to support solar. $10 million in stimulus money for solar will certainly get us through 2009, and will help lots of New Yorkers go solar this year.
But we still think New York can do better. We think the Governor should think about more zeros. As in $10 billion. NO! Not $10 billion in costs, $10 billion in economic benefits to the state if we invested in a solar program of 2 GW.
Now, doesn’t that sound a little bit more “New York”? Your voice can still be heard: Click Here to read about our forecasting and to tell the State Energy Planning Board that you want solar. | <urn:uuid:57054a61-d934-4329-9425-be060a6161dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://votesolar.org/tag/new-york/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923518 | 1,993 | 1.8125 | 2 |
One of the most wonderful educational resources I have found on the internet is the archive of the journal American Educator. This is the journal of the American Federation of Teachers, America’s second largest teaching union. Although the AFT is very similar to unions in England in its stance on employment rights, pension and pay, it is very different from the teaching unions in this country in its stance on pedagogy. For example, prominent unionists in England believe that school curricula should be reformed for the 21st century and should include lessons on how to walk. The AFT, on the other hand, are supporters of Core Knowledge, a kindergarten-eighth grade curriculum that focuses on traditional subjects and content.
There are tons of good articles in the American Educator, but one I want to blog about now is by Gilbert Sewall. It’s about the way that activities and projects have come to take up more and more classroom time. Here’s an excerpt:
- A third-grade social studies student in California builds an Endangered Species “portfolio.” For the entire year. This portfolio is given over to the demise of the toucan and the Galapagos tortoise. The portfolio is brightly colored, laminated and spiral bound, containing lots of glossy photographs clipped from magazines. Each page is thick with adhesive stick-ons and glitter. The portfolio contains many, many misspelled words and exhibits almost no understanding of the South American continent’s natural history…
- A seventh-grade suburban Maryland student builds a shoebox-sized replica of the items in his school locker for Spanish class. The academic content: He then labels the items in Spanish. Total time for the project: approximately 20 hours. Ninth-grade French class students in New York City scout cookbooks for crêpe suzette and omelet recipes. They create photo montages of the Eiffel Tower and Notre Dame, making posters for display on classroom walls.
- Selected members of a 10th-grade world history class receive cookies. The rest of the class goes empty-handed. This creates a room of haves and have nots. Students discuss how it feels to be left out, and how it feels to be the privileged few given the cookies to eat. The purpose: to prepare for the study of the French Revolution…
- A third-grade math program devotes a week to the concept of 1,000. One lesson centers on “Thousand skits,” in which students figure out things the class can do cooperatively to accomplish 1,000 repetitions and then try to act them out. “Work in groups of four to make up your skit. Decide what you will do, how many people you will need, and how many repetitions each person will do. Write down the directions for your skit.” This lesson is taken from a textbook series the U.S. Department of Education recommended last year to school districts across the country.
- A sixth-grade social studies textbook suggests: “Imagine you are a television reporter covering the Roman assault on Masada. Prepare a news report on this event.”
- An “authentic assessment” in “integrated science” designed to replace ordinary tests asks students to write a poem about mitosis. A journal of chemical education encourages high school science students to construct a new periodic table of the elements as it might appear on some unspecified alien planet.
My first reaction was to cringe. I myself had taught lots of lessons like this. I had always thought there was something a bit wrong about them, but everyone else was doing it, and it was what we’d been taught at teacher training college. So I carried on teaching them and assumed that my uneasiness was down to me being a bit curmudgeonly and old-fashioned. When I read Sewall’s article, the way that he lists all the activities makes you realise how absurd they all are. I mean, they read like something out of Brass Eye or Monty Python. ‘Live at Masada’ in particular sounds like a scene from the Holy Grail that was left on the cutting room floor.
My second reaction was to question my first reaction. After all, Sewall’s article is a convincing piece of rhetoric, but does it really offer any evidence as to why such projects aren’t valuable? Isn’t the problem that such projects might be taught badly, and that taught well they would be very good? It’s easy to mock ideas like ‘Live at Masada’, but they do actually engage the kids. And is it just that he has cherrypicked the worst types of projects, attacking a straw man rather than a real problem? In short, is he just an old-fashioned curmudgeon whose ideas play to my prejudices?
My first reaction was correct, but it was another AFT writer, Dan T. Willingham, who convinced me of this. Willingham offers some cognitive evidence about exactly why such projects and activities are not worthwhile. In his book ‘Why Don’t Students Like School?’, Willingham speaks about a similar project to the ones Sewall mentions.
‘A teacher once told me that for a fourth grade unit on the Underground Railroad he had his students bake biscuits, because this was a staple food for runaway slaves.’ (53)
Then, Willingham explains what the flaw is:
‘his students probably thought for about forty seconds about the relationship of biscuits to the Underground Railroad, and for forty minutes about measuring flour, mixing shortening and so on.’ (53)
And the reason why this is a problem is that:
‘Whatever students think about is what they will remember…memory is the residue of thought.’ (54)
And this, of course, is the problem with the projects Sewall lists. They get pupils to think about the wrong things. If we want pupils to learn Spanish, they need to think about Spanish vocabulary and sentence structures, not replicas of shoeboxes. If we want pupils to learn about Roman history, we need to get them to think about the events of Roman history, not about TV news reporters’ interviewing techniques.
Of course, there is another possible criticism of Sewall’s article, which is that we shouldn’t be bothering to teach pupils Spanish vocab or Roman history in the first place. I will deal with that in another post. | <urn:uuid:f146227d-8a46-4b5c-805d-f5b89d212c38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecurriculumcentre.org/blog/2012/01/22/activities-projects-and-the-american-educator/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962552 | 1,350 | 3.140625 | 3 |
The Mexican People: Heroes of Democracy
The Mexican peoples’ democracy movement and their leader Andrés Manuel López Obrador are modern heroes of democracy and to all who demand clean elections. They recall the heroics of the Ukrainians with one important difference. There are no “great powers” supporting them. In fact, the American regime is hostile to a victory by Obrador and the Party of the Democratic Revolution (PRD). The increasingly unpopular and isolated White House cadre may have done its best to obstruct such an eventuality in ways which by now are predictably familiar. The Mexican people are alone, on the street, fighting the brave fight for people everywhere who believe in the inherently inalienable and natural right of men and women to determine their own destiny through free, fair, and transparent elections.
Supporters of democracy in Mexico are making a stand in the nation’s capitol. They just had their third major demonstration with more than a million participants. The American press tried a theme of demonstrators growing weary recently, just before the latest seven figure gathering. The demonstrations tell Mexicans and the world that the election was so questionable, an investigation is mandated through a thorough review of the most direct evidence: the ballots. The PRD’s demand for a “ballot by ballot, precinct by precinct” recount is fully warranted.
The short history of this election offers a wealth of evidence pointing to fraud. The PAN party of Vincente Fox engaged in a number of questionable activities. $270 million was reportedly diverted from education programs in order to sweeten the pot in some northern Mexican states via the governors. Calderon defeated Obrador by margins of 50% in some sections of the north and there were charges of massive election fraud.
During the campaign, the ruling PAN party engaged in distorted negative advertising attacks on Obrador which are clearly outlawed in Mexican campaigns. The electoral authorities cited the party of President Fox as being the primary culprit for this, but the damage was done and the lies were spread. | <urn:uuid:df5d93a5-7b30-42e3-b98b-1c07e8c55a0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://911blogger.com/news/2006-08-24/mexican-people-heroes-democracy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967238 | 414 | 2.03125 | 2 |
(EAST TOPSHAM, Vermont) November 7, 2007---Vermont PhotoInkjet announced today the immediate availability of their new color ink formulation which replicates the color-space of EPSON’s Ultrachrome K3 inks. ConeColor inks are sold in economical one-liter bottles that are packaged with a set of eco-friendly refillable cartridges. The solution can save the average user 65% or more of their current ink costs. The savings to the environment is even greater.
ConeColor ink shares the same pigment technology as Piezography® K7 inks and that makes them extremely fade resistant and non-damaging to EPSON print heads. The ConeColor inks do not require any additional color management, and can be used with existing ICC profiles.
Vermont PhotoInkjet’s President Jon Cone points to his son’s efforts to have a low-impact on the environment as his overwhelming decision to bring ConeColor to market in this manner. “Spencer asked me what I was doing to prevent my customers from throwing out their cartridges into landfills. He also brought my attention to the health effects of factory workers who make semiconductor chips which is a very toxic manufacturing process.” Cone added “We were recycling at home using Spencer’s methods and awareness that he learned at the Putney School, and I wanted to help create a solution rather than continue to manufacture a part of the problem.”
Instead of using cartridges for one-time use, ConeColor is marketing its new inks for use in a set of high-impact ABS refillable cartridges for the EPSON 4800, 7800 and 9800 printers. These carts are easily filled from a bottle and their semiconductor chips are simply reset with an included chip re-setter. A solution for the EPSON 2400 is forthcoming. Vermont also hopes to bring more of its Piezography brand monochromatic ink customers into eco-friendly solutions in a similar manner.
“Every day ink cartridges are being thrown into US landfills and it’s so unnecessary. An even worse impact is that the carts require and contain a semi-conductor chip,” warned Cone. Semiconductor chip manufacturing requires exposing workers to highly corrosive hydrochloric acid; metals such as arsenic, cadmium, and lead; volatile solvents such as methyl chloroform. Tolulene, benzene, acetone, and trichloroethylene; and toxic gases such as arsine. Many of these chemicals are known or probable human carcinogens. “When you read how much waste water is produced in order to create these tiny little chips, and think of our own fresh water shortages that we face here in Vermont as well as other parts of the country, it gives you pause to think,” said Cone.
While Vermont PhotoInkjet lauds the efforts of semiconductor factories to continue to find ways to reduce their workers exposure to toxins, a faster impact to the environment is to lower the dependency on chips which can be re-used rather than discarded. Vermont PhotoInkjet’s proposal for environmentally conscious consumers is to purchase high-quality inks in bulk and use refillable cartridges. Because Vermont PhotoInkjet carefully matched the color-space of the OEM inks, users can slip ConeColor inks right into their current color workflow.
Colleen Duffley of Colleen Duffley Photography in Santa Rosa Beach, Florida is an early adopter of the ConeColor inks system. “I live and shoot in one of the world’s most beautiful and pristine beaches in Florida,” said Colleen Duffley. “I use a complete digital workflow that includes shooting, editing, and printing and I can’t imagine throwing away a media card because I used it up in my camera, so why did I have to throw away all those ink carts because I used up the ink” Colleen questioned.
“I began using the ConeColor ink system and the color is everything I expected and I no longer have to feel guilty about throwing away ink carts,” said Ms. Duffley.
Because a ConeColor customer may need only one refillable cartridge set for the life of their printer, they will dramatically reduce the amount of plastic cartridges that would otherwise find their way into local landfills. Also, they are doing their part to protect semi-conductor workers worldwide who have one of the highest percentages of work related health issues and children born with birth defects.
Consumers in the USA often believe that using third-party inks voids their warranties. To the contrary, the USA has strong consumable laws such as the Magnusson-Moss Warranty Act that disallows a manufacturer from forcing a consumer to utilize only their ink brand in order to warranty their printer. Vermont PhotoInkjet has insurance for their manufacturing that covers its customer’s equipment should repairs be necessary and the inks or refill cartridges are shown to be the source of the damage. Vermont PhotoInkjet is one of the few ink companies that can provide this type of security to its customers. “We’ve had such a great record of satisfaction with Piezography inks that we were able to get this kind of insurance coverage,” explained Jon Cone.
ConeColor inks are available in one-liter bottles including both a matte and a photo black option. They are priced at $184.00 per bottle which represents 18˘ per ml in comparison to EPSON’s 50˘ per ml. The refillable cartridge system is $398.00. The price of ConeColor ink is $40.50 for same equivalent amount of EPSON brand ink in a standard 220ml cart. ConeColor brand ink and refill carts are available now from http://www.inkjetmall.com and are being made available by Vermont PhotoInkjet to resellers in the USA with a contact link on the http://www.conecolor.com website.
Vermont PhotoInkjet, LLC is a small company located in the rural village of East Topsham, Vermont and is renowned worldwide for its Piezography brand of monochromatic inks and software. It operates on the world-wide-web as InkjetMall.com. Jon Cone is also President of Cone Editions Press (est. 1980) which is recognized as being the world’s first digital printmaker. Cone Editions developed and sold one of the earliest archival inks for use in IRIS printers in the mid 1990s. Vermont PhotoInkjet and Cone Editions Press have been recycling through the Vermont Waste Management Division. | <urn:uuid:f0052922-3822-46b0-9d7d-4aaf7fd3a05b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.imaginginfo.com/web/online/Products/ConeColor-Introduces-Eco-Friendly-Ink-Alternative-for-Epson-Ultrachrome-K3-Printers/17$3297 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956043 | 1,413 | 2.015625 | 2 |
In search of a unifying measurement feature on which to base a more systematic and potentially comprehensive analysis of intangibles, this paper first analyses the economic and accounting properties of intangibles, and second, empirically evaluates managerial practices for measuring and analysing expenditure on intangibles. We present evidence from a survey of 614 large Australian firms that suggests gaps in the extent with which firms plan, monitor, record, analyse, and report on intangibles. Third, we evaluate the implications of our analysis and survey for accounting practice. Our evidence suggests GAAP has a role to provide guidance that helps firms identify and classify their expenditure on intangibles in ways that elucidate the strategic implications of the different types of intangibles for future output. A secondary step for accountants, after identifying and classifying the expenditure on intangibles, is to apply a capitalization test to distinguish expenses from assets. The current asymmetric treatment of expenditure on purchased versus internally generated intangibles is not supportable on economic grounds. However, economists identify weak property rights as a major cause of uncertainty associated with the outcomes from expenditure on intangibles, suggesting verifiable property rights is a unifying measurement feature on which to base a capitalization test for intangible assets. | <urn:uuid:c0ef93e7-417d-4448-90d2-6440d762ad8f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://espace.library.uq.edu.au/view/UQ:272241 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929609 | 253 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Beijing Cotton Outlook Issues Cotton China Balance Sheet
The net effect of the changes is a rise in China's foreseeable end-season stocks, compared with the figure suggested a month ago, from 8,070,000 to 8,110,000 tonnes, which would represent roughly half of all projected world stocks. BCO's forecasts now suggest that China's stocks will increase by 1,530,000 tonnes during the course of this season, following an addition of 4,810,000 tonnes during 2011/12.
Beijing Cotton Outlook, which operates the chinacotton.org website, is a joint venture between the China Cotton Association, the China National Cotton Exchange and Cotlook Limited.
For detail of how to subscribe to more reports on China in the English language please visit www.cotlook.com, or email email@example.com.
Posted on September 11, 2012
Source: Cotlook Ltd.
Click here to view Cotlook's figures | <urn:uuid:88144c64-ff99-4137-a09e-c2c7fac76525> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://textileworld.com/Articles/2012/September/Beijing_Cotton_Outlook_Issues_Cotton_China_Balance_Sheet.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926128 | 196 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Time sure does fly. What happened back in the 1930s seems like yesterday to us older folks.
The ice box was a part of the kitchen furniture back then, and required daily attention or water would be all over the kitchen floor. A pan below the ice box held the water from the melted ice, but was often too shallow for 50 or 100 pounds of melted ice.
I have memories of chasing the horse-drawn wagon, later an open bed truck, down the street on hot days, jumping on the wheel hubs or running board while the ice deliverer was in the house, placing the large cake of ice in the ice box, grabbing a sliver of ice and retreating before the ice man returned.
Little did anyone realize that articles employed in this business, or any other employment, would be sought after by collectors. Ice tongs, Ricks (usually with an ad printed on the handle, or metal handled ones with embossed names), and the order cards that were placed in the house windows informing the ice deliverer what size of an ice cake to carry into the house, are all in demand.
I remember the ice man, wearing a large leather poncho heaving onto his shoulder a hundred-pound cake of ice as easily as if it was a 20-pound bag of feed. I think the ice deliverer in North Benton came from Sebring. He was a man about 5 1/2 feet tall, but the way he handled those large cakes you’d thought he was bigger.
Most cakes of ice in the truck or wagon were of the 100-pound size. To cut the size needed, the ice man would score the cake all around or sometimes just on top, by using an ice pick, which the deliverer carried in a leather sheath attached to his belt. Carefully he would cause the cake to break into a smaller square ice cake. He would then weigh the cake with scales placed in the wagon or truck bed.
The grabbing of ice from the delivery vehicle was the only way a youngster could acquire a small particle. Removing ice from the ice box was a serious offense subject to any number of reprimands. In the winter time when snow was clean and not contaminated by pollutants, we would collect a pan full and Mom would pour warm white sugar syrup on it and we enjoyed a treat.
During the summer, a carefully shaved portion of ice was scrapped off the block of ice in the ice box and we were occasionally allowed the same treat. Small tongs were given to the families on occasion as a sales promotion when there were rival ice companies involved. These are referred to as “family tongs.”
Ice cakes were low priced compared to these days, but remember many workers were only paid 50 cents a day, depending on their abilities. I used to hoe field corn in 1935 for 25 cents a day at age 10. During the early 1900s, the smallest cake, of 12 1/2 pounds cost 5 cents; 25 pounds sold for 10 cents; 50 pounds for 20 cents; and 100 pounds for 40 cents.
Ice boxes and chests cost many dollars today, depending on the auction attendance. Back in the early 1960s my wife, Martha, and I purchased many for a dollar or less. We acquired 15 in one summer, and sold them later to one dealer for a good profit.
Presently, a piece of ice is insignificant, but in the early years ice was a treat in the summer and an important commodity at home. To some youngsters, a sliver of the cold stuff was as much of a treat as a trip to Disneyland. | <urn:uuid:42321dce-73d7-4fbf-ab6e-909dc8d6eb58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.farmanddairy.com/columns/collectors-warm-up-to-ice-box-items/6371.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983828 | 744 | 2.109375 | 2 |
it's undeniable that an increasing number of academics in the United States prefer to be called by their first names, viewing honorifics as pretentious and arrogant. The blame for this social calamity can be placed squarely at the feet of Marxist sociology, which more or less permeates society today. For the Marxist everything is reduced to power relationships, including titles and formalities. The use of honorifics exposes power relationships that are not supposed to exist (better translated as "you're not supposed to notice") in our egalitarian society, interfering with the liberal's preferred method changing reality by ignoring it.
The first thing we know about any professor who rejects honorifics is that he defines his own position primarily in terms of power and privilege rather than knowledge or accomplishment, regarding the former as instruments of oppression. He feels embarrassed or guilty about this and prefers not to be reminded by his title. He has little respect for his own achievement, considering it something anyone else could do - which sounds deceptively humble. Behind the facade of humility there are some disturbing corollaries. It usually follows that such a man has even less respect for the achievements of others, [emphasis his] which he thinks anyone else might have easily accomplished, most especially himself. He views many of those who fail to reach his own level of achievement with either pity or contempt, as the only legitimate explanations for inequality in his egalitarian mind are: a) oppression; or b) moral fault.
Now, it's awfully amusing how he lays this at the feet of Marx. And then there's the bit in italics, about what usually follows this pernicious informality. These seem to be clear instances of exactly the kind of bad behavior our scientist friends were complaining about last week, where the philosopher asserts that some phenomenon is caused by or correlated with some other phenomenon, but where this relationship has not been subject to empirical scrutiny and has in fact just been made up. Examples of this in the quoted text include: that people who eschew titles view them as pretentious and arrogant; that they do this because of marxism; that they do this because they object to relationships of unequal power; that they nevertheless define the relationship in terms of unequal power, regardless of the details; that they feel embarrassment or guilt over this inequality of power; that they regard accomplishments as oppressive; that they respect the achievements of others even less than they respect their own; that they believe that just anyone could earn a doctoral degree; that the only legitimate reasons for an inequality of achievement are oppression and moral fault. Wowza.
I allow my students to use my first name. I do this not because I have no respect for my own achievements, but (in part) out of my tremendous respect for the achievements of real doctors. I do not see my role as defined by power and privilege rather than by knowledge and achievement; I see my role as involving all of these things. I have certain powers and privileges, and I am qualified to have these powers and privileges in virtue of my knowledge and accomplishments. But the most important thing about these powers and privileges is that they come with very serious responsibilities. I am competent to do this job in virtue of my qualifications, but they have little or nothing to do with the fact that I can be trusted with the responsibility of doing it.
I have these powers, privileges, and responsibilities, as well as my knowledge and achievements, whether or not I insist on being addressed in a way that accentuates them. I am inclined to suspect that this widespread trend of using first names is a result of the fact that the academic student-teacher relationship is, like a lot of things, now less formal than it was. People don't dress up the way they used to, and they don't use titles the way they used to.
I also have some experience with this practice from the perspective of an undergraduate. My undergraduate professors all permitted students to use first names--some allowed all students to do so, while others insisted on the honorific from students at the intro level while they were more relaxed with students in the upper division. This did not decrease my respect for them, their knowledge, or their accomplishments. I was, and continue to be, in awe of how smart and accomplished these people were and are. They were the smartest people I had ever met in real life, and I declared philosophy as my major, before I had any inkling that I wanted to pursue it as a career, in the hopes that a philosophical education would make me as smart as they were. I did not get the idea that just anyone could achieve what they had achieved.
And so it seems to me that if they respect you only because they call you doctor, they don't respect you. It seems to me that whether they call you doctor or not is irrelevant to whether they respect you. And it seems to me that, in an environment in which nobody else is doing it, insisting on being addressed as doctor will make them respect you less because they will think you're a jackass.
P.S. Cullbreath is really distasteful. Here he is reprimanding a commenter for the "offensive" practice of using the feminine pronoun for a generic person. | <urn:uuid:8ee4ed0f-a3d4-4be7-b357-196bf9fb0e07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://philosophysmoker.blogspot.com/2011/06/allowing-students-to-use-first-names.html?showComment=1307942550980 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981195 | 1,059 | 1.773438 | 2 |
How do I get rid of cattails and phragmites? Fran – Disco, TN
Rough Around the Edges?
As you’ve enjoyed your pond over the spring and summer, all of a sudden you begin to see that our pond have built what seems to be an impenetrable wall of Cattails and Phragmites. No worries! Emergent weeds won’t ruin your summer fun. Here are the right tools to get even!
Treating emergent weeds in your pond is a two step process. You will want to focus on dealing with your existing growth first. You can kill Cattails and shoreline grasses down to the root by spraying them directly with Avocet PLX. If you are dealing more with Phragmites, Primrose or Loosestrife then you will see better results using Kraken mixed with Cide-Kick. Make sure you are spraying the plants when they are alive and actively growing so that the aquatic herbicide is carried throughout the plant’s root system. A Tank Sprayer is a great way to apply these aquatic herbicides. Also note if the emergent weed growth is very thick, a couple applications may be needed to gain complete control. Once you see all of the target weeds brown and wilt you can cut them down and drag them away with a Weed Cutter and Pond & Beach Rake.
Once the weeds are cleared away from the edge of the pond you will want to focus on keeping them from growing back. While you can not keep every cattail seed from blowing into your pond, you can extinguish their food sources to deter then from making a repeat performance. Apply some MuckAway pelletized bacteria around the shallow areas of your pond to help digest any nutrient-rich slime that has accumulated on the bottom of the pond over time. This layer of muck acts as fertilizer for new weed growth, smells bad, and as if you needed another reason, it feels terrible between your toes when you are swimming in the pond. Aquatic weeds can also use sunlight as a means to grow so you can benefit from using Pond Dye to shade the pond as well. Not only will you reduce the amount of sun exposure your pond receives you can also choose a color that accents your pond and improves the appearance of the water body.
Some people enjoy the look and coverage that emergent weeds like Cattails provide. If you have considered keeping a few around for aesthetic purposes rest assured it is absolutely harmless to do so. You can still control and maintain these areas of growth using Avocet and Kraken, just be sure to mark off boundaries to keep the weeds from slowly creeping their way back out into the pond and out of control.
POND TALK: Has a wall formed between you and your pond? How did you gain the upper hand over Cattails, Phragmites or other emergent weeds?
Filed under: Cattails, Emergent Weeds, Phragmites, Pond & Lake, Weed Identification Tagged: | Cattails, controlling cattails, controlling emergent grasses, controlling phragmites, Loosestrife, Phragmites, Primrose | <urn:uuid:f0b72524-5814-49b1-b481-e83db9f4420a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.thepondguy.com/2010/08/27/how-do-i-get-rid-of-cattails-and-phragmites-%E2%80%93-pond-lake-q-a-%E2%80%93-week-ending-august-28th/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=aa068c7847 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93934 | 664 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Oklahoma City's Future Water Needs in Jeopardy Over Questionable Sardis Lake Deal
Oklahoma City and the state made a mutually agreeable deal, under which the city gained the storage rights to about 90 percent of the water in Lake Sardis, in return for a payment of $27.8 million, the exact amount of the state's debt to the Army Corps.
Many area residents are worried Oklahoma City will draw down Sardis the same way it sometimes draws down Lake Atoka, a reservoir the city owns. (Lake Atoka shown at low water levels.)
"And to do that to this area, to this beautiful piece of property would be a disservice to everybody that comes here," said Amy Ford, Oklahomans for Responsible Water Policy, who question the legality of the agreement.
Chickasaw and Choctaw leaders have run an ad campaign stating they don't believe the state had the right to unilaterally sell the Sardis water to Oklahoma City.
OKLAHOMA CITY -- An agreement that appeared to be the solution to a long-standing state debt and to Oklahoma City's future water needs is now threatening to blow up into a major lawsuit.
The agreement was forged in the fall of 2009, shortly after a federal judge ruled that Oklahoma was $27.8 million in debt to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for the Corps' construction of Lake Sardis in southeast Oklahoma in the late 1970s. The judge ruled that the debt had to be paid by July 1, 2010.
Discussions with the city of Oklahoma City resulted in a mutually agreeable deal, under which it would gain the storage rights to almost 90 percent of the water in Lake Sardis, in return for a payment of $27.8 million, the exact amount of the state's debt to the Army Corps.
When word of the pending deal spread to the people who live in the area, including the Choctaw and Chickasaw nations, on whose land the Sardis basin lies, attempts were made to stop it. Tribal leaders, the Department of the Interior, and a citizens group each sent letters to Governor Brad Henry requesting that negotiations be put on hold. The requests were ignored and the state's agreement with Oklahoma City was approved by the Oklahoma Water Resources Board in June.
In Oklahoma City, where steadily increasing water use suggests they have about 25 years to get an additional water source on line, the Sardis agreement was seen as a win. And at the state capitol, where money to pay off the Sardis debt was tight and the deadline to pay even tighter, the deal was also seen as a win.
But around Sardis Lake itself, the deal is a betrayal.
Chester Dennis has decades of memories of Sardis Lake from the beach to boating. But he's concerned those memories might someday be all he and anyone else have.
"How can they come down here and take this from us? This is our lake," said Dennis.
The group Oklahomans for Responsible Water Policy questions the legality of the agreement and worries Oklahoma City will draw down Sardis the same way it sometimes draws down Lake Atoka, a reservoir the city owns.
"And to do that to this area, to this beautiful piece of property would be a disservice to everybody that comes here," said Amy Ford, Oklahomans for Responsible Water Policy.
The Oklahoma Impact Team took that concern to Oklahoma City Manager Jim Couch. He downplayed worries about aesthetic changes at Sardis, and denied charges the deal was unlawful.
"The water is owned by the people of Oklahoma and appropriated by the state through the water resources board," said Couch.
Through public statements and a high dollar ad campaign, the Chickasaw Nation is making it clear they believe the state did not have the right to unilaterally sell the Sardis water to Oklahoma City.
Tribal officials say it was a slap in the face.
"How would you feel? Well, you would feel cheated," said Neal McCaleb with the Chickasaw Nation.
Chickasaw and Choctaw leaders say they don't fundamentally oppose the idea of Oklahoma City, or any Oklahoma community, having some access to Sardis, they just insist on being included in any negotiations.
"There's every expectation that there will be a long, tedious and expensive litigation…that will tie up the water for everybody," said McCaleb.
And that's something residents don't want.
"This is a part of our livelihood down here, it's not a turn the tap and get a drink of water," said Dennis.
There are talks going on right now between Governor Henry and the tribes in an effort to avoid a lawsuit. It's not clear how those talks are going, none of the parties would comment on them. But until there's some resolution, the deal with Oklahoma City, which still requires federal approval, is on hold.
Even though the deal has not received all the necessary approvals, the city already paid the state the $27.8 million and already increased city water rates, in part, to help cover that cost.
Do you think the state should include the tribes in negotiating water rights at Sardis Lake?
Thank you for participating in our poll. Here are the results so far:
7401 N. Kelley Ave.
Oklahoma City, OK 73111
OKLAHOMA CITY'S OWN TM
Oklahoma's Own News9.com is proud to provide Oklahomans with timely and relevant news and information, sharing the stories, pictures and loves of Oklahomans across our great state including Oklahoma City's Own. | <urn:uuid:13024cd8-d6e7-4a87-8518-e559be277eb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news9.com/Global/story.asp?S=13449393 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97251 | 1,162 | 2.03125 | 2 |
|CE - Recommended Resources|
Education.com is a multi-faceted website that contains resources for parents and teachers on various grade levels and issues in all areas of education. The site also contains new articles and blogs on various issues facing these various grade levels in today’s classroom. The site contains worksheets and activities as well as a portal to ask professionals questions about education related issues.
Federal Resources for Educational Excellence
The Federal Resources for Education Excellence (FREE) is a web site portal from the U.S. Department of Education that combines several federal resource libraries into one searchable site. The site includes videos, animations, primary sources, and photos organized by subject. The site is dedicated primarily to history and science but does have resources for language arts, physical education, and art.
International Center for Leadership in Education
The International Center for Leadership in Education has focused on the development of a strong global curriculum since 1991. The ICLE promotes organizational change and staff development to give educators an understanding that the students of today are competing for jobs in a global market and their education should reflect such competition. The group has focused on the implementation of technology, adaptation of curriculum, and modification of assessments to reflect a world-class education.
The Schlechty Center is a private, nonprofit organization committed to partnering with school leaders across the country to transform their classrooms, schools, and school districts from places focused on compliance to those focused on engagement. The work of the center begins with the assumption that there is a direct link between the caliber of schoolwork students are provided and the willingness of students to engage in schoolwork.
Texasisd.com is a web site primarily for administrators seeking central office or superintendent positions in the state of Texas. However, the site is a great resource for news articles on school districts across the state. These articles are cataloged into various categories. The web site also keeps readers up to date on laws and changes to policy from the Texas State Legislature. | <urn:uuid:2c87b4cc-f1d8-4b1a-a676-b83a9d63e4df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uta.edu/coehp/teacherinduction/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=96&Itemid=128 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947765 | 402 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Tradition of Quality - A History of Service
U.S. Stoneware was founded in 1865 and manufactures its products in a 70,000 sq.
ft. facility located just south of Youngstown, Ohio. Early in its history, U.S.
Stoneware developed an expertise in formulating ceramic materials with superior
wear resistance to meet the requirements of various process industries. Today we
manufacture ceramic ball mills, jar rolling mills, milling jars, grinding media,
drum tumblers and rollers and a host of additional equipment to meet our
customers milling, grinding and blending needs.
Click here for our digital brochure.
Click here to download
a PDF of our brochure. | <urn:uuid:293f8a9a-0ba8-4054-9a73-e03f411e0616> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usstoneware.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923947 | 152 | 1.679688 | 2 |
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"The Shadow of the Wind:" The Reader's Den Discussion Continues
More discussion questions from the Reader's Den, please feel free to comment on one or more questions.
How does the setting of Barcelona in the midst of its Civil War add to the novel?
The author uses excerpts from letters, rememberances of people involved and other devices that relate part of the story from another person's point of view. Do you find the technique successful in propelling the story? Why or why not?
“This book is obviously an ode to books and to the art of reading. You have Bea state that "the art of reading is slowly dying, that it's an intimate ritual, that a book is a mirror that only offers us what we already carry inside us, that when we read, we do it with all our heart and mind, and great readers are becoming more scarce by the day" (p. 484). Do you believe this to be true? Do you share Fermín's disdain for television?”
This last question was taken from the Penguin Reader’s Guide online. | <urn:uuid:64d5c0f3-e230-4c9f-8cc7-819ce03e43d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nypl.org/blog/2010/02/22/shadow-wind-readers-den-discussion-goes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914483 | 267 | 1.835938 | 2 |
What is a clinical trial?
Clinical trials are research studies in which people help doctors and researchers find ways to improve health care. Each study tries to answer scientific questions and to find better ways to prevent, diagnose, or treat disease.
The purpose of a clinical trial is to find out whether a medicine or treatment regimen is safe and effective for the treatment of a specific condition or disease. Clinical trials compare the effectiveness of the study medicine or treatment against standard, accepted treatment, or against a placebo if no standard treatment exists.
What are the phases of a clinical trial?
A medicine or treatment regimen must go through three phases before it is approved for use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
New combinations of approved medicines can be studied in phase II, phase III, or phase IV trials.
How can I find out about clinical trials?
The U.S. National Institutes of Health, through its National Library of Medicine, has developed ClinicalTrials.gov to provide information about clinical research studies to patients, family members, and members of the public. You can contact this service on the Internet at www.ClinicalTrials.gov. Or you can get information over the phone by calling 1-888-346-3656 or (301) 594-5983. There may or may not be a clinical trial available in your area that relates to your particular disease or stage of disease.
What To Expect After Treatment
If you are accepted into the clinical trial and you give your consent to participate, you will be given a structured program to follow. You will have a schedule of tests, doctor appointments, and treatments. You may also be asked to keep a diary of your experience during this time. Be sure to carefully follow instructions. If you do not know what you are supposed to do next, call your doctor. Or call the person responsible for your trial.
Doctors, nurses, social workers, and other health professionals may be part of your treatment team. Your treatment team may continue to check on you after your trial is over.
Typically, all of the costs of your treatment are covered by the organization sponsoring the clinical trial.
Why It Is Done
Why are clinical trials important?
Clinical trials are important because they compare new treatments with accepted treatments. They allow researchers to find out whether a new treatment works better than accepted treatments. The new treatment might work as well as or better than standard therapies. And the new treatment might have fewer or better-tolerated side effects. On the other hand, the new treatment might not work as well or might cause more side effects than standard treatments.
Clinical trials help pharmaceutical or biotechnology companies develop medicines that are safer and more effective with fewer side effects. Clinical trials also help these companies decide whether it is worthwhile to seek approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a certain medicine. If a medicine does not work as well as standard therapy, then the FDA is not likely to approve it.
Clinical trials are also important in finding treatments if no standard treatment exists. Clinical trials help show how well the new treatment works and what side effects it may cause.
How do clinical trials work?
Your doctor will help you find out whether you are eligible to take part in a clinical trial. The company sponsoring the trial will have a very strict set of criteria that all participants must meet. If you meet the criteria, you may be "randomized" to either the new medicine, a medicine that is considered standard therapy, or a placebo. That means that a computer is used to randomly assign you to one of the treatments, and neither you nor your doctor knows which treatment you are getting. But not all clinical trials randomize people. And if you have a serious disease, such as cancer, you will not be given only a placebo, unless no effective treatment is known.
Every clinical trial in the United States must be approved and monitored by an institutional review board (IRB) to make sure the risks are as low as possible and worth any potential benefits.
After you are accepted by the clinical trial and you give your consent to take part, you will be given a structured program to follow. You will have a schedule of tests, doctor appointments, and treatments. You may also be asked to keep a diary of your experience during this time.
Sometimes the group sponsoring your trial will be responsible for the cost of the medicine as well as the costs of medical tests that are required while you are in the trial. Clinical trials usually require you to have more medical tests than you would have if you were not in the trial. But in other trials, the cost of the medicine and only some of the medical tests will be covered. Some studies will reimburse you for the cost of traveling to and from your medical visits.
What happens when the clinical trial is finished?
After a clinical trial is completed and the data collected is studied, the FDA decides whether to approve continued development of the medicine. If the medicine that you received remains in development, you may be able to receive additional doses as an extension of the study.
If the results of the clinical trial show that the new medicine or combination of medicines works much better than standard treatment, the new medicine may become available to the general public.
How Well It Works
Clinical trials compare new treatments to accepted treatments or to a placebo if no standard treatment exists. They allow researchers to find out whether a new treatment works better than accepted treatments. The new treatment might work as well as or better than standard treatment. And it might have fewer or better-tolerated side effects. On the other hand, the new treatment might not work as well or might cause more side effects than standard treatments.
You should be fully informed about the possible risks and benefits of the trial before you consent to participate.
What are the risks of clinical trials?
How is my safety protected?
Every clinical trial in the United States must be approved and monitored by an institutional review board (IRB) to make sure the risks are as low as possible and are worth any potential benefits.
The ethical and legal codes that apply to medical practice also apply to clinical trials. Most clinical research is regulated by the U.S. government, with specific rules to protect the participants. Clinical trials follow a carefully controlled study plan (protocol) that explains what everyone will do in the study. During the clinical trial, researchers report the results of the trial at scientific meetings, to medical journals, and to government agencies. Your name will remain secret and will not be mentioned in these reports.
What To Think About
Participation in a clinical trial is voluntary. No one can force you to participate. You should be fully informed about the possible risks and benefits of the trial before you consent to participate. If you choose not to take part, you will be offered the standard therapy for your disease.
Your taking part in a clinical trial may not benefit you directly. But in the future it may help other people who have the same disease.
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MY RECIPE BOX
Member hasn't created any cookbooks yet. | <urn:uuid:069af675-bb36-46f3-9b72-58c2d9b3b436> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bakespace.com/members/profile/ReaganBarry1930/621734/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954732 | 907 | 1.5 | 2 |
The Pond—Moonlight is a pictorialist photograph by Edward Steichen. The photograph was made in 1904 in Mamaroneck, New York, near the home of his friend, art critic Charles Caffin. The photograph features a forest across a pond, with part of the moon appearing over the horizon in a gap in the trees. The Pond—Moonlight is an early color photograph, predating the first widespread color photography technique (the 1907 autochrome), and was created by manually applying light-sensitive gums.
Only three known versions of the Pond-Moonlight are still in existence and, as a result of the hand-layering of the gums, each is unique. In February 2006, a print of the photograph sold for US $2.9 million, at the time, the highest price ever paid for a photograph at auction. | <urn:uuid:10edb2fd-9d06-4caf-9d9c-a621162df7b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theoddmentemporium.tumblr.com/tagged/Moonlight | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964129 | 176 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Specifies methods of test for natural and synthetic materials having a molar ratio sodium fluoride/aluminium trifluoride between 3 and 1,7 approximately. The method is applicable to products the phosphorus pentoxide content of which does not exceed 0,02 % (m/m). The procedure consists in alkaline fusion of a test portion by means of a mixture of sodium carbonate and boric acid. Dissolution of the fused mass in excess nitric acid so that the pH value is between 0,7 and 0,9. Formation of the (Yellow) oxidized molybdosilicate under clearly defined conditions of acidity, temperature, time and concentration of reagents. Selective reduction in the presence of tartaric acid and measurement at a wvelength of about 815 nm. | <urn:uuid:5e7c2e8a-898f-4c2e-8867-c3685e340824> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iso.org/iso/iso_catalogue/catalogue_tc/catalogue_detail.htm?csnumber=6217&commid=363319 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903255 | 163 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Although all kinds of sport flying are for fun rather than transportation, all you "power pilots" don't know what fun is until you try soaring; it's so quiet the instructor can hear his students cry. Soaring in a glider or sailplane is just pure joy. With the sophisticated aircraft of today that most of us fly, in even the basic four-place, fixed-gear, fixed-pitch-prop airplanes, the pilot is basically an equipment manager. Flying a glider, on the other hand, is pure stick-and-rudder flying, based on the skill of the pilot rather than the sophistication of his equipment.
All Over Again
For years I had ridiculed the idea of flying anything without an engine to keep it aloft, but I learned better the first time I went up in a glider I fell in love all over again.
I had been occupying various portions of the airspace for over 30 years when I was inspired to try soaring. It happened like this: My wife and I were in a hotel in Innsbruck, Austria, waiting for breakfast early one beautiful morning when I looked out the window of the hotel room and saw two sailplanes going back and forth along a ridge rising straight up for several hundred feet above a meadow on a plateau in the Alps. They were so graceful as they flew silently by that I was inspired to say to my wife, "Just as soon as we get back home I'm going to undertake glider training."
Back To School
Most glider training in the part of the country where I live is accomplished through soaring clubs, but there is an excellent commercial glider school about 120 miles from where I'm based. As soon as we returned from Europe, I rushed right out and signed up for a commercial glider transition course. It being October, the glider school had cut back their operations to weekends only. They operate daily through September, but in the fall the regular soaring season ends and they go to weekend-only operations. However, the school operator agreed to have a tow plane and pilot as well as a glider instructor meet me each Wednesday afternoon for the next three weeks so that I might complete the transition course. I bought an 18-flight package and I had a very good young woman instructing me who was an excellent teacher and who soloed me on my second tow.
At that time the experience requirement for transition from powered aircraft to glider was the same for Private or Commercial privileges. The only difference was in the skill requirement. For the Commercial certificate, the spot landing required much less tolerance. This particular glider school uses aero tows to launch the glider, so my glider rating was restricted to "AERO TOW ONLY." By the bye, I had sort of cheated on the package deal that was based on very short flights. Instead, I had read up on soaring and had done a bit of thermalling during my solo flights, so I spent more time in the air than was normally expected.
During that winter, I took the written examination for adding "GLIDER" to my Flight Instructor Certificate and the following summer I spent every Sunday afternoon at a local glider club that uses a winch to launch the sailplanes. By the end of the summer, I took the flight test for the glider instructor rating. I used a borrowed glider and did three tows from a small airport, on the third of which the inspector who was administering the test and I towed to 4,000 feet. We soared and glided the dozen miles or so to the club's glider field where the inspector had me do three winch launches so I would have an unrestricted glider certificate. (The rating is limited to the kind of launch demonstrated on the flight test.)
Throughout that winter I worked over the other two principals in the company, and by spring I had them talked into adding glider training to the programs offered at our flight school. We already had a Citabria we were using for taildragger checkouts and aerobatic training, and which was equipped with a hook and thus suitable for use as a tow plane. For starters we bought a two-place glider to use as a trainer. We later added a single-place glider to our fleet, and over the next three years we trained quite a number of glider pilots, both from scratch and transitions from power ratings. This glider-training program lasted until the airport we were using for glider training was sold to a large corporation. That company used the property to build a plant, and another nice little airport bit the dust.
Today, of course, there are three ways to get a sailplane aloft; aero tow, ground launch (winch or auto tow), and self-launch, the so-called motor glider. The glider rating on one's pilot certificate restricts him or her to using the type of launch demonstrated on the check ride, and to remove the restriction the pilot must demonstrate to an examiner or inspector his or her ability with each type of launch.
Keeping the thing up without an engine requires the use of nature's power, and this comes in three basic forms: thermals, ridge lift, and wave soaring. Being a flatland resident of the Midwest, my personal soaring has been limited to using thermals for lift, except for an occasional expedition to a mountain soaring site where both ridge and wave soaring may be found. Even so, by only using thermalling for lift, I have made altitude gains on more than one occasion of as much as 8,000 feet, releasing from the tow at 2,000 and thermalling up to 10,000 without much trouble. Unless you've done it, you simply cannot comprehend the thrill of meeting the challenge of climbing in a heavier-than-air machine with nature's power alone.
One very tangible benefit of flying a glider is this: Many of today's pilots who trained in airplanes after the manufacturers started putting a training wheel out in front of the airplane simply have no idea what the rudder is all about. If you want a dramatic demonstration of the principle of adverse yaw, try turning a glider with aileron alone, and watch how the nose swings away from the direction of the turn. Many modern pilots plant their feet firmly on the floor and steer the airplane through the sky like an automobile, with the "steering wheel." And they can get away with this because modern airplanes are designed to permit it, but it makes for sloppy flying.
It was entirely different when pilots were trained in J3 Cubs and Aeronca 7AC Champs. In those days a great deal of pilot training was concentrated on coordination of hand and foot. Because of the long wingspan of all gliders, the extraordinarily long ailerons, and the extreme differential in aileron travel, the down aileron on the up wing in a banked turn in a glider produces substantially more drag than does the up aileron on the down wing. The result is extremely pronounced adverse aileron yaw. Therefore, the glider pilot must coordinate rudder with aileron when entering or rolling out of a turn. And this results in greatly improved precision in all his flying, airplanes as well as gliders. Try it. I guarantee that not only will your eyes be opened, but you will actually enjoy it.
If you already have a power certificate, the transition to gliders is quite simple, and the investment in a transition course is really very modest. In addition to being required to learn to coordinate stick and rudder, there are really only two new techniques to learn. One, the glider pilot must follow the tow plane in a very specific position this can be a bit tricky at first. The other new technique for the power pilot is in landing the glider. One doesn't flare for landing as is done in an airplane. Instead, the glider is flown right down to the ground. Once these tasks are mastered, it is simply a matter of taking the check ride. There is no written examination for the pilot who has a power rating. Then comes the fun and challenge of learning to thermal with the sailplane and gain altitude without an engine.
There is sure to be a glider school or glider club within a reasonable distance, so why not go out and take a ride. Be forewarned, however, if you do, you are likely to be hooked.
I can put my ATP Certificate in my pocket, climb into a pressurized, turbine-powered airplane, and get along just fine in the high-altitude structure where I'm operating as an equipment manager instead of a real pilot. But if I want to have pure fun, I get in a glider and soar with the hawks. And there must be lots of others who enjoy soaring as I do, for according to a recent edition of the "General Aviation Statistical Databook" published by the General Aviation Manufacturers Association, there are many thousands of active glider pilots with glider-only certificates, and countless others who hold certificates with power ratings as well as glider ratings, including a substantial number of air carrier pilots. These are the guys who fly for the sheer joy of it.
There is absolutely no practical application to flying gliders, but the intangible benefits are immeasurable. There is a saying in the glider community that flying a glider is the most fun you can have with your pants on. Believe it!
Usual Boilerplate: If you have a comment regarding this column, please post it here rather than sending it to me by direct email. That way others may benefit from your input. | <urn:uuid:f4f53669-0361-4e9a-9480-93ef51e1bbf1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.avweb.com/news/eyeofex/182248-1.html?type=pf | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972392 | 1,981 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The Cornell Lab of Ornithology has made available several live webcams and recorded clips showing a variety of birds in their courtship, nesting and young rearing activities.
The cameras, and their websites, include:
Great Blue Herons - Watch these graceful birds fly up to their nest, then walk along a branch directly toward the camera to begin their courtship display. The video highlight comes from the live-streaming nest cam outside the lab's office, where the birds now are incubating five eggs.
Go to www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2433 to see the heron webcam and click on the "Videos" tab to see recorded clips.
Go to www.allaboutbirds.org/page.aspx?pid=2422 to see the red-tailed hawk webcam and click on the "Videos" tab to see recorded clips. | <urn:uuid:0a3edfb2-6866-4499-beb9-b327627c2f37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sungazette.com/page/content.detail/id/577105/Cornell-Lab-posts-webcams-showing-several-bird-species.html?nav=5013 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919413 | 185 | 2.234375 | 2 |
"Today, with the coming introduction of the NVIDIA 780i chipset, NVIDIA is looking to make serious changes to what is possible with enthusiast systems by launching a new technology platform. The name of the new standard is ESA - Enthusiast System Architecture. Its goal is to provide information and control to enthusiasts not just for NVIDIA motherboards and video cards, but to provide that information and control for many other components in an ESA-enabled system. The actual protocol is OS independent. This is very important for the future of ESA, as it will eventually allow ESA to operate with any platform." | <urn:uuid:27b8a78e-bc72-4135-a29f-7bc4df954da2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osnews.com/comments/18876 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924679 | 118 | 1.570313 | 2 |
It is unsettling to learn that Gov. Brownback has coined a new phrase, “pay fors” to describe the budgetary conundrums he has created for Kansas.
Though the English language has over a million words available, he created this awkward neologism. When speaking of the consequences of decreased state revenue, are the words “shortfalls,” “gaps” or “deficits” too negative or too embarrassing for him to say?
This is a not a good example for Kansas students. If they do not know or cannot find an appropriate word in their vocabulary, are they now allowed to create and use a sentence fragment instead? | <urn:uuid:6dc43e5f-0b9f-43e0-8b75-55818450fc2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.ljworld.com/news/2012/dec/11/letter-pay-fors/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957327 | 139 | 2.828125 | 3 |
The Water Environment Research Foundation, formed in 1989, is
America’s leading independent scientific research organization
dedicated to wastewater and stormwater issues. For more than 20 years we
have produced hundreds of research reports, valued at more than $100 million.
We are a nonprofit organization that operates with funding from subscribers and the federal government. Our subscribers include wastewater treatment plants, stormwater utilities, and regulatory agencies. Industry, equipment companies, engineers and environmental consultants also lend their support and expertise as subscribers. WERF takes a progressive approach to research, stressing collaboration among teams of subscribers, environmental professionals, scientists, and staff. All research is peer reviewed by leading experts.
What makes WERF research stand out within the water quality community?
In a word: results.
- Results that provide value to our subscribers
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possible – without cutting scientific corners
- Results that spur the next generation of science and | <urn:uuid:17d881ee-7875-47aa-ac35-89a43ab96bae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.werf.org/i/About/a/b/About_WERF.aspx?hkey=377848f6-039b-460f-a43b-0b22dffbe5ad | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930722 | 197 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Diabetes May Hasten Mental Decline
MONDAY, June 18 (HealthDay News) -- Older adults with diabetes and poor blood sugar control are at increased risk for greater declines in their memory and thinking abilities, a new study finds.
Researchers followed more than 3,000 people without dementia, average age 74, for more than 10 years.
At the start of the study, 23 percent of the participants had diabetes. Of the more than 2,300 participants without diabetes, 159 developed the condition during the follow-up period.
People with diabetes at the start of the study scored lower on initial tests of their thinking skills than those without diabetes. During the follow-up, participants with diabetes showed much greater declines in mental function than those without diabetes.
The study was published online June 18 in the journal Archives of Neurology.
The findings support the theory that older adults with diabetes have reduced thinking and memory skills and that poor blood sugar control may be a contributing factor, said Dr. Kristine Yaffe, of the University of California, San Francisco, and the San Francisco VA Medical Center, and colleagues in a journal news release.
The investigators said further research is needed to determine if early diagnosis and treatment of diabetes reduces the risk of mental decline and if good blood sugar control helps reduce the effect of diabetes on thinking and memory function.
While the study found an association between diabetes and mental decline, it did not show a cause-and-effect relationship.
The U.S. National Institute on Aging has more about diabetes in older people.
SOURCE: Archives of Neurology, news release, June 18, 2012 | <urn:uuid:19c6587b-c520-40e6-9f2e-9373b167a77f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lehighregional.com/health-education/6,665823 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930502 | 331 | 2.34375 | 2 |
At the center of the violent unrest in Syria stands President Bashar Assad, the man who has ruled the country since 2000. Today Assad is almost universally seen as a bloodthirsty tyrant. He unleashed his army against his own population after the Arab Spring over a year ago, and since then has presided over thousands of civilian deaths. His name is grouped with other recent—and notorious—Arab dictators who have been overthrown, such as Khadafy, Mubarak, and even Saddam Hussein.
But he wasn’t always seen this way. Assad came to power amid hope and anticipation, with many Syrians and outside observers believing he would be a leader who could help loosen up the inert, stultifying Syrian system. Although it seems shocking now, his arrival ushered in a time of openness dubbed the “Damascus Spring.” Assad had a far different pedigree than the men he has come to resemble: He was, relatively speaking, normal, an ophthalmologist educated in London, the second son of Syria’s longtime ruler Hafez Assad. Bashar was an intellectual, not noticeably ambitious, even a bit of a computer nerd.
I should know because I met with him on a regular basis between 2004 and 2009, spending more time face-to-face with him than perhaps any other American. I witnessed his transformation first-hand, as he evolved from a potential agent of reform to a repressive dictator with his own people’s blood on his hands.
His story, and the recent hardening of Syria’s government against its own people, offers a stark illustration of how autocrats can ultimately be captured by the systems that they notionally control. And to understand how the conflict looks from within the regime—the view from Bashar’s seat, as it were—suggests a very pessimistic outlook for the peaceful kind of resolution the international community hopes to bring about.
As the world watched Bashar harden into a legacy autocrat, I saw something else: a gap opening up between how he saw his actions, and how the rest of the world did.
When Assad officially took the constitutional oath of office on July 17, 2000, in Damascus, he delivered an inaugural speech that was remarkably enlightened by Syrian standards. His father had ruled Syria for 30 years by building a security state that controlled virtually all aspects of society. Bashar’s speech was clearly intended to change some elements of this, especially economic ones. Remarkably, it directly criticized some of his own father’s past policies.
Hafez had been the quintessential Middle Eastern strongman, having seized power in a coup and then built up his country’s military-security apparatus to maintain himself, his cronies, and his Ba’ath party in power. In doing so, he tacitly offered (or demanded) a Faustian bargain with the Syrian people: In return for their subservience, if not obeisance, he would provide domestic stability of a kind that Syria had not experienced in its politically turbulent past since independence in 1946.
Bashar wasn’t supposed to be the successor at all. His older brother, Basil, was the putative heir being groomed to succeed the father. Bashar, on the other hand, was the licensed ophthalmologist who had studied in London. When Basil died in a car accident in 1994, Bashar returned from London and nurtured a relationship with elements of the Syrian intelligentsia. Bashar was chairman of the Syrian Computer Society; he reveled in the technological toys of the West and liked Western music. He brought into the government a number of members of the computer society, Western-friendly technocrats who were generally thought to be reformers.
His inaugural speech conveyed clear ideas on how Syria could move forward: The economy and educational system needed an extensive overhaul to help the country find a niche in the international economy. It was ambiguous, even evasive, on the prospects for political reform along a more democratic model, but it was still greeted with enthusiasm by people hoping for more political openness.
And the openness did follow. The seven to eight months after Bashar took office—the period dubbed the Damascus Spring—were a time of a noticeably more open political environment marked by general amnesties to political prisoners of all persuasions, the licensing of private newspapers, a shake-up of the state-controlled media apparatus. Bashar discarded the personality cult that had surrounded the regime of his father, and allowed political forums and salons in which open criticism and dissent were tolerated.
The regime, however, appeared to be caught off guard by just how fast things changed. Civil society organizations and pro-democracy groups arose, and the level of criticism directed at the government grew quickly.
Diplomats in Syria and analysts at the time believe that an old guard still in the regime—stalwarts loyal to his father, Hafez, especially in the military-security apparatus—warned Bashar that too much of this openness would endanger his power base. By the time I met Assad for the first time in 2004, the Damascus Spring had given way to a winter of retrenchment, at least politically. The newspapers had been shuttered, the political salons closed, and a number of prominent pro-democracy activists had been re-imprisoned. Bashar was still promoting economic modernization, but pointed out that it was difficult to reform a political system quickly in an environment as threatening and unstable as the Middle East.
We met extensively while I was researching a book, “The New Lion of Damascus: Bashar al-Asad and Modern Syria” (Yale University Press, 2005). After the book was published, I continued to meet with him, at his request, as a kind of unofficial liaison between Syria and the West. Syria had become internationally isolated following its opposition to the US invasion of Iraq, and then the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri in February 2005, for which many held Syria responsible.
Assad was a welcoming personality, gregarious and even self-deprecating. Though he was clearly putting his best foot forward for my benefit (and his), he didn’t seem false about it—he seemed sincerely to want to lead a nation that was more engaged with the rest of the world. Others I’ve spoken to who met Bashar in person during that time came away with the same impression. This, of course, is the polar opposite of his profile today, and many people have a hard time reconciling the two Bashars, if you will. How could a relatively normal ophthalmologist turn into the person who gave orders that led to more than 10,000 of his countrymen being killed?
As the rest of the world watched Bashar harden from a would-be reformer into a legacy autocrat, I saw something else at work as well: a gap opening up between how he saw his actions, and how the rest of the world did.
For instance, early in Bashar Assad’s presidency, he decreed the elimination of military uniforms in primary and secondary schools. At the time, Western media, officials, and analysts dismissed, even ridiculed, the change as emblematic of how little Assad was actually doing to reform his country. But Assad himself genuinely believed that it mattered, and that he had taken a risk to make it happen: In a system almost immune to change, he saw it as an important step in redirecting Syria’s operational philosophy away from the symbols and trappings of martial indoctrination.
An even bigger gap existed in how Syria saw itself with regard to the rest of the world. His father’s regime, reaching back decades, was driven by a very powerful sense of foreign conspiracy—a fear bordering on paranoia. Some observers place the blame on imperialist conspiracies of the past when Syria was constantly subject to interference from larger powers. Others see it as having roots in the tortured regional politics around the Arab-Israeli conflict. In large measure, one could also see it simply as a function of living in a dangerous neighborhood where real threats are indeed often just around the corner.
As Bashar settled into power, he became less a man of the world, and more a creature of this worldview. Following the Hariri assassination, Bashar confided to me that he was convinced that the West and its regional allies were “out to get him” one way or another, either through force or diplomacy.
In March 2011, when Assad gave his first speech in response to the protests in his country inspired by the Arab Spring, he blamed the unrest on terrorists, conspirators, and armed gangs. This is how he still talks about it. To observers outside Syria, this looks like blatant misdirection, pointing away from the real socioeconomic and political problems that brought the Arab Spring to Syria. But within Syria—and especially within the regime—the perception of the threat is vastly different. Many Syrians readily believe such exhortations. It’s quite possible—even probable—that one of them is even Assad himself.
It’s not hard to see these conceptual gaps at work in some of his stranger pronouncements. Late last year, in an interview in Damascus, Assad told Barbara Walters—who had asked him about the Syrian military—“They are not my forces; they are military forces belong [sic] to the government....I don’t own them. I am president. I don’t own the country, so they are not my forces.”
Watching it, I could understand what this statement meant to him—it has always been deeply important to him to depict his country as a modern, working state with strong institutions. He cannot just arbitrarily act. But to a world horrified by the crackdowns in Syria and looking for a statement from its leader, it was also evidence of something else: a man whose view of the world has tragically separated from the reality of what he is governing.
I got to know Bashar Assad fairly well, and to this day do not see him as an eccentric, bloodthirsty killer along the lines of Moammar Khadafy or a Saddam Hussein. People I know who have met all three readily agree with this assessment. Bashar was different from the typical Middle East dictator, and I admit that I was one of the people who had hoped for something new.
But Bashar, from all the evidence, has become captured by the system he had hoped to change. Hafez Assad constructed an airtight and stultifying family, tribal, and sectarian-based patronage system that produced loyalty and stability, but little else. Domestically, it is a regime deeply suspicious of its own people: As Peter Harling, an astute Syria observer on the scene in Damascus, wrote: “For the regime, its supporters and its allies, Syria’s is an immature, if not disease ridden society. They posit—with evidence both real and invented, and generally blown out of proportion—that Syrian society shows sectarian, fundamentalist, violent, and seditious proclivities that can be contained only by a ruthless power structure.”
Bashar, over time, has succumbed to the alternate reality orchestrated around any autocrat. He started to believe regime propaganda, and the sycophants who surrounded him, that the well-being of the country was synonymous with his well-being. Within the country, he is referred to by his most ardent supporters as a “savior” or “prophet,” almost divinely sent to lead the country.
“After he became president, when people showered him with compliments and inflated his ego, he became totally different—as if he was chosen by God to run Syria,” said Ayman Abd al-Nour, a prominent Syrian commentator, now exiled, who went to college with Bashar and got to know him well as a friend.
The Syrian system is not geared to respond to people’s demands—it controls people’s demands. And it is not geared to change, but to maintain the status quo and survive. As the Arab Spring has unfolded, and Syria’s people—sometimes entire towns—have rebelled and called for change in the regime, Bashar and his loyalists have consistently treated it as a security problem rather than a political one, violently putting down domestic unrest in a typically convulsive response. In Bashar’s world, the violence unleashed by the regime is a necessary means to an end.
Syria’s internal paranoia means that outside groups, even supposedly neutral brokers, look more like threats than allies. The Syrian leadership is tremendously suspicious of any brokered agreements, especially if they are mediated by the Arab League or the UN—both of which it sees as controlled by anti-Syrian states.
In the past year, Bashar has lifted the emergency law that has thoroughly squelched dissent since 1963, provided for Kurdish citizenship to those Kurds designated stateless since the early 1960s, created political parties in what has been in essence a single party political apparatus dominated by the Ba’ath since coming to power in 1963, and passed a new constitution that would sanctify political pluralism. Once, these changes would have been viewed as significant. Now, amid increasing unrest and violence, they are seen as self-serving, after-the-fact, and insufficient.
To do more—to reform more deeply and rapidly, and most importantly to stop the military forces that are firing on Syria’s own people—would likely spell the end of the Assad regime itself. And that is the one thing that it appears beyond his powers to allow. | <urn:uuid:4ee323df-ec48-4cba-b567-a1f6a5297671> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bostonglobe.com/ideas/2012/06/16/theworld-according-tobashar/StunGFbaaryw8F1tOnpaWI/story.html?camp=pm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981532 | 2,790 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Their empire began in 2003 when at least one European government paid $5 million to the Salafist Group of Preaching and Combat (GSPC) for a group of 32 European tourists who kidnapped in Algeria.
"It is the Western countries that are financing terrorism and jihad through their ransom payments," Oumar Ould Hamaha, a member of the MUJWA Islamist group, told Reuters.
The GSPC later became AQIM, al-Qaeda's North Africa wing, which has formed alliances with various Islamist groups and criminal networks in the region.
Dubbed "gangster-jihadists" by French parliamentarians, the AQIM began offering as much as $100,000 for non-American Westerners that they could flip to governments for a higher payout. (Washington does not pay ransoms.)
The gangster-jihadists earned tens of millions of dollars this way, Western and regional security officials told Reuters. A Swiss government report in 2010 revealed that the country spent $5.9 million to free two hostages held in Mali, with only about $2.1 million going to the Swiss rescuers.
The AQIM then entered the drug game, providing protection and permission to traffickers of Afghan heroin destined for Europe in addition to hashish and Latin American cocaine.
"People came in from the desert with suitcases full of cash," Ben Essayouti, secretary general of Timbuktu's branch of the Malian Human Rights League, told Reuters. "Sometimes the bank opened on holidays just for them."
Reuters notes that Mali's north could become a free-for-all for traffickers and terrorists since Islamists control large airplane runways in Gao, Timbuktu, Kidal and Tessalit.
"In the short term, if the Malian government wants to win back the north, it will have to strike [shady] deals with some of these groups," Wolfram Lacher, a researcher at the German Institute for International and Security Affairs. "The difficult question is how you stop ... their positions being strengthened." | <urn:uuid:f1823993-6f2e-4bed-a0cf-f7a06d489901> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessinsider.com/mali-jihadists-collect-a-lot-of-ransoms-2012-10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961702 | 424 | 1.75 | 2 |
Individual folders are identified in the following way on the left side of each folder: Name of Collection, box #/folder#, as in Ben Zion Bokser Papers, 4/22. Please use this format in citations and when referring to files for any other reason.
Rabbi Ario S. Hyams graduated from the City College of New York in 1927, and received rabbinic ordination from The Jewish Theological Seminary in 1931. A chaplain during World War Two, Hyams went on to lead congregations in Somerville, Massachusetts; Lynbrook, New York; Asbury Park and Teaneck, New Jersey, and finally Roslyn Heights, New York, where he led Temple Beth Shalom.
Rabbi Hyams held positions as president of the Rabbinical Association of Bergen County, New Jersey, chairman of the Nassau-Suffolk division of the Rabbinical Assembly, and president of the Nassau-Suffolk Association of Rabbis. He was the national chairman of the United Synagogue Commission on Jewish Education, and was its chairman of music in education.
A composer, Rabbi Hyams was in 1961 named chairman of the Jewish Welfare Board's National Jewish Music Council. He also held the position of editor of Jewish Music Notes, a supplement to the Jewish Welfare Board Circle, 1955-1962. Hyams was also a lecturer in music at Hofstra University.
This small group of Rabbi Hyams' papers, ca.1930-1972, consists of typescripts of speeches and sermons, ca.1957-1971; music and music related material, including a published copy of Rabbi Hyams' musical settings: "Seven Poems from the Song of Songs," 1969, a dramatization from the Song of Songs and his arrangement of Lord Byron's "Hebrew Melodies;" issues, 1955-1969, of Jewish Music Notes; and correspondence and notes relating to the Congregational Religious Fellowship of Temple Beth Shalom, Roslyn Heights.
Some miscellaneous material consists of a paper Hyams wrote as a student in Mordecai Kaplan's homiletics class at The Jewish Theological Seminary in 1930, an article on halacha and science, and a press release from the Jewish Welfare Board announcing Hyams' appointment as National Jewish Music Council chairman, 1961.
|1||1-2||Speeches and sermons, 1957-1971; n.d.|
|3||Music and music related materials, 1949; 1969; n.d.|
|4||Press clippings from Jewish Music Notes, 1955-1969|
|5||Roslyn Heights congregational fellowship, 1962-1964|
|6||Miscellaneous, 1930-1972; n.d.| | <urn:uuid:1b0425ac-416e-4ae8-a5b6-09ff0a3e9cda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jtsa.edu/The_Library/Collections/Archives/The_Ratner_Center/Finding_Aids_to_papers_of_Conservative_Rabbis_and_Synagogues/Hyams_Ario_S.xml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933512 | 565 | 1.5625 | 2 |
NewsCon Edison Media Relations
Telephone: (212) 460-4111
For Immediate Release: July 6, 1999
CON EDISON REDUCES VOLTAGE SYSTEM-WIDE
To help keep electric power flowing reliably during a record-breaking heat wave, Con Edison reduced electric voltage today by five percent system-wide. In addition, it urged its 3 million customers to work with the company by curtailing unnecessary use of energy-intensive equipment, including washers, dryers, air conditioners, lights, televisions and computers.
The Con Edison electric system remains stable and the power supply adequate, despite record demand.
In implementing the voltage reduction, Con Edison complied with a request from the New York Power Pool, an organization that represents the state’s eight largest investor-owned utilities. Utilities throughout the state have been directed to reduce voltage because of insufficient reserves and low voltages in the bulk power system. The Power Pool, which coordinates the operation of electric production and transmission facilities in New York State, is asking all utility customers in the state to conserve energy.
During the record-breaking heat wave, parts of the Con Edison system have experienced scattered outages. Crews are at work to restore power to those affected.
Con Edison will provide updates to affected customers both directly and through the media as the situation warrants. The company is in constant communication with the New York City Office of Emergency Management and the Westchester County Office of Disaster and Emergency Services. | <urn:uuid:cca3055f-6232-4747-8f4f-16703f0e7ab2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coned.com/newsroom/news/pr19990706c.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925295 | 302 | 1.875 | 2 |
Extreme Testing Overview
The VXA Extreme Tests
Boiling Freezing Hot Coffee
What is VXA Extreme?
VXA Extreme is the definitive proof that VXA tape drives can restore data which, with any other tape technology, would be lost without any chance of recovery. In the VXA Extreme Tests, the VXA-1 tape drive restores data from tapes that have been boiled, frozen solid, and dunked in hot coffee. [Boiling,Freezing, Coffee...]
What VXA Extreme is NOT…
VXA Extreme is not about how tough the VXAtape media are. That is not the point. The point is that, even with tapes that have been abused and damaged beyond the tolerance of any conventional tape technology, a VXA-1 tape drive restores the data - successfully.
Independently Extreme Tested…
Ingeniøren, a Danish engineering publication, challenged our drive — all three tests, with one tape cartridge. That’s Extreme Testing. See their results,translated to English or as they appeared in Danish.
Sm@rt Reseller challenged the VXA-1 with an Extreme test: “plunging two tapes in hot (160°F) coffee. After rinsing both tapes in distilled water and drying overnight, the VXA-1 drive successfully read, verified and restored data from both tapes without a hitch. Try that with your newest conventional backup tape!” See their results.
Don’t Try This At Home…
There is no substitute for proper care of your data storage equipment. No tape manufacturer intends for media to be subjected to the conditions of the VXA Extreme Tests as part of normal use. But, if and when the unthinkable happens, wouldn’t you rather be on the safe side, with VXA?
The Ecrix VXA-1 is the wild card here. The VXA-1 represents a new approach to recording technology-that of packet recording. Ecrix’s packet technology substantially reduces the risk of failed restores due to spot damage to the media. As proof of concept, Ecrix offers the 100%-restore results of tests where VXA-1 tapes have been boiled, frozen, and subjected to coffee spills (see http://www.vxatape.com/extreme/ for that story). The VXA-1 technology was sufficiently innovative to win one of our Outstanding Product Awards in 1999 (December 1999, p.14). With suggested list prices of $899 for internal and $989 for external drives, the VXA-1 presents a compelling alternative to other technologies for workstation and small server backups. So far, however, none of the major library vendors have released large systems based on the VXA-1 drives. We expect that to change, since the VXA-1 is an 8mm technology, and it should be a simple matter to adapt existing 8mm libraries to the VXA-1 drives. But only time and market pressures will decide when. | <urn:uuid:65681ab1-a2c6-437b-846d-f9f609720bd0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vxatape.com/extreme | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924773 | 637 | 1.859375 | 2 |
|| © CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS 1998
In particle physics it is usual to simplify the appearance of equations by using units in which = 1 and c = 1. In electromagnetism we set 0 = 1 (so that the force between charges q1 and q2 is q1q2 / 4r2), and µ0 = 1, to give c2 = (µ00)-1 = 1. We shall occasionally reinsert factors of and c where it may be reassuring or illuminating, or for the purposes of calculation. It is useful to remember that
|c 197 MeV fm,||e2 / 4 1.44 MeV fm,|
|= e2 / 4 c (1/137),||c 3 x 1023 fm s-1.|
Energies, masses, and momenta are usually quoted in MeV or GeV, and we shall follow this convention. | <urn:uuid:ceb2f79f-b9e4-4356-bfd8-f7062ea4d705> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ned.ipac.caltech.edu/level5/Cottingham/Cott1_10.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913852 | 193 | 2.828125 | 3 |
A success roll is a die roll used to "test" a trait or skill of your character. As you know, each skill a character has will have a single die associated with it. To test that skill, roll the die. If the roll is a 6 or less, you have succeeded. If roll is greater than a 6, you have failed. The lower the roll the more complete the success, or the higher the roll the more dismal the failure.
As you may notice, that means that a Grandmaster will never fail a normal test, and an average person will fail about half the time. (Well, that makes sense, doesn't it?)
However, sometimes the "target number" will be set differently than a 6 by the Storyteller. For particularly difficult tasks, the target may be a 2 or a 3. There are no charts for this or even guidelines. It's all up to the Storyteller and the influence of the Three Precepts.
For speed of play, always assume that the target is a 6 unless the Storyteller specifically says otherwise. Success rolls (or any other type of roll, for that matter) should only be made when the Storyteller asks for it. Most of the time, the course of the story can be determined narratively, by you and the Storyteller. Dice are only a tool to help guide the action when you can't decide whether success or failure would be better for the flow of the plot, or when an element of chance makes sense or adds to the fun.
The metal catwalk before Ryla's path was slick with rain, gleaming in the torchlight. The Ogrean battle cries continued to grow bolder as the others struggled to hold back the surrounding enemy.
"Move, by god!" Commanded Laerd. Ryla was terrified, but the catwalk was the only way out. With a prayer and a gasp, she teetered out over the chasm.
The Storyteller interrupted the narrative. "Ryla, make an agility roll, target of 4." Ryla was no athlete. Her agility was average at best. (D12) She tossed the die... a 3. All she needed was a 4 or less: she made it.
Laerd watched breathlessly as Ryla's torch swayed its way across the catwalk, her feet struggling to find purchase on the slick metal. She reached the other side and turned to look back, motioning frantically for the others to follow. The Ogrean began to charge...
"I'm going to disengage and run across as fast as I can," decided Laerd.
"That's not so easy, Laerd," warned the Storyteller. "Make an agility save, target of 3." Laerd was a warrior, and he had great balance (D8). He spun and dashed across the beam. The die was tossed: a 7.
"Aye!!" Laerd's foot came out from under him. Ryla screamed as she watched him fall and splash into the freezing water below... He hit hard, and was swallowed into the rush.
"Make a health save, Laerd" said the Storyteller ominously, "and you better not miss this one..." | <urn:uuid:5677a033-156e-4bde-af7b-211974d06485> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mimgames.com/window/rules/success.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965067 | 675 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Tips for designing electrical systems for tricky fire pump installations
When it comes to fire pumps, there's more to designing and installing these units than meets the eye. As projects become larger and more complex, such as those found in campus settings, installation requirements vary and design options increase, which often leads to confusion on the electrical design front. Therefore, it's important to turn to more than Art. 695 of the NEC for guidance — there are other codes, standards, and local regulations you must become familiar with when doing this type of work. Let's start from the beginning, outlining the requirements associated with various fire pump installations.
You receive notification that a particular project requires a fire pump. Although there are other possibilities, you will have one of three basic scenarios to address. The fire pump is going to be fed from:
a single utility service point (the simplest).
a single utility service point and an onsite generator. For example, the International Building Code (Sec. 403.10.1.3) requires this arrangement in a high-rise building (more than 75 feet tall). Another situation could be that the height of the building may be beyond the pumping capacity of the local fire department. In this case, you must follow the rules of NFPA 20, “Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection,” in Chapter 9, Sec. 3.1. Another example is simply that the owner requested this arrangement.
dual feeder sources (where one of the sources may or may not be a generator). This would include a campus setting or a multi-building application and fall under the requirements of NEC Sec. 695.3.
Let's begin with a review of the situation where you have one building, one fire pump, and one power source (from the utility). The major issue is that you will need to run a dedicated feeder from the service transformer (just after the metering equipment) to the fire pump. NEC 695.3 (A)(1) prevents you from coming off of the main service equipment.
If your feeder is before the metering equipment, the utility will install a second set of meters on it. Initially, this is not a big deal. The owner simply has to pay an additional monthly meter charge. However, add the utility's demand charges for a pump that is usually only operated once per month (for testing), and those ongoing charges become costly. On the other hand, demand charges for testing fire pumps are typically nonexistent for a proper installation because the pump is run during the owner's off-peak hours.
Route the wiring outside the building, similar to service entrance conductors. The installation must follow the requirements of NEC 230.6, which calls for you to either place the conductors below 2 inches of concrete, encase conduit in 2 inches of concrete, or route them in conduit 18 inches below the soil. Size the conductors similar to other motor loads (i.e., follow the requirements of 430.22). Size them for 125% of the motor's full load amps (FLAs). If these cable lengths are long, make sure you check the voltage drop on the circuit. Per the NEC and NFPA 20, 9.4.1, the voltage shall not drop more than 15% under motor starting conditions. If it does, you'll need to increase the conductor size to resolve the issue.
You should locate the pump in an isolated room protected from the rest of the building spaces — and not in the same room as the main electrical distribution center. The pump controller will include a safety disconnect switch. Per NEC 695.12, this has to be located in the same room and within sight of the pump. There is no need to include overcurrent protection devices (OCPDs). In the event of a fire, it's better to let the pump run (even overload or destroy itself) than have an OCPD open and prevent the pump from doing its job (supplying water to extinguish the fire).
If you follow NFPA 20, “Standard for the Installation of Stationary Pumps for Fire Protection,” then you'll want to install emergency lighting in the pump room per Sec. 5.12.4 and remote monitoring per Sec. 10.4.7.1. Even if it's not required, a monitoring system is a sound idea. Installing sensors on equipment and wiring them to either the fire alarm system or building automation system can accomplish the monitoring. Items to monitor include: pump running status, loss of phase power, phase reversal, and if controls have switched over to alternate power source (the next example).
A good way to accomplish this is to use the fire alarm or building automation systems, which you're already designing into the project. Connect these monitoring points to the fire alarm panel. A “pump running” signal can be programmed and designated as either an alarm or supervisory signal; other monitored points, such as “phase loss” or “disconnect switch open” must be designated as a supervisory signal per NFPA 72, 184.108.40.206. Provisions will also be needed for a telephone in the pump room, per NFPA 72, 220.127.116.11.
This project requires design of an onsite generator(s) sized for the fire pump's alternate power source. All the requirements of NFPA 110, “Standard for Emergency and Standby Power System,” should be met in designing and sizing the generator system. The generator(s) must be sized to start and run the fire pump, along with any additional loads connected to it. As per NEC 695.3(B)(1), it does not need to have the capacity to handle the pump's locked rotor current. Nor does the tap for the generator feeder have to be located ahead of its disconnecting means. The generator does have to have enough fuel capacity to provide eight hours of operation at 100% of the pump's rated load (NFPA 20, 18.104.22.168). The transfer of power (from normal to standby and vice versa) needs to take place within sight of the fire pump (NFPA 20, 9.6.4 and NEC 695.12(A), which means the transfer switch needs to be located in the same room as the pump.
As with the first example, it's best to specify a packaged unit. In this case, a combination automatic transfer switch, disconnect switch, and fire pump controller is the best choice. You'll also need to route two feeders to the fire pump room. Exercise care with the routing, and be sure the cables are properly protected to ensure a successful installation, just as you did in the first example.
This is probably one of the most difficult arrangements you'll run across. In this example, the project is a campus environment (i.e., college, medical center, or industrial complex), consisting of multiple buildings with a centralized power distribution system. This scenario falls under the requirements of NEC 695.3(B)(2) with two or more feeder sources supplying power to the pump(s). These sources could be separately derived utility services or a combination of a utility service source and a campus generator bank.
In this situation, you must deal with two additional items: 1) A disconnect switch will most likely be needed, along with an OCPD (somewhere on the feeder or feeders); and 2) Fire-rated cables will need to be specified because you'll most likely be unable to bury the cables as noted in the previous examples. If you are able to route the cables in the concrete slab or underground, then follow the requirements previously mentioned.
Locate the OCPD in an electrical room, preferably in a vault with 3-hour rated protection. Size it to carry the locked rotor current of the fire pump, as per NEC 695.4(B)(1). You must obtain the locked rotor current directly from the motor's nameplate or from NEC Table 430.251(B) based on the motor's design letter. This current can be five to six times the motor's full load amps rating.
For example, a 100-hp motor's full load amps rating may be 124A, while its locked rotor amps rating is 725A. In this example, sizing upward to the next largest standard size OCPD requires an 800A overcurrent protection device. Remember, equipment ground-fault protection is never required for fire pumps, even when the OCPD is rated 1,000A or higher. However, you must meet other requirements of NEC 695.4(B)(2) through (5), such as the OCPD must be listed suitable for service use and be remotely located from other distribution equipment; it must be lockable in the closed position; the disconnecting means shall have an identification placard with 1-inch height letter reading “Fire Pump Disconnecting Means;” the pump controller needs to also have a placard stating the location of the disconnecting means and location of the key, if it is locked. Following the requirements of NFPA 20, 9.2.2(4)(e), this OCPD must also be selectively coordinated with any other supply site OCPD, which means it must trip first under a fault condition.
In reference to the conductors, except in the electrical and fire pump rooms, you're required to follow the requirements outlined in NEC 695.6(B). Due to cost and infeasibility, chances are you would not want to enclose the conductors in 2 inches of concrete. One option is to specify MI cable, with its 1-hour or more fire rating and rated equipment grounding sheath. However, MI cable is expensive, difficult to work with, only comes as single conductors in the sizes you will need, and the outer copper sheath and grounding conductor may not be rated for the OCPD sized in the previous paragraph.
For example, per NEC Table 250.122, an 800A OCPD requires the use of a 1/0 copper grounding conductor, or equivalent. If the MI cable outer sheath is not equivalent to this, then what? An alternative is to specifying fire-rated MC 3-conductor cable, which is less costly, easier to install, and the outer metal sheath equivalent grounding conductor, in most cases, is equal to the inner current-carrying conductors. For example, the grounding conductor rating of 2/0 MC 3-conductor cable is 3/0 AWG, which is good for up to an 1,000A OCPD.
There are certainly other scenarios and twists that will require further engineering, but these examples cover many of the situations you'll typically encounter when designing an electrical system for a fire pump installation. The most important thing to remember is always verify your design with all applicable state and local codes, as well coordinate your efforts with your local authority having jurisdiction.
Granle is an electrical section manager with HDR/Jordan Architects in Rochester, Minn. | <urn:uuid:2616e576-c595-40f6-a58d-63b71fcc72d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ecmweb.com/print/content/abcs-fire-pump-installations?page=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937501 | 2,269 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Types of Viruses
There are many types of computer viruses:
- File virus
: Most viruses fall into this category. A virus attaches itself to a
file, usually a program file.
- Boot sector virus
: These viruses infect floppy and hard drives. The virus program will
load first, before the operating system.
- Macro Virus
: This is a new type of virus that use an application's own macro
programming feature to distribute themselves. Unlike other viruses,
macro viruses do not infect programs; they infect documents.
- Virus Hoax
: Although there are thousands of viruses discovered each year, there
are still some that only exist in the imaginations of the public and
the press - known as virus hoaxes. These viruses hoaxes
DO NOT EXIST, despite rumor of their
creation and distribution. | <urn:uuid:01c86679-8e77-46e9-a5df-b3fe2f094259> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ust.hk/itsc/antivirus/general/types.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902866 | 175 | 3.515625 | 4 |
While we live on Earth a vegetarian diet determines the quality of our physical existence and is of crucial importance, and none more so than the health and well-being of our physical body.
As Spiritual beings currently experiencing a physical existence, who we are is the total of every aspect of our Being; Body, Soul and Spirit, all of which should be maintained in perfect balance thru a vegetarian diet.
If one aspect of our Being is unbalanced, then it will be reflected in the aspects of our Being, our other "bodies", manifesting in many different ways, in the case of the physical body as a physical "dis-ease".
The Emerald Tablet of Hermes Trismegistus teaches us:
"As Above, so Below, as Below, so Above"; which can also be expressed more accurately; "as Within, so Without".
This is the basis of holistic healing and the ultimate sense of this web page; looking after the "whole".
If we abuse our physical body then it will be reflected within our inner bodies, the Soul and Spirit, with many negative consequences, both immediately felt, and relative to ongoing Spiritual evolution.
There are few aspects of our physical life therefore that are as important as regular nutrition, a vegetarian diet; the foods we eat, which has profound implications in every way and at every level.
The choice of a vegetarian diet however, has an impact on the Ethic, Spiritual and Universal perspective.
We can summarize the urgent need for all humans for a vegetarian diet briefly by noting that the human desire to satisfy the sense of taste is resulting in the most terrible abuse and slaughter of animals such as cows, pigs, sheep, hens and other sentient Beings on a horrifically massive scale.
Plain and simple; animals are equal to humans, differing only in
form and abilities. Every animal, like human beings is an equal
aspect of The Source, of God, and accordingly whatever we do to
animals we equally do to ourselves in accordance with the immutable
Universal law of cause and effect, and which actions will
accordingly be reflected in Spiritual progress and other
ramifications that can manifest in an infinite number of ways.
Even if a person does not actually kill the animal they are eating
for dinner themselves, the fact they are in fact use that animal for their diet
makes the person a part of the chain of causal events commencing
with the birth of the animal, and ending on the dinner plate.
An extremely important aspect of Spiritual progress is to
understand the profound truth of a vegetarian diet, and to treat animals, and indeed
all life with equal respect.
Think for a minute why for you as a spiritual growing person the vegetarian diet is so important.
The animal food industry itself is horrific in every way.
Countless millions of animals are being horribly treated, tortured
and murdered in order to satisfy the human sense of taste and for
no other reason. The creature that provided the "Happy Meal" for a
child was very far from happy with its "life", and those vibrations
continue even after death and on to the dinner plate or fast food
Take a closer look:
I wish that you deeply understand the need for a vegetarian diet. It is not only not healthy, but if you deeply understand the more fundamental
issues of the effects of the so called "modern diet" on the human
body, and therefore, in accordance with "as above, so below", the
Astral and Mental bodies, the Soul and Spirit.
Before addressing the vegetarian diet and the consequences of diet, specifically eating
animal and dairy products on the human body, it is necessary to ask
why people eat these things in the first place.
Babies do not arrive in the physical world as avid meat eaters with
an inherent taste for animal flesh, so why do people eat meat at
The reason is simple; because, as with many things, a child is
programmed from an early age by parents, relatives and teachers
that it is "normal" or "expected" of a person" to eat meat along
with all of the other conventions, expectations and indoctrinations
of "modern society".
From a young age a child is fed a wide range of meat products,
often made into shapes the child can identify with, taken as a
treat to McD's for a happy meal, or KFC for "nuggets", and that
child grows up believing that eating meat is the right thing to do.
As with many things, that child, thus programmed, is running on
that program for the rest of his or her physical life, never
thinking to question it.
However, the consequences of eating meat and dairy products are
clear for all to see. Obesity, in particular child obesity,
diabetes, colon and other cancers, heart disease, high blood
pressure and countless other ailments have never been higher.
Health services spend literally trillions of dollars each year
treating diseases that are directly attributable to diet, and this
situation is getting worse, much worse.
Because plain and simple human beings are not "designed" to eat
meat. At the same time we are seeing more and more "fast food" and
other junk food outlets, the food sold by which is increasingly
processed and mass produced to satisfy demand.
Children are taken to these fast food outlets by parents as a "treat", not realizing that every fast food meal is adding to a
shorter, less healthy life; some treat. Therefore your children should right away start with a healthy vegetarian diet and lifestyle.
It is a fact that almost all burgers are made from dairy cows who
could no longer produce sufficient milk to make them "economically
viable", and almost all "nuggets" are made from hens who no longer
produced enough eggs to make them "economically viable".
It is true that our ancient ancestors ate meat; but this was
due to the need to survive under very adverse conditions where
there was often no other choice. These ancient people were
fortunate to live to 25 years, and 35 years was considered old, so
the consequences of their diet would never have been known.
The truth is, the human body is designed to thrive in maximum
health on harvestable, uncooked whole alkaline foods such as nuts, pulses,
berries, fruits, fungi etc.., which are important parts of the vegetarian diet.
Even when people eat vegetables, for example peas, carrots,
broccoli etc., which are not the same as the above, they cook the
vegetables by boiling them in water, thereby destroying most of the
nutrients and all of the enzymes, thereby rendering them almost
nutritionally worthless and that is a fact. This is why you should steam your vegetables, as a important rule of a vegetarian diet.
The vast majority of food displayed on supermarket shelves is
surrounded by brightly colored packaging designed to attract the
eye of the shopper, while concealing the much darker origins of the "food" and the countless chemicals and artificial ingredients that
have been added to enhance the taste and extend the shelf life.
You might find these facts difficult to believe after a life-time
of living in a society where eating meat and dairy products is
considered the "norm", but conclusive, absolutely indisputable
proof is at hand in the form of a vegetarian diet book called "The China Study" by
Dr. Colin Campbell.
Dr. Campbell, who is widely recognized as the greatest nutritionist
alive today, and almost certainly the greatest nutritionist that
has ever lived, is known among his peers in the nutrition and
medical professions as "the Einstein of nutrition".
The China Study itself is the result of 20 years or intensive,
meticulous and extensive research of vegetarian diet data, nvolving three major
I have written a review of The China Study here for you:
I very seriously recommend that everyone reads the vegetarian diet review and then
visits the page on Amazon, the link to which I have provided in my
review, and reads the 200 or so independent book reader reviews.
I further recommend, most strongly that you purchase this book,
which I regard as one of the most important books ever written.
It is not an over-statement to say that reading this book could
easily save your health, and even your life, and that of your
In fact I can honestly say that I regard this book as so important
to you and your loved ones, that I would be absolutely failing in my
responsibilities if I did not
bring this book into your awareness with my strongest suggestion
that you read it from cover to cover and take the necessary actions.
Plain and simple, if you are eating meat and/or dairy based
products you are shortening your life and exposing yourself to all
manner of preventable, often extremely debilitating diseases.
In particular, if you are feeding your children meat and dairy
products you are exposing them to very serious health risks which I
know, as a loving parent, you would never, ever knowingly do.
I realize that this will come as a shock to many people. I realize
also that many cannot imagine life without meat or dairy products.
But with knowledge comes power and progress.
We are all here to learn by experience and to learn from
others. If anyone fails to learn the lessons the Universe delivers
to them, that person should not be surprised if they pay the price
both physically and Spiritually.
The desire to eat meat and dairy products is, as with everything, entirely in the Mind due to long-term programming from childhood.
Using the power of the Mind anything is possible, including the
switch to a healthy diet.
It might be "easier" in the short-term to take the path of least
resistance, disregard the truth and disregard your Higher-Self, but
in the medium to long-term the price will be paid in terms of
health, longevity and Spiritual progress and that is a proven fact.
Those who will make the most progress Spiritually, which is why we
are here after all, are those who have the courage to resist the
expectations of society, relatives, friends, neighbors and others
to conform, and to bravely use their own freewill to do what is
right for themselves and in particular their children.
Ask yourself this; do you want to be taking your son or daughter
for hospital appointments in a few years time, condemning them to a
life of medical treatment, insulin injections and therapy, simply
because you ignored the facts about proper, healthy nutrition?
The message of a vegetarian diet will be extremely unpopular with some people, but I make no apologies. If this article saves the health or
life of just one person, especially a child who is too young to
make their own decisions, then it will have been worth it.
So why not make this year where you started by reading The
China Study, and went on to live a much healthier, happier life,
consistent with your long-term objectives.
Have the strength to ignore what others might say and become free
to break away from socio-economic pressures and programming and the
expectations of others to conform, and go on to shape your own
destiny at all levels; Body, Soul, Spirit and quality of life
There is one additional factor I would like to mention. Eating
meat and dairy products requires considerable Energy. By eating the
correct harvestable whole-food type diet you will retain much more
Energy for inner pursuits such as Astral projection, healing, and
using The Law of Attraction to attract those things you really wish
for in life, and you will have the health to enjoy them.
It is a fact that Vegans live on average 7 years longer, and
usually much more, and are far healthier in every respect than meat
and dairy eaters.
The best book available is called "Vegan; the New Ethics of
Eating", by Erik Marcus.
Erik has made his vegetarian diet book available for download in order to promote
the importance of these matters, and you may download it from here:
Right-click and then select "Save target as....."
And finally we must consider the bigger picture; the effect on our
planet Earth upon which we depend in physical incarnation:
Here is document that summarizes it excellently; again
right-click and select "Save target as.....":
And again, here is my review of vegetarian diet bible - The China Study:
The China Study
The final word on this topic is that you as a spiritual growing beings, which will not only get the tremendous benefits of our quality Remote Healing, Reiki Attunements and Energy Download service, but to grow and gain knowledge to heal yourself & others and led you finally recognize the Divine in You and in All. And a vegetarian diet is the basic understanding of the fact that animals are a part of us and we are a part of them. We are not alone. | <urn:uuid:511cebf7-fde1-4110-94ec-9796e8cddaf9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.spiritualhealing-now.com/vegetarian-diet.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951685 | 2,725 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Sponsored by the National Park Service
Saturday, October 20, 2012
Lake Mead National Recreation Area
601 Nevada Way
Boulder City, NV 89005
The town was established by Mormon settlers in 1865, and played an important role in the social and economic development of Southern Nevada. However, when the Hoover Dam was constructed, the town was abandoned as the waters of Lake Mead inundated the area.
Over the past few years, Lake Mead's dropping water levels have exposed the foundation of the town, and during National Archeology Day, visitors will be allowed to walk the historic streets and learn about the town's history.
Guests must register to participate in the three-hour tour. Registration is limited to 20. For details and reservations, contact the Lake Mead Visitor Center at 702-293-8990. For more information about St. Thomas, visit http://www.nps.gov/lake/historyculture/stthomas.htm.
National Park Service http://www.nps.gov/lake/contacts.htm | <urn:uuid:9ce5a05c-6272-4a5c-aac4-0eb3d803c0e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.archaeological.org/events/10635?page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934872 | 215 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Carlo Favetti (30 August 1819 - 1 December 1892) was an Italian politician and lawyer from Gorizia, who also wrote poetry in the Friulian language. He was the founder and leader of Italian irredentism in Gorizia and Gradisca.
He was born in Gorizia, in the Austrian Empire (now in Italy), in a wealthy middle-class family. His father was a lawyer, his mother was the granddaughter of the historian Giuseppe Cipriani. After finishing the classycal gymnasium in Gorizia, he enrolled at the University of Vienna, where he studied law. Upon returning to Gorizia, he joined several Italian patriotic associations. In 1850, he founded the newspaper Il Giornale di Gorizia, which was abolished by the Austrian authorities in 1851.
After the restoration of political liberties in the Austrian Empire in 1861, he was elected mayor of Gorizia. The Austrian government however refused to confirm the nomination. Nevertheless, he remained an influential figure in the local administration; under his supervision, an extensive building program was carried out in Gorizia.
In 1866, during the Third Italian War of Independence, Favetti was arrested by the Austrian authorities, and sentenced to 6 years of imprisonment for subversive activities. Already the following year, he was released. Fearing another arrest, Favetti escaped to Italy in 1868, settling in Venice. After the amnesty of 1871, he returned to Gorizia. In 1877, he was re-elected to the city council of Gorizia, where he remained until his death in 1896.
He wrote several poems and plays in the local version of the Friulian language.
Major works
- Doi quadris della vita popolar gurizzana ('Two Sketches of the Folk Life in Gorizia'; 1882).
- Fusilir e granatir, un scherz comic ('The Fusilier and the Grenadier: A Satirical Play'; 1891).
- Leonardo Papes. Un zittadin gurizzan del 1500 ('Leonardo Papes. A Citizen of Gorizia from 1500; 1892).
- Rime e prose in vernacolo goriziano ('Rhimes and Prose in the Vernacular of Gorizia; Udine, 1893).
See also
- Friulian literature
- Austrian Littoral
- Julian March
- Ethnic and religious composition of Austria–Hungary | <urn:uuid:00eaeb1b-a664-47dc-87ad-b16efb9db1e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Carlo_Favetti | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97141 | 528 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Wow!An important function of the Skylab space station was to take photographs of the Earth using special infrared cameras. One of the pictures enabled scientists to help famine victims in Africa find water.
|On May 14, 1973, a two-staged Saturn V rocket propelled the 90 metric ton unmanned Skylab space station into an orbit above Earth. Skylab was designed to allow astronauts to live and work in space for several weeks. It was to be a laboratory for astronauts and a base for spacecraft. As the Saturn rocket accelerated, atmospheric drag caused a metal shield to rip away from the lab. A strap attached to the shield caught on one of the solar wings. This pried open the wing. As the rocket continued upward, the solar wing and the shield were thrown into space. The shield, which had been designed to protect the space station from space objects and the Sun's radiation, was essential. Without it, temperatures within Skylab would be too hot for it to be used as a laboratory.|
|A second Skylab crew was launched in July of 1974 and a third in November of the same year. The three Skylab crews spent a combined 171 days, 13 hours, and 14 minutes orbiting the Earth. They circled the Earth 2,476 times and spent over 3,000 hours conducting eight categories of experiments. They also studied the effect living in space had on the human body. Spacewalk time totaled 41 hours and 46 minutes. In addition to the thousands of frames of Earth and solar observation film that resulted from the three Skylab missions, the third mission also yielded extensive observation and photography of Comet Kohoutek.|
On July 11, 1979, after more than six years in space, the Skylab space station re-entered the Earth's atmosphere. Most of Skylab burned up upon re-entry. A few fragments fell to the ground in an uninhabited part of Australia.
A QuestionHow long was Skylab in orbit?
Did you know?
The StarChild site is a service of the High Energy Astrophysics Science Archive Research Center (HEASARC), Dr. Alan Smale (Director), within the Astrophysics Science Division (ASD) at NASA/ GSFC.
StarChild Authors: The StarChild Team
StarChild Graphics & Music: Acknowledgments
StarChild Project Leader: Dr. Laura A. Whitlock
Responsible NASA Official:
If you have comments or questions about the StarChild site, please send them to us. | <urn:uuid:7e4606ba-e6dc-45e4-b5c0-efae8e084289> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://starchild.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/StarChild/space_level2/skylab.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943779 | 510 | 4 | 4 |
Hot Mikado takes the classic Gilbert and Sullivan tale and updates it to 1940s-style. Young Nanki-Poo, the Mikado’s son masquerading as a Second Trumpet player, arrives in the town of Titipu looking for the beautiful Yum-Yum. After bribing various officials he learns that she is still going to be marrying a former tailor turned Lord High executioner, Koko. Meanwhile, the Mikado demands that Ko-Ko execute one person within the next month. Nanki-Poo agrees to be executed as long as he can spend a month as Yum-Yum’s husband. However, the plan goes awry when the Mikado makes a surprise visit to Titipu and brings with him Katisha, an older woman who is pursuing Nanki Pooh. Luckily, Nanki-Poo is not excuted because he is the Mikado’s long lost son. Further, Ko-Ko and Katisha fall in love so Nanki-Poo and Yum-Yum can stay married. | <urn:uuid:dd429c81-3dbd-4f09-9ffc-f676e5e68199> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stageagent.com/Shows/View/1027/gender_DESC/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944306 | 227 | 1.507813 | 2 |
I HAVE described in a former chapter the habits of the Dyak pirates of Sakarran and Sarebas, and how, after being punished by Sir James Brooke when they were caught at the entrance of their river, with captives and plunder in their boats, they were required to live at one with their neighbours, and to study the arts of peace. Happily for them, they had a wise and paternal Government to repress their vices, and, after a time, Christian missionaries to teach them the fear and love of God. But the Malay pirates who lived on the islands and coasts of North Borneo were governed by sultans who encouraged piracy, and insisted on sharing their spoils; moreover, they are Mahometans by religion, and that is not a faith which teaches mercy or respects life. To this day, therefore, these Illanuns remain pirates. They have larger prahus and carry heavier guns than the Dyaks, and nothing can exceed their [204/205] cruelty. When we lived at Kuching there was scarcely a Malay family there who had not suffered from them, either by the loss of relations or property; for they are naturally a trading people.
It is a common practice for a party of men to join together in hiring a boat in which to venture goods or gold-dust by trading on the coast, or even to Singapore three hundred and sixty miles away, These small and comparatively unarmed boats fell an easy prey to the pirate prahus, who went out in fleets.
The Spaniards and the Dutch were everv now and then roused to search the seas for these pests of the human race, but they were so cunning they generally evaded them. At last they had a signal lesson. In the year 1862 Captain Brooke, then governing Sarawak in his uncle's absence, decided to go to Bintulu on the north-west coast of Borneo, a territory which had lately been ceded to the Rajah by the Sultan, and build a fort on the river, to check piracy and protect the peaceable inhabitants who were settling there on the promise of such protection. For this purpose he took the Rainbow, a small screw steamer of eighty-nine tons and thirty-five horse power; and the Jolly Bachelor, a Government gun-boat. The Bishop accompanied him, to see what missionary prospects there were in that distant spot, also because he was at that time anxious about Captain Brooke's health. Mr. Helms, the manager of the Borneo mercantile company, accompanied them as far as Muka, where [205/206] was an establishment to collect sago for exportation. On the second day after his arrival, a piratical fleet of Ilanuns, consisting of six large, and as many smaller vessels, appeared on the coast, and blockaded the town. For two days they remained off Muka, capturing there, and on the coast southwards, thirty-two persons.
Mr. Helms persuaded Hadji Mataim and a few natives to start in a fast boat and apprize Captain Brooke; and this boat, though chased by the pirates, got safe to Bintulu. Hadji Mataim got alongside the steamer early on Thursday morning, while it was still dark, and the Bishop, recognizing his voice, called him on board. He delivered a letter from Mr. Helms, asking for help. Steam was got up directly, the Chinese carpenters who were to build the fort were landed, and the guns which had been brought to protect it were put on board, as well as the fort men who were to man the fort, that they might strengthen the crew. With the first dawn of light the Rainbow steamed over the bar taking the Jolly Bachelor in tow, and steered for Muka.
Meanwhile all preparation was made for fighting. Planks were hung over the railing to raise the sides of the poop where there were no bulwarks, and mattresses were laid inside to receive the shot and spears of the enemy; this doubtless saved the lives of several of the crew. There were eight Europeans on board, including the captain of the Rainbow and his mate, the engineer, Captain Brooke, Mr. Stuart Johnson, Mr. Hay, Mr. Walters, [206/207] and the Bishop. As soon as there were any wounded, Mr. Walters assisted the Bishop in his work of mercy. The Bishop always carried a medicine chest and case of surgical instruments wherever he went; and, happily, a large sheet had been packed among his things this voyage, which was speedily torn up into bandages. Now all was ready, but it was not until Friday morning that they sighted what looked like three large palm drifts to seaward off Tanjong Kidorong, to the north-east of the British River. They proved to be three large prahus, with their masts struck, and bristling with men, who were rowing like the Maltese, standing, and pushing for shore, casting off their sampans [Small boats.] one by one to make better way. Hadji Mataim recognized the sampan which chased and fired at him when he slipped away from Muka. Brooke then asked one of the chief officers of the Sarawak Government, who was on board, and Pangeran Matussim of Muka, if they were perfectly sure that these prahus were I Ilanuns? "Not a shadow of doubt," they said. So they loaded their guns and prepared for action. The leading prahu was going almost as fast as the steamer herself, and though steam was put on, and every effort made to get between her and the Point, the prahu won the race, and got into shallow water where the steamer could not follow; then she opened fire on the steamer, which was returned with interest. This prahu had three long brass [207/208] swivel guns, and plenty of rifles and muskets. As she was beyond the reach of the steamer, Captain Brooke turned to the second prahu, which was now fast nearing the shore. His plan was to silence the brass guns by the fire of the rifles on board the steamer, and shake the rowers at their oars by a discharge of grape and round shot; then to put on all steam and run at them with the stem of the Rainboiv. This was done with great coolness by Captain Hewat when Captain Brooke gave the order; the steamer struck the prahu amid-ships and went over her. Those on board called to the slaves, and all who would surrender, to hold on by the wreck until the boats could take them off; then they steamed away after the third prahu, which had already got into two-fathom water and was struck too far forward to sink. All the pirates in her jumped overboard and swam for shore, leaving their own wounded, the slaves, and captives, who were also bid to remain by their vessel till they were rescued.
Meanwhile the first prahu, seeing the fate of the others, ran ashore among the rocks inside Tanjong Kidorong; and all the crew, pirates, and slaves ran into the jungle. Had the captives known better they would not have run away. The Jolly Bachelor was left to look after these runaways, and then the captives of the other two prahus were helped on board the steamer. Several of the crew of the Rainbow recognized friends and acquaintances among the saved; and the joyous, thankful look [208/209] of the captives, as they came on board and found themselves among friends, was indeed a compensation for the awful destruction of the pirates. Many were wounded, either with shot or the fearful cuts of the Illanun swords of the pirates, who tried to murder their captives when they saw all was lost. The Bishop was dressing one man who was shot through the wrist, when he spoke to him in English, and after pouring out his gratitude for his wonderful escape, said he was a Singapore policeman, and was going to see his friends in Java when he was captured. There were also two Singapore women, and a child, and two British-born Bencoolen Malays, who were taken in their own trading boat going to Tringanau. The husband of the younger woman had been killed by the pirates, and she, like all women who fall into their hands, had suffered every outrage and insult which could be offered her. They were almost living skeletons. One was shot through the thigh, and after the Bishop had dressed her wound, Mr. Walters said quaintly, "Poor thing, she has not meat enough on her bones to bait a rat-trap." It is a wonder how the poor creatures lived at all, under the treatment to which they were subjected. When the Bishop asked some of the men whether their wounds hurt much, they answered, "Nothing hurts so much as the salt water the Illanuns gave us to drink. We never had fresh water; they mixed three parts of fresh with four of salt water: and all we had to eat was a handful of rice or raw sago twice a day." Very [209/210] few of the pirates who were not wounded surrendered. They are marvellous swimmers: took their arms with them into the water, and fought the men in the boats who were trying to pick up the captives. The Bishop and Mr. Walters were fully occupied doctoring friends and foes, arresting hemorrhage, extracting balls, and closing frightful sword or chopper wounds. One man came on board with the top of his skull as cleanly lifted up by a Sooloo knife, as if a surgeon had desired to take a peep at the brain inside! It took considerable force to close it in the right place. This man had also two cuts in his back, yet the next morning he was discovered eating a large plate of rice, and he ultimately recovered. Another poor fellow could not be got up the ladder because he had a long-handled three-barbed spear sticking in his back: the Bishop had to go down and cut it out before he could be moved.
While all this was going on, the captives told Captain Brooke that there were three more pirate vessels out at sea, waiting for those near shore to rejoin them; as soon, therefore, as the steamer had picked up as many captives as she could find, she steamed out to sea in search of them. After an hour, the look-out from the mast-head reported three vessels in sight. It was then a dead calm, and they were using their long sweeps, when they were seen from the deck, to arrange themselves side by side, with their bows towards the steamer; but, a breeze springing up, they hoisted sail, spread [210/211] themselves out broadside on, and opened fire on the Rainbow as soon as she was within range, so that there was no question as to whether these were pirate prahus or not. The same plan was followed as in the case of the other boats, and with more success, as there was no shore to escape to.
The pirates had secured their captives below the decks of the prahus, but when the steamer struck them and opened their sides, they were liberated. But few of them were drowned, being all good swimmers; but some were killed by the pirates in their rage and despair, and some had been lashed to the vessel and could not therefore escape.
One poor Chinaman came swimming along, holding up his long tail of hair lest he should be suspected to be a pirate; other men held up the ropes round their necks, to show they were captives. The deck of the steamer was soon covered with those who had been picked out of the water, men of every nation and race in the Archipelago, who had been captured during this cruise, which had lasted seven months. These vessels left Tawi-Tawi, an island to the south-west of Sooloo, in October. The Sultan of Sooloo is in league with the pirates, and receives part of the plunder and slaves. In the only boat boarded by Captain Brooke was found the Sultan's flag, which is only given to people of high rank; also the usual Illanun flag, six Dutch, and one Spanish flag, which no doubt belonged to vessels they had captured. The men who were saved gave details of the taking of two [211/212] large vessels--one a Singapore prahu trading to Tringanau; the other a Dutch tope, of one hundred and fifty tons, on the coast of Borneo to the south of Pontianak. There they fell in with five other Illanun boats, which had come down from the northward--they themselves were going up from the southward. The new-comers told them of a merchant vessel near at hand, and proposed they should join them in capturing her, which they did. She had a valuable cargo, worth ten thousand dollars. They killed everybody on board, plundered and burnt the vessel. Only the one Chinaman escaped who told this tale. The captives stated that this was the usual proceeding if resistance was made. When they spare their captives' lives, they beat them with a flat piece of bamboo over the elbows and knees, and the muscles of arms and legs, until they are unable to move; then a halter is put round their necks, and, when they are sufficiently tamed, they are put to the oars and made to row in gangs, with one of their own fellow-captives as overseer to keep them at work. If he docs not do it effectually, he is krissed and thrown overboard. If these miserable creatures jump into the sea they spear them in the water. They row in relays, night and day; and to keep them awake, cayenne pepper is rubbed into their eyes or into cuts dealt them on their arms.
The masts of these prahus are very small, so that they may not be seen at a distance. They go very fast. Those encountered by the Rainbow [212/213] were seen off Datu on Monday night, and on Friday morning they were near Bintulu, a distance of two hundred and forty miles, although they had delayed nearly two days at Muka, picking up thirty people on the coast. Most of these were recaptured and returned to Muka. On reckoning up, it was found that one hundred and sixty-five people had been rescued, and perhaps one hundred and fifty or two hundred had got away from the vessels sunk on shore. In every pirate prahu were from forty to fifty Illanuns, and from sixty to seventy captives, many of whom were killed by the pirates when they found themselves beaten, among them two women. Nine women and six children were saved; seven of the women belonged to Muka or Oya. Of the Illanuns, thirty-two were taken alive; ten of these were boys. Some died afterwards of their wounds; some were taken to Kuching in irons, there tried, and some of them executed. They died the death of murderers; but Captain Brooke gave the boys to respectable people to bring up, hoping they might be reformed. We had one young fellow, about fourteen years old, when he had been cured of his wounds in the hospital. I kept him about me, and used to teach him; but he could not be tamed. He turned Mahometan, and left us to be employed at the fort; but there he stole money, and had to be sent elsewhere. The nature of an Illanun pirate seems almost unmixed evil, because they are taught to be cruel from their childhood.
There were two circumstances in this affray with the Illanuns which called for thankfulness on the part of the victors. First, that they met the pirates in two detachments, which enabled them to attack them successfully, without the danger of their boarding the steamer, which, from their numbers, would have been fatal to the little party on board the Rainbow. Secondly, that their ammunition lasted through the two engagements. It was quite finished; only a little loose powder in a barrel, and a few broken cartridges, remained when the last prahus were taken. Had they fallen in with another fleet, they would have been at their mercy. Almost while I write these last words, we have received a letter from the present Rajah of Sarawak--Charles Johnson Brooke. He says, "I have heard this morning that one of our schooners has been captured by the Sooloo pirates, and the crew murdered." The last twenty years have not therefore altered the character of these people, and their extermination seems the only remedy for the misery they inflict on their fellow-creatures. | <urn:uuid:e92c234a-3bb8-4af9-be08-a8c1c823a780> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://anglicanhistory.org/asia/sarawak/sketches1882/16.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992968 | 3,461 | 2.640625 | 3 |
When you are on a website have you ever seen something that looks like this and/or says "subscribe", "feed" or "RSS" and wondered what it meant. Even more so, why you should do this? I hope this article helps you to not only understand these things, but see how using them will revolutionize your online experience.
So, let's say you find a blog or website that you really like. Most people would bookmark or add that site to their favorites, so they can go back and see it again. As you find more and more sites that you like, your bookmarks/favorites grow and grow. It is left up to you to go to those sites and see what changes and updates are made.
When you subscribe to a site you use an RSS Reader, such as Google reader, My Yahoo, or bloglines (to name a few), and they will gather all the new and updated information from these sites for you. This way you only have to visit one site instead of each site indiviually to keep up with your friends, current news, or information you would like from a website.
Let me walk you through how this would actually look if you were not using feeds and if you were. I am going to use Google Reader as my "catch all"/RSS device.
Without Google Reader:
I sit down at my computer. I go to my bookmarks and find my favorite news website and click on it. Read a few articles. Then I go to my bookmarks again and go to my friends blog to see what is going on in her life. There is nothing new, so I go to my bookmarks and go to the Saddleback small groups blog to see if there are any new posts there. There is one and I read that.
With Google Reader:
I sit down at my computer. I go to my bookmarks and go to Google Reader. I scroll through and read all the articles, entries, and posts from my favorite websites.
This video does a great job explaining this in more detail:
Once you have an account setup you can click the icon and it will take you to a page to add this to your RSS Reader. You can also add them directly on the google reader, my yahoo, or RSS reader site.
Now that you know how to subscribe, here are some Saddleback links you may want to add to your RSS reader:
Small Group Blog
Men's Ministry Blog
Women's Ministry Blog (coming soon!)
Married Life Blog
Element Singles Ministry Blog
Epic Post-College Ministry Blog
The Fuse Blog
Saddleback Youth Blogs | <urn:uuid:036f2970-6f32-425f-8b15-907c5d8e6bfa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://saddleback.com/blogs/smallgroups/index.html?contentid=1541 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949603 | 553 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The means and anomalies in the first table below are from the NCEP operational dataset. The operational climatology used to produce the anomalies is based on data from 1985-95. During this period, the assimilating general circulation model underwent many changes. An alternative to the NCEP operational dataset is the NCAR/NCEP Reanalysis dataset which has been produced with an unchanging assimilation model. This data is available about 1.5 months after the operational data.
|1-Day||Updated daily. (8 or 30 images)|
|7-Day||Updated twice weekly. (8 images)|
|30-Day||Updated twice a month. (8 images)|
|90-Day||Updated once a month. (8 images)|
|365-Day||Updated every 6 months. (8 images)| | <urn:uuid:e37e0697-0c78-4325-b24b-72fd63ecc78c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://esrl.noaa.gov/psd/map/clim/glbcir.anim.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901417 | 171 | 2.390625 | 2 |
I picked up on a debate between Michael Greenland and Simon May questioning whether we are living in a Post-PC era, or to put it another way, do we still need PCs?
They both summarise their thoughts well and at first I agreed with both of them to some extent. However, in my opinion, neither of them go far enough.
Michael thinks we are already Post-PC as he explains on his blog. he backs this up by saying on his blog
… many people are carrying around with them a smartphone that is as fast, in terms of processor speed, as a laptop in 2003. In other words – the device in our pocket can do a similar job to a laptop from seven years ago.
So – why are we ‘Post-PC’? The rub here – is that entire businesses, can now be run away from a fixed location – or away from a laptop…
The mass population though, as group of users are now stepping away from the ‘box’, and bringing ‘The Grid’ with them…
Simon counters this by saying that the Wikipedia definition for a PC needs updating, his blog reads
… A lot of people are wedded to the idea that the PC is a grey box ‘o bits on your desk with a keyboard and a mouse. It’s not. It’s a human enablement device something that lets you do something in a general purpose way, an affordable price and in the right size (read that as form factor). That form factor is going to change because technology changes as will the price, as will what people want to do with it. So the premise for my believing that we are not in the post PC era is that what we are in the post grey box era and people saw an object and believed it to be a definition…
A couple of our servers, and even more laptops, are coming with no optical drives installed. This can be a problem when it comes to installing an operating system. I use the excellent Windows Deployment Services role on Windows Server (2000-2008 R2) to accomplish this. It works very well in deploying Windows Server and Windows 7 over the network via a pre-execution environment (PXE) and can even deploy Windows XP images if the need arises (see my “how to” article here). The one limitation it has is that you cannot install Linux distros. This is a problem because you are only allowed one PXE server on the local area network (LAN), so you would have to choose either a Linux PXE server or a Windows one.
Fortunately, I found a solution that lets both work together to give you every kind of boot solution you could dream of Continue reading
Google’s excellent Chrome Web Browser lets you install “Web Apps” available from the Chrome Web Store. These are a cross between a bookmark/favorite and IE9′s Pinned Sites feature. Good web apps take advantage of HTML 5 features, like offline storage, and can run in the background. However, a lot of the so-called “apps” in the webstore are just links to websites. The advantage of having them as Apps are that you have the option for them to open in various ways (see the screenshot)
One of my twitter buddies was wondering why there was no twitter app in the webstore.
I replied saying that Tweetdeck (now owned by Twitter) is a great Chrome app, one of the top ones on the store but James likes the simplicity of the Twitter site itself (and his custom background!).
I found it a bit bizarre that no-one has created one but after trying to make my own I found out why. The Chrome Web Store only lets you publish an app linking to a URL if you are the owner of that site! So only someone working at Twitter would be able to publish this. Continue reading
Microsoft has revealed some juicy info about the next version of Windows, codenamed Windows 8, at the AllThingsD conference. What we know so far is that the user interface is going all touchy-feely with big “live Tiles” instead of icons in the revamped Start Menu. | <urn:uuid:041b3c9a-6724-43fd-9a11-18d5c35db6bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thommck.wordpress.com/2011/06/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961935 | 865 | 1.890625 | 2 |
An Online Degree Has Never Been Easier to Obtain
Online education is steadily gaining acceptance in the academic world and more people than ever are completing courses online, working toward a degree. Online education at the higher level is no longer looked down on by the rest of the academic world and more colleges and universities are offering online programs every day. In fact, there are now so many resources available to someone interested in earning a college degree online that they can be hard to keep track of. There are, however, a number of web sites that have been designed to provide something of a resource center for those interested in pursuing online education. The site www.get-online-degree.com
is one of these and serves as a fantastic resource.
When searching for any online education program, of course, the prospective student will want to make sure that the school is properly accredited. Earning a degree from a school with a poor reputation or from a non-accredited university may not win you any points from prospective employers later in life. Web sites like www.get-online-degree.com
help students by providing information about online degree opportunities and developments via posted articles, monthly E-zines, and other such methods designed to keep you informed.
Many schools already offer online degrees in several fields and it seems that more are always on the way. Some degrees that will probably never be attainable online (it would be impossible to complete all the required work for a medical degree online, for example) offer the opportunity to have at least some of its courses completed online.
Online degrees are going to become more common as time goes on. Online education will become easier to facilitate, is already less costly than running traditional classes, and will show a student's drive and initiative better than any other modern method of education, correspondence courses included. The world of online collegiate education is brave and new, evolving at a steady pace, as any relatively new concept will. Sites like www.get-online-degree.com
help keep you informed of the changes that could affect you and your ability to earn your degree online.
Students today may be the first generation of those able to obtain their degrees online, but they will be looked back on as trailblazers. Thirty, fifty, even one hundred years from now when online education has evolved to the point where it is commonplace, perhaps required, those students will be afforded the chance to look back at the students of today and marvel at the differences in the educational system. They'll do this in the same way that today's students look at education in the fifties and sixties and can't believe how far we've come. And, of course, those attending school in the fifties and sixties looked back at the changes from the twenties and thirties?. And so on.
If you'd like to learn all you can about the options available in an online degree, visit the web site www.get-online-degree.com
today and see all of the amazing information that is available.
Shama San writes articles on online degrees and online courses. Go to http://www.get-online-degree.com
for more information and articles related to online degrees. | <urn:uuid:f683c582-3d75-4d30-b50a-bac3d2db99a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.technoworldinc.com/college-and-universities/an-online-degree-has-never-been-easier-to-obtain-t10552.0.html;msg12028 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958664 | 656 | 2.25 | 2 |
Vienna is an interesting place. It sits right along the border of Western and Eastern Europe. It is at the very heart of the European continent. I have published some great snap shots of this area, but tonight I am going to share a certain Austria tradition.
The Austrian people love a great many things, their beautiful mountain range, the Alps, dogs, the breath taking architecture of their capital city of Vienna, and coffee. They have quite a coffee culture. But that is a blog post for a different blog. Look for it in towards the end of August over at Scoutie Girl Blog.
Tonight, I am going to share the most amazing coffee I have ever tasted. I have had coffee in Finland. Sweden, Great Britain, The USA, Canada, Jamaica, etc…. The list goes on and on. But the famous Viennese coffee known as Melange has truly captured my heart.
Melange, is a mixture of roughly half milk and half espresso. It is traditionally served along side a small glass of water, and a pair of cookies. Typically the cookies are very simple, without frosting, no chocolate or berries inside…. Just very sweet and plain. Delicious.
So, you begin,by making a pot of very strong coffee, I am sure that isn’t a difficult task. Then heat up whole milk on the stove or in the microwave. You want it to be right at the brink of boiling point. But you don’t want it to boil. You may like to use a cup or some sort of plastic measuring cup that allows for easy pour, for the hot milk.
Next, take a mixer, spin it between your hands in the cup of hot milk, till you see foam form on top. Pour it into a second cup which is placed on top of a saucer plate with a pair of sweet plain cookies on it. Fill this second cup about half way with your frothy mixed milk. Then, go collect your freshly brewed extra strong coffee and add it to your cup of milk sitting with the cookies on the saucer. Place the saucer on a small tray and pour yourself a shot glass full of water. There you have it. A Viennese traditional treat that most here enjoy often multiple times a day.
You can add however much sugar makes you happy and if you like, you can follow the tradition they tend to use for ice coffee by garnishing your melange with a small shake of cinnamon on top. But this is totally optional. Then…. Just sit back and enjoy your coffee. Mix it as usual, and just enjoy yourself and your cookies! | <urn:uuid:aeb46a0d-8bda-4bc3-9110-386817a34fb1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cafeprimrose.com/2012/07/viennese-coffee-talk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957812 | 534 | 1.695313 | 2 |
For many in Massachusetts, it’s a postal disservice
From Berkshires to Boston, patrons bemoan inconvenience brought about by office closings
For 113 years, the Post Office in Windsor brought people together in the small town in the Berkshires, providing a place to chitchat, do business, and send their precious parcels where they needed to go.
But this fall, to the dismay of many of the town’s 900 residents, the US Postal Service closed its local branch, located most recently inside a general store.
“It’s a subject that’s really upsetting to a lot of people,’’ said Rebecca Herzog, who serves as the town’s treasurer and tax collector. “It’s extremely inconvenient to have to go to the next town, especially with winter coming.’’
As the Postal Service struggles with financial woes and as mail volume plummets with the turn to texting and e-mail, it is closing an increasing number of post offices. A little more than a century ago, when there were only 45 states and the nation had a quarter of its current population, there were 71,000 post offices, double today’s number.
The cuts have been accelerating, and this year there are 742 fewer post offices across the country than last year, more than three times the number of offices that were closed last year and substantially steeper cuts than at any time in the past 15 years.
In the Boston area, where there are 296 post offices, the Postal Service closed its historic branch in Faneuil Hall this year and plans to shut down its 27-year-old branch at Boston University and the modular office it has had for years at Logan Airport.
In addition to its outpost in Windsor, the Postal Service has in recent years closed offices in Charlton and on Otis Air Force Base in Buzzards Bay.
“Action is necessary at this time,’’ said Dennis Tarmey, a spokesman for the Postal Service in the Boston area, who added that he expects more closings. “The closing of post offices is one of those necessary fundamental changes.’’
He said the Postal Service must act because it does not receive tax dollars for operating expenses and lost $8.5 billion as mail volume dropped 3.5 percent in fiscal 2010, which ended in September.
The recession and the rise of electronic communication have taken a toll, he said, but “there is no single solution to our financial situation. We need to change our business model.’’
The news of the impending closure of the branch at Logan Airport, which had to pay more than $100,000 last year to rent its space in a modular building beside the new economy parking lot, has angered longtime patrons, many of whom work for the Massachusetts Port Authority.
What they like about the branch, which last year lost more than $16,000, is probably what is forcing its closure.
“The problem is that they have moved it around the airport so many times nobody can find it,’’ said Phil Chiaramonte, 58, who bypasses long lines at the larger post office in East Boston to send multiple packages a week he sells through
Parking is free, which makes it easy for those carrying large packages, and there are 300 post office boxes accessible by a door that never locks. The branch used to be staffed 24 hours a day but had its hours cut when travel declined after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001.
Jim Dunyon is the last counter clerk at Logan, where the branch is now open just 25 hours a week.
“This isn’t the busiest of post offices, but a lot of people and local businesses rely on it,’’ said Dunyon, 56, who has been a postal worker for 35 years. “This is going to make a lot of people angry.’’
At Boston University — where, over the years, thousands of students have entrusted the uniformed staff behind the scuffed desks with everything from school and passport applications to luggage and love letters — students and staff are fuming.
For more than a decade, Nancy Paine has sold them stamps and money orders and ensured that the mail got out on time and in the right bins for those who found their way to this basement branch in the university’s student union.
“I’m heart sick about it, in total denial,’’ said Paine, 56, who has worked for the Postal Service for 30 years and is not sure whether she will have a job if the office closes as planned in January. “There is such a bond we have with the people who come here, especially the kids. I’ve had to teach many of them how to mail a letter, now that they’re all texting.’’
Many decades-long patrons of the Post Office are upset the university did not do more to protest the closing of a branch that last year earned a profit of $172,000. They point out that other local schools — including Harvard, MIT, Tufts, Babson, and Boston College — fended off similar closing plans by cutting rent.
“It’s terrible, awful,’’ said Margery Ehrlich, 72, a university librarian who was one of a group of people who wrote letters to the school and postal administrators, urging them to reconsider. “This Post Office is part of our community. It’s not fair we’re the only university losing our Post Office.’’
University officials said they tried to stop the closing, but Tarmey said he never heard from them.
He said they did not respond to multiple messages over the past year that might have led to a deal to defray the $19,000 the Postal Service pays BU in rent.
“I reached out, but I did not hear from them,’’ Tarmey said. “It’s surprising to hear that they would say they appealed it.’’
Paine, who has worked the counter at BU for 12 years, will miss watching students nervously hand over everything from stacks of graduate school applications to luggage too expensive to take on an airplane to erroneously addressed letters, which she has routinely corrected for them.
Then there are all the familiar faces who have become like family.
“It’s really a shame,’’ she said. “We’re going to miss each other.’’
David Abel can be reached at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:7c9da5b3-ca4d-4e15-8c53-cdc12a24140f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boston.com/news/local/massachusetts/articles/2010/12/11/for_many_in_massachusetts_its_a_postal_disservice/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972812 | 1,400 | 1.71875 | 2 |
JD, who comments regularly at my site and who provided the invaluable overlay of a Google Earth Satellite photo onto the SPD Total Station diagram of the objects found at the crime scene, asked the following question:
His lawyer [Mark O'Mara] seems to want to make a point that GZ was still 17 at the time the cousin [W9] claims he was 18 and she 16. If none of this ever happened, what’s the point in making that claim?
Statutory rape statutes establish the age of consent, which is usually 16, and provide exceptions based on the age of the other person. In effect, these exceptions establish a sliding scale of criminal liability. For example, no crime would be committed if a 16-year-old boy had consensual sex with a 15-year-old girl.
I am not familiar with the Florida statutes, but O’Mara appears to have been pointing out that, even if W9′s allegation were true, it would not constitute a crime because she and GZ were too close in age.
That ignores her claim that she never consented to sexual contact.
Statutory rape statutes eliminate consent as a defense. Since she did not consent, the statutory rape statutes do not apply.
Assuming her allegations are true, we’re looking at rape and indecent liberties type offenses.
Rape requires proof of penetration “however slight,” and includes digital penetration.
Rape is generally classified into three degrees:
R1: forcible penetration while armed with a weapon;
R2: forcible penetration; and
R3: non-consensual penetration.
A victim is not required to physically resist in order to establish that she did not consent to sexual penetration. In other words, “no” means “no.”
I say “she” because W9 is a female and this article is about her allegations. It’s important to remember that males also can be victims of sex offenses. Jerry Sandusky’s sexual predation is a current example that is fresh in everyone’s mind.
Most date rapes fall into the R3 category where the perpetrator does not use force and the victim does not consent or physically resist.
During my career as a felony criminal defense lawyer, I did not see many cases that started out charged as R3. Instead, cases that started out as R2s and occasionally R1s were bargained down to R3s, due to proof difficulties.
I concede that my legal experience falls into the dreaded category of anecdotal information and I do not know if there are any studies that confirm it. Suffice to say that the R3 category has been a source of continuing debate in our society.
Indecent liberties offenses consist of fondling and may be forcible or non-consensual.
States also have statutes that exempt children from criminal prosecution below a certain age. I am not sure what it is in Florida, probably 10 or 12.
States also have statutes of limitation that prohibit prosecution after a certain time period passes. The states vary quite a bit in the area of sex crimes involving children because children are so reluctant to accuse their abusers until later in life, if at all.
I do not know whether GZ has any possible exposure to criminal charges based on W9′s allegations, given the passage of time.
I did not get the impression that W9 was seeking to have GZ charged with a criminal offense. I think she felt guilty for not reporting the abuse to the police because if she had, that might have changed his life in a way that would not have led to him killing TM.
She wanted the police to know that he is a frightening and intimidating person who lies and uses charm to manipulate and control others. She did not want him to lie, charm and talk his way out of responsibility for killing TM as he had gotten away with sexually abusing her for so many years.
That was the message she wanted to convey.
When O’Mara said GZ was still 17 at the time W9 claimed he was 18 and she 16, he was saying that even if GZ did what she claimed he had done to her, he did not commit a crime.
As with other aspects of this case, O’Mara seems utterly clueless.
Because she was not seeking to have him charged and I do not believe the prosecution is even considering charging him for what he did to her, I am not going to review Florida’s sex crime statutes to determine whether GZ has any potential exposure to criminal liability for rape, statutory rape and indecent liberties.
Such an inquiry and a discussion about it would be irrelevant and distracting. Readers who want to know can always look up the answer by reviewing the Florida Statutes.
Keep in mind that regardless whether the alleged misconduct constitutes a chargeable offense, it will not be admissible during the State’s case in chief pursuant to Rule 404(b). The only way the jury would get to hear about it would be if the defense opened the door by introducing evidence that GZ is a law abiding, peaceful and non-violent person who would not have killed TM, unless it was in self-defense.
Presumably, the defense would never risk opening that door.
As I demonstrated previously, but for O’Mara’s failure to let Judge Lester know that W9 had provided a tape recorded statement to law enforcement accusing GZ of digitally penetrating her vagina and fondling her multiple times during a 10-year period that began when he was 8 and she was 6, the public would not know about W9′s accusation.
He did not do his client any good by failing to keep her allegation from being released to the public.
In my title to this article, I asked if O’Mara was clueless as well as ineffective.
I think we know the answer. | <urn:uuid:e3994c37-5d54-4fad-b685-301a44d50a1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frederickleatherman.com/tag/w9s-allegations-of-sexual-molestation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97908 | 1,224 | 2.140625 | 2 |
An important developmental milestone of the first 5 years of a child’s life is the progress of language. A child’s language ability affects all areas of his or her development. In fact, the quality of verbal language skills strongly predicts success in learning to read and write later in life. Whether or not your home language is the same as the majority language used at your child’s school, you can help build your child’s language skills with just a few easy activities.
What did you like best at school today?
Take advantage of the time when you and your child are together after school. Whether driving home or getting dinner ready, talk about your child’s day. Make your conversation meaningful and fun with your child by considering the following points:
- Never ask questions that can be answered with a “yes” or “no.” These types of questions stop the conversation before it starts.
- Always give your child the opportunity to choose what to talk about. “What did you like best at school today?” allows him or her to talk about recess, lunch, or snack time, as well as reading circle, a science walk, or an exercise of counting bright red apples.
- Make a positive comment, and ask a followup question. For example: “I love going for walks, too. What was the favorite thing you saw on your science walk?”
- Repeat and add vocabulary. For example: “The caterpillar I saw outside was yellow with a big black stripe. Tell me what your caterpillar looked like.”
- Make your “What did you like best at school today?” conversation a daily habit. Your child will be excited knowing that you will always set aside time to find out about his or her day, and you will build a language bridge between school and home.
The “Teachable Moment”
Take advantage of anything that can spark your child’s interest. You don’t have to make a special trip or do a special activity to find excitement, learning, and new vocabulary. For example:
- In the produce department at the grocery store, have your child find all the fruits and vegetables that are red. Then talk about the name of each, whether they’re red on the inside and the outside, or which is your child’s favorite.
- While preparing dinner, get out the measuring spoons. Have your child talk about which spoon is the biggest and which is the smallest. Have your child compare the sizes in between. Then give him or her a small bowl of sugar, salt, or flour to find out how many of the smallest spoonfuls it takes to fill the largest spoon, etc.
- While waiting in traffic, play a game of “On the way to ______.” For example: Your child says, “On the way to Grandma’s house, I see a tall building with lots of windows.” Then you say, “On the way to Grandma’s house, I see a tall building with lots of windows and a fire station with two big red trucks.” Continue playing the game and adding items that you see from the car. Help your child with the repetitions.
Building Our Special Book
Reading to children enhances their language development, especially vocabulary, because the structures and words used in books are more varied than those in speech. Knowing more words, in turn, helps children make sense of print and find what they read more meaningful and interesting. And talking with children about what you read together further boosts both vocabulary and comprehension.
Your child brings home pictures from school all the time. Show him or her how much you value them by saying more than, “Oh, that’s beautiful!” and sticking them on the refrigerator. After you make a positive comment about the picture, write down the answers to the following questions on a separate piece of paper:
- Ask your child to tell you about the colors, and write down the name of each color.
- Ask him or her to tell you about the picture. Write these words in a sentence to let the picture tell its own story.
- Get out markers and/or crayons and paper, and ask your child to draw a picture that shows what happens next in the story or that shows a different time of day, a different kind of tree, or another person in the family.
- Put a date on the picture (Thursday, August 30, 2012), and attach it to the refrigerator or pin it to the family bulletin board.
- Once your child brings home new pictures from school, take the old ones down and place them in a special book. You can have your child make the cover for this book using a large piece of folded construction paper or poster board and markers or crayons. You and your child can “read” this book together anytime—sharing memories, repeating and/or adding vocabulary, and showing your child just how much you value what he or she does in school.
Have fun building words!
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, National Institutes of Health
“Focus on Language Development: Reports” provides a list of selected resources and effective practices for families and educators to gain knowledge that is culturally and linguistically responsive to the needs of dual language learners’ children.
National Clearinghouse for English Language Acquisition
Dual Language Learning: What Does It Take? Head Start Dual Language Report is a study that assesses program needs, opportunities, and barriers as well as provides recommendations that effectively work with young dual language learners.
Please note—to view documents in PDF format, you must have Adobe’s free Acrobat Reader
software. If you do not already have this software installed on your computer, please download it from Adobe's Web site. | <urn:uuid:f0796ee7-4590-4878-b3f1-9949b43d6ea1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bblocks.samhsa.gov/family/activities/Family_Activities/buildingwords.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950862 | 1,218 | 3.96875 | 4 |
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Crime prevention shop opening in Kidderminster
8:00am Tuesday 16th October 2012 in News
A CRIME prevention shop will be opening in Kidderminster town centre to help reduce the number of burglaries in Wyre Forest.
Officers will be taking over the former Holland and Barrett store in the Swan Centre from Tuesday next week until Saturday next week, from 10am until 4pm.
Police and community support officers from Safer Neighbourhood teams and partners from Wyre Forest Community Safety Partnership will be giving out crime prevention materials and leaflets and promoting West Mercia's anti-burglary campaign Citadel.
Neighbourhood wardens employed by the Community Housing Group will also be offering property marking advice.
PC Andy Forbes said: "Burglary is a devastating crime, which often has a massive impact on victims. However many burglaries are opportunistic and could be prevented by a few common sense precautions.
"With the nights getting darker, it is well worth people taking a few moments to study their house in the way a burglar would, to consider where it is vulnerable.
“The most important thing is to ensure doors are locked and windows closed and locked where possible so they don't make it easy for burglars.
"Ensuring lights come on at dusk, keeping hedges trimmed so the house can be easily seen from the road, and securing side gates to prevent access to the rear of the property are all simple, quick and cheap precautions which can make a huge difference."
Helen Dyke, chairman of the Wyre Forest Community Safety Partnership, added: "Protecting local residents and helping them to feel safer in their own homes and when out in the area are top priority for the partnership and we are very pleased to be able to support West Mercia Police with this important initiative." | <urn:uuid:faaaa00b-5491-4d99-b7a3-b980fd48faad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kidderminstershuttle.co.uk/news/9985517.Crime_prevention_shop_opening_in_Kidderminster/?ref=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956288 | 399 | 1.632813 | 2 |
CASTEL GANDOLFO — Pope Benedict XVI said Sunday that he was "deeply sorry" about the angry reaction to his recent remarks about Islam, which he said came from a text that did not reflect his personal opinion.
Despite the statement, protests and violence persisted across the Muslim world, with churches set ablaze in the West Bank and a hard-line Iranian cleric saying the pope was united with President Bush to "repeat the Crusades."
An Italian nun also was gunned down in a Somali hospital where she worked, and the Vatican expressed concern that the attack was related to the outrage over the pope's remarks.
Benedict sparked the controversy when, in a speech Tuesday to university professors during a pilgrimage to his native Germany, he cited the words of a Byzantine emperor who characterized some of the teachings of the Prophet Muhammad, Islam's founder, as "evil and inhuman."
On Sunday, he stressed the words "were in fact a quotation from a medieval text which do not in any way express my personal thought."
"At this time I wish also to add that I am deeply sorry for the reactions in some countries to a few passages of my address at the University of Regensburg, which were considered offensive to the sensibility of Muslims," the pope told pilgrims at his summer palace outside Rome.
The remarks continued to spark protests and violence across the Muslim world on Sunday, but elsewhere, the pope's statement Sunday appeared to be easing tensions.
Turkey's foreign minister said the pope was still expected to visit in November in what would be his first trip to a Muslim nation. "From our point of view, there is no change," Abdullah Gul told reporters before departing for a trip to the U.S. | <urn:uuid:a172438a-71c4-46de-baba-1ddc92383c48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2006-09-18/news/0609180217_1_islam-medieval-text-pope-benedict-xvi | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982648 | 350 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Invite a friend
Summer Arts Camp at Linden Place Museum
Registration is now taking place for Linden Place's annual Summer Arts Camp for Kids, a weekday summer camp focused on the arts, for children ages 6-14. This camp is conducted on the beautiful grounds of Linden Place Mansion in Bristol, Rhode Island. Each day, from 9 a.m. until 2:45 p.m., campers participate in a wide variety of activities from arts and crafts and drama to creative movement and music classes. Each one week session is arranged around a theme and ends with a culminating performance for friends and family.
There are two one-week sessions, July 16-20 and July 30 –August 3. Week one’s theme is “The Orient Express” followed by “Under the Sea” for week two. Registration is $175 per student per week and
there is a $30 discount for each additional student from the same family. Linden Place members receive a $30 discount
To be eligible, all children must be entering at least Grade One or higher. To register or to request a registration form, please call 401-253-0390 or visit www.lindenplace.org
More About Linden Place
Linden Place is the centerpiece of Bristol's historic downtown, waterfront district. The property was designed and built for General George DeWolf by Rhode Island architect Russell Warren in 1810. The property stayed in the DeWolf family until the mid-1980's when the last living grandchild put the mansion on the market. In 1989, Friends of Linden Place, a non-profit organization purchased the property and today keep the mansion, the carriage barn built in 1825, the ballroom, the beautiful gardens and all buildings on the property in pristine condition.
Step back in time and explore one of the finest examples of Federal Period Architecture with its striking portico, intricately carved banisters and stately columns. The history behind the property is fascinating from George DeWolf's middle of the night departure and subsequent swarming of the mansion by the townspeople of Bristol to a mansion where Presidents were entertained. Today the mansion is open to the public and is frequently used for weddings and special events. Come and see what makes Linden Place one of Rhode Island's favorite treasures.
Other events here
- Bristol Tales of the Slave Trade Tour Sat, May 25, 10:00 am–12:00 pm
- Ray Rickman, rare-book dealer, to hold Value of the Book lecture and workshop at Linden Place Museum Thu, Jun 20, 7:00 pm
- Linden Place Mansion’s Annual Fourth of July Parade Picnic Thu, Jul 4, 8:00 am–2:00 pm
- Summer Arts Camp at Linden Place Museum July 15, 2013 / July 16, 2013 / July 17, 2013 / July 18, 2013 / July 19, 2013 / July 29, 2013 / July 30, 2013 / July 31, 2013 / August 1, 2013 / August 2, 2013, 9:00 am–2:45 pm | <urn:uuid:0b9502dd-90a4-477f-8499-4e9ba4bf5fdf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bristol-warren.patch.com/events/summer-arts-camp-at-linden-place-museum | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935952 | 633 | 1.554688 | 2 |
|26 October 1998|
LAND USE CHANGE AND FORESTRY UNDER THE KYOTO PROTOCOL:
LOOKING FORWARD TO COP-4
Trexler and Associates, Inc.
As the fourth Conference of the Parties (COP-4) to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change approaches, a key area requiring clarification is the role that land-use change and forestry (LUCF) mitigation efforts will play under the Kyoto Protocol or any successor instrument. While the Protocol clearly builds biotic sources and sinks into the "netting" of Annex B countries emissions under Article 3.3, the treatment of LUCF projects for project-level mitigation interventions undertaken under Articles 3, 6, and 12 has been left more ambiguous and is the subject of vigorous debate.
To a significant extent, the ambiguous treatment of sinks in the Protocol is the result of policy and technical issues being raised by interest groups and countries who are skeptical or critical of relying on forestry and related mitigation interventions to help achieve the Protocols reduction targets. Concerns commonly expressed by these groups fall into several categories:
At the same time that these questions are being asked, many studies, including those of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), have concluded that LUCF interventions (including slowing deforestation, reforestation, assisted regeneration, agroforestry, and sustainable forest management) have an important role to play in mitigating greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions and climate change.
In anticipation of COP-4, this paper briefly reviews the status of forestry and land use-based mitigation efforts under the Protocol and identifies key issues and questions facing decisionmakers in this area.
The Importance of Land-Use Change to Achieving the Kyoto Protocols Objectives
Since before the Industrial Revolution, first temperate and then tropical land-use change has been a key contributor to rising levels of GHGs in the atmosphere; almost one-third of the incremental CO2 now in the atmosphere is the result of such change. Although the relative importance of land use-based emissions is declining as fossil fuel emissions continue to rise, even today human activities are estimated to emit between 1-2 GT of carbon annually from the world's forests and soils, approximately 20 percent of total anthropogenic emissions. In many developing countries, land use-related emissions significantly exceed fossil fuel emissions. Land-use change also contributes to methane and nitrous oxide emissions, primarily as a byproduct of biomass burning.
The links between land-use trends and potential climate change go beyond the fact that deforestation and forest degradation are an ongoing and significant source of GHG emissions, accelerating the buildup of GHGs in the atmosphere. Other important linkages, which continue to be the focus of intensive scientific and policy debate, are:
There is no reason to believe that the absolute contribution of deforestation and forest degradation to global GHG emissions will decline significantly any time soon under business-as-usual. Vast stretches of tropical forest, currently a storehouse for hundreds of billions of tons of carbon, remain threatened by deforestation or degradation. According to the IPCCs 1995 Second Assessment Report, more than 650 million hectares of forest are likely to be lost by 2050. From deforestation alone, more than 75 GT of carbon are likely to be emitted. In addition, hundreds of millions of additional hectares of forest and agricultural land will be degraded, releasing more carbon to the atmosphere. Such statistics lead many observers to argue that LUCF issues are crucially important to the larger issue of climate change mitigation.
Mitigating Climate Change Through Forestry and Land-Use Change Interventions
Many studies over the last 10 years have discussed the role forestry measures could play in climate change mitigation efforts in both industrialized and developing countries. These studies have included work by the IPCC, government agencies, research institutes, and nongovernmental organizations. Much of this research supports forestry as a mitigation strategy not only for its climate change potential, but also for the environmental and socioeconomic co-benefits that would accompany reduced deforestation rates and expanded reforestation programs on suitable lands. Forestry and land use-based interventions that have the potential to significantly contribute to climate change mitigation options fall into several major categories:
International policymakers have repeatedly called for slowing the loss of forests and restoring forest or tree cover. In 1989, 68 environmental ministers from around the world signed the Noordwijk Declaration in the Netherlands, calling for a net increase in global forest cover of 12 million hectares per year to help slow climate change. Similar thinking is reflected in other international policy initiatives, including the Tropical Forestry Action Plan, the Global Forestry Program, the Intergovernmental Panel on Forestry, and the Convention on Biological Diversity, among others. The U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change and the Kyoto Protocol also explicitly mention these objectives.
Forestry an Early Mitigation Choice
Since the late 1980s, more than two dozen pilot
climate change mitigation projects have been carried out in the forestry sector, involving
a commitment of over US$50 million. Although this figure is small by the standard of
international aid and capital flows, it is a significant figure in forestry and land-use
spending. There are several reasons that forestry projects, and to a lesser extent other
land-use change projects, have been so popular during this first phase of climate change
Projects pursued through the "activities implemented jointly" pilot phase based on LUCF interventions are underway around the world. Over a dozen projects are underway in Annex B countries, including the United States, Canada, Russia, the Czech Republic, and the Netherlands. More are underway in a number of developing countries. Projects being pursued involve a range of forestry and other land-use change interventions:
In addition to individual project-based interventions, countries are pursuing broader innovative forestry initiatives and programs for climate change purposes. These programs include Costa Rica's certified tradeable offsets (CTOs) program, which is based on a national system of forest protection and reforestation incentives, and the Forest Resource Trust in the state of Oregon in the United States. Other countries are expected to follow suit in putting forward national programs.
Much has been learned from these projects regarding the use of forestry for climate change mitigation. These experiences have also helped clarify questions needing resolution regarding forestrys use for climate change mitigation purposes.
The Treatment of LUCF Mitigation Obligations and Options Under the FCCC and the Kyoto Protocol
Reducing LUCF-based GHG emissions and enhancing LUCF sinks are important components of the FCCC and the Kyoto Protocol. The FCCC calls upon countries to take measures that would mitigate climate change by "protecting and enhancing its greenhouse gas sinks and reservoirs" (Article 4(2)(a)), and to "promote sustainable management, and promote and cooperate in the conservation and enhancement, as appropriate, of sinks and reservoirs of all greenhouse gases not controlled by the Montreal Protocol, including biomass, forests and oceans as well as other terrestrial, coastal and marine ecosystems" (Article 4)(1)(d)).
At the third Conference of the Parties to the FCCC in December 1997, in Kyoto, Japan, forestry and land-use change issues were one of the most-discussed topics. The results were ambiguous, a prime example of "constructive ambiguity" to make the Protocol palatable to key interest groups. This explains how different governments perspectives on what was agreed on in Kyoto can differ so significantly.
Forestrys treatment in the Kyoto Protocol can be summarized as follows:
In effect, LUCF issues under the Protocol fall into two broad categories:
Whether left purposefully vague to postpone ongoing disagreements, or simply the result of a chaotic last minute negotiating process, the sinks language of the Kyoto Protocol in some sense raises more questions than it answers in both categories. It is important to note that most of the discussions in Kyoto regarding sinks focused on the netting issues associated with Article 3.3, rather than on project-based mitigation issues. There is, however, a fundamental difference between thinking about the netting of landscape level estimates of biotic sources and sinks, as Annex B countries are required to engage in pursuant to the provisions of Article 3.3, and the quantification and verification of project-level mitigation interventions under the Protocols flexibility mechanisms.
Sinks questions created by the Protocols language include:
How will sinks projects eventually be treated under the emissions trading auspices of Article 17? This Article is still being thought of primarily in the context of national-level trading of emissions against national baselines, rather than through development of a project-based crediting and trading system. In the long-term, however, it will be important to define how projects fit into the international trading system being considered under Article 17.
The New Role of the IPCC
The first consideration of many of these issues came at the first post-Kyoto climate change negotiations held in June 1998 in Bonn. A primary outcome of the Bonn meetings of the Conventions subsidiary bodies was a request that the IPCC be charged with preparing a special report on land use and forestry (FCCC/SBSTA/1998/INF1). This special report, in conjunction with the IPCCs treatment of sinks in its ongoing Third Assessment Report, should significantly contribute to defining the role sinks will play under the Kyoto Protocol or any successor instrument.
The IPCC recently approved the outline for the special report. A wide range of scientific and technical issues and options associated with Article 3.3 will be addressed by region and will be limited to issues relevant to afforestation, reforestation, and deforestation. Particular attention will be given to carbon accounting rules and the availability of data relevant to carbon quantification requirements at the project, biome, and national inventory scale. Regional and global potentials and the associated impacts of afforestation, reforestation, and deforestation activities will be covered. With respect to Article 3.4, the special report will include definition and analysis of forestry options, their sequestration potential, and ancillary benefits. Special attention is to be given to the issues associated with project-based activities related to the Protocol, but it remains unclear how much project-level issues will ultimately factor into the report.
A Quick Look at the Issues
The debate over forestrys potential role in climate change mitigation efforts has ranged widely over the last decade, from the assertion by some observers that forestry could virtually solve the climate change problem to the arguments by others that forestry has no role to play in a portfolio of mitigation policies and measures. Although many issues have been raised in this debate, they can be grouped into the several categories flagged at the beginning of this paper.
Addressing questions raised by critics of forestry and other LUCF interventions for climate change mitigation purposes is beyond the scope of this short review. It is interesting to note, however, that LUCF measures are often characterized as if they raise fundamentally different issues and concerns than other mitigation interventions, including those undertaken in the energy arena. It is being increasingly recognized that this is an inaccurate perception. As one participant to a recent workshop focusing on forestry mitigation issues noted, "we [forestry experts] have done some damage in getting too involved in technical discussions. As a result, we have confused policymakers. The technical issues for forestry are no more perplexing than they are for energy offsets." Voicing support for this view, another participant said that "the central issue we need to address is not what our confidence level in our forestry measurements is, but to make it clear that forestry offsets can accomplish the same levels of accuracy as energy at equivalent levels of effort. The issue is comparability."
When looking at whatever criteria are chosen by which to define and evaluate mitigation projects, clearly different types of LUCF interventions, and even individual projects within a given type, will perform differently. The same can be said of many energy-based projects. To advance the project-based objectives of the Kyoto Protocol, what is most important is to identify the criteria for a good project and see which projects in whatever sector can meet these criteria.
COP-4 and Treatment of the LUCF Issue
It is difficult to predict how discussions of the LUCF issue will develop at COP-4. Discussions are scheduled to begin on specification of the CDM, a particularly important step if rules are to be in place to guide banking of CDM credits starting in the year 2000. On the other hand, with referral of key methodological issues to the IPCC, there will be a natural tendency among some participants to argue that consideration of LUCF issues should be postponed until the IPCC issues its special report and its Third Assessment Report. Given the increasing priority attached to LUCF measures by many developing countries, this would be a mistake. It is important that flexibility be built into development of the CDM to accommodate a variety of potential mitigation measures, even while IPCC work progresses.
The COP-4 agenda, happily, does not postpone consideration of forestry issues. Indeed, LUCF issues are given immediate attention under the planned agenda. Articles 6, 12 and 17 will also be addressed, although it is unclear whether forestry as a mitigation option will be included in these discussions. Beyond these detailed agenda items, however, the Parties need to grapple with larger policy issues that are relevant to incorporation of LUCF measures into a framework by which the objectives of the FCCC and the Kyoto Protocol can be achieved:
Given the complexities of the issues involved, COP-4 could likely be termed a success if processes were initiated for grappling with many of these issues over the next couple of years. There is much for the Parties to think about.
Trexler and Associates Inc. (TAA) is a climate change mitigation firm based in Portland, Oregon, in the United States. TAAs president, Dr. Mark C. Trexler, became actively involved in assessing forestrys potential in climate change mitigation while at the World Resources Institute from 1988-1991, where he participated in the development of the first carbon offset project, the CARE Guatemala project funded by AES Corp. Since its founding in 1991, TAA has worked extensively in the energy and land-use mitigation arenas, participating in the implementation of more than half a dozen domestic and international mitigation projects, including domestic and international forestry projects. TAA directs the Land Use and Biotic Mitigation Policy Project (Biotic Project), a policy research effort working to identify technically and politically credible answers to issues being raised regarding forestry and land use-based mitigation efforts. This paper is largely based on TAAs work under the Biotic Project. | <urn:uuid:6c93e8f2-f903-4be1-b16b-6062bf5a260f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iisd.ca/journal/trexler.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942281 | 2,958 | 3.078125 | 3 |
From the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department
-- Residents can learn how you can process big game animal from field to freezer at a free workshop at the New Hampshire Fish and Game Department’s Owl Brook Hunter Education Center in Holderness, Saturday, April 3, from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Space is limited and pre-registration is required. To sign up, call the Owl Brook Hunter Education Center at (603) 536-3954.
Rick Warbin, owner of Baker River Deer Farm in Wentworth, will give workshop participants an overview of processing big game animals. The workshop will cover field dressing, tips to avoid meat spoilage, skinning and caping, equipment needs, determining cuts of meat, boning the meat and packaging tips. The instructor has many years of experience in the butchering business, so bring all your questions.
The workshop does not include lunch. For more information, visit http://www.HuntNH.com/Hunting/hunter_ed_center.htm. | <urn:uuid:ddc9dce9-a19f-4402-99af-5e9b683de465> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buckmasters.com/nh-plans-big-game-processing-workshop-april-3.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903765 | 212 | 1.773438 | 2 |
A horror film is a movie in which the whole goal is to illicit feelings of shock, disgust, or terror from the audiences watching. It has been around ever since the eighteen hundreds and overlap, sometimes, with other genres as well. "Horror", as a term, can be used in order to describe different movies from ones that involve murderers to ones that are about ghosts. It is also often hard to gage what makes some scary movies scarier than others as well.
The very first scary movies were silent films about demons and cursed locations. In 1910, the first film version of Mary Shelly's Frankenstein was released and was extremely successful in scaring audiences across Europe and North America. The majority of the early full length horror movies were made and produced in Germany, who had, early on, effectively cornered the market. By the early thirties, filmmakers in America jumped into the game with works such as Dracula, Frankenstein, and Dr. Jekyl and Mr. Hyde.
Different things will scare different types of people but the directors and producers of the early thirties and twenties discovered fairly quickly that suspense, sudden plot twists, eerie sound effects, and other factors were more effective at getting people frightened than scary monsters or bloody guts.
Perhaps the greatest contribution to the horror genre was made by the world famous writer and director, Alfred Hitchcock. Throughout his long and successful career, he pioneered numerous techniques and methods that are still used in suspense and psychological films today. Hitchcock is considered to be one of the best directors in the world with most of his fifty feature films being considered absolute classics.
"Shadow of a Doubt", one of Alfred's early films happens to be one of the very first thrillers as well. The movie is so significant culturally that it was picked to be included in the National Registry of Films so that its overlapping characters, criminal behavior plot, and spooky dialogue could be studies and watched by enthusiasts for many decades to come.
His most well known projects, such as "Vertigo", "Rear Window", and "Strangers on a Train" were completed throughout the fifties. Each of them showcased Hitchcock's natural ability to frighten an audience with intelligent plots, emotionally unstable characters, and well placed spooky music.
Although King Kong, Godzilla, and other monsters are scary, many of the most frightening horror and thriller films in the industry are the ones where the 'monster' is never seen. This was done expertly by the creators of a movie called "Rosemary's Baby", which alluded to and mentioned a demonic baby but kept its appearance from the audience. "Jaws", "The Blair Witch Project", and other films also used this popular technique. Directors could force their audiences to fear something even more by not showing it.
Another popular and useful method involves the kind of sounds that a horror film uses. Sometimes a movie's music is the most powerful aspect when it comes to scaring or terrifying people. Though they might not have known it at the time, the viewers who saw the movie "Jaws" in the seventies were on the very edge of their chairs thanks to the film's infamous score.
Powered by WP Robot | <urn:uuid:6a6f61f5-5411-4cfc-b424-6250be7330ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://behindthescenestv.net/what-makes-a-good-scary-movie/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981301 | 649 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Pagan Books v2.2
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Witchvox Chapter: Pagan Books
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Reclaiming the Craft of Poetry|
Baldur's Death, A Play in Verse
Author: Jeva Singh-Anand
Category: liturgy/poetry Level: All
Growing up in Germany, I cherished my grandmother's treasure house of stories: Siegfried and the Dragon, Grimm's Fairy Tales, and many others. Reclaiming my cultural heritage and my craft as a poet, I have now published his One-Act Play Baldur's Death (A Play in Verse) . Available as a digital download, Baldur's Death is available at www.lulu.com/blackhatpress.
Baldur's Death, written in verse, tells the story of the murder of Balder, the Germanic Sun God, through the trickery of the evil Loki. In the Germanic myth, Balder has a nightmare of being mortally wounded by an arrow:
Valhalla's courtly folk engaged in merry sport.
And out of mischief or misguided innocence
A deadly arrow pierced me through the heart,
Touched by Balder's sadness, the Germanic Chief God, Odin, commands the other Gods to counsel all things, “growing on the earth, and under (Scene 3) ” not to harm the Sun God. But this does not suit the jealous Trickster God Loki, who, following Odin's command to the letter but defying its spirit, manipulates the lowly mistletoe to slay Baldur.
The play was originally written as a piece of liturgy for Siouxland First Wiccan Congregation.
Author's Notes: Singh-Anand earned his Masters Degree in English from the University of South Dakota in 1998. Since then, he has worked as a teacher and a freelance writer, publishing many articles and several short stories and liturgical poems. He also hosted the Undead Jake and Lance and Graal podcasts.
Singh-Anand draws inspiration from ancient mythology and from the major poets of the Nineteenth Century: chief among them are Goethe, Schiller, Hoelderlin, Coleridge, Longfellow, and Macauley.
“Form is very important to the craft of poetry, ” he said. “To me, poems have a powerful audial quality. I have always considered them to be scripts, if you will, for recitation performances. Besides, a poet who can pour
Where To Buy: http://www.lulu.com/product/ebook/baldurs-death-%28a-play-in-verse%29/17565225?productTrackingContext=author_spotlight_161358_
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Mail Us: The Witches' Voice Inc., P.O. Box 341018, Tampa, Florida 33694-1018 U.S.A. | <urn:uuid:195d1501-71b1-45f9-88a7-bdc5fd7b06c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.witchvox.com/books/dt_bk.html?a=usia&id=2049 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904552 | 1,001 | 2.359375 | 2 |
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“It was proven in the middle ages and again last night on countdown with keith olbermann … all that “inhanced interrogation” on the yemenis in guantanamo did not offer any intelligence about the crotch bomber … and it should have, according to the frighty apologists …”
“Now due to the 3D technology really not being inhanced, and just being used correctly, Ill get to the main focus of the movie.”
“Anonymous said ... some of the clone are not age inhanced and most of them are made from a new host. that's why they sound diferent from Boba and Jango in the Holy Trilogy.”
“Lisa Rinna…She scares the crap out of me with her artifically inhanced lips.”
“Smoking bomb clouds inhanced are realy not the issue for me, the loss of lives on the ground are………Blessings….”
“On Face The Nation; Binden is asked if he thinks there is ever a place for torture/waterboarding/inhanced interrogations.”
“With inhanced frame works and more details that could take you days to find flaws in, It's hard seeing any ace combat compare to this.”
“But in an effort to bring down President Bush, inhanced interregation against terrorists was made to resemble the methods used by terror regimes … that CNN supports.”
“If any one has suffered during inhanced interogation, they have merely imagined that they were suffering pain.”
“Secondly, that height is inhanced by something which you will not see, save in the low countries between the hills of Ardennes and the yellow seas -- I mean brick Gothic; for the Gothic which you and I know is built up of stone, and, even so, produces every effect of depth and distance; but the Gothic of the Netherlands is often built curiously of bricks, and the bricks are so thin that it needs a whole host of them in an infinity of fine lines to cover a hundred feet of wall.”
‘inhanced’ hasn't been added to any lists yet.
Looking for tweets for inhanced. | <urn:uuid:8f79a062-d835-49df-8d3a-84c15e142ffc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wordnik.com/words/inhanced | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968727 | 484 | 1.554688 | 2 |
THE FLORIDA SUPREME COURT has disgraced itself and undermined election laws, not just for this election in Florida but for future elections across the country. Any future losing candidate in a close election now knows that he need only create enough noise and confusion, and then shop around for sympathetic judges.
On the eve of this election, no one in his right mind would have thought that it would be decided by hand-counting ballots in three counties in Florida and machine-counting the other 64 counties. It is not just a question whether dents on a ballot should count as votes, but whether dents should count as votes in heavily Democratic counties, while only perforations count as votes in the rest of the state.
Amid all the pious talk about wanting every vote to count, the Florida Supreme Court has not lifted a finger to enable the military ballots from overseas to be counted. Nor does the pious statement by Florida's Democratic attorney general that he would like to see the military ballots counted have the slightest effect, because he has no authority in this matter, and local Democrats who are counting the votes are disregarding his words. The attorney general knew that his words would not change the vote-counting, but it was a clever political ploy to sound sympathetic to the people serving in the military overseas -- while continuing to disenfranchise them on a technicality.
This whole post-election free-for-all could be called "Ploys R Us." These ploys have even included trying to corrupt the electoral college itself by digging up dirt on Republican members of that college and then contacting them to try to "persuade" them to vote for Gore, even though they were elected to vote for Bush.
The legal issue before the Florida Supreme Court was not how ballots were counted. The legal issue was whether Florida Secretary of State Katherine Harris abused her discretion by not extending the statutory deadline to allow time for hand counting. This was not Ms. Harris' deadline. It was the deadline established by law. Although she had the discretion to extend it -- as, for example, when there are hurricanes, floods or power outages -- discretion doesn't mean anything if anyone who asks for an extension has to get it.
Baucus & Hatch Grill IRS Commissioners Who Don't Know Anything: "That's A Lie By Omission" | Greg Hengler | <urn:uuid:71713cbc-416f-410f-9529-38fc753bda09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://townhall.com/columnists/thomassowell/2000/11/23/ploys_r_us | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981896 | 477 | 1.5 | 2 |
Residences of the American governors
| 2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010 |
Lists of candidates
|Current Lt. Governors|
|Lt. Governor Elections|
|2013 • 2012 • 2011 • 2010|
44 states provide some official home for the sitting Governor and the First Family.
Additionally, in some states the Governor is required to reside at the official home while in office.
- See also: Governor of Colorado
Properly known as the Boettcher Mansion, the official gubernatorial residence is an early 20th century white marble home, built in the Roman Ionic style and located at East 8th Avenue and Logan Street on Capitol Hill in Denver.
The mansion passed through the ownership of many of Colorado's founding families, having been built by the Cheesemans between 1907-1908, upgraded by the Evans throughout the early 1920s, and finally coming to be owned by the Boettchers. It was offered to the state of Colorado as a gubernatorial residence in 1957, in accordance with the will of Edna Boettcher, and accepted on behalf of the state by Governor Stephen McNichols in 1959.
Many of the furnishings are original to the era when the mansion was a private residence. Of particular note is the Waterford chandelier in the main drawing room, which originally hung in the White House ballroom and was given to Colorado on the occasion of her statehood, in 1876, by President Chester A. Arthur.
The second floor is the private residence of the First Family of Colorado, if they so choose. The lack of both space and privacy has led to several recent governors maintaining their private homes instead. Governor Hickenlooper and Governor Owens both kept their own homes, through Governor Ritter moved into the mansion.
The main floor of the mansion is used for state occasions, is open to the public for tours, and may be rented for private events. | <urn:uuid:0638fa61-12ab-4fe3-9a00-02e4aaa20f68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ballotpedia.org/wiki/index.php/Residences_of_the_American_governors | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967206 | 392 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Readers returning to our blog will know that Win-Vector LLC is fairly “pro-R.” You can take that to mean “in favor or R” or “professionally using R” (both statements are true). Some days we really don’t feel that way.
Consider the following snippet of R code where we create a list with a single element named “x” that refers to a numeric vector. We start with a demonstration of the hard-coded method of pulling the x-value back out using the “$” operator.
> l <- list(x=c(1,2,3)) > l$x 1 2 3
But suppose we wanted to automate this; that is pass in the name of the value we want in a variable. We are after all using a computer, so automating a step seems like a reasonable desire. R supplies a notation for this using the “” operator. But something slightly different comes out under the “” operator than under the “$” operator:
> varName <- 'x' > l[varName] $x 1 2 3
Notice that the printed outputs are slightly different (one echoes "$x" and one does not). Let's use the "class()" method to see what is actually being returned in each case.
> class(l$x) "numeric" > class(l['x']) "list"
Completely different return types are returned (in one case a numeric vector in the other a general list, not interchangeable types).
At this point you may think it is time to turn in our "pro" label and call ourselves "newb" (Internet slang for "newbie" or "idiot"). But let's slow down for a bit. When two views of the same situation disagree (such as the difference in opinion between the authors of R and myself whether the "" and "$" operators should return the same type) you at most know that at least one of those views is wrong. You don't really know if one view is right or even if one view is right which one it is. I can, however, bring in some additional argument to try and show the design of R is in fact wrong. The additional argument is "The Principle of Least Astonishment." This principle roughly says that it is a mistake to introduce unnecessary differences in outcomes (which to the unprepared user are unpleasant surprises). There may be some deep (yet obscure) reasons the two operators prefer to return different results. But the fact you would have to find a way to document and explain these differences really should make one think that this situation is really a mis-design and the "explanation" is really an attempt at a work around. Or to put it more rudely: there may be an explanation, but there is no excuse.
For another example consider creating a 3 by 3 matrix:
> m <- matrix(c(1,2,3,1,1,1,0,0,1),nrow=3,ncol=3) > m [,1] [,2] [,3] [1,] 1 1 0 [2,] 2 1 0 [3,] 3 1 1
Now select the last two rows of the matrix.
> m[c(FALSE,TRUE,TRUE),] [,1] [,2] [,3] [1,] 2 1 0 [2,] 3 1 1 >
Now (for the punchline) try to select just the middle row of the matrix.
> m[c(FALSE,TRUE,FALSE),] 2 1 0
Notice that once again (and without warning) the result is subtly different. I admit that it seems paranoid to worry about such small differences- but when you are debugging a system that should work these are exactly the killing mistakes you are looking for. In this case the problem is pretty bad. See what happens if you tried to ask for the dimension of each of these differing returns:
> dim(m[c(FALSE,TRUE,TRUE),]) 2 3 > dim(m[c(FALSE,TRUE,FALSE),]) NULL
The first case works fine (reports 2 rows and 3 columns). The second case returns "NULL" (instead of 1 row and 3 columns). In R NULL is sometimes used as an error-value (instead of throwing an exception) and this value will poison any further conditions or calculations it is involved in. The main way to deal with the arbitrary introduction of such NULLs is the incredibly tedious uncertain defensive coding practices that we argue against in Postel’s Law: Not Sure Who To Be Angry With. Such code weakens both programs and programmers.
But what is going on in this example? Once again we use the "class()" method to inspect the subtly different results.
> class(m[c(FALSE,TRUE,TRUE),]) "matrix" > class(m[c(FALSE,TRUE,FALSE),]) "numeric"
The result is disappointing. For a two-row select R returns a matrix (what we would expect). For a single-row select R does us the "favor" of converting the result into a vector. This is a disaster. A single row matrix is similar to a vector, but even R itself does not support the same set of operations and outcomes on vectors as it does on matrices (for example the failure of the "dim()" method). It is not safe to further calculate with these results (without by-hand converting the result back to a single row matrix which R can in fact represent). In my case this created crashing bugs deep in a long running analysis (and was hard to diagnose as the bug was in an "innocent operation" not in a "risky calculation").
All of this has to violate John Chambers' "Prime Directive" for data: "an obligation on all creators of software to program in such a way that the computations can be understood and trusted." Chambers' opinion being relevant as he is the author of the S language (of which R is an open source re-implementation). We continue to recommend R, but we also recommend being exceptionally careful when using it (which unfortunately adds time to projects).
- R examine objects tutorial
- Relative returns: a banker versus trader paradox
- The cranky guide to trying R packages | <urn:uuid:f03181ba-4ae8-4bd1-81c1-cb85898cc68d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.r-bloggers.com/r-annoyances/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933244 | 1,360 | 2 | 2 |
Even to a seasoned carnivore, the meat aisle can be a bit nauseating if you stay too long. The steaks sit there, looking at you, their red flesh smushed against plastic wrap like faces pressed against a window. The lighting is a gross green-tinged fluorescent and the styrofoam containers have that texture that makes your neck shiver. Occasionally, a pack is actually wet with blood.
Beef Stakes is a project by NYU grad student Sarah Hallacher that channels all of the disgusting tropes of meat packaging into data that you can touch. She rendered the top beef-producing states in beef (okay, it’s actually modeling clay) and squeezed them into shrink wrap and styrofoam. Each state’s thickness corresponds to its pounds of beef production.
“I wrestled with the idea of using real steaks, but ultimately had qualms about wasting food,” Hallacher tells Co.Design.
Even still, the project creates intuitively tactile data. Any seasoned shopper could pick up two Beef Stakes and instantly interface with each, judging the weight and feel against years of kinesthetic memory from the grocery aisle. Then, for more specificity, Hallacher leverages the beef label to list statistics: The amount of beef produced per state, the cost to produce the beef, and how much beef each citizen would have needed to consume were the beef not exported from that state. (In other words, every person in Iowa would have downed over 2,000 pounds in beef were we all eating local.)
As a data/art project, Beef Stakes is striking. But I can’t help but wonder if some of its lessons could actually make beef labels better for concerned consumers. Why don’t we see where our steaks came from? Why can’t we see even deeper data, like how many pounds of grain created this chunk of meat, or how many government subsidies are affecting the price per pound? Because newspapers filled with scary factoids are nowhere near as impactful as holding a slab of cold, drippy beef in your hands, seeing the true cost of that privilege.
“I think the physicality of the project--the weight, the realistic look of the meat, the familiar packaging--certainly helps people want to explore the data, and perhaps see the food in a different light,” Hallacher writes. “I’ve been thinking about planting them in a few grocery stores, and standing by to see if anyone notices.”
[Hat tip: infosthetics] | <urn:uuid:fb4344ef-9863-4d57-9581-4008c7d66212> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fastcodesign.com/1671549/infographic-our-insatiable-appetite-for-beef-visualized-as-steaks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960079 | 530 | 2.421875 | 2 |
It began when Steven M. Jacobsen, a pastor of
First Lutheran Church, Decorah, Iowa, thought it would be interesting
to bring people together to discuss Jim Wallis’ best-seller God’s Politics: Why the Right Gets it Wrong and the Left Doesn’t Get It (HarperSanFrancisco, 2006). For many congregations, a book club isn’t anything new. But it is for First—and the response has been overwhelming.
The first meeting was announced last year in The Decorah Newspapers. Members invited friends, which immediately made the group ecumenical. It included a sizable contingent from the local Religious Society of Friends church (Quakers). About 20 people gathered in First’s library to talk about the Wallis book.
“They were ready to vent about the state of the world. It really uncapped high-pressure feelings, and the enthusiasm just took over,” Jacobsen said.
The group continued to meet on Thursday evenings at the church to discuss each chapter of the book. Group leader Paul Jordahl said, “I noticed a heightening awareness among the participants. Individuals began thinking more deeply about confusing and controversial political issues and how best to respond in faith.”
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© 2013 Augsburg Fortress, Publishers | <urn:uuid:5981a0d3-88f6-4b02-b2b3-a5e86c8287a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thelutheran.org/article/article.cfm?article_id=6350 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948816 | 280 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Iraq's Kurds get moment of closure on eve of Hussein trial
A mass burial lays to rest 512 of the 8,000 men taken away by Iraqi forces in 1983.
One by one, they came. And they came. The flag-draped coffins kept coming for more than an hour Monday as Iraqi Kurds for the first time held a mass burial for victims of Saddam Hussein's regime.Skip to next paragraph
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The 512 coffins - each carried by an honor guard of Kurdish soldiers - represent a fraction of the estimated 8,000 Kurds reported slaughtered by the Iraqi government in August 1983. That infamous event was followed by a government campaign in the late 1980s that wiped out 4,000 Kurdish villages.
The funeral, held two days before the opening of Mr. Hussein's trial in Baghdad, marks a rare moment of collective closure for Iraq's Kurds. But some here would like to take that process a step further - to see Hussein convicted of his government's crimes against Kurds, who bore the brunt of the regime's cruelty.
The Iraqi Special Tribunal will begin by examining the 1982 killing of some 140 Shiite men from Dujail after Hussein survived an assassination attempt in the same town. While the Dujail case alone may yield the death penalty, the Kurds of northern Iraq say they wish the first case to be tried could be a Kurdish one.
"My father, I am sure he is there," says Rebwar Ramazan Abdullah, motioning to the rows of coffins, unmarked except for the Kurdish flag. Mr. Abdullah was a toddler when Iraqi troops sealed off his village and burst in the house. His father, a medical student, only had time to put on one sock before he was taken away - along with every male of the Barzani clan older than 10.
He says his mother still wears black. "We eat grief instead of bread," says Abdullah.
Hussein's trial is a "good thing" that "should be a lesson to all dictators," he says, but Kurds "feel shock when we see him not convicted of our cases. It is unfair."
Investigators have found evidence of 270 mass graves across Iraq, which are suspected to hold the remains of tens of the thousands of people, including Kurds, Shiites, and other political opponents of the Hussein regime.
"The Barzani clan were the first to be killed in this genocide, and the carnage of the Barzanis showed how brutal this regime was in dealing with the Kurds," Iraqi President Jalal Talabani, himself a veteran Kurdish leader, told those assembled for the funeral. "The central government was very cruel, and put them alive in mass graves."
The Barzanis may have been targets of revenge during the Iran-Iraq war, Kurds say, because the Barzani-led Kurdistan Democratic Party, according to one account, "spearheaded an Iranian thrust into northern Iraq" earlier in 1983.
The remains in the 512 coffins were unearthed from a mass grave in southern Iraq, in the remote desert triangle formed by Iraq's borders with Kuwait and Saudi Arabia. Large photos of the forensic work show skulls with bullet holes, and many wearing Kurdish headdress typical of the Barzani clan.
"Without dealing with our unjust past, we can't have a just future," says Mohammed Ihsan, the human rights minister of the Kurdistan Regional Government, who was instrumental in the examination of the grave.
"It's very significant for the families, because they have been waiting for 23 years, and while there is deep sadness, there will also be relief," says Mr. Ihsan. He is handling 17,230 cases of Kurds reported missing or killed, and is drawing up a request for compensation for the victims' families.
"This is a good time for the international community to know what happened in Iraq," says Ihsan. "The healing will take a long time, and not be easy."
Besides claiming that the "freedom of the Kurds today is the fruit of this sacrifice," part of the ceremony included a verse from the Koran, which voiced a need for retribution: "Don't kill a soul, which God does not allow, except in revenge."
Sozan Subhi, who lost 32 relatives in 1983, says she understands that sentiment and expects Hussein to be tried and executed.
"Now we know they are dead, and that is closure. All that remains is the trial of Saddam," says Ms. Subhi, tearfully carrying a portrait of her uncle Iskandar Mahmoud. "I hope I will see [Hussein] dead, but I hope he will be shot by one who was oppressed by him." | <urn:uuid:9faf2221-7967-424d-99ec-ed3033824b73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csmonitor.com/2005/1018/p07s01-woiq.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975309 | 960 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Fitness Q&A by Richard Weil
Creatine is a compound that has been shown to speed up recovery in adults after short (generally 10 seconds or less), high intensity bouts of exercise like a set of weight lifting. There are no endurance performance benefits from creatine use. Strength gains and increases in mass associated with creatine use occur because it enables athletes to do more work with less fatigue in a specific period of time due to the improvement in recovery time. There are no steroid-like effects with creatine that directly cause increases in protein synthesis, increases in testosterone availability or synthesis, or other anabolic processes, and only minor side effects seem to be reported (gastrointestinal discomfort and cramping being the two main complaints). Individuals using creatine should drink six to eight glasses of water a day while taking creatine to prevent dehydration. Among individuals who take creatine, 30% do not see any benefit. If no benefit is observed after four to six weeks of use, then it would be prudent to stop taking it, if for no other reason than to save money.
If your sons are teenagers then you should know that the safety and efficacy of creatine has not been established in adolescents. Yet despite the lack of research in teens, a 2001 study in the journal Pediatrics reported that creatine is used by young athletes in every grade from six to 12 (44% of 12th graders reported using creatine). The authors of this study specifically state that, "Until the safety of creatine can be established in adolescents, the use of this product should be discouraged." Additionally, the American College of Sports Medicine has recommended that creatine not be used by anyone younger than 18 years old, and furthermore, collegiate trainers and coaches are forbidden from recommending or supplying creatine, or other supplements for that matter, to their student athletes.
It is my opinion that young athletes should be taught the moral high ground. That is, stay disciplined, train hard, get plenty of sleep, learn how to eat healthy, and avoid supplements. The win-at-any-cost message that diffuses down from professional athletes corrupts our children and presents potentially dangerous health consequences. It's a message I believe that we can live without.
Thank you for your question.
Last Editorial Review: 11/22/2006
Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | <urn:uuid:88ffa9f0-2368-4260-b3d9-0074ec2236e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=77696 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939541 | 472 | 2.28125 | 2 |
While many will head out to big box retail stores, the desire is to have as many as possible invest in homegrown businesses right in their own backyard to not only find great deals and unique gifts, but provide much needed revenues to the local economy.
Meg Pie, located in downtown Cartersville, is one of the many local merchants who hope to cash in during the next few weeks of shopping.
Shoppers will head out long before the sun comes up, mere hours after Thanksgiving dinner has been served in search of bargains and the most bang for their buck.
But whether they spend here or outside the county line, shoppers are expected to spend big this holiday season.
National Retail Federation, the world’s largest retail trade association, predicts holiday sales this year will increase 4.1 percent to $586.1 billion and that the forecast is higher than the 10-year average holiday sales increase of 3.5 percent.
“This is the most optimistic forecast National Retail Federation has released since the recession,” said NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay in a statement. “In spite of the uncertainties that exist in our economy and among consumers, we believe we’ll see solid holiday sales growth this year. “Variables including an upcoming presidential election, confusion surrounding the ‘fiscal cliff’ and concern relating to future economic growth could all combine to affect consumers’ spending plans, but overall we are optimistic that retailers promotions will hit the right chord with holiday shoppers.”
According to NRF, recent government data released shows a crosscurrent of indicators that could impact holiday sales, including unimpressive job and income growth and an unemployment rate stuck at 8 percent. However, positive indicators are emerging that show a cautious but capable consumer, such as increases in confidence and home prices.
“While moderate compared to what we experienced the last two holiday seasons, the forecast is a very pragmatic look at what to expect this year given the current rate of economic growth,” said NRF Chief Economist Jack Kleinhenz in a statement. “There’s still some general anxiety amongst consumers when it comes to how the state of the economy is impacting their spending plans, but retailers can expect to see excitement around their promotions and plenty of bargain hunters both online and in stores in the coming months.” | <urn:uuid:a14292cf-c922-4f36-bd3c-2b7df1fd6ca5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neighbornewspapers.com/view/full_story/20883159/article-Bartow-County-merchants-ready-for-holiday-shoppers- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958076 | 477 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Energy efficiency program to start at Aalto University
Aalto Energy Efficiency Research Programme (AEF) has been established to strengthen energy research and teaching at Aalto University. The aim of the programme is to launch ambitious interdisciplinary research projects that could produce solutions that significantly improve energy efficiency, with a wide scope. In the Aalto University strategy, energy was included from the very beginning, and all Aalto schools study and teach energy issues.
The first three projects for the AEF programme have been selected. They will be launched in autumn 2012.
The SAGA project (Smart Control Architectures for Smart Grids) focuses on smart grids. The project develops control and monitoring architecture, where total energy efficiency can be maximised and the reliability and safety of the energy efficiency system integrating renewable energy sources can be ensured.
The aim of the Light Energy - Efficient and Safe Traffic Environments project is to improve the energy efficiency of transport environments and outdoor lighting while maintaining a good level of road safety and taking into account the needs of road users. The project studies the optimal realisation of lighting and develops smart control of lighting by considering the visibility and safety of road users, the traffic situation, and environmental and economic factors.
The MOPPI project (Molecular Thin Film Engineering for Building Integrated Photonics and Process Industry) performs material-level energy efficiency research which may result in 15% less energy used for lighting, producing more efficient new materials and catalysts for solar panels, and producing building-integrated solar panels for more affordable use of solar power.
– Finding sustainable energy solutions is one of the greatest challenges of the human race. In the next 20–30 years, energy-saving and the intensification of energy production and use will form the most potential areas for affecting the sufficiency of energy and reducing adverse impacts. Research is needed in the versatile development of both energy technologies and the operating environment, says Ilkka Niemelä, Deputy President of Aalto University.
The Aalto University funding for these three first projects is estimated to rise to EUR 5.3 million in four years. The "Matti Pursula Chair" professorship is directed at the programme's domain by Aalto University.
The AEF is planned to continue until 2019 and a new application round opens in the spring 2013. For more information, please see the website: energyefficiency.aalto.fi. | <urn:uuid:10261535-4692-4a47-8c5d-1f15dde556ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aalto.fi/en/current/news/view/2012-06-21-003/?text | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921865 | 496 | 2.34375 | 2 |
It's no doubt that will knowledge and abilities is the thing that the current globe require nearly all. The economical economic depression just uncovered exactly how not well set up the majority of us will be in taking care of their own financial situation. This kind of sick equipment varies via personal finances in order to enterprise budget. This no wonder that a lot of people particularly in America have been found trousers along together with lifestyles that were only nevertheless borrowed. Exactly how different would you call the large credit cards that are using along gigantic economic climates including the Us and also European countries?
Financing schooling should be redefined from your standard fund for finding blunders inside data processing with a contemporary financing training that allows you to always be have got skills to higher handle finances or even business funds.
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When you look for the information on how to locate on the internet university as well as training to further improve your monetary knowledge, pay attention to the establishment that can offer more than simply a piece of paper. You have to be able to find out techniques to escape charge card debt, learning to make the most from your mortgage loan assets plus more contemporary financial requires.
If you are searching with regard to information linked to enterprise financial or a few additional information such as mortgage, division, financial data processing or financial firms you've got picked the correct write-up. This valuable portion offers you certainly not right away widespread enterprise financing details but additionally distinct and information. Have fun with this.
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Remember that you are just a step from reading good information regarding organization finance as well as these kinds of linked data simply by searching the search engines on the web. Search engines by yourself can give you plenty of outcomes whenever you look for organization finance.
Any time starting up a financial budget, you may get weighed down. You will find lots associated with tricks available. There are tons involving formulations. The simple truth is, it's very easy. So here I am going to construct some standard ideas. In the event you follow these tips, you can build a spending budget that works well.
First, fiscal market mergers keep on with in each major field. Subsequent, numerous major organizations notice advantages in succeeding as diversified financial providers powers, offering numerous outlines of business.
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An earlier article noted that will business financing is actually successfully on living help determined by recent reports of lowered loans produced by banking institutions through the land. There are lots of logic behind why demanding proper care reviews will help to spell out what's wrong along with capital capital and also at the same time supply a healthy prospects for impacted businesses. Since commercial funding is demonstrating becoming a significant obstacle for many small businesses proprietors, this kind of analysis must be reviewed through any debtor planning to receive or perhaps refinance business loans.
During the past two years, banks have forfeit very much trustworthiness along with good will certainly. Until the government supplied substantial relief for a lot of of them, many of these creditors were on living support on their own. While some of the financial institutions possess restored, others are efficientlytheless within the intensive treatment method. Yet no matter whether we're reviewing the particular healthy banks or even types still recouping, working capital funding for most small enterprises can be mostly with what appears to be long-term rigorous proper care. Banks are often decreasing or eliminating a large part of his or her business capital activities, since mentioned through many on-going public and private reviews. For instance, using little if any move forward notice, many banks seem to be shutting professional personal credit line plans pertaining to small businesses in spite of success or perhaps length of the financing connection. This can be seemingly not only a short-term proceed to your sidelines but alternatively an enduring reallocation involving means for you to far more worthwhile pursuits depending on the manner in which this can be getting completed.
Lending activity has also decreased drastically regarding other designs of economic funding such as commercial home loans. Professional lending options have got essentially already been reduced or even laid off in the same way many workers have. The actual recognition that banking institutions are not asserting publicly why these cuts have happened is what makes this example distinct. Perhaps bankers want to believe once they stop producing small enterprise financial loans no person may notice. While it becomes general public information in which his or her small enterprise financing eye-port is effectively shut down, the particular brokers whom placed professional loans straight into extensive proper care are usually astute enough to appreciate in which their open public impression will suffer a little more forward destruction.
Just before they understand that the business enterprise capital planet features altered prior to their sight, it's possible in which small businesses proprietors may require to get in touch several dots. As this article as well as other testimonials suggest, financial institutions are simply don't supplying the business mortgage solutions that they can after do. Commercial borrowers should mostly count on substantial honest chats with other business consumers in the lender to make sure that whether or not their own bank is one of the handful of exceptions to the brand-new fact. During the actual exceptional instances where financial institutions are usually truly lending typically for you to smaller businesses, the prevailing pattern of significantly less capital capital originating from standard finance institutions shouldn't be ignored.
more info : none , | <urn:uuid:69022849-720c-4ea1-91e0-ba6a043ca864> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alexnewtron.com/options-for-your-small-company-loans/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959168 | 1,601 | 2.375 | 2 |
Is manufacturing special? Should the US do more to preserve its manufacturing base? President Obama brought these questions to the forefront with his recent proposal to use tax breaks and other encouragements to revive the manufacturing sector. Some people such as former Clinton economic advisor Laura Tyson argue that “manufacturing matters.” But others such as her UC Berkeley colleague and former Obama advisor Christina Romer argue against such special treatment.
Who is right? In the past, I have given a lukewarm endorsement to the president’s proposal. I believe manufacturing is one of the more promising avenues for the future economic growth, but I’m wary of picking winners. I’d prefer that we create the conditions for winners to emerge instead of putting too much emphasis on any one area.
But perhaps a more targeted approach is justified after all. Recent research by David Autor, David Dorn, and Gordon Hanson highlights the large detrimental effects that the loss of manufacturing jobs has had on some communities. This research finds that increased competition from low-wage countries causes unemployment to go up, labor force participation to fall, and wages to decline leading to “a steep drop in the average earnings of households” throughout the community.
Foreign competition also has large effects on social insurance programs. In particular, while use of Trade Adjustment Assistance – the program intended to help workers displaced by foreign competition – goes up and there is some impact on other social programs, the biggest impact on social insurance programs comes through increases in long-term disability insurance payments.
Workers who go on disability who might have remained employed if their jobs had not disappeared represent a permanent loss of productive capacity. The costs of this idled labor come in addition to the direct monetary costs of the program. And it’s worth noting that if children are negatively affected, as they are likely to be, the effects in these communities can last beyond the current generation.
The case for free trade is based upon the idea that the gains from trade have the potential to make us all better off. There are distributional consequences, some industries will go under as foreign competition intensifies and some workers will lose their jobs. But so long as the gains exceed the losses, as most economists believe they do, it’s possible to fully compensate the losers and still make everyone better off than before.
However, when it comes to actually compensating those who pay the costs, the research by Autor, Dorn, and Hanson shows there’s a problem. If the outcome of recent changes in the pattern of global production had been to lift all boats – if income had grown equally across the entire distribution – then the case for trade would be clear. But what’s the case for continuing to impose the costs of globalization and technological change on those at the bottom of the income distribution while giving all the gains to those at the top?
We must do more to make sure that the gains from growth are equitably distributed. The usual list of solutions such as better education, improved job retraining programs, and increased trade adjustment assistance have not worked, and talk of “New, New Deals“ just brings more of the same. Something else is needed. For this reason, in addition to redistribution to ensure that gains are distributed equitably, I am coming around to the idea of using industrial policy to target regions hurt by the impacts of globalization or technological change.
As Autor says, “People like to think that workers flow freely across sectors, but in reality, they don’t.” Even if there is a chance of better opportunities elsewhere, people are reluctant to leave family, friends, and put their children into unfamiliar surroundings and unfamiliar schools for a chance that may not pan out, and perhaps we shouldn’t expect them to.
To the extent that it’s possible – and it isn’t always – we need to bring the jobs to them. If we can entice an industry to develop in a particular area through tax breaks and other means, then we can help to avoid the problems that come with the economic stagnation these areas suffer when they lose manufacturing jobs to foreign completion or to technological change.
We are going to pay the costs one way or the other, and we have an obligation to help the people who are hurt as the economy responds to changing economic conditions. But instead of paying the costs through higher social service payments and through other social problems, why not invest in new opportunity by attracting new business to the region?
We must do a better job of protecting workers and their families from the short- and long-term consequences of globalization and technological change. I can’t say that targeted industrial policy is the answer, and it’s not something I can endorse without recognizing the dangers of too much government involvement in private sector investment. What I can say is that what we’ve done so far hasn’t worked, and it’s definitely time to try something new. | <urn:uuid:baef449e-6115-4176-b06b-f19aa5f60a9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefiscaltimes.com/Columns/2012/02/28/How-to-Bring-Jobs-to-People-Who-Need-Them-Most.aspx?p=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963031 | 1,016 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Article One of Bethel's “Affirmation of Faith” reads: “The Bible is. . . without error in the original manuscripts.” There is a wide diversity of opinions about the meaning of “error” in such an affirmation. This is especially the case when the Synoptic Gospels (Matthew, Mark, Luke) are being considered.
I will suggest two definitions of “error,” the first of which I consider proper for judging the reliability of any literature including the Synoptics, and the second of which I consider improper. According to the first, I believe the Synoptics are “without error.”
- A writer is in error when the basic intention in his statements and admonitions, properly understood in their nearer and wider context, is not true. (In reference to the indicative statements, “true” means that obedience of these admonitions is in harmony with reality, i.e., it accords with the will of God.)
- A writer is in error if any of his individual statements is not literally true.
The difference between these two definitions and my own understanding of the truth of the Synoptic Gospels may be clarified by several illustrations from the texts.
The Mustard Seed
Jesus says in Mark 4:31 that the kingdom of God “is like a grain of mustard seed which when sown upon the ground is the smallest of all the seeds of the earth. . .”
According to definition #2 above, Jesus erred here because the mustard seed is not the smallest seed on earth. But according to the first definition, he did not err because his basic intention was not in the least botanical. The point is the great contrast between the smallness of the seed and the largeness of the full-grown shrub. Jesus capitalized on the proverbial smallness of the mustard seed to make a perfect, inerrant point about the kingdom of God.
If we used definition #2 above, the Gospel writers would have to be accused of error in their chronology of the events of Jesus's life. Just one illustration: The story of the healing of the paralytic (Matthew 9:1–8; Mark 2:1–12; Luke 5:17–26), the call of Levi (Matthew 9:9–13; Mark 2:13–17; Luke 5:27–32), and the question about fasting (Matthew 9:14–17; Mark 2:18–22; Luke 5:33–39) follow back to back in all three Synoptics and so refer to the same events. Again, the stilling of the storm (Matthew 8:23–27; Mark 4:35–41; Luke 8:22–25) and the Gesarene demoniac (Matthew 8:28; Mark 5:1–20; Luke 8:26–39) follow back to back in all three Synoptics so that with the verbal parallels one can see that the same sequence of events is being referred to in each Gospel. But Matthew has these last two events before the three cited above, while Mark and Luke have them after these three events. It cannot be both ways.
But the Synoptics are not in error here according to the first definition above, because it was not their basic intention to give a rigid chronology of Jesus's ministry (which Papias said already in the second century, cf. Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History, III, 39,14ff). Their intention was rather to give a faithful representation of the essential features of Jesus's teaching and deeds. In this particular instance, Matthew probably felt he could best do this by including the storm stilling and Gesarene demoniac scenes in his composition of chapters 8 and 9, where he has gathered ten miracle stories. This presentation of Jesus's miracle working is then bracketed together with the Sermon of the Mount with the identical summary statements in 4:23 and 9:35. Thus we have a literary unit which beautifully and inerrantly sets forth the essential features of our Lord's ministry.
The Long-Proved Tradition
These two illustrations could be multiplied, and other kinds of problems could be discussed (like changes in Jesus's words from one Synoptic to another). But these may suffice at least for an introduction to my understanding of how the Synoptics are “without error”.
I thus gladly align myself with the long-proved tradition: perfectio respectu finis (perfection with respect to purpose). I know no better statement of my own position on this matter than that of the Second Baptist Confession of 1677: “The Holy Scripture is the only sufficient, certain and infallible rule of all saving knowledge, faith, and obedience. . .”
But I think just as important as agreeing with Article One in detail is my deep commitment to the spirit of it. From history, and from my own experience, I can say that it is almost impossible to exaggerate the importance of the Bible. We humans are incapable of finding out what we need so much to know: how to overcome sin, to escape the wrath of God, to become new creatures, to walk pleasing to the Lord. God must reveal this to us or we perish. This he has done, and continues to do, by means of a written Word, the Bible. When a man has understood the Bible, he has understood the revelation of God infallibly, inerrantly and verbally. | <urn:uuid:dd67ef82-717c-46d3-a42e-aa3cecffc5c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.desiringgod.org/resource-library/articles/how-are-the-synoptics-without-error?turn_off_admin_bar=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953879 | 1,133 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Web Chat Is Less More?Web chatting, as an option for customers to utilize for communicating with companies, is on the rise. According to the 2012 Fourth Annual BoldChat Live Chat Effectiveness report, one in five shoppers prefer online chat over any form of communication. In looking to be effective at properly communicating via this channel, one question requires consideration – Is Less More? Is it necessary to have long wordy conversations or are short, straight to the issue chats sufficient for the chat customer?
Studies have shown that most customers choose to experience an organization via their website because of ease, speed and convenience. Forrester Research has predicted that online retail sales will reach $250 billion by 2014. It seems quite natural that customers may want to communicate with your company while shopping online. What type of conversation is the chat customer anticipating? Is it necessary to chat in the same manner that one interacts over the phone? When web chatting with customers, it’s important to do so in short sentences. Get right to the point with your answers as long paragraphs are inappropriate when chatting. Chat agents should possess a high level of product/ service knowledge so that they can communicate in a quick, concise manner. They should be expert navigators of your organization’s website as this will allow for locating and retrieving the proper information for developing responses to customer requests.
Chat customers expect to be serviced quickly, efficiently and thoroughly. Establish chat guidelines for your chat agents. Provide “one touch” capabilities that allow your chat agents to ask repetitive questions and provide common answers with the touch of one key. An FAQ database and cheat sheets are invaluable tools for your chat agents. Avoid information overload when chatting with your customer. Provide only pertinent and relevant information. Stick to the issue at hand! Overwhelming your customer with wordy and lengthy responses may cause frustration, which can certainly create an unhappy customer. Just as it’s critical not to ramble when communicating with your customer via phone or face to face, it’s even more important not to ramble when web chatting your customer. Remember, this is the customer that seeks a quick and timely communication session! Be careful not to lose the personal touch with your customer. While “one touch” usage allows the agent to be efficient, balance that with utilizing the customer’s name during the chat or asking open-ended questions that allow your customer to fully express themselves should they choose to do so. If there is information that every chat customer is required to provide, proactively get them to do so by prompting them to have the information ready prior to their beginning the chat session. This helps your chat agent to be more efficient and possibly may assist in reducing the chat session length.
In the chat world, Less Is More in the quest to provide great chat customer service. The right communication method coupled with the right chat tools and combined with superior product/service knowledge can lead to your customer experiencing a great chat session with your organization!
More Business articles from Business 2 Community: | <urn:uuid:6cfc6502-fe07-4912-8f3f-e88f644b1360> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/chat-less-more-221007433.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918288 | 613 | 1.585938 | 2 |
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2 First Day (Open) The presentations were followed by discussion periods during which questions were posed and answered and ideas were exchanged among the participants. Summaries of these discussions sometimes do not follow their specific order of occurrence during the meeting, thus allowing like topics to be synthesized (e.g., discussions of entities engaged in antenna design activities). The first three presentations had one speaker each. The last topic was covered by two speakers. FUTURE OF ANTENNAS Lon Pringle, director of the Signature Technology Laboratory at Georgia Tech Research Institute, was the speaker. His key point was that the "future of antennas is now" and that several enabling technologies, most notably the increase in computational power, are combining to make the present an era of dramatic improvements in antenna performance." Signatures dominated 20 years ago, and then technology really started to accelerate. Apertures are solved, but the electronics are still maturing to enable utilization of the future capability of the antenna. Everyone likes low frequency, but big antennas are needed, in his view. Pringle reemphasized a major element of his key point as follows: the ability to predict the performance of antennas by calculation has taken over the prior slow process of building (by intuition) and testing. The fact that the United States can now model how an antenna is going to perform is really significant and a great breakthrough. Enabling technologies include electromagnetic modeling, speed of computation, and micro-electronics; he affirmed that these tools are enabling design and discovery. He further amplified the importance of computation by noting that the future of antenna design is in a person who understands electromagnetics and works with a computer to design a new antenna (i.e., person plus computer). In 5 to 8 years, fast commercial codes will give most radar houses this capability. His many other comments included that (1) a computer can tell what values of resistive sheets to place in cavities; (2) some connected arrays have coupling that works for them rather than against them; (3) challenges include getting rid of heat, packaging, wide-band electronics, and beam-formers; (4) optical switches can optimize performance (e.g., switch bands, steer antenna, use several beams or combine them into a more powerful one); and (5) there is a revolution in ground-plane structures-- hopefully, with these and active meta-materials, one can build an adaptable antenna, which actually reacts to the environment (e.g., a missile is also the antenna). Discussion After Presentation1 Q: What kind antennas for UAVs? A: Low gain. Small UAVs just can't carry a heavy dish antenna. Larger UAVs have dish antennas. Q: Will better materials come into play? A: Magnetic and meta-materials. But we must have area, which some say we can get along without--be skeptical. 1 Unless specifically stated otherwise, the speaker answered all questions. 3
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4 SUMMARY OF A WORKSHOP ON THE FUTURE OF ANTENNAS Q: How about advances in other countries or areas, such as Europe or China? A: If need is there, then the Chinese will go for it. Right now, they need to work on building the infrastructure (e.g., foundries) to support the technology. Regarding ultra-wideband phased arrays, ultra-thin low-frequency antennas, reconfigurable ground planes for low-frequency applications, and reconfigurable antennas, the Europeans are working in these areas. This information is also published, and so we can research where Europeans are going. Q: Are you seeing really interesting publications and new innovative concepts outside the United States? A (by James Armitage, attendee): When it comes to who is producing the most, then it is China. However, although quantity is high, quality is not there yet. At the same time, the Chinese are catching up and will eventually be at the same level as we are; many Chinese working in this field went to school in the United States. They are going home and applying in China what they learned here. Don't underestimate computing resources outside the United States. The Chinese are building foundries like crazy to feed the auto industry worldwide. It is all money driven and requires large investments. Q: What countries around the world are doing this type of work--China, India, Russia, Israel, France, Germany? A (by James Armitage and Gilman Louie): We need to watch where the money is going. We have been spending more money, by orders of magnitude, than other countries in developing these types of technologies. Now, when we are not spending as much, and other countries decide to make heavy investments, they will catch up quickly. Most of the professors in China received their PhDs in the United States. Now they are going back to China to teach the next generation of engineers. This also applies to other regions of the world (e.g., Europe and India). COMMERCIAL STATE OF THE ART OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS AND CONTROL Sebastian Rowson, chief scientist at Ethertronics, was the speaker. His privately held company manufactures million of antennas per week (e.g., for cell phones, laptops, medical devices). They have moved from simple designs and manufacturing challenges to active, reconfigurable antenna systems defined and optimized for commercial applications. "Active antenna systems technology applies to any wireless device. Mobile device data throughput increased (46 percent increase demonstrated in an access point)." Challenges are numbers of applications supported and very small volumes (e.g., 2 cubic centimeters with active antennas). Ideally, active and reconfigurable antennas can adjust automatically to changes in the environment enveloping the device (e.g., when a hand is on a phone). For the future, Rowson noted that a goal is to integrate everything inside the phone; the antenna is the link to outside signals. If switching from different base stations can be minimized by optimizing for only one base station, effort and resources can be freed up. Associated challenges involve development of new software to support the antenna. Again, the aim is to design everything together and have elements that adjust "on the fly" so as to achieve more capability with these systems. Discussion After Presentation2 Q: Where have you seen more gain in technology advances? A: Probably in filters. Already a lot of work has been done on power amplifiers, but there are still opportunities for improvement. Q: How transparent to the user is a change in modes? A: It is very fast; the user does not know it is happening. Q: Are any of these things dependent on materials? A: Mostly on design, but in some cases they are dependent on new semiconductor technology. Q: How about jamming? A: The hope is that the FCC is keeping others off these frequencies. We're not looking closely at jamming. 2 Unless specifically stated otherwise, the speaker answered all questions.
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FIRST DAY (OPEN) 5 Q: Are there safeguards to limit power coming from antennas? A: The only way to solve this issue is to reduce power. Q: What's next, most interesting? A: Innovative research and development is done at Ethertronics (e.g., switching) to anticipate what the market is going to look like. However, it is customer driven when it comes to producing new designs for antennas--approximately 200 new designs each year. Medical device drawers (metal) were challenging; each had to have six antennas. Q: Does Ethertronics have a single point of failure in its process, such as raw materials? A: Not that we can see. The belief is that nothing will really stump Ethertronics; it has such a wide variety of resources. Q: How about hiring the right engineers to work for Ethertronics; has that been difficult? A: Yes. Now the company hires graduate students and trains them, enabling new employees to fit well into the company environment. Grants help fund these training sessions. There is also recruiting from local colleges (e.g., San Diego State University). Q: How much does Ethertronics work with international companies? A. The company shows some current and advanced designs to companies in various countries. Technology shared with each country depends on the relationship and on the amount of cooperation that has occurred with that company. Samsung and Ethertronics have a good relationship based on design cooperation and past experience. General Discussion on Several Topics by Attendees Individual attendees and speakers then generally discussed several topics and questions. Some participants noted that the future is driven largely by fancier algorithms but that other frequency bands will be needed. NATICK (U.S. Army) is interested in battlefield monitoring. Commercial is going Blue- Tooth (for heart-rate, breathing, skin temperature monitoring). When it comes to physiological monitoring, some participants wanted ubiquity and ease of use. Some participants suggested a need to figure out how to move the data and store it effectively for easy analysis. Some challenges facing the industry: Should data all be on the same network or on different networks? Where should we leverage the infrastructure that exists? MILITARY STATE OF THE ART OF WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS AND CONTROL Robert Newgard, director of Advanced Radio Systems, Rockwell Collins, was the speaker. Rockwell Collins serves two markets--commercial and military. A publicly traded company, it is there for shareholder value; the commercial side is becoming an early adapter of new technologies. Newgard opened with military radio objectives (i.e., cost-effective capabilities, support for operational needs). More specifically, today's military requires multi-mode, multi-channel, upgradable, networked, remotely configurable, actionable information; broadband; low power, high performance; geo-location (for blue- and red-force tracking); and ultimately, any waveform, any time, any place. He also addressed software-defined radios, noting that any waveform can be loaded. Newgard also pointed out that an array of technical challenges exist for military systems: today's fielded radios use large radio frequency (RF) front ends and components that can accommodate the worst- case requirements ("corner" cases are difficult). Future designs need adaptable and reconfigurable RF front ends; flexible and dynamic RF performance; real-time optimization and performance; low observability; and the characteristic of being capabilities driven, not requirements driven. He explained how to do more with less. More capability with fewer assets (e.g., we have a lot of capability, but we cannot fix all issues by throwing more hardware at the problem). If one throws hardware or software at a problem, the solution could become too expensive (especially in the software realm).
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6 SUMMARY OF A WORKSHOP ON THE FUTURE OF ANTENNAS Discussion After Presentation3 Q: Is the point solution going to be cheaper and better than software-defined radio? A: Yes. Q: Does the manufacturer reconfigure, or does the operator do that? A: The radio does it by itself. Q: How much red force or outside threats do you factor into your research and development? A: Quite a bit; we try to vector threats into our production and technology and regularly consult with people in the field (engineers in the battle-space) for design. We also have cleared staff that can work on classified projects. Q: Is there an opportunity for photonics in the front end? A: Yes, small power. Q: What fraction of radios are software defined? A: Somewhere in the 25 percent range are software defined, and it is not growing fast. Q: How far behind Android and iPhone are the military? A: Not that far. Q: What is U.S. technology vulnerability in your field? A: The biggest concern is what the Department of Defense (DoD) is doing to develop requirements. DoD acquisition managers are developing requirements that may not be realistic. Instead of engineers, there are people who lack the technology expertise to develop proper requirements. They have business majors instead of engineers working on this, people who do not have the necessary expertise. People need intuition, knowledge, and experience to create effective requirements. Q: What percentage of Rockwell Collins engineers are foreign nationals? A: It has no foreign nationals; most of the engineers have projects that involve work requiring a clearance. Prompted by questions and exchanges among participants, Newgard made the following general comments: Our biggest concern going forward is the skill set, not the technology. It is more about having the engineers who are capable of doing what needs doing, and being passionate about it. Yes, Rockwell Collins is having problems hiring qualified candidates, and now tends to grow its own people (e.g., hire engineers while they are going through college, use internships, and then train them). Also, a large portion of the Rockwell Collins engineering design team is going to retire in the next decade. We need capable engineers who are "committed experts." Regarding the Federal Acquisition Regulatory (FAR) process, there are many problems that involve one hand not talking to another. F-22s don't talk well to legacy systems. The Navy builds systems that do not talk to the Army's. On top of that, the FAR process does not allow a lot of critical thinking to determine effective tradeoffs (make tough calls with limited resources). And when the requirement developers lack engineering experience, it creates a somewhat confusing environment that inhibits innovative thinking. FUTURE TRENDS IN ANTENNA DESIGN AND WIRELESS COMMUNICATIONS AND CONTROL Timothy Hancock, assistant group leader, Analog Device Technology, Lincoln Laboratory, MIT, was the first speaker. He was followed by Yahya Ramat-Samii, Northrop Grumman Chair in Electromagnetics at UCLA, who spoke by phone. Hancock reviewed trends in the use of antennas that enable improved communications, data transfer, soldier health monitoring, and methods of data collection. He briefly described techniques for overt and covert methods of standoff data collection (e.g., reduce transmitted power and energy per bit, mitigate or exploit in-band interference), noting that it would be good to get away from the concept of "that's my band, so don't use it." Turning to multiple-input, mutiple-output (MIMO) wireless systems, he introduced the approaches of spatial multiplexing, diversity coding, and pre-coding and then pointed out several advantages of MIMO (e.g., improved data transfer from or to a disadvantaged transmitter or receiver and mitigating interference). Challenges in implementing MIMO systems include the design of antennas, receivers, and transmitters; much computing power and math are involved. 3 Unless specifically stated otherwise, the speaker answered all questions.
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FIRST DAY (OPEN) 7 Rahmat-Samii (using nearly three dozen slides) described novel outside-of-the-box concepts for antennas--from tiny ingestibles to large space antennas. UCLA's antenna research, analysis, and measurement laboratory is organized in five fields: personal communications; medical RFID (RF identification); remote sensing; electromagnetic band gap (EBG), photonic band gap (PBG), nano, and MEMS (microelectromechanical systems); and analyzing, optimizing, and measuring. The laboratory (in cooperation with other institutions) is advancing miniature antenna concepts as well as large antenna concepts. One of his key points was that "we can optimize antennas for almost any need!" Rahmat-Samii highlighted the many conflicting challenges of miniaturization (e.g., low profile or low volume, with or without ground plane, single frequency or multifrequency, narrow or broad band, single or multiple elements, low or high cost). Approaches for miniaturization included low profiles using EGB, folding structures, incorporating switches, hybridization of the above, and stored energy utilization. He mentioned advances in RFID, including platform-tolerant tag designs, medicine-monitoring RFID systems, and medical diagnostics and sensing. He also covered advances in meta-materials, including double-negative materials, EBG structures, and artificial complex ground planes. Questions and General Discussion4 Q: For wearable textile antennas, where do you see this research going? A: Two fronts, embroidery machines and wearable designs (e.g., communications on clothing, such as for firemen). Q: In medical applications, are you looking at RFID tags embedded inside the body for medical scans? A: Designing these types of chips, which create the communication link, is a challenge. However, this area of study is emerging, and the UCLA team is examining this application. Q: International work? A: Europeans are doing interesting work (e.g., research on antennas and establishing a school of antenna engineering for worldwide Ph.D. students). The Far East (e.g., Singapore) is working in areas of miniaturization and multi-band design plus medical applications (biotelemetry). The Japanese are trying to reduce the cost of arrays and are also harvesting electromagnetic energy (e.g., charging cell phones from energy in the environment). Finally, China is doing research and producing various products. 4 Unless specifically stated otherwise, the speaker answered all questions. | <urn:uuid:28377576-4e7e-4f1b-9714-e7d396584353> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=13540&page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946256 | 3,675 | 2.6875 | 3 |
- I can’t write “U” anymore because it could be mistaken for any of the following: “0,” “4″ or “cc”
- I can’t write QD or QOD because the period after the Q might be mistaken for an “I” and the “O” might be mistaken for an “I”
- I can’t write “MS” for morphine sulfate because someone might confuse it for magnesium sulfate. Similarly, MSO4 and MgSO4 might be confused.
We’re soon going to be blessed with even more additions to the “Do Not Use List”:
- Don’t write “> or <” because they could be mistaken for the number “7″ or the letter “L”
- Don’t write “&” because it could be mistaken for the number “2″
- Don’t write “cc” because it could be mistaken for “U” (units) when poorly written. Instead we will have to write out the term “ml” instead.
There are other “safety measures” to keep us from hurting ourselves, but these are the ones that stick out most in my mind.
Now hold on a second while I get my soapbox.
Tap tap tap. Is this thing on?
There, that’s better.
The “U” for units might get confused with a number “0″
Maybe there could be some confusion.
Now let me ask the nurses a question: If you get an order for “500 reg insulin SQ,” are you going to
(a) question the order or
(b) fill up a 30 cc syringe (HA! I wrote “cc” instead of “ml” – cc cc cc cc cc) with regular insulin and inject a bolus the size of a kiwifruit under someone’s skin?
Would any medically trained person give “50 regular insulin” instead of “5 u regular insulin” to someone with a glucose of 250? I didn’t think so.
So this rule must have been written for people who have no knowledge of how to use insulin – just in case the housekeeping staff wants to get into the act and start treating hyperglycemia on the sly.
While I’m at it, will all of the communications from Medical Marijuana Advocates be required to go without the “cc” designation, too? What a waste of trees. Have to write a new letter to every addressee.
We can’t use MSO4 and MgSO4 because someone might not know that MSO4 is morphine and MgSO4 is magnesium
Would anyone question why a physician was giving a patient with a kidney stone 10 mg of Magnesium for pain? Considering that the dose of magnesium is usually 1000 mg, would it not set off a red flag in a normal person’s mind when you have to use a micropipette to get the proper dose of a medication and then administer three drops to medicate the patient?
And what better way to terminate an episode of torsades de pointes than 1 gram of morphine IV over 30 minutes? Just think, junkies from miles around would figure out ways to put themselves into cardiac arrhythmias just to get treated in your ED! I can see them now: Hey! Wait a minute, JACK! NOOOObody said nothing about no motherf%#$ing shocks!
The ampersand “&” might be mistaken for a “2″
First, I want to know who even writes ampersands any more. Then I want to see how someone can morph an ampersand into a number 2. Right after that, they can go to my bank and turn the $155 dollars in my checking account into a king’s ransom. Not happening.
“> or <” could be mistaken “7″ or “L” and “cc” could be mistaken for “U” (units) when poorly written
I understand how an order to give “10 cc insulin SQ if BGL 7 350″ would be confusing. I routinely dose insulin by “cc” instead of “units” and I frequently see blood glucose levels more than 7000 in my daily practice (the normal glucose level is between >0 and 110). I thought long and hard about this one, though, and have come to the conclusion that we should probably stop using the “ml” term also. Because if written poorly, “ml” might actually appear to be the number “11111″ which could accidentally increase the dosage of any medication by 11111-fold.
See? Instead, I propose that we use the symbol from the Artist Formerly Known as Prince:
Think of how many times we could avert the tragedy of some poor patient getting a 50011111 bolus of saline.
A period in Q.D or the letter “O” in QOD might be mistaken for an “I”
Good point. But because they are so confusing, we shouldn’t just stop at using “.” and “O” with Q.D. and QOD, we should stop using them altogether. By doing so, we would avoid confusing orders such as “STIP patient’s ciumadin NIW”
And this whole thing just gives me flashbacks about one time when I narrowly escaped ordering emergency dialysis for a patient whose potassium level looked like it was “315″ on the computer printout. Boy was I embarrassed. Oh, and I almost forgot the time I nearly intubated a patient whose pH appeared to be 7144. Phew!
Attention Medical Marijuana Advocates …
Here’s a patient safety measure for you:
If health care providers are so incapable of determining whether a dose of medication is 100 times more than it should be and are at such a loss of medical knowledge that they can’t remember whether to use morphine or magnesium for pain management, they either need to call the physician to clarify the order or they need to find another profession.
Maybe they could work for the Joint Commission. Betcha they’d fit right in.
Want to see one solution to the medical abbreviation problem? Check out this post on physician handwriting. | <urn:uuid:43c16eed-d507-48be-a3f2-975bd98465df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.epmonthly.com/whitecoat/2007/11/do-not-use-these-medical-abbreviations/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927374 | 1,380 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Fuel travels from the fuel tank to the powerplant with the help of a fuel pump. The pump needs to feature a powerful and regular flow to guarantee correct fuel transport for your Saab 900. A faulty pump can't be capable to move the needed volume of gas to the powerplant and this can result in reduction of engine force and decreased fuel efficiency. Your Saab 900 fuel pump needs to be replaced right away if it starts to decline in effectiveness or shows signs of defects to ensure your automobile's smooth operation.
Be sure you find the appropriate fuel pump for your Saab 900 model since it's a highly vital part in the all-round performance of your Saab 900. With its superb construction and sturdy materials, this first-rate pump will produce excellent fuel transport for your vehicle. This fuel pump is capable to survive the pressure of daily use because of its unparalleled engineering.
Buy only the best Saab 900 fuel pump for your vehicle here at Parts Train, where we sell merchandise from many of the top manufacturers in the industry such as OES Genuine, Python, and Bully Dog. For the best car products at very reasonable prices, do notdon't dare look somewhere else but Parts Train.
Use our Part Fit Checker to view parts compatible with your vehicle. | <urn:uuid:fea30c17-c1a9-46e0-9a3f-c57382535b06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.partstrain.com/ShopByDepartment/Fuel_Pump/SAAB/900 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93803 | 259 | 1.625 | 2 |
Questions to Ask About Treatment for Breast Cancer
It helps to learn all you can about your disease and treatment choices so that you can take an active part in decisions about your medical care. Discuss your choices with your doctors, nurses, and loved ones. Your doctor is the best person to answer your questions about treatment. Make sure you ask how the treatment and its side effects will change your daily life and how you will look and feel after treatment.
Before beginning treatment, you may want to ask your doctor if there are any clinical trials you should consider. New methods for treating cancer are tested in these trials.
At first, the information you get about treatment options may seem overwhelming. Many people find it helpful to make a list of their questions before seeing their doctor. To make it easier to remember what the doctor says, you may want to take notes or ask if you can record the conversation. It may also help to have a family member or friend with you to take part in the discussion, take notes, or just listen.
Use the list of questions below as a starting place and be sure to write down any others that come to mind: | <urn:uuid:71cd928e-d07e-4cfc-8e96-f9ee4e71359d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lcmh.com/Taxonomy/RelatedDocuments.aspx?id=184&ContentTypeId=34&ContentID=BBreT1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958633 | 231 | 2.21875 | 2 |
“Rainy days and Mondays always get me down!,” is a universal thought and feeling. So are the profoundly powerful feelings of unlovability, sadness, hurt, hopelessness and rejection experienced by those who are “alone” on Valentine’s Day.
I have counseled thousands of individuals over the past 30 years to master their potentially toxic emotions and urges. During this time, one reality has been a constant: If you make life choices when you, your best judgment, and your evaluative processes are clouded or totally dismantled by your emotions and urges, terrible life choices and significant or irreparable damage to your life, your loved ones, and your career may well be the direct results. So, on Valentine’s Day, it is imperative for you to master your potentially sabotaging emotions and urges.
Here are some tried and true tips for you to rid yourself of your Valentine’s Day blues, which are taken from The 7 Steps of Emotion Mastery that appear in my new book, “Your Killer Emotions: The 7 Steps to Mastering the Toxic Emotions, Urges, and Impulses That Sabotage You.”
1. One means for you to be happy on or around Valentine’s Day, is for you to keep a-top-of-mind all of the beautiful blessings in your life. This act of appreciation and gratitude can help you to stay cool and calm during any sadness or angst that you experience, so that you are better able to think clearly and strategically. Also, strive to stay positive and constructive during any blue Valentine’s Day moments and challenges.
2. Think about and visualize one or two fun, exciting, and/or fulfilling things that you’d like to do on Valentine’s Day. Then, carefully Choreograph or plan-out the steps that you need to take in order to make your vision a fun/wonderful reality. These acts can psychologically and emotionally jump-start and jettison you out of your Valentine’s Day doldrums.
3. Extend yourself to and/or give something to others who need it: the homeless; the poor; the ill; the elderly, etc. Give your Valentine’s Day and your life more meaning, and experience the empowering feelings of raising your self-esteem by doing things that you feel truly good about and make you proud. In this case, unconditional giving --- can give you a psyche-and soul-nourishing Valentine’s Day jump-start and lift. These endeavors can help you to diffuse or eradicate the negative emotions that have put you in a Valentine’s Day emotional funk.
4. DO NOT make a decision or act when you are overcome with Valentine’s Day toxic emotions! Always, stop, cool down, and, as they say, “take the pause that refreshes.” Additionally, DO NOT opt for an immediate, emotional quick fix, response, or retaliation. Oftentimes, we opt for these short-term satisfactions, but in the big picture of our lives, these unthinking, emotion-generated reactions are counter and highly detrimental to accomplishing what we truly want for ourselves in the long term (our Gold Ring Dreams).
5. You should avoid making important or potentially pivotal choices when you are tired, experiencing high levels of stress, or have had too much caffeine. Additionally, you never want to make important choices and/or act when you are under the influence of alcohol or clarity-impairing medicinal or recreational drugs. Your goal is to be cognitively clear and precise when making your choices. Therefore, you want to stay away from anything that can impair your cognitive processes.
6. ALWAYS strategically identify what you truly want in and from the Valentine’s Day choices you’re going to make and any action(s) that you will/may take. Know what you truly value the very most before you make your choices. This way, you will make well-thought-out choices that reflect and affect your most treasured values and goals.
7.Be “Consequence Cognizant.” This requires you to carefully think about and vividly visualize:
The most severe and heinous consequences that a poor/destructive emotionally-charged Valentine’s Day choice on your part can have on your life, your career, and those you love; and
The most positive, beneficial outcome(s) that you will secure because you took the requisite time to strategically choose the most constructive course of action.
Your takeaway here is that many of us will experience potentially toxic/debilitating emotions on Valentine’s Day. I use the word “potentially,” because these emotions are toxic to you, if they trigger destructive and/or self-sabotaging acts on your part. What you want to do in these instances is to not emotionally react in these situations, but to instead, strategically and constructively choose your actions. Channel the potential negative energies that you experience into positive endeavors---thereby using your emotions and their energy charges as your valuable allies. The sweet result may well be that you will have an enjoyable and positive Valentine’s Day, and preserve and enhance the things you hold most dear, as well as raise your self-esteem.
Ken Lindner graduated Magna Cum Laude from Harvard University, where his honor’s thesis was devoted to the science of decision-making. He later graduated from Cornell Law School, where he focused on conflict resolution. He currently owns and operates the country’s premiere news and hosting representation firm, Ken Lindner and Associates, Inc. | <urn:uuid:c3e96c49-8a3c-45b7-982f-d74c12b52f99> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alpharetta.patch.com/blog_posts/valentines-day-blues-keeping-control-of-your-emotions-and-your-acts-7ff49972 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937029 | 1,169 | 1.5 | 2 |
The New Theatre
When a little boy with attention deficit hyperactive disorder turns up in primary school teacher Dana’s class, he unleashes behavioural traits she long thought she’d conquered. After one too many inappropriate responses to the child’s jibes – force-feeding the lactose-intolerant mite milk, for example – Dana (an excellent Jacinta Sheerin, who co-wrote the play with Georgina McKevitt) is ordered to see a kind but incompetent therapist (a hilarious Clare Barrett).
Dana herself had attention deficit disorder as a child but really that’s only the tip of the iceberg because, over the course of a therapy session, the two reveal themselves – through song, flashbacks and drama therapy-style puppet play – to be suffering from a whole gamut of mental health problems.
For a play dealing with the complexities surrounding mental health diagnoses and treatments, the ending is tied up a little too neatly but these two exceptionally talented performers make each moment a treat. Flitting easily from the quietly poignant to the sublimely comic, they examine how we can push each other towards doubt and fear and madness, simply by pressing the right buttons. | <urn:uuid:5a588125-13b3-4652-ad8e-fc8de3f9f9e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.irishtimes.com/blogs/festival-hub/2012/09/19/review-im-not-a-d-h-d-im-b-o-l-d/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912642 | 246 | 1.554688 | 2 |
|Starting your own Drum Circle|
The following is one in an ongoing series of columns entitled Drumming for Wellness by Christine Stevens MSW, MT-BC.View all columns in series
Top Ten Tips for a Successful Drum Circle Event:
Top Ten Tips for Facilitating your own Drum Circle:
- Have participants remove their rings before playing hand drums. This protects their rings AND the drums.
- If you use chairs - make sure they don't have arm rests to best facilitate drumming.
- Identify "Welcomers" and "Greeters" who help people choose drums and get seated.
- Have Remo drums and percussion instruments beautifully displayed to allow people to discover the instrument that best fits their unique personality
- Be clear about the purpose and intention of the drum circle…what it is and what it isn't. Drum Circles are not a cure, but rather a tool that gets defined by the individual experience.
- Start with a strong beat that isn't too fast to follow. Often a low bass drum goes a long way to hold down the rhythm.
- Try having people add into a groove one at a time. The rhythm will naturally build and it allows people the opportunity to really listen to each other.
- Acknowledge the Ancestors and Cultures that have been practicing group drumming for centuries.
- End the circle with a "one-word symphony." Have each person stand up and say one word about their experience in the drum circle. Let the group find their own rhythm of speaking their word. Conclude with everyone standing.
- Ask them if they want to come back and do it again!
There are some great things you can do to prepare to facilitate a drum circle.
- Discover your own rhythm first. - From playing along with a recording to building up your confidence in expressing yourself musically, you can do a lot to demonstrate your love of music and inspire the circle. Don't be self-conscious and don't expect to "teach" anyone anything. Remember, its about helping people discover the rhythm that's already within them!
- Get the gear you need. - Outfit your group in good equipment. World percussion instruments by Remo are the perfect drum circle tools because they are light-weight, hold their pitch, and sound GREAT. It's important to have many different timbres:
- Bass (djembes, buffalo drums)
- Middle (bongos, smaller djembes)
- High (shakers)
- Nature sounds (thunder tube, and ocean drum)
- Invite people to bring their own drums and percussion, emphasizing what type of instruments you want there. Don't be afraid of found sounds or melodic pitched instruments like flutes or xylophones. Everything is really a percussion instrument.
- Create the space. - The drum circle actually begins long before anyone arrives. It is your job to set up the circle in your own personal way. Make it welcoming. Pay attention to your surroundings and make sure there's water available and ample space for a spontaneous dancer in the center. (To really encourage dancing - have a few shawls available!)
- Be prepared to stop the group. - In any new sport, we always learn how to stop before we go. If you were new at roller-blading, you would want to know how to stop before the harrowing task of skating down a mountain.
Using your voice to cue a stop over a group of drummers can be futile. Even the loudest, "1-2-3-4- STOP" can't be heard over a group of drummers. So, try cueing the group without using words. Your body becomes the conducting instrument. Experiment with this exercise.
***Stand in a quiet, comfortable posture. At the count of three, move quickly into a pose that demonstrates "stop." Come back to neutral and try it again, making each one bigger and clearer as your experiment and find your own personal way to signal a group to stop.
- Use dynamics. - In music, there is an ebb and flow of volume changes called "dynamics." By raising and lowering your hands, you can successfully cue the group to play louder or softer.
- Make people LAUGH! - Sometimes people are nervous about making music. They actually believed all those bad messages that, "they weren't musical," or that "they didn't have rhythm." To help people overcome these lies, find ways to help them laugh at themselves.
- Encourage "Heads-Up" drumming. - It's easy to get more into your own beat than noticing the group around you. Encourage people to steal rhythmic ideas from one-another, to learn from the exchange of rhythms within the circle. This creates more synchronicity and more connection.
- Try not leading at all. - A lot of time, there is no need for a facilitator. A group can often successfully jam together without a conductor. This is the ultimate. Don't try to do more than what the group needs you to do.
- Be yourself - Incorporate your unique gifts in the drum circle. From tap-dancing, playing a saxophone, singing, and dancing, bring all of your personality into your experience.
© Remo, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
Used by permission from HealthRHYTHMS, Remo, Inc.
About The Author
is an international speaker, music therapist, and author. A modern-day troubadour, she introduces people all over the world to the power of musical expression. As Director of Music Therapy and Wellness Programs at Remo, Inc., Christine developed HealthRHYTHMS, currently being taught to health-care professionals in the United......more | <urn:uuid:2f537906-7d58-4614-8a6d-765994880c6e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthy.net/scr/Column.aspx?Id=816 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947878 | 1,197 | 2.03125 | 2 |
ISBN 9781101205471 | 512 pages | 30 Aug 2005 | Berkley | 18 - AND UP
Summary of Polar Shift Summary of Polar Shift Reviews for Polar Shift An Excerpt from Polar Shift
Polar shift: It is the name for a phenomenon that may have occurred many times in the past. At the very least, it disorients birds and animals and damages electrical equipment. At its worst, it causes massive eruptions, earthquakes, and climatic changes. At its very worst, it would mean the obliteration of all living matter, and if that happens-exit Earth.
Sixty years ago, an eccentric Hungarian genius discovered how to artificially trigger such a shift, but then his work was lost, or so it was thought. Now, the charismatic leader of an anti-globalization group plans to use the work to give the world's industrialized nations a small jolt, then reverse the shift back again. The only problem is, it cannot be reversed. Once the shift starts, there is nothing anyone can do about it.
Austin, Zavala, and the rest of the NUMA Special Assignments Team certainly have faced dire situations before, but never have they encountered anything like this. This time . . . even they may be too late.
To keep up-to-date, input your email address, and we will contact you on publication
Please alert me via email when: | <urn:uuid:7741c1ed-cf55-478c-8801-99d320d9ece7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9781101205471,00.html?Polar_Shift_Clive_Cussler | 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 | 0.927968 | 290 | 1.914063 | 2 |
WebReports / ToonTalk
Weblabs runs a WebReports plone site which has developed some game type programs using ToonTalk for creating new ways of representing and expressing mathematical and scientific knowledge. They have developed reports on representing infinity, sequences, collisions, lunar lander and randomness.
ToonTalk is a programming language which tries to represent abstract concepts visually. I played with it years ago and chatted to Ken Kahn on the logo list about it then. It's very interesting and original. One reason I didn't go ahead and use it at school was because of the difficulty of developing worksheets for such a visual program.
An example of the ToonTalk enhancements they added was a way of displaying repeating decimals such as 1/3. The team needed to find a notation for the repeating portion of the number, and a way of avoiding truncation of the decimal expansion portion. “We invented the idea of shrinking digits,” says Noss. “Digits are displayed in gradually decreasing size until they reach the size of a pixel. In this way, the idea that an infinite number of digits follow the decimal point is conveyed visually.”
- from this report
Related blog: marc-prensky | <urn:uuid:1a49776e-edcf-4343-b085-0f31c929790b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://billkerr.blogspot.com/2005/10/webreports-toontalk.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948024 | 257 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Published in Women's Health Law Weekly, March 1st, 2009
"With the development of the so-called 'ovarian reserve tests', it was hoped that it would be possible to assess each woman's ovarian biological age and screen for 'early ovarian ageing' in the general population. This review examines the progress that has been made in this area. Recent findings Almost the entire literature on ovarian reserve tests refers to women having IVF, rather than women in the general...
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NewsRx also is available at LexisNexis, Gale, ProQuest, Factiva, Dialog, Thomson Reuters, NewsEdge, and Dow Jones. | <urn:uuid:5ac94f6f-5b3c-488c-896d-bfa6f1e34fed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsrx.com/newsletters/Womens-Health-Law-Weekly/2009-03-01/4803012009540WH.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951616 | 165 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The USGS Water Science School
This picture shows a common sight seen during fair-weather days where there are mountain and ridges in the landscape. Maybe you've wondered why big, puffy clouds seem to like to hang out near mountain ridges and above mountain peaks. The mountains are not putting out more humid air than other areas, but the process of condensation is taking place because of the mountains. In the United States, since weather moves generally west to east, this is more easily seen when moving air from the west hits higher terrain and is pushed up by the landscape as the air travels eastward.
Although you don't see the water vapor in the clear air approaching and moving upward and above the mountain ridge, vapor is present and the potential for clouds are present, too. As the air is pushed up by the landscape, the higher-altitude air is cooler than the moving air, so condensation occurs and clouds form. Often this is responsible for rain on the windward sides of mountain ranges, such as the Sierras in California, and much drier air on the leeward side of the mountains, as in Nevada.
Back to The water cycle: Precipitation | Condensation | Atmosphere
Credit: Bureau of Land Management | <urn:uuid:1bdc40df-d288-4b71-820b-72b8690b836a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ga.water.usgs.gov/edu/gallery/condensation-clouds.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960555 | 256 | 4.40625 | 4 |
Do you ever get the vague creeping feeling that you are the only one in the world who has any semblance of civility and/or common sense? There is just “crazy” all around us; society is doing its best to deconstruct and/or destroy the family, our own country has aborted over 50 million innocent babies, the government is moving toward making abortion and birth-control a mandatory part of health care using, you guessed it, your tax dollars, having a baby out of wedlock is regarded as no more serious than going out for ice cream and Supreme Court justices call the President a liar to his face in as public setting! Yikes! Surely the world has gone stark raving mad and there are only a few sane people left.
I know other people who have the same feeling and most of us agree that, in the world, we are a tiny minority. So, maybe that’s true and we are a small slice of the society at large while most members of our society think what we have going on is the ultimate in “personal freedom” and see no reason to change. That might qualify us to be members of a small but significant group. If you sew or know anything about textiles or fabric you might have heard this term: “remnant”. In the textile world when you have a one of a kind piece of material left over it is called “a remnant”. The remnant is often a piece that cannot be duplicated and was once part of a larger, more abundant sample. As society and culture continue to spin out of control and I stand back with some of my other faithful friends saying; this is not right or this is too crazy, I feel like we are that tiny sample, the left- overs who do not resemble the others.
So the question then becomes: “Is this concept of being set apart from the mainstream a good thing or a bad thing?” One need only to look at Jesus in order to make a decision on this question. In his time on earth Jesus was definitely out of the mainstream. He said and did things that “polite society” would never think of doing, such as speaking to women and dining with the tax collector. Jesus centered his ministry in all of the places of society where people knew that they needed him. Father Raniero Cantalamessa, the current preacher to the Papal house hold tells us this; “The difficulty for us arises from thinking of the categories of merit and virtue [value to society] when the category of faith should be used instead. God is not induced to act on behalf of the poor because of their merits or their moral dispositions but because of their greater readiness to believe. God does not value what the poor have but what they do not have: self-sufficiency, a closed attitude, as presumption of being able to save themselves.” (As quoted in Magnificat, Vol.13, No.7, September 2011, p.97) So then, to view one’s self as a person who is not “in sync” with the society’s norms is most likely not a bad thing in the spiritual way of looking at things.
Scripture even has a commentary about the group that is left behind and does not embrace the values that they see all around them: “But I will leave as a remnant in your midst a people humble and lowly who shall take refuge in the name of the Lord.” (Zeph 3:12) After the destruction of the first temple “the remnant” was the group who kept the flame burning. These were the ones who were left over, they knew that they had to acknowledge the Lord and maintain the goodness of a devotion to Him even if no one else did. This was during the time when it was all falling apart and the Israelites had no clue about how their faith would continue without a place to sacrifice and worship. So a “remnant” is not necessarily a bad thing. We are meant to be the contradiction to society that makes people stop and think. It does not matter that we are not the majority. So if you are a believer what is your impact on the people and situations around you?
We are all members of “The Remnant”. We are the people who clearly understand the new attitude and new values that our society is forming are pressing toward eliminating the Lord from the public square. We clearly understand what a danger that is and what that can create for the future. We are the ones who frequently hear: “You just don’t GET it.” We are set apart, left over from another time and way of thinking. That is not necessarily a bad thing. If you know that you are one of “those” people who just do not think the same way that those around you do, you have one thing to do……..rejoice! You have a job just like the group identified in the Zephaniah reading. Take your responsibility seriously. Take refuge in the Lord. Step up your prayer time for the world and our culture. Become an active voice for the Lord when people tell you how rotten it all is and how the world is falling apart. Adverse times have a way of changing our focus. “God draws some men to him by means of joy and others by means of sorrow.” (Fr. John Tauler, O.P. † 1361 Mystical Theologian) As a member of The Remnant, give your wisdom freely to anyone who needs it and stand firm in your beliefs as a witness that the current thinking in the world isn’t really a solution for the sadness we see all around us. Not unlike the Remnant of the Israelites we are a small but mighty group!
Copyright © 2011, Kathryn M. Cunningham, All Rights Reserved
See more of Kathryn’s work at www.atravelersview.org
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Contact: Jonathan Goldman at 415-509-1654 or Sandra Jackson at 916-801-4776.
David A. Sanchez, president of the 340,000-member California Teachers Association, issued this statement tonight on what the election of Senator Barack Obama as president will mean for bringing positive change to our public schools and students:
"This historic election of Barack Obama as president of the United States is a victory for all of our public school students as well. He has the vision and compassion to lead real change across this great nation. Change in our healthcare, in our classrooms, and in our future. Senator Obama's vision of change in America includes investing more in our schools -- which is an investment in a brighter future for our country. He believes, as all educators do, that real change only comes with real resources. That's a message we also hope will inspire the California Legislature as it copes this month with yet another state budget deficit crisis.
"We look forward to working with Senator Obama to erase, rewrite and reauthorize the federal No Child Left Behind law to transform its one-size-fits-all punitive approach to education into one that supports and respects all students. He understands that this severely underfunded federal mandate drains many of our school districts of scarce state funds as they cope with its unfair focus on testing and bureaucracy. Teachers in California and across the country look forward to working closely with his administration to provide a quality education for all students.
"Senator Obama's vision will help more students reach their full potential. His commitment to education will renew the joy of teaching and learning in our schools. His compassion reminds me of another community organizer who made history, Cesar Chavez, and of what Cesar would say over and over when there was work to do in our communities. 'Sí se puede!' he would say. 'It can be done!'" | <urn:uuid:ded117cc-708c-47e5-9a36-bf9ef6671fec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cta.org/en/About-CTA/News-Room/Press-Releases/2008/11/20081104-1.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960144 | 382 | 1.515625 | 2 |
More than 30,000 light years from Earth lying at the core of our home galaxy, the Milky Way, are weird clumps of warm, dense gas that may represent seeds that will grow into monster black holes one day, according to a new study.
A team of Japanese astronomers announced this bizarre finding this week using powerful radio telescopes. Their observations show that three of these masses are growing in size, thanks to supernovae explosions estimated to have occurred 60,000 years ago. What is even stranger is that the team calculated the power of that ancient eruption as being equivalent to 200 individual supernovae going off simultaneously! Since no single star could cause such an epic blast, researchers believe that a massive star cluster – equivalent to 100,000 times the mass of the sun – lies hidden behind the veil of one of these masses and is the source of the power.
While backyard astronomers don’t have the technology to see these exotic objects, they can find its general location in the night sky. Face the south sky on any late summer night and look toward the horizon for the constellation Sagittarius. look for a bright asterism – or star pattern – in the shape of a giant teapot – that marks the main section of the constellation. This also marks the general direction of the centre of the Milky Way – 30 thousand light years away!
Read more about this discovery here
Tags: Black holes, Sagittarius
Posted in Constellations, Stargazing, stars | Comments Off | <urn:uuid:cb65859e-4379-43a2-a625-ed4a40e63735> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenightskyguy.com/?p=3472 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919943 | 303 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Welcome to our collection of collectible authors. Designed to help collectors browse famous writers on a book-by-book basis, these pages profile a series of major names and lists their books. Collectible copies, including first editions, rare editions and signed copies are made easy to find, as well as those all important early books that often have limited print runs. You will find books that made literary history alongside tomes fading into obscurity. From the adventures of Jules Verne to the Gonzo journalism of Hunter S. Thompson, immerse yourself in the works of these collectible authors.
More Collectible Authors
(1931 - )
Toni Morrison is an American author and professor. She was born Chloe Wofford in 1931 in Ohio, the second child in a black, working class family, and began reading avidly young, favoring authors like Jane Austen and Leo Tolstoy...
(1903 - 1950)
Born Eric Arthur Blair, George Orwell occupies a special place in 20th century literature for his dystopian, satirical contributions to literature and language. When searching for a pseudonym...
(1828 - 1905)
It’s almost impossible to know where to start. Jules Verne wrote so many books and there were thousands of translations on top of his French language editions. You could drop $45,000 on...
(1897 - 1962)
William Faulkner was born William Cuthbert Falkner in 1897 in Mississippi and remained true to the old south all his life, always returning to Mississippi after stints and travels around the world. During...
(1922 - 2007)
Kurt Vonnegut was one of the best loved American authors of his generation, even having an asteroid named after him. The author's most celebrated novels are...
(1932 - 1963)
Sylvia Plath was an American poet and author. Born in 1932 in Massachusetts, she did very well in school, achieving top marks and winning awards. She was sensitive and studious even...
(1908 - 1964)
Fleming. Ian Fleming. Doesn't have quite the same ring to it as the more famous Bond. James Bond. Nevertheless, the creator of the charming rogue spy was English author and journalist...
(1920 - )
When you ask a stranger about Ray Bradbury, Fahrenheit 451 will be the first thing to pass their lips nine times out of 10. Themes from Bradbury's dystopian book-burning novel are as relevant today...
(1924 - 1984)
Some people are just born to be writers. Truman Capote was born in New Orleans to a salesman and a 16-year-old beauty pageant queen. He could read when he was five, and would often...
(1935 - 2001)
Kenneth Elton Kesey was an American author born in 1935, in Colorado, to dairy farming parents. His family moved to Oregon when he was 11, and Kesey spent his adolescence and early adulthood there. His keen...
(1955 - )
The literary reputation of Colm Tóibín, born in Ireland’s County Wexford in 1955, just keeps growing and growing. He worked as a journalist in the 1980s and became...
Robert Louis Stevenson
(1850 - 1894)
Robert Louis Stevenson (1850-1894) was a Scottish writer of tremendous skill. He was unparalleled as a storyteller, masterfully crafting exotic tales of adventure impossible to put down...
(1937 - 2005)
Canadian-born Saul Bellow was one of the most influential writers of the 20th century. He was born Solomon Bello in Quebec, in 1915, to Russian immigrant parents, and raised...
(1892 - 1973)
Few authors have accomplished the creation of a fictional world so effectively as J.R.R. Tolkien with his Middle-earth books. Comprising The Lord of the Rings trilogy (The Fellowship...
Other features of interest: | <urn:uuid:11f1ce21-cc64-44c5-8356-c161aec9adb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abebooks.com/books/famous-writers-legendary-iconic-classic/collectible-authors.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960184 | 818 | 1.914063 | 2 |
The 2011 Nobel Prize in Physics, the most prestigious award given in the physics field, was announced on October 4. The winners are astronomers and astrophysicists who produced the first clear evidence of an accelerating universe. Not only is our universe as a whole expanding rapidly, it is in fact speeding up! It is not often that astronomers win the Nobel Prize since there is not a separate award for their discipline. The discovery of the acceleration in the universe’s expansion was made more or less simultaneously by two competing teams of astronomers at the end of the 20th century, in 1998, so the leaders of both teams share this Nobel Prize.
The new Nobel laureates, Drs. Saul Perlmutter, Adam Riess, and Brian Schmidt, were the leaders of the two teams studying distant supernovae, in remote galaxies, as cosmological indicators. Cosmology is the study of the properties of the universe on the largest scales of space and time. Supernovae are exploding stars at the ends of their lives. They only occur about once each fifty to one hundred years or so in a given galaxy, thus one must study a very large number of galaxies in an automated fashion to find a sufficient number to be useful. The two teams introduced new automated search techniques to find enough supernovae and achieve their results.
During a supernova explosion, driven by rapid nuclear fusion of heavy elements, the supernova can temporarily become as bright as the entire galaxy in which it resides. The astrophysicists studied a particular type of supernova known as Type Ia. These are due to white dwarf stellar remnants exceeding a critical mass. Typically these white dwarfs would be found in binary stellar systems with another, more normal, star as a companion. If a white dwarf grabs enough material from the companion via gravitational tidal effects, that matter can “push it over the edge” and cause it to go supernova. Since all occurrences of this type of supernova event have the same mass for the exploding star (about 1.4 times the Sun’s mass), the resultant supernova has a consistent brightness or luminosity from one event to the next.
This makes them very useful as so-called standard candles. We know the absolute brightness, which we can calibrate for this class of supernova, and thus we can calculate the distance (called the luminosity distance) by comparing the observed brightness to the absolute. An alternative measure of the distance can be obtained by measuring the redshift of the companion galaxy. The redshift is due to the overall expansion of the universe, and thus the light from galaxies when it reaches us is stretched out to longer, or “redder” wavelengths. The amount of the shift provides what we call the redshift distance.
Comparing these two different distance techniques provides a cosmological test of the overall properties of the universe: the expansion rate, the shape or topology, and whether the expansion is slowing down, as was expected, or not. The big surprise is that the expansion from the original Big Bang has stopped slowing down due to gravity and has instead been accelerating in recent years! The Nobel winners did not expect such a result, thought they had made errors in their analyses and checked and rechecked. The acceleration did not go away. And when they compared the results between the two teams, they realized they had confirmed each others’ profound discovery of the reality of a dark energy driven acceleration.
The acceleration result is now well founded since it can be seen in the high spatial resolution measurements of the cosmic microwave background radiation as well. This is the radiation left over from the Big Bang event associated with the origin of our universe.
The acceleration is now increasingly important, dominating during the past 5 billion years of the 14 billion year history of the universe. Coincidentally, this is about how long our Earth and Sun have been in existence. The acceleration has to overcome the self-gravitational attraction of all the matter of the universe upon itself, and is believed to be due to a nonzero energy field known as dark energy that pervades all of space. As the universe expands to create more volume, more dark energy is also created! Empty space is not empty, due to the underlying quantum physics realities. The details, and why dark energy has the observed strength, are not yet understood.
Amazingly, Einstein had added a cosmological constant term, which acts as a dark energy, to his equations of General Relativity even before the Big Bang itself was discovered. But he later dropped the term and called it his worst blunder, after the expansion of the universe was first demonstrated by Edwin Hubble over 80 years ago. It turns out Einstein was in fact right; his simple term explains the observed data and the Perlmutter, Riess, and Schmidt measurements indicate that ¾ of the mass-energy content of the universe is found in dark energy, with only ¼ in matter.
Our universe is slated to expand in an exponential fashion for trillions of years and more, unless some other physics that we don’t yet understand kicks in. This is rather like the ever-increasing pace of modern technology and modern life and the continuing inflation of prices.
We honor the achievements of Drs. Perlmutter, Riess, and Schmidt and of their research teams in increasing our understanding of our universe and its underlying physics. Interestingly, only a few weeks ago, a very important supernova in the nearby M101 galaxy was discovered, and it is also a Type 1a. Because it is so close, only 25 million light years away, it is yielding a lot of high quality data. Perhaps this celestial fireworks display was a harbinger of their Nobel Prize?
http://www.nobelprize.org/mediaplayer/index.php?id=1633 (Telephone interview with Adam Reiss)
http://supernova.lbl.gov/ (Supernova Cosmology Project) | <urn:uuid:c9103246-9d50-43e7-abd0-3cf290dd8386> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://darkmatterdarkenergy.com/2011/10/05/2011-nobel-prize-for-dark-energy-discovery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953265 | 1,216 | 3.78125 | 4 |
This flag was given to my grandfather Millard Fillmore Green during WWII. He had four sons serving in the military and all of them served overseas, in combat.
"Son's in Service" or service flags were given to families who had members in the military.
The military directive for them reads: "C10.3.4.1.1.1. The number of blue stars shall correspond to the number of Service members from the "immediate family" who are symbolized on the flag."
Sec. 901. - Service flag
Individuals Entitled To Display Service Flag. - A service flag approved by the Secretary of Defense may be displayed in a window of the place of residence of individuals who are members of the immediate family of an individual serving in the Armed Forces of the United States during any period of war or hostilities in which the Armed Forces of the United States are engaged.
He should have received another one with a gold star after his son Bryant was killed in 1943 but he never did.
The directive says the flag was only to be displayed during a period of war. My grandfather never took his down. This one was on his living room wall the day he died in 1973. I'm not sure if he considered himself still at war. He was never a big fan of some of the social and legal changes that happened in the South of 1950s and 60s so maybe he was. | <urn:uuid:951907e7-1af3-4bb4-b617-3cc93e970b10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://southerngreens.blogspot.com/2008/11/four-stars.html?showComment=1227995220000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987401 | 289 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Answering questions about performance is almost becoming a catechism: “How can I make my database faster?” Use a caching server. “Which queries should I cache?” All of them. A lot of people stop there. They implement a cache in their application using some kind of in-memory hash table and call it a day. There’s more to it than that, of course. Not all caching solutions are cut from the same cloth.
Back to Basics: Memcached
Memcached is a big hash table: it’s a key/value store that lives entirely in RAM. Memcached has a few basic commands that correspond to the basic CRUD commands in any database but in memcached CRUD works by finding data based on a specific primary key – you can’t search through RAM. Like many key/value stores, memcached doesn’t have any ability to query based on the data that is stored in the value portion of the key/value pair.
What’s more, the memcached server has no native support for high availability features – it is just a cache. If the cache server goes down, it goes down. Losing a cache server might not sound terrible, but if your application depends on a fast cache for performance then losing a cache server can cause a critical performance problem.
What’s the solution to high availability with memcached? There isn’t an out of the box solution for high availability with memcached. Different drivers can use [consistent hashing][ch] to spread data across multiple memcached servers and there are libraries that support memcached replication between data centers, but none of these features are baked right in to the product. Ultimately it’s up to you to implement this yourself.
The upside of memcached is that it has been in development since 2003, it speaks a well known protocol, and many developers have run into it before. Amazon’s ElastiCache even speaks the memcached protocol; if you move into the cloud, there’s already something waiting for you. The memcached documentation also includes suggestions on ways to cache SQL queries, so your developers will have a leg up on when they start examining caching. There are also plugins for many languages, frameworks, and products – there’s a lot of support for memcached out there.
The Middle Ground: Flexible Tools
No matter which software stack your development team is using, there is going to be at least one caching solution that they can pick up and run with. Not all caching tools are as simple as memcached, others are more feature filled; Microsoft have created AppFabric Cache and developers in the Java world can use Ehcache. These two packages have the concept of availability baked into their core – both Ehcache and AppFabric Cache can cluster right out of the box. There are multiple advantages with this approach: high availability isn’t a bolt-on that depends on a third party library and management becomes much easier.
Since we mainly talk about SQL Server around this place, I’m going to keep talking about AppFabric Cache from here.
Although AppFabric Cache has only been around for a short period of time, it is being used in a number of places. Caching services are available in Azure, there’s an ASP.NET session state provider, and I’ve personally used AppFabric Cache to supply fast paging in large reports.One of the primary advantages of using AppFabric Cache is that it’s very easy for Windows admins to configure and administer – everything is handled using similar tools that administrators are already familiar with.
Like memcached, AppFabric Cache supplies a simple set of APIs to read, write, or delete data. The simplicity of AppFabric Cache makes it a logical choice for developers working with SQL Server and the Microsoft stack. On top of its simplicity, AppFabric Cache adds two features to make developers’ jobs easier. The first feature is cache expiration. Instead of relying on the cache to expire data when it is no longer used, developers can specify a time to live when saving a value to cache. As data is read, the expiration can be refreshed, but if data isn’t read for a long time, it will be marked as expired and will no longer be able to be read. The second feature is high availability – developers can save some values in multiple places at once, ensuring that data will survive the failure of a cache server.
On a feature by feature level, AppFabric Cache provides features that meet the needs of almost every application. It still has one downside – there’s no way to query data in an ad hoc fashion. Every data access is key/value. It’s possible to use different pools in the cache, but those are only separations in a logical sense. If you need to retrieve a range of data, your only option is to build inverted indexes: key/value pairs where the key is the index key (e.g. the state of Oregon) and the value is a list of indexes values (e.g. all zip codes in Oregon).
Fast and Furious: An In Memory Database
In memory databases have several advantages over pure caches. A cache is a simple key/value database and the value is nothing more than a collection of bytes. Databases, however, offer increased functionality – range scans, sorting, strongly typed data, and a host of rich commands.
Redis is a fast in-memory database. At first glance, you might think that Redis is a lot like a a cache – it looks in many ways like a simple in memory key-value store. However, Redis hides a lot of additional power: sorted sets, lists, queues, and replication are all supported features. By combining these features, it becomes possible to use Redis as something more than a cache – it becomes the primary database for fast querying. It’s easy to store user session properties in a hash, a user’s last 50 viewed pages in a list, and any number of objects as simple strings.
Once you start working with an in memory database like Redis, it’s important to start thinking of creative ways to use your database; Redis can be used as far more than a glorified key-value database. Developers are using Redis for realtime metrics, analytics, and Redis has even been called the AK–47 of databases because it’s simple, powerful, and reliable.
No matter how you choose to cache, make sure that you start caching in your applications as soon as you can. Yes, it does add extra work for developers to implement caching. But tis’ not as much work as many people would like to think. Careful and judicious use of caching will have immediate benefits for application performance – database CPU, memory, and I/O requirements will decrease and application response times will improve. | <urn:uuid:91c5857b-b44e-4310-b600-f2a41efe0a21> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brentozar.com/archive/2012/05/picking-your-cache/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92709 | 1,458 | 2.109375 | 2 |
News and Information
Treason trial: History weighs in
|August 25, 2004
| WERNER MENGES
THE indictment on which the 120 Caprivi high treason accused are on trial in the High Court at Grootfontein is weighty in many respects.
Not only does it contain 278 charges against the accused, and stretch over 133 pages to list these charges and a summary of the uncommonly serious allegations against the suspects, making it probably the most extensive charge sheet yet seen in a criminal case before a Namibian court, but it is a document heavy with history and alleged political intrigue.
The history and politics provide both an introduction and a closing chapter to the indictment, with the context of the case being set out primarily in the first count - a count of high treason - and in the summary of facts that bookend the indictment in its last pages.
In between are listed charges that by themselves would ordinarily already account for an exceptionally grave case.
These include nine counts of murder, three charges of armed robbery, a charge of illegal importation, supply or possession of an arsenal of weapons that included 27 AK47 rifles and four RPG7 launchers, and 240 charges of attempted murder.
But it is from the first count and in the summary of facts at the end of the charge sheet that the historical context and political connotations emerge.
The history is taken all the way back to Swapo's armed struggle against South Africa's occupation of Namibia.
In 1964, the summary relates, Mishake Muyongo decided that the Caprivi African National Union (Canu) would join Swapo in its liberation struggle and would fight with Swapo for its cause.
Muyongo became a vice president of Swapo but, at a later stage, left to join the DTA, which became the main opposition party after Independence in 1990, when Swapo was elected as the country's ruling party.
Then came the alleged secessionist conspiracy - which, according to allegations set out in the high treason count, took place from January 1992 to December 2002.
The summary states:"(A)pproximately 1998 Mr Mishake Muyongo and some of his followers seemed to become discontented with the 'status quo'.
They began holding meetings in the Caprivi Region where a breakaway from the DTA was propagated as well as the idea of separating the Caprivi Region that was an integral part of Namibia, from the rest of Namibia by violent means."
People in the Caprivi were encouraged to flee to Botswana as part of this plan, it is alleged.
They were also encouraged to join the military wing of Muyongo's movement, the Caprivi Liberation Army (CLA), which had been created by the central committee of the United Democratic Party - the DTA member party of which Muyongo was the leader, the indictment states.
After Victor Falali, a "rebel" who had decided to leave Muyongo's "army", was killed by other adherents to the separatist idea near Linyanti in October 1998, the remainder of the "army", numbering 92, left Namibia to cross into Botswana, according to the charge sheet.
There most of them were kept at the Dukwe refugee camp, from where some were repatriated to Namibia and others escaped to go to "rebel bases" in Namibia, Zambia and Angola with the intent to establish an army to overthrow the Namibian Government in the Caprivi Region.
"Various rebel bases were established for the purpose of establishing and training the army and its members included inter alia some of the accused before Court," states the indictment.
Then came the surprise attacks that blew the cover on the alleged secessionist plot, and severely dented Namibia's post-Independence image as a peaceful democracy.
"On the 1st August 1999, the rebels who included some of the accused before Court who were to attack the Namibian Government in the Caprivi Region, came together at Makanga rebel base," the charge sheet reads.
Makanga is a village some 70 kilometres southwest of Katima Mulilo.
Situated just south of the Katima Mulilo-Kongola main road, it is alleged to have been a hotbed of secessionist activity - and also to have been the site of a public meeting where Muyongo told his audience in the early days of September 1998 that he was leaving Parliament to focus on seceding the Caprivi Region.
"These rebels were divided in groups which had to attack certain targets in the Caprivi Region," says the charge sheet.
"The rebels were transported by various motor vehicles to the various points of attack, namely Mpacha (army) base, Katounyana Special Field Force base just outside Katima Mulilo, Katima Mulilo Police Station, Wenela Border Post, the Katima Mulilo town centre, the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation in Katima Mulilo and the house of Sgt.
Liswani Patrick Mabuku."
These targets were attacked with a variety of weapons on the morning of August 2 1999, the indictment states.
The attackers killed eight people, and wounded several.
Afterwards, they gathered at rebel bases at Kaliyangile, a little over 10 km northeast of Makanga, and Masokotwane, almost 40 km south of Katima Mulilo, with the aim of regrouping militarily and remobilising the CLA to take over the authority of the State in the Caprivi Region, it is charged.
The attacks were carried out by the accused charged in the high treason case and by other persons, numbering "more than 150 or thereabouts", according to the indictment.
At this stage, there are 120 people - among them alleged "rebel" attackers and "supporters" alike - before the court.
The charge sheet sets out not only actions alleged to have been aimed at achieving the secession of the Caprivi Region by military means.
Inaction, too, is claimed to have been criminal, whereafter "the proposed coup d'etat or conspiracy" came to someone's knowledge the person failed to report it to the authorities or Police without further taking part in it, it is charged.
Of the 120 on trial, 107 pleaded not guilty on March 15 this year.
On Monday, the Judge noted down pleas of not guilty on behalf of the remaining 13, who have refused to plead to the charges in a court whose jurisdiction over them they do not acknowledge.
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Fill out the form below to become a member of this site and receive our regular newsletter. | <urn:uuid:5dbbbd36-f1c3-4686-9770-d683b0458d4a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.caprivifreedom.com/news.i?cmd=view&nid=93 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973224 | 1,380 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Library offers computer classes
Just like an automobile, your computer needs to be on a maintenance schedule. Although new computers automatically update themselves, there are other things that computer users need to know.
Area residents are invited to join the staff at the Milaca Community Library for a 90-minute class to learn about malware, software updates, anti-virus protection and more. We won’t, however, be taking the computer apart. This will be an informational class on computer maintenance basics.
This workshop is presented by East Central Regional Library as part of our Digital Immigrants II series teaching individuals new technology skills. One class will be held at each of ECRL’s 14 branch libraries with some locations having more than one class. Limited seating is available and pre-registration is required! Make sure you contact your local ECRL branch to register and for more information.
The classes are made possible with a LSTA grant from the Institute of Library and Museum Services administered by the Minnesota Department of Education.
Pre-register for either class by calling 320-983-3677 or stopping by the library. The dates for the classes are:
-Thursday, April 12 – 5 p.m. at the Milaca Community Library. Pre-register by Friday, April 6.
-Wednesday, May 9 – 10:30 a.m. at the Milaca Community Library. Pre-register by Thursday, May 3. | <urn:uuid:f397fb2d-612f-486d-9d32-e3695d60961c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://millelacscountytimes.com/2012/03/22/library-offers-computer-classes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937459 | 293 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Palestinians outraged over Abbas bowing to Israel, US
The Palestinian Authority's decision to postpone a vote on the Goldstone report last week is the last straw for many, sparking protests in the West Bank and Gaza.
Ramallah, West Bank
Demonstrators descended Monday on this city's most famous traffic circle, Manara Square, which for years was a launching point of Palestinian protests against the Israeli occupation.Skip to next paragraph
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This time, however, the demonstrators were directing their ire against Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. Local leaders bellowed into the flag-waving crowd, accusing Mr. Abbas of capitulating to US and Israeli pressure. While frustration has been building for several weeks, the catalyst was the PA's decision late last week to delay a vote on the Goldstone report, the most comprehensive international investigation to date of Israeli conduct in the devastating Gaza war.
"This report was an opportunity to expose Israel's behavior," says protestor Omar Mansour, who traveled from Jenin to participate. "This postponement is embarrassing not just for Palestinians, but for everyone in the world who tried to help us attain justice. Even worse, the PA leadership put itself in this position at a time when there are no negotiations to save."
While the demonstration was small – several hundred men and women participated – Abbas faces a serious threat to his credibility and to his ability to enforce public compliance with any promises Palestinian negotiators make in renewed talks with Israel. Mr. Abbas's decision to ask the Palestinian Authority to delay a United Nations Human Rights Council vote on the recommendations of the Goldstone report has sparked widespread anger in the West Bank and Gaza.
"The extent of outrage over this is really tremendous," says Mamdouh Aker, the Commissioner-General of the Palestinian Independent Commission for Human Rights.
The anger appears to extend beyond the Palestinian territories. A day after criticizing the Palestinian Authority for backing down against Israel, Syria canceled an Abbas visit scheduled for Tuesday, reported the Associated Press in Damascus.
Abbas faces censure
The UN investigation, led by South African Judge Richard Goldstone, produced a 575-page document that says there is sufficient evidence that both the Israeli army and Hamas committed war crimes. But the report reserves the bulk of its criticism for Israel.
The UN Human Rights Council was set to approve the report's recommendations – which included asking the UN Security Council to refer war crimes cases to the International Criminal Court if either side failed to launch investigations into their alleged crimes within six months.
Israel has gone on a diplomatic offensive since the report's release in mid-September, challenging its credibility and saying it is full of bias and inaccuracies. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declared last week that if the report were to be adopted and forwarded to the UN Security Council, the Israeli-Palestinian peace process would be plunged into a deep freeze.
Under pressure from both Jerusalem and Washington to give the peace process top priority, Abbas asked the Palestinian leadership at UN headquarters in Geneva to postpone a vote until the council next meets in March. Without Palestinian participation, other Arab and Muslim nations didn't press the matter further. | <urn:uuid:d5fb771c-b205-4013-a374-35507e4d72d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Middle-East/2009/1005/p06s16-wome.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956053 | 638 | 1.585938 | 2 |