text stringlengths 213 24.6k | id stringlengths 47 47 | dump stringclasses 1 value | url stringlengths 14 499 | file_path stringlengths 138 138 | language stringclasses 1 value | language_score float64 0.9 1 | token_count int64 51 4.1k | score float64 1.5 5.06 | int_score int64 2 5 |
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OTTAWA – Bank of Canada governor Mark Carney says he believes the Canada is moving toward a more sustainable economy that is less dependent on borrowing and more on investment and export sales.
The central banker says in an interview on CTV’s Question Period that while it was essential for him and governments to stimulate borrowing and spending during the global economic crisis, that phase has run its course.
He says the economy now needs to move toward business investment and export growth for future growth, and he believes Canada will do so.
The comments come after the governor and Finance Minister Jim Flaherty took part in a meeting of the world’s biggest economies in Moscow, where officials pledged not to manipulate their currencies to boost exports.
In a closing news conference on Saturday, Flaherty said the G20 economies had made progress toward balancing fiscal discipline and economic growth, but that risks remain.
As part of the rebalancing in Canada, Carney says he believes Canadian borrowing habits are moderating, and that is reflected in the ongoing correction in the housing market.
Carney says he believes the housing market will continue to cool over the next couple of years as Canadians continue to temper their appetite for debt. | <urn:uuid:a52fffa2-903e-4aaf-a214-703ed8828a5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.macleans.ca/2013/02/17/canadian-economy-moving-toward-a-better-mix-of-growth-bocs-carney/ | 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 | 0.964214 | 243 | 1.765625 | 2 |
One of the better known short-line railroads, the Ligonier
Valley Rail Road connected Ligonier Valley with the rest of the world via the
Pennsylvania RR at Latrobe, Pennsylvania. It also connected the rest of the
world with Pennsylvania's Mountain Playground, Ligonier Valley in general and
Idlewild Park in particular. Originally only ten miles long, the line was
extended six miles at the turn of the 20th century to service the coal fields
north of Ligonier.
The Railroad began operation in 1877 and during the course of
it's 75 years of operation it carried 9 million passengers and hauled 32 milion
tons of freight.
The last run occured on August 31, 1952.
The photo on the left is the original Darlington Station in
1934. The photo on the right is the Darlington Station (Ligonier Valley Rail
Road Museum) today. The restoration of the Station began in the Fall of 2006
and was completed March 2009. It opened it as the Ligonier Valley Rail Road
Museum on May 21st. 2010
On the left is our 1905 Bobber Caboose passing historic Fort
Ligonier on its way to the Darlington Station. The caboose was moved from
temporary storage in Laughlintown to the Darlington Station on Saturday
February 16, 2008. The tracks were installed a few weeks before and Ligonier
Construction Company, of Laughlintown, transported the caboose and set it up on
the tracks. We are looking for volunteers to help us restore the caboose. To
read about the caboose project, please click on the Bobber Caboose link on the | <urn:uuid:afb3294b-3ff4-43d6-9cd7-fb5b440ce473> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lvrra.org/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931613 | 361 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Biomedical engineers at UC Davis have developed a plug-in interface for the microfluidic chips that will form the basis of the next generation of compact medical devices. They hope that the “fit to flow” interface will become as ubiquitous as the USB interface for computer peripherals.
UC Davis filed a provisional patent on the invention Nov. 1. A paper describing the devices was published online Nov. 25 by the journal Lab on a Chip.
“We think there is a huge need for an interface to bridge microfluidics to electronic devices,” said Tingrui Pan, assistant professor of biomedical engineering at UC Davis. Pan and graduate student Arnold Chen – invented the chip and co-authored the paper.
Microfluidic devices use channels as small as a few micrometers across, cut into a plastic membrane, to carry out biological or chemical tests on a miniature scale. They could be used, for example, in compact devices used for medical diagnosis, food safety or environmental monitoring.
Cell phones with increasingly sophisticated cameras could be turned into microscopes that could read such tests in the field.
But it is difficult to connect these chips to electronic devices that can read the results of a test and store, display or transmit it.
Pan thinks that the fit-to-flow connectors can be integrated with a standard peripheral component interconnect (PCI) device commonly used in consumer electronics, while an embedded micropump will provide on-demand, self-propelled microfluidic operations. With this standard connection scheme, chips that carry out different tests could be plugged into the same device — such as a cell phone, PDA or laptop — to read the results.
The work was supported by a National Science Foundation CAREER award to Pan, and a fellowship to Chen from UC Davis. | <urn:uuid:efe7d912-6b2a-4792-a8b3-f2e7f3078108> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scienceblog.com/40594/a-usb-for-medical-diagnosis/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93597 | 373 | 2.96875 | 3 |
The University Department of Rural Health (UDRH) is a research-focused academic unit that supports students gain clinical experience and encourages health care practitioners to live and work in rural Tasmania.
The Faculty of Health Science has a long and well deserved reputation, both within Australia and internationally, for excellence in teaching and research. Each of the Schools pursues innovated teaching techniques and where possible incorporates inter-professional education. The extensive research which is undertaken by academic staff is often undertaken in collaboration with the Menzies Research Institute and Wicking Dementia Research and Education Centre.
The Faculty incorporates five academic schools: Human Life Sciences; Medicine; Nursing and Midwifery; Pharmacy and Psychology . Also included in the Faculty are the University Department of Rural Health and the Rural Clinical School, which provides a hub for academic rural health in the State.
The inaugural Tasmanian Health Science HDR Student Conference will be held on July 1st 2013 in the Medical Sciences Precinct.
Degree information sessions touring the mainland
Authorised by the Dean, Health Science
14 May, 2013 | <urn:uuid:cd1613ce-53c5-465b-9208-a4c341c3441f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthsci.utas.edu.au/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941868 | 219 | 1.6875 | 2 |
By Sarah Mukherjee
Environment correspondent, BBC News
Other stunning views are found below the sea, say conservationists
The Marine Bill is set to become law.
According to the government, it will be the first legislation of its kind in the world, creating a network of protected zones around our coastal waters.
There will also be, for the first time, a continuous path around the coast of England.
I travelled to Studland Bay, in Dorset, to look at one place that could be affected by the legislation.
The sea is tinted silver grey with the first smudges of lilac appearing over the horizon. Seagulls keen overhead.
The white cliffs and sandy beaches of Studland attract thousands of visitors every year for relaxation and recreation.
But conservationists say some of the most precious and stunning views are hidden under the sea.
For these coastal waters are some of the few in the country that are home to breeding seahorses. They use the sea grasses for their nurseries.
But there is no guarantee these little creatures will get protection under the new law.
It will be two years before a decision is made on which areas, and how many of them, will form the marine conservation zones. Some campaigners say this could allow the government to do the smallest amount possible to protect England's waters.
So can this legislation make a difference?
"It's got to," says Melissa Moore from the Marine Conservation Society.
"We have an amazingly diverse coastal environment - not just seahorses but mussel beds, rocky areas - and they all need protection."
Risk to industry?
Other conservationists are concerned at the lack of detail in the bill.
"The government's often taken the path of least resistance on conservation measures," said one.
"Will they really tell the fishermen that there might be 30% of waters they can no longer fish in?"
For their part, the fishermen say, the new law could extinguish an industry that's already in decline in many parts of the country.
Alan Lander, from the Swanage Fishermens' Association, is unconvinced about the conservation arguments.
"My family have been fishing here for 200 years", he says.
"If we had not conserved the stocks, we wouldn't have anything left to catch. I wish people would talk to the fishermen more."
Alan himself fished for crab and lobster for 50 years, and his son and grandson have taken over. He says he doesn't miss it; the red tape is now overwhelming.
The coastal access path is not without its controversies. While walkers' groups say it will finally make some of the loveliest views in England accessible, some landowners are worried the law will not protect them adequately. | <urn:uuid:057c03d9-0759-4acb-a2eb-2c597c0f4996> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/8355116.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961296 | 571 | 2.75 | 3 |
Every time we’ve seen Habronattus americanus, we’ve seen both males and females in the same location. Wayne Maddison, University of British Columbia, confirmed the female identification from my photos. (See Maddison Jumping Spider Courtship.)
Photos 1 and 2 show a female photographed at Blue Mountain, about 6,000 feet. In photo 1, she has prey. Note that while the female’s eyes look slightly oval, that’s because of a dark “eye shadow” under her eyes, which is common to some jumping spiders. Also note that these photos are slightly yellower because of a color cast in a sun diffuser I used.
The female in photo 5 has a heleomyzid fly. (Thanks to bugguide and Dr. Matthias Buck for identification of the fly.) | <urn:uuid:8149d6b1-62d4-42b1-87fd-ef9332780a7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://onh.eugraph.com/spiders/habroam/hamfem/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910955 | 177 | 2.046875 | 2 |
FEMALE miners working in Central Queensland's vast resource sector can now benefit from the industry's first dedicated virtual mentoring program.
And Emma Woolward couldn't be happier about it.
Launched yesterday by The Australian Women in Resources Alliance (AWRA), the AWRA e-mentoring program is connecting experienced mining, oil and gas professionals with women in the earlier stages of their careers.
This innovative online portal is delivered by resource industry employer group AMMA with support from the Australian Government under the National Resource Sector Workforce Strategy.
Emma, who runs Yeppoon-based mining service company Skilled Fabrications, said the program was exactly what was needed to get more women into the industry.
She said now was a good time to let people know the industry still offered a bright future for women.
AMMA director of group services Tara Diamond said the first round of e-mentoring partnerships had commenced, with both men and women mentors providing guidance to women seeking to further their resources careers.
"The AWRA e-Mentoring Program is a key part of AWRA's wider strategy to increase the participation of women in resource jobs from the current 15.2% to 25% by 2020," Ms Diamond said.
"The remote locations and non-traditional work schedules typical of Australia's diverse resource industry often make it difficult for career-driven women to connect with experienced industry mentors.
"The program now delivers this mentoring opportunity through a structured, supportive online portal." | <urn:uuid:1b9059d8-9cd3-46f0-92d5-d4428def0695> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sunshinecoastdaily.com.au/news/female-miners-link-up-to-boost-sector/1763973/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955686 | 304 | 1.507813 | 2 |
JERRY McBRIDE/Durango Herald
Julie James Ott figures she’s half way to eliminating genetically modified organisms from the scratch she feeds 450 layer hens at the family ranch in the north Animas Valley.
“I’ve eliminated soy and substituted sunflower seeds to give them protein, fiber and oil,” Ott said recently in the barnyard as she spread scratch, a seed mixture, for throngs of red star, black star and Americana hens. “My winter project is to find a way to eliminate corn feed, which also is GMO.”
She also feeds her hens spent barley from Ska Brewing Co. and cabbage leaves and lettuce cores from Zia Taqueria.
Ott is among the growing opposition to GMOs, most recently highlighted by the narrow defeat in California of Proposition 37, which would have required labeling of raw or processed food made from plants or animals with certain genetic changes.
Proponents of GMOs say genetic engineering has been proved scientifically safe. GMOs, they say, can improve desired traits in plants and animals, produce larger yields and increase resistance to disease and unfavorable climate. The technology also can lead to better human and animal health, they say.
Opponents say genetic modification, around since the 1990s, has not been tested thoroughly and goes into products unlabeled. Genetic alteration can cause reproductive aberrations in animals, adversely affect human health and can contaminate non-GMO crops through insects, wind or pollen, they say.
No one apparently can say for sure how many GMOs are found in Southwest Colorado.
Darrin Parmenter, director of the Colorado State University Extension office in Durango, said as far as he knows, there is no GMO corn or alfalfa grown in La Plata County.
Ronnie Posey, director of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farm Service Agency in Durango, seconds Parmenter.
“I’m not aware of GMO crops in the county,” Posey said.
Richard Parry of Fox Fire Farms, who raises cattle and sheep organically for big-auction sales, doesn’t use GMO feed. But he estimated that 99 percent of corn feed probably is GMO and 90 percent of soy protein feed is GMO.
Basin Coop feed department manager Don Dukart carries organic chicken scratch and organic soy feed that he buys from out of the area. But he also mixes his own organic hen scratch.
“I can’t guarantee that the corn in the scratch that I prepare is organic,” Dukart said. “I buy corn from several sources.”
Foes of GMOs are speaking out.
“I don’t want my money to support GMOs because they manipulate what nature intended,” Ott said. “GMOs produce a monoculture that destroys our top soil.”
The public must have the choice of whether to buy products with GMOs, said Ott, whose egg cartons prominently announce they are soy-free.
Laurie Hall, who has 80 acres near Cortez, 40 of them in non-GMO alfalfa and hay, raises organic vegetables to serve at her Farm Bistro restaurant in Cortez.
“GMOs are risky,” Hall said. “We just don’t know all the ramifications because they can cross-pollinate.
“If organic produce is contaminated, it can’t be certified as organic,” Hall said. “The Food and Drug Administration doesn’t say that GMOs are harmful, but doctors are finding through research that GMOs can cause health problems.”
Julie Meadows, a Durango real estate broker, is coordinating an effort to fight GMO use in Colorado. She has created a Facebook page for GMO Free Colorado and is setting up a website.
Prop 37 on the Nov. 6 ballot in California to require labeling of GMO food sold to the public was defeated 53 percent to 47 percent under a barrage of radio, print and television ads.
Supporters of GMOs – the biggest names in the food industry – outspent proponents of Prop 37 $45.6 million to $8.7 million to defeat it. Monsanto alone spent $8.1 million.
The names of opponents can be found on packaging in most supermarket aisles. Among them: Pepisco, Bayer, Kraft, Coca-Cola, General Mills, Kellogg, Del Monte, Hershey, Heinz, Hormel, Sara Lee, Dole and Campbell’s.
A federal court in November, citing violation of environmental laws, ordered the U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service to stop planting genetically engineered crops, under cooperative farming agreements, in national wildlife refuges in its 10-state Southeast Division.
In a related matter, Mother Jones magazine reported this month that the Department of Justice dropped without even a news release its antitrust probe into possible anti-competitive practices in the seed market, dominated by Monsanto, DuPont and Dow. | <urn:uuid:94dd7876-50f3-43ba-84cd-8d854ce5027f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.durangoherald.com/article/20121212/NEWS01/121219851/0/rss/GMO-foes-want-you-to-say-%E2%80%98no%E2%80%99- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942996 | 1,053 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Students at Monroe’s St. Mary Catholic Central High School will be subjected to random drug tests beginning in the fall in what officials say is a deterrent to substance abuse and not a punishment program.
Beginning in the 2012-13 school year, all students, faculty, staff and coaches associated with the school will be subject to random testing. Students who test positive will not be expelled immediately.
“It’s not a zero tolerance policy,” said SMCC President Sean Jorgensen. “It’s about prevention.”
The idea, Mr. Jorgensen said, is to give students another opportunity to say no this summer because they understand they might be tested. He said the program’s creation is not in reaction to an increase of drug use by students.
“Do we have a big problem at St. Mary Catholic Central? We don’t think so,” he said. “But our teenagers are just like teenagers everywhere else. Maybe it’s the ‘out’ they need.”
Some students believe the program is an invasion of privacy, said 16-year-old Vinnie Gupta, a junior who will be student council president next year. However, she said she’s already heard many students say they’ll be careful this summer because of the possibility of being tested.
“They’re saying they’re going to have a clean summer,” she said. “I think that’s kind of the point.”
Vinnie said she’s fine with the new policy and although she doesn’t believe there is a big problem with substance abuse, her school is not immune.
“I’m not worried about it,” she said. “But I think it will help.”
Officials worked on the new policy for about a year before making the decision to begin a drug testing program. SMCC will partner with Psychemedics Corp. and Mercy Memorial Hospital’s Corporate Connection.
Those who are randomly selected will have a hair sample taken from as close to the scalp as possible. The sample will be about 60 strands of hair, or about the size of the plastic tip on shoelaces, Mr. Jorgensen said. He called the size of the required sample “cosmetically insignificant.”
If a student tests positive, a licensed medical review officer will contact the family to determine if the student is legally taking prescription medication. The hospital and the school will work confidentially with families to determine if there will be any need for follow-up assessment, treatment or counseling.
Mr. Jorgensen said students could face discipline involving their extracurricular activities.
“The idea is to get help for the student, but testing positive will mean restricted privileges,” he said. “It doesn’t mean there aren’t consequences for their actions.”
SMCC Principal Jenny Biler said the school considers alcohol, drug and tobacco use by teens a serious social problem and welcomes the drug-testing program as a deterrent.
“We recognize the challenges that adolescents face in today’s society with regard to alcohol and drugs,” she said. “The consequences of teenage drug use impact the school and can interfere with learning and the fullest possible development of each student.”
Following Warren De LaSalle and Lansing Catholic, SMCC now becomes the third Catholic high school in Michigan to adopt a drug testing program. Schools with such programs reported that only 1 percent of tested subjects return a positive result for drugs, Mr. Jorgensen said.
John Skibski, an SMCC parent whose youngest will be a sophomore next year, said he supports the program and how it will be implemented.
“It’s being handled very professionally,” Mr. Skibski said. “I can’t think of a way it can be better. It would be nice if they tested everybody.”
He added that he has faith in his children, but as a parent he can only protect them so much.
“I think it gives kids one more excuse to turn down the pressure of opportunity,” Mr. Skibski said. “I trust my kids. But you never know what your kids are always doing.”
WE WANT YOUR OPINION!
Take our poll here | <urn:uuid:4e6a0e28-71ed-4090-b754-0d3f2f614e71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.monroenews.com/news/2012/may/30/smcc-give-random-drug-testing/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951145 | 926 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Detail of A View of Sant' Agnese Fuori le Mura, 1650-55, by Claude Lorrain (Sterling and Francine Clark Art Institute)
Special Installation: Claude Lorrain—New Acquisitions
January 19, 2008 - April 20, 2008
See for the first time a magnificent group of sixteen drawings by the great French landscape artist Claude Lorrain, acquired by the Clark in 2007. Dating from 1630 through the 1680s, these works represent the range of Claude's draftsmanship—chronologically, thematically, and technically. Several of the drawings are nature studies, including identifiable sites such as Rome and Tivoli. Others are generalized landscape views and studio drawings with imaginary or historical subjects. | <urn:uuid:5b54720e-f5f6-40cb-9330-f1397fd83004> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clarkart.edu/museum/exhibitions-past-detail.cfm?EID=63 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921233 | 150 | 1.8125 | 2 |
How can I use Paypal in India ? Here is how you can withdrawing money from paypal and send money using paypal in India.
PayPal is a service to send money online as well as get paid. PayPal account uses your email address as the primary identification. You can receive money from anyone using your email id. Simply give your email id( example firstname.lastname@example.org) to anyone who want to send money, within minutes money will be in email@example.com paypal’s account. Also, you can send money to just about anyone-all you need to their email address. Paypal is best service related international transaction including India.
PayPal is an online financial middleman that facilitates the transfer of money between people and businesses ( also between people to people)
Uses of Paypal – Examples
- Use PayPal to buy things online, shop on eBay
- Receive money from your friends
- Pay online retailers who will accept Paypal for payment (this way you are not exposing your Credit or Debit card number to the online website)
- Send a payment request to a customer for the service
- Receive charity donations from anyone in the world
- Collect money for a group gift or an event
For example you are website developer in India and you have finished a work for a US client, just give your paypal account email-id ( you should have a paypal account with this email) to the client and ask him to send money to your paypal account. That’s it, money will be in your account when your login.
Send and Receive Money using Paypal
You can receive money as soon as your paypal account is created, but to send money or to buy products online, you’ll fund your account. To fund your account you can link your bank account or credit card to your PayPal account.
You can transfer the funds in your paypal account to your bank account, request a check, or send the funds to someone else.
PayPal Account Types
Paypal Supported currencies
PayPal supports payments in 24 currencies, your payment will be automatically converted into native currency. So you can accept or make payments in a different currency. The currency is converted to Indian rupees as per existing rates. Paypal provides verification through bank account, and also provided for transaction in INR.
Visit official website at www.paypal.com | <urn:uuid:d282ecfb-a9dd-4bc0-a2f7-d2ba22f0320b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sendingmoneytoindia.com/using-paypal-in-india/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934395 | 508 | 2 | 2 |
This is in two parts: Part one is on compression, Part two is about
a Unicode string compare function that I am looking for. (So don't
be too fast with that delete key. :)
Most compression algorithms use a buffer to check for reacurring patterns.
Since text from a code page of unicode will typically have the same
initial byte for every character you have effectivly 1/2 the number of
characters in your buffer as you would if it were just ASCII for example.
So, to compress material to (approxamently) the same size, you will need to
double your buffer size. If you are using a hashtable, tree, or other such
lookup device in your compression algorithm, you shouln't need to change
the size as they are indexing to the same number of characters as before.
(You might need to switch your char's to shorts however in your buffer.)
The other option is to use runlength encoding to represent the code page
of unicode which is being used. (Which would encode effectivly every other
byte) You could take the output of this and the remaining bytes and run
it through some sort of general compression algorithm. (Such as one of
the LZ varients.) If you have any questions, please feel free to e-mail
I am looking for some sort of string / character compare function which
will work with unicode. I realize that some of the sort orders for some
of the various character sets get kind of weird. It would be nice if
there were a compare function available. So, if you have one that you
would be willing to share, I would love to hear from you.
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Tue Jul 10 2001 - 17:20:30 EDT | <urn:uuid:07a0743f-f846-403b-bc21-84f3c2b436eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/Archives-Old/UML001/0019.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947108 | 384 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Just read a very interesting article in the New Yorker about Dr. Kataria and the laughter yoga movement.
Depending on how you look at it, there is now belief in or evidence on the healing power of laughter. Not only that it can lift your spirits, but alleviate pain, exercise your internal organs, boost your immune system, and help you sleep; it may even alter the progress of cancer, Alzheimer’s, Parkinsons.
What’s really shocking to me is a study cited, performed by Robert Ader in 1975 at the University of Rochester. The purpose of his experiment was to see if rats could be conditioned to associate nausea with saccharin. The drug administered along with saccharin caused nausea. When the rats started to die, Ader stopped administering the drug alongside the sweetener; the rats still died. It was discovered that not only did the rats learn to associate saccharine with the drug, a drug which was discovered to suppress the immune system, but the rat’s memory of this immune suppression continued whenever they tasted the sweetener. “In other words, their minds were killing them.”
This led to the realization that positive physical, mental, and emotional “feelings” have the power to rehabilitate the body’s chemistry.
You can watch the video of Dr. Kataria and some of his laugh-yoga sessions here.
To contribute, I just spent half an hour trying to find the clip from the first 5 minutes of a West Wing episode which discusses a sex-education report and a regrettable use of the term “sticky wicket.” No luck. Please post if you can find it. THAT will make you laugh. | <urn:uuid:d8d24ff6-4104-43a8-bd1e-127c25568610> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ahmjustsayin.wordpress.com/tag/laughter-yoga/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961957 | 356 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Miso (Michael) Vogel
Born: 1923, Jacovce, Czechoslovakia
Describes the brutality of SS guards towards new arrivals at Auschwitz [Interview: 1989]
His full name was Hans Lipski. He's a Latvian, Latvian national. He was an SS guard in Auschwitz. He worked the railroad sidings where transports came. He was a murderer. He was a killer. To him, I...I remember, not only him but people like him, when transports came...transports came...we would sometime unload the children, and take them off the train, off the cattle car. I remember one of the boys holding a little child, a little baby, and he takes out his pistol and shoots the baby in the...in the prisoner's hand. There was another one, Unterscharfuehrer [Sergeant] Otto. There was a Graf, and there was another one whose name was Hans. Hans would whistle...uh...uh...operas, and at the same time would murder these poor people coming off the train. Just right on the tracks. Right on the railroad siding. This guy would sing and...and murder. I...I seen him once kick a kid like a soccer ball, when the kid was crying. Kicked it from his mother's arm. And Hans Lipski was a guard. He was not an officer, he was just a guard. A murderer, like most of them were. And most of these people, when they guarded...those who guarded the...the...the tracks and railroad siding, would be drinking before they got there so that they were fortified, so they could do...do...do this job better. That was their ration, it was this booze. And, and I remember they...they all had flasks with whiskey in it and they would just drink enough to...so they could be practically immune to anything that was going on.
Miso's family lived in Topol'cany. The Hlinka Guard (Slovak fascists) took over the town in 1939. In 1942, Miso was deported to the Slovak-run Novaky camp. Later in the year, he was deported to Auschwitz. He was forced to labor in the Buna works and then in the Birkenau "Kanada" detachment, unloading incoming trains. As the Allies advanced in late 1944, prisoners were transferred to camps in Germany. Miso escaped during a death march from Landsberg and was liberated by U.S. forces.
US Holocaust Memorial Museum - Collections | <urn:uuid:13a0e07a-c38a-4a48-9f87-f605bd3442b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ushmm.org/wlc/en/media_oi.php?ModuleId=10005474&MediaId=2402 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987209 | 533 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Consumer Debt Liabilty
Some of the most unsettling threats presented by creditors and bill collectors include, "We are taking legal action" or "We are going to garnish your wages." These phrases bring to mind thoughts of legal hassles and added costs; however, the threat, in some instances, is less serious than it may seem, for a number of reasons.
First, As a debt recovery option, taking legal action can be expensive and time consuming for the creditor's in-house legal department, or its third party legal associates. As a rule of thumb, if you owe more than two thousand dollars, it increases the likelihood the creditor will take legal action, and if you owe less than two thousand dollars, it decreases the likelihood the credit will take legal action. Also, a creditor or bill collector may be motivated to take legal action if the debtor earns a good income or possesses considerable assets.
Second, the debtor has the right to contest the debt in court, with or without a lawyer present. During the court proceedings, the debtor can provide reasons for defaulting on the debt, such as loss of income, increased expenses or other budget constraints.
Third, if the debtor appears in court to contest the debt and loses, the creditor is usually only able to obtain a judgment, giving it the right to try to seize the debtor's property, wages and other assets. If the debtor can provide proof of limited income and no assets, the judgment conditions may be lessened to prevent the debtor from having to undergo financial hardship.
Fourth, the debtor might very well be totally be judgment-proof. Certain laws protect a stated amount of individual or family property from seizure. In addition, the amount of wage garnishment that can be seized by the creditor is strictly limited by federal law.
Note: A debtor worried about being sued should research the preceding factors to determine potential legal liability regarding outstanding debts. Also, if a debtor is summons to court, and does not appear at the hearing, a judgment could be rendered against her or him, which could lead to wage garnishment, lien on property or a hold on access to bank account funds; therefore, even if you are intimidated by the legal process, be prepared to present yourself in court by preparing a budget and written explanation of why you had to default on the debt, and remember, there is no debtor's prison. | <urn:uuid:bc722a68-e6b5-4456-9905-8ac4bd455417> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://goldendebt.org/consumer_debt_liabilty.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957008 | 483 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Emacs provides many alternative major modes, each of which customizes Emacs for editing text of a particular sort. The major modes are mutually exclusive, and each buffer has one major mode at any time. The mode line normally shows the name of the current major mode, in parentheses (see section The Mode Line).
The least specialized major mode is called Fundamental mode. This mode has no mode-specific redefinitions or variable settings, so that each Emacs command behaves in its most general manner, and each option is in its default state. For editing text of a specific type that Emacs knows about, such as Lisp code or English text, you should switch to the appropriate major mode, such as Lisp mode or Text mode.
Selecting a major mode changes the meanings of a few keys to become more specifically adapted to the language being edited. The ones that are changed frequently are TAB, DEL, and C-j. The prefix key C-c normally contains mode-specific commands. In addition, the commands which handle comments use the mode to determine how comments are to be delimited. Many major modes redefine the syntactical properties of characters appearing in the buffer. See section The Syntax Table.
The major modes fall into three major groups. Lisp mode (which has several variants), C mode, Fortran mode and others are for specific programming languages. Text mode, Nroff mode, TeX mode and Outline mode are for editing English text. The remaining major modes are not intended for use on users' files; they are used in buffers created for specific purposes by Emacs, such as Dired mode for buffers made by Dired (see section Dired, the Directory Editor), Mail mode for buffers made by C-x m (see section Sending Mail), and Shell mode for buffers used for communicating with an inferior shell process (see section Interactive Inferior Shell).
Most programming-language major modes specify that only blank lines separate paragraphs. This is to make the paragraph commands useful. (See section Paragraphs.) They also cause Auto Fill mode to use the definition of TAB to indent the new lines it creates. This is because most lines in a program are usually indented. (See section Indentation.)
Go to the first, previous, next, last section, table of contents. | <urn:uuid:edafc35a-d5d3-4e57-b703-67868e0015ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whitman.edu/mathematics/emacs_doc/emacs_200.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922894 | 470 | 2.9375 | 3 |
|Young, mobile and growing: The state of US Hispanic consumers.|
Tuesday, 24th April 2012
Source : Nielsen
More than 52 million strong and representing the majority of population growth over the next five years, Latinos have become prominent in all aspects of American life.
A growing, evolving population, Latinos are a fundamental component to future business success, with a buying power of $1 trillion in 2010 that is projected to grow 50 percent to $1.5 trillion in 2015.
In State of the Hispanic Consumer: The Hispanic Market Imperative report, Nielsen has identified several unique circumstances that combine to make Hispanics the largest population group to exhibit culture sustainability—ever.
Borderless social networking, unprecedented exchange of goods, technology as a facilitator for cultural exchange, retro acculturation, and new culture generation combine to enable Hispanic culture in the U.S. to be sustainable. In other words, Hispanic culture may evolve but will not go away.
For businesses, this makes understanding Hispanic consumers essential. Key findings of The Hispanic Market Imperative include:
The overall U.S. population is graying, but the Latino population remains young and the primary feeder of workforce growth and new consumption. The median age of the Latino population is 28 years old, nearly ten years younger than the total market median age of 37 years. Given that the age for a new home buyer is between 26 and 46 years old, Latinos will become a force in residential purchasing over the next ten years.
Technology and media use do not mirror the general market but have distinct patterns due to language, culture, and ownership dynamics. For example, Hispanics spend 68 percent more time watching video on the Internet and 20 percent more time watching video on their mobile phones than non-Hispanic whites.
Latinos exhibit distinct product consumption patterns and are not buying in ways that are the same as the total market. Hispanics make fewer shopping trips per household than non-Hispanics, for instance, and spend more per trip.
Rapid Latino population growth will persist. Between 2000 and 2011, Hispanics accounted for more than half of the U.S. population increase; in other words, their 10-year increase was slightly greater than that of all other non-Hispanics combined. Hispanics will contribute an even greater share (60 percent or higher) of all population growth over the next five years.
Hispanic culture is sustainable. A 2011 national survey of Hispanic adults found that nine out of ten Hispanic parents and parents-to-be want their children to be able to speak Spanish, even though they also want them to become fluent in English.
To download The Hispanic Market Imperative, visit: | <urn:uuid:d4cef4b6-1c9a-492c-9eda-aae0227539a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.4hoteliers.com/news/story/9865 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933341 | 540 | 2.375 | 2 |
White/white pearl dominates the global automotive color popularity ranks for the second consecutive year, according to the 2012 DuPont Automotive Color Popularity Report, released today. Black/black effect moves into second place in the global ranks this year, largely due to the increased popularity in the Asia Pacific market as this color has a worldwide perception of high quality and luxury. Silver fell to third, as its popularity has waned due to its overall gradual decline, especially in the critical large automotive markets of Europe and Asia.
The DuPont report, in its 60th year, is the largest and longest running report of its kind in the automotive industry. It is the only report to include global automotive color popularity rankings and regional trends from 11 leading automotive regions of the world.
White/white pearl moved to top the ranks in Europe in 2012, and was in the leading position as the most popular car color in North America (U.S. and Canada), Japan, South Korea, Russia, South Africa and Mexico. Overall, white/white pearl represents 23 percent of the global market in DuPont’s 2012 report.
Over the past decade, white has held significant rankings in automotive color popularity and is widely seen in other consumer products worldwide. During this timeframe, white’s popularity had been highlighted across all vehicle segments, though historically, it had been most popular among the truck segment. Past advancements in pearlescent whites enabled this color to initially break into the luxury segments.
“Today, white tri-coats are more readily applicable to the global manufacturing base and evoke quality and value among a variety of vehicle segments,” according to Nancy Lockhart, DuPont color marketing manager. “Solid whites have been seen in vanilla shades, stone shades and the current preference of bright whites.”
Black/black effect led among vehicle color popularity in China, but took second place in the global ranks with 21 percent of the world’s share of automotive color. Silver rounded out the top three global color choices, topping the ranks in South America, Brazil and India, but slipped four percentage points to just 18 percent of the overall global automotive market from 22 percent last year.
“Silver peaked during the start of the digital age between 2000 and 2006,” said Lockhart. “We’re seeing more luxury vehicle purchases now that the economy has started to stabilize, and vehicles painted black/black effect are seen as luxury status symbols in several key global markets.”
Red, gray and brown/beige each gained a percentage point since last year’s report, while blue maintained equal share from the 2011 rankings.
The top global vehicle colors in DuPont’s report are as follows:
1. White/White Pearl – 23 percent
2. Black/Black Effect – 21 percent
3. Silver – 18 percent
4. Gray – 14 percent
5. Red – 8 percent
6. Blue – 6 percent
7. Brown/Beige – 6 percent
8. Green – 1 percent
9. Yellow/Gold – 1 percent
10. Others – 2 percent | <urn:uuid:cac78c62-dccc-41d4-8d9d-430efd6aa966> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pfonline.com/blog/post/white-stays-atop-the-worlds-car-color-ranks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934958 | 637 | 1.59375 | 2 |
November 02, 2012
China’s second stealth fighter jet that was unveiled this week is part of a programme to transform China into the top regional military power, an expert on Asian security said on Friday.
The fighter, the J-31, made its maiden flight on Wednesday in the northeast province of Liaoning at a facility of the Shenyang Aircraft Corp which built it, according to Chinese media.
“This is the second entirely new fighter design that’s emerged from China in the last two years, which suggests a pretty impressive level of technical development, and puts them ahead, certainly, of all their regional neighbours,” said Sam Roggeveen, a security expert with the Lowy Institute in Sydney.
The Chinese military “has been extremely deliberate and well funded and persistent, and it’s starting to bear fruit”, Roggeveen said.
“What you’re now seeing since the early ‘90s is the slow emergence of a first-class regional military power.”
China’s Defence Ministry did not respond to a request for comment.
China’s previous stealth fighter, the J-20, is a heavier aircraft and believed to be less manoeuvrable than the J-31.
China’s military capabilities lag far behind those of the United States, but China is seeking aggressively to boost its strength, including launching its first aircraft carrier - purchased from Ukraine - in September.
The buildup is a worry for neighbours uneasy about China flexing its military muscle, especially in territorial disputes with Japan in the East China Sea and with Vietnam and the Philippines in the South China Sea. | <urn:uuid:db289326-c162-421f-b1b1-399e04a44250> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aviationweek.com/Article.aspx?id=/article-xml/awx_11_02_2012_p0-513022.xml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955508 | 343 | 1.953125 | 2 |
How often in programs do we continue to do something because "It's that time of year again"? A quote from Albert Einstein reads, "Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results." I don't think Einstein was thinking about evaluation when he coined this phrase, but it nicely articulates our tendency to continue to offer youth programs without "checking under the hood" periodically.
As an educator for program evaluation, I believe strongly in using evaluation to guide and improve youth programs and to prove their worth to others. I know that others will agree with me on this. But I think we often fail to intentionally build evaluation into our program design and as a result our programs suffer. Jane Powers's research on youth participatory evaluation demonstrates that the act of intentionally engaging youth in the evaluation experience helps to not only build stronger programs but also youth development skills in participating youth.
Youth workers are natural evaluators -- we intuitively modify environments to fit participants' needs. Being intentional about evaluation could include strategies such as:
- Checking the "pulse" of a group as they conduct an activity.
- Forming an advisory group from a mix of youth workers and youth to plan and critique program offerings.
- Embedding reflection into daily practice. The Youth Work Institute has an excellent toolkit on reflection.
- Administering a pre-tests and post-tests to youth in a program. The Harvard Family Research Project has some excellent resources on methods and design.
- Analyzing evaluation data with the help of youth. Youth will be able to add their own perspectives on understanding data and in making changes to a program.
Evaluation is one natural way to determine if your program is going in the right direction or just going insane. How are you finding ways to embed evaluation in your daily practice? Do you have any tips to make it easier or more natural? | <urn:uuid:f6922ee6-516b-450e-9eb0-d0d002ae63b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.lib.umn.edu/extyouth/insight/2011/06/definition-of-youth-work-insanity.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938202 | 387 | 2.78125 | 3 |
One pack of starter can be used to make a life time supply of Greek yogurt. You will need to reserve a small amount of yogurt from each fresh batch of yogurt and save it for your next batch.
If you want yogurt that is identical to Fage, Oikos or other Greek style yogurts, this is probably your best bet. Traditional Greek-style yogurt is made with two
particular strains of bacteria, L. Bulgaricus, S. Thermophilus. These cultures are responsible for it’s tangy flavor. You’ll find it slightly more tart than “ordinary” plain yogurt.
A good online source for Greek yogurt starter is a website called Cultures for Health. They also have many other wonderful varieties of yogurt starters.
Their instructions for using this culture include using one part cream and three parts whole milk. You do not have to use cream to make Greek-style yogurt, if you do not it will be just a bit thinner (you can strain it to thicken it up a bit).
Using a Yogurt as a Starter
You can use a good quality store bought yogurt as a starter, like I did in the Greek yogurt recipe below.
Using Fage yogurt (or other Greek Style yogurt) as a starter doesn’t necessarily give you a Greek style homemade yogurt.
In fact it turns out about the same as any homemade yogurt. To get a thick rich Greek yogurt you will need to strain it and
use cream to make it thick and rich.
Also since Fage only has two strains of live cultures, L. Bulgaricus, it can take a long time to ferment.
I like to use Stonyfield Organic Whole Milk yogurt. It has six different kinds of beneficial bacteria.
This makes a Greek-style yogurt every bit as yummy as Fage, but with more probiotics.
This Greek yogurt recipe is actually the same way I make my homemade yogurt. So, basically all I am doing is straining my yogurt. There are a couple things I do differently.
I usually let the yogurt ferment longer, up to 12 hours and sometimes I use some cream mixed into whole milk.
I’ve had other people tell me that this recipe also works great using 2% milk and no cream at all.
So, play around with it a bit until you figure out what you like.
I don’t know what is a priority to you.
For me, I’m not so much concerned about a little extra fat, especially if it tastes extra yummy. My top priority is that my yogurt is high in probiotics.
The nice thing about making your own yogurt, is that you have a lot of control over how you want it to turn out.
Here is a basic recipe you can modify to suit your needs. You can make it with any type of milk or add less or more cream to suit your taste.
Greek Yogurt Recipe
A candy thermometer or one of those dandy little digital thermometers designed for making yogurt.
A glass or stainless steel pot (some people use a double boiler method)
A Long handled spoon for stirring
3 cups whole milk (sheep’s milk or cow’s milk)
1 cup cream
1/2 cup starter yogurt (I used Stonyfield)
Sterilize your pot and spoon by placing them in the pot with water and bringing it to a boil. Dump out hot water and pour in the milk.
Heat the milk over medium heat until it reaches 180 degrees F. This takes about 10-15 minutes and you’ll have to stick close by and stir it often.
Cool to 110 degrees F. Gently stir in the starter yogurt. Pour into a yogurt maker or use another method to keep the yogurt warm while it ferments.
I just stick the whole pot (covered) into my pre-warmed oven and leave just the pilot light on. It can take anywhere from 8-12 hours to finish so
I usually make this recipe in the evening and leave it overnight. In the morning, place it in the refrigerator and enjoy once it is cooled.
Actually, sometimes I eat it warm with maple syrup for breakfast. Yum! | <urn:uuid:955ffa04-6fbb-420f-9b25-b5b2029b7ad2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://yogurt-everyday.com/greek-yogurt-recipe.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92988 | 878 | 1.929688 | 2 |
These fascinating creatures are only a hop away! Don’t miss your last chance to experience the beauty and diversity of some of our favorite amphibian friends in Frogs! A Chorus of Colors. After 3 years at the National Aquarium, this traveling exhibit will close on Sunday, November 2nd as the Frogs hop onto their next location.
With nearly 20 species of frogs and toads in 15 seperate habitats, the exhibit offers a close-up look at these diverse creatures from across the world! Frogs are an important indicator of our evironment’s health. So when you visit, take a moment to learn how the amphibian population is being threatened and simple things you can do to help save these spectacular and important animals. | <urn:uuid:c819d1b9-d17d-4213-bcea-c59f982ea123> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nationalaquarium.wordpress.com/tag/african-bull-frog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926056 | 153 | 2.359375 | 2 |
By Abayomi Azikiwe
Published Feb 11, 2010
It was on Feb. 1, 1960, some five decades ago, that the student
movement was initiated when four youths were arrested for demanding
service at a segregated whites-only lunch counter in Greensboro, N.C.
When the Southwide Student Leadership Conference on Nonviolent
Resistance to Segregation was held in April of that same year, at
least 56 colleges in the region had participants linked to the
so-called "sit-in movement." These activists were spread out over 12
states and had links with students from 19 northern colleges and universities.
The gathering was sponsored by the Southern Christian Leadership
Conference, headed by Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and executive
director Ella Baker. The over 300 students who were delegates and
observers to the conference witnessed the formation of a continuing
Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, which would constitute
itself later as a more structured organization with a headquarters as
well as field workers.
With the intensification of the campaigns to abolish legalized
segregation and to win universal suffrage for African Americans in
many areas of the southern United States, SNCC began to play a
critical role in the civil rights movement. In 1961, the "Freedom
Rides" were launched by the Congress on Racial Equality, resulting in
the bombing of an integrated busload of freedom riders in Anniston,
Ala., and severe beatings by white racists in a Greyhound bus depot
As a result of these actions carried out against the freedom riders,
CORE called off the campaign aimed at outlawing segregated interstate
transportation facilities in the South. However, it was the student
activists from SNCC based in the Nashville area who pledged to
continue the freedom rides until the segregation laws governing
interstate transportation in the South were overturned.
The SNCC activists in the area worked with the Nashville Christian
Leadership Conference under the influence of Rev. James Lawson, who
taught seminars on nonviolent protest methods.
Student activist Lucretia Collins summed up the sentiments within
SNCC when she stated: "In Nashville, we had been informed that CORE
was going to have Freedom Rides that could carry people all over the
South and their purpose was to test the facilities at the bus
stations in the major cities.
"Later we heard that the bus of the Freedom Riders had been burned on
Mother's Day in Anniston, Alabama, and that another bus had been
attacked by people in Birmingham.
"CORE was discontinuing the Freedom Rides, people said. We felt that
it had to continue even if we had to do it ourselves. We knew we were
subject to being killed. This did not matter to us.
"There was so much at stake, we could not allow segregationists to
stop us. We had to continue that Freedom Ride even if we were killed
in the process." ("The Making of Black Revolutionaries," by James
After the continuation of the Freedom Rides by SNCC, the government
was forced to intervene and repeal the segregation laws that
regulated interstate public transportation. This was only done after
numerous activists were beaten, tortured and imprisoned on false
charges in Parchman Correctional Facility in Mississippi.
Fighting for political power
SNCC, however, was not content to merely abolish the segregation
laws. It recognized that political power being denied to African
Americans in the South would continue to perpetuate the system of
oppression and inequality. Consequently, the organization took a
great interest in developments in Fayette County, Tenn., where the
African-American community had suffered severe reprisals for their
efforts aimed at voter registration.
By 1963, the slogan "one man, one vote" became the cornerstone of
SNCC's organizational program. This slogan, demanding the
establishment of universal suffrage in the U.S., paralleled the
efforts taking place within the anti-colonial struggle in Africa.
When Oginga Odinga, the Home Affairs minister of the newly
independent government in Kenya, visited the U.S. in late 1963,
Atlanta was the last stop on his itinerary. Several representatives
of SNCC, which was headquartered in Atlanta, visited Odinga at his
hotel, where they presented him with gifts and exchanged solidarity greetings.
After the meeting with Odinga, SNCC members held a sit-in at a
segregated restaurant in the city, resulting in the arrests of 17 of
their members. This event prompted other protest activities against
segregation in the city, where several hundred people participated
and were arrested.
James Forman, the executive secretary of SNCC, stated some years
later: "All these activities, beginning with our visit to Oginga
Odinga, must have made some people on a higher level squirm too. Here
was a high-ranking foreign dignitary, on an official visit,
commenting that the racial situation in the United States was 'very
pitiful' and that the United States 'practices segregation which is
what we are fighting in Africa.'
"The racist image of this country that SNCC's work projected was in
sharp conflict with the picture of democracy at work painted by the
bureaucratic beavers in Washington, D.C." (Forman, "The Making of
During 1964, SNCC embarked upon its most challenging effort with the
Mississippi Summer Project, which was launched in coalition with
other civil rights organizations operating in the state. Under the
direction of this alliance, known as the Council of Federated
Organizations, nearly 1,000 volunteers were mobilized from northern
universities and communities to travel to Mississippi that summer to
organize an independent Freedom Democratic Party and to register
thousands of African Americans to vote.
The state's racists responded with the murder of several civil rights
workers and the jailing and beating of scores of others. By the
conclusion of the summer, the MFDP activists had attempted to unseat
the all-white Mississippi Democratic Party delegation to the national
convention in Atlantic City.
Although the MFDP was never seated at the National Democratic
Convention in 1964 and the federal legislation on universal suffrage
would not be passed until after the Selma campaign of early 1965, the
efforts of the MFDP and its SNCC supporters were successful in
bringing broader segments of the community into the struggle for
political empowerment and national recognition.
SNCC & the global anti-colonial struggle
As a result of the pioneering work of SNCC, it was invited to send a
delegation to tour several independent nations in Africa during the
fall of 1964. The group spent two weeks in the Republic of Guinea at
the special invitation of President Ahmed Sekou Toure. After this,
John Lewis and Donald Harris continued the sojourn in Kenya and
Zambia as well as other countries, while the other members of SNCC
returned to the U.S.
Forman, who was a leading member of the SNCC delegation to Africa,
said in 1972: "[T]he trip for me was a culmination of my life in
several ways. Africa as a black continent, as our homeland, had
always been on my mind." The SNCC executive secretary went on to say,
"I had also dreamed for years of helping to build an organization to
achieve popular power in the United States and then to relate it with
one or more African countries for common revolutionary purposes."
After 1966, SNCC would create an International Affairs section under
Forman's direction. Forman represented the organization at an
international conference on settler colonialism in southern Africa
that was held in Zambia in 1967. He also spoke before the United
Nations Fourth Committee on Decolonization later that same year.
The role of SNCC during this period illustrated the
interconnectedness of the African-American struggle and developments
on the continent of Africa. This intersection of the history of
Africans in various parts of the world would continue throughout the
remaining years of the 20th century.
SNCC, urban rebellions & the workers' movement
What distinguished SNCC from other civil rights organizations was its
work within the cities, small towns and rural areas of the South
where the development of local leadership was a key aspect of its
political program. In 1965-66 in Lowndes County, Ala., SNCC's work
with farmers and youth led to the formation of the original Black
Not only did the Black Panthers in Alabama push for the right to vote
and the development of an organization that was independent of the
racist-controlled state Democratic Party, it also advocated and
practiced self-defense for activists and the community as a whole.
These efforts spread throughout the country and created the
conditions for the founding of the Black Panther Party for
Self-Defense by Huey P. Newton and Bobby Seale in Oakland, Calif., in
Between 1964 and 1968 hundreds of urban rebellions erupted throughout
the U.S. Chapters of the Black Panther Party grew rapidly all over
the country from 1967 to 1969. The FBI and local law-enforcement
agencies responded to the upsurge in revolutionary activity by
directly and indirectly killing Malcolm X in 1965, Martin Luther King
Jr. in 1968, and Fred Hampton and Mark Clark in 1969. Hundreds of
members of SNCC and the Black Panther Party and other revolutionaries
were harassed, imprisoned and driven into exile.
In 1968, African-American workers in Detroit began to engage in
wildcat strikes demanding an end to racism and superexploitation in
the automotive industry. These struggles were soon linked to the
efforts of community organizers and students who were waging battles
around education issues, housing and police brutality.
The National Black Economic Development Conference was held in
Detroit in April 1969, where the demand for reparations was put
forward when Forman issued the Black Manifesto, calling for massive
compensation for centuries of slavery and national oppression. Forman
would soon join the League of Revolutionary Black Workers, which grew
out of the African-American independent labor struggles of the period
in Detroit and around the country.
The students at Wayne State University in Detroit took control of the
campus newspaper and turned it into the official publication of the
LRBW. The daily newspapers published on campus were distributed at
plant gates and within the African-American community.
These developments illustrated clearly the necessity for the student
movement to merge with the broader movement of workers against
capitalism and national oppression.
The student activists of the present period must learn from the
struggles of the 1960s. By linking the cutbacks in education to the
overall economic crisis of capitalism, students and youth can become
an important force in the burgeoning movement against the most
aggressive attacks against the working class since the Great Depression. | <urn:uuid:6c558a05-c808-4328-bb7e-9629eef91c32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sixties-l.blogspot.com/2010/02/youth-played-pivotal-role-in-civil.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963991 | 2,297 | 3.5 | 4 |
A network of farmers from throughout the world working together to build economic power is an interesting alternative to the rivalry and competitiveness we now see among farmers of different counties.
Farmers around the world have at least one thing in common: they must deal with multinational firms to sell their products and buy many of their inputs. "Growth and competition in agribusiness are not restricted to any one country," says Dick Levins, economist with the University of Minnesota Extension Service. "We continue to think of large grain companies and other large multinational corporations as U.S. corporations, but their home base is the world, not any single country."
"Farmers continue to identify themselves as being from one country or another, and to see their principal competition as coming from other countries," Levins says in a recent paper presented at Grain World 2002 in Winnipeg, Manitoba. "I am especially saddened to see the animosity between farmers in my own country and in Canada.
"And the rivalry between farmers in the U.S. and those in South America over soybean exports is another example of a process that will eventually destroy both. Farmers, in my view, should see themselves primarily as farmers when they are conducting business matters and find other ways to honor their countries of origin."
"We might write off the prospect of a global farmer network that builds economic power rather than global competition that reduces power as a dream," says Levins. "But I'm encouraged that my recent articles on collective bargaining have found a wide audience among farmers. And the alternative of an agriculture serving nothing more than being efficient and cheap has failed to support rural economies."
Rural policies that rely on agriculture as an economic and social foundation must be realistic about how many farmers it will take to provide a healthy environment, create a solid economic foundation for rural economies and produce the food we all need, Levins says. "We must recognize that our experiment in having relatively few farmers producing relatively cheap commodities cannot be judged a success if measured by the health and prosperity of our rural areas," he adds.
In looking for a new vision for rural development, Levins says he found himself looking back. "The old vision, one in which agriculture provides the primary source of wealth in rural areas, is one I still find appealing. But for it to work, that wealth must remain in rural areas and not be drained off by distant enterprises that have superior market power," Levins says.
"The rural development that I envision will be led by farmers, many more than we have now, and acting together in ways that allow them to protect the rural areas in which they live. We must put less emphasis on the 'hook them up to the Internet' school of rural prosperity, and more on capturing the value generated from the vast agricultural resources of our countryside." | <urn:uuid:140ed539-1622-4f77-bcf4-40efb5f42b5d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cornandsoybeandigest.com/could-global-farming-network-bring-economic-power-farmers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970474 | 567 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Fresh bread. That smell is very comforting and on Thursday, Nyack Middle School students got a lesson in bread making during a special assembly.
The seventh graders from Family and Consumer Sciences teacher Heather Lee’s class filled the cafeteria while two student volunteers helped with the demonstration with Amy Driscoll from the King Arthur Flour Life Skills Bread Baking Program
The students learned how to make two different loaves of bread, cinnamon rolls and pretzels.
During the hour long assembly, there were lessons mixed in from different subject areas, such as:
- Science – baking is a science experiment with controlled ingredients and chemical reactions (yeast)
- Math – adding, weight, volume
- Art – being creative with the different shapes and purposes of dough at the end
- Nutrition – of the different ingredients such as wheat flour
As part of the project each student will receive to take home enough flour and yeast for two loaves of bread, a dough scraper and a recipe booklet. If the students choose to donate one of the loaves they bake they are being asked to return one loaf of bread in the bag provided to school on Monday, Dec. 10.
The Family and Consumer Science Department and the Middle School Family Resource Center will then donate the bread to a local organization in need.
This is a great hands-on learning experience done in the generous spirit of giving back to the community.
“We’ll try to do this every other year,” said Lee. "Our plan is to donate to people to people and soup angels, as well as our own students' families who are in need. Lisa Retallack from our Family Resource Center is handling the specific donations." | <urn:uuid:37f50c8b-3ddc-46a8-8eb7-38b255746088> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nyack.patch.com/groups/schools/p/nyack-ms-students-get-bread-making-lesson-video | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951552 | 350 | 2.828125 | 3 |
For immediate release
|News contact:||Tom Koch, UTD, 972-883-4951, firstname.lastname@example.org|
McDermott Library Lecture Series to Present
RICHARDSON, Texas (Sept.13, 2002) - Forty years ago, the predecessor of the University of Texas at Dallas (UTD) - the Graduate Research Center of the Southwest (GRCSW) - was described as "Boomtown for Brains Rising from the Prairie" and "Cultivating Ph.D.s in a Texas Cottonfield."
The group of scientific research laboratories formed in 1962 represents the genesis, the heart and soul of the university today - the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics. Since the sciences have sustained an enduring pride for UTD, the McDermott Library has dedicated its entire fall Lecture Series this year to the pioneers and current faculty members in science and mathematics. Dr. Richard A. Caldwell, dean of the School of Natural Sciences and Mathematics, has given the series his full support.
The series will consist of four lectures beginning with an introductory presentation on Wednesday, Sept. 18 by Caldwell and Dr. Frances S. Johnson, who became head of the Upper Atmosphere and Space Sciences Division of GRCSW in October, 1962, and acting president of UTD from its inception on Sept. 1, 1969 until 1971. The lecture, which will begin at 9:30 a.m. in the McDermott Library Auditorium (MC 2.140) on the UTD campus, is free and open to the public.
"The McDermott Library sees this 40th anniversary as an opportunity to let everyone know about where we came from, where we are today and where our science programs are headed," said Dr. Larry Sall, director of UTD Libraries. "Many see UTD as an infant university, but world-class scientific research has been ongoing for four decades."
Dean Caldwell added, "Much of UTD's reputation is built upon the sciences, and that heritage is very important. We like the structure of these presentations - they provide a flavor but do not dwell on the history and instead showcase some of our new leaders and professors who carry on the remarkable research traditions at UTD."
Caldwell arrived at UTD in 1971 as an associate professor and quickly became head of the Chemistry Department. He rose up the ranks to associate dean in 1977, left briefly to work for IBM and
returned in 1980 as a professor and dean. Caldwell described himself as an "experimentalist" who worked well with Bryce Jordan, UTD's first fulltime president, in late 1971.
In 1964, when the Founders Building opened, GRCSW President Lloyd V. Berkner appointed Johnson as director of the Southwest Earth and Planetary Sciences Laboratory.
All of the lectures in the series will be held on Wednesdays from 9:30-10:50 a.m. in the McDermott Library Auditorium (MC 2.410). All are free and open to the public. The schedule is as follows:
The University of Texas at Dallas, located at the convergence of Richardson, Plano and Dallas in the heart of the complex of major multinational technology corporations known as the Telecom Corridor , enrolls more than 7,000 undergraduate and 5,000 graduate students. The school's freshman class traditionally stands at the forefront of Texas state universities in terms of average SAT scores. The university offers a broad assortment of bachelor's, master's and doctoral degree programs. For additional information about UTD, please visit the university's Web site at www.utdallas.edu.
Press Releases & Announcements
This page last updated June 05, 2012 | <urn:uuid:d1883c93-9ce1-4bc7-8c0e-3e0d86105f51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utdallas.edu/news/archive/2002/scienceanniversary.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942869 | 755 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Tel Aviv University imposes restrictions on Nakba Day events
Tel Aviv University has imposed policies and procedures intended to restrict those Arab students who wish to organise Nakba commemorative events on campus. Palestinians remember the Nakba (Catastrophe) on 15th May every year, the date on which the state of Israel was created on their land.
According to a report in Haaretz newspaper, the presidency of the university has told the organisers of Nakba Day activities to provide the necessary funding for hiring at least six security guards from the university’s own security company to maintain control and order. The university wants to prevent any disturbances or riots during the ceremony scheduled for next week.
The event organisers must provide the required sum of money two days ahead of the proposed date of the programme, failing which it will be cancelled. The university has also banned the use of flags, banners and loud PA systems even though the Nakba Day commemoration has been approved by the students’ council, considered widely to be the first time such permission has been granted.
The organisers of the ceremony told Haaretz that the purpose behind the event is to introduce to non-Arab students the facts about the disaster that befell the Palestinians in 1948. In doing so, they also hope to influence Israeli public opinion and remind all citizens of the loss and human tragedy experienced by the Palestinians as a result of the Israeli occupation of their land.
No comments yet. | <urn:uuid:3a5722dc-997d-4cfd-a359-a2a0e6d631de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://alethonews.wordpress.com/2012/05/13/tel-aviv-university-imposes-restrictions-on-nakba-day-events/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958271 | 289 | 1.875 | 2 |
All his life he heard the stories of his homeland, a place he was taken from in 1968. It took 44 years, but this month, Rene Gomez returned to Cuba to stand on the land of his ancestors.
Gomez, now assistant headmaster and upper school principal at Lafayette Christian School, was born in Guanavacoa, in metropolitan Havana, the capital city of Cuba. When Fidel Castro took over the country in 1959, he began moving the government toward communism. That’s when Gomez’s parents began planning to leave the country.
“Things were going from bad to worse. At the time, if you had a family member abroad you could get permission to leave the country - if you paid the fees. My dad had a daughter from a previous marriage living in the states so they were able to get permission to leave,” Gomez said. “Even back then, the cost was between $1,000 and $2,000 per person. My dad worked in a medical laboratory and so he funded most of the fees.”
In 1968, Gomez, his parents and his sister were granted visas to immigrate to Miami, Fla. He was 3 years old.
“Contrary to popular belief, I didn’t come here on a raft,” Gomez said.
He doesn’t recall life in Cuba, but does remember the challenges of being a Spanish-speaking child in Miami.
“When I started school, I was put in special education classes because I didn’t know English. All we spoke at home was Spanish,” he said.
When he was about 10 years old, his mother returned to Cuba for a visit. He wanted to go, but she said no. That’s when he first became aware of a common fear.
“It was common folklore among Miami Cubans. I was young, I didn’t serve in the military, if they take me to Cuba, they’ll keep me. They won’t let me come back,” Gomez said.
His mother returned twice more. Gomez heard from her the stories of his grandparents, his aunts and uncles and all his cousins. Still, his mother was too afraid to consider taking him to Cuba.
“I longed to go back. I wanted to experience what my friends and family talked about,” he said.
Gomez joined the U.S. Army even before becoming a U.S. citizen, then went to school and moved to Georgia. He’s been a coach, teacher and administrator at West Georgia Christian Academy and Lafayette Christian School.
He had often heard of a LaGrange church, Western Heights Baptist, that partnered with Cuban churches, traveling to the country to help renovate old church buildings and work with Christians there.
He didn’t attend that church and didn’t think he would be able to go with them. However, earlier this year, a fellow teacher noticed his Cuban flag on his truck and asked Gomez if he was going to Cuba with the Western Heights group.
“That got the wheels turning. I talked to another teacher from that church and she gave me the information. Then I talked with the team leader and got more information,” he said.
He waited more than a week to tell his wife he wanted to go.
“She grew up in Miami, too. I had to figure out how to debunk the myth that they’d keep me in Cuba,” he said. “She knew my desire to go, but she was still nervous.”
The church team goes to Cuba about twice a year, with permission from the IRS which is a requirement for anyone traveling from the U.S. to Cuba. When they applied for the visas, the paperwork went smoothly, except for Gomez’s.
“My passport is a U.S. passport, but it has ‘country of birth’ on it, so they knew I was Cuban. I had to provide my mother’s maiden name, then I had to tell them where I was from and my street address - which I didn’t know. I had to get that from my cousin,” he said.
His visa was finalized just hours before he was scheduled to leave.
“Re-entry was emotional. After 44 years I was going back to where I was born. I traded seats so I could look out the window and see the island as we flew in. It was emotional,” he admitted. “I stepped off the plane and stood on Cuban ground. I thanked God to be in Cuba, not just to go home, but to be able to serve God there as well.”
He’d heard the stories, even seen pictures, but this time he saw the poverty, watched people stand in line for grocery rations, experienced the “stepping back in time” feeling of seeing cars from the 1950’s on the road. He spoke his native Cuban Spanish.
He swam in a Cuban river, played baseball in a stadium and worshipped in a church.
He wondered how his life would be different if he’d never left his homeland.
“We could worship in a church with no problem. We could not speak of God outside the church, although we could talk in the homes of other believers,” he said.
The team was there to help with building, lead Bible studies, hold a vacation Bible school for children and build relationships with people in the church.
“The weather wasn’t cooperative. It rained four days and you can’t lay concrete in the rain. Still we had the opportunity to invest in the ministry of the church,” he said.
Baseball was one of the biggest openings to meeting people.
“The church had started a new ministry with baseball and we brought new gloves, balls and aluminum bats, which are really hard to find in Cuba. They were fantastic ball players. They gave me some pointers,” he said.
Gomez was not allowed to contact his family in Cuba. However, on future trips, with more planning, he’ll be able to contact them and they may be able to come meet him. And, he is already planning those future trips.
“I will definitely be going back,” he said. | <urn:uuid:2ecd3584-6baf-49c3-b7ea-a226d5db7afa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lagrangenews.com/pages/home/push?per_page=5&class=next_page&rel=next&x_page=94 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992514 | 1,340 | 2.515625 | 3 |
|© UNICEF Brazil/2012/Caffe|
|Michael Gomes Correia, 18, is part of a group of young people in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, who are using kites and mobile technology to map socio-environmental risks in their communities.|
By Maria Estela Caparelli, Ludmilla Palazzo and Rhazi Kone
UNICEF’s flagship report, ‘The State of the World’s Children 2012: Children in an Urban World’, was launched on 28 February, focusing attention on children in urban areas. One billion children live in urban areas, a number that is growing rapidly. Yet disparities within cities reveal that many lack access to schools, health care and sanitation, despite living alongside these services. This story is part of a series highlighting the needs of these children.
RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil, 19 March 2012 – Ten years ago, Michael Gomes Correia used to love flying kites with his friends in the Prazeres community, one of the favelas of Rio de Janeiro. Now, the 18-year-old student is using kites – and mobile technology – to map the favelas’ socio-environmental risks and to improve the lives of children and families in his community.
Located just above sea level, Rio de Janeiro is vulnerable to floods and landslides, natural disasters that are expected to increase with climate change. The city’s favelas are largely situated along mountainsides, and are already prone to both disasters and socio-environmental risks, such as poor infrastructure. In recent years, heavy rains have caused hundreds of causalities and destroyed houses in favelas like Morro dos Prazeres, where Michael lives.
In response, UNICEF, with the support of the Municipality of Rio, the Municipal Secretariat of Health and Civil Defense, and Centro de Promoção da Saúde (CEDAPS), has developed a youth-led mapping project in which adolescents are engaged to identify social and environmental risks in their communities.
Helping avert disaster
UNICEF, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the Public Laboratory for Open Technology and Science (PLOTS) and the Innovative Support to Emergencies Diseases and Disasters (InSTEDD), developed a cutting-edge mapping platform that enables real-time data collection through web and mobile applications.
In the pilot initiative, 111 youth in five low-income communities – Morro dos Prazeres, Morro dos Macacos, Morro do Borel, Morro do Urubu and Rocinha – were trained to use this programme, known as UNICEF- Geographic Information System (GIS), to assess the risks and vulnerabilities in their neighbourhoods.
|© Charles Siqueira/GAL Mosaico|
|The youth mappers mobilized their community in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, to clean accumulated garbage in high-risk areas, helping to prevent landslides and health hazards.|
They used mobile phones loaded with UNICEF-GIS to photograph problems; the photos were automatically tagged with global positioning system (GPS) coordinates, enabling researchers and officials to pinpoint the problem areas. The adolescents then used cameras attached to kites to gather aerial images, helping to identify the presence or absence of drainage systems, the availability of sanitation facilities, impediments to evacuation, and other issues.
A promising start
In February, UNICEF, the youth mappers and partners presented their findings to local authorities from the Municipal Secretariat of Health and Civil Defense, the Urban Planning Secretariat, the Health Promotion Policy Coordination, the Environmental Education Coordination, and research and academic institutions.
With the mapping results, the adolescents were able to mobilize the Morro dos Prazeres community to clean accumulated garbage in high-risk areas, helping to prevent landslides and a variety of health hazards. They also advocated for the repair of the UGA-UGA Bridge, which has since been fixed.
The initiative will be expanded to five other communities in 2012. The programme, and the lessons learned from it, will also be used to create a national model for youth-led community mapping.
For adolescents like Michael, this has been a promising start. “We need to believe,” he said. “Make it happen and changes will come. This is the idea.”
State of the World's Children 2012
Download the full report
Life in Nairobi's informal settlements
In Nigeria, marginalized children face abuse
UNICEF launches flagship report in Mexico
A second chance at childhood in Benin
Watch all SOWC 2012 videos - Children in an urban world | <urn:uuid:012661fe-b16d-4cec-afd7-befa53ff715a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/brazil_62043.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916317 | 975 | 2.640625 | 3 |
West High program helps special needs students transition
By Mike Chapin firstname.lastname@example.org February 8, 2013 1:44PM
The West High Transitions Program focuses on helping special needs students who have met their graduation requirements, but are not ready to effectively transition to community life. | Submitted
Feb. 12 — Hispanic Parent Academy l, 6 p.m., West High room A106
Feb. 13 — Hispanic Parent Academy ll, 6 p.m., West High room A106
Feb. 18 — No School — President’s Day
Feb. 19 — Board of Education meeting, 6 p.m., West High Library
Updated: April 5, 2013 11:42AM
The adjustment from being a full-time high school student to living and working in the community is not easy for anyone. It’s especially tough for graduates who have special needs.
That’s why the West High Transitions Program focuses on helping special needs students who have met their graduation requirements, but are not ready to effectively transition to community life.
The four major focus areas of the program are employment, education, training and independent living skills. There are more than 55 students enrolled in three program locations — West Aurora High School, Hope Wall School and the Vaughan Athletic Center.
“Students are taught that they can make it in the real world and that they have skills to offer within the supports of their daily lives,” said Laura Brady, a teacher in the West Transitions Program.
“Students experience independent living skills with hands-on experiences. Examples of these are: time management, vocational training with adult supports, meal planning, money and budgeting, shopping in the community, everyday household tasks, and finding their way in the community using public transportation.”
The students’ placement is determined by the level of support they need, she said.
For example, students who need to acquire and practice the skills needed in the work world and for independent living and want to go to a community college would enroll in the Vaughn program. Students who have goals of independent living, social skills training and vocational training with adult supports would enroll in either the Mock House program at the high school or the Hope Wall independent living classrooms.
“In recent years, there has been an increase in student enrollment for transition services,” Brady said. “To accommodate this need, West Aurora High School opened a new Mock House classroom this year. This is an independent living classroom for students who need additional support with an emphasis on building maturity and independence.”
Students incorporated the skills they’ve been learning when they planned and conducted the first-ever Christmas Luncheon for West Aurora High School diversified staff members in December. The adult support students planned the menu, did the advertising, sold tickets, shopped for the menu, prepared the food, made the decorations, served the food and even planned for a live musical performance by a band that included a transition student.
Brady teaches in the independent living classrooms. She also serves as a case manager and helps maintain goals and objectives for 10 students with disabilities. This includes contacting parents on a regular basis and maintaining relationships with all related service providers, such as occupational, physical and speech therapists, a social worker and a vocational coordinator.
“I am a parent of an adopted daughter with special needs,” she said. “She is my primary source of inspiration because she has overcome much because she has the support of family, schools, church and community.”
Her daughter is 24 years old, has worked at Target for six years and lives at home, but hopes to live on her own with a roommate someday.
“I try to think of each individual student as I do with our daughter,” she said. “I get creative in using resources within the community to maximize training efforts, and student self-esteem and self-worth. It is amazing to watch them become more and more confident in their ability to be independent. I just love what I do, and feel really blessed to have this opportunity.”
Mike Chapin is the community relations director for West Aurora School District 129. Contact him
at 630-301-5044 or email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:f175f6de-ad29-47db-94db-147a9025bf90> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://beaconnews.suntimes.com/18101038-417/west-high-program-helps-special-needs-students-transition.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966068 | 880 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Movement 1: Prelude
Movement 2: Fantaisie
Movement 3: Allemande
Movement 4: Plainte
Movement 5: Charivary
The most beautiful pieces completely lose their charm, if they are not executed in the style which is correct for them and, not being able to give a good idea of this style with the ordinary notation, I have been obliged to supply new marks that will express my wishes to those who will play my pieces. It is also à propos to inform the public that most of these pieces can be played on several other instruments, such as the Organ, the Harpsichord, the violin, the treble viol, the theorbo, the guitar, the flute, the recorder and the oboe.
The suites consist of many pieces—some dances, some character pieces—and are clearly not intended to be performed complete. The selection made here from the wonderful Suite in D gives us a short, but very sweet Prelude; a shorter Fantaisie with the longest bowing slur Marais wrote (covering thirty-six notes); a characteristically powerful Allemande; the sublime Plainte, and Charivary which my dictionary tells me means ‘rough music, hubbub or clatter’.
from notes by Richard Boothby © 1989 | <urn:uuid:bd8169b0-0bfd-4728-a4d5-097a291a219f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hyperion-records.co.uk/tw.asp?w=W10284&vw=al | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943108 | 271 | 2.296875 | 2 |
In recent decades the Portuguese citizens drifted away significantly from political life, as the growing electoral abstention shows, while the country plunged into a severe financial crisis and the need for an international bailout, with consequences that are proving destructive employment , social cohesion and the discrediting of the political and democratic regime.
Aktiv Demokrati (swedish for "Active Democracy") is a non-political party for realizing direct democracy in the swedish parliament, using a mix of delegation and direct voting through the internet.
The basic idea is that all citizens from different parts in the society should be able to influence important issues both directly and indirectly straight into parliament through an internet based democracy system.
Americans Elect is a nonprofit nonpartisan organization whose goal is to “fix the way we elect our leaders” by implementing the first non partisan, national online presidential primary. Americans Elect has focused on achieving three clear goals:
Gaining nationwide ballot access for a third presidential ticket to compete in the 2012 race;
Holding the first ever nonpartisan secure national online primary at AmericansElect.org;
Fielding a credible, balanced, unaffiliated ticket for the 2012 presidential race.
Anonymous is a decentralized hacktivist collective. A variety of internet sub-cultures gave birth to the dynamic entity known as Anonymous. The term “anonymous” originally referred to any internet user in general and their anonymous online identity and the term remains to do so. Anonymous, with a capital ‘a,’ arose from an internet meme in 2003.
The Backbone Campaign’s goal is to give a voice to community members and the masses, alike, by way of “Artful Activism” (Backbone Campaign). Through the teaching of non-violent techniques and strategies, the Backbone Campaign looks first to give individuals the tools to have an effective political voice, and second to implement those skills in a manner that generates a dialogue between political leaders and those that they represent. | <urn:uuid:5b303dd2-e000-4b63-b2bd-156f50c748d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://participedia.net/browse/organizations?f[0]=field_issue_area%3A103&f[1]=field_issue_area%3A102&f[2]=field_issue_area%3A49&f[3]=field_issue_area%3A105&f[4]=field_issue_area%3A101 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935273 | 404 | 2.15625 | 2 |
As more dealers use the Internet to expand their influence, the relevant market areas defined in state franchise laws are becoming less relevant.
Relevant market area laws prevent bricks-and-mortar dealerships from being built too close together and were designed to create protected territories for franchisees.
But these laws don’t prevent dealers from using the Internet or other media from selling vehicles or other products outside their trade areas.
Recently, American Honda introduced a policy prohibiting dealers from selling Honda Care service contracts online. The contracts can be promoted on Web sites -- but they can’t be sold directly to consumers online.
Just before Honda implemented its policy, some Honda dealers were using the Internet to sell service plans outside their trade areas and other dealers griped about it.
As some dealers more aggressively sell products online, it will be interesting to see how the factories and their competitors respond. More automakers might emerge as traffic cops along the information highway. | <urn:uuid:6aa6d5af-7c05-4275-875f-c32eeb413fba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.autonews.com/article/20110104/BLOG14/110109970&template=printart | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937419 | 192 | 1.765625 | 2 |
(CNNGo) -- This summer, London, understandably, is mostly concerned with heart and nerve and sinew.
The fittest, leanest, most Lycra-becoming humans alive today are to compete in the London 2012 Olympics and millions of mortals will watch with awe, excitement and possibly a little envy. And Usain Bolt will earn more fame, fortune and adulation in 10 seconds than most of us earn in a lifetime.
But there is culture of a different kind to be found too -- in the form of London's World Heritage Sites.
These UNESCO-endorsed sites have been around for decades, even centuries, and this July and August could just be the perfect time to see them.
1. Tower of London
Ever wondered what it would have been like to be strapped to the rack? See the dreaded machine in the Bloody Tower at the Tower of London and learn about various forms of torture used during the reigns of Henry VIII, Elizabeth I and Mary I.
From St. Thomas' Tower, where the monarch's barge was moored, walk along the south wall for a view across the river to Tower Bridge.
Down in the courtyard the resident ravens are kept in their enclosure. Legend has it that the Tower will fall if the six ravens ever leave, so seven are kept, providing one spare.
Some exhibits are interactive -- visiting school children enjoy putting on the helmets in the White Tower's armory. But these are attached to chains, so there's no taking them home.
This is where it all began, with William the Conqueror constructing a fortress here in the 11th century. The massive White Tower provided a haven in case the newly conquered English rebelled.
Fortifications were added by successive English monarchs, who also used the Tower as a prison.
The Crown Jewels are on display in the Jewel House, from diamonds to maces and crowns, the heaviest of which is the 2.23-kilo, solid gold St. Edward's crown made in 1661.
To brush up for that trivia quiz, the biggest, brightest and best are listed online.
2. Westminster Abbey
We've seen it on television for Princess Diana's funeral and the wedding of William and Kate, but no visitor to London should miss stepping inside Westminster Abbey.
History tours are led by a verger, one of the laymen assisting in the church.
King Edward, later St. Edward the Confessor, built a stone church here. Consecrated in 1065, it saw William the Conqueror crowned there a year later, as England's monarchs have been ever since.
In the 13th century Henry III rebuilt the church in the Gothic style we see today. His burial here in 1272 established a royal tradition that lasted 500 years.
Many famous people have been laid to rest in the Abbey, from Charles Darwin and Sir Isaac Newton to those in Poets' Corner like Geoffrey Chaucer, Alfred Lord Tennyson, Charles Dickens and Robert Burns.
In the Nave we pay our respects at the grave of the Unknown Warrior.
Other highlights include the 709-year-old wooden Coronation Chair and the marble pavement in front of the High Altar, decorated in 1268 by the Cosmati method of inlaying small pieces of colored marble into a plain background.
At the shrine of St. Edward the Confessor, steps at the base have been worn away by the knees of visitors.
Visitors can inspect the adjacent medieval St. Margaret's Church at their leisure.
3. Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew
While most people know Sir Joseph Banks as the botanist who accompanied Captain James Cook on his voyage to the South Seas, which also took in the continent of Australia, many might not be aware of Banks' accomplishments on returning to England.
After he took over as head of the botanic garden at Kew in 1773 its international reputation grew, with researchers bringing botanic specimens from as far afield as India, Africa, China and Australia.
That tradition continues today with a scientific program aimed at saving threatened species. Plants from all over the world are preserved in climate-controlled atmospheres and this history of botanical achievement is a prime reason for the World Heritage listing.
The other reason is that its landscaped gardens and associated architecture represent developments that were to have an influence throughout the world.
Two massive iron-framed glasshouses, the Palm House and Temperate House, dating from the 19th century, became impressive models for conservatories around the world.
Also included among 44 listed buildings is Kew Palace, formerly home to King George III.
For something modern there's the Rhizotron and Xstrata Treetop Walkway, opened in 2008. Designed by Marks Barfield Architects, renowned for the London Eye, this 18-meter-high, 200-meter-long walkway takes visitors around the crowns of lime, sweet chestnut and oak trees.
4. Palace of Westminster
After passing through airport-style security, the tour of the Palace of Westminster, which houses the British Parliament, begins in the 11th-century Westminster Hall. This hall has the largest clear-span medieval roof in England.
There's the Queen's Robing Room, where the monarch dons her official robes and crown for the annual Opening of Parliament. Paintings of King Arthur and his knights adorn the walls.
Bill Gates, Michael Jackson and Michelle Obama have stood in the Royal Gallery, where in 1984 French president François Mitterrand delivered a speech between frescoes of British victories at Trafalgar and Waterloo.
In the House of Lords Chamber there's a spot where civil servants sit, writing answers for questions put to Ministers.
Standing at the dispatch box in the House of Commons chamber visitors get to play the role of prime minister. On view in St. Stephen's Hall is the statue to which Emily Pankhurst chained herself during the suffragettes' protest movement.
Back in Westminster Hall, the guide indicates the dreaded King's Chair, where Charles I, William Wallace (Braveheart) and Guy Fawkes were tried and condemned.
Leaving the palace, statues of republican warrior Oliver Cromwell and crusader-king Richard the Lionhearted bring to mind the tortuous history Britain has endured to gain a democratic parliament that sits in a once-royal palace.
5. Maritime Greenwich
Greenwich Mean Time is set at the Royal Observatory in this London borough, mandating time on clocks around the globe. Also at the Royal Observatory is the Prime Meridian, establishing the world's settings for longitude.
Located by the Thames in southeast London, Maritime Greenwich boasts more than the observatory, however.
"The ensemble of buildings at Greenwich ... symbolize English artistic and scientific endeavour in the 17th and 18th centuries," the UNESCO listing reads.
Architectural highlights include the Queen's House, the first true Renaissance building in Britain, and Sir Christopher Wren's beautiful baroque buildings, especially the twin domes of the Painted Hall and Chapel of Saints Peter and Paul, part of the Old Royal Naval College.
The National Maritime Museum features a wave tank for experiments, toy boats illustrating maritime history and until September 30, a small exhibition focusing on personal stories of survivors of the Titanic.
Something special is the Cutty Sark. Built in 1869 and "re-launched" last April following extensive repairs in the wake of a fire in 2007, she is said to be the "last surviving tea clipper and the fastest and greatest of her time."
Note: During the 2012 Olympic Games Greenwich Park will host modern pentathlon and equestrian events.
Information: Visit Greenwich
© 2011 Cable News Network Turner Broadcasting System, Inc. All Rights Reserved | <urn:uuid:9e7d05c5-d3e2-42ff-acf4-0d6f8ce58f13> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/24/travel/london-world-heritage-sites/index.html?hpt=itr_t1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941734 | 1,602 | 2.09375 | 2 |
CCT still Aquino govt's anti-poverty centerpiece
MANILA, Philippines - The Aquino government's target to reduce poverty to 16.6% by 2015 is dependent largely on the Conditional Cash Transfer (CCT) program, according to the economic planning agency.
In a statement on Wednesday, July 18, the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) said the CCT will receive one of the biggest allocations in the 2013 budget to help the government meet its poverty and other development targets.
Neda Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan said that the proposed PhP2.006-trillion budget in 2013 was designed so the government’s programs will have a significant dent on poverty targets and development goals will be achieved earlier.
"The government’s proposed budget for 2013 is P2.006 trillion, which is 10.5% higher than the P1.816-trillion budget this year. Next year, almost a third of the budget will go to social services," Neda Director General Arsenio M. Balisacan said.
The CCT, a centerpiece of the government's social services, is a cash incentive program for poor households that requires recipients to send their children to school and submit them to regular check-ups. Pregnant women are also required to regularly see a doctor during their pregnancy.
The CCT program covered 3.1 million families as of April 2012, exceeding this year's target of 3 million.
Balisacan noted that enrollment rates in kindergarten, elementary and secondary levels between 2009 and 2011 have improved. "The [enrollment] levels in elementary increased to 91% in 2011 from 88.1% in 2009," he said.
“For example, the target in education is to bring down the classroom gap to zero by next year, instead of by 2015. Teacher and textbook gaps are also aimed to be brought down to zero by next year,” Balisacan said.
The CCT helps plug the gap between the economic growth experienced by some sectors of the society and the poor.
Balisacan stressed that, despite the continuous economic growth from 2000 and 2009, the proportion of poor Filipinos seemed to plateau between 2000 and 2009. Why economic growth was not trickling down to the poor puzzled him when he was still in the academe (he assumed his Neda post this June).
Official poverty statistics, based on the Family Income and Expenditure Survey, showed that the proportion of poor families stood at:
- 28.4% in 2000
- 24.9% in 2003
- 26.4% in 2006
- 26.5% in 2009
In the same period, the economy grew between 3.5% and 4.7%.
Given the government's massive investment in social services, Balisacan expressed hope that the poverty survey would show better results.
"I would be surprised if we don’t see a reduction in poverty in this year’s FIES given the expansion in social services and respectable growth.
He also cited the tame inflation in the past months. "Inflation is a very important determinant of poverty because it affects the purchasing power of the poor more than it does affect the rich," he said.
18 July 2012 | <urn:uuid:f9ca5967-16aa-4488-86b0-1f86bf6cf024> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asiaviews.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=38246:cct-still-aquino-govts-anti-poverty-centerpiece&catid=8:on-business&Itemid=46 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961682 | 674 | 1.742188 | 2 |
About Their Bodies
Between Untested Therapies & Intrusive Politics,
RN Says Individuals Must Take Responsibility for Their Health
There’s plenty of information about women’s physical and health-care needs. Unfortunately, some of it is incomplete, or based on opinion and conjecture, or it’s just plain bad information, says registered nurse Iyalode Edwards.
“Women tend to be more vigilant about their bodies than men, and there is a huge marketplace of literature, products, studies, politics and other opinions on women’s health,” says Edwards, author of “Multiple Orgasms Made Simple: ‘How to Do It’ Sex Secrets All Women Should Know!” (www.multipleOmadesimple.com).
“Not all of it makes sense.”
It’s only natural that women are more focused on their bodies than men because women have the more complex anatomy, she says. But old ideas from a society based in patriarchy, along with today’s health market issues, can create confusion. Edwards, who has more than 35 years experience as a registered nurse, clarifies three points about which she sees the most misunderstanding among her patients:
• Untested therapies: Several years ago hormone replacement therapy was all the rage, used almost as a cure-all for post-menopausal women suffering a variety of symptoms. After a few decades, however, a large percentage of those women started suffering ovarian and breast cancer, in addition to other complications. More recently, vaccines for the human papillomavirus have been touted to girls and young women as the new preventative measure against cervical cancer. But thousands of girls have experienced a wide range of side effects, including seizures, strokes, dizziness, fatigue, weakness, headaches, vomiting, weakness, joint pain, auto-immune problems, chest pains, hair loss, appetite loss, personality changes, insomnia, tremors and menstrual cycle changes. Be wary of new cure-alls. Adverse effects are sometimes not revealed until they’ve been in use for a significant amount of time.
• Health through pleasure: A 2011 survey by Jane Magazine found that, while more than 87 percent of men aged 18 to 26 years old experienced orgasm “most or all of the time” during sex, only 46.8 percent of women could say the same thing. Not only could that percentage be much higher for women, it could be more meaningful, too. “The truth is, if you have all your sex organs intact and can achieve the first level of climax, then you can achieve it multiple times during the same encounter,” Edwards says. “You just need information, and there has been too much misinformation disseminated.” Sexual satisfaction comes with several health benefits, including improved cardiovascular functioning, sounder sleep and a deeper bond with a partner.
• The politics of women’s health: As imperative as it is to know more and listen closely to one’s body, it is also important to stay connected to current events since women’s health care has become a political football, she says. Comments from multiple elected officials seem to be narrowing the definition of rape, and there are many who support limiting women’s care in insurance plans, to name a few public debates. “I want women to be more aware of their bodies,” Edwards says. “Unfortunately, the rhetoric of many politicians seems to be pointing backward regarding our health.”
About Iyalode Edwards, R.N.
Iyalode Edwards is the author of “Multiple Orgasms Made Simple,” a straightforward, step-by-step how-to guide that includes physiological explanations for sensations women experience. Edwards is a registered nurse with more than 35 years of experience. She informally interviewed a number of women and physicians as part of her research. | <urn:uuid:0e141000-a7a2-424a-8ee5-ac08c8718f11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gilmermirror.com/pages/full_story/push?article-3+Things+All+Women+Should+Know-About+Their+Bodies%20&id=21096269 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96015 | 811 | 2.078125 | 2 |
eee at netcom.com
Mon Feb 24 22:21:02 EST 1997
I've just started my mass culture for _D._melanogaster_,
and I'd be interested in any constructive criticism of my
First, I should state my objectives. I want a system for
growing a fairly large quantity of flies. I don't know
exactly how large a quantity will be sufficient, but I'd
estimate to the nearest order of magnitude 100 grams dry
weight per month.
This system must be something that could be constructed
from materials available to the average citizen. That's
because I have a SECRET PLAN to popularize growing fruit
flies as a hobby. Oy, do I have a plan!
A bit of a snag I've run into is that Carolina Biological
Supply won't sell mold inhibitors like methyl paraben or
fly anaesthetics like Fly-Nap to the general public, only
schools and industry. So, I'm concentrating on designs
that avoid the need for either.
Because this hobby would be promoted among non-biologists,
it would be a plus if the system hides the larvae and mold
from the fly-breeder. Less icky that way. What I want is
a disposable, no-clean system, so that when the culture is
spent, you just bag it up and throw it away.
My first experiment has about one and a half kilograms
of sliced bananas for the culture medium. I thought it
would be best just to slice them, not mash them, so that
I wouldn't be distributing mold or bacteria spores throughout
the culture medium. Only the surface would be contaminated.
Also, I dipped the banana slices in a solution of water
and a packet of active dry yeast (yeast sold for making
bread). I guess yeast is an important component of fly
food, though I don't know if it's just for the vitamins
or whether it competes with mold too.
My culture vessel is a tall plastic wastebasket with a
tapered rectangular cross-section. This particular
design had a separate pop-up piece in the lid, so by
removing this piece I had a hoop that fit closely on the
top of the waste basket.
I lined the wastebasket with two garbage bags of an
appropriate size. I put one bag inside the other, as
a precaution against leaks or tears. I covered the top
with a piece of cloth sold as a "flour sack dishrag".
I was going to use cheesecloth, but the mesh appeared
too coarse to me for this purpose. The hoop makes a
fly-proof seam around the top of the wastebasket, holding
the bags and cloth in place.
For harvesting purposes, I've made an opening in the cloth.
I took a styrofoam coffee cup and cut off the top and
bottom to make a small cone, open at each end. This fits
into a larger cone, which is a coffee cup with just the
bottom cut off. I use pins to hold the cones together with
the cloth in-between.
Right now, I've just got a third coffee cup on top of
the harvesting port, to act as a cap. When I start
harvesting, I plan to use another open cone made from
a coffee cup to act as a retaining ring to hold a plastic
baggie in place. I plan to rely on the climbing behavior
of the flies and the attraction to light to lure them into
The fly-breeder only needs to see adult flies. The larvae
and mold stays at the bottom of the wastebasket, and when the
culture is spent, he or she just gathers up the top and
tosses it out with the garbage. My plan is perfect! Now
I just need to demonstrate that it works.
One mistake I think I made already is that I didn't seed
the culture right away with the flies from Carolina. I
waited until the original cultures had visible larvae
in them, and by then the number of adults had declined
considerably. If I had seeded the mass culture with more
adults, I think I would be further ahead of the race with
Another possible mistake is the use of bananas. Is there
another fruit these flies can eat? My whole apartment
smells of bananas. What about plums or apricots? I'm
going to get tired of bananas real quick.
More information about the Dros | <urn:uuid:514a46a6-07b4-42a8-ae35-ae7c287c12e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bio.net/bionet/mm/dros/1997-February/002794.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946716 | 950 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Book 28, Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada (1838) – Anna Brownell Jameson
From the back cover:
“In 1836, Anna Jameson sailed from London, England, to join her husband in Upper Canada, where he was serving as attorney general. Shaking off the mud of Muddy York with mild disdain, young Mrs. Jameson swiftly sallied forth to discover the New World for herself.
The best known of all nineteenth century Canadian travel books, Winter Studies and Summer Rambles in Canada is Jameson’s wonderfully entertaining account of her adventures, ranging from gleeful observations about the pretensions of high society in the colonies to a “wild expedition” she took by canoe into Indian country.
Jameson’s keen eye, intrepid spirit, irreverent sense of humour and staunch feminist perspective make this journal an invaluable record of life in pre-Confederation Canada.”
Other useful links:
the Wikipedia entry for Anna Brownell Jameson
The Dictionary of Canadian Biography Online article on Anna Brownell Jameson and Winter Studies and Summer Rambles
a map of Upper Canada in 1836, the year Anna Brownell Jameson took her journey
I’ve only just started this one, but one interesting thing is that Jameson’s husband is such a prominent figure in I’ve Got a Home in Glory Land, which I’ve just read.
This book took a very long time to read but in fact I did finish it back in May(!) It’s now November!
The format of this book is very unusual—perhaps unique. In 1836 Jameson travelled to Toronto just before winter set in, and of course in the days before central heating, there wasn’t much to do in the long Canadian winter, but hunker down and read. The first part of her book is like, well, like a book blog, detailing her reading and her thoughts about Goethe (whom she had personally met). I enjoyed the intermittent descriptions of her life in Toronto (& would have loved for her to give us more), but I’m afraid I couldn’t fully appreciate her literary analysis because I haven’t read anything by any of the authors she mentioned.
After the long cabin fever, Jameson was ready to go out & explore, and the second half of the book is a travel memoir. Despite advice to stay in what passed for civilisation (she was deeply homesick for the cultured salons of Europe), she decided to embark by herself on a remarkable trip into what was then the deep interior of the country. First, she journeyed down through the settled areas along Lake Erie’s northern shore and then by bateau and canoe north, traversing Lake Huron to Michilimackinack and Manatoulin islands (where she attended the annual gathering of First Nations of the area), and then south through Georgian Bay and Lake Simcoe, and finally travelling overland down Yonge Street back to Toronto. She describes the people (settlers & First Nations) in great detail, tells anecdotes, relates First Nations folk tales, discusses the Chippewa (i.e. Ojibwa) language & customs, and depicts her experience of the landscape with a wonderfully observant eye.
I absolutely loved this book. What a treasure Anna Brownell Jameson has left us! As long as it was, I wished it would go on for another 300 pages. | <urn:uuid:1ee9606d-b1d9-4583-b756-f2ecaa48ddab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.readerofthestack.com/canlit-challenge-book-28-winter-studies-and-summer-rambles-in-canada-by-anna-brownell-jameson | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941491 | 727 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Elizabeth Zorn, M.D.
Becoming Doctor Natural Selection
By Pat Mack
Elizabeth Zorn '91 M.D., had several personal reasons for becoming a doctor.
She survived cancer as a child. Her father's career as a physician provided inspiration. And she discovered a love of science during college.
She now serves as the first female president of the medical staff of Phoenix Children's Hospital even as she continues an active clinical practice in the hospital's Pediatric Intensive Care Unit.
"I love what I do," Zorn said. "I am very, very glad I took the path that I did."
Her experience as an oncology patient at the age of 12 influenced her decision to become a pediatrician. After diagnosis, Zorn's treatment required regular travel to Omaha from Tyndall, S.D. The facility was more sophisticated than anything in South Dakota at that time, but it was not a dedicated pediatric hospital.
"I was a child who had this experience in an adult hospital," she said. "I clearly remember many of my diagnostic tests and interactions with health care professionals along the way. I call upon those experiences now, and it makes me really appreciate the care we can provide in a dedicated pediatric facility. I think that's one of the reasons why I ended up in pediatrics."
When she first went to college, she thought she would go on to law school, not medical school. However, with her first chemistry class she found sciences were her affinity. She considered using her love of science in a career as an attorney, perhaps working for the EPA. "But I realized lawyers are immersed in conflict," she said. "What I wanted to do was make a difference in a positive way. Becoming a doctor was a natural selection that I resisted for awhile."
She said her gender was never an issue during her medical school, residency and fellowship training. But she said she does feel professional women carry a heavier responsibility in raising children. "Those of us women who work full-time have a different set of expectations on us about how we balance everything, because when it comes right down to it, we're still the moms," she said.
A group of women in medicine meet regularly at Phoenix Children's Hospital. "We thought it would be good to discuss issues that come up particular to women," she said.
One of the physicians in the group recently retired. She recalled her experiences 40 years earlier when she and her husband were residents at the same hospital. Zorn said, "He was paid for his work, and she was not paid because she was his wife, and she was, I guess, expected to provide her services for free."
Zorn said the woman's experience was a good reminder. "I realize my path was forged by these women who put their heads down, worked hard, resisted when resistance was necessary but in the end, did what they had to do to become fabulous women and fabulous doctors."
In fact, Zorn sees an advantage in being a female doctor. "Women by nature are caretakers and communicators. We listen, and we are patient. Those characteristics are so important in being an excellent physician."
Zorn has a strong passion for medical education. She and the Foley family created the Dr. R.J. and Phyllis Foley Endowed Scholarship to honor their parents and to help medical students afford school. She also teaches medical students and residents who flow through her critical care pediatric unit. "That's what medicine is about, teaching others to provide excellence in their care," Zorn said. "I enjoy teaching. I enjoy interacting with these energetic students. They challenge you. They keep you on your toes."
Her advice for medical students - male and female - is that medicine is a great profession that offers unlimited opportunities. "You can go anywhere in the world and share your knowledge, expertise and skills," Zorn said. "Medical school and residency training education is a long path that requires a lot of commitment, but at the end you gain the skills to do incredible things." | <urn:uuid:80d8cf7c-8636-4015-bacf-ccbe7b48fd34> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usd.edu/medical-school/elizabeth-zorn.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991654 | 833 | 1.554688 | 2 |
The sixth annual Latino Culture Night will educate people with demonstrations of the various Latin American cultures Friday.
The event is organized every semester by Chicana/o Latina/o Graduate and Professional Student Association (CAMARADAS), said Maria Rosales-Soto, the organization’s public relations officer.
The theme this year is Latin America, and the goal is to show the WSU community the various Latin countries and cultures, she said. Everything at the event will be from Latin America, including dinner and cultural performances of singing and dancing, she said.
The evening will consist of 10 performances representing nine different Latin American countries, she said. There will be displays for the countries that are not represented by performances.
“There will be a surprise activity for people to learn about Latin America in a fun way,” she said, “with a raffle for the winner of the activity.”
Since 1970, CAMARADAS has provided a support system for Chicana/o Latina/o graduate and professional students that serves as a proactive agent in the community and provides a place for students to discuss issues that affect their unique educational, professional and personal issues, Rosales-Soto said.
“The Latino Culture Night is a cultural event that highlights the diversity within the Chicana/o, Latina/o community,” she said. “In addition, this event will produce a better educated, more racially sensitive and intellectually aware student body while reinforcing the values associated with
CAMARADAS is hoping for a total of at least 350 students, faculty and community members to attend the event.
“A lot of (the performers) are international students from Central and South America that are a part of (CAMARADAS),” said Maria Morales, a student in the doctoral program for cultural studies and social thought in education.
This year’s Latino Culture Night is larger because last year the tickets quickly ran out, she said. About twice as many tickets were printed for this year due to the interest shown for the event last year, she said.
Students from the University of Idaho (UI) will also be performing at the Latino Culture Night, she said. UI puts on a similar event every year and one of the things CAMARADAS does is arrange for students at UI to perform for the WSU event and WSU students to perform for the UI event.
“There’s the idea that all Latinos are from Mexico,” she said. “That’s one of the points of the event, is to show that there’s not just one Latino culture but many Latino cultures.” | <urn:uuid:66dab638-d6bb-42c9-b34a-d4a9b6f98622> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dailyevergreen.wsu.edu/read/Latino-Culture-Night-aims-to-educate | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955686 | 555 | 1.820313 | 2 |
(Added page for this project.)
Latest revision as of 14:10, 31 January 2013
I've made three copies of a bat house based up on the Rocket design, posted elsewhere. Example
I started by laying out the pieces on a 4'x8' work surface, assuming I'd use plywood. I ended up with two sheets of plywood to make enough parts for 3 bat houses.
I took the design, along with some plywood, to the Fab Lab at Lorraine county Community College, southwest of Cleveland. They have a Shop Bot and were very helpful in getting me going on that. I cut all the parts and then stalled for a little bit until I joined i3. With the tools and renewed motivation, I varnished both sides of the pieces and put them together.
As it turns out, plywood is not the best choice for this kind of construction. When you shoot screws edgewise to fasten one sheet to another, it tends to splity the layers. Pre-drilling helps, but does not completely solve the problem. If you want to know more, ask! | <urn:uuid:b3ba490b-8e1c-4801-a862-692c5f3e6de6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://i3detroit.com/wi/index.php?title=Bat_House&oldid=4591&diff=prev | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976242 | 230 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Volume XIX, Nos. 1 and 2, 2006
Glenn A. Davis
Irving Babbitt, the Moral Imagination,and Progressive Education
Glenn A. Davis
Literature and the American College
, Irving Babbitt’s critiqueof the new educational theories, was first published in 1908, it wasa shot fired across the bow of the ship of progressive reform inAmerican higher education. Babbitt fired a sound shot, but he lostthe war. Since that time, educational reform has run through vari-ous movements, including, but not limited to, the industrial edu-cation movement, the mental testing movement, differentiatedcurriculum, child-centered education, the mental hygiene move-ment, the efficiency movement, constructivism, and education forlife-adjustment, all reform movements advanced under the rubricof “progressive education.”
Yet, readers who review educationalpractice and who delve into the voluminous works on educationaltheory over the past century, will recognize that Babbitt’s writingson education as an ethical pursuit remain topical. Now more thanever, Americans argue the purpose and value of education and de-bate the central issues of educational content and methodology, asBabbitt did one hundred years ago.Babbitt’s voice should continue to be heard in the public de-bate because his central concern was with that timeless questionraised by the Greeks and most explicitly put forth by Christ: Forwhat is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose
is head of the Middle School Division, All Saints EpiscopalSchool, in Lubbock, Texas.
Left Back: A Century of Battles Over School Reform
(New York:Touchstone, 2001), 60, 412. | <urn:uuid:657a599c-99ce-4792-92e1-80a72672f712> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scribd.com/doc/51880580/Irving-Babbitt-the-Moral-Imagination | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908273 | 369 | 2.40625 | 2 |
ISAT Reading Performance Definitions
Students who exceed standards demonstrate a strong comprehension of text beyond their grade level. They use word, sentence, and paragraph clues to determine vocabulary meaning and context clues to interpret the meaning of sophisticated figurative expressions.
Students accurately identify explicit and implicit main ideas and specific details, making connections between several points in a passage. They use evidence implicit in the passage and prior knowledge to accurately draw inferences and conclusions and to extract concepts. They draw conclusions about character traits by examining dialogue and narration and can trace the development of complex themes. They can explain how setting contributes to meaning.
Students make and verify predictions about forthcoming information or events. They distinguish among facts, inferences, and opinions and analyze text to determine causes for actions. They analyze author’s purpose and understand how the author’s words create mood, imagery, and tone. They can explain verbal irony.
Students analyze structural features of text, synthesizing information to interpret diagrams, charts, and graphs. They follow complex multi-step directions.
Students who meet standards demonstrate an overall comprehension of grade level text. They use word, sentence, and paragraph clues to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary and use context clues to interpret figurative language.
Students recognize main ideas and distinguish them from supporting details. They draw inferences and conclusions using textual support and prior knowledge. They can determine character traits and the influence of setting on conflict as well as identify primary themes.
Students can make accurate predictions about forthcoming events. They can distinguish among facts, opinions, and inferences to analyze text. They recognize author’s purpose as well as the use of literary elements and devices to influence the reader’s attitudes and feelings. They identify mood and tone. They understand verbal irony.
Students analyze features of text to interpret diagrams, charts, and graphs. They follow multi-step directions.
Students at the below standards level demonstrate an incomplete understanding of grade-level text. They use only immediate context to determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary. They tend to make literal interpretations of figurative language.
Students may be unable to separate main ideas from supporting details. They struggle to draw inferences and conclusions. They may identify plot events but are generally unable to trace the development of themes. They can identify facts about characters but not character traits. They have little understanding of the effect of setting on plot.
Students may be able to make obvious predictions. They sometimes identify obvious opinions and recognize the use of literary devices but lack the skills to analyze their impact. They seldom recognize mood or tone, and have little understanding of verbal irony.
Students can find directly stated information but cannot synthesize parts of a diagram, chart, or graph to form a conclusion. They follow only simple instructions.
Students at the academic warning level have a limited understanding of grade-level text. Due to a weak understanding of grade-level vocabulary, they cannot determine the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary or figurative language.
Students cannot identify main ideas or distinguish supporting details. They comprehend only literal statements and have few insights into aspects of characterization or a story’s theme. A lack of comprehension prevents them from following a sequence of events.
Students cannot make accurate predictions. They may be able to identify an author’s broad purpose but do not recognize the use of opinions or reasons behind actions. They lack a familiarity with literary devices and genres and do not recognize mood, tone, or irony.
Students misuse or ignore aspects of practical text such as bold print and headings to understand text and struggle to follow simple directions. | <urn:uuid:9c26e8fc-dde9-449f-a4c2-876976fdae5e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.isbe.net/assessment/htmls/reading_isat_perfdef_g6.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917572 | 723 | 4.3125 | 4 |
Natalie Gulbis has withdrawn from the LPGA Founders Cup because of malaria contracted during the tour’s Asian swing.The LPGA Tour and the International Management Group said Wednesday that Gulbis is being treated at home in Las Vegas and is expected to be at full strength in three weeks.
As our friend Wiserbud notes at H2, “Rachel Carson scores again!”
US casualties to malaria in World War II, at Guadalcanal, and in Italy, drained troop strength greatly. Extraordinary measures to combat mosquitoes, including the liberal use of DDT, eventually brought rates of infection down.
But the near universal ban on DDT means that millions of people around the world still die or suffer needlessly from malaria (and a host of other diseases), including US troops.
We’ve become so accustomed to successfully defeating a host of diseases our parent and grandparent lived in dread of that we forget the threat is real. | <urn:uuid:e2d67d98-9b89-49c5-9b24-4ec794ea2433> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://xbradtc.com/2013/03/14/top-lpga-player-withdraws-from-tournament-after-contracting-malaria-cbs-las-vegas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956391 | 199 | 1.640625 | 2 |
David Landau celebrates Judaism, and worries
Bibi has hijacked the Haredim, the former Haaretz editor-in-chief wrote recently in a special report in The Economist on Judaism and the Jews. The peaceniks need to woo them back, he says in this interview. And if Bibi's right about anything, it's the Iranian nukes.
It might not seem like a natural subject for The Economist, but earlier this month, the British news weekly - renowned for its coverage of global affairs and business - published a 10,000-word special insert on the state of the Jewish religion and its followers.
The 12-page supplement titled "Judaism and the Jews: Alive and Well," which sparked lively discussion in the Jewish world and beyond, was the brainchild of David Landau, The Economist's long-time correspondent in Jerusalem. He'd been nurturing the idea for years, Landau says, but it wasn't an easy sell mainly because he was initially determined to sidestep the rather delicate issue of Israel -- "the elephant in the middle of the room," as he puts it.
His bosses in London eventually persuaded Landau that any discussion of the plight of the Jews could not avoid the plight of the Jewish state.
"They were absolutely right," he says. "It would have been completely bizarre and not at all journalistic to pretend to write about Jews and Judaism without acknowledging that the very center of Jewish life and thought today is Israel."
Landau, former editor-in-chief of Haaretz, was initially concerned readers might interpret the initiative as his coming to terms with a post-Israel world, a world in which the Jewish people survive and flourish without the need for a state, he says.
"One of the things that worried me throughout the long period when this project was gestating is that I would be accused of contemplating, in a sort of sub-textual way, Judaism post-Israel," he recounts. "Is this piece saying that Judaism is alive and well regardless of whether Israel is capable of sustaining itself as a Zionist Jewish sovereign state? Is that why I'm writing about Judaism in The Economist?"
During the four months he spent working on the supplement, Landau traveled around the United States and Europe and interviewed dozens of better-known and lesser-known Jews. The end product, in his view and as its title suggests, is a "celebration of the Jewish religion, its resilience, its ability to reinvent itself and its ability to surprise its detractors and doomsayers."
An overriding theme of the report is that the Haredim are now a force to be reckoned with in the Jewish world (the cover of the supplement features a photo of a Haredi man strolling on the beach with three small children), and if Israel is to survive as a sovereign Jewish state, it is incumbent on those in the peace camp to change their attitudes and reach out to these ultra-Orthodox Jews.
Haredim and secular: More in common than they think
The secular left in Israel and the Haredim, observes Landau -- he himself an unusual breed in that he moves easily in both worlds -- have more in common than they think.
"Secular Zionists treat their heritage of Judaism in a non-fundamentalist way," says Landau. "You study the Bible and read the stories and try to adapt it to your modern perspective. In a funny sort of way, the Haredim do the same. When they read the story of Joshua, they don't apply it immediately to themselves and grab the nearest Uzi and start shooting. With them, there isn't this crude concretization, which is the religion of the settlers. If Joshua did it, we've got to do it. The Arabs are Amalek, and they've got to be extirpated. That, to my mind, is the true fundamentalism and the true danger to the survival of this country. But the Haredim are not part of that."
So he can't understand why smart people, like Aaron David Miller -- the former U.S. State Department adviser and Middle East peace negotiator -- just don't get it. Landau whips out his smartphone to pull up a New York Times op-ed piece by Miller published on the day of our interview that made him absolutely livid, mainly because of the following sentence about Israel: "The country's demographics look bad -- too many ultra-Orthodox Jews, Palestinians and Israeli Arabs -- and not enough secular Jews."
"I'm sitting here and thinking to myself, 'Could a non-Jewish person have written that?'" asks Landau. "Would Aaron David Miller have written in The New York Times that the demographics in Turkey look bad -- too many veiled women and not enough secular Turks?' Could he get away with writing that? I feel like saying to him, 'Tell me, have you bothered checking the demographics of the Jewish community of Cleveland, Ohio, where you come from? Today, 49 percent of the Jewish children in New York are Haredi, so Aaron David Miller has to look in his own backyard before he makes this sort of statement. This is the kind of know-it-all elitism that has been so characteristic of the Diaspora Jewish leadership and the Israeli elite for so long. It's pathetic, and if in this Economist piece, I've succeeded in making six people of consequence rethink Jewish demographics, then the whole thing was worth it."
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ability to blur the distinctions between Haredim and Orthodox Zionists, maintains Landau, has contributed enormously to his political success. "The fact that it's been so easy for Bibi to lump together all the Haredi parties with the settlers and make them the bulwark of his coalition -- it's remarkable when you think about it. Has anyone thought about the fact that there are really no Haredim in the West Bank? That in 2005 the Haredim joined Sharon's government with the full knowledge that this would enable him to move ahead with the disengagement from Gaza? Why hasn't that left an impact on people?"
Landau, an observant British-born Jew who wears a black kippa, describes himself as a "non-religious Zionist, a pure Herzlian secular Zionist." Very soon after the 1967 war, when he was still a newcomer to Israel, he says, he understood that the initial euphoria that swept through the country was misplaced.
Not only doesn't he see any connection between religious adherence and Zionism: "I vehemently deny any religious significance to this enterprise called the State of Israel. I honestly believe that the Biblical prophecies contemplated something much more perfect than the Tel Aviv bus station, and I think the investiture of religion into this enterprise is its undoing."
But if Israel, like other European nation-states, is going to have a state religion, then in Landau's view, that religion has to be Jewish orthodoxy.
"The reason for that is that the roots -- the political, cultural and demographic roots -- of Israel are in places where Judaism was not heavily infiltrated, if you like, by the non-Orthodox denominations," he says. "American Jews don't understand this, and they want to change the balance here by means that are not one-man, one-vote. That makes for a permanent undertone of crisis in the Israeli-Diaspora relationship."
He is particularly enraged by the recent success of the Conservative and Reform movements in striking down a bill that would have eased the conversion process for 300,000 Russian immigrants living in Israel but in exchange would have give the chief rabbinate authority over conversions.
"Israel, with all its screwed up politics and religion, brought these Russians here and is trying to help convert them, and the American Jewish non-Orthodox organizations have put a spoke in that wheel. Our prime minister, in his kowtowing cowardice toward American Jewish money, went along with them, and it's a great bloody shame," he expostulates.
Netanyahu does deserve credit, maintains Landau, for strengthening ties between Israel and the Diaspora more than any of his predecessors, but on the downside he did so on his own terms: he managed to rally world Jewry behind his own policies on the settlements. "That's devastating because he's put them behind a policy that dooms us," Landau says.
In a departure from the rather optimistic tone of the Economist report, Landau says he fears "the march of folly of Jewish history" continues today. "If our leadership is so short-sighted as to lead us into a situation where we lose our sovereign state because it no longer rests on a Democratic majority of Jews, then we'll have done it to ourselves, just like we did it in the past. That's not to mitigate the murderous responsibility of our persecutors, but even before Christianity, we didn't do too well running our sovereign state."
His detractors on the right may be reassured to know there is one issue on which Landau firmly backs Netanyahu. "I've always been behind him on Iran," he says. "Always, always, always, because I feel exactly the way he does about the lessons of the Holocaust. I'm totally against using any sort of Holocaust reference for anything other than the Holocaust, but a nuclear bomb is a Holocaust, and I think he and Barak read our history right in that context. But I think to myself, 'For Christ's sake, if he's reading it right in that context, how come he's not reading it right in the context of the threat to our Jewish Democratic state, which is just as palpable in my eyes?" | <urn:uuid:981962dd-42f0-4935-92be-72e0fceb9082> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.haaretz.com/news/features/david-landau-celebrates-judaism-and-worries-1.459413 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972634 | 1,986 | 1.75 | 2 |
LONGEVITY MEME NEWSLETTER
March 31 2008
The Longevity Meme Newsletter is a weekly e-mail containing news, opinions and happenings for people interested in healthy life extension: making use of diet, lifestyle choices, technology and proven medical advances to live healthy, longer lives.
- Methuselah Foundation News
- Lose the Visceral Fat
- Attitudes Towards Engineered Longevity
- Latest Healthy Life Extension Headlines
METHUSELAH FOUNDATION NEWS
The March newsletter and Foundation progress report is online:
"We feel it only appropriate to begin this issue of the newsletter by expressing our deepest gratitude to our donors. Your generosity during December and January - with $1,860,000 received or pledged in those two months alone - will allow the Foundation to more than double its spending on SENS research in 2008. As well as strengthening our existing research teams, we are now ready to initiate work in at least two more strands of the SENS program during the coming year; all thanks to the generosity of our supporters."
Additionally, biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey will appear on the April 1st Barbara Walters special on longevity science:
"What's likely to happen within the next 20 to 25, 30 years, we will develop technology that will buy a bit of time. We will develop rejuvenation technology that can be applied to people that are already middle-age and keep them middle-age, or less so to speak, for another 20 or 30 years. During that 20 or 30 years, the technology will be further advanced to give them another, let's say, 15 years, and so on."
LOSE THE VISCERAL FAT
The association between excess visceral fat - the fat packed in around your abdominal organs - and age-related degeneration and disease has been known for a while. Insulin resistance, inflammation, cardiovascular disease, the atherosclerosis that ups and kills you with little warning, Alzheimer's disease, and so forth - all solidly linked to carrying more fat next to your organs than is needed. In recent years researchers have more clearly elucidated the biological mechanisms by which excess visceral fat leads to a shorter, less healthy life:
"Excess body fat held over the years causes chronic inflammation, which enrages your immune system, which leads to atherosclerosis, which tends to kill you abruptly and without warning. All very avoidable. To make matters worse, excess fat - or rather all the food you ate in order to create the excess fat - creates a feedback mechanism that leads to insulin resistance and diabetes, and this makes the atherosclerosis-generation process run faster.
"But that extra fat won't just make you much more prone to be frail, and it won't just try to kill you - it'll also eat your mind. Researchers are coming to view Alzheimer's disease as analogous to diabetes, a result of lifestyle choices for most, touching on many of the same metabolic processes as diabetes, and the risk factors seem to be much the same.
"The study of more than 6,000 people found the more fat they had in their guts in their early to mid-40s the greater their chances of becoming forgetful or confused or showing other signs of senility as they aged. Those who had the most impressive midsections faced more than twice the risk of the leanest. Surprisingly, a sizable stomach seems to increase the risk even among those who are not obese, or even overweight."
All the more reason to take care of the health basics of diet and exercise; avoiding the damage of excess fat is fortunately straightforward for most of us.
ATTITUDES TOWARDS ENGINEERED LONGEVITY
Interesting excerpts from a scientific study of attitudes to longevity and the healthy life extension technologies were posted to CryoNet recently:
"The study presented subjects with a range of positive and negative viewpoints on healthy life extension. The viewpoints vary widely in validity, with those on the economic side of the house being particularly bad, but I don't think that's too important when it comes to drawing conclusions from the reactions of study participants.
"The age of the respondent was related to life-extension attitudes [with] the older respondents tilting in the pro-longevity direction. ... The older the adult, the more likely is he or she to reject [any of the] harsh negativity toward life extension ... Correspondingly, chronological age is positively associated with endorsement of items that promise a Utopian future with life extension ... Finally, the outcome for [negative viewpoints suggesting economic problems associated with increased longevity] is somewhat counterintuitive as we observe that older adults are significantly more disposed to endorse anti-longevity items. These items concern the added costs of health-care and social welfare and hence raise the possibility of exhaustion of financial resources."
I think there's ample circumstantial evidence to suspect that those who claim to be fine with the personal suffering and death that comes with untreated aging will mostly change their minds when they get there. Unpleasant futures are all too easily hand-waved away for another day - until that day finally comes home to roost. All the more reason to step up and help to make the near future a place in which working rejuvenation technologies exist:
The highlights and headlines from the past week follow below.
Remember - if you like this newsletter, the chances are that your friends will find it useful too. Forward it on, or post a copy to your favorite online communities. Encourage the people you know to pitch in and make a difference to the future of health and longevity!
LATEST HEALTHY LIFE EXTENSION HEADLINES
To view commentary on the latest news headlines complete with links and references, please visit the daily news section of the Longevity Meme: http://www.longevitymeme.org/news/
Olshanksy on the Longevity Dividend (March 28 2008)
Here's a third transcript from last year's Securing the Longevity Dividend event. The speaker is S. Jay Olshansky, representative of those who believe the best path forward is to slow aging via metabolic manipulation. "Now, let me just give you the bottom line, and then I will give you the rationale behind it. The main argument in this manuscript was fairly straightforward, and that is, the time has arrived for us to make an investment that we have never made before, and that is an effort to slow the biological process of aging in people. We are making this argument now for a number of reasons, one of the most important of which is - and you are speaking to a very conservative individual here - I am willing to say something now that I was not willing to say just five to ten years ago. That is that I believe the technology and the field of aging has advanced sufficiently that many of us now believe that it is not just a plausible goal to slow aging in people, but a necessary goal - something that we must pursue in the coming decades, for reasons that I am going to demonstrate shortly."
Hair Follicles to Blood Vessels (March 28 2008)
Tissue engineers at work: "Engineering blood vessels for bypass surgery, promoting the formation of new blood vessels or regenerating new skin tissue using stem cells obtained from the most accessible source - hair follicles - is a real possibility ... We have demonstrated that engineered blood vessels prepared with smooth muscle progenitor cells from hair follicles are capable of dilating and constricting, critical properties that make them ideal for engineering cardiovascular tissue regeneration ... Since smooth muscle cells comprise the muscle of numerous tissues and organs, including the bladder, abdominal cavity and gastrointestinal and respiratory tracts, this new, accessible source of cells may make possible future treatments that allow for the regeneration of these damaged organs as well. ... The best case scenario is that from this one very accessible and highly proliferative source of stem cells, we will be able to obtain multiple different cell types that can be used for a broad range of applications in regenerative medicine."
Aubrey de Grey on Futures in Biotech (March 27 2008)
A long audio interview with biomedical gerontologist and healthy life extension advocate Aubrey de Grey can be found at Futures in Biotech: "Benjamin Franklin said: 'In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes'. But in these times of technological revolution, does this statement still hold true? And if so, for how long? Genes have been identified that upon activation can extend lifespan in most organisms. The great labs of Leonard Guarente at MIT (featured in FiB episode 2), Cynthia Kenyon at UCSF, as well [as] Linda Buck, Nobel Laureate in 2004, are all working arduously to elucidate the molecular details to both slow down the aging process and extend lifespan. Well, Aubrey de Grey is a fairly controversial figure because he proposes doing away with death all together - leaving us with only taxes, I guess?" Find out more about how the repair of aging can be achieved - as well as ongoing research to make this a reality - at the Methuselah Foundation.
Aubrey de Grey on Barbara Walters (March 27 2008)
Biomedical gerontologist Aubrey de Grey will be one of the scientists featured in a Barbara Walters special to be aired on April 1st. I can't imagine that this will be at all rigorous in its examination of longevity science, but the more who hear the message, the better: "From a potential breakthrough pill to controversial rejuvenation technologies, Walters reports on what the future may hold, as well as what one expert says is the only proven way to extend life. ... 'I think that within the next few decades, we have a pretty good chance of effectively defeating aging as a cause of death,' says [Dr. Aubrey de Grey], a respected and controversial expert on the biology of aging. But if the keys to living a long, healthy life are not found soon, some people will rely on [cryonics] - chemically preserving one's body at very low temperatures in hope of one day being brought back to life. ... Also, how close are we to using rejuvenation technology to regenerate body parts? ... 'someday, if you get into an auto accident, we'll just take a skin cell and grow you up a new kidney... cells could, in the future, replace almost any part of the body.'"
More Thoughts on AGEs (March 26 2008)
Ouroboros looks at advanced glycation endproducts (AGEs) and age-related damage in the extracellular matrix: "The authors exposed fibroblasts to two types of [AGE-modified proteins], which had overlapping but non-identical effects on gene expression. The common features of the response to the two proteins are most intriguing, however: increased transcription of matrix metalloproteases (MMPs), which break down the extracellular matrix (ECM), and decreased transcription of ECM components like collagen and fibronectin. Taken together, these effects would result in a net weakening of the ECM, which in turn would have profoundly negative effects on organ function, ranging from skin wrinkling to cardiomyopathy. ... increased MMPs and ECM breakdown are hallmarks of fibroblast senescence, which is usually associated with DNA damage or telomere shortening - could AGEs be stimulating premature senescence, either by damaging DNA or via some other pathway?"
The Biomechanisms of Pluripotency (March 26 2008)
What makes a stem cell pluripotent, or an embyronic stem cell totipotent, able to form all other cell types? It has to be down to the mechanisms of genes and proteins, and researchers are working to understand those mechanisms: scientists have "identified a network of hundreds of genes that keep embryonic stem cells in their characteristic malleable state, able to develop into any cell type when the time comes. The finding, based on studies of mouse cells, provides valuable insight into the way stem cells function, and could help researchers find ways to reprogram adult cells for therapeutic use. ... there has been a recent explosion of interest in reprogramming skin or other developed cells to act like stem cells, with the ultimate goal of treating disease. But currently, he said, the process is still essentially a "black box." ... You add genes, and the cells reprogram. What happens in between? ... This kind of work provides the materials to get a better understanding of that process. The goal is to be able to manipulate cells in a very directed way."
Methuselah Foundation March Progress Report (March 25 2008)
The March progress report and newsletter from the Methuselah Foundation is up: "A new donation program was recently launched at the Foundation. A brainchild of Dave Gobel, the 1% For Life program is a committed giving program where individuals or corporations commit 1% of their selected assets to the Foundation. ... A paperback edition of Ending Aging, including a new afterword bringing the scientific content right back up to the leading edge of current research, will be published in September this year. ... Our MitoSENS team is moving during this quarter to the laboratory of Dr. Marisol Corral-Debrinski in Paris. Corral-Debrinski's group is unique in the world in focusing specifically on allotopic expression, the technology that will eventually allow us to protect our life-sustaining mitochondrial genes from the mutations resulting from aging. Meanwhile, LysoSENS has continued to generate a stream of exciting results, including the publication of a peer-reviewed paper in the international journal Biodegradation. ... As well as strengthening our existing research teams, we are now ready to initiate work in at least two more strands of the SENS program during the coming year; all thanks to the generosity of our supporters."
Prizes for Our Folding@Home Team (March 25 2008)
I'm pleased to note that the Immortality Institute folk will be offering incentive prizes to participants in the Longevity Meme Folding@Home team on a quarterly basis going forward: "The Longevity Meme team has grown and performed very well in the years since its formation. It takes organization and active recruitment to break into the top 200 ranked teams; many of the Immortality Institute regulars have stepped up to provide that organization. Thank you all for helping to make the team a continuing success. ... Winners will be determined by how many points are accumulated over the course of three months as reported at the Stanford Folding@home statistics site. The first quarter of competition begins at 12:00 a.m. Eastern daylight time (U.S.) April 2nd and ends at 12:00 midnight, Eastern daylight time, on June 30th." Newcomers are welcome, so jump on in and help the team climb the ranks.
Therapeutic Cloning Versus Parkinson's (March 24 2008)
The New Scientist reports on the use of therapeutic cloning in development of a cell therapy for Parkinson's disease: "An international team has restored mice with a condition similar to Parkinson's disease back to health, using neurons grown in the lab that were made from their own cloned skin cells. ... All six mice that had been given grafts of neurons derived from their own skin cells got significantly better, scoring well on tests of movement. ... It was a very challenging project. You need a special set of expertise that is typically not available in an individual lab. ... If the process cannot be made less technically demanding, any treatment for human patients is likely to be extremely costly. This is why many researchers are excited about the possibility of using a simpler genetic reprogramming technique [that can] can turn skin cells into cells that have similar properties to [embryonic stem] cells."
On Progress in Limb Regrowth (March 24 2008)
Scientific American looks at work on bringing organ regeneration from lower animals to mammals like us: "Our research group has already described a natural blastema in a mouse amputation injury, and our goal within the next year is to induce a blastema where it would not normally occur. ... We hope that this line of investigation will also reveal whether, as we suspect, the blastema itself provides critical signaling that prevents fibrosis in the wound site. If we succeed in generating a blastema in a mammal, the next big hurdle for us would be coaxing the site of a digit amputation to regenerate the entire digit ... Developmental biologists are still trying to understand how joints are made naturally, so building a regenerated mouse digit, joints and all, would be a major milestone in the regeneration field. We hope to reach it in the next few years, and after that, the prospect of regenerating an entire mouse paw, and then an arm, will not seem so remote. Indeed, when we consider all that we have learned about wound healing and regeneration from studies in various animal models, the surprising conclusion is that we may be only a decade or two away from a day when we can regenerate human body parts." | <urn:uuid:092023b7-b97b-403a-a752-7f5b83c9f41c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fightaging.org/archives/2008_03.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9418 | 3,507 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Over a great passage of time the continents shifted, land was eroded, the glaciers moved and Ontario was formed. It has continued to be formed by the wind, the water and the pull of the great earth itself. It took a million years to sculpt this province and carve our Great Lakes out of Precambrian rock and ancient coral reef.
With over 250,000 lakes Ontario is home to one third of the earth’s water including the Great Lakes and the St. Lawrence River, which still functions as a passageway to the exploration of the rest of the provinces.
It is a province of renowned beauty, diverse culture and proud, strong, understated people. Ontario is the second largest province in Canada and home to one third of Canada’s people. . Most of the province still consists of wild expanses of forest and pasture with the main percentage of the population occupying a string of cities lying along the northern shore of Lake Erie and Lake Ontario known as the Golden Horseshoe. The capital, Toronto, rated as #4 most liveable city in the world, famous for its multi-culturism, theatre, film festivals, shopping, wineries and a restaurateurs’ venture while south there is the magnificence of Niagara Falls surrounded by its vineyards and orchards; or travel east thru the historical small towns along the St. Lawrence to the Ottawa.
Ontario is larger than France and Spain combined (and as Canadians we apologize if that sounds boastful). But it is a land where tall trees stand guard over expanses of endless skies; a land where you can go from beach to bike, greenhouse to lighthouse, shipyard to vineyard, and cave to cafe. One come to Ontario to hike, bike, fish, climb, zip, dive, paddle, spelunk, soak, swim, sample, savour, wander, wonder……EXPLORE!
E’Terra is about a 4 hour drive northwest of Canada’s largest metropolitan center of Greater Toronto and the surrounding area of the Golden Horseshoe, with 2 lane highways once you leave the 400 series. We love all seasons and the road service is excellent north to Tobermory. Escape the city lights for starry nights in the magical crispness of the Bruce Peninsula. | <urn:uuid:3b845943-c31d-45b3-890f-627069b22438> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eterra.ca/destination/ontario-canada/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952443 | 471 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Archive for the ‘National Forest’ Category
What would be ugly in a garden constitutes beauty on a mountain.
Three observations concerning Forest Service web sites:
1. There isn’t a lot of information on some sites;
2. Many sites just sit on the same information for months and even years;
3. And, the Forest Service really doesn’t blow its horn often or loud enough.
When we started our US National Forest Campground Guide efforts, the Forest Service was still in a cyberspace “Dark-Age.” Their computers were some “off-brand” unknown system that barely talked with any other computers. Some Forest Service employees had been exposed to cyberspace via “gopher” aided college research but most had no experience with cyberspace. The Internet was in its infancy.
Needless to say, “back-in-the-day”, the Forest Service seemed to think web sites were the corners of rooms were spiders hung out. A few years later, if a Forest’s web site was developed, designed, and maintained it was by whoever had the time and interest. Work on a web site was done when everything else was done. Since than web sites have evolved and today the Forest Service web sites have a standard appearance with specific guidelines. But getting the information we, the users of National Forests, need continues to be challenge.
My interests are focused on camping opportunities and hiking trails. Over and over again I have found the campground information provided by the Forest Service is one, two, or more years old and so sketchy I am not sure what I might be getting myself into. (A call to the Forest’s Front Desk person usually corrects this problem but not always and there is a rumor that this position may be “consolidated,” whatever that means.) And trying to discover trails at or near the campground – just forget about it.
After all these years of working with the Forest Service in the forests across the country there are three things I have learned:
- people who work for the Forest Service are dedicated, committed, wonderful group of people and, generally, introverts;
- National Forests are the bestest places; and,
- the Forest Service is “hiding their light under a basket.”
Our weekend of camping in the shadow of the San Francisco mountain on the east side of Flagstaff is almost done. Tomorrow we’ll go to Williams, AZ and re-visit Dogtown, Kaibab Lake, and White Horse Lake campgrounds before heading to Prescott to do some of the campgrounds area there. But more about those adventures later.
It was 351 miles from home to Flagstaff. Hand down, the worst part was the hour or so driving through Phoenix. I wish I could find another way to go from southern Arizona to its northern reach. It doesn’t seem to matter when we leave home, the traffic in Phoenix is miserable and the temperature only adds to the misery. However, when Phoenix is in our rear-view mirror things are good. The traffic melts away, as does the heat, and landscape goes from one housing developed, mega-shopping mall and apartment complex to various vista that stretch beyond imagination, open prairies dotted juniper and finally towering sweet scented Ponderosa pine.
It is still too early, and cold, for wildflowers to be in blooming north of Phoenix but up to there blossoms lined the I-10. Yellow Brittlebush seemed to be the most plentiful with occasional patches of rosy pink penstemon and golden Mexico poppies are everywhere. May it’s the surrounding dull dead brown landscape that makes the roadway lining wildflower displays so pleasing. What ever the reason, it might be the best part of the two-plus-hour drive.
This is a photograph of one of the my favorite weeds. I call it a “Chocolate Weed” because it smells like a chocolate cocoa.
Once in Flagstaff, we settled into a private campground. What can I say,? It’s a private campground were one parks their rig between young pines on parking aprons of the cindery soil so common to the area close enough to the neighboring rig that you can identify what they are having for dinner. The dogs are completely unimpressed by the many Abert’s squirrels (with tuffed ears and related to the Kaibab squirrel which live on the north rim of the Grand Canyon National Park) gathering around the plate of food left by our neighbor. Besides the entertaining squirrels, the adjacent Coconino National Forest offers miles and miles of trails to explore. The dogs and I think that is the best feature of this private campground.
Our presentation at REI in Tucson, AZ March 9 went well. We talked about camping in the Southwestern Region (basically in national forests in AZ, NM and national grasslands in NM, OK, and TX). Here is Fred waiting for folks to arrive. I think we’ll do more presentations in the future. Any suggested topic would be appreciated.
A lot of homes rely on firewood as a part of their home heating. It’s an important product our national forests and grasslands supply to many communities. One district in the Deschutes National Forest has issued firewood permits for 1,700 cords (that’s two pick up trucks loaded down with firewood for every adult in the town of Ennis, MT) already this year so imagine how many cords are harvested in the 175 national forests and grasslands nationwide! However, a lot of people may not be aware that “imported firewood” or firewood not from the local area, could carry non-native pests and diseases. Check with local district ranger’s office for a permit as well as the rules and regulations of harvesting firewood. District office phone numbers are found off the “Forest Contacts” tab located at the top of the forest’s web page on our website.
I recall the sticker shock experienced last year when looking at natural, fresh cut Christmas trees. Granted, I live in southeast Arizona and those trees were “imported” from Washington state, but really? We aren’t talking about some giant specimen Spruce. We were thinking about something imperfect (I think such a tree has a lot more personality) and in the 5 foot range but didn’t want to pay the equivalent a week or more groceries. So, we opted for a fake tree and pine scented candles. It was kind of sad but what to do?
Well, I’ve gotten press releases from a variety of national forests and Christmas tree permits are now available for $10! And there is no size limit that I can discover!
Each permit allows for the cutting of one tree on National Forest System Lands, however, there is a limit of five permits per household so I could have a nice little tree in every room in my house including the guest bathroom LOL for less than the tree I looked at last year. Amazing.
A word of caution: With each passing year of the bark beetle epidemic, the threat of falling trees increases; therefore, all forest visitors are reminded to pay attention to weather forecasts, avoid areas with beetle-killed trees on high wind days and be aware of their surroundings. Weather conditions can change quickly, so be prepared. Dress for winter conditions and have your vehicle equipped adequately.
Christmas tree cutting has taken place on national forests for many decades and there remains an abundance of young trees for visitors. And tree cutting regulations have been established to maintain a healthy forest environment and sustainable forest management program. Sounds like a WIN-WIN to me. Maybe this is the year to start a new tradition in your household, too.
Fire is a natural change agent in our national forests. Historically, low intensity fires burn small areas of Ponderosa pine forests every 5 to 40 years. Forest with a great variety of conifers in wetter areas fires occur every 100 to 450 years. These fires are larger and burn entire forest stands. However, a century of fire suppression has interrupted natural fire cycles without a matching level of fuels reduction has resulted in a massive fuel build-up and fires like those seen this past year.
The correction to this problem of fuel build-up sounds pretty straight-forward – reduce the fuel – but such an undertaking is complicated. There is, of course, the problem of funding the effort. Anyone who has had to have a tree removed from their yard or spent hours clearing a yard of tree litter has a good understanding of the task. And then there is the problem of educating people to the positive results of any fuel reduction effort. To this end the Idaho Forest Products Commission has a “Thin the Threat” program.
Contact the Idaho Forest Products Commission email at email@example.com or by phone 208-334-3292 for a FREE “Thin the Threat” bumper sticker and they’ll send it, along with some literature explaining the why, what, and how of reducing the destructive wildfires our national forests had to deal with for the past years.
As the weather turns colder, many of my neighbors, and probably yours, are lighting a fire in the old fireplace. The smell of smoke hangs in the air almost every morning as I walk the dogs. Soon, most of what was left over from last year will be burnt and the wood pile will need to be replenished. In most areas near a national forest you have two options: buy a cord or two from someone; or, go out and cut your own cord or two. In southeast Arizona a cord of pine costs about $400! A permit for a cord of firewood from one of the national forests in Arizona runs $25. A permit is required to cut firewood and can be purchased at the forest’s district office. When the permit is purchased, the buyer is given a map with the specific area where they can cut trees. Yes, it is a lot of work but it just might be one of the best deals you’ll see in a while. Give your local national forest call if interested. You’ll find their phone number off the “Forest Contacts” tab at the top of the forest’s web page on our website.
Maple, oak, hickory, and other deciduous trees provide leaf-peakers a fabulous display of color in the fall. But we don’t think about what’s happening to conifer, or evergreen, trees when the weather turns cold. Whether Ponderosa pine or Douglas fir, all conifers drop old needles in the fall. Watch the needles closest to the trunk and you’ll see them turn yellow and fall to the ground. Only the younger needles stay put, giving this group of tree there better known evergreen. Those dropped needles make a great mulch for your garden and in southern state, such as Georgia and Florida, are harvested and sold as “Georgia” hay. FYI: If you see the young needles, close to the tip of a branch, turning yellow, it is a good sign the tree is either stressed or sick.
We were once asked, “What’s the most amazing thing you’ve ever experienced or seen in a national forest?” That’s tough one. Not because there was a lack of the “amazing” but rather an abundance of them. I have maybe 14 journals loaded with things we have seen and experienced with a long list of adjectives attached. Here are a few that come immediately to mind.
Seeing a swimming Bald eagle in the Tongass NF. To make a long story short, this mature eagle had caught a salmon that must have weighted around 10 pounds. The problem was a Bald eagle can’t fly carrying that much weight and this bird wasn’t going to give up its catch so it swam, using a butterfly stoke with its wings, about 75 yards to shore. Once there, it climbed up on the rocks and devoured that fish. One awesome, unforgettable sight.
Another amazing experience was driving the County/Forest route 630 between Ophir and Silverton, CO in the Uncomprahgre National Forest. (Later, I learned it was considered an “easy” 4X4 trail but it isn’t so easy in a 3/4 ton Ram pickup!) Route 630 is the mother of all “white knuckle roads.” Point in fact, Fred was a redhead when we started our drive and was grey by the time we finished. We should have realized it was going to be a challenge when the Post Mistress in Ophir told us, “Yeah, your truck’s got the clearance, you should be able to make it.”
I find waterfalls amazing. Towering waterfalls like Yakso in the Umpqua NF, Upper and Lower Mesa in Targhee NF, and Elk Creek, just to name a few, are awe-inspiring. But also inspiring are those unnamed waterfalls that appear only after a rainstorm. A favorite waterfall was discover when we took a hike out of Singletree campground (Fishlake NF) and discovered water falling from a cliff high above, forming a shower curtain or water. Imagine looking out over a hot, dry Utah desert of Ponderosa pine shimmering in the heat and having a cooling mist gently touching bare skin – wonderful.
I must say, for me, the most amazing part of our adventure are the people we have met. There was Doyle, the most politically knowledgeable person I have ever met even though he could neither read or write. And the 72-year old Buster who knew more about the trees in his native Ozark Mountains than anyone (the Forest Service still consults with him). And, the amazing people who are volunteer campground hosts all across this country,
We’ll stop here with marveling in amazement at all we have accomplished. Who could have imagined we would do so much? Certainly, we have exceeded our musing of 18 years ago.
You are currently browsing the archives for the National Forest category. | <urn:uuid:ecb3f74d-0cd4-42a8-ab4d-84702e239fb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forestcamping.com/blog/category/httpwww-forestcamping-comnational-forests/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961779 | 2,966 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Biosimplicity via stoichiometry: the evolution of food-web structure and processes
Food webs are among the most complex entities under study in modern biology. But what if major features of their structure and dynamics were the product of a relatively few simple rules? This chapter describes perspectives arising from the field of biological stoichiometry to argue that major features of food web function in ecosystems are the outcome of a relatively straightforward combination of chemical principles (mass balance, stoichiometric combination) of entities experiencing the Darwinian selective algorithm. It argues that the fate of energy or carbon in food webs, to a major extent, is governed by the availability and packaging of key nutrients like nitrogen and phosphorus. Indeed, phenomena such as transfer efficiency, length of food chains, community composition, degree of omnivory, and the relative importance of grazing versus detrital pathways all appear to have a strong stoichiometric component and the underlying rules generating these phenomena involve fundamental evolutionary trade-offs and coevolutionary dynamics.
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian. | <urn:uuid:3cf65d3e-acc0-47db-95c1-afd0cfaecc3a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198564836.001.0001/acprof-9780198564836-chapter-2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912092 | 262 | 2.3125 | 2 |
The Calgary Public Library will be hosting a workshop about artist trading cards at our Village Square Branch on July 9-10 (Registration opens on April 24!). This 2-day workshop will introduce you to some basic techniques using different materials to explore in creating your own Artist Trading Cards.
For those who don’t know, Artist Trading cards are miniature works of art, about the size of a hockey card, that are traded freely between creators. The process is deceptively simple. On the last Saturday of the month, artists meet and trade cards they’ve produced. The only firm rules being that cards must be 2 ½ x 3 ½ in size, and can only be traded one for one. Beyond that, the sky's the limit! You can also take part in regularly scheduled trading sessions at The New Gallery, one of calgary’s original Artist-Run Centres.
Artist Trading cards are just one example of a number of local initiatives that are guided by a common ethos of generosity and exchange. Here are other examples of the rich diversity of Do It Yourself (DIY) culture the city has to offer:
I’m sure most people have had the opportunity to read, if not write a zine. If not, the Zine Tree Collective is a great place to start! The Zine Tree Collective aims to encourage expression and the sharing of ideas through self published, DIY zines. The collective defines zines as “self-published magazines or pamphlets made outside of mainstream press and professional media, by all kinds of people about all kinds of things… Zines are an empowering way to communicate a person's experiences or thoughts, as well as to learn about other people's opinions.” The zine library, recently found a new home at the Old Y Centre for Community Organizations, and offers access to thousands of zines written by people in Calgary, in Canada, and all over the world. The space functions both as a library and a workshop, with information and the equipment necessary to make your very own zine!
The Good Life Community Bicycle Shop is a non-profit community bicycle repair shop, resource center, and community space. The Good Life is a place where people can come in to learn how to fix their own bikes, build bikes from recycled materials, get a hand doing so, and use this space to facilitate some much needed community building. Check out their new space at the former Ant Hill Fabrics space in Kensington (148 10 Street NW).
Dorkbot Calgary is the local chapter of a worldwide network of people who get together to do strange things with electricity. Each dorkbot is different and is driven by the needs and interests of people in the local community. Meet ups are informal, friendly environments in which people can talk about the work they're doing and get inspired for new projects. Dorkbot get-togethers generally take place on the third Thursday of the month, with additional meetings for special guests and topics. Everyone is welcome, and can find out more about past and upcoming meetups here.
Protospace is a hackerspace – sometimes called a maker or make space, where inventors, artists, geeks can come together to make or ‘break’ anything involving science, technology, digital and electronic arts. Meetings and workshops are held every Tuesday evening, guided by a desire to promote creativity and community in Calgary and around the world… the more diverse the group, the more interesting it gets!
The Local Library is a place where people can come and experiment with new ideas, mediums and equipment in a space that's supportive and accessible, as well as learn from practicing members of the arts community in Calgary. All of their programs are open to your involvement, not just as a spectator but as an active participant! The Local Library hosts a variety of activities including regular all-ages shows, a visual arts gallery, open studios, workshops and more! Under "more", you can file Choose yer Own Festival, a do-it-yourself collaborative festival affiliated with the Local Library, but spilling out into all corners of the city.
And let's not forget about the 'other' local Library... The Living Library works exactly like your local Calgary Public Library - readers can borrow a "book". The difference is, books in the Living Library are human beings: "living books", with whom the reader can have a conversation. The Living Library uses volunteers as “living books” that can be “checked out” by “readers”. This unique program enables readers to ask the questions they have always wanted to ask; while "books" are given the opportunity to share stories about their personal experiences in a safe and welcoming environment. This enables individuals to actively contribute to building inclusive communities of understanding. As a Living Book, all you need is yourself - no more, no less. By being available to answer questions about your life, you will help readers understand you and your experiences better.
Just like these real-life, in-town examples, there are virtually tons of websites that cater to collaboration and skill sharing groups. Instructables is a web-based platform where passionate people share what they do and how they do it, and learn from and collaborate with others. Want to learn how to make something? Do you have a skill you want to share? Check out this site! Similar to Instructables, Howtoons is a site that combines instructions with comic-book style storytelling.
This list is just the tip of the iceberg of DIY culture in Calgary. Anything else you want to add? Just do it ... yourself! | <urn:uuid:cecbe752-0595-4dfd-868e-3cfc738c4c05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.calgarypubliclibrary.com/blogs/teen-zone?t=by%20tomas | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951978 | 1,144 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Icelandic Parliament References Pomp
Icelandic media has reported that Iceland's Parliament has established a working committee to research improved cross-border mail order commerce and has cited a lecture given in January by Professor Richard Pomp. Professor Pomp traveled to Iceland to confer with government officials about challenges they face collecting a value-added tax on items purchased outside the country via the Internet. His trip was sponsored by the US Embassy.
Here is the text from the article:
Eleven MP’s from four political parties have submitted a parliamentary resolution to allow the Prime Minister to establish a working committee which would research the development and regulations on mail order commerce in Iceland and abroad and to make suggestions on changes in laws and other arrangements to create a fair competitive environment in mail order commerce for the benefit of the consumers and local businesses. The first speaker on the parliamentary resolution is MP Mordur Arnason, Social Democratic Alliance.
In a report that accompanied the resolution, which parliamentarians from the Social Democratic Alliance, the Left Green Movement, the Movement and the Progressive Party support, says that even though mail order commerce diminished in the latter part of the 20th century for various reasons, mail order commerce and interest in mail order has risen again in the last two decades, especially with the rise of the internet.
The article references a lecture in January by Richard Pomp, a law professor at the State University of Connecticut in the U.S. about mail order commerce. His findings were that mail order commerce was underdeveloped in Iceland. Regulations that hinder internet commerce negatively influence the consumer but give Icelandic companies only short-term protection, for consumers find other ways, legal - like the well known shopping trips abroad - or illegal, such as organized shipments of “gifts” from abroad.
Therefore it is proposed to start reforming this area. (http://www.mbl.is/frettir/innlent/2012/02/23/vilja_starfshop_um_postverslun/ )
Watch an interview with Professor Pomp on Kastljós, Iceland's equivalent of 60 Minutes.
Professor Pomp is the Alva P. Loiselle Professor of Law. He is a summa cum laude graduate of the University of Michigan and a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School. He has taught at Harvard, NYU, Texas, and Boston College. In addition, he has been a Distinguished Professor in Residence, Chulalongkorn Law School, Bangkok, Thailand, and a Visiting Scholar at the University of Tokyo Law School and at Harvard Law School.
From 1981 to 1987, Professor Pomp was director of the New York Tax Study Commission, a period during which New York restructured its personal and corporate income tax, and created an independent tax tribunal. Professor Pomp serves as an expert witness in various courts throughout the country and as a litigation consultant to law firms, corporations, accounting firms, and state tax administrations. He has participated in various capacities in Supreme Court litigation.
Professor Pomp currently serves on the State of California's Commission on the 21st Century Economy.
Recent Homepage Highlights
When Kristen Bandura '13 walks across the dais to receive her diploma from the School of Law on Sunday, she will literally be following in the footsteps of her older brother, Justin, also a member of the Class of 2013.
Andraya Pulaski '13 clearly remembers the day she decided she wanted to be a lawyer. She was 10 and spent a day shadowing a friend’s father at his firm. Now she is on the verge of fulfilling that dream.
On May 21, Professor Richard A. Wilson will present "International Law of Speech Crimes" as part of a series of guest lectures at the International Criminal Court, The Netherlands.
On May 20, the Law School's Insurance Law Center will present a symposium on Lawyers Professional Liability. The event is being presented in cooperation with the Hartford Chapter of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society.
On May 17, Professor Richard Pomp will be a presenter at the 10th Annual New Mexico Tax Policy Conference in Albuquerque.
On May 15, Professor Darcy Kirk will be the luncheon speaker at the annual meeting of the New Jersey Law Librarians Association where she will update the group on the activities of the Association of American Law Libraries (AALL). Kirk currently serves as president of the AALL. | <urn:uuid:f044059c-ccd7-4b5a-a7ba-54895e3dbd42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://law.uconn.edu/content/icelandic-parliament-references-pomp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956763 | 907 | 1.59375 | 2 |
In some countries, a high proportion of girls will be married before they reach adulthood. They—and their future children—often experience numerous hardships and ailments, from malnutrition and physical abuse to infection with HIV.
Investigators are striving not only to uncover the many negative health effects these girls experience but also to encourage governments, local leaders, and residents to end the practice of child marriage.
“Cultural traditions are hard to change. We have to work within existing community structures and bring recognition to communities about how child marriage compromises opportunities and health for women and their children,” said Anita Raj, PhD, professor of Social and Behavioral Sciences at Boston University School of Public Health and Boston University School of Medicine. | <urn:uuid:9beaa86b-fe29-4666-873d-ff24f9e82db4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=186337 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953321 | 142 | 2.921875 | 3 |
- spring (v.)
- Old English springan "to leap, burst forth, fly up" (class III strong verb; past tense sprang, past participle sprungen), from Proto-Germanic *sprenganan (cf. Old Norse, Old Frisian springa, Middle Dutch springhen, Old High German springan, German springen), from PIE *sprengh- "rapid movement" (cf. Sanskrit sprhayati "desires eagerly," Greek sperkhesthai "to hurry").
In Middle English, it took on the role of causal sprenge, from Old English sprengan (as still in to spring a trap, etc.). Slang meaning "to pay" (for a treat, etc.) is recorded from 1906. Meaning "to announce suddenly" (usually with on) is from 1876. Meaning "to release" (from imprisonment) is from 1900.
- spring (n.1)
- "season following winter," 1540s, earlier springing time (late 14c.), spring-time (late 15c.), spring of the year (1520s), which had replaced Old English Lent by late 14c. From spring (v.); also see spring (n.3). The notion is of the "spring of the year," when plants "spring up" (cf. spring of the leaf, 1530s).
Other Germanic languages tend to take words for "fore" or "early" as their roots for the season name, cf. Danish voraar, Dutch voorjaar, literally "fore-year;" German Frühling, from Middle High German vrueje "early." In 15c., the season also was prime-temps, after Old French prin tans, tamps prim (French printemps, which replaced primevère 16c. as the common word for spring), from Latin tempus primum, literally "first time, first season."
Spring fever was Old English lenctenadle; first record of spring cleaning is in 1857 (in ancient Persia, the first month, corresponding to March-April, was Adukanaiša, which apparently means "Irrigation-Canal-Cleaning Month;" Kent, p.167). Spring chicken "small roasting chicken" (usually 11 to 14 weeks) is recorded from 1780; transferred sense of "young person" first recorded 1906. Spring training first attested 1897.
- spring (n.2)
- "source of a stream or river," Old English, from spring (v.) on the notion of the water "bursting forth" from the ground. Rarely used alone, appearing more often in compounds, e.g. wyllspring "wellspring." Figurative sense of "source or origin of something" is attested from early 13c.
- spring (n.3)
- "act of springing or leaping," mid-15c., from spring (v.). The elastic coil that returns to its shape when stretched is so called from early 15c., originally in clocks and watches. As a device in carriages, coaches, etc., it is attested from 1660s. The oldest noun sense (c.1300) is a general one of "action or time of rising or springing into existence." It was used of sunrise, the waxing of the moon, rising tides, etc., and is preserved in spring (n.1). | <urn:uuid:a71d5fdc-8e8f-47c8-b6ea-4fb0dce4211c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.etymonline.com/index.php?term=spring | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930406 | 724 | 3.5625 | 4 |
6.14.2012 | by:
Question: Which group of Coloradans is twice as likely to be uninsured as the average adult in the state?
Answer: Adults below the federal poverty level who don’t have dependent children.
This information and much more is included in an updated analysis of Colorado’s uninsured adults released today by CHI.
About one in five Colorado adults between the ages of 19 and 64 did not have health insurance in 2010. Adults represent the vast majority—about 83 percent—of Colorado’s uninsured. Digging deeper, CHI finds wide variation within that group of uninsured adults. Findings in “Health Insurance Status of Colorado Adults” include:
- About 640,000 adults were uninsured in 2010, up from about 623,000 in 2008.
- The uninsured rate for adults varies dramatically by region - from a low of seven percent in Douglas County to a high of 27 percent in Adams County.
- Forty percent of the uninsured adults have annual incomes below 133 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL), or about $29,000 for a family of four.
- Sixty-three percent of uninsured adults are employed.
Adults without dependent children (AwDCs) with incomes at or below the FPL, about $11,000 for an individual, have an uninsured rate of 41 percent, twice that of the average adult in the state. Within this group, CHI estimates that:
- Six in 10 (about 94,000) are male. In comparison, about 50 percent of Colorado’s adult population is male.
- The vast majority are single.
- More than a third are employed, either full- or part-time.
There are a number of reasons for the high level of adults without health insurance.
Although most uninsured adults are employed, they may not be offered employer-sponsored coverage, the most common means through which Coloradans obtain coverage.
And while public insurance programs—Medicaid, Child Health Plan Plus (CHP+) and Medicare—cover about 26 percent of Colorado’s 5 million-plus residents of all ages, most adults between the ages of 19 and 64 are not eligible for this coverage.
A data supplement provided by CHI includes uninsured rates, the number of working age parents who are eligible but not enrolled in Medicaid and the number of adults expected to become eligible for Medicaid due to state and federal health reform by county.
The update on adult insurance rates follows the release this spring of a publication detailing the insurance status of children in Colorado. Find both publications on CHI’s web site under the key issue section for Health Coverage and the Uninsured.
This information is valuable to a number of health care groups across Colorado who are working to improve levels of insurance coverage and access to care for all, especially among the state’s most medically vulnerable residents.
Westley Mori is a research analyst at CHI. | <urn:uuid:91732f3f-168c-4ffb-9b0a-1d633b334003> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://coloradohealthinstitute.org/blog/tag/Colorado+Health+Care+Affordability+Act | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939873 | 608 | 2.21875 | 2 |
From Our 2012 Archives
Botox Only Modestly Effective for Migraines
Latest Migraine News
Chronic Sufferers Had, on Average, 2 Fewer Headaches a Month
By Salynn Boyles
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD
Among chronic sufferers who had at least 15 migraines a month, the treatment prevented, on average, about two headaches a month.
Botox was no more effective than some of the most widely prescribed drugs used for migraines when the treatments were compared.
Botox Common Migraine Treatment
Best known as a cosmetic therapy to banish facial frown lines, botulinum toxin type A, or Botox, was approved to prevent migraines in 2010, but only for patients who experience 15 or more migraine headaches a month.
Today, about half of the $1.6 billion annual sales of Botox are from migraine and other non-cosmetic uses, a company spokesperson tells WebMD.
In the new study, which appears this week in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers analyzed findings from 27 trials that compared Botox to placebo and four studies that compared it to other migraine treatments.
The analysis found that Botox injections were not effective for preventing migraines in patients who have less than 15 headaches a month. The treatment also did not appear to benefit patients with chronic tension headaches.
But Botox-treated patients with chronic migraines and daily headaches had an average of two fewer headaches per month.
Researcher Jeffrey L. Jackson, MD, of the Medical College of Wisconsin, says it is clear that much better migraine therapies are needed, especially for the most frequent sufferers.
"All of the available migraine treatments benefit some patients and not others," he tells WebMD. "Until we really understand migraines it will be hard to design treatments that work well for all patients."
He says that while the average Botox patient may not experience big improvements, results for some patients might be dramatic.
Botox Finding 'No Big Surprise'
Headache specialist Satnam Nijjar, MD, of Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, says the research analysis will surprise few clinicians working in the field.
"This review emphasizes that most patients experience modest benefits, but we already knew that," he tells WebMD.
He says most of his Botox patients have tried several drugs to prevent migraines and lessen their severity, and they either did not benefit or could not take the side effects.
Anti-seizure drugs, such as topiramate (Topamax, Topiragen) and gabapentin (Fanatrex, Gabarone, Gralise, Horizant, Neurontin), are widely prescribed for migraine prevention, but these drugs can have side effects such as fatigue, dizziness, and nausea.
But he says patients who don't like needles may find drugs preferable to Botox, which involves 25 to 30 small injections in the?head region every three months or so.
Neurologist Robert Duarte, MD, tells WebMD that many of his patients who are helped by Botox are not bothered by the injections.
Duarte directs the Pain Center at the Cushing Neuroscience Institute at the North Shore-LIJ Heath System in Manhasset, N.Y.
"A significant number of patients that I treat experience fewer headaches and less intense headaches on this treatment," he says. "Many still require drug treatments, but they are feeling a lot better."
Botox Maker Responds
In an interview with WebMD, a spokesperson for Botox manufacturer Allergan Inc. says the study reinforces its role as a treatment to prevent chronic migraines.
Crystal Muilenburg, Allergan's director of corporate communications, says some patients in company-sponsored trials experienced a 50% reduction or more in headache days per month after two cycles of Botox, and more than 2 out of 3 patients showed some improvement.
SOURCES: Jackson, J.L. Journal of the American Medical Association, April 25, 2012. Jeffrey L. Jackson, MD, MPH, Zablocki Veterans Affairs Medical Center and Department of Medicine, Medical College of Wisconsin, Milwaukee. Robert Duarte, director, Pain Center, Cushing Neuroscience Institute, North Shore-LIJ Health System, Manhasset, N.Y.Satnam Nijjar, MD, neurologist, Johns Hopkins Headache Center; assistant professor of neurology, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, Md. Crystal Muilenburg, senior director, corporate communications, Allergan Inc., Orange County, Calif. News release, JAMA.
Get the latest health and medical information delivered direct to your inbox FREE! | <urn:uuid:b12b6f41-d0e8-477c-8b1a-bb87c2b107f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=157463 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928368 | 980 | 1.875 | 2 |
A new UC Davis study confirmed what many experts already suspected: Most imported "extra virgin" olive oils are not what they claim to be.
In a first of its kind study by a U.S. academic institution, the UCD research team found that 69 percent of the imported oils sampled failed to meet internationally accepted standards for extra virgin olive oil. By comparison, only 10 percent of the California-produced oils in the test failed to meet those standards.
"Before this study, we had anecdotal reports of poor quality olive oil being sold as extra virgin," said Dan Flynn, executive director of UCD's Olive Center, part of the Robert Mondavi Institute for Wine and Food Science. "Now there is empirical proof. ... The oils that failed in our tests had defects such as rancidity. Many of these oils just did not taste good."
All 19 brands tested - 14 imported and five California-made - were purchased in March at supermarkets or big-box stores in Sacramento, San Francisco and Los Angeles counties. Three bottles of each brand from each location were tested. The findings, released today, and the names of the brands evaluated are available online at http://olivecenter.ucdavis.edu.
Of the California-made brands tested, all bottles of Corto Olive, California Olive Ranch, McEvoy Ranch Organic and Lucero met the extra-virgin criteria.
Of the imports, only Kirkland Organic passed all the extra-virgin standards with samples from all three locations. Samples of Bertolli, Pompeian, Carapelli, Mezzetta and Mazola failed from all locations.
Working with Australian olive experts, the UCD scientists used USDA and international standards for evaluating extra virgin olive oil, considered the premium and most expensive on the market. By definition, extra virgin oil must be extracted from the olive without heat or solvent and meet specific criteria for quality, smell and taste.
But many of the oils tested did not meet those standards due to oxidation, adulteration with cheaper refined olive oil or poor-quality oils made from damaged and overripe olives, processing flaws or improper oil storage. Oxidation also may be caused by improper storage, including exposure to high temperatures and light as well as aging.
With rising interest in healthy cooking, the United States now represents the world's third largest market for olive oil.
The UCD study was funded by California olive oil producers and the California Olive Oil Council.
-- Debbie Arrington, email@example.com | <urn:uuid:9910e21b-8bc3-40fd-92eb-4d9cdf89ca63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.sacbee.com/dining/archives/2010/07/69-percent-of-i.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953045 | 515 | 2.203125 | 2 |
(Mark Hager is associate professor of nonprofit studies in the School of Community Resources and Development at Arizona State University. This post originally appeared on the Foundation Center's Transparency Talk blog.)
Tradition dictates that board members work for free in most quarters of the nonprofit sector, but that isn't necessarily true for grantmaking foundations, especially independent ones. In a new paper (free access until late March) published in Public Integrity, the ethics journal sponsored by the American Society of Public Administration, Elizabeth Boris and I consider the question of what varieties of grantmaking foundations compensate their board members for governance duties. It reboots and reframes an earlier analysis conducted by the Urban Institute, the Foundation Center, and GuideStar.
In the paper, we point to several interesting examples, including a very large foundation's generous policy of trustee compensation spelled out in its organizing documents, another with seven-figure annual compensation paid to a bank to act as a very part time "institutional trustee," and another that underwent IRS investigation for eye-popping compensation that essentially amounted to trustees looting a charitable trust. These cases aren't typical, but they are part of the big picture of how work gets done in grantmaking foundations and how much insiders get paid to do it. In more typical cases, foundations might have justifiable reasons to compensate board members, including to ensure representation from beneficiary populations or to extend health insurance benefits to family founders. It's the extreme cases, however, that threaten to color all of philanthropy.
Compensation for governance duties is perfectly legal, so long as it falls under the IRS' broad standard of "reasonable and necessary." The practice is pretty rare in community foundations, partly due to the fact that they rely so heavily on public contributions and are therefore subject to public scrutiny. It also appears to be fairly rare in corporate foundations, but that may largely be due to the fact that many corporate foundation trustees get paid as corporate executives, making their compensation invisible on the foundation side. About one in five independent foundations, however, appear to report compensation of their board members for governance duties, as reported on Form 990-PF.
The practice is always concentrated in larger foundations. Of the ten thousand largest U.S. foundations that are the subject of the study, more than half compensate no one, including any staff. Most foundations are small and get their work done by family volunteers. Foundations that compensate staff members are more likely to compensate their board members. However, for the typical foundation, board compensation levels are eminently reasonable. The median individual board member compensation in independent foundations is only about $8,000. That's not an indication of a rampant problem.
However, a few bad apples always threaten to spoil the bunch. The median may be $8,000, but the mean was $15,700 due to a number of well-compensated apples. When a board member's one-year compensation reaches $200,000 (this happens), or a bank trustee is compensated $1,000,000 to spend a few hours a month managing investments (noted above), or aggregate board compensation in a given foundation exceeds its grants in a given year (this happens, too), we might rightly ask whether compensation has exceeded what is "reasonable and necessary." At the same time, $1,000 here and $100,000 there adds up to real money, to the tune of more than $100 million paid out to foundation board members in any given year. People hear that and start asking why that money isn't being allocated to community nonprofits instead.
Who is going to check to see whether board compensation is reasonable and necessary? For many organizations in the nonprofit sector, the general public is the first regulator. Service providers and advocates, especially those that rely on public contributions, reign in compensation and overhead costs due to public pressure. This is not the case with independent foundations, however, since they are not beholden to public contributions. Since the general public has no skin in the private foundation game, the public tends to ignore them.
A second regulator candidate, then, is government. Certainly, the IRS can prosecute private foundations that exceed the vague "reasonable and necessary" standard. Thing is, they don't, at least not very often. For one thing, identification of board member compensation is very difficult on Form 990-PF. For 2008, the IRS revamped Form 990 for public charities so that compensated individuals are identified as board members or employees. No similar revamp happened to Form 990-PF, where administrative and governance duties are conflated. Picking out board members working on governance duties is tricky; board compensation must be inferred from titles or numbers of hours worked, if reported. So, board compensation is not always obvious on the federal form. And even when unreasonable or unnecessary compensation appears evident, the IRS is often unwilling to take on community elites with deep pockets.
The third regulator, maybe, is private foundation executives and board members themselves. That's one of the ideas underlying the Foundation Center's Glasspockets initiative: private foundations will regulate themselves as their practices become more transparent. Private foundations certainly do not need to eradicate the practice of compensating board members for governance duties. However, when outliers cause observers (like me) to raise their eyebrows, the whole field can get painted as out-of-touch with community needs. Maybe Glasspockets can plant a stake in the ground on this issue to encourage foundation leaders themselves to openly disclose this information as a best practice. Voluntary and widespread disclosure of board member compensation, venues for discussion, and bright lights on questionable practices can help stem criticism of compensation that may or may not be "reasonable and necessary" for carrying out the exempt purposes of grantmaking foundations.
Everyone benefits when somebody, somehow, enforces the "reasonable and necessary" standard. Grantmaking foundations will keep better faith with their local communities. Regulators will be able to concentrate on more worthy offenses. And nonprofits will benefit from resources that are otherwise diverted into trustee pockets. Win, win, win.
-- Mark Hager | <urn:uuid:c487a737-e85b-4aa6-a655-a2b16133c836> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pndblog.typepad.com/pndblog/civil_society/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960772 | 1,229 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Intel and Nokia were working on the Linux based operating system with the hope that it might pull the mobile phone maker's nadgers out of the fire.
But with Nokia gone, Intel has been wondering what it should do with the operating system.
According to Rethink Wireless its future could be under the bonnet of your car.
MeeGo was built by merging Intel's Moblin and Nokia's Maemo. Intel wanted to create something that would survive outside the handset world.
It turns out that MeeGo is being taken very seriously in the car market.
Jim Zemlin, head of the Linux Foundation said the OS was already commercial in embedded systems such as cars and even existed in a WeTab tablet from German vendor 4titoo.
Zemlin believes the operating system could push the world towards the open source community. Rather than it dying, we are seeing the first five minutes of a very long game, he insisted.
Nissan is working on MeeGo-based in-car entertainment systems and other electronics. Nissan told Rethink that it loved the operating system because it reduced cost and allowed third party apps to be added in.
MeeGo is in a set-top box for Telecom Italia which pushes dire Italian television programmes along with more useful internet connections.
Chipzilla is also in talks with manufacturers to use it in cheap and cheerful laptops for deprived communities.
While it would seem that things are doing well for the operating system, despite Nokia's defection, Dawn Foster, a MeeGo community organiser at Intel, said that things were still dodgy.
This is because the market is waiting for devices that will prove the OS's viability.
Developers and manufacturers are unwilling to spend a lot of time learning a new SDK and APIs when "there aren't a lot of devices in the market." | <urn:uuid:60c75714-e716-4f02-a39c-77f964f480db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.techeye.net/mobile/intel-tries-to-find-people-interested-in-meego | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974276 | 382 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Gaylord Nelson lived a long and fruitful life. Unlike some other notorious Senators who kept going back to DC despite obvious senility, he retired to tend his own gardens and to write and think. His legacy is all around us, if you love nature. He had the foresight and the political will and the scientific understanding about our planet earth and nature and how we must live. He was an inspiration to us all.
Many people date the environment movement from 1969 when the men landing on the moon turned and looked back at the most beautiful planet in the universe, our delicate, multicolored, odd shaped colorscheme earth. Radiant and lovely, a jewel in the dark night.
But it didn't start there at all. My personal point of reference is "Silent Spring," the great book warning us about destroying the habitat and prey of song birds. Our campaign to kill bugs was killing many other important things.
But it is earlier than that! For my godmother, Josephine Michener, was a well known bird watcher, bander and writer who taught me as a very small child to understand the language of birds. She didn't need a study to tell her chickadees have a complex language, she talked with them all the time, engrossed in the conversation. She lived in LA since the Civil War and watched it turn into the toxic soup of the late fifties. She retreated into her fabulous bird sanctuary which was turned into a parking lot when she died.
I was not alone in being enraged at the progress of destruction of our world. Even microworlds like the greed dome of towering bamboo and fruit trees that was Josephine's home couldn't exist along side the mega machine eating up our air, water and land.
From the NYT:
Gaylord A. Nelson, one of the architects of America's modern environmental movement who as a United States senator from Wisconsin founded Earth Day to protest degradation and launch a national legislative campaign to improve stewardship, died today in at his home in Kensington, Md. He was 89 years old,Note that not only was he a wonderful pioneer in the environmental movement, he was one of the very few sane, thoughtful, truthful people in DC! He was a true hero, standing up for reality when everyone was being driven to war by a hysterical press and hyperpatriotic posturing by mostly cowardly men not intending to fight. Some of Congress fought in WWII and thought all wars were WWII. They were obviously wrong here.
The cause was cardiovascular failure, Bill Christofferson, Mr. Nelson's biographer and a family spokesman, told The Associated Press.
A liberal Democrat, Mr. Nelson was known for his candor and independence. He was just one of three United States senators who voted against the $700 million appropriation that began the nation's expanded involvement in the Vietnam War.
WWII wasn't about defending democracy or we would have given our own minorities at home basic civil rights. We didn't. Not even after the war! This had to drag on forever before civil right were guaranteed to our own citizens. And WWII didn't give it.
But they shoved and pushed for a war to spread democracy even though we really aren't all that enthusiastic about democracy. We are lucky the war votes were not 100%. By the skin of our teeth, one or two hold outs exist for each war.
But it was Mr. Nelson's lifelong devotion to the natural landscape that distinguished him as one of Capitol Hill's early and ardent environmental leaders. On March 25, 1963, in his first Senate speech, he framed the declining condition of the nation's air and water as a national issue. "We need a comprehensive and nationwide program to save the national resources of America," he said. "Our soil, our water, and our air are becoming more polluted every day. Our most priceless natural resources - trees, lakes, rivers, wildlife habitats, scenic landscapes - are being destroyed."Ah, Gaylord had Kennedy to work with! And LBJ: his dear wife, Lady Bird, was Gaylord's sponsor and friend and she enthusiastically embraced his ideas and pushed them forwards in her own way. I appreciated her efforts even back then, her billboard clean up campaign directly improved the vistas out in Arizona a lot. She was a blessing.
The speech coincided with Mr. Nelson's private effort to successfully lobby President John F. Kennedy to embrace environmental protection as a priority. In September 1963, Mr. Kennedy embarked on a five-day, 11-state tour to talk about conservation.
On a speaking tour in the West in 1969, Mr. Nelson came up with a new idea for what he called "a huge grassroots protest" modeled after that era's campus "teach-ins" to oppose the Vietnam War. At a conference in Seattle in September, Mr. Nelson announced that the protest would occur the following spring. April 22, 1970, a Wednesday, was chosen as the best date.I remember the first earth day! We did an organic veggie/bread baking/free range chicken egg thing! It was a blast! Our commune had a small feast prepared and we showed how easy it was to make and grow things in the city, even.
More than 20 million Americans marked the first Earth Day in events ranging from dragging tires and old appliances out of the Bronx River in White Plains, N.Y., to campus demonstrations in Oregon. Mayor John V. Lindsay of New York closed Fifth Avenue to vehicles. Congress shut its doors so lawmakers could participate in local events. Legislatures from 42 states passed Earth Day resolutions to commemorate the date. Mr. Nelson called it "one of the most exciting and significant grassroots efforts in the history of this country."
"The reason Earth Day worked," Mr. Nelson said, "is that it organized itself. The idea was out there and everybody grabbed it. I wanted a demonstration by so many people that politicians would say, 'Holy cow, people care about this.' "
If there is a heaven, Gaylord is there and he is surrounded by grateful birds, singing full throat, a symphony of avian joy.
For joy is what we should feel today, remembering our great teachers of the past. Joy and thanks. Thanks forever!
&hearts &hearts &hearts
To return to homepage click here | <urn:uuid:35d736f5-853e-41bc-a0ff-d00167c1bbab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://culturelifesciencenews.blogspot.com/2005/07/environment-father.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980578 | 1,293 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Are Purple Spots A Symptom Of HIV
Here's a taste of what TheBody.com has to offer on this topic:
Connect With Others
Posted by Anonymous, 2 Repliesive been poz for almost 2 years now. i havent been sick or anything but yesterday i noticed weird purple spots like bruises on my body, on my upper arms and on my legs near my knees. their small and they dont hurt but they look gross. i dont burise... Read more »
Posted by AnonymousWould little pink and purple spots on my palm be a sign of infection? unprotected vaginal with a stripper about 8 weeks ago. I had a neg. pcr and elia at 6 weeks. Read more »
Posted by Anonymous, 4 RepliesI have a purple spot on my arm-dime sized. It has been there for a while now. Is there anything but KS that can appear like that on skin? If I was exposed to HIV, it was over ten years ago. Never thought any contact with my last boyfriend was... Read more »
Posted by Anonymous, 2 RepliesHi:
Anyone ever heard of chancre appearing on tongue as possible site of HIV infection.
was given head from a guy and his wife and she kissed me once.
About 5 weeks later had little white chancre appear on tongue then really bad sinus infection,... Read more »
Posted by Anonymous, 1 ReplyI seem to remember that a symptom was a dark spot on the face that would not go away, is this true, if so what are the details ?
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Ask the Experts
Harvard Medical SchoolAs for your spots and the red spots of so many others who write, please permit me to re-run my response from Sept 16, 2001. It's applicable to your query--In the past months or so, I have received about 30 queries which describe pigmented... Read more »
The Robert James Frascino AIDS FoundationHello,Kaposi's sarcoma (K.S.) lesions do not blanch and dime-sized lesions do not appear within one day.K.S. was a major problem during the early years of the epidemic. Today it is seen only rarely. K.S. is caused by human herpes virus type 8... Read more »
Rocky Mountain CARESHello and thanks for your post.The cold, purple and burning symptoms in your hands and feet are probably related to circulation issues. Raynaud's syndrome is the most common of these and generally speaking not related to HIV. Keeping your... Read more »
Nevada State Health Division AIDS ProgramHi. Thank you for your question.As far as your risk is concerned, during the time you were having intercoursewith the prostitute, your risk was low, as long as you were using the condomcorrectly and it did not break. Both latex and polyurethane... Read more »
Read more »
Guides for People With HIV | <urn:uuid:a5c5c6ef-a979-453d-9967-e98976c8d5c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebody.com/h/are-purple-spots-a-symptom-of-HIV.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964636 | 609 | 1.679688 | 2 |
by Anton Shilov
04/06/2011 | 02:45 PM
Advanced Micro Devices has begun works to make its hardware compatible with Google Android operating system. The company started to hire software engineers to develop Android drivers for AMD’s hardware. The job posting is one of the first material evidences that AMD is looking forward tablets based on its next-gen chips and Android.
AMD is currently looking for Android driver development engineers to help it evolve its Linux driver stack for new platforms and “in line with the development trends in the Android ecosystem”. In particular, AMD wants the candidate(s) to have experience with video decode acceleration within the Android web browser or video player application. Additionally, AMD is searching for an Android/MIPI driver architect, who will bring up driver development and qualification on new hardware platforms among other things.
The company wants programmers, who have experience not only with Linux in general and Android in particular, but who have experience with AMBA/Mipi/CSI/SPI device programming, including touchscreen controllers, GPS, compass/accelerometers, cellphone and cameras. The requirements clearly point to AMD’s intentions to optimize its drivers for media tablets like Apple iPad or Samsung Galaxy Tab and, possibly, smartphones.
In mid-March AMD confirmed in an interview with X-bit labs its interest to investigate Android operating system.
As we look onto open-standards market, the Android certainly makes a tremendous amount of sense. That is something we will be investigating as we take our Fusion architecture [into new markets] and we are able to create versions of this architecture for lower power environments that would work quite well for, perhaps, a tablet using this operating system," said Neal Robison, senior director of content and application support at AMD.
Although at present AMD has special-version of its first-generation Ontario accelerated processing unit with 5W thermal design power, the company’s offering, which will be tailored for tablets will only become available in 2012.
The second-generation APUs for ultra-thin notebooks, netbooks, tablets and other low-power devices - code-named Krishna and Wichita - will be made using a 28nm process technology, which will ensure considerably lower consumption of energy and dissipation of heat. As a result of that, AMD will position code-named Wichita APU for netbooks as well as tablets.
Specifications of Krishna and Wichita are unknown, but it is logical to expect Krishna to have two to four x86 Bobcat cores and Wichita to feature one or two low-power cores with reduced clock-speeds. Chekib Akrout, senior vice president of technology group at AMD, indicated during his keynote at AMD's financial analyst conference that 3W was a "sweet-spot" for tablets, hence, it may be expected that one or another version of Wichita will have power consumption of around that figure. | <urn:uuid:34045ef2-af5b-411f-8bf8-e54f07aeb941> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/mobile/print/20110406144520_AMD_Initiates_Work_on_Android_Platform_Looking_for_Android_Developers.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947591 | 596 | 1.851563 | 2 |
This copy is for your personal, non-commercial use only.
“When at last the land, worn out, would refuse to yield, they would invest their money in something else; by then they would have all made fortunes.”
– Frank Norris, The Octopus, 1901
One of California agribusiness’ oldest traditions is clearing huge swaths of land to plant orchards and vineyards. On the western slopes of the Santa Clara Valley, the newly-arrived class of prospector capitalists felled the dense chapparal and oak savannah to make way for the state’s first commercial vineyard in 1850, as well as the apple, date, prune, and apricot trees. The valley was the west coast’s banner fruit-producing region up to the 1960s. In the 1870s, out-of-towners arrived on the newly-constructed Southern Pacific rail line in the hamlet of Los Angeles, where they cleared the abundant native grasslands and chapparal of the San Gabriel foothills. For many years thereafter, that future megalopolis was the US’ primary citrus growing area.
Massive water diversions have always followed soon after the land clearances. Donald Worster’s Rivers of Empire and Marc Resiner’s Cadillac Desert most famously chronicled California’s damming and moving of prodigious amounts of water, primarily to meet the demands of the state’s much-vaunted industrial farmers.
It took only until the beginning of the 20th century for the majority of the artesian wells in California’s primary agribusiness region, the Central Valley, to dry up. At that point, as the historical geographer Gray Brechin recalls in his classic 1998 book on the decline of California’s natural environment, Farewell, Promised Land: “Pumps took over, dropping water tables and staunching the flow of springs upon which wildlife depended. No longer able to reach moisture, trees, grass, and bushes died, and the soil turned to dust through the age-old process known as desertification. Nonetheless, with the aid of advancing technology, the land continued to yield a phenomenal bounty, the value of which… obscured its environmental costs.”
For at least the past two decades, the leading-edge commodity in California agribusiness’ long-unfolding pattern of environmental desecration and corresponding economic mystification has been the wine grape. An unprecedented period of vineyard expansion is still ongoing; tendrils of vines still go up across vast acreage in the mountains and valleys on the North and Central Coasts. The retail value of the annual California wine grape harvest now roughly equals that of almonds, long the state’s highest grossing agricultural product. Because most of the grapes’ economic value accrues during the wine-making process, however, the end result is that California wine are now equal to roughly 50 per cent of the state’s total agribusiness receipts, or $20 billion.
California has been the US’ largest agribusiness state for more than a half-century running. And wine has become its leading “agricultural” commodity (it is a major stretch, of course, to classify wine as agricultural — as do state and federal regulatory agencies).
The clearance of land and the displacement of water are not the industry’s only ecological price tags. The wine trade also depends heavily on chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, and systemic poisons. Grape prospectors customarily plow down hillsides with the same heavy machinery — D-9, -10, and -11 Caterpillars – that the Israeli military uses to bulldoze Palestinian homes, and that coal miners use during key stages of the process of mountain-top removal in Appalachia.
But there is even more to it than that. While, in some respects, the wine industry has been a short-term economic success, it has been nearly as destructive socially as it has been environmentally.
As numerous long-time local residents have been quick to tell me as I’ve published this ongoing series of articles in the Anderson Valley Advertiser and CounterPunch the local enrichment of the North Coast’s vast wine enterprise has coincided with a general impoverishment of social life in the area of Anderson Valley, characterized by wealthy outsiders who buy up local land and exploit it, without regard to their impact on the existing cultivation. It is also the appellation that commands the highest market prices for its grapes. The valley features one of the most distinctive local cultures in our vast Mendocino county (which has a surface area larger than the state of Vermont): a culture that has been forever transformed by the advent of get-rich-quick grape prospecting, a trend that intensified at the onset of the Grape Rush 20 years ago.
Big Wine’s transformation of the Anderson Valley has not happened in a vacuum. The industry’s local rise reflects larger patterns of economic mis-development, as well as ecological and cultural exploitation, that have been taking place across Mendocino County, the entire state – the entire globe. California is, after all, an integral part of the global economy in countless respects. And California wine is in itself a lucrative part of the neo-liberal economy. Wines produced in this state, including in places like Boonville and Philo, now generate more than $1 billion in revenues overseas.
In the final installments of my series on the wine industry, I am presenting the dark back drop against which the wine industry has developed in Mendocino County, especially the Anderson Valley. What follows here is part one of a modest sketch of the various economic forces, both global and local, that have been responsible for the industry’s economic dominance in Mendocino County and the Anderson Valley alike.
Even now, with the California economy badly in a shambles and the market for premium wines have stagnated, literally thousands of redwood forest acres are under threat from grape prospectors in the Gualala River water basin. The mountains and hilltops surrounding Clear Lake are being rapidly plowed down as grape prospectors hone in increasingly on Lake County, where the local wine-growers association has stated its intention for 8,000 new acres of vineyards to be developed in the next two years. In this context, the history of the Anderson Valley’s takeover by corporate wine interests serves as both an important part of understanding social relations in the valley during the present, as well as a cautionary tale aimed at anyone attempting to ward off a similar fate in their own watersheds and communities.
Rich Ag, Poor Communities
In 1937, a Berkeley anthropology student named Walter Goldschmidt published the most oft-cited study of the social impacts of industrialized agriculture. Comparing a Bakersfield exurb surrounded by the massive Kern County Land Company to a small town south of Fresno encircled by small family farms, Goldschmidt detailed how the family farm community had far more vibrant social institutions and a better quality of life. His basic insight is common sense if you are, say, someone who is involved in Mendocino County’s various sustainable foodshed groups. Because of what it implied about the structure of American agribusiness as a whole, however, it was was greeted with tremendous resentment within academia. In short, agricultural land baronies, agribusiness corporations, and out-of-town prospectors destroy the texture of local social life. Small-scale agriculture, on the other hand helps to facilitate it.
The family farm community in Goldschmidt’s study was also far better off financially, owing to the tendency of small local farm owners to kept their profits circulating where they live.
Contrary to the romantic myth of small-farm wine craftsmanship, the wine industry is not small-scale at all. Rather, it is dominated by that most corrosive of all social forces working to undermine: big capital. The largest private equity firm on the planet, Texas Pacific Group of San Francisco, has been one of the three or four biggest players in the Napa and Sonoma wine games for the past 15 years. A subsidiary of the world’s largest real estate firm, CB Richard Ellis (also of San Francisco), owns one of the very largest wineries in the Napa and Anderson Valleys, Duckhorn/Goldeneye. The world’s largest agribusiness lender and fifth largest American company overall, Bank of America, holds the mortgages on far more California wine-grape estates than any other investment firm.
In addition to the investors, there are the land barons. E&J Gallo and Kendall-Jackson respectively own tens of thousands of acres across the state, as well as, in Jackson’s case, numerous large vineyards in other countries. The Napa Valley’s Andrew Bescktoffer is the biggest owner of grape acreage in Lake County, the second biggest in Mendocino County, and among the five biggest in Napa County.
Regardless of who, exactly, is growing the grapes, the industry as a whole is dominated at virtually all levels by big corporations. For instance, a mere seven companies purchase 82 percent of the wine-grapes grown in the United States. They also control the infrastructure. Altogether, this structure ensures that the big growers retain an even greater share of the profits.
The Anderson Valley fits Wine County’s prevailing economic trends. Roughly eight years ago, one-time AVA publisher and long-time columnist David Severn published a study regarding vineyard ownership in the valley. About 82 percent of vineyard acreage was owned by people who live outside the Anderson Valley at the time. An overwhelming portion of the county’s grapes are sold to the seven big wine corporations.
The Globalization of Wine and the Anderson Valley
In the mid-1970s, the American wine industry finally cast off the low-rent image that had dogged it since the darkest days of Prohibition. Napa Valley wines began earning accolades at prestigious international tasting competitions. For California’s fledgling vinters, a sort of economic renaissance kicked off.
Industry executives made a conscious effort to appeal to the consumer sensibilities of that growing population of middle-class, ex-hippies fanning out from the West Coast, intent on reconstructing their identities around more socially acceptable forms of what constitutes the Good Life.
Meanwhile, the San Francisco-based Wine Institute hired a polished former State Department official, Hoover Institution fellow, and University of California professor named John De Luca to oversee its image overhaul, as well as it planned economic expansion. Under De Luca’s guidance, the Institute even began playing a role at international trade negotiations, including talks on the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) and the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA). One benefit to these maneuvers was the message they sent to potential investors: In the context of a new era of globalizing capital, California wine was developing into a big, respectable industry with global aspirations.
Further, a major benefit to the increase in respectability was that Europe’s profoundly image-conscious wine barons began to invest in the North Coast appellations, which were becoming increasingly profitable for those with sufficient capital and knowledge. One of France’s oldest and wealthiest wine families, the Roederers, were among the first Old World vinters to prospect for the right California soil and terroir. They found what they were looking for in Philo, where they established the Anderson Valley’s first corporate winery in 1981. Today, they own roughly one-fifth of Anderson Valley’s cultivated grape acreage.
Until then, the Valley was dotted with merely a handful of vineyards and a single winery. Though the local wine industry was responsible for some ecological damage (a comparatively small amount), the culture surrounding the local wine industry was loose and informal. As former Elk resident and regular Anderson Valley frequenter Roanne Withers (a highly accomplished local environmental activist), recalls, “There was always work in the vineyards. And white hippies worked right alongside the Mexican migrants. It was fun.”
As David Severn put it, Roederer proved to be “the pioneer wine colonizer” in the Anderson Valley. Largely unknown as a grape-growing region prior to the arrival of the French grape barons, the valley was suddenly on the map as a likely next-big-thing among Napa Valley grape prospectors. A mini-depression hit the wine market in the mid-’80s, slowing investment and delaying for a handful of years the rush of grape prospectors who would soon flood the Valley, eager to exploit the infusion of prestige Roederer had provided.
One indication of what was to come was that a San Francisco attorney-turned-Lake County grape grower named Jess Jackson bought out the Anderson Valley’s original winery, Edmeades, in 1988 – Jackson’s first purchase of a winery, as well as an instrumental step in his later development into the industry’s leading robber baron.
As investment money flowing in more readily in the early-’90s, the grape prospectors grew bolder. Growers in Napa and Sonoma had rediscovered the possibility of growing grapes at higher elevations, in cooler climates, where the sugars were more concentrated. Soon, big investors began directing their capital toward creating a mountain-top removal vineyard planting binge. The pioneer of this alliance of big grape prospectors and large investors was a Stanford MBA named William Hill, a Napa Valley vinter since the late 1970s.
In the mid-1980s, Hill embarked on perhaps the most audacious mountain-top vineyard project that had yet been attempted in Sonoma County, in an area called Foss Valley, near the Alexander Valley and not far from Geyserville. Eager to exploit the rocky, well-drained soils that the mountain promised, Hill brought in a phalanx of D-9 Caterpillars to dig out a deep contour and install a veritable lake at the top of the mountain. From there, the bulldozers attempted to rip apart the various ridges of the property. Unable to excavate the numerous clusters of massive boulders from beneath the top-soil a D-9, the Hill development team resorted to a brand-new brand of bulldozer, the D-10, that was two and a half times larger. The mechanism was so huge that its components needed to be delivered in multiple stages, with one truck pushing and one truck pulling the components, just to get it up the hill.
Ultimately, Hill’s team succeeded in “ripping the place up.” Hill’s team successfully developed the vineyard, though not without washing a massive amount of sediment into the local water basin. It was the rosy dawn of a new era of vineyard prospecting. Hill quickly sold the estate to a large Italian wine combine, then turned his focus to his next major development scheme. The entire feat – both the engineering of the vineyard site and the subsequent sales job – had been sufficiently impressive from a strictly capitalistic perspective that Hill had no trouble securing funding from the British conglomerate Allied Lyons (later Allied Domecq, now part of Constellation Brands) for that newest major project, a development on a 1,400 acre parcel in Peachland, above Boonville in the Anderson Valley.
Like War-Time Laos in Peachland
In the spring of 1991, William Hill introduced the practice of mountain-top removal grape prospecting to Mendocino County. Allied Lyons had agreed to buy out his wine brand on favorable terms if he were able to develop his Peachland estate at a profitable rate. So Hill’s large bulldozers rumbled up the road, whereupon they commenced to scrape every bit of vegetation possible from a vast expanse of the land. From there, they deep plowed the soil in various designated planting areas to depths of at least eight feet, if not greater.
Hill’s workers then ignited a huge bonfire with the uprooted Peachland trees and vegetation, which could be seen all over the Anderson Valley and into the Ukiah Valley for 24 hours afterward.
One of the North Coast wine gentry’s most prescient and tenacious Advertiser.critics is Bruce Anderson, editor and publisher of the Anderson Valley er. Shortly after Hill’s project commenced, Anderson led off an issue of the AVA by sounding the alarm not only on Hill’s specific project, but the destruction it portended for the Anderson Valley as a whole.
Noting that the Valley’s land and hydrology were “coveted by more and more people with more and more money,” Anderson summed up what continues to be Hill’s basic modus operandi: “The enormous bonfire, ignited without alerting local fire agencies, served as a sort of metaphor for Hill’s flaming contempt for the environment and the people responsible for defending it. The fire perfectly sums up the man’s approach to land development.”
In a harbinger of the wine industry’s later activities in the Anderson Valley, Hill carried out the development without bothering to gain a single permit. The sole California Water Rights officer who was able to access the property had ordered Hill to stop. Not wanting to get bogged down even in California’s minimalistic regulatory process, with its customary leanings toward the interests of big business, Hill openly flouted the order. He had a lucrative deal with multi-national conglomerate on the table – and, thus, no time to lose.
The Water Rights Officer, a veteran of the Indochina wars of the ’60s and early-’70s, told Anderson that Hill’s Peachland development reminded him of war-time Laos. "It looks like a combat zone up there," he said. "I haven’t seen destruction on this scale in a long time."
Ultimately, Hill completed his Peachland vineyard development in 1991. Allied Lyons did, indeed, buy out the William Hill Winery brand in 1992. Four years later, the parcel was bought out by its present owner, Kendall Jackson.
Hill’s project was never subject to any sort of organized opposition in the Anderson Valley, in spite of the efforts of a small handful of residents. On the general principle expounded by Frederick Douglass, the lack of resistance did not bode well for the future ecological well-being the region: “Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them.” And, by extension, the bioregion where they live.
WILL PARRISH can be reached at wparrish(a)riseup.net.
This article is part of WILL PARRISH’s ongoing series of on Northern California’s highly destructive corporate wine industry. | <urn:uuid:87747ce1-b985-449d-b143-60d3f1baff3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.counterpunch.org/2011/02/25/the-winegrape-octopus/print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955126 | 3,963 | 3.21875 | 3 |
AFTER breakfast I wanted to talk about the dead man and guess out how he come to be killed, but Jim didn't want to. He said it would fetch bad luck; and besides, he said, he might come and ha'nt us; he said a man that warn't buried was more likely to go aha'nting around than one that was planted and comfortable. That sounded pretty reasonable, so I didn't say no more; but I couldn't keep from studying over it and wishing I knowed who shot the man, and what they done it for.
We rummaged the clothes we'd got, and found eight dollars in silver sewed up in the lining of an old blanket overcoat. Jim said he reckoned the people in that house stole the coat, because if they'd a knowed the money was there they wouldn't a left it. I said I reckoned they killed him, too; but Jim didn't want to talk about that. I says:
"Now you think it's bad luck; but what did you say when I fetched in the snake-skin that I found on the top of the ridge day before yesterday? You said it was the worst bad luck in the world to touch a snake-skin with my hands. Well, here's your bad luck! We've raked in all this truck and eight dollars besides. I wish we could have some bad luck like this every day, Jim."
"Never you mind, honey, never you mind. Don't you git too peart. It's a-comin'. Mind I tell you, it's a-comin'."
It did come, too. It was a Tuesday that we had that talk. Well, after dinner Friday we was laying around in the grass at the upper end of the ridge, and got out of tobacco. I went to the cavern to get some, and found a rattlesnake in there. I killed him, and curled him up on the foot of Jim's blanket, ever so natural, thinking there'd be some fun when Jim found him there. Well, by night I forgot all about the snake, and when Jim flung himself down on the blanket while I struck a light the snake's mate was there, and bit him.
He jumped up yelling, and the first thing the light showed was the varmint curled up and ready for another spring. I laid him out in a second with a stick, and Jim grabbed pap's whisky-jug and begun to pour it down.
He was barefooted, and the snake bit him right on the heel. That all comes of my being such a fool as to not remember that wherever you leave a dead snake its mate always comes there and curls around it. Jim told me to chop off the snake's head and throw it away, and then skin the body and roast a piece of it. I done it, and he eat it and said it would help cure him. He made me take off the rattles and tie them around his wrist, too. He said that that would help. Then I slid out quiet and throwed the snakes clear away amongst the bushes; for I warn't going to let Jim find out it was all my fault, not if I could help it.
Jim sucked and sucked at the jug, and now and then he got out of his head and pitched around and yelled; but every time he come to himself he went to sucking at the jug again. His foot swelled up pretty big, and so did his leg; but by and by the drunk begun to come, and so I judged he was all right; but I'd druther been bit with a snake than pap's whisky.
Jim was laid up for four days and nights. Then the swelling was all gone and he was around again. I made up my mind I wouldn't ever take a-holt of a snake-skin again with my hands, now that I see what had come of it. Jim said he reckoned I would believe him next time. And he said that handling a snakeskin was such awful bad luck that maybe we hadn't got to the end of it yet. He said he druther see the new moon over his left shoulder as much as a thousand times than take up a snake-skin in his hand. Well, I was getting to feel that way myself, though I've always reckoned that looking at the new moon over your left shoulder is one of the carelessest and foolishest things a body can do. Old Hank Bunker done it once, and bragged about it; and in less than two years he got drunk and fell off of the shot-tower, and spread himself out so that he was just a kind of a layer, as you may say; and they slid him edgeways between two barn doors for a coffin, and buried him so, so they say, but I didn't see it. Pap told me. But anyway it all come of looking at the moon that way, like a fool.
Well, the days went along, and the river went down between its banks again; and about the first thing we done was to bait one of the big hooks with a skinned rabbit and set it and catch a catfish that was as big as a man, being six foot two inches long, and weighed over two hundred pounds. We couldn't handle him, of course; he would a flung us into Illinois. We just set there and watched him rip and tear around till he drownded. We found a brass button in his stomach and a round ball, and lots of rubbage. We split the ball open with the hatchet, and there was a spool in it. Jim said he'd had it there a long time, to coat it over so and make a ball of it. It was as big a fish as was ever catched in the Mississippi, I reckon. Jim said he hadn't ever seen a bigger one. He would a been worth a good deal over at the village. They peddle out such a fish as that by the pound in the markethouse there; everybody buys some of him; his meat's as white as snow and makes a good fry.
Next morning I said it was getting slow and dull, and I wanted to get a stirring up some way. I said I reckoned I would slip over the river and find out what was going on. Jim liked that notion; but he said I must go in the dark and look sharp. Then he studied it over and said, couldn't I put on some of them old things and dress up like a girl? That was a good notion, too. So we shortened up one of the calico gowns, and I turned up my trouser-legs to my knees and got into it. Jim hitched it behind with the hooks, and it was a fair fit. I put on the sun-bonnet and tied it under my chin, and then for a body to look in and see my face was like looking down a joint of stovepipe. Jim said nobody would know me, even in the daytime, hardly. I practiced around all day to get the hang of the things, and by and by I could do pretty well in them, only Jim said I didn't walk like a girl; and he said I must quit pulling up my gown to get at my britches-pocket. I took notice, and done better.
I started up the Illinois shore in the canoe just after dark.
I started across to the town from a little below the ferry-landing, and the drift of the current fetched me in at the bottom of the town. I tied up and started along the bank. There was a light burning in a little shanty that hadn't been lived in for a long time, and I wondered who had took up quarters there. I slipped up and peeped in at the window. There was a woman about forty year old in there knitting by a candle that was on a pine table. I didn't know her face; she was a stranger, for you couldn't start a face in that town that I didn't know. Now this was lucky, because I was weakening; I was getting afraid I had come; people might know my voice and find me out. But if this woman had been in such a little town two days she could tell me all I wanted to know; so I knocked at the door, and made up my mind I wouldn't forget I was a girl. | <urn:uuid:54e9c1db-a97d-4bf6-84d8-9dc283c15b2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.literature.org/authors/twain-mark/huckleberry/chapter-10.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.993523 | 1,742 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Visually Communicating Project Progress
One of the traits of a great PM is their ability to communicate visually – presenting the progress of a project in a single glance so that one can see if things are going to plan or not. When you look at your world through visual lens that help you solve problems in business in new ways !
Edward Tufte teaches the gift of visualizing information in a way that people can take action on.
Agile teams often place large charts and graphs in their workspaces to radiate important information. It doesn’t matter if you are developing software, delivering IT infrastructure solutions, building a house, hardware products or systems – you can visually see if you project is on track or not.
Agile teams often track project progress through ‘’Burn charts’’ (burn-up, burn-down and cumulative flow) which are a very popular way to give visibility into a project’s progress. Burn Charts are a graphical representation of the work left to be done and of the progress that has been made. The chart is typically drawn to show progress against predictions.
They are extremely simple and astonishingly powerful. They reveal the strategy being used, show the progress made against predictions, and open the door to discussions about how best to proceed, including the difficult discussions about whether to cut scope or extend the schedule.
Uses of Burn Charts
There are two primary uses of a burn charts; planning and monitoring. The burn chart represents either what is intended to be delivered or the amount of effort that is intended to be expended to deliver the agreed upon functionality. The chart represents a plan.
The second primary use of a burn chart (and maybe the most important) is for monitoring and control based on the visual representations of the plan and progress against that plan. At a glance, the chart can tell whether you are ahead or behind schedule which provides the team with the impetus for action. For example, if progress is not being made fast enough additional effort can be brought to bear or scope can be reduced. Alternately, if progress is racing ahead of the ideal line, additional work can be accepted into an iteration.
4 keys to visual charts:
I have found that if you remember the following 4 things about designing your graphs, that you will powerfully present your project progress in the best visual way possible.
1. Keep it Simple …so that anyone reading them knows they can identify why a project is well or not. Simple facts speak louder than clever algorithms.
2. Track work DONE (not in-progress)…since it is only when something is done or complete that it provides value. Think about it…..if a feature is “in-progress”, then you can’t actually use it or demonstrate it. Only when it is complete can you show it has value.
3. Be Honest and Current…don’t use charts to convince your audience of your team’s excellence or mask errors or problems. Display progress and expose problems. And don’t manipulate the honesty of the graphs, otherwise your team will stop trusting and using them to improve their work. Information more than a few days old is typically too stale to have evocative powers.
4. Let your team help….let them help choose what is graphed, so they know what others will publically see, and it is a great team building tool as well. Let them help you determine what is best to track and visually publicize to your audience. It is also a great team building tool as well.
Some samples Charts….And how to Interpret them
In project A, the dotted gray line is the target. In this example, the project is 10 weeks long. Each week we expect to complete 10% of the work and use up 10% of the budget. That’s the ideal scenario. Of course, the real world is different — that’s why we need the other two lines.
- The red line shows how much of the budget has been “burned”. It is based on actual hours worked by the team. In this example, we are three weeks into the project and we’ve burned 40% of the budget.
- The green line shows “percent complete”. It’s based on features completed so far. In this example, only 20% of the features are complete at the end of week 3.
Our sample project is in trouble. We should have used 30% of the budget to complete 30% of the features, but instead we’ve used 40% of the budget to complete 20% of the features. At least we’ve received the bad news early, while we still have time to do something about it.
In Sample 2′s project, the team’s progress (the green line) is lower than expected. We can easily see the reason: the hours worked are low too.
Perhaps team members are being sidetracked by other projects. On a more positive note, the percent completed is closely tracking the budget burned. If things continue like this, the project will be late, but it won’t blow the budget.
SAMPLE 3. Features / Functionality
After each iteration, you mark how much relative work got completed. If today is MAY, then with just two marks on the chart you can see how far slower you are moving than you expected! Yes, that may be bad news, but at least it is ‘’bad news detected early’’, as opposed to ‘’bad news detected too late to do anything about it!’‘
If you plot business value on the vertical axis instead of development effort, you get a chart that properly shows how much value you have delivered over time. Plotting both on the same chart may help remind the team about where the real business value lies in their work.
Work you can graph on a Burn Chart …
- Defects (opened, reopened, closed)
- Features / Functionality
- Hours worked
- Key Milestones
- Tests passed
- and so much more…
** Come back next week to get a burn down chart tutorial | <urn:uuid:c774f54b-6ca4-4a98-b4ee-ca51df65cc23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agilistapm.com/visually-comm-proj-progress/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939499 | 1,280 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Military officer Nguyen Van Phat said Tuesday that the bodies were recovered from a rubber plantation in the southern province of Dong Nai. Farmers hunting for scrap metal there found the bodies last week.
The remains have not been identified. Phat says authorities also found 17 pairs of rubber sandals and 23 hammocks among the remains.
He says the soldiers were believed to have been killed while attacking an airport in 1969.
Some 3 million Vietnamese and 58,000 Americans died during the war, which ended in 1975 when communists overran Saigon, then capital of South Vietnam.
The remains of around 300,000 North Vietnamese soldiers have yet to be recovered. | <urn:uuid:7026c673-85ef-4c7e-bc00-8282bf64df6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.publicopiniononline.com/nationalnews/ci_21624912/vietnam-finds-mass-grave-communist-soldiers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975191 | 133 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Not since an outbreak of mad cow disease a dozen years ago have Europe’s food industries been embroiled in a crisis the likes of this past month’s discovery of horse meat masquerading as beef in prepared-food entrees sold across the continent.
The controversy over mislabeled meat in millions of frozen dinners, pastas, stews, goulashes and chilis took a turn for the worse this week when Nestle, the world’s largest food company, found horse DNA in some of its products. And testing of meals yanked from store shelves and freezers in Britain and Germany has turned up traces of phenylbutazone, commonly known as bute, a powerful equine painkiller deemed harmful to humans.
The scandal erupted last month when Irish food safety authorities found horse meat in frozen burgers labeled as pure beef. It has since spread to 13 other countries and forced authorities to recall billions of dollars' worth of products for testing and disposal.
“Burgergate” has also highlighted the labyrinthine route that food travels from farm to table. Horse meat from a Romanian slaughterhouse was accurately labeled when it was exported to French meat processor Spanghero through a Cypriot middleman, but it acquired the beef label before being sent to a Luxembourg subsidiary that produced frozen dinners for supermarkets in Britain, Spain, Germany and Scandinavia.
The still-unfolding scandal has spotlighted failures in the European Union food regulation network, as one of the benefits for the 27 members of the trading bloc has been unfettered access for each nation’s goods to the others’ markets. No cross-border inspections are required of imports, and even precautions undertaken after the mad cow frenzy of 2001, such as mandated documentation of each cow’s care, feeding and transport, have proved insufficient because the practice isn’t extended to horses.
After bute was discovered in horse meat slaughtered in Britain, the Federation of Veterinarians of Europe reiterated its proposal that horse owners be required to maintain detailed records of their animals’ drug treatment. Horses raised to race or pull plows and wagons are often treated with anti-inflammatory medicines like bute, which are supposed to exclude them from the food supply.
In a statement on its website, the federation warned that the lack of a centralized registry for horse veterinary records left the oversight system open to manipulation by unscrupulous traders who can obtain duplicate “passports” clean of any reference to prohibited drugs. The BBC reported this week that more than 7,000 fake medical records on horses were known to be circulating in Britain alone.
The substitution of horse meat, which typically sells for a third or less the cost of beef, was more a problem for European food processors’ reputations than a health scare until the discovery of bute in the mislabeled meat. Those perpetrating the deception could now be criminally liable.
“It’s more a case of fraud, but that’s what all these food problems start out as: someone trying to make money by pushing a product not up to standards,” said Barry Bosworth, an economist with the Brookings Institution.
Bosworth predicted that the food businesses involved in the substitution scam “will get clobbered in the short run,” which could further deepen the economic pain gripping a region suffering nearly 12% unemployment and a strangling debt crisis. But as with previous food scandals, the furor will soon die down, he said, recalling the uproar in recent years over mechanically separated meat, dubbed “pink slime,” that has abated although the stuff continues to be used broadly in fast food and mass-produced ingredients.
Some good usually comes from headline-grabbing scandals, Bosworth added. Food regulations were improved in the United States and Europe after the 2001 mad cow outbreak, when at least 80 people died from the human form of the disease, 180,000 head of cattle were found to be infected and millions of older cows were slaughtered to curb its spread.
But the short-term consequences of the horse meat ruse for Europe’s food industries are already being felt. An online poll conducted Feb. 14-15 by Consumer Intelligence of Britain found that nearly 1 in 4 of the 2,200 respondents said they were consuming less meat. And 65% said they now mistrust food labels, Reuters news agency reported.
While the deception has unsettled millions of consumers, food industry giants insist that the vast majority of their products are safe and accurately labeled. Nestle, which makes Stouffer’s, Lean Cuisine and Gerber baby foods, asserted that those brands were untouched by the horse meat scandal.
German officials on Monday announced a 10-point plan to restore consumer confidence in prepared foods after five national supermarket chains joined the parade of European purveyors found to be carrying mislabeled meat products.
“I can't say this is the end,” Consumer Protection Minister Ilse Aigner told reporters in Berlin. “We have to count on other cases being discovered.”
A foreign correspondent for 25 years, Carol J. Williams traveled to and reported from more than 80 countries in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and Latin America. | <urn:uuid:c19bab48-5110-4128-b324-5faff4728678> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.latimes.com/news/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-horse-meat-for-beef-scandal-europe-20130219,0,5367847.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958517 | 1,081 | 2.34375 | 2 |
A few eagle-eyed MASN viewers have written to ask about the puzzle-piece lapel pin worn by color analyst Jim Palmer during recent broadcasts. In this edition of his MASNsports.com blog, Palmer explains the special significance of the accessory.
It's for autism awareness. My stepson is autistic - actually, Aspergers, which is supposedly a higher functioning form of the autism spectrum - and they're trying to figure out what causes autism. Nobody knows. It used to be one out of every 70 boys, but that number's come down. One out of every 110 kids; that number's come down. So it's much more prevalent. The puzzle (piece) is that they're looking for an answer.
I have a wonderful wife and anytime you're dealing with autism or Aspergers, it's 24/7 - it doesn't go away. Spencer is a little savant. He has a photographic memory and knows more about trains, or as much about trains, than anybody in the United States. He could go give a class - he could actually do that.
You know those Dos Equis ads about the most interesting man in the world? Well, I always say we have the most interesting 14-year-old boy sitting in the back seat, entertaining us. He can memorize dialogue, he can do impressions. But their brains are wired a little bit differently. ... They live in the world of autism, their own little world.
In Spencer's world, he can run an engine on his computer. Yesterday he was on the MetroLink (in California) - every Thursday, he goes from Fullerton to the downtown Los Angeles station and back. But they have new railroad cars so he actually went up into the engine and got to meet the engineer. He goes to Disneyland and Disneyworld because he knows all the engineers and knows about the trains. I do ESPN Weekend for Disney and ESPN in Orlando and I told them I'd do it if they got me in the roundhouse where they keep all the trains. ... We went back there and they were remodeling a 1950 train and he knew all the parts and he was discussing it with the engineer. They were laying on the ground and he was telling the guy, "That goes there," and so on.
He's a special little kid. | <urn:uuid:68cbe793-a334-4e91-893a-188961e0f3d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.masnsports.com/jim_palmer/2011/07/piecing-together-an-understanding-of-autism.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986072 | 474 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The numbers of confirmed swine flu cases continue to rise in the U.S. and around the world. The U.S. government is taking extra precautions and urging caution and preparedness over panic and hysteria.
Mexico is the center of this outbreak. Suspected swine flu deaths have topped 140 in that country and cases have climbed to more than 1600. The Mexican government has closed schools nationwide and hundreds of events are canceled. A majority of Mexico's suspected swine flu victims were between the ages of 20 and 50.
The U.S. is offering to help. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has pledged, "to make sure they have the resources and the technical expertise that they might need if they so request."
So far, the U.S. swine flu cases are more mild. The CDC has confirmed more than three dozen cases of swine flu. Most of the cases stemmed from students at a New York City school who spent spring break in Mexico. Cases have also been confirmed in Kansas, California, Ohio and Texas.
Dr. Richard Besser, is Acting Director of the Center for Disease Control. He says, "We are only aware of one individual who was hospitalized and all people who've been affected and were sick have recovered. The median age is 16 years."
The Department of Health and Human Services has declared a public health emergency, which allows Washington to ship flu-fighting medications from federal stock piles. Officers at airports, seaports and border crossings are watching for signs of illness and officials at some airports around the world are using equipment to monitor the temperature of travelers.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano will testify before a Senate committee about the global swine flu outbreak on Wednesday. | <urn:uuid:3bf4a831-9efa-4f30-a9a1-6efc334a801e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fox44.com/kidsfamily/swine-flu-goverment-declares-public-health-emergency | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97215 | 351 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Glossary of Terms
Parts of the Book
The covers (usually cardboard) of a book with a final cover of paper.
The page that normally appears on verso of the title page containing the artistic property protection.
The pages which hold the text block and case together.
Front and rear blank pages added by the binder.
The right edge of the textblock opposite the spine.
The bottom edge of the textblock.
Inner margins of two facing pages. Can also refer to the outer indentation that is created by the joining of the boards and spine.
The page preceding the title page proper normally listing only the title of the book. Though usually present in modern books, it is sometimes lacking in older publications because it was originally designed to be removed before custom binding.
The backbone of the book where the title is displayed when it is standing upright on a shelf.
The top of the textblock, sometimes stained with color.
Colored edges of top pages.
Trade paperback versions of books released to book industry insiders prior to the actual official release date for marketing purposes. Generally printed with generic, text-only covers.
Small, inexpensive books produced from the 17th century until today, originally sold by "chapmen", peddlers, and hawkers.
The separate paper covering for a book. Originally intended for protection, these have become an important part of modern books, often including information about a book not found elsewhere. The well preserved dustjacket itself represents 70 to 80% of the total value of an important work of first edition fiction.
A softcover book with front and back paper flaps.
A proof of a book made before the pages are numbered.
A book which has had its spine covered in leather and the rest of the front and rear boards covered in another material such as boards or cloth.
A hardcover book which may or may not have a dustjacket.
A book bound in leather, rather than cloth or paperboards. Usually does not have a dustjacket.
A book bound in a material consisting of leather powder mixed with a bonding agent and impregnated into a fabric then dyed and stamped with a leather-like grain.
Boards covered in paper, cloth, or leather, which houses a book, leaving only its spine exposed.
A book which has had its spine and corners bound in leather
Trade Paperbacks similar to Advanced Reading Copies, but not released specifically for marketing purposes.
A book bound with flexible paper covers.
Condition (From the IOBA)
NB: Ratings apply to condition of book and jacket. A book is generally appraised with two grades, often separated with a slash, such as FINE/FINE. All grades may also be noted with a (+) or (-) if condition nears another grade.
Without faults or defects, unread, in the same immaculate condition in which it was published. Very few "new" books qualify for this grade, as many times there will be rubs/scuffs to the dustjackets from shipping, or bumped lower spine ends/corners from shelving.
Approaches the above, but not crisp. May show signs of having been carefully read, but no real defects or faults.
A book or dustjacket approaching Fine but with a couple of very minor defects or faults, which should be noted.
Very light wear to book, and/or jacket; no large tears, or major defects.
The average used and worn book that has all pages or leaves present.
A book that is sufficiently worn that its only merit is the complete text, which must be legible. May be soiled, scuffed, stained, or spotted, and may have loose joints, hinges, pages, and so forth.
The dust jacket has library markings (the book was at one time the property of a lending library) but is in otherwise good condition.
Signed with a name only, with no other text included. The most desirable form of autograph.
A book inscribed by its author to a famous person or owned by someone of interest. Strong associations may increase the value and collectibility of a book.
A sticker, sometimes decorative or personalized, which is pasted onto book.
Signed and dedicated to an individual by the author or someone associated with the book, but with more wording than simply a signature.
Signed card/photograph/letter is laid in (not glued down).
Autograph on paper affixed into the gutter of a book. Limitation pages of limited editions are often tipped-in.
Editions, Printings, Volumes
Editions published by book clubs such as The Book-of-the-Month Club, Fireside Book Club, History Book Club, The Literary Guild, and so forth.
All of the copies of a book printed from the same setting of type, at one time or over a period of time, with no major changes, additions or revisions. Minor changes, such as the correction of some misspelled words, or the addition of a dedication, or similar very minor alterations, may be made and the revised copies are still considered as part of the same edition, simply being described as different states or issues. Many printings may be part of a single edition.
An exact reproduction of an original book. Often produced on a book’s anniversary.
In book collecting practice this refers to the earliest issue of the first printing of the first edition. In the publishing industry, any issue of the book without significant content change.
The first time that the book appears in a particular form, which may mean the first appearance under a new title, or the first appearance with a new introduction, or frequently the first with a particular set of illustrations. Not a true First Edition.
Book restricted to a comparatively small number of copies, usually numbered and often signed by the author and/or illustrator.
A group of books produced from a single run of the printing press. Actually, though the press may be stopped and re-started, the term still applies if the plates are not removed from the press. Subgroups within a printing are sometimes further distinguished by state or issue.
Variations within an edition, which are made prior to publication, including alterations due to stop-press insertions, damaged type, etc.; the addition of errata leaves or advertisements; textual changes affecting page lay-out; some special-paper copies.
For example, a small number of copies of J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone were printed with the author’s full name (Joanne) on the copyright page. After the first run of 500 copies, her name was shortened to J.K. and the second state of the first printing of the first edition resulted.
The first appearance anywhere in hardcover from a publisher made available to the public. Normally, first US and first UK editions are available, but the true first is the one published in country where the book was first released.
A paragraph printed on the cover or dust jacket of a book in which the book or author is commented upon.
The discoloration of book paper by poor storage and age.
Damage usually to the corners or spine ends of a book because of carelessly handling or shelving.
Small flakes or tears to the edge(s) of a dust jacket, pages or spine of a book.
A tear with no material missing. Closed tears may be undetectable by the naked eye.
A pattern of spotting or speckling on paper or sometimes cloth, usually brown or yellowish brown in tone and often more or less circular in shape.
Page edges cut smooth and covered with a thin layer of gold leaf.
Transparent paper sometimes used as a dustjacket to protect a book.
A change, textual or otherwise, made after the book has been published. For example, the first issue dustjacket of García Márquez’s One Hundred Years of Solitude contains an exclamation point at the end of the first sentence on the flap not found in later printings.
A defect in which the covers of a book no longer line up squarely when the book is laid flat.
A process of decorating paper in which the result resembles the veins of stone marble.
A tear that may have some material missing.
Words written by previous owner of book.
The price on the inner flap of a dust jacket has been cut off. Very common in the UK.
Evidence of the history of the ownership of a particular book such as auction records, booksellers' records, book plates, and so forth. Provenance is most important for establishing the authenticity of autographed books.
A book without a dustjacket.
Hinges or joints beginning to show signs of becoming loose, either through wear or defective binding.
The discoloration of a book's binding or dust jacket, usually the spine or edges, by light.
The mild discoloration of book paper due to poor storage and age. Not as severe as browning. | <urn:uuid:8ea9914d-dc1c-4ad8-ab61-9b77f9cc7dce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://flatsigned.com/GlossaryTerms.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955537 | 1,879 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Statement by Ambassador Raza Bashir Tarar,
Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the United Nations,
on the Third Review of the United Nations Global Counter Terrorism Strategy
(New York, 28 June 2012)
We are deeply appreciative of the efforts made by the Permanent Representative of Canada, H.E. Ambassador Guillermo Rishchynski, facilitator of the Counter-Terrorism Strategy review consultations for a consensus resolution on the review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy.
- Pakistan delegation associates itself with the statement made by the Syrian Arab Republic on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).
- Pakistan unequivocally condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, committed by whomsoever, wherever, and against whomsoever. We also condemn murder of civilians in all parts of the world, whether motivated by ideological differences or use of disproportionate force against soft targets. Terrorism and extremism cannot and should not be associated with any religion, race, ethnicity, faith, value system, culture or society.
- Pakistan reaffirms its commitment to strengthen international cooperation in the fight against terrorism. Coherence and coordination are necessary for the success of this fight. Accordingly, Pakistan supports the UN Global Counter Terrorism Strategy and its balanced implementation that addresses the root causes of the terrorism including prolonged unresolved conflicts, unlawful use of force, aggression, foreign occupation, denial of the right of peoples living under foreign occupation to self-determination, political and economic injustices, political marginalization and alienation.
- The promotion of international counter terrorism cooperation is a noble goal. Pakistan fulfills its international obligations, particularly its commitment to implement various conventions on counter terrorism, with great responsibility. We have ratified 10 out of 13 UN Conventions relating to terrorism. Besides, we are signatory to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime 2000 (Palermo Convention). Pakistan has become a party to the UN Convention for the Suppression of the Financing of Terrorism and has enacted a landmark Anti Money Laundering Bill. A Financial Monitoring Unit has been established in the State Bank of Pakistan to monitor suspicious financial transactions. Recently, 64 additional Bank accounts and Pak Rupees 750.8 million have been frozen. We cooperate consistently with friends and allies to implement all the four pillars of the Strategy.
- Pakistan has deployed 160,000 troops on its border with Afghanistan and has set up 822 border posts to interdict Al-Qaida/Taliban members.
- Over the six years since adoption of the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy, we have realized that the Strategy in itself will be of little value unless it is implemented in all its aspects. We are of the view that the implementation of the Strategy in the following areas would redound to the benefit of the Third Review.
- First, one pillar of the Strategy underlines the need to settle prolonged unresolved conflicts. Addressing festering disputes would go a long way in impressing the effectiveness of counter-terrorism efforts;
- Second, the Strategy addresses the problem of defamation of religion. Such bigotry plays into the hands of terrorists while exacerbating intra and inter-state differences. In today’s globalized world, the need for understanding, harmony and building of bridges among all cultures and peoples is greater than ever; and
- Third, the Strategy also addresses the need to promote economic and social development to help curb extremism and terrorism. Socio-economic marginalization is a leading cause of increasing terrorism’s appeal. The international community should place high priority on balanced social-economic development of regions vulnerable to terrorism.
- Pakistan sees the UN Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy and its four pillars as work in progress. The Strategy must be updated and revised substantively and regularly in the light of new developments. For instance, it is a lacuna that the review resolution does not take note of the emerging trend of home-grown radicals misguided by propaganda facilitated by information and communication technology advances.
- The consensus resolution on the third review of the United Nations Global Counter-Terrorism Strategy has highlighted the need to ensure the promotion and protection of human rights and observance of the rule of law while countering terrorism. Rule of law is indeed an antidote to terrorism provided it is observed ungrudgingly at both the national and international levels. Fair prosecution and conviction of terrorists in courts of law would be more effective than eliminating them through extrajudicial means. Such cavalier approach to human life only feeds extremism.
- We would also like to express our support for the continuation of reform in procedures of the Security Council Committees to ensure due process and promotion of transparency. We welcome the recent efforts made by the Council in this regard. We expect that the process of reform will continue for further improvement of procedures.
- The United Nations has a special role in promoting international cooperation in the field of counter terrorism. The UN and its counter terrorism bodies need inter-agency coordination, policy coherence and closer cooperation with each other. We have noted that the Secretary General, in his report A/66/762, has proposed the creation of a UN Counter-Terrorism Coordinator position. We are of the view that modalities of concretizing the proposal need further elaboration and due deliberation by Member States on various aspects of the proposal. While supporting the institutional coherence of the UN, we also emphasize the importance of respecting mandates of various bodies of the UN.
I thank you Mr. President. | <urn:uuid:6319a38f-4fe6-4c73-94b5-7e2ab04cc557> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pakun.org/statements/Plenary_of_General_Assembly/2012/06282012-01.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927727 | 1,096 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The northern half of Key Largo is mostly preserved natural land. That northern half is bisected lengthwise – from north to south – by Route 905. The Dagny Johnson Key Largo Hammock Botanical State Park ("Dagny Johnson Park") comprises most of the land situated east of Rt. 905; the Crocodile Lake National Wildlife Refuge constitutes the majority of land situated west of Rt. 905.
Some months ago, Dr. Wilder initiated an inventory of the species of vascular plants growing within Dagny Johnson Park. The Park's extensive, comprising 2,421 acres and measuring, approximately, ten miles long. "It will be challenging to complete the plant inventory," notes Dr. Wilder. "I hope that I’ll be able to do so. Completion could require years of work!"
Key Largo Botanical Park History
Dagny Johnson Park contains large areas of tropical hardwood hammock and mangrove vegetation. Present, too, are salt marsh, a very small area of beach vegetation and disturbed land. Parts of the Park are remnants of a Nike missile base dating from the Cold War period, which was functional from 1965 to 1979, approximately.
The Park was established in 1982 and is named after Anna Dagny Johnson, a local environmentalist – now deceased – who led efforts to save the Park land from development.
Two developers tried successively to develop the area with numerous condominiums and hotels before the Park was established. Fortunately, both attempts failed and both developers declared bankruptcy. | <urn:uuid:dba4b5d2-32e8-4518-8303-bbeb5d4c1172> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.naplesgarden.org/show/blog/blog/author/168 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948518 | 316 | 2.34375 | 2 |
We live in the age of crowdsourcing. Technology not only makes it easier to reach out to people beyond your circle of friends and family, but to ask them for advice. It's great when you want honest opinions about whether or not an outfit makes you look like a Bangkok lady boy in clown makeup. But is it good for nuanced, grey-area decisioneering? After all, it's crowds who have elected villains to public office, made terrible movies box office successes and popularized jeggings.
Receiving advice makes us less responsible for the outcomes of a decision. You and your trusted friend (or Twitter follower) are more or less in it together. That's not always particularly healthy, but it makes coping with a problem easier. Tougher decisions requiring greater deliberation sometimes makes us hustle harder to outside counsel.
More from YourTango: Who Are You Trying To Fool With Those Spanx?
Romantic relationships comprise one of the toughest, most charged and grayest decision areas of our lives. The stakes are so high that many of us can't pull the trigger, one way or another, on our own. We ask our friends, family members, hair stylists, video store clerks and sensual masseuses for help. Maybe the advice is passable, because they've been hearing our end of the drama for ages. And if we're lucky, they know our opposite number well enough to see the situation for what it really is. Top 10 Twitters To Follow For Love Advice
But giving advice isn't always as Solomon-esque as we'd like to think. Advice can be a form of empathetic nostalgia. Sometimes the giver drops too much of his or her own experiences, fears and prejudices into a situation. The advice is then suited for the giver, rather than the person actually needing advice.
And then there's the issue of asking virtual strangers for help. Their advice would have to be more objective, because they don't know the situation. You probably don't really know where they're coming from, either. But does that make for better or just less-informed advice?
More from YourTango: I Love You, Now Stop Making Me Fat
Is it worth it to ask people you don't know for relationship advice? Can it be worthwhile if you don't know their backgrounds, and they don't know your significant other? Do we crave advice so we can lay blame someone else if things don't work out?
This week, Alice suspects Timmy is up to no good and asks for help on Twitter. Like us on Facebook to check it out and offer your advice to Alice, if you feel like it. | <urn:uuid:9a6d2172-dfc9-4eb4-a075-45ef73b130dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yourtango.com/201167770/should-you-crowdsource-your-love-life | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957891 | 545 | 1.523438 | 2 |
The WWW Philosophy Virtual Library is located at the University of Bristol, hosted jointly by the Department of Philosophy and the Institute for Learning and Research Technology. This Virtual Library section is now provided in collaboration with SOSIG, the Social Science Information Gateway.
The SOSIG Internet Catalogue offers access to thousands of high quality Internet resources, each selected and described by academic librarians and subject specialists. These WWW VL pages serve as Philosophy-specific view into the larger SOSIG catalogue. Other sections of SOSIG are also likely to be of interest - visit the SOSIG home page at http://www.sosig.ac.uk/ for access to the full catalogue.
The central WWW VL site at vlib.org provides a hierarchically organised directory of the WWW Virtual Library. See the 'about the Virtual Library' pages to learn more about the Virtual Library project.
The Mozilla Open Directory Project also attempts to provides an open, community driven Web directory. For quality guidelines, software and research relating to the management of high-quality distributed Internet catalogues such as SOSIG, see the DESIRE and ROADS projects. The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) have recently developed a framework for resource description on the Web that will make it easier to build and interconnect catalogues such as these, as part of their Semantic Web Activity. | <urn:uuid:4b77c650-7fe0-4360-8eef-a13db29dedbc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bristol.ac.uk/philosophy/department/resources/virtual.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907778 | 278 | 1.875 | 2 |
First-year international student calls for end to violence against women and wins annual college peace speech contest
GOSHEN, Ind. – Around the world, at least one in three women has been beaten, coerced into sex or otherwise abused in her lifetime, according to the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the Center for Health and Gender Equity.
This and other information about global violence against women was presented by Goshen College first-year student Niti Mishra to a crowd that filled Goshen College’s Umble Center on Jan. 23 for the 2007 C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest. Mishra won the competition with her speech “Gender Violence: A Challenge Across Borders.”
“I was about 12 years old when I first came to understand what violence against women could mean,” said Mishra, an accounting major from Brampton, Ontario, Canada, and originally from Nepal. “Violence against women is nothing new. The way our culture is set up definitely provides a platform for this kind of cruelty to exist. … Though my awakening to this violence came in Nepal, girls and women fall victim to mistreatment and injustice in countries across the world.”
Mishra noted that women in economically desperate situations often are the victims of such violence, whether at the hands of their husbands or boyfriends, or when sold into prostitution by family. She said that in Nepal, 172,000 girls have been “trafficked” or forced into a life of prostitution. Women and girls are also the victims of war, Mishra said, because “rape is used in armed conflicts to intimidate, conquer and control women and their communities.”
But Mishra didn’t want her audience to get too comfortable thinking that violence against women was a distant issue. “The abuse and violence of course does not prevail in Third World countries only,” she said. “In the United States, a woman is raped every six minutes; a woman is battered every 15 seconds.”
The effects of such violence, Mishra noted, are wide-ranging, including physical, emotional, social, mental and psychological. And though the physical effects can be quite significant, she said that researchers have found out that the psychological effects are “more severe and debilitating than the physical ones.”
Mishra, the daughter of Jyoti Singh K.C. Mishra, called her audience to action – to donate to organizations that help women and children around the world and to speak out for women’s rights. “We need to recognize that abuse is a fundamental violation of numerous human rights. These violations impact the social, mental, physical and emotional health of thousands of women, and have a profoundly negative impact on the development and well-being of numerous families, communities and entire countries.”
She concluded, “We need to act now. We should not ever tolerate violence.”
The runner-up for the 2007 competition was first-year student Georgette Oduor, from Kenya, who spoke about “The Truth About AIDS in Kenya: How It Affects Children.” She noted that in 2005 Africa had 12 million AIDS orphans and that the number is expected to rise to 20 million by 2010.
Oduor described to the audience how when her uncle died three years ago from AIDS, it was her grandmother who was left to care for his uneducated wife and their seven children. With governments unable to adequately support AIDS orphans and there being relatively few orphanages, the alternative is that children end up on the street, are abused, miss out on an education and lack basic necessities.
“For these orphans, grandmothers may be the only alternative to life on the streets. The grandmothers will look after them as their own, emotionally supporting the children as they share the same loss,” said Oduor, a nursing major and the daughter of Evelyn Yobera of Anchorage, Alaska. “But the grandmothers need to be supported in this noble responsibility.”
Oduor called on the audience to participate with her in a project she is starting called “Adopt-a-Granny,” which will connect the Goshen College community and the youth of her home church in Kenya, and financially support grandmothers who are caring for their orphaned grandchildren. “Your support to the grannies will ensure that the world’s most vulnerable future generation does not end up in hostile environments that could seal their fate to a life of crime or death from HIV/AIDS,” she said.
The other contestants and their speeches were: sophomore Analisa Gerig-Sickles, of West Branch, Iowa, “Women and the Call to Ministry”; first-year Betsy Houser, from Phoenix, Ariz., “Peace, Prosperity and the Promised Land”; and first-year Drew Stoltzfus, from Souderton, Pa., “The Cosmos and Evil.”
Because it is a peace oratorical competition, the topics of the speeches are required to be related to peace, in a universal or specific context, including war and violence, political policies, agencies of justice and peace, peacemaking strategies or current events. The judges for the evening were Goshen Mayor Allan Kauffman, Goshen College Associate Professor of Peace, Justice and Conflict Studies Carolyn Schrock-Shenk and co-pastor of Assembly Mennonite Church Karl Shelly. Associate Professor of Communication Duane Stoltzfus coordinated the competition.
Participants competed for cash prizes and the top winner, Mishra, may enter the U.S./Canada Mennonite Central Committee-sponsored C. Henry Smith Peace Oratorical Contest. Last year’s winner, Goshen College senior Rebecca Fast of Waterloo, Ontario, won the bi-national competition with her speech “Misunderstood Minds: Wasted Human Potential” about learning disabilities.
The trust of C. Henry Smith, a Mennonite historian and professor at Goshen and Bluffton (Ohio) colleges, funds the contest, which gives students an opportunity to become involved with the peace cause while cultivating rhetorical skills. Speech contests have been part of Goshen College’s history since the early 1900s; the C. Henry Smith contest allows the campus community to hear more about relevant, contemporary issues.
Editors: For more information about this release, contact Goshen College News Bureau Director Jodi H. Beyeler at (574) 535-7572 or email@example.com.
Goshen College, established in 1894, is a four-year residential Christian liberal arts college rooted in the Anabaptist-Mennonite tradition. The college’s Christ-centered core values – passionate learning, global citizenship, compassionate peacemaking and servant-leadership – prepare students as leaders for the church and world. Recognized for its unique Study-Service Term program, Goshen has earned citations of excellence in Barron’s Best Buys in Education, “Colleges of Distinction,” “Making a Difference College Guide” and U.S.News & World Report’s “America’s Best Colleges” edition, which named Goshen a “least debt college.” Visit www.goshen.edu. | <urn:uuid:fa2726c6-c68e-4afc-922d-5fccf5167bb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.goshen.edu/news/2007/01/29/first-year-international-student-calls-for-end-to-violence-against-women-and-wins-annual-college-peace-speech-contest/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957926 | 1,545 | 2.1875 | 2 |
The best gifts are handmade. Make this craft together and give it as a gift to a parent, grandparent, or your child's classmates.
This craft requires extra parent involvement and a watchful eye, because it may require sharp tools or intricate handiwork.
You'll need to allow extra time for glue or paint to dry.
Create with us skills involve self-expression, experimentation, and imagination through visual arts (like painting and sculpting), dramatic play, cooking, and dance.
Share & Care skills are part of social-emotional learning and include: building self-esteem, cooperating, empathizing with others, and identifying feelings. | <urn:uuid:5b400eef-2c0d-4989-a5a2-9c2ab37b248d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nickjr.com/crafts/dora-tshirt-pillow.jhtml?path=/crafts/all-shows/creative-recycling-crafts/4-5-years/index.jhtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916227 | 133 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Michael W. Apple and Dennis Carlson edited
Power/Knowledge/Pedagogy: The Meaning of Democratic Education
in Unsettling Times in 1998. The book focuses on many
progressive issues addressing critical concerns as they relate
to the lives of educators and the students affected by pedagogical
and curriculum decisions. In the preface, the series editors succinctly
explicate the focus of the book. "As the title implies, this book
provides a profound and critical view of progressive educational
theory in hard times, in an era emotionally, cognitively, and
politically out of sync with questions of justice and equity.
The power of self-interested knowledge producers and meaning makers
has created a social context where significations have often been
reversed: Oppressors become the oppressed, the private space becomes
the venue for the public good, and the struggle for democracy
becomes the destructive clamoring of special interest groups."
In the introduction, the authors review for us
that "postmodernism brings with it some baggage that currently
limits it's critical potential." "We need to bear in mind that
the multiple traditions in education have roots within modern
culture just as much as the conservative economic models of education
do. Rather than abandoning these traditions as outdated, we need
to revisit them consistent with new theoretical insights and in
light of current cultural developments."
According to the authors, "the chapters in this
book represent individual and collective efforts to begin to sort
through recent critical neo-Marxist, postmodern, and post-structural
approaches as markers both of developments in education and in
theorizing about education."
The writers continue to identify the following
objectives of the book: "to help articulate a range of critical
theories of what is; to assist in recapturing a democratic and
progressive vision of what could be; examine new approaches both
to theorizing about education; and relate new theories to critical
policy and practice in unsettling times."
The educational and cultural system is a variable
that dictates the maintenance of the existing domination and exploitation
in the social order. This critical theorist suggests that too
much attention is given to schools when in essence the problem
is part of a larger framework of social relations as it relates
to cultural reproduction.
In another section of Chapter 1, "Reproduction,
Contestation, and Curriculum," in Education and Power,
the writer explains how "it has become increasingly obvious over
this same time period that our educational institutions may serve
less as the engines of democracy and equality than many of us
One can examine schools to find out how they
assist individuals to get ahead and what kinds of people actually
get ahead in our attempt to alleviate some of the problems facing
individual students and others. Social patterns and outcomes may
inform us how the school functions in reproduction, a function
that may well be hidden if our individual acts of helping remain
our primary focus.
The objectives are connected to the following
four fields of inquiry and activism: "state educational policy
and curriculum reform movements; identity formation and education;
the curriculum as text; and critical pedagogy." | <urn:uuid:d791a804-cf60-441d-863e-2936a0abcecf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.perfectfit.org/CT/apple5.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925128 | 665 | 2.25 | 2 |
Several letter writers have complained about train whistles, especially at night. As a La Loma resident for the past 37 years, I hear those soothing freight train horns late at night and in the early morning. I welcome them.
To me, they are a reminder of my love of train travel. I realize they are not the horns of passenger trains, but when I hear them my imagination takes me to places I have traveled by train and the people I have traveled with and-or visited Boston to New York, New York to Chicago, cross country, Canada, European cities and one of my favorite routes: Modesto to Southern California.
Do the critics realize those freight trains and the workers who run them work long and hard hours to bring the goods we need and use everyday? Those trains are a part of the history of California and the settlement of the beautiful Western part of this magnificent country. | <urn:uuid:4493020e-3dcc-40a1-a9a2-7b37c7826c00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.modbee.com/2013/02/04/2563773/train-whistles-soothing-not-irritating.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954754 | 181 | 1.75 | 2 |
NPR's Totenberg Mis-states Income Gap, As Bad As People 'Came to This Country to Avoid'
On Friday's Inside Washington on PBS, regular panel member Nina Totenberg of NPR incorrectly claimed that the "top tenth of one percent" of income earners in America "controls something like 20 or 30 percent" of the nation's income, and went on to characterize the economic situation as being worse than it has been in "hundreds of years," as she suggested income gaps were at a level that "people came to this country to avoid."
In reality, it is the top one percent - not the top "tenth of one percent" - that earns about a quarter of the nation's income.
As the group discussed the Occupy Wall Street protests, Totenberg made the following observations:
NINA TOTENBERG, NPR: I am actually surprised that the current polling - it won't necessarily continue this way - seems to sort of like these folks. They get decent approval ratings, even though, even though nobody quite knows quite what they're for. Everybody does know-
MARK SHIELDS, COLUMNIS: Even they don't.
TOTENBERG: Even they don't. And what people do know - (UNINTELLIBLE) the statistics - but when the top tenth of one percent controls something like 20 or 30 percent of the income in this country, that, the income gap has grown to what, the kind of thing that existed hundreds of years ago that people came to this country to avoid. | <urn:uuid:16fe15e7-57a0-4461-bb96-7bcf12c65214> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsbusters.org/blogs/brad-wilmouth/2011/10/15/nprs-totenberg-mis-states-income-gap-bad-people-came-country-avoid | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959062 | 321 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Note: Indoor courses at the Stone Workspace also run throughout the year – well equipped with hydraulic carving bankers, lifting equipment, stone saw, with instruction in hand tools and use of electric / pneumatic tools. There is an additional cost for the use of lifting and powered equipment.
Some preparation is always good if you want to bring a sketchbook with ideas, photographs or a clay model. Pencils or charcoal are useful to help visualize the form by drawing directly on the stone. Strong footwear (steel toe-capped boots are recommended), working clothes, sunglasses, hat, safety glasses and personal carving tools if you have them. There is a low cost open market that comes to Portland every Tuesday if you need to buy anything, just next to the Quarry and the Heights Hotel where you can have coffee. Safety glasses can be purchased from the Trust.
On Monday we issue a toolbox with set of 5 carving tools and two hammers to use during your workshop. The tools are booked back in at the end of the workshop (tool losses are paid for at current cost of replacement).
On Friday we help you to load your finished sculpture into your car to take home. Portland stone is very dense: 1 cubic foot weighs 140 pounds – 10 stone /70 kilos.
Or Contact Us for further details. | <urn:uuid:eaaab485-178a-4948-bf40-7ceae0342eee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://learningstone.org/ | 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 | 0.945062 | 269 | 1.59375 | 2 |
AT&T Mobility CEO Ralph de la Vega had some kind words for rival Verizon’s joint proposal with Google regarding net neutrality.
According to the Wall Street Journal:
“It’s a positive sign that shows that those two companies can agree on something as different as net neutrality,” de la Vega, head of AT&T’s consumer and mobile divisions, told analysts during an investor conference on Wednesday. He called it the right step forward in coming up with a reasonable agreement.
The Google-Verizon proposal is not a business deal but instead meant to spur the conversation regarding the contentious net neutrality issue. The two sides have generally been considered to be on opposite ends of the debate because Google wants no prioritization of traffic and many believed Verizon wanted the ability to prioritize traffic based on security and business interests. Without net neutrality, a broadband provider like Comcast could ensure that its NBC or Hulu streaming videos come through at a higher bitrate than rival CBS videos.
While the Google-Verizon proposal sounds nice, reading between the lines has caused many to express concern. The companies constantly referred to the “public Internet” but made room for a specialized service outside of that which wouldn’t have to worry about these rules. This could include content that starts from the Internet but is packaged in a different way.
Additionally, the Google-Verizon proposal doesn’t include the mobile broadband space, which may be why AT&T likes it. This could potentially mean that certain online content will only be available through certain mobile broadband providers – it will sort of be like cable packages but for your smartphone.
To be fair, I think that’s a doomsday scenario and AT&T probably won’t go this route because that’s not what the customers want. Additionally, there is a legitimate spectrum scarcity in the mobile broadband space, so maybe the net neutrality rules should be a bit different.
Let us know what you think in the comments, friends. | <urn:uuid:a9f38822-c1a5-4604-8c5e-e1af6b8a3cb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intomobile.com/2010/08/11/att-calls-verizon-google-net-neutrality-plan-reasonable/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958739 | 410 | 1.507813 | 2 |
By Jeff Bahr, firstname.lastname@example.org
12:04 AM CST, January 29, 2013
The characters in Aberdeen Central’s new play have names like the Sour Kangaroo, Yertle the Turtle and Gertrude McFuzz.
That's right, Dr. Seuss is involved. Twenty-nine students will present “Seussical,” a one-act musical, tonight at Central's Thomas F. Kelly Theatre. The free performance begins at 7:30 p.m.
On Thursday, Central students will take the show to the State One-Act Festival in Brandon. The Central show begins at 3:30 p.m.
“Seussical” challenges Central actors two ways, said director Roger McCafferty.
Central students don't often do shows that are geared to junior high or younger, he said. Because the show is based on the writings of Dr. Seuss, it appeals to a wide audience but primarily toward a younger age.
The show’s rhyming scheme also poses a different challenge. Both the dialogue and songs follow a metered pattern. McCafferty wants his actors to remember the meaning of those words rather than falling into an easy rhyming pattern.
In Central's play, Brodigan Morton plays the Cat in the Hat, and Nicholas Brandt portrays Horton the Elephant.
Chase Roesch, a senior, feels a connection with his character, Mr. Mayor.
Roesch said the world around Mr. Mayor is “just in chaos.” So Mr. Mayor is a little stressed out for good reason, Roesch said.
When Roesch is involved in a play, he's often stressed out, he said. Roesch enjoys the freedom to express himself that theater gives him and the fun he has with other people. Two shows he was in, “The Drowsy Chaperone” and “Shakespeare on the Green,” were both a “crazy good time,” he said.
But the process leading up to opening night is a lot of work, Roesch said. That work pays off when actors present a show to people who see what the cast has been working on “and enjoy the work that you've done for their enjoyment,” he said. “Every single time it's worth it.”
Austin Vetter, who plays JoJo, said “Seussical” has sad moments and happy moments.
Because it runs only 45 minutes, kids should be able to make it through the play. The play, he said, is consistently fun and energetic.
Brandt said “Seussical” is a heartfelt, touching show. The play, he said, also includes many kinds of music. from slower ballads to Latin numbers, duets and “big, fast numbers.”
Moriah Turick, who plays Gertrude McFuzz, said the play is very sweet.
“It'll make you smile if you're down," she said. "It's Dr. Seuss. Who doesn't want to see Dr. Seuss?”
The cast also includes Rachel Klein as Mayzie, Alicia Parker as the Sour Kangaroo, Alisha Alvarez as Baby Roo and Maggie Martinmaas as Mrs. Mayor.
Playing Bird Girls are Ashleigh Kost, Taige Tople, Kate Allen and Elizabeth Wensmann.
The Wickershams are played by Patrick Woods, Jacob Womack and Matt Klein.
Garrett Howell plays Yertle the Turtle. The Things are played by Seleucia Heintzman and LeighAnn Ricci.
Playing jungle and circus animals and citizens of Who are Aliza Rux, Katie Magera, Gabbie Brandt, Kristen Prosper, Anastasia Kurganova, Jacob Voeltz, Paige Walth, Natalie Bollinger, Tori Eliason and Nellie Petersen.
Adam Bollinger is in charge of lights. The student director is Renee Hanson.
Joselyn Schmitz is assistant director and MaryBeth Kelly is musical director.
The choreographer is Kyle Stugelmayer. The technical directors are McCafferty and Wayne Tesky.
The makeup, hair and costume directors are Melledy Rostad and Carol Vetter.
Copyright © 2013, Aberdeen News | <urn:uuid:7f2f9570-ba6d-4005-9cc1-d25d9b1e9d6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aberdeennews.com/news/aan-seussical-being-performed-tonight-20130128,0,1961591,print.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952319 | 920 | 1.671875 | 2 |
JOURNAL OF DR. DAVIES-WEBB
WITH REFERENCE TO THE SINKING OF THE SUN CHAPMAN
Editor - Dr.Odeen Ishmael
© GNI Publications - 2004
Homepage || GNI Publications || News || History of Guyana
Close this window to return to the Wismar Report
Posted July 2004
Copy for: Dr. C.F. Roza
DEMERARA BAUXITE COMPANY, LIMITED
MACKENZIE, BRITISH GUIANA
22 July 1964
Mr. J.N. Fraser
Sinking of "Sun Chapman"
Medical Journal of events from 6.00 p.m. Monday, July 6th, 1964
On Monday, July 6th, 1964, the launch "Sun Chapman" was proceeding up river from Georgetown carrying many passengers. Shortly after leaving Buradaia* there was a violent explosion aboard and she sank within minutes. It was estimated that at the time of the explosion there were 69 passengers including the crew. On receipt of the news at Mackenzie, racial violence broke out and reprisals were taken against East Indians in the area.
This report covers the events following the sinking of the "Sun Chapman" in so far as these concern the Medical Services of the Company.
Monday, July 6th, 1964
A request for assistance was received from the Police at 6.00 p.m., and a First Aid & Casualty Clearing Centre was established at the Wismar Police Station by the Ambulance Division of the St. John's Ambulance Brigade, and by 6.45 p.m. early casualties from the Sun Chapman had been given First Aid Treatment and dispatched to the Hospital.
At approximately 6.45 p.m. the fist 2 victims of the acts of reprisals were received at the Hospital, and by 9.00 p.m. 16 casualties had been admitted, 5 of them seriously injured, one requiring immediate surgery. Eight of the casualties were East Indian (5 Males, 2 females and 1 child - all from Mackenzie) and 8 were Africans (5 Males and 3 females - from the "Sun Chapman"). In addition 7 were brought in dead, 4 East Indian Males, killed in Mackenzie, and 3 African Women drowned.
In the midst of these activities the Police brought a further 15 survivors from the "Sun Chapman". On superficial examination, other than being slightly damp and upset, there was little wrong with any of them, and none required immediate medical attention. The suggestion that they be admitted was firmly discouraged on the grounds that it would swamp the bed capacity and leave little room for manoeuver (sic) in the event that further casualties were received.
Three Newspaper Reporters, whom someone had misguidedly brought to the Hospital, were present during these exchanges, and were clamouring for a statement. However, they were successfully "stalled" and were most reasonable and co-operative when the situation was explained to them. The survivors were advised to go home to their relatives, anxiously awaiting news of their safety, remove their wet clothes, have a hot meal and go to bed. The Police reluctantly agreed to this.
By Midnight all the injured had been treated, the other patients had been calmed and put back to bed, and the Hospital was quiet.
Tuesday, July 7th, 1964:
Four of the casualties were still critically ill and one of these died during the morning.
The East Indian patients were segregated from the rest and put in the Male and Female Isolation Wards respectively. This was done to remove any sources of provocation from the General Wards as the atmosphere was tense and emotional, and there had been minor acts of hostility against the East Indians. Further, it was deemed advisable to group them together for their better protection.
There were now 8 bodies in the Mortuary requiring Post Mortem Examination. This was beyond the Medical capacity under the prevailing circumstances and urgent representation was made to the Chief Medical Officer in Georgetown. The response was immediate and Dr. L. Mootoo, Govt. Pathologist, was flown to Mackenzie to assist. A further body was recovered from the river during the day and Post Mortem Examinations were done on all nine.
The Police were having difficulty with identification of the bodies. Although crowds of about 50 or more had collected at the Hospital all day, and passed in procession through the Mortuary; and although with loud manifestations of grief, professed that they had recognized relatives, none were prepared to come forward and identify these to the Police - presumably from fear of being implicated in the acts of reprisal. Eventually, as the crowds were getting out of hand, the Mortuary was closed and only those who were prepared to make positive identification to the Police were permitted to see the bodies. This caused marked discontent. It was evident that many came out of morbid curiosity, and when the Mortuary was closed to them, they paraded through the Wards to see the casualties. The battered East Indian patients caused particular mirth and several times they were threatened. It became necessary to clear the crowds from the hospital and to post sentries over the East Indian patients. On 2 or 3 occasions, when the Police seemed unwilling or unable to move the crowds from the vicinity of the Wards, British Troops had to be called on for assistance. The atmosphere remained tense throughout the day and the Nursing Staff and patients were nervous and worried. The greatest cause for concern was the possibility that numbers of bodies might be recovered from the wreck and brought to the Hospital, and if this happened when the crowd was present an explosive situation might develop in an atmosphere already heavily charged with emotion. It was much appreciated that the Commanding Officer of the British Troops was fully alive to these possibilities and gave immediate and adequate support whenever this was asked for. It is quite evident that the presence of British Troops did much to allay the apprehensions of the staff and patients, and keep the situation under control.
Meanwhile the East Indians in the Mackenzie Area had been rounded up and taken to the Police Station for protection. These were visited in the morning and altogether there were 100 persons, including 42 women and children. None required medical attention and arrangements were made with the Army and Police to feed them. They were all evacuated that evening by the R.H. Carr.
The most urgent problem was the supply of sufficient coffins. The Carpenter Shop was alerted to this end, and 2 were promised that afternoon. The total requirements were not known, but it was feared they might exceed 20. Due to the lack of coffins and the time taken to conduct the Post Mortem Examinations, it was not possible to dispatch the bodies of the 5 East Indian dead to Georgetown that evening by the R.H. Carr, as had been requested and arranged.
With the continuation of the curfew on Tuesday night the situation settled down.
Wednesday, July 8th:
The condition of the casualties gave no cause for alarm, but there were three still on the danger list. The situation throughout the day was quiet. People had recovered from the initial shock and excitement and only isolated groups of anxious relatives and friends gathered at the Hospital. Two further bodies were recovered during the day, and Post Mortem Examinations were done on these. All eleven bodies in the Mortuary had been identified and examined.
The Police Authorities in Georgetown decided that no further Post Mortem Examinations would be required on bodies recovered from the wreck, if drowning was the obvious cause of death; and further directed that when all the bodies were recovered these should be sent to Georgetown. This remained the major cause of concern, as the Refrigeration Plant of the Mortuary was not working efficiently and one of the motors had required attention. It was also agreed that the bodies of the 5 East Indians and 2 of the Africans could be sent to Georgetown that evening by the "Cay Sal", and if coffins were not available these bodies could be shrouded, and this was done. The Carpenter Shop had every available man now making coffins and it seemed that the requirements would be filled.
The situation seemed well under control when, at 7.00 p.m., the Police telephoned that 4½ bodies had been recovered and were being sent to the Hospital. There had been some delay in the sailing of the "Cay Sal" and the 7 bodies for dispatch therein had been returned to the Cold Chamber. This now contained 11 bodies and the Police were warned that, with the 4½ additional bodies on the way, this was the limit the Cold Chamber could hold, if a complete breakdown was to be avoided. Normally the Refrigeration capacity is 5 ton, provided it is left undisturbed, but during the past two days the compressor had been turned off frequently and the Cold Chamber opened for various reasons. This would now have to be done twice more: to admit the latest bodies, and to remove the 7 for the "Cay Sal" when it is ready to sail.
When the bodies arrived at the Hospital Stelling it was seen that there were 9½ and not 4½. It was therefore urgent that the 7 bodies for dispatch to Georgetown should be removed immediately from the Cold Chamber, and these were loaded on a lorry for transport to "Cay Sal". The recent bodies were taken from the river and placed in the Mortuary Cold Chamber. When the operation was nearly completed Major Goodbody, C.O., British Troops, Mackenzie, arrived with the news that Assistant Superintendent Austin had sent instructions from Georgetown cancelling the arrangements for the despatch of the original 7 bodies and directing that these be retained in the Mortuary. This meant that there would be 20½ bodies, most o fthem in an advanced state of putrefaction, in the Cold Chamber, which was presently at atmospheric temperature with the Refrigeration turned off, and there was the prospect of more bodies to come. It was therefore decided to make a personal approach to Commissioner (sic) Austin. Fortunately reason prevailed, the original plan was re-instated and the 7 bodies despatched. Everything was once more under control, the hospital quiet, the crowd dispersed and the bodies secured.
Thursday, July 9th:
There was some improvement in the condition of the casualties on the danger list and the Hospital was functioning normally.
Although a crowd had collected at the news of the recovery of further bodies, this was orderly and the atmosphere calm. Identification was proceeding and arrangements were being made for burial; some had requested postponement until the weekend, to allow relatives to travel to Mackenzie. It was then discovered that the Refrigeration of the Cold Chamber had failed. Putrefaction of the bodies was rapidly progressing, and it became imperative to arrange for the burial of all as soon as possible. Somehow this was achieved; coffins arrived in time and in sufficient numbers, transport was arranged, relatives rounded up and by 3.30 p.m. that afternoon the first group had moved down the river to Christianburg for burial. The crowds were well behaved, the organisation efficient and the whole operation was completed by 6.30 p.m. There was one hitch in the middle of all this preparation and despatch of the dead, when the Police blithely announced that they were sending to the Hospital 7 more bodies they had recovered. These were already at Wismar on their way up, and prompt action was necessary to intercept them, and take them to the far bank of the river until the funeral proceedings were completed. The Police were then instructed to have the bodies towed back to Christianburg and secured in the water, near the Cemetery. This action may have seemed callous, and in fact it provoked some severe adverse comments. But the bodies could not be accommodated in the Mortuary, nor could they be left all night at the Hospital Stelling; and in any case they would have to be taken to Christianburg the next day for burial. As they had to wait overnight it was safer to leave them in the water rather than drag them up on to dry land, where they would have decomposed even more rapidly and constituted a health hazard, or at the least a very unpleasant nuisance. In the circumstances this was the only action that could be taken.
Friday, July 10th - Friday, July 17th:
The Hospital was now back to normal except it was necessary to maintain a guard on the East Indian Patients.
The three Female East Indians - 2 women and one child - had to be transferred back to a far corner of the general ward as people kept going into the Female Isolation Ward and threatening them, or shouting threats and abuse through the windows.
All of the casualties were off the danger list and well on their way to recovery.
Extra coffins were made and despatched direct to the Police at Christainburg. During the next few days further bodies were recovered and all were buried as soon as possible.
In all 32 bodies of Africans were recovered from the wreck, and 5 East Indians were killed in Mackenzie - a total of 37 deaths from this one incident.
As long as the East Indian patients remained in the Hospital they were a focus of tension, and were subjected to continuous threats. Arrangements were therefore made for their transfer to the Public and Mercy Hospitals in Georgetown, as soon as all were fit to travel.
On July 17th, under escort of British Troops, they were transported to the R.H. Carr, 3 as stretcher cases, and the British soldiers accompanied them to Georgetown.
This concluded the immediate sequence of events following the sinking of the launch "Sun Chapman".
C.O.C. Davies-Webb **
[Editor's Notes: * Some newspaper and official reports spell the
name as "Booradia".
** Dr. Davies-Webb was the doctor in charge at the Mackenzie Hospital.]
(Source: Cheddi Jagan Research Centre)
by GNI Publications - Copyright © GNI Publications, 2004
Edited by: Odeen Ishmael
Close this window to return to the Wismar Report | <urn:uuid:d83f509c-440b-4a21-889f-6fc60991b18e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guyana.org/features/sun_chapman.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.989281 | 2,890 | 2.5 | 2 |
Some cars found themselves at the center of historical events. Take a look back at some of the more memorable cars that played a part in history.
Infamous outlaws Bonnie Parker and Clyde Barrow died in a Ford V8 on May 23, 1934 in Louisiana when officers fired at the car in an effort to stop the pair. The officers were said to have fired about 130 rounds at the car.
CNN Exclusive/Richard Dessin
Boy Scouts of America
Library of Congress
Auction Team Breker
Chuck Kennedy/The White House
Sign up for Breaking News, Daily Headlines, Severe Weather Alerts & more! | <urn:uuid:695cca61-856d-40b0-a6f8-98af811aa5fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.krdo.com/lifestyles/2013-autos/-/15318964/17213576/-/lmxto8/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925391 | 130 | 2.265625 | 2 |
The presidential election just concluded was, for many, a referendum on the proper role of government. Should it take care of the people, or get out of the people’s way?
The answer to that question may depend on whether you have three feet of muck in your basement.
Nearly three weeks after Superstorm Sandy hit the Eastern seaboard, the storm’s victims are still struggling to get back on their feet, and looking chiefly to the government to help them with the challenges ahead.
Government at all levels has critical roles to play in recovering from a natural disaster like Sandy and preparing for the next one.
At the local level, planning rules, zoning laws and building codes can reduce property damage and loss of life from powerful storms.
For example, local decisions to allow development in low-lying, flood-prone areas and dense development along the water led to utter devastation in communities like the Rockaways. Building codes could be changed to get heating systems and other mechanicals out of basements, or to put houses on stilts. Ultimately, local governments must decide whether vulnerable communities should rebuild at all.
State government, in many ways, is the tip of the spear when it comes to disaster preparation and recovery. Gov. Andrew Cuomo hasn’t been shy about using his broad executive powers to close tunnels and subways, order evacuations and coordinate cleanup and relief efforts.
At the same time, the storm and its aftermath exposed serious gaps in the state’s readiness. In what has become a typical response to a big problem, Cuomo last week appointed three — count ’em three — commissions to “bring our emergency preparedness and response capabilities into the 21st century.”
One commission will look at infrastructure, including power grids and storm barriers; another will look at disaster response, including training and emergency planning; and a third will focus on addressing vulnerabilities in health care, energy, transportation and communications.
Cuomo convened a fourth commission under the state’s Moreland Act to investigate the response of utility companies to Sandy. (He named Onondaga County Executive Joanie Mahoney, a one-time prosecutor, to the commission.) Tens of thousands of New Yorkers remain in the dark. The probe also will take a long-overdue look at the patchwork of agencies, authorities and commissions that oversee what Cuomo called a “dysfunctional utility system.”
Once the commissions finish their reports, the key, as always, will be for state government to act on their advice.
As evidenced by President Obama’s visit last Thursday, the federal government is the only entity capable of “flooding the zone” when disasters cross state lines. If Cuomo has his way, the feds also will pick up most of the tab for recovery efforts.
The Federal Emergency Management Agency performed well in the early days after Sandy hit Oct. 29. The agency learned from Hurricane Katrina, and staged relief supplies and workers for quick deployment once the storm had passed. Lately FEMA has been criticized for failing to reach every victim and for tangling survivors in red tape.
Sandy is also an occasion to re-examine the federal flood insurance program. It doesn’t do enough to discourage people from building in storm-prone coastal areas. In the end, all of us end up bearing the cost. | <urn:uuid:38dd8918-5eba-4746-a299-fcc34927a775> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.syracuse.com/opinion/2012/11/when_disaster_strikes_sandy_sh.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956107 | 689 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Lord of the Rings, and now, The Hobbit, always gives me a headache when I’m watching them. And not just because The Hobbit is shot in 48 frames per second, although I hear that has given absolutely everyone a headache. It’s because I think I was trained that J.R.R.Tolkein was writing an allegory for The World Wars.
Now, whenever I watch the movies, I’m always trying to match up the different characters with the nationality they’re supposed to represent. The Shire is America, right? And the elves are English? And I don’t know about the Orcs. That just seems kind of mean.
And Gollum? Gollum just represents the deepest, loneliest, most frightened part of every unattached man or woman, right? Gollum is what happens to us when we have no one to love.
I really think Gollum is the fearful thing that unites us as people.
I guess the other fearful thing according to the Lord Of The Rings series is supposed to be the Atomic Bomb, maybe, but that’s beside the point.
Think about it. Gollum loses the person and thing he loved the most, and afterwards, he is forced to live forever alone, in darkness. He’s driven mad for want of a ring that he can never have, ever. He has only himself for company, and he does not particularly like himself. This is the most heartbreaking idea in the world. Everyone who is not a sociopath is afraid of that.
It’s possible that some people who are sociopaths are afraid of that, just because you need other people to do sociopath stuff with.
Gollum’s existence is everyone’s nightmare at the worst moment of your break-up. It’s that moment when you are convinced that you’re just going to have to sit around in darkness, longing for things that you cannot have. Always longing. | <urn:uuid:6c790991-67c1-4fd2-aa29-dda4cdbd675d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thegloss.com/2012/12/19/culture/gollum-love-single-forever/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964019 | 423 | 1.578125 | 2 |
FTC Says You've Got A Time Warner/AOL Merger!
On Thursday, December 14, 2000, the Federal Trade Commission approved America Online's US$111 billion acquisition of Time Warner. As part of the approval, AOL must open its high-speed Internet access to competitors. At least three Internet service providers (ISPs) must be offered when AOL/Time Warner enters a new market. "Our concern was, and has always been, about access," said FTC chairman Robert Pitofsky. "We wanted to make sure that these two powerful companies could not injure competitors of AOL and competitors of Time Warner." However, consumers' choice of Internet service providers on AOL/Time Warner owned lines only lasts five years. Usually antitrust decrees last for 10 to 15 years, but the FTC ruled for lower constraints due to the fast-paced nature of developments in the technology sector. The merger still needs approval by the FCC. The FTC's approval could help quicken the FCC okay. FCC chairman Kennard told the Associated Press that, "We don't want to extend this out indefinitely." The merger makes the company the largest online company in the world. Time Warner will now have access to AOL's 26 million subscribers and in turn AOL will be able to tap into over 21 million homes with Time Warner's cable lines. Regarding this merger decision Pitofsky said, "I do think that open access is the way to go for this country, for consumers, for content producers, for everybody. We don't have the authority to impose that. I hope the market will produce that. And it may be, as some have said to us, that this model will lead to open access in other areas of the country. I hope that's true. If it isn't, then it is an issue I believe that should be addressed by Congress." | <urn:uuid:bdb7b8de-1798-446e-8225-577def335b1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.awn.com/news/business/ftc-says-youve-got-time-warneraol-merger | 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 | 0.961629 | 372 | 1.617188 | 2 |
News of Riverton, Lander and Fremont County, Wyoming, from the Ranger's award winning journalists.
A lot riding on Romney's VP selection
Apr 25, 2012 - By Joshua Spivak, MCT News Service
With Mitt Romney all but officially anointed the Republican presidential nominee, the national political narrative now turns to the "Veepstakes": who Romney will choose for his running mate. From a policy point of view, this is arguably the most important decision Romney will make in his race.
The importance of the vice president is not for electoral reasons -- even the most disastrous choices have been found to have a negligible impact on the electorates' voting decision.
These are changes from the historical norm. From 1836 until 1960, when Richard Nixon broke the streak, only vice presidents who moved up due to the death of a president were able to later claim their party's nomination for the presidency.
Most of the recent VP candidates have been prominent political figures. In fact, every first-choice Democratic vice presidential nominee since 1940, with the exception of Rep. Geraldine Ferraro, was a sitting U.S. senator.
This has resulted in much higher name recognition for vice presidents, which helps with getting voter support.
There are other reasons that the choice of a vice president is particularly important today. Vice presidents have increasingly become players in politics and governing. The vice president's office has grown greatly in power over the past 50 years.
In that vein, the vice president is one of the only executive officials in the administration whom the president cannot get rid of during an initial term.
Pundits will carefully examine the candidates for political benefits and drawbacks, focusing on whether the running mate can help pick off a swing state and what momentum boost he or she can provide to the ticket.
Few will mention that the only vice presidential choice in modern history believed to have made an electoral difference was Lyndon Johnson more than half a century ago.
Romney's pick will be gone over with a fine-tooth comb for these electoral benefits. But voters should treat this choice as more than some overblown and temporary strategy. If Romney is elected, the choice of the vice president is the single campaign move most likely to shape both his and the next presidency.
Editor's note: Joshua Spivak is a senior fellow at the Hugh L. Carey Institute for Government Reform at Wagner College. He wrote this first for the Los Angeles Times. | <urn:uuid:f10b3b14-cccd-4871-a9ff-f000f5f7cb9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailyranger.com/story.php?story_id=1339&headline=A-lot-riding-on-Romney's-VP-selection | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963271 | 498 | 1.984375 | 2 |
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Mansion House, Greenfield, Mass.
(c) Pocumtuck Valley Memorial Association, Deerfield MA. All rights reserved.
Contact us for information about using this image.
On this eight-acre farm lot James Corse built a house in 1720s that would serve as a religious, social and political meeting place and an inn for the community of Greenfield, Massachusetts. During Corse's lifetime, the home was also garrisoned as a place of refuge during the French and Indian Wars.
<BR>Throughout the 18th and 19th centuries the town of Greenfield grew around the site and its many taverns and inns served as a central gathering place for its citizens. As the town flourished, the inns became hotels serving the travelers and itinerant businessmen who were passing through the region. By the middle of the 19th century the hotel was known as "Mansion House." It was added to and updated according to style and technology and businesses took up residence in its first floor.
top of page | <urn:uuid:e69160d4-58f8-4ae8-aab1-59147bdf8585> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.memorialhall.mass.edu/activities/postcards/make.do?itemid=15708 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984121 | 220 | 2.390625 | 2 |
Biola's Broadcast News emphasis makes the power of visual stories one tool among many for students preparing for exciting change in 21st century broadcasting.
Students in this emphasis, after taking a core of Journalism courses, choose electives that equip them to do the reporting, editing and visual storytelling that are crucial to success in top-level television markets. They also learn about radio and the many cross-over skills it provides for television careers. Students begin with an understanding of the theory, history and concepts of deadline news, then put feet on those concepts with hands-on projects in campus broadcasting and off-campus internships. Projects involve both studio work and field production. Biola's location in the Los Angeles region — number two media market in the nation — makes it a natural crossroads for guest speakers and relevant class projects.
Biola Journalism students are encouraged to master another language and use their television or radio insights not only for mainstream, English-speaking media, but for the many niche broadcast stations and networks serving rapidly growing populations of Hispanics, Asians and other international groups in Southern California and across the United States. Application of the best television journalism techniques to media in cross-cultural missions and church ministry are also encouraged.
Through careful student-advising, Biola Journalism students are urged toward summer-long or semester study and internships outside the United States where they can be stretched culturally and given new insight into the meaning of journalism across ethnic and socio-economic lines. Biola's campus television and radio stations offer launching points for students' entry to competitive internships and jobs after graduation.
Not many schools take Biola's approach to broadcast instruction — one that prepares students to master not merely the deadline package, but the growing interdependence of broadcasting with Internet media. All Biola Journalism majors begin their coursework with year-long study of — and hands-on projects in — convergent media. It is a foundation helping students see the interplay of print media, television media and radio helping the combined power of each to be maximized by their interactivity on the Web.
The ethics and philosophy of journalism are pivotal at Biola. All students are challenged to shape their Christian world-view by means of practical study and discussion with peers, faculty, and professional mentors through a senior seminar, through Biola's annual Journalist-in-Residence series, and through tour-based courses in such locations as New York, Washington, D.C., and overseas media markets. Journalism is a high calling; students at Biola learn how God makes that calling uniquely clear for them.
Students completing Biola's broadcast emphasis are equipped for internships and jobs with television and radio stations in small, mid-size and top-ten markets doing writing, reporting, production, directing and news management. They are prepared for the vast array of broadcast approaches to public relations for corporate, non-profit, and ministry-related, or missions audiences. They are also prepared for graduate study in communications, law, theology, missions, and higher education. | <urn:uuid:a79b26b0-9148-4959-bf4c-65f62424678d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biola.edu/academics/undergrad/journalism/emphases/broadcast-news/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943982 | 614 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Tomorrow marks the 109th edition of The Game. Last year, Michigan beat Ohio for the first time since 2003 (although Ohio hasn't beaten Michigan in a game that's still in the record books since 2009 thanks to the exploits of Cheaty McSweatervest) and Michigan holds a 58-44-6 overall advantage in the series. But that you know, what you didn't know about the angry mob of f-bomb aficionados from That School in Ohio is found below - in the final regular season edition of Know Your Foe, fergodssake.
|1870: The last year they didn't have|
to vacate some of their wins.
OSU: Where even the book on
their seal is blank. O-H!
But that wasn't the only battle for OSU, because the school was also under fire from other schools within the state of Ohio. Both Miami University and Ohio University were considered more prestigious institutions at the time -- and they were justifiably upset to not be selected as THE state university and the recipient of government allocations. Former U.S. President Rutherford B. Hayes lobbied hard for monies for Tosu, mocked the other schools, and basically browbeat the state legislature to give the new institution a prominent position above Miami and OU. In the end, the state legislature settled the issue by declaring Ohio State as the only school that would be allowed to offer doctoral degrees. Miami and Ohio would be limited to Bachelor and Masters Programs. This also established the proud Tosu trend of bullies named Hayes bringing their school glory.
Nickname - The Buckeye is the official state tree and a creative term of endearment for the pioneers on the Ohio frontier. Apparently, one of the first acts of the original settlers was to cut one of these stinky trees down and somehow this led to calling themselves buckeyes ever since. The leaves appear in a five-leaf cluster, and the fruit (nut) resembles the eye of a deer, thus the name: buck-eye. It’s poisonous to humans, horses, cattle, and coaches as it apparently causes them to punch opposing players and lie to the NCAA.
Coincidentally, there is a city in the U.S. named Buckeye, though it's in Arizona, not Ohio.
Mascot - In 1965, Ohio State students Ray Bourhis and Sally Huber decided Ohio State needed a “game day” mascot and persuaded the athletic council to study the matter. At the time, mascots were commonly live animals brought into the stadium or arena. A buck deer was contemplated but that idea was eventually rejected given the impossible logistics of keeping a deer calm in a large crowd (even a deer can only hear so many f-bombs before losing its shit).
Instead, they went with a 40-pound paper-maché buckeye nut which was worn over the head and torso, with legs sticking out. They named him Brutus Buckeye. He made his initial appearance at the 1965 homecoming football game against Minnesota. The heavy costume did not last long and it was soon replaced by a more permanent and durable fiberglass shell. Sometime during the 1970’s they added a baseball cap to the bucknut with limbs. Today Brutus looks like something out of a muppet nightmare, frightens anyone he comes in contact with, angers other mascots into an uncontrollable rage and causes still others to do this on YouTube.
|Thing-Atop-A-Donut-Shop Brutus...Lonely Brutus...Asshole Frat Guy Brutus|
Colors - Scarlet and Gray. The official colors were selected by three students in 1878. The reasoning for the combination was that they were a “pleasing combination” and weren’t being used by any other college. The original selection of orange and black was shot down when the students discovered that Princeton used those colors. This was the closest Ohio State has ever come to being confused with Princeton.
Logo/Helmet - The primary athletic Ohio State logo from 1957 to 1987 was a simple, yet enduring block “O”. Since 1987 they have added a more modern “Ohio State” arched through the middle. They have a ton of secondary logos, the most common combining the classic “O” with a buckeye leaf and nut.
One should be careful, however, not to confuse the official school logo with their now-more-well-know logo, The Buckstache.
Normally, the Buckeyes have their distinctive silver bullet helmet design. It had been unchanged since 1968 until Nike got involved and OSU whored-out The Game with "special" and "Pro-Combat" uniforms the last couple years, including tomorrow. They also love to award their
Fight Song - In 1915, OSU student William A. Dougherty, Jr., set out to write the perfect fight song for his school. Dougherty felt that something more exciting was needed for pep rallies and football games than the sad melancholy Carmen Ohio (which sounds like something the students would sing in Dead Poets Society). Thus, Across the Field was born. It debuted on October 16, 1915 against Illinois and has not stopped playing since (although it is important to note that they had to wait another 4 years before they could play it during a win against Michigan).
While this is the main fight song, Buckeye Battle Cry is played after touchdowns. Fan favorite Hang on Sloopy (NOT Snoopy) is played every home game, and no mention of anything to do with the Ohio State music would be complete without a mention of Script
As much as it pains us to say it, KYF thinks OSU's fight song and Battle Cry are top notch. And if you've ever been in the 'Shoe when Hang on Sloopy plays, it's pretty darn cool. Okay, enough compliments. Let's take a look at OSU academics.
|Mila Kunis is a Tosu fan?|
Athletics - Few schools have the athletic tradition of Ohio State. They currently field 36 varsity teams and are one of only three universities (Michigan and Cal-Berkeley being the others) to have won national championships in the big three sports (football, men's basketball, and baseball).
In 2007, Sports Illustrated nicknamed Ohio State's athletic program as being "The Program" due to the unsurpassed facilities, unparalleled amount of men's and women's sport teams, their success, and the financial support of an impressive fan base." Gee, after The Downfall, I wonder if they'd still say that today?
Exceptional former athletes at Ohio State include Olympic Gold Medalist and Dude Who Made Hitler Eat Crow Jesse Owens, NBA greats John Havlicek and Jerry Lucas, college basketball coaching legend and chair-thrower Bobby Knight, and golf superstar Jack Nicklaus (attended, did not graduate).
Football - It is in football that most people recognize and associate Ohio State. They’ve won five recognized national championships, including most recently the 2002 crown (due to a PI flag thrown about as long after the play as it took you to read KYF thus far). They’ve won 34 Big Ten titles (a number I didn't have to update after last years KYF due to their season being wiped away). They have a combined seven Heisman Trophies including the only two-time winner: Archie Griffin in 1974 and 1975. They have produced many NFL stars and college and pro football Hall of Famers. Famous names you might recognize include Jim Otis, Jack Tatum, Eddie George, Chris Spielman, Orlando Pace, and Cris Carter. Recent NFL first round draft picks include Chris "Beanie" Wells, Malcom Jenkins, Vernon Gholston, Anthony Gonzales, and Teddy Ginn Jr.
However, Ohio State is football probably most well known as a place that once-great coaches eventually are forced out in disgrace. The two most iconic coaches in the school's history met such a fate: Woody Hayes for punching a Clemson football player after he intercepted Art Schlichter; and Jim Tressel who "forgot" to tell his bosses, oh, 642 times about his players associating with shady characters, selling merchandise and lying to the NCAA. Naturally then, Ohio State is going to honor Tressel this Saturday as he is rumored to be taking the field with the rest of the 2002 Buckeye National Championship team*.
Famous Alums - As you would expect, Ohio State has a long and somewhat impressive list of famous alums. They have many successful CEOs and political leaders. They have produced two Nobel Peace prize winners and have accumulated 10 Pulitzers. Recognizable names include former UofM President Harlan Hatcher, Tuskegee Airmen Squadron Commander Harold Brown, WWII Medal of Honor winner Robert Scott, Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center co-founder Charles Kettering, Goosebumps author RL Stine, Windex inventor Harry Drackett, Shoney’s founder Alex Schoenbaum, ESPN SportsCenter director Vince Doria, Actress Patricia Heaton, annoying comedian Richard Lewis, Rascal Flatts lead singer Gary LeVox, Ric Ocasek from The Cars, country singer Dwight Yoakim, Baseball Hall of Fame sportscaster Jack Buck, and the co-founder of Wikipedia Larry Sanger. They also provided an education to serial killer Jeffrey Dahmer. By far the most humorous and ironic name I find on this list is Teflon inventor Roy Plunkett which is probably why it took so long for folks to finally realize the truth about Tressel.
As much as Michigan fans don't want to admit it, Bo Schembechler has a graduate degree from Ohio State. From his coaching days under Woody, he also has a pair of those little gold-pants charms they give out for beating Michigan (but never tried to sell his on eBay).
KYF counted at least four NASA astronauts, there may be more. And although the state of Ohio has produced eight US Presidents (William Henry Harrison, Ulysses S. Grant, Rutherford B. Hayes, James A Garfield, Benjamin Harrison, William McKinley, William Howard Taft, and Warren Harding) -- none of them attended or graduated from Ohio State. But they are an "Up and Coming" school. So who knows what the future holds (although if these Buckeye fans are an indication, it ain't good).
The Game - Last year, Michigan got the monkey off its back, beating Ohio State for the first time since 2003. Even still, KYF thinks it's actually more important for Michigan to win The Game this year than Ohio State. If the Bucks win, Michigan's victory last year - at home against one of the weaker teams in recent OSU memory - will feel like an aberration. A one-off to the streak* started under The Vest*. But if Michigan can come into the Shoe and defeat Urban's undefeated team, then I think we could be one step closer to a new, back and forth, Ten Year War. Because (unfortunately), I don't see U-M running off a Cooper-esque string of victories against Urban. But you never know.
Sadly, KYF doesn't believe such a string will start tomorrow, with the difference being the home field:
Michigan - 20
Ohio State -24 | <urn:uuid:57e8ca01-cd91-47f3-aee1-0a9a94685a9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://michiganzone.blogspot.com/2012/11/know-your-foe-ohio-2012.html?showComment=1353688058311 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969872 | 2,356 | 1.875 | 2 |
A major work by the leading British painter William Scott (1913-1989) has been pledged to Tate
by the artists sons, Robert and James Scott, to mark the centenary of his birth in 2013. The Harbour 1952 is one of the artists most radical works and was a treasured painting in his own collection. Valued at over £500,000, it is the first example of Scotts seminal black and white works to enter the Tate Collection.
The Harbour will be included in a centenary touring exhibition organised by Tate St Ives in association with The Hepworth Wakefield and Ulster Museum, Belfast. The exhibition opens at Tate St Ives on 26th January 2013. This will be the first major exhibition of the artists work in the UK for over 20 years.
Nicholas Serota, Director, Tate said: The trustees are extremely grateful to William Scotts sons for offering this significant gift to the Tate Collection on the occasion of the artists centenary. Though Tate has a work of 1953 (Orange, Black and White Composition) there is no example of Scotts seminal black and white works in the collection. This gift will transform our ability to show the radical nature of his art in the early fifties.
Robert and James Scott, The Scott Foundation, said: We are delighted to present Harbour 1952 to the Tate to celebrate the centenary of our fathers birth. This seminal work, has over the past 50 years been exhibited worldwide in Brazil, Japan, USA as well as in Europe. It is only fitting that such an internationally known painting by William Scott now finds its home at the Tate. Here it will be available to young and old for generations to come and we are particularly pleased that it is to be included in the forthcoming touring centennial exhibition which starts at Tate St Ives. Cornwall was the very place in which Harbour and the paintings in this group of works were first conceived.
Across a career spanning six decades, Scott produced an extraordinary body of work that has secured his reputation as one of the leading British painters of his generation. The Harbour was one of a group of paintings that marked a significant turning point in his career. Initially a figure and landscape painter in the fashionable neo-romantic mode of the late 1930s and 1940s, his work had become progressively tougher and more abstract. Until 1952, however, it had retained recognisable subject matter, most especially table-top still life arrangements and a number of landscapes. In their restrained palette and composition, works such as The Harbour, therefore, occupy an important position between the expressiveness of the materiality of paint in Scotts works of the 1950s and the more abstract purity of form of later works.
The title of this work positions it within a series of paintings of harbours that Scott had made since 1939. These can be seen as progressively simplified in their abstraction. The theme has led this work in particular to be linked to Scotts association with the painters of St Ives in Cornwall. From 1946, Scott summered near St Ives and he was closely associated with such St Ives artists as Patrick Heron (19201999) and Peter Lanyon (1918 -1964).
Beginning at Tate St Ives with a series of thematic rooms (focusing on Scotts morphological shifts between genres and his preoccupation with significant forms) the exhibition will evolve as it travels to Hepworth Wakefield, before expanding into a full survey exhibition at Ulster Museum, Belfast. The project is led by Sara Matson, Curator at Tate St Ives with Chris Stephens, Lead Curator of Modern British Art at Tate Britain, Frances Guy, Head of Exhibitions at Hepworth Wakefield and Anne Stewart, Curator of Fine Art at the Ulster Museum. In collaboration with the William Scott Foundation, the works will be drawn from major collections across the UK and Ireland. | <urn:uuid:7cf4395d-9398-4c98-a90b-771b923f0af4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=58611 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974907 | 786 | 2 | 2 |
The Disability Nondiscrimination Law Advisor helps employers navigate a complex web of interrelated laws and regulations including ADA, ADAAA, workers’ compensation laws, and other federal laws. It also enables federal contractors to search for regulations and statutes relevant to their situation.
“We made it easier for employers of all sizes to access the talents of the 36 million Americans with disabilities,” said Assistant Secretary of Labor for Disability Employment Policy Kathleen Martinez. “By providing this interactive and easy-to-use online tool, workers and employers can readily access and understand their rights and responsibilities under federal disability nondiscrimination laws.”
The online tool provides employers with up-to-date information on a variety of regulations and laws (more…)
On September 23, 2009, the EEOC published proposed rules regarding disabilities in the Federal Register.
These new rules change the definition of a disability under the ADAAA, the ADA Amendments Act of 2008, which went into effect on January 1, 2009. That law requires the EEOC to interpret the term “disability” broadly.
The law returns the meaning to disability to that enforced by the EEOC in 1990 soon after the ADA was passed. Over time, the courts have continually eroded the definition of disability under the law, requiring more proof of more severe impairments.
Some of the notable changes that employers need to be aware of:
An impairment that substantially limits a major bodily function is sufficient to constitute a disability. Under the old regulations, a condition like cancer or AIDS did not in and of itself, constitute an impairment. The employee had to show that he or she was limited in major life functions by the condition. Under the new regulations, such a condition in and of itself is a disability.
Mitigating measures must be disregarded. (more…)
Under the new rule, certain impairments will create a presumption of disability. These impairments include epilepsy, diabetes, multiple sclerosis, developmental disabilities, deafness, blindness, use of a wheelchair due to mobility problems, autism, cerebral palsy, HIV/AIDS, muscular dystrophy, major depression, bipolar disorder, partial or complete amputations, post-traumatic stress disorder, obsessive-compulsive disorder and schizophrenia.
The new ADA rules mean that an employee who has been diagnosed with any of those conditions is presumed to be disabled and entitled to reasonable accommodation.
This may seem to be a common-sense approach to disabilities, but it has not always been so.
Under the old rules, each employee claiming a disability had to individually demonstrate that the condition limited one or more major life activities. A very large company might have 10 blind employees. Each blind employee would have to individually prove that blindness impaired their performance at one or more major life activities like reading, walking, using a phone book, using public transportation, cooking, shopping, personal grooming, etc.
An individualized assessment of whether a substantial limitation exists should still be done, according to the EEOC. However, the federal agency claims this “can be done very quickly and easily with respect to these types of impairments, and will consistently result in a finding of disability.”
Employers should note that the list of impairments is not exhaustive. Other conditions (more…)
Recent changes to Equal Employment Opportunity Commission or EEOC regulations, which will go into effect on January 1, 2009, update the definition of a disability under the law. It’s vital for every employer to be aware of these changes.
Originally, the EEOC took a very broad view of the term “disability” under the ADA, or Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990. Since that time, a number of Supreme Court decisions have narrowed the definition of a disability considerably.
It’s important to understand the history of these regulations. In one of the most obvious cases, the Supreme Court ruled that an employee was considered not to have a disability if the employee, using a mitigating measure, (more…)
A number of employees, who were not disabled in 2008, will legally be considered disabled in 2009, without any change in their condition.
A new law signed by President Bush on September 25, 2008 includes major changes in employment law related to disabled employees. These changes, which are effective January 1, 2009, affect every employer who has an impaired worker, or may have one in the future. | <urn:uuid:b12c076e-d369-4371-8b5f-df7e8ba53d2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.laborlawcenter.com/category/federal-labor-laws/regulations/workers-with-disabilities/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953762 | 893 | 2.25 | 2 |
We are deeply indebted to George Garrity of Aylesham for the notes on these photographs, and to Geoff Pinfold for permission to reproduce the underground photos of Snowdown Colliery on this page.
Work commenced on Snowdown Colliery in 1908. The first coal was brought to the surface on 19th November 1912. The mine workings stood alongside the main-line railway from Dover to Canterbury near the hamlet of Ackholt (between the villages of Womenswold and Nonnington). A new town - Aylesham - was built to provide homes for the many migrant workers from Wales and the North-East of England.
"The Snowdown Colliery, which received its designation from a place name, is alongside the L.C. and D.R. main line, near the Fredville boring. Coal having been struck in that boring in December, 1896, preparations were at once commenced for opening this colliery, the first sod of which was cut by Mrs. Plumptre on the 28th February, 1907. Two shafts are being put down by the Foncage Syndicate, under the management of Mr. H. P. Nicholson, M.E." (J.B.J. 1907)
Work started on the excavations for the new town in September 1926. The first part of the town was to comprise 400 dwellings, half built of brick in the traditional way, the other half of steel and concrete. Work started during the national miners' strike although, according to the Dover Express for the last week in September, 209 miners at Snowdown had returned to work that week and had produced 60 tons of coal in one shift. Workers at the other Kent pits were still on strike.
Bricklayers and other building workers from as far afield as Dover would walk to the colliery every day, doing a full day's work on site before walking home again. If the weather was bad and they could not work, they would not be paid.
The colliery finally closed in 1986. Just a few derelict buildings remain as a reminder of its busy past.
This picture shows the Koepe winding house (No 2 shaft) to the left of the frame with the old Electrical workshop to the forefront. To the right from the left, the Lamp-room, Power house (substation and second d.c. winding house, No 3) and Rescue and Control rooms.
The picture on the left shows the "Power House" and, to the left, the Surveying and Engineering offices.
The right-hand picture shows the "Koepe" Winding house (centre) and Administrative buildings.
The "Loader End", to have been used to transfer coal from the new No11 seam from conveyor to mine cars "Tubs" had the development been successful (photo courtesy of Geoff Pinfold).
A "German Junction" near the Nos. 2 & 3 shaft bottom at Snowdown colliery. The roadway to the left leads to the shaft bottom (about 150mtr in the distance). To the right an "English
Electric Battery Loco" possibly hauling mine cars from the South East Flats.
Back to mining page | <urn:uuid:c82f4414-9192-4014-916a-9dbbe4bd0a2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://home.freeuk.com/eastkent/mining/snowdown_colliery.htm | 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 | 0.97066 | 656 | 2.671875 | 3 |
America’s Promise Alliance celebrates 15 years
America’s Promise grew out of the 1997 Presidents’ Summit for America’s Future, when the nation’s living presidents united to affirm that all Americans bear responsibility for the well-being of our children and youth. On April 28, 1997 at that historic and unprecedented assembly in Philadelphia, Presidents Bill Clinton, George H.W. Bush, Jimmy Carter and Gerald Ford, with Mrs. Nancy Reagan representing President Reagan, declared: “We owe a debt of service to fulfill the God-given promise of America, and our children.”
America’s Promise – The Alliance for Youth was born at that assembly and has transformed over the years from a clarion call to action into a national movement of dedicated Americans working together to help millions of young people achieve their full potential. America’s Promise Alliance will officially celebrate its 15th anniversary on April 27.
The Summit — which was also attended by nearly 30 governors, 100 mayors, 145 community delegations, and prominent business leaders — was sponsored by the Points of Light Foundation, the Corporation for National and Community Service and United Way of America. These organizations were among the Founding Partners of the America’s Promise Alliance. Retired Gen. Colin L. Powell became America's Promise's Founding Chairman.
Under the founding leadership of Gen. Colin L. Powell, and the continuing leadership of Alma J. Powell, America’s Promise established its roots using a simple guiding principle: that all children and youth deserve the fundamental resources needed to grow up to be healthy, independent and responsible adults. Called the Five Promises, these resources include Caring Adults, Safe Places, a Healthy Start, an Effective Education and Opportunities to Help Others.
Since 1997, the America’s Promise Alliance has grown to become the nation’s largest multi-sector Alliance focused on the well-being of young people. Today, America's Promise encompasses more than 400 partner organizations representing the business community, nonprofits, communities and policymakers. Among some of the accomplishments of this alliance are the following:
- When Hurricane Katrina displaced millions from their homes in 2005, America's Promise launched Katrina’s Kids — an initiative that united local public and nonprofit sectors along with elected officials to ensure disadvantaged young people displaced by natural disasters receive the resources they need including the Five Promises.
- Also in 2005, America's Promise launched the 100 Best Communities for Young People competition.
- In 2006, America's Promise launched First Focus, a bipartisan advocacy organization committed to making children and their families a priority.
- In 2007, America's Promise celebrated its 10th Anniversary, including an event attended by Presidents Bush and Clinton. To learn more about how that milestone was recognized, please visit the 10th Anniversary site.
- To raise awareness and energize coordinated action, America's Promise launched a nationwide Dropout Prevention Campaign in 2008. The campaign generated more than 300 million media impressions. As part of the campaign, America's Promise convened dropout prevention summits in all 50 states and 55 key cities.
- In 2009, America's Promise began formally recognizing Promises Places where young people can experience all Five Promises under one roof.
- In 2010, President Obama and Secretary of Education Arne Duncan joined Gen. and Mrs. Powell in announcing the America's Promise Grad Nation Campaign — the largest undertaking in America's Promise history — to mobilize Americans to end the dropout crisis.
Fifteen years, and more than 400 partners later, America’s Promise seeks to deliver the Five Promises by ensuring that all young people graduate from high school and receive a post-secondary education – ready for success, work and life. | <urn:uuid:e30a0038-266f-48f5-8ea9-38050eae8f16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americaspromise.org/News-and-Events/News-and-Features/APB-2012/Vol-9/APA-15-Anniversary.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92751 | 756 | 2.0625 | 2 |
October 2009 | That anyone even remembers the so-called Volpini exhibition of 1889—which has just been artfully re-created at the Cleveland Museum of Art—is a minor miracle. At the time, this modest Paris show, organized by Paul Gauguin and destined to introduce a new kind of art to the larger world, had to compete for attention with Thomas Edison's phonograph, Javanese dancers, an entire Tonkinese village set up on the Esplanade des Invalides, and, twice daily, Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, which was set up at the Porte des Ternes near Neuilly-sur-Seine.
Which is to say that the show was hastily assembled in the Café des Arts on the fairgrounds of Paris's fabled Exposition Universelle of 1889, a six-month-long exultation of modernity that lingers on in legend as the occasion for building the Eiffel Tower. At the time, Gauguin's brazen decision to mount his show seemed like a perfect case of David against Goliath, except that few of the 28 million visitors to the exposition seem to have known that this David existed or that the post-impressionism promulgated in the show was about to upend the history of Western art.
It is hard for modern readers to grasp the immense importance and prestige that these international expositions held throughout the developed world in the second half of the nineteenth century. Staged every eleven years, more or less, they riveted the attention of a wide public not only with their exhilarating displays of new technology and engineering, but also with their deep commitment to music, dance, ethnology and, most of all, the visual arts. And the exposition of 1889 seemed doubly important in that it coincided with the centennial of the French Revolution.
Like its predecessors, this latest Exposition Universelle was held on the Champs de Mars and stretched from the École Militaire, in the 7th arrondissement, across the Seine to the Palais de Trocadero on the Right Bank. The fairgrounds were arrayed across this vast space like an invading army, around the colossal presence of the Eiffel Tower. To the south, beside the École Militaire, was the technological section of the exhibition. The cultural component was placed on the Champs de Mars, closer to the Eiffel Tower.
The visual arts were divided into two main exhibitions, the Décennale and Centennale, which celebrated French art of the previous decade and century respectively. The art of other countries was also present, but French nationalism was rampant, and Antonin Proust (1832-1905), a former minister of fine art who was instrumental in organizing the exposition, later recalled gleefully that French art "totally triumphed."1
In the meantime, Gauguin, ever passionate and engaged, was having quite a time at the fair. He was delighted by the Javanese dancers, and went twice to see Buffalo Bill's Wild West show, and even managed to arrange an assignation with a woman from one of the ethnological exhibitions (possibly only to paint her portrait). Contrary to what one might expect of this famously rough-hewn man, he was even enchanted by the displays of Sèvres porcelain.
But in regard to the art on view, Gauguin was decidedly less enthusiastic. Though former rebels like Gustave Courbet and Édouard Manet had made it into the Centennale and impressionists like Claude Monet, Camille Pissarro, and Paul Cézanne had made it into the Décennale, most of the space at the latter was given over to more conventional artists like Camille Corot, and especially to academicians like William-Adolphe Bouguereau, Carolus-Duran, and Jules Joseph Lefebvre.
In response, Gauguin first consulted with Émile Schuffenecker (1851-1934) and Émile Bernard (1868-1941), two painters allied to his style, and then he sprang into action, mounting an exhibition in one of the nearly fifty eateries that had been granted a concession on the fairgrounds. In arranging his upstart exhibition, Gauguin was following a course that already had a long tradition: Courbet's Pavillon du Realismé had been set up in response to the first Exposition Universelle in 1855, while Manet had staged a similar show to coincide with the exposition in 1867. But while those earlier exhibitions had been held outside of the fairgrounds, Gauguin succeeded in mounting his show in the very heart of it, along the rich carmine walls of Monsieur Volpini's café. | <urn:uuid:9ea2151a-a7d8-4475-9ae2-42cd83206f6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.themagazineantiques.com/articles/gauguin-rising/1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965384 | 999 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Our social platforms are full of information and links floating through them. Keeping up with them is incredibly difficult. In that flow of information and links, things that might not be of interest are mixed with items that could have great interest. Catching the items of interest and those at the core of discussions requires keeping a watchful eye. Many will attest that the adage about social networks—"if the information is important, it will find us"—really doesn't work.
Some services help close the gap of catching things that could be valuable to us. A couple that have captured my interest are Summify and News.me. Both of those services pay attention to our personal social networks and then deliver—by e-mail, mobile app and/or Web—items that are popular within the people whom we follow in our own network.
Most services provide the most popular snippets from the whole of the service, such as the one LinkedIn offers, but generic popular offerings often aren't that valuable. Finding a highlight service that looks for links being shared and that fits your interests is difficult. Often the people we are connected to are a good option, but even that can be tricky because it depends on how you have built your connections in the social platforms (are they people you know and whose input you value?) and how the people you have connected to use the various platforms and services.
Of the two similar services, Summify works better for me. It has been bought by Twitter and has been incorporated into Twitter. As of June 22, 2012, Summify no longer exists as its own product. Many services have been similar and new ones are surfacing (they often start and change direction or close relatively quickly), so I am framing what Summify has been doing well and seems to be continuing in Twitter's iteration of the service.
Summify offered to connect with my Twitter account, as well as my Facebook account, and I could choose one or both to provide as a connection source. Summify looks for links shared by people you follow, and when the same link surfaces in a few connections, it carries greater relevance to pass along to you. The service allows you to say how many items you would like it to surface in each e-mail, up to two e-mails a day and up to 15 linked items in each e-mail.
One of the interesting things has been how this changed Twitter consumption and use for me. The quality of links in Summify e-mails are quite on target. I had already seen some of the items, and nearly all of them were items in which I had an interest. But, the most amazing thing is I didn't feel like I needed to check Twitter as often. I had the good links surface to me, which I somehow missed even when I thought I was paying attention. I had been waiting for a service to do that for a while.
News.me is a similar service to Summify that came out of a New York Times hack competition. It offers services to connect and watch Facebook and Twitter, but doesn't yet have the ability to adjust the frequency, volume of items or time in the e-mails. The quality of the links is not quite the same as Summify, but it is still good. News.me will benefit from more time, honing and adding some options similar to Summify.
These services are not intended to replace interacting or to be your only resource, but they help catch the things that have fallen through the gaps. While Summify decreased my dependence on the need to be in Twitter as much scanning for gems (I'm down to 40 minutes a day scanning and interacting, from two hours or more), I am still spending time in Twitter streams. When I get the links, I open them and put them into my usual process for reading and storing them for future recall, which works really well. | <urn:uuid:b8dec4b4-9a64-40ed-b0ad-e96a55fb7bf6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kmworld.com/Articles/News/News-Analysis/Personal-KM-Digital-wheat-from-chaff-83490.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980777 | 796 | 1.789063 | 2 |
MEET Shivakumar Kamallakharan doesn't stop with making scale models of aircraft and cars; he also runs a facility for RC car racing in the city
Three cc and four cc engines lie helter-skelter on the floor. Perched on a drawing board is a huge building plan for the Super Stearman, an aircraft engaged in Red Cross work during World War II. Japanese and customised remote control (RC) cars with nitro and electric engines are neatly packed and kept in small wooden compartments. Amidst these things that showcase miniature technology, stands Shivakumar Kamallakharan. Bespectacled and wearing a t-shirt, he looks every bit the techie he is.
A 1,000 sq ft space on the ground floor of an apartment complex in Palavakkam (on the East Coast Road) lets him display model aircraft and RC cars for sale. It also doubles as a classroom for people keen on making such scale models. Well-used blackboards show these classes are a constant feature of Shivakumar's day at work.
He also engages in a more interesting activity — RC car racing. He manages a dirt track for RC cars at Adventure Zone, a sprawling facility for adventure sports in Maduranthakam. Participants outdo one another in manoeuvring their four-wheel-drive remote cars over a variety of obstacles — gravel, sand, soft log, hard log and so on.
Easy to prepare
Shivakumar dispels doubts about RC car dirt tracks. “It can be prepared anywhere — in a spacious conference hall or on the terrace of a corporate building. A track for electric and nitro RC cars takes up only 2,000 sq ft to 3,000 sq ft of space. RC cars with gasoline engine however require more space. The smallest gasoline engine has a displacement of 23cc; the minimum dimensions for a gasoline RC car are a length of two-and-a-half feet and a breadth of one-and-a-half feet,” adds Shivakumar.
Spread over 10,000 sq ft, Shivakumar's track at Adventure Zone is ideal for racing RC cars running on gasoline. “For flying lessons, our students are taken to Vada Nemili (where the Crocodile Bank is located.”
Shivakumar speaks with the animated enthusiasm of someone who has successfully made his avocation a vocation.
He and his father, Radha Kamallakharan, flew model aircraft and raced RC cars as a hobby before turning the activity into a business in 1992.
In the last two decades, the duo has taken on many challenging projects. An unmanned aircraft with a twin-cylinder, a 100cc petrol engine and a 15ft wingspan sitting smack in the middle of the room is an experiment in crop-dusting. This project, partly sponsored by TEPP and monitored by the Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), displays the Kamallakharans' ability for serious work. | <urn:uuid:9cd0e191-82dc-412a-a2db-4a15ce05f66a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/life-and-style/metroplus/miniature-marvels/article111296.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950268 | 628 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Voter fraud is rare in the U.S.—so rare that its use as a rationale for strenuous campaigns to tighten voting requirements is highly suspect. Nevertheless, since the last general election, Republicans have been busy around the country putting rules in place to make it more difficult to vote, and to register people to vote.
That movement, however, was brought sharply to heel last week by court decisions in Ohio, Texas and Florida.
*Two decisions affecting Ohio will make voting easier there. One is an injunction against a law dating from 2006 that requires ballots cast at the wrong polling place to be thrown out even when voters went to those places at the direction of poll workers. Another decision expected to affect a larger number of voters is one that restores weekend voting in Ohio, a practice that was instituted for the 2008 election to avoid the long lines that had caused some voters to give up and leave the polls without voting in 2004, but prohibited by a 2011 Republican initiative.
*In Florida, the issue was voter registration. Last year Republicans in the state government, including conservative Gov. Rick Scott, put through a law that required such third parties as the League of Women Voters and Rock the Vote to hand in the completed registration forms harvested during registration drives within 48 hours or pay a prohibitive penalty of $50 per form. Some organizations simply shut down their drives rather than risk paying the fines. But last week Judge Robert Hinkle overturned the new rules in U.S. District Court in Tallahassee.
*A voter identification law passed in Texas was overturned by a federal appeals court in the District of Columbia on the grounds that it was discriminatory. Because "a disproportionately high percentage of African Americans and Hispanics in Texas live in poverty," the court said, the law would create an obstacle for members of those groups and could not be allowed to stand.
A recent study by News21, a national investigative reporting project funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York and the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, with National Public Radio, NBC.com, the Washington Post and other major media as partners, looked at the incidence of voter fraud in the U.S. The researchers found that in 10 years of elections, with 146 million Americans voting, there were 2,068 allegations of voting irregularity, including invalid registration, misuse of absentee ballots, impersonation, double voting and more; of the cases whose outcome could be determined, 46 percent resulted in acquittals, dropping of charges or refusal to bring charges. In all those years there were only 10 cases of impersonation, the kind of voter fraud that could be prevented by voter ID requirements.
So if voter fraud is not common enough to threaten the integrity of elections here, why is someone acting as if it is a threat? Consider these statistics from Florida, where the effort to register new voters—which often means poor and minority voters—has been chilled for a year. Normally for the 13 months leading up to the first of July before a November election, the number of registered Democratic voters in that state rises by over 200,000. But for the 13 months before this past July 1, that number increased by only 11,365. The number of registered Republicans in Florida, however, rose by 128,039. | <urn:uuid:2c8ff9ff-253d-48fc-87e5-8230c689b537> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.valleyadvocate.com/article.cfm?aid=15606 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971017 | 663 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Pepperdine People Magazine
Pepperdine People Magazine Spring 2008
Heroes on the Line
Wildfires Showcase Talent and Dedication of a Highly Trained Public Safety Team
by Jerry Derloshon
Kiva W. Osby didn't rest much that Saturday night. Two things were on the public safety officer's mind: first, his wedding, scheduled for the following day in Pepperdine's Stauffer Chapel, and second, the howling, dry Santa Ana winds that were rattling both windows and nerves across the Southland. A red flag warning had been issued by the weather service and Osby and state and county firefighters were on alert. California's worst and most prolonged drought in decades made the winds all the more ominous. Then in the pre-dawn hours of Sunday, October 21, Osby knew his wedding plans would have to be put on hold.
Blowing gusts of 60 miles per hour and greater, the Santa Ana winds tore power lines from a pole on Malibu Canyon Road. The downed lines packed 14,000-volts of electricity and sent hot sparks flying, igniting a wild fire that raced east down the side of Malibu Canyon and west toward Pepperdine University.
Fanned by fierce northeast winds, the blaze rushed toward unsuspecting homeowners including Pepperdine faculty, staff, and students who live in campus dorms and residences. Like an animal that had been too long denied of a meal, the fire feasted on acres of dry brush. People awoke to find billowing smoke and orange flames soaring 50 feet high.
Los Angeles County and the University's Public Safety Department personnel (including Osby) were hurled into action implementing a disciplined, exhaustively trained protocol. The University's Emergency Operations Committee convened to coordinate response efforts between University departments and local and state agencies. Pepperdine's public safety officers methodically relocated members of the campus community to the Firestone Fieldhouse and Tyler Campus Center. The practice of "shelter in place" is standard procedure at Pepperdine, enabling the University to safely protect and serve the community in times of crisis. To ensure delivery of messages concerning the danger, the University sent text messages, recorded phones messages, and e-mails directly to the Pepperdine community.
The high winds made the fight all the more difficult as 1,700 firefighters and 100 fire engines and helicopter and aerial tanker support attacked the blaze. Early in the assault, a landmark Malibu residence known as The Castle burned to the ground. Nearly adjacent to Pepperdine, another landmark, the Malibu Presbyterian Church, caught fire and was consumed in minutes. Several houses in the area also burned, including the home of School of Law professor Bernard James and his wife, Connie, chair of the Business Division at Seaver College.
When it was over, the Malibu Canyon Fire had consumed over 4,500 acres, destroyed several homes, and charred hillsides. It torched cars, damaged businesses, and caused the nerve-jarring evacuation of thousands of residents. Through it all, the Pepperdine campus avoided serious damage and students, faculty, and staff safely returned to their residences. Osby and his fiancée Alvina finally exchanged their vows in the early evening in West Los Angeles, much to the delight of friends and family who had traveled to Malibu from seven countries to witness the occasion.
With the memory of the Malibu Canyon Fire still fresh in everyone's mind, another night of fierce Santa Ana winds contributed to a second wildfire that broke out in Corral Canyon at 3:30 a.m., November 24. Three hundred firefighters, aided by four water-dropping helicopters, quickly attacked the fire but not before more than 20 homes in the Corral Canyon area were burned and hundreds more were threatened. Fanned by gusts registering as high as 100 miles per hour, the wind "acted like a blow torch with a hair dryer behind it," said a county fire official. The Corral Canyon Fire consumed 80 structures including more than 50 homes. Nearly 2,000 firefighters employed 138 engines, 15 helicopters, 12 tankers, and bulldozers to contain the blaze. Based on the havoc it wrought, the Corral Canyon Fire was called the most destructive fire in Malibu in nearly 15 years.
Throughout both fires, Pepperdine University's Department of Public Safety officers performed heroically under the leadership of director Earl Carpenter and deputy director Rob McKelvy. All of Pepperdine's officers are trained in CPR and first aid; many have police training and/or fire training either from the department's training program or from previous assignments. When it was needed most, the Pepperdine staff was ready. "Thanks to training assistance from multiple agencies, our officers received top quality training and executed the skills they learned perfectly," said McKelvy. "I was very proud to work next to them throughout both fire campaigns."
During the October 21 fire, Pepperdine's officers helped implement the shelter-in-place protocol, battled a structure fire at the Baxter pool house, and fought flames adjacent to the Thornton Administrative Center. They worked 12 hours on and 12 hours off conducting fire watches throughout day and night. They found and worked tirelessly to extinguish numerous spot fires. During the November 24 fire, Pepperdine's team once again was pressed into action, ensuring the safety of our campus and community.
"The personnel in our Department of Public Safety understand their critical role in responding to emergencies and they went above and beyond in the fires of October and November," noted Gary Hanson, executive vice president and head of the University's Emergency Operations Committee. "The effectiveness of the University's emergency response depends on the dedication of our people. Once again, we saw that those in Public Safety are truly committed to our students and this special place."
Here's a closer look at some members of the Pepperdine public safety staff who, along with their dedicated colleagues, put their own safety on the line during the fires.
Kiva W. Osby, 34, a sergeant and certified firefighter, dreamt of becoming a firefighter from the time he was a small boy. "It started from watching a TV show called Emergency and seeing firefighters go on large building fires in L.A. where I grew up." By the time he was about 10, his godbrother and two cousins were L.A. City and L.A. County firefighters. In 1992, he joined the L.A. County Fire Department as an explorer at Fire Station 58 west of south Los Angeles. He never mentioned that his relatives were firefighters. "I wanted to earn my own way," he says. "I worked hard, never missing a meeting, event, or drill. I never spoke unless I was spoken to. I addressed everyone as 'sir or ma'am,' I never sat down, and always, always stayed busy."
Within two weeks Osby had memorized every piece of equipment in the station and after a year, he earned a chance to attend the fire academy representing South Central L.A. "After 15 weeks I graduated and was assigned to Station 14 in the heart of South Central L.A.," he remembers. "I responded to fires, gunshot wounds, car accidents, and medical emergencies there and all around the county from Marina Del Rey to Pomona, and from Lancaster to Palos Verdes." In all, Osby amassed more than 4,000 emergency responses. He recalls his time at Station 14 as "the absolute best time of my life. I loved every second of it."
During the recent wildfires Osby and the crew linked up with other firefighting units from throughout the state to protect the campus. Looking back he said the one thing that stands out in his mind was the camaraderie among the Pepperdine staff and all the other fire crews. "Being a firefighter is like being in a special club. The respect is genuine and handshakes are true."
Like Osby, Eric Barnes, 31, desired a career in public safety from very early on in his life. "Ever since I could remember," recalls Barnes, "I have always enjoyed helping people. I knew I wanted to be a part of a law enforcement agency or a firefighter." Now a sergeant and certified firefighter, Barnes notes, "When I learned that I could do both here—be a public safety officer and firefighter—I knew Pepperdine was the place for me." The seven-year Pepperdine veteran was the on-duty watch commander on October 21 and stayed on campus for four days straight.
Matt Cartwright, 21, is an emergency medical technician (EMT) and was recently promoted to the rank of sergeant—in part due to his dedication and performance during the two fire campaigns. Like his colleagues, Cartwright traces the idea of becoming a firefighter to his youth. "When I was four, a paramedic/firefighter saved my life while I was having a seizure. Years later, my own home caught on fire and I was impressed by the professionalism of the crew. I knew at that point, I wanted to provide others with the comfort those firefighters provided me."
"One memory stands out the most," says Cartwright of the October 21 fire, "and that's how close not only the Pepperdine and Malibu communities bonded, but how close my coworkers were. We had just recently completed fire academy when the Malibu Canyon Fire started and we all felt the brotherhood and bond needed to support firefighters in such a disaster. That makes all the difference when you fight a fire because you know that the person to the left or right of you will do whatever they can to make sure you get home safe after such a disaster. Words can't explain how important that was to me."
When he thinks of those tense days protecting Pepperdine, Cartwright sees a lasting and moving image of the experience: "When Alumni Park was on fire you could see the cross on the theme tower and the flames below. It reminded me that God was right there helping me even though it seemed as if we faced the impossible." | <urn:uuid:ce316109-5823-414a-b2d9-c1d3da23463a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pepperdine.edu/pepperdinepeople/2008spring/features/heroes-on-the-line.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977076 | 2,059 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Falkland Isles 'have been left vulnerable'
BRITAIN has left the Falkland Islands vulnerable to another invasion by Argentina, a former Plymouth-based commander of the 1982 conflict has said.
Major-General Julian Thompson told The Times it would be "end of story" if Argentine forces managed to take the British base on East Falkland after Government cuts left the Royal Navy without an aircraft carrier to defend its South Atlantic territories.
General Thompson, who commanded Plymouth's 3 Commando Brigade during the Falklands War, said: "The Argentines have a marine brigade. They've got a parachute brigade and some good special forces. All they've got to do is get those guys on to the islands for long enough to destroy the (RAF) Typhoon jets and that's the end of it."
With the airfield gone, the only way for Britain to send reinforcements would be by sea — as Margaret Thatcher did successfully 30 years ago. This time, however, any taskforce would be without aircraft carriers and the jets to fly off them.
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"You have got to take your own air support with you and you can't without a carrier. End of story," the retired commander said.
General Thompson's warning comes in the run up to the 30th anniversary of the 74-day conflict, which began on April 2, 1982, and is set against heightening diplomatic tension between London and Buenos Aires over the sovereignty of the Falklands.
Buenos Aires sees the islands, which it calls Las Malvinas, as an extension of Argentine land, while Britain believes that the 3,000 people who live on the Falklands should be allowed to choose their sovereignty. Both countries have traded accusations of "colonialism" over their claim on the Falklands.
General Thompson said he thought that President Cristina Fernandez de Kirchner of Argentina was doing everything she could to coerce David Cameron into opening a dialogue on sovereignty. And he added that an Argentinean attack could come several years down the line when tensions over the issue had apparently subsided: "You plan this over a period of months or years and you lower the temperature," he said. "You say: 'We've given up, okay, we'll now co-operate with you.' Everyone's guard is then down and, whack, you go in and take the airfield."
The present commander of British forces in the South Atlantic, Brigadier Bill Aldridge, has previously said he was confident that he had enough resources to defeat any new attempt by Argentina to take the islands.
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