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Battling external parasites in cattle
Dave Barz, DVM
Tri State Livestock News
Most of the storms have missed our area, but others have been pummeled severely. The cool, wet weather has really delayed the spring fly hatch, but with the warm days to come, I’m sure the populations will increase rapidly.
Steve Cornett: More Evidence Beef Protectionists are Wrong, Wrong, Wrong
So, those of you who think we don’t need to export beef, please refer yourself to Mark Bittman’s latest anti-meat diatribe in the New York Times. You can read it at http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/31/meat-why-bother/?hp
Importantly, also read the comments. That, my friends, is the cutting edge of societal progress. That attitude is chic. If it weren’t it, wouldn’t be in the New York Times.
Help producers select heifers at weaning
Bovine Veterinarian Magazine
Take into consideration calf quality as well as dam performance factors.
Now more than ever economics are playing into cowherd decisions, and one of the most critical is selecting which heifer calves to keep at weaning for use as replacement heifers in the herd. Veterinarians can be instrumental in helping their beef clients retain the right ones.
Angus industry leader predicts beefy growth
Topeka Capital Journal
It’s 6:30 a.m. as Bryce Schumann climbs into his Buick LaSabre. Pulling out of his Lecompton driveway, he turns onto K-40 highway to begin his daily 70-mile commute to St. Joseph, Mo.
New England looking to expand beef industry
With few slaughterhouses in New England equipped to process beef on a large scale, Paul Miller ships cattle from his dairy farm in eastern Connecticut about 300 miles to a meatpacker in Pennsylvania.
Splendor in the grass
"They may call themselves cattle ranchers or shepherds or what have you, but if they weren’t good at raising grass, they wouldn’t have livestock," said Extension Agent Jason Carter, of the Virginia Cooperative Extension.
New rural drought: political clout
The Columbus Dispatch
Residents here like to repeat a well-worn saying about Nebraska: It is home to more cows than people. Unlike some cliches, this one has the advantage of being true. According to the most recent counts, there are more than three times as many cows (6.2 million) as people (1.8 million).
Do cattle & corn prices respond to supply and demand?
Tri State Livestock News
Let’s take a look at what has happened to box beef prices, fed cattle prices, feeder cattle prices and corn prices over the last year. There will be a few more numbers in this article than what I typically I write, but I think it is necessary to show what has happened in the markets.
Game changers for the Feed and Food Industry
The Cattle Business Weekly
During Alltech’s 27th International Animal Health and Nutrition Symposium in Lexington, Kentucky, in mid-May, three experts from the fields of new media, economics and one of the largest food companies in the world, Nestlé, presented their views on how agribusiness should respond to relentless commoditization and innovation for a growing world population.
Genetic Evaluation Makes For Highest Grade Beef
When it comes to people’s food, talking about genetic improvement may make some feel uneasy. But that subject is what the research symposium of the Beef Improvement Federation at Montana State University is trying to tackle, how those in the industry can produce the highest grade beef possible. | <urn:uuid:37f9245c-a43c-48c5-bb43-bbbce9aa992a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://purduephil.wordpress.com/2011/06/06/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932626 | 791 | 1.734375 | 2 |
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The Sanctuary Light.* 1The LORD said to Moses: 2Order the Israelites to bring you clear oil of crushed olives for the light, so that you may keep the lamp burning regularly.a 3In the tent of meeting, outside the veil that hangs in front of the covenant, Aaron shall set up the lamp to burn before the LORD regularly, from evening till morning, by a perpetual statute throughout your generations. 4He shall set up the lamps on the pure gold menorah to burn regularly before the LORD.
The Showbread.* 5You shall take bran flour and bake it into twelve cakes,b using two tenths of an ephah of flour for each cake. 6These you shall place in two piles, six in each pile, on the pure gold table before the LORD. 7With each pile put some pure frankincense, which shall serve as an oblation to the LORD, a token of the bread offering. 8Regularly on each sabbath day the breadc shall be set out before the LORD on behalf of the Israelites by an everlasting covenant. 9It shall belong to Aaron and his sons, who must eat it in a sacred place, since it is most sacred,d his as a perpetual due from the oblations to the LORD.
Punishment of Blasphemy.* 10A man born of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and in the camp a fight broke out between the son of the Israelite woman and an Israelite man. 11The son of the Israelite woman uttered the LORD’s name in a curse and blasphemed. So he was brought to Moses—now his mother’s name was Shelomith, daughter of Dibri, of the tribe of Dan— 12and he was kept in custody till a decision from the LORD should settle the case for them.e 13The LORD then said to Moses: 14Take the blasphemer outside the camp, and when all who heard him have laid their hands* on his head,f let the whole community stone him. 15Tell the Israelites: Anyone who blasphemes God shall bear the penalty; 16whoever utters the name of the LORD in a curse shall be put to death.g The whole community shall stone that person; alien and native-born alike must be put to death for uttering the LORD’s name in a curse.
17* Whoever takes the life of any human being shall be put to death;h 18whoever takes the life of an animal shall make restitution of another animal, life for a life.i 19* Anyone who inflicts a permanent injury on his or her neighbor shall receive the same in return: 20fracture for fracture, eye for eye, tooth for tooth. The same injury that one gives another shall be inflicted in return.j 21Whoever takes the life of an animal shall make restitution, but whoever takes a human life shall be put to death. 22You shall have but one rule, for alien and native-born alike.k I, the LORD, am your God.
23When Moses told this to the Israelites, they took the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him;l they did just as the LORD commanded Moses.
* [24:5–9] On the bread table, see Ex 25:23–29; 26:35; 37:10–16; 40:22–23. It occupies the north side of the anterior room of the sanctuary tent. The bread is a type of grain offering (see note on 2:1).
* [24:17–22] A digression dealing with bodily injury follows the blasphemy rules. It may have been appended since the first case is another example of the death penalty. But the section develops according to its own logic. All legal traditions require death for homicide: Gn 9:5–6; Ex 21:12–14; Nm 35:9–34; Dt 19:1–13; cf. Ex 20:13 and Dt 5:17.
* [24:19–20] The phrase “life for a life” in v. 18 leads to introducing the law of talion in vv. 19–20. Some have interpreted the law here and the similar expressions in Ex 21:23–25 and Dt 19:21 to mean that monetary compensation equal to the injury is to be paid, though the wording of the law here and the context of Dt 19:21 indicate an injury is to be inflicted upon the injurer.
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nor does it necessarily endorse, the website, its content, or | <urn:uuid:695a0144-146e-49e3-b18b-755690e4520a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usccb.org/bible/lv/24:01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928166 | 1,038 | 2.484375 | 2 |
And research shows that the taste wonít turn them off
Youíve seen the studies.† More kids are overweight than ever before.† What can mom and dad do about it?† Simple substitutions at meals and easy changes to recipes can dramatically cut the number of calories children consume.
Kids tend to eat the same weight of food from day to day.† So, if you reduce the calories rather than the weight in the meals and snacks you provide for your kids,†† You reduce calories but avoiding food with little nutrition, meaning lots of empty calories.
A study done at the U of Pennsylvania reduced calories in breakfast, lunch and afternoon snacks for a group of 26 children.† And kids didnít compensate for the lower-calorie foods by eating more later in the day, according to a study presented at the 2008 meeting of the Obesity Society, an organization of weight-loss professionals.
Some changes: serving 1%, not whole milk; fruit in juice instead of in syrup; pasta with lower-fat dairy products and adding pureed vegetables; adding five times more strawberries to a yogurt parfait; making blueberry muffins with more fruit and less oil.† Researchers measured how much the children ate, and found that when they were served the lower-calorie foods, they consumed about 400 fewer calories over two days.
For parents with overweight children, this study shows that making substitutions can have a huge impact on calorie intake, says Penn State researcher Kathleen Leahy. The research was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.
A previous study by these researchers found that preschool children who were served two different types of macaroni and cheese ate about 70 fewer calories with the lower-fat recipe. And they said they liked both dishes equally well.
Help for overweight kids:
(Links to USA Today articles)
- Why are parents in denial?
- Unhealthy kids face widespread stigma
- Diabetes keeps rising among youth
- More children adopt vegetarianism
- Dietitian stresses vegetables, portions
- Shaq helps 6 kids with obesity
Popularity: 2% [?] | <urn:uuid:1d973c42-fa70-4137-888c-e113ac56f48a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wellnessonline.com/health-tips/kids-health/kids-eating-habits-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94698 | 431 | 2.984375 | 3 |
Apple are the maintainers of one of the most widely used web rendering engines there is. WebKit is everywhere. Desktop browsers on Windows, Mac, Linux and even Haiku & Amiga and mobile systems in the form of Android, WebOS & iPhone OS. It has proved to be highly portable and desirable for new web browser projects wanting to provide a fully capable web experience without having to start from scratch. WebKit has almost single-handily made new mobile platforms and alternative operating systems viable. Gecko is really struggling to get a foot in in this area and Internet Explorer offers neither the features nor the portability.
The technical and emotionally-backed decision to disallow plugins from the iPhone and iPad has ignited a flame below developers and at the same time shone a light in the direction of HTML5. The iPad has done more to shift mainstream mindshare toward HTML5 than anything before it. Before, it was a distant idea with no practical use and no drive for companies to adopt it. Now it’s the buzzword of the moment, bandied about without any consideration for accuracy.
So from my perspective as a web developer who has been waving the HTML5 flag since 2008, Apple have done a massive amount to drive the web forward and get this movement into the minds of sluggish and unwilling corporations. However, there is a fundamental difference between how Apple drive the web, and how Mozilla drive the web when Mozilla succeeded in breaking a stagnant market and got it moving again.
Do you remember when Internet Explorer 6 was released? It was hands-down the best, most standards compliant browser at the time. Netscape had lost their way and dropping Netscape 5 in favour of a rewrite meant that the ailing Netscape 4.7 was at an obvious loss to Internet Explorer and IE had built up solid market-share and developer commitment since their release (and subsequent bundling) of IE4 years before. In the beginning, life with IE6 was good.
Microsoft’s business plan was to provide IE as a loss-leader to achieve two things:
Increase developer dependence on Internet Explorer so as to tie the web specifically to Windows and therefore sell more copies of Windows in the long term (so successful was this strategy that we are still dogged by it to this day)
Sell more copies of Visual Studio for developers to take advantage of ActiveX, which offered everything HTML couldn’t
The web got where it was in 2003 (99% IE usage) because the web wasn’t Microsoft’s business. The web was a loss-leader, nothing else. The web sold copies of Windows and Visual Studio, end of. That is evident from the total and complete lack of major upgrades to IE6 for five years. Not a dicky-bird. Yet, now, HTML5 adoption in browsers is nothing short of rapid.
What happened with IE is indicative when companies come to lead in a market that is not itself their core business interest, especially when that market directly threatens to obsolete that very core business interest of the company in question. Microsoft had to kill browser innovation otherwise it would directly affect Windows and Visual Studio sales if people could use whatever OS they wanted and whatever developer tools they wanted to participate on the web.
Can you see where I’m going with this?
I am about to make a statement that will remain controversial for years to come and Gruber, if you’re reading this, you can file this under ‘claim chowder’ for later reference.
Safari will be the next IE6.
The web is not Apple’s business. The web sells iPhones and iPads and iPhones and iPads sell Macs for developers to use XCode to develop native apps—because native apps offer what the web can’t. And that web, if left unchecked, threatens to remove the necessity to be tied to iPhones and iPads and Macs and XCode and the App Store. If the web gets the same capabilities as native apps, why would you buy a Mac to code in XCode and be restricted to the App Store’s brick-wall approach to customer support and Apple’s changing whim of what is acceptable and what is not?
How could the web gain the abilities of native apps? The technology really isn’t that far away!
- pNaCl (Portable Native Client)
Google’s Native Client technology provides a way to ship binaries to computers through the web browser. Native speed and capabilities; no download, install and run hurdles. Currently this only supports x86 / x64, but Google have in the works a project to use LLVM so that the developer can send the client bytecode and the bytecode be compiled or JIT-executed natively. What does this mean? It means that if you are using x86, x64, ARM, MIPS, PPC—or whatever—then a developer can send you an app across the web that runs at native speed regardless of OS, platform, device or architecture.
How would this affect Apple?
pNaCl, just like the web, makes your choice of platform flexible, but solves the speed problems with HTML/JS. If a developer can write a game once and it run on any pNaCl-enabled browser then what reason does that developer have to buy a Mac, use XCode and Objective-C to target only the iPhone? What reason does the user have to stick to one brand of device or platform if their favourite apps work on any of them?
How could Apple prevent this?
The same way as with Flash. Simply refuse to implement it. If the iPhone and iPad don’t support pNaCl then developers will have to continue to go through the App Store. In their defence, Apple can call pNaCl insecure because it allows any URL to run a binary (it is sand-boxed BTW) and only the App Store provides the bubble-wrapped safety of a vetted selection system where your children cannot be harmed.
- W3C Device APIs
How would this affect Apple?
This also gives web apps more native functionality with cross-platform support that doesn’t help sell iPhones and Macs. Just log into a web page on any computer and start a video call with someone. Sure beats installing Skype.
How could Apple prevent this?
Annoy the crap out of users and developers in the name of privacy and security. There is no question that getting privacy and security right with devices on the web is difficult. Giving untrusted URLs access to your resources requires sensible, manageable security that prevent things going wrong, and allows you to deal with it when it does.
Apple just need to either refuse to implement new web features (such as access to the local camera / contacts / calendar) in the name of security and privacy, or bombard the user with permission questions when they visit web sites that use such functionality to both reassure (and scare) the user. Developers will want to offer native apps instead to avoid these additional and off-putting hurdles for their users.
Essentially, as long as the iPhone and iPad are able to retain mind-share, developer support and an unignorable market-share then Apple can shape the lowest common denominator for the web (even if that low is very high, like the best HTML5 / CSS3 support) just as Internet Explorer has been and largely remains the lowest common denominator for the web as seen through desktop computers.
It is for this reason that Apple and Google are competitors. Google requires that people use the web for everything they do in order to feed their core business of advertising. Google creating Chrome does not act against their business interest, it only bolsters it. Android exists because Google want more people to use smart phones so they can access the web and Google can advertise to them. Google’s business model means that they must work to keep web browser competition healthy and progressing in case one company gets the keys to the web and halts all progress just as Microsoft did with IE. A stationary web keeps native apps native and stifles Google. Apple want to keep native apps native and the web as a quirky document-centric browser that is never as well polished experience-wise as what’s on offer in the App Store.
Apple want this: In order to develop the best content for users you must buy a Mac and use XCode to develop native apps in Cocoa for the App Store. Microsoft wanted this: In order to develop the best content for users you must buy a Windows PC and use Visual Studio to develop ActiveX controls for Internet Explorer.
But Microsoft did succeed! There is a 99% IE monopoly in South Korea. Read that article for a glimpse into just how bad for consumers a browser monoculture is. Whilst I don’t believe there will ever be or even can be a Safari monopoly like there was for IE, I can believe that the iPhone OS and App Store aims to be a developer monopoly where by companies like EA (who don’t like cross-platform development at the best of times) will develop only for the iPhone OS and consumers are driven to the platform en-masse because that’s the place where the most compelling content is. A vicious circle of supply and demand.
Let’s get back to these events I mentioned in the beginning. I’ve already covered how the iPhone and iPad, whilst having a great web experience can be entirely selective about where the web goes. What about Apple’s online services like Mobile Me, and their purchase of streaming service Lala? Don’t these represent an embracing of the web-like way of doing things?
iTunes, as we know, has become a bit of a sore spot. Apple have gone from a new entrant in this market and arguably the first legal digital music source that the average person could use to complete domination. They set out to achieve this from the beginning and have had a laser-like focus in this area. iTunes has grown to encompass so much more than just music that even the name “iTunes” is a misnomer. It’s a monolithic app that tries to keep everything under one roof as the only point of interface between your PC and your iPhone and iPad. So much so, that when Apple try to bolt on document syncing the seams really begin to show as iTunes’s design gets stretched too far.
iTunes is a walled garden for your media with only one gate by which your content can get on to your iPhone or iPad, and again, Apple must keep it that way to ensure that your media must stay in iTunes where they can keep an eye on it and where they can make changes without another company’s approval or compatibility.
What have Apple done with Lala so far? Made peep-holes and SEO spam for their walled garden (awesome album BTW, highly recommend it). You can’t purchase anything from that page. It exists only for you to download and install iTunes. It is inherently incompatible with the web across a diverse range of platforms like mobile phones and TVs.
If they do provide a streaming service of some kind, it will be another walled garden. You stream on our terms, you stream only the content we allow, on the devices we allow (H.264) and we would very much like to collect some data about you. I cannot see Apple creating a service that negates the need for Apple hardware and for the iTunes store. It might work on other browsers and devices, but its sole purpose will be to direct you to iTunes. Streaming is a loss-leader for iTunes lock-in.
And Mobile Me? Netscape tried to hang on to a pay-for browser when the tides were turning. When you could no longer pay for the browser they tried to keep things going with the server. But there was no lock in. A server is inherently an agnostic technology that cannot lock you into a browser. Apple charging for Mobile Me is Apple trying to clutch on to an outdated model. They are being bamboozled by better web companies with better products. All they have left is lock-in; that only MobileMe can truly integrate with iPhone OS. I wonder how long this charade will keep up.
I do so hope that I will be wrong, but my gut feeling says that Safari will be the next IE6. Not in terms of being out of date (or ever reaching 99%), but in terms of being the elephant that will move for no man but Steve Jobs. | <urn:uuid:072a66de-4bd0-4421-9ec3-fcc094824997> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osnews.com/story/23378/Will_Apple_Embrace_the_Web_No | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944911 | 2,589 | 1.539063 | 2 |
HOBOKEN— “Where will the butterflies go?” asked Ryan Crealese, a fourth-grade student at HoLa Dual Language Charter School, of the post-hurricane destruction to the garden behind the school. Crealese is now a finalist in the Scotties tissues “Trees Rock” video contest.
The contest encouraged students to create a video up to three minutes in length on the importance of trees. Crealese focused his video on beautifying his school and rebuilding their garden that was destroyed by Hurricane Sandy.
The grand prize winner will receive $5,000, a trip to the Grand Canyon or Yellowstone National Park and an electronic tablet. The school of the winning student will receive $10,000 to use towards a sustainable project such as tree plantings, gardens and greenhouses.
Crealese and HoLa plan to use the money to repair the vegetable garden and surrounding trees.
Winners will be chosen by voters across America, who can vote from January 15 to February 15 at scottiestreesrock.com. | <urn:uuid:5f3a3f85-f7c7-428e-87b9-a6026a75548c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hudsonreporter.com/view/full_stories_home/21372079/matchbin | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964651 | 219 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Spatial Filter is not the way to go. Think about this.
Since in ArcObjects (unlike in Oracle Spatial or PostGIS) there is no way to do a real self join, you are left with having to create a Spatial Query for each point feature and check for intersection. n spatial queries where n is the number of features!
If you did this your time complexity would be O(n) (the cost for looping through every feature) * O(log n) (the cost for searching through the index - and at "log n", I am actually being too kind because the ESRI index is a multi-level grid - not an Rtree).
To get an idea how slow it degrades over time, take a look at this graph.
X is the number of points. Y is the number of comparisons (worst case) using the SpatialFilter approach. 250 points, with the approach I describe below, will be done in 250 comparisons. With the spatial filter approach, the number of comparisons shoots out of the chart (i.e, as the problem size increases, it gets slower really really fast).
If you are not shocked yet, you should be.
Another example is that with 1000 point features, the approach below will be done in 1000 comparisons. With the SpatialFilter approach, you would need ~9965 comparisons. That is 9x slower.
Don't use the spatial filter approach for finding duplicates.
Add a 200,000 features and prepare to wait for several hours (or even days) for something that should take minutes instead.
Better approach is to:
Easy approach, much better than what you would do without having the luxury of joins.
Yes, the space complexity is O(n) as opposed to O(1) for your first approach, but in this case I would not be concerned and we could get into all kinds of other discussions that would last forever :) | <urn:uuid:1caf53d0-0b74-4467-993d-850f9a1a2dc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gis.stackexchange.com/questions/19249/determine-overlapping-points-using-a-spatial-filter-in-arcobject/21035 | 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 | 0.953508 | 401 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Fall in love with roses
Have you ever planted roses? They are one of the most revered garden choices the world over. A short visit to our own Tyrrell Park Rose Garden will demonstrate just how well roses can grow here.
The charming old book “The Pleasures of Gardening” by Angela Stanford gives some fun history of the rose. Egyptian roses were shipped to Rome when the Italian roses were out of bloom. On Nero’s order, millions of rose petals were strewn in the streets during festivals.
The Empress Josephine created one of the first rose gardens a Malmaison, France. There were many beds planted entirely with roses. The famous artist Redoute painted them at Josephine’s request.
By 1826, due to their popularity, one prominent London nursery had 1,292 varieties in stock! Rose petal sandwiches were a great favorite at Victorian tea parties. Tea roses were named after the delicate fragrance of China tea that escaped from their petals.
Many myths, sayings and truths surround the long loved rose. “Oh, my Love’s like a red red rose … That’s newly sprung in June,” wrote R. Burns in 1796. The rose is mentioned more than 60 times by William Shakespeare. “When I have plucke’d thy rose, I cannot give it vital growth again, It needs must wither: I’ll smell it on the tree,” wrote Shakespeare in 1602.
Roses need a sunny position with fertile soil. Hybrid tea and floribunda roses need to be pruned to stimulate vigorous growth. Old fashioned shrub roses need little attention. It has been suggested that garlic, chives or parsley planted next to a rose bush will deter aphids. Garlic also protects against mildew and blackspot. Buried banana skins provide roses with potash. Go fall in love with the rose and you might want to try some in your own yard.
Joette is an avid gardener and prides herself on staying up-to-date on the latest gardening activities and tips. To share your gardening news with Joette, call (409) 832-1400. Her e-mail is joreger [at] msn [dot] com. | <urn:uuid:36a3f6c8-02ce-4f15-b9f9-0d98ab68badd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://theexaminer.com/features/home-and-garden/fall-love-roses?page=1&quicktabs_1=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955762 | 475 | 2.09375 | 2 |
This book ends with the words, "Since December 14, 1945, I have been a proud citizen of the United States of America."
Dr. Meyer gives a delightful account of the circumstances which led to its becoming possible for him thus to end his autobiography. He writes of his early days, of his medical education, of his adventures in general practice, of his researches and, finally, of his climb up the academic ladder which ended, as he puts it, when he was 75 years young and was offered a position at the University of Minnesota.
He tells his story simply and without conceit. It is the kind of a story that any physician will appreciate and that all medical students should read. For Dr. Meyer achieved success by a long and arduous journey—which, after all, is the only way by which any physician can hope to reach his goal. | <urn:uuid:9fdf86b1-5a2d-47f7-bf1f-53b7afaa48a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=555273 | 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 | 0.99254 | 176 | 1.75 | 2 |
Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei delivered a major address today on the election there. It was in the form of a khutbah, an Islamic Friday sermon that is often the platform for the most important public pronouncements in the Islamic Republic. So one might assume it would be couched in Islamic terminology and religious themes.
But a rough-and-ready indicator, a web “cloud” that indicates the frequency of certain words, tells us otherwise. Aziz Poonawalla over at the City of Brass blog generated a Khamenei khutbah cloud on Wordle on the basis of a quick translation of the ayatollah’s speech. I had some trouble reading all the terms, so I went to that site and generated one myself. Here is the result:
To be absolutely clear — this cloud is only a rough computer analysis. I generated it in Paris hours after the speech, without consulting any other Reuters bureau, so it played no part in our Tehran reporting of Khamenei’s comments or other coverage on our wire from Beirut and from London. Nothing can replace on-the-spot reporting by Persian-speaking correspondents who understand all the nuances in a political sermon like this.
That said, my techie side still thinks this cloud does highlight some interesting aspects of the sermon. The most frequently used words — people, election, state, president, revolution, country, leaders, legal — are political terms. Islamic makes a good showing, but it is only one of the top dozen or so terms — including God , which came up nine times — after the clear front-runner people (56 times).
Koran doesn’t appear at all. | <urn:uuid:e5a9f925-a444-442d-b9a4-4457088cacfd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/tag/ayatollah-khamenei/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936237 | 349 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Bedford Tower, D2Dublin Castle
Dublin Castle fulfilled a number of roles through its history. Originally built as a defensive fortification for the Norman city of Dublin, Dublin Castle later evolved into a royal residence.
The Bedford Tower (part of Dublin Castle) was built in 1760 and houses the Chief State Solicitor's Office and the Genealogical Office. It was fortified by the British until 1922 and is now a major Irish government complex.
The Tower was built over the original twin-towered entrance into Dublin Castle which was equipped with a portcullis and drawbridge and also served as a prison. It was from here that the Irish Crown Jewels were mysteriously stolen in 1907 and have never been recovered since.
The building later housed the Genealogical Office which has now been relocated to Kildare Street.
The balcony was often occupied in the British days by army bands playing for military and social occasions.
Hen and Stag Party Package
Looking for a Fantastic Hen Party or Stag Party with a twist - Hen and Stag Party Special Offer includes Accommodation and Breakfast, Free entry to Break for the Border, Private reserved area and Complimentary Finger Food platters (for parties of 10 people or more.)
Best Available Rate
Internet Room Only Rate - Fully Flexible - No booking deposit required. Reservation may be cancelled without charge until noon GMT the day before arrival.
Room only basis. Breakfast is available at the hotel, priced at €15 per person for full Irish and €12 for Continental breakfast.
Bed and Breakfast
Fully Flexible - No booking deposit required. Reservation may be cancelled without charge until noon GMT the day before arrival. Child supplement applies for Children from 2-12 years, over 12 years the adult rate applies.
Over the past 10 years I spend an average of 190 nights per annum in hotels throughout Europe and the USA, and the Trinity is my favourite hotel of all! The friendly staff and the accommodation make for an enjoyable stay.
Really nice hotel, staff very helpful. Bed very comfy and rooms nice and warm, would recommend it to all. | <urn:uuid:de634960-9c2e-4939-af75-339bd289ecc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.graftoncapitalhotel.com/ENG/bedfordtower.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95882 | 437 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Charlie and the Inclusive Chocolate FactoryJune 11, 2009
Even after four decades Roald Dahl’s classic children’s book “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory”remains incredibly popular. However, its moral universe is drastically at odds with those of our schools. this has now been rectified, and below, I present a new, updated end for the book:
“Which room shall it be next?” said Mr Wonka as he turned away and darted into the lift. “Come on! Hurry up! We must get going! And how many children are there left now?”
Little Charlie looked at Grandpa Joe, and Grandpa Joe looked back at little Charlie.
“But Mr Wonka,” Grandpa Joe called after him, “there’s only Charlie left now.”
Mr Wonka swung round and stared at Charlie.
There was a silence. Charlie stood there holding tightly on to Grandpa Joe’s hand.
“You mean you’re the only one left?” Mr Wonka said, pretending to be surprised.
“Why, yes,” whispered Charlie. “Yes.”
Mr Wonka suddenly exploded with excitement “But my dear boy,” he cried out, “that means you’ve lost!”
“I don’t understand.” said Charlie.
“Of course you don’t!” said Mr Wonka, excitedly. “Listen. I’m an old man. I’m much older than you think. I wanted my legacy to be that I’d give away my factory to badly behaved children in order to help them with their special needs. However, unlike the other four children you don’t seem to have any problems at all, so you’re not getting anything.”
“B-b-but…” stammered Grandpa Joe, “what problems did those awful children have?”
“Oh dear, oh dear,” said Mr Wonka, “we won’t have any of that labelling here. Listen and I will explain. Mike Teavee may have seemed disinterested in other human beings and to have an unhealthy interest in guns and violence. However, this really only indicates a short attention span and hyperactivity. The poor boy is ill with ADHD and unrestricted access to a chocolate factory can only help him with his affliction.”
“I don’t believe I’m hearing this”, said Grandpa Joe.
“As for Violet Beauregarde, her continual chewing of gum was clearly a form of obsessive behaviour. That, and her lack of social awareness about what to do with discarded gum, strikes me as clear evidence that she is somewhere on the autistic spectrum.”
“For pity’s sake” whispered Charlie.
“I suppose you’ll be telling us that Veruca Salt has a special need next.” said Grandpa Joe. “All that spoilt girl needed was a good slap.”
“How dare you?” cried Mr Wonka. “Anybody who slaps a child is worse than Hitler! You should have noticed that poor Veruca was suffering from a terrible anger management problem.”
“What about Augustus Gloop?” asked Charlie. “He was greedy and fat. How does that make him deserve a chocolate factory?”
“Ah-ha!” cried Mr Wonka, “That dear child was clearly suffering from poor self-esteem. I hate to think what torment he was going through.”
“This is ridiculous” said Grandpa Joe. “None of those children had real problems. Charlie, on the other hand, has been sleeping on the floor his entire life, and has been eating nothing but bread and cabbage for six months. He’s starving. Isn’t that a real hardship you could help with?”
“Don’t be silly” said Mr Wonka. “Charlie may look like a skeleton but he has been polite and well-behaved throughout this trip. He clearly can’t have any real problems. Now, off you go! I have to take the other, more troubled children to the Great Glass Student Support Department where a thousand Oompa-Loompas will help them with their needs by catering to their every whim.” | <urn:uuid:ffc17aba-b49d-42ce-a3c2-510fd09f0468> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://teachingbattleground.wordpress.com/2009/06/11/charlie-and-the-inclusive-chocolate-factory/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96801 | 967 | 2.75 | 3 |
Food price volatility in Africa: Has it really increased?
The food price crisis of 2007–2008 and recent resurgence of food prices have focused increasing attention on the causes and consequences of food price volatility in international food markets and the developing world, particularly in Africa south of the Sahara. In this paper, we examine the patterns and trends in food price volatility using an unusually rich database of African staple food prices. We find that international grain prices have become more volatile in recent years (2007–2010) but no evidence that food price volatility has increased in the region. This contrasts with the widespread view that food prices have become more volatile in the region since the global food crisis of 2007–2008. In addition, the results suggest that price volatility is lower for processed and tradable foods than for nontradable foods, that volatility is lower in the largest (usually the capital) cities than in secondary cities, and that maize price volatility is actually higher in countries with the most active intervention to stabilize maize prices. These findings suggest that greater attention should be given to the (high) level of food prices in the region rather than volatility per se, that regional and international trade can play a useful role in reducing food price volatility, and that traditional food price stabilization efforts may be counterproductive.
Copyright © International Food Policy Research Institute | <urn:uuid:44dd32c5-9146-43ea-b87a-35aebbe3dc50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reliefweb.int/report/world/food-price-volatility-africa-has-it-really-increased | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933188 | 262 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Mentors: Professor Sharon Burgmayer and Shannon Dalton
Abstract. Small transition metal molecules have been the object of many studies due to their interactions with DNA and the resulting effects on the regulation of DNA transcription and replication, as well as their potential as pharmaceuticals. Ru(II) compounds are especially useful as probes due to their stability and photophysical properties. Bis(bipyridyl) Ru(II) complexes of pteridinyl-phenanthroline ligands have been of particular interest because pteridinyl ligands possess H-bonding patterns complementary to the purine and pyrimidine bases of DNA and RNA. The pteridinyl ligand of these Ru-pteridine complexes is capable of inserting itself between the base pairs of DNA, thus binding to DNA via intercalation. Other metal complexes, including certain Co(III) complexes, have been known to cleave DNA in the presence of light (photoactivated cleavage of DNA). Such metallointercalators are practical for their high affinity for double-stranded DNA and because they include a range of redox-active metal centers and ligands.
In my summer research, I will synthesize five Ru-pteridinyl complexes previously studied in this laboratory by varying the pteridinyl-phenanthroline ligands, in addition to which I will synthesize the DNA intercalator [Ru(bpy)2(dppz)]2+, which has been much studied in other laboratories and is used here as a positive control. The multiple-step synthesis is similar for each complex: 1,10-phenanthroline-5,6-dione is synthesized and then reacted with a diamino-pyrimidine to obtain the various ligands, which are then coordinated to RuII by reacting them with Ru(bpy)2Cl2 to obtain the final Ru complex of the form [Ru((bpy)2(L)]2+, where L stands for any of the five ligands. The ligands of interest are L-amino, L-diamino, L-pterin, L-allox and L-Me2allox. All synthesis products are characterized using 1H-NMR, IR and ESI-MS. In addition to these syntheses, I will investigate the synthesis of analogous Co(III)-pteridinyl or other metal-pteridinyl complexes, which will be explored as DNA cleaving agents. DNA cleavage studies could lead to the determination of the metallointercalator-DNA binding sites as well as the discovery of useful DNA manipulation techniques and potential pharmaceuticals. | <urn:uuid:8649024e-7834-445d-8c53-4b19e53c8ec3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://summerscience.blogs.brynmawr.edu/2010/05/13/synthesis-and-characterization-of-dna-intercalating-and-potential-photocleaving-ruii-bisbipyridine-pteridinyl-complexes-and-similar-coiii-complexes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945071 | 540 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Soy milk is generally used as an alternative for dairy milk, but in some cases infants are allergic to both kinds of milk. Sometimes, the body mistakes soy as a harmful substance and tries to fight it off and this leads to allergies. Soy milk allergy in infants is noticed at around 3 months, but most children outgrow this by the time they are two years of age.
It is important that you avoid the use soy as a first food option unless advised by the doctor. If a mother is breast feeding and the baby is allergic to soy, she will also have to avoid eating soy products during the entire term of feeding the baby.
There are many symptoms of soy milk allergy. These include acne, rashes, itching, swelling, hives, nasal congestion, asthma-like symptoms, shortness of breath, anaphylaxis, fever blisters, colic, diarrhea, conjunctivitis, fever, weakness, nausea, and low blood pressure. A soy milk allergy usually appears a few hours after the infant is exposed to milk. There are many different kinds of rashes that could indicate that your baby is allergic to milk. The common types of rashes to look out for are hives, acne, and eczema; that can occur on any part of the baby's body. However, a soy milk allergy rash is mostly concentrated around the baby's mouth.
The first thing you need to do is confirm if your baby is allergic to soy milk. You can do this by consulting your pediatrician. If an allergy is confirmed, avoid feeding your baby soy milk and soy-based products. If you are breast-feeding, then you will need to avoid these products as well.
Here is a list of some soy and soy-based products you should avoid. Check labels when confused as to whether a product contains soy.
Despite your best efforts, you may still come into contact with soy (or accidentally feed your child soy) as some companies fail to mention the use of soy products on the box or their website. In the event of an allergic reaction, it is best to contact your doctor immediately for effective treatment. | <urn:uuid:f7eb9018-7f3d-4f57-92c1-6e8301091e98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicalhealthtests.com/articles/550/health-articles/soy-milk-allergy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960178 | 435 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Obama Stimulus Aids WorldCom Felon With Health Care Loan
David Myers was at the epicenter of one of the biggest corporate frauds in U.S. history. Now the former WorldCom Inc. controller is rebuilding his life a decade later with the help of the federal government.
Ways LLC, a company formed by Myers and Peter Koury, a health-care executive, received one of the 515 loan guarantees made by a U.S. Department of Agriculture rural development program under the 2009 federal economic-stimulus bill. The USDA guaranteed a $7.45 million loan from a Louisiana bank, allowing Myers and his partner to finance the purchase of a home health agency that provides care to 650 people in the Mississippi Delta, one of the poorest regions in the U.S.
Myers, 54, served nine months in prison for helping to falsify the telecommunications company’s books to meet earnings targets. The $11 billion accounting fraud wiped out more than 17,000 jobs and $184.6 billion in market value from WorldCom’s high on June 1999. Myers’s cooperation with prosecutors led to the guilty plea of Scott Sullivan, WorldCom’s former chief financial officer, who became the star government witness in the trial of Chief Executive Officer Bernie Ebbers. Ebbers was convicted in 2005.
“I understand what the costs of my actions were to me personally, to my family, to the people that invested in WorldCom,” Myers said in a June 5 interview at his office in Jackson, Mississippi. “I can never allow something like that to ever happen again.”
A former WorldCom data analyst who lost most of her savings in the fraud is outraged that the government would trust Myers with a loan guarantee. The lead prosecutor in the WorldCom case disagrees and says Myers accepted responsibility for his actions, cooperated fully against Ebbers, learned his lesson and is no bigger risk than anyone else.
While no federal rule or law barred a loan guarantee to Myers and he wasn’t obligated to disclose his conviction, he wrote a three-page letter to the USDA describing his participation in the fraud and all the steps he has taken, including speeches to college audiences and corporate ethics programs, to encourage others to avoid his mistakes.
The Obama administration’s $760 billion stimulus program, which provided loans, guarantees and direct grants to support businesses during the longest recession since the 1930s, has emerged as an issue in the presidential campaign.
$1.6 Billion Loaned
The USDA’s guaranteed-loan program, which got extra funding in the stimulus package, backed ventures as diverse as a gasoline station in upstate New York and a fiber-optic cable project linking American Samoa and Hawaii as part of $1.6 billion loaned out. Three loans totaling about $1 million have defaulted, Courtney Rowe, a department spokeswoman, said by e- mail -- a rate lower than 0.1 percent.
Other lending programs under the stimulus have been controversial. Solyndra LLC, a solar-energy equipment maker based in Fremont, California, collapsed last year after winning a $535 million U.S. loan guarantee, and Republicans including Mitt Romney say that the administration provided the taxpayer backing as a reward for political support. A foundation run by George Kaiser, an Oklahoma billionaire and Obama fundraiser, was a leading investor in Solyndra.
Neither Myers nor Koury contributed to Obama, Federal Election Commission records indicate.
Myers pleaded guilty to fraud, conspiracy and false filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission in September 2002. Federal law prohibits the USDA from making a grant or providing a loan or loan guarantee to corporations or executives who have been convicted of a felony within the preceding two years.
It’s wrong for the federal government to use taxpayer dollars to back loans for people convicted of crimes, said Margo Mayberry, a former WorldCom data analyst, in a telephone interview from her home near Columbus, Ohio.
“I don’t think criminals should be given federal stimulus money,” said Mayberry. “Obviously he doesn’t know how to handle money honestly to begin with, or he wouldn’t have been involved with the fraud at WorldCom.”
Loan guarantees provide lenders assurance they will be repaid and can leave the government on the hook if a borrower defaults.
Ways LLC met all eligibility requirements for funding under the UDSA’s Business and Industry Guaranteed Loan Program, according to Jay Fletcher, a spokesman for the department.
“When considering loan applications, USDA weighs a variety of factors to determine if a project will further the program’s mission to improve economic conditions in rural communities,” Fletcher said by e-mail. “The borrower demonstrated strong repayment ability, sufficient security for the loan and the loan saved jobs and helped meet the tremendous need for health care in rural Mississippi.”
The USDA doesn’t know whether other felons have received guarantees under its loan programs, Fletcher said.
“USDA issues loan guarantees only to financial institutions that carefully screen borrowers to ensure they meet all regulatory and legal requirements and demonstrate an ability to repay the loan as part of our fiduciary responsibility to the U.S. taxpayer,” he said.
Mayberry, 68, a single mother of two, had just built a new home and was putting her children and herself through college when she lost her WorldCom job as the company collapsed amid the accounting fraud in 2002. She estimates she lost $5,000 to $10,000, most of her savings.
“I’m basically a forgiving Christian person, but what they did was grossly wrong, to their own human kind they did that,” Mayberry said.
Since Myers and Koury completed the purchase of Sunflower Home Health from the North Sunflower Medical Center, a county- run hospital, in July 2010, their company has added 16 jobs, a 25 percent increase, Myers said. The health-care provider serves an 11-county area where unemployment ranged from 8.2 percent to 14.9 percent in May.
Sunflower employs nurses and physical therapists who visit patients in their homes, some infested with mice or rats and which don’t have air conditioning, Koury said. Many clients have diabetes. Almost all are covered by Medicare, the government’s health-insurance program for people 65 or older. About 1 percent of patients are on Medicaid, the federal-state health insurance program for the poor, he said.
“I can’t think of a better place for government money to be spent than serving the sickest of the sick and the poorest of the poor,” Koury said in an interview at Ways LLC’s office, decorated with photos of Delta scenes and a cutting of a cotton plant with its bolls open.
In his three-page letter to the USDA in January 2010, Myers disclosed his crimes.
“I fully realize that by disclosing these facts I run the risk of being asked to remove myself from the proposed transaction. I am willing to accept that risk as I can never again do something that I know to be morally, ethically or legally wrong,” Myers wrote in the letter, obtained from the USDA under a Freedom of Information Act request. “While signing the loan application without mentioning anything is fully in my rights, it is clearly wrong.”
The letter that Myers wasn’t legally required to write nonetheless set off a warning signal at the department’s rural development office in Jackson.
Bettye Oliver, a program director, asked an attorney with the USDA’s office of general counsel in Little Rock, Arkansas, who was reviewing Ways LLC’s application, whether Myers should be removed from the transaction.
“While David Myers has not been debarred from doing business with the federal government, this multiple-felony conviction does raise a red flag as to the financial influence that David Myers may have concerning this loan,” wrote Laurie Peterson, a lawyer with the general counsel’s office in a March 23, 2010, letter. “As this is a guaranteed loan, Rural Development has little control over the disbursement and application loan proceeds.”
Koury, a 52-year-old former executive vice president of finance for a 535-bed hospital in Jackson, owns 49.6 percent, while Myers owns 4.99 percent and individual investors who loaned the two $1.6 million so they could meet a 10 percent equity requirement for the USDA program, own the rest, Myers said. Myers and Koury declined to name the individual investors.
Myers, a soft-spoken man who drives a black Nissan Titan pickup truck, was born in Oxford, Mississippi, the home of Nobel Prize-winning author William Faulkner. Myers said he moved to Jackson, the state capital, before he was a year old and grew up there, attending a Baptist Academy, where he was an honors student.
Myers went to the University of Mississippi, or “Ole Miss” in Oxford, graduating with a degree in marketing in 1979 and in accounting in 1982, according to a court transcript.
After college he went to work for Ernst & Young LLP in Jackson and Houston and became treasurer and chief accounting officer of Lamar Life Insurance Co., according to Myers’s letter to the USDA.
In 1995 he joined WorldCom, which had grown from a small telephone company to become the second-largest long-distance service provider in the U.S. under Ebbers, a former milkman and barroom bouncer. Myers became controller in 1997.
As the bubble in Internet and telecommunications share prices burst, WorldCom’s revenue plummeted. To meet stock analysts’ expectations, WorldCom’s chief financial officer, Scott Sullivan, asked Myers to book entries that reduced the company’s costs and increased earnings.
“When crunch time came and somebody asked me to do something improper, instead of me walking away from it, I let their morals and ethics override my own,” Myers said in the interview. “You can’t ever do that.”
From the end of the first quarter through the second quarter of 2002, Myers told his staff to transfer $3.85 billion from line cost expense accounts to capital expenditure accounts.
After a tip to WorldCom’s internal-audit department about accounting improprieties, Cynthia Cooper, the head of the department, started an investigation. When Cooper asked Myers for documents that would support the capital expenditure entries, he confessed there were none and agreed to help with the probe.
In September 2002, Myers pleaded guilty and began helping the government in cases it was building against Sullivan and Ebbers.
At Myers’s sentencing in 2005, David Anders, the federal lawyer who led the WorldCom prosecution, said Myers provided the most cooperation of five former WorldCom employees in its case against Bernie Ebbers.
“Myers never wavered in his decision to accept responsibility for his actions and to acknowledge wrongdoing,” Anders wrote in a sentencing letter.
Now a partner at Wachtell, Lipton, Rosen & Katz in New York, Anders said taxpayers shouldn’t consider Myers a bigger risk than anyone else.
“He both paid his debt to society and, I think, learned a lot from it,” Anders said in a telephone interview. “I would hope that people like that can go on to do productive things.”
While in a minimum-security federal prison in Yazoo City, Mississippi, Myers taught high school equivalency classes to other inmates, he said. He helped those with an entrepreneurial bent develop business plans so that they didn’t return to jail.
After he was released from custody in August 2006, Myers worked on some private equity deals and started a consulting business offering audit and accounting services to small companies.
It was soon after Myers had given a speech in London to an Ernst & Young conference that Koury gave him a call. Koury and Myers had a large number of mutual friends. Myers’ wife, an interior designer, had helped Koury’s wife decorate their new home.
Koury had been working as a consultant for the North Sunflower Medical Center, a small county-owned hospital in Ruleville, Mississippi, about 120 miles (193 kilometers) northwest of Jackson, managing its home health care company and medical-equipment business. The Delta hospital wanted to sell the operation so it could build a surgical center and focus on its core service area of Sunflower County. Koury asked the hospital’s chief executive if he would sell it to him.
With credit tight because of the recession, Koury was having trouble financing the deal.
“We went to bank after bank after bank,” Koury said. “Nobody wanted to do anything. Banks were shut down. You couldn’t even get a car loan at the time.”
In September 2009, Koury got in touch with Union Bank, based in Marksville, Louisiana, which had a portfolio of USDA loans. Union agreed to finance the acquisition on condition that Koury obtain a USDA loan guarantee because the business was in Mississippi, said Greg Prudhomme, a vice president at the bank who handled Ways LLC’s loan.
Around the time that the bank agreed to finance the deal, Koury had a falling out with his first financial adviser. It was then that he called Myers.
As the loan guarantee application wound its way through the process, G. Gary Jones, a program director in the USDA rural development program’s Jackson office, said that for years there had been very little loan activity in the state. Jones didn’t provide specific figures.
In a May 3, 2010, e-mail, Ken Hennings, a branch chief with USDA’s Rural Business-Cooperative Service in Washington, told Mike Ladner in the Jackson office handling the Ways LLC application that the company didn’t need to do a feasibility study because it was buying an existing business. Hennings told Ladner to speed up the process.
“Figure out how to make this work,” Hennings wrote.
Since buying Sunflower Home Health, Koury and Myers have converted to electronic patient records from paper and opened up two more offices.
Myers serves as a consultant to Koury and is responsible for financial reporting.
Ways LLC is current on its loan to Union Bank, Myers and Koury said.
“If we do things right, the finances will take care of themselves,” Myers said.
To contact the reporter on this story: Martin Z. Braun in New York at firstname.lastname@example.org
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Jeffrey Taylor at email@example.com | <urn:uuid:e846b06f-c60c-41d3-b737-7f8ee6d685fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bloomberg.com/news/print/2012-06-21/obama-stimulus-aids-worldcom-felon-with-health-care-loan.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968003 | 3,124 | 1.539063 | 2 |
iPhone 5 Could Feature Free GPS Navigation
More evidence has surfaced that Apple is working on navigation software for the next-generation iPhone. The company recently acquired online mapping company Poly9. This is not the first tech company specializing in mapping to be picked up by Apple.
Placebase, a mapping services company was also bought by Apple in 2009. Speculation is rampant that Apple may integrate both companies' technology in a new mapping and/or navigation app for the iPhone 5. Google maps are currently featured in iOS products, but the relationship between Google and Apple has been rocky lately. Google has also launched its own competing free GPS navigation app for Android platforms.
Not only this, but Apple has posted several new job announcements that ask specifically for software engineers with "experience developing navigation software." Four job postings for iOS software engineers are identical and contain the following:
- Deep knowledge of Computational Geometry or Graph Theory
- Experience with Linux server-side development of distributed systems
- Experience developing navigation software
Another posting also sounds like it could involve a cloud-based map server of some kind:
Apple is hiring a software engineer to manage and automate distributed image processing on a server cluster. The position is with an emerging and rapidly growing product team building software used by millions of Apple customers in rapidly growing markets worldwide.
- managing distributed image processing
- deploying updates to a large server cluster
This isn't a coincidence, considering that Apple recently opened a massive data center in North Carolina devoted to its services. The server farm is already five times the size of Apple's California facility and reports have indicated that Apple may still double this size with further construction.
Apple even has what they call a "Geo Team" that was referenced by Placebase founder and CEO Jaron Waldman. Of course, it's possible that Apple will only integrate specific mapping technologies from Placebase and Poly9 into the iPhone 5. Google recently announced a renewal of their search deal with Apple, however it's not known if Google Maps is included as part of the deal.
With the iPhone 5 expected to launch in summer 2011, it's possible that Apple needs more time to create its own navigation solution. | <urn:uuid:9648b751-03d9-4edd-a8ae-80a82f146b38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iphonefaq.org/archives/971180 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960653 | 440 | 1.664063 | 2 |
|La Mandoline, l’Oeillet et le Bambou, Guillaume Apollinaire, 1914 (source)
||MM-HM, Tauba Auerbach, 2007 (source)
Concrete represents permanence and solidity. It is possible to claim that its enduring form in the ruins of the Ancient Rome, delivering the ideas of the empire, accounts for much of Western civilization, as we understand it. As architects, we know about its durability, strength, and power to render form sharply. But the material tells a more complex story.
The word ‘concrete’ originates in the Latin concrescere, meaning ‘to grow together’. Inherent to itself, concrete describes a fundamental drama about transformation. In its vague, liquid-like form, concrete is much like fat: malleable, composite matter lacking internal structure. Its shape emerges from its container, without which it dissolves into uselessness, like a chameleon without a background. To seep and to mirror are its functions. It is the toti-potentiality of the formless that Joseph Beuys sought in his frequent use of fat in his art. Chaotic and fundamentally dense to comprehension, fat signified a void of form that could be either filled by transcendent potential or remain nothingness. Liquid concrete is much the same as fat, until it achieves its second life.
In solid form, concrete is in every way the opposite, epitomizing immutability and structure. It is helpful to describe it by discussing ‘concrete’ in a related use. Concrete poetry is a form of poetry where words aggregate to become an image. Ash and limestone are replaced by language. It is this moment of achieving the gestalt of the image that makes it concrete, when an alternate reading of the poem opens up, which collapses time to the instant of recognition. In reference to language and ideas, ‘concrete’ describes that which has realized a material form or reality, and is thus opposed to the ‘abstract’. The same is true for concrete as a material. When concrete is poured to create a block or beam, it becomes real, and the liquid void is filled by a timeless certainty. And so, concrete tells the story of transformation from non-form to form, of coming into being.
‘Dich aber, süße Sprache Deutschlands,
-Jorge Luis Borges
Etymology always poses the greatest stumbling block to theory: because when it comes down to it, what do we really mean by Geist? But Hegel hasn’t been the only thinker to regress into language for solutions to philosophical problems (although German as the Science of Logic is a compelling argument indeed). Whereas Virno laments the multitude’s ever-shrinking grammar, pooling around inane topoi koinoi, the field of hermeneutics would cease to exist if it weren’t for Greek and Latin roots. When reaching into the abstract for theories sandwiched somewhere in between intuition and rational thought, words fall easily enough into place, explaining concepts in a manner that is deceptively concrete.
But how stable is language, and the meanings of words, after all? The beauty of poetry is that it can contain contradictions without ever losing inner consistency. And yet, before I had any sort of fluency in a second language, I felt drawn to the poetic edge of the concrete arts (from the postwar era and thus after Apollinaire, because who wasn’t?) drawn up by Emmett Williams, Eugen Gomringer and Augusto de Campos. But the more I became engaged with feeling out the cultural echoes of the conversational everyday, the less enraptured I was by concrete poetry’s typographical delights. Imagine the word ‘apple’ typed repeatedly into lines tracing a perfectly-formed–well, apple. Word and image have struggled enough on the plane of the representational as it is, and the concrete poem finally seemed like too much brittle surface, sealing me off from more fluid constructions without any means to gauge the depth of discourse layered beneath. So I gave up. No matter how dried-out or defined, words will never be bricks for me.
3 Responses to “CONCRETE”
© 2010-2013 BI, All Rights Reserved | <urn:uuid:9bcf6536-3b89-4e2b-b59c-2dd5f5aa7be1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebiblog.net/concrete/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934974 | 912 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Do you know people who, no matter what, have nothing but negative things to say? Have you noticed these people almost never smile? Have you noticed that their eyes seem dull and lifeless? Do you notice that when they walk, they seem to drag - like walking is the ultimate chore?
Do you know people who are almost always upbeat? Have you noticed that they are almost always smiling? Do you see in these people’s eyes a twinkle or a spark? Have you ever noticed that these people seem to bounce through life rather than walk?
So, what is the difference between them?
I used to think that people couldn’t help it. I found so many excuses and reasons for people to be negative. The main thing I attributed it to was upbringing. I do believe that experience has a lot to do with how people behave, in general. People “learn” how to respond, react, and interact with the world around them. The more you see a behavior, the more likely you are to emulate it. The more you emulate something, the more it becomes your own. In a sense, it becomes a “habit.”
The important thing to realize about habits is that they can be altered, replaced, or stopped. With this in mind, it seems reasonable to me to believe that negativity is a choice. I know it may sound rather simplistic. Perhaps, that is because to some extent it is. That does not mean that it is simple to change.
People spend their whole lives developing habits. Habits become so ingrained that they become almost reflexive. People don’t even realize they do some of things they do because they become “natural.” It can take a very long time and a great deal of practice to change something it has taken a lifetime to develop.
So, with this in mind, I believe that the difference between negative and positive people boils down to decision making. It is directly related to what you choose to focus on. Everyone has a choice. You can decide to focus on the positive or you can decide to focus on the negative.
When you look at this picture, what do you see? Do you see an overgrown lawn that is an eyesore? If it were in your neighborhood, say, across the street or next door, would you get angry and let it affect your mood? Would you curse the homeowner or tenant for not keeping the lawn cut? Would you try to find out why the lawn was overgrown? Would you try to do something constructive to change it? Would you brood over it and do nothing about it?
If you can do something about it, then do it. Still, there is no point in stewing over it. Just take care of it and move on. If you choose to do nothing about it or if there is nothing you can do about it, there is no point in stewing over it. Perhaps you could instead take another look.
Perhaps you could look at it differently. Perhaps you could, upon closer inspection, appreciate it for its wonderful little floral treasures amidst which butterflies dance and dragonflies sing in the morning sun-kissed dew.
I realize this is an odd example, but I used it to illustrate the point that there is something good to be found in almost every thing, every person, and every situation. I know that there are certain situations and people in which it is difficult to find good. People suffer every day. Bad people do bad things every day. I do not mean to down play any of that. This applies to life in general and the every day - day-to-day.
So, how do you go about becoming more positive? It takes practice. You have to replace your habit of seeing bad with the habit of seeing good. Train yourself to look at the world through different eyes. Remind yourself that you have a choice. Even on some of your worst days, you can continue to be in a good mood, if you so choose. Although you may not be in control of everything around you, you do have control over how you choose to react. You have control of what you choose to focus on.
Try some daily exercises. When you get up in the morning, take a moment to sit on your patio and look at the world around you. Find something to look at that you like. Then, move on to the next thing. When I am in a feeling down… negative… I sit on my lanai and observe the world around me. I use as many senses as I can to take things in.
If there is a breeze and the wind chimes are chiming, I let myself get caught up in how relaxing the sound is. If the birds are chirping, I think about a mother bird feeding her babies. I will look into the yard and watch the butterflies, dragonflies, and bees frolicking in the dew covered flowers. I do all of this instead of focusing on the fact that I really don’t want to be awake. I drink in the beauty around me.
When I am driving in traffic, rather than focus on the fact that I am not moving, I accept the fact that there is nothing I can do about it. Then, I try to focus on nice things. I may see a car I really like somewhere near me. I may listen to my favorite radio station and immerse myself in the music. I may think about how my children smiled at me before I walked out the door. I also remind myself that the time I spend in the car is the only time I really am alone during the day. It is my time to think, sing, or do whatever I want without interruption.
If you remind yourself to do these couple of things, you will eventually find that the process has carried over to other aspects of your life without you having even tried. It will become a habit. Granted, I do sometimes have to remind myself, especially when things get really tough. It is not possible to be positive all of the time. But you can decide to be positive most of the time.
An interesting phenomenon is that the more positive you are, the more positive the people around you will be. Positivism is contagious just as is negativism. You can set the tone for your experiences.
I could sit around feeling sorry for myself all day... basking in negativity. My life experiences have not all been stellar. Not by any stretch of the imagination. Yet, most people who know me think I am one of the most positive people they know. Why? Because that is how I choose to be.
I reserve the right to be human and err. Nothing here was written to intentionally misinform or otherwise mislead.
© 2006 Trina Hoaks | <urn:uuid:4a602eb6-6905-4c1e-ba32-a56616d07e66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ebay.com/gds/living-positively/10000000001955499/g.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975823 | 1,393 | 2.28125 | 2 |
NASA's Curiosity rover has bored into a Martian rock and pulled out its first sample of the planet's insides to analyze. This could be the first step to mining Mars.
In New Scientist, Lisa Grossman quotes NASA's Louise Jandura as saying, "This is the only time anybody's drilled into Mars. Getting deeper into the rock allows us to unlock a kind of time capsule into what Mars was like 3 or 4 billion years ago."
The easiest way to figure out what's up there might be to analyze a Martian meteorite right here on Earth. This space rock has been frozen in Antarctic ice (which is now melting and revealing its hidden secrets) and gives evidence that the surface of Mars contains chemicals that are in household bleach right here on Earth. Will the Red Planet eventually turn into the White Planet? This makes it less likely that we'll find life on Mars.
Astronomer Sam KounavesIn studied a meteorite found in 1979. In New Scientist, Lisa Grossman quotes him as saying, "We're speculating that you perhaps cannot find organics on the surface of Mars. You have to be below the surface or inside sedimentary rocks." The Mars rover carries a drill, but not a very deep one.
Grossman quotes Mars rover project scientist John Grotzinger as saying, "The odds of rolling up to a rock on Mars and finding organics are vanishingly small. But we're still going to try."
If (when?) life is confirmed on Mars, we guarantee we'll be the first to tell you--IF we're still here tomorrow. Here's something the other news outlets DIDN'T tell you: WE may be Martians! Maybe we're the losers in an intergalactic war (Subscribers can still listen to this show). Make sure we're still around to give you great news from the edge: Subscribe today! | <urn:uuid:df7cc744-98f0-48b9-958a-2044850c10d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unknowncountry.com/news/mining-mars | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952586 | 386 | 3.328125 | 3 |
National Accreditation (COA)
The Council on Accreditation (COA) is an independent, not-for-profit, international accreditor of the full continuum of community-based behavioral health care and social service organizations.
Being COA-accredited demonstrates Catholic Charities Atlanta’s credibility, efficiency and effectiveness, giving you the confidence you need to support our work and programs.
The COA accreditation process involves a detailed review and analysis of both an organization’s administrative operations, including financial practices, and its service delivery practices.
All are measured against international standards of best practice. These standards emphasize services that are:
- based in the community
- culturally competent
- provided by a skilled and supported workforce
- respectful of individual rights
- supportive of partnerships
- child and family focused
Standards must also ensure that the agency:
- treats all people with dignity
- involves family and provider collaboration and addresses child outcomes
Accreditation is driven by quality improvement. Catholic Charities Atlanta maintains a rigorous internal continuous quality improvement (CQI) program, which incorporates feedback from its highly valued clients and stakeholders.
Catholic Charities received its first accreditation from the Council on Accreditation January of 2005. COA accreditation is effective for four years, and all organizations must certify annually between accreditation reviews that they continue to implement the standards.
The agency received reaccreditation by the Council on Accreditation in December of 2008. Catholic Charities Atlanta’s accreditation is effective until 2013.
Because COA reviews and accredits the entire organization, there is confidence in the credibility, integrity and achievement of the entire organization.
The peer review system is the key element of COA’s accreditation process. By relying on seasoned, skilled professionals to carry out the hands-on task of assessing organization compliance, COA is able to provide reviewers who are not only knowledgeable about current theory and practice, but whom organizational personnel accept as their professional peers. Catholic Charities Atlanta has four COA peer reviewers. Peer reviewers have the opportunity to go on site visits throughout the country and review other Catholic Charities organizations and other non-profits – this allows our staff to continue to bring back best practices from others. | <urn:uuid:28d43544-9cbb-4a21-b92e-090c59c373a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.catholiccharitiesatlanta.org/about/accreditation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94914 | 458 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Here's the difficulty I have with Kondratiev waves: it really seems to take two waves to create a complete cycle. What Perez calls a "technological style" actually unfolds over two Kondratiev waves. Between the two there is a regulation crisis with some kind of "successful" resolution (although it is very hard to call WWII "successful"); and then at the end, a kind of chaotic period during which the technological style begins to change.
This text highlights relationships between different regimes of labour and how they are exploited by capital, in the context of textiles and clothes. Global inequalities are being exploited through the help of ICT and the general drive to labour saving techniques. What makes matters worse is that those participating as producers and consumers remain invisible to each other.
Industrial investment at the end of the Great Recession will likely be in the new generation of robots, used in both manufacturing and distribution. | <urn:uuid:9fb66b4f-dd42-454a-abee-566d94d1ae41> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenextlayer.org/node | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963955 | 186 | 1.929688 | 2 |
History of Bosch
1886 - A modern industrial giant began humbly enough when German engineer, Robert Bosch, opened his "Workshop for Precision Mechanics and Engineering." 1906 - Bosch had established its first U.S. subsidiary. That was followed by 60 years of growth into what became the Robert Bosch LLC. 1990 - Through acquisitions and innovation engineering, Bosch Appliances had grown to 41 subsidiaries worldwide. 1997 - Bosch made a bold commitment to the U.S. market with the construction of the New Bern, North Carolina Dishwasher plant. 2001 - Bosch Appliances are now available in 100 countries across the globe. The brand is proud to be ranked as the #1 and #2 dishwashers in a leading consumer magazine. 2002 - The on-going quality dedication and quest for innovation continue to make Bosch the leader in upscale appliances. Available at AJ Madison.
Every meal now comes with a breath of fresh air.
Bosch's super-efficient, high-performance ventilation products literally freshen the air. Capable of up to 600 CFM, they quickly remove steam, odors, grease and smoke, without adding any distracting noise. As superbly designed as they are quiet, every Bosch ventilation system perfectly complements any Bosch cooktop or range. | <urn:uuid:552e8657-574b-4f27-80b9-3ba66a873702> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ajmadison.com/cgi-bin/ajmadison/DPH36652UC.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942589 | 265 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Go Fish | Community-supported Fishery in Gloucester
Gloucester’s inner harbor pays no mind to the picturesque. It’s a working Massachusetts port, a saguaro-shaped inlet bordered by fish wholesalers, ice manufacturers, whale-watch operators, and commercial docks. Gloucester’s sailors and their weatherworn vessels are part of a fishing tradition dating back nearly 400 years; the first English fishermen arrived in 1623, and since then, the city has seen fortunes made and more than 10,000 men lost in the pursuit of ocean bounty.
People put a lot of stock in that heritage here. When two strangers meet in town, it’s not unusual to hear them map a shared connection via the fishery:
I’m a D’Amico on my mother’s side. She worked at Good Harbor Fillet …
… Oh yeah, you’re Johnny’s kid, right?
The heritage is everything, a chain linking one generation to the next. And now it seems as endangered as the Atlantic codfish that made this fishery great. In the name of protecting the very fish that Gloucester depends on, federal and state governments have taken many steps over the years, each seemingly more threatening to the fishermen than the last. In 2010, they instituted a catch-share policy that promotes consolidation, forcing more of the region’s small independent dayboat operators–the backbone of Gloucester’s fleet–out of business. Then last August, after several years of encouraging news about replenished cod stocks, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), having determined that the cod fishery was again on the brink of collapse, proposed catch-limit cuts of more than 70 percent for 2013, with cuts in other species, as well, such as yellowtail flounder and sole. (Catch limits for 2012 had already been cut by 22 percent.) Last September, after months of wrangling by Massachusetts’ congressional delegation and its governor, the U.S. Commerce Department declared a groundfish disaster and urged Congress to appropriate a $100 million relief package for New England and New York fisheries. Also on the table, however, is a controversial $100 million boat and permit buyback program, which could end up putting even more fishermen out of work. Could their grandfathers and great-grandfathers ever have imagined a time when they could not fish here?
It seems as though it’s all bad news. But on one dock, workers for Ocean Crest Seafoods are busy unloading fish, weighing a regulation catch of cod, sorting them and putting them into plastic bins with ice that comes rattling down a chute from Cape Pond Ice next door. Ocean Crest has many customers through its wholesale distribution business and its Neptune’s Harvest organic-fertilizer company. But one customer is different: a three-year-old experiment, a bright and shining spot in the midst of all the grim news. It’s a CSF, a community-supported fishery, called Cape Ann Fresh Catch (CAFC).
Like the community-supported agriculture (CSA) model that gives small farmers a way to sell their goods directly to consumers–partial insurance against bad crop years–community-supported fisheries invite members to pay upfront for a fixed allotment of fish–in Cape Ann’s case, about five pounds of whole fish or two pounds of fillets–on a weekly or biweekly basis. The fish, which may be cod, bluefish, hake, sole, monkfish, redfish, haddock, or yellowtail, depending on the season, are delivered to 18 drop-off points around the Greater Boston area and the North Shore. The fish are always caught the same day, never frozen, never “fishy.” In exchange for this bounty, shareholders relinquish the right to shop by species. Barring kosher and allergy considerations, you get whatever the ocean turns up that day.
The offices of Cape Ann Fresh Catch are housed in an industrial building a couple of miles back from the water. CAFC is a joint project of the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Association (a.k.a. “the Wives”), a nonprofit advocacy group with which it shares office space, and the Northwest Atlantic Marine Alliance. The president of the Wives is Angela Sanfilippo, whose husband, Johnny, was a fishing-boat captain for decades; she and NAMA coordinating director Niaz Dorry were instrumental in launching the CSF.
Small and stout, Angela still speaks with the staccato lilt of Sicily, her home until 1963, and when she’s not advocating for the fishery or trying to talk sense into policymakers, she’s at the stove making roasted fish, fish stew, or spaghetti with fish. There’s a full stove in the office break room; most of the women are Italian, and even though they work, they cook. Though the office is always busy (this past fall the CSF had some 700 subscribers), someone fixes lunch with whatever is left from the day’s deliveries. (Just try to say no to second helpings with these women.) Their combined talents have even produced the Gloucester Fishermen’s Wives Cookbook: Stories and Recipes (2005; Twin Lights Publishers).
Talking about the origins of Fresh Catch, Angela summarizes simply: “We needed to help people make money.” They saw Port Clyde, Maine, succeeding with a first-of-its-kind CSF program, so they floated the idea at the Gloucester farmers’ market in June 2009 and soon had 100 potential customers on board. “I go to the post office and there’s a huge stack of envelopes,” Angela says. “And in every envelope there’s a check.” | <urn:uuid:311183e6-a42f-4349-82c1-cb952a1e0aa0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yankeemagazine.com/article/food/community-fishery | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950899 | 1,228 | 2 | 2 |
Home Visits by Officials
The Three Little HomeschoolersA Tale of Caution
Once upon a time there were 3 homeschooling families. The first family knew
nothing about their legal rights. The second family had listened to a seminar
in which their legal rights were discussed, and the third family knew the Code.
One day a big, overbearing, scary school official showed up on the doorstep of family #1. Since they didn't know any better, they opened the door and invited in the BOSS official. He asked for their school records, and they showed them. He threatened them with a SARB and they folded. The next day they took all their children back to school.
A week later the BOSS official showed up at the door of family #2. They didn't know what to do, so they also let him in. He asked to see their school records, and they weren't sure what to do. They vaguely remembered hearing something about not having to comply with that request. "Gosh darn," they thought, "I wish I could remember what was said at that last conference." After the school official left, they called (800) 327-5339 to ask what they should do. Unfortunately the 800# hostess was at a park day. By the time they were phoned back that evening, they were frantic. Of course they received the needed help, but they had aged several years from their initial worries.
When BOSS official knocked at the door of family #3, they had no worries. They knew the Code! After a few minutes of visiting on the doorstep, BOSS official was very intimidated and left. He never returned to that doorstep again.
Moral of the story: Know the Code!
A public school official can only enter your home if you voluntarily allow him
to enter or he has a warrant or court order. Public school officials requiring access
to a home-based, private school to determine if you are breaking the compulsory
education laws, are violating your 4th amendment rights, your right to privacy
and to due process.
The California Education Code sections 48222, 48415, and 33190, allow public
school officials the right to verify that the Private School Affidavit or alternative
form have been filed. They have no right to evaluate your curriculum or examine your
school or student records. They can verify attendance of a child if they can provide
you with the name of the child they suspect of being truant.
Commonly Asked Questions
Are home visits by school district officials required by California
law for private, home-based schools?
No. Public school district officials have no authority over private
schools. They cannot evaluate, recognize, approve or endorse any private school,
so they have no need to look at your school records. If you have a child enrolled
in a public school independent study program or charter school, however, you may
be legally subject to home visits depending on the requirements of the program.
Some public ISPs and/or charter schools include a written provision for home
What do I do if someone shows up on my doorstep?
Best of all, don't answer the door. CHN's Companion CD to the California
Homeschool Guide has several versions of a great door sign. The sign states, "Kindly
respect the wishes of this family by not disturbing us. We do not answer our door
unless we know you or are expecting you. US Mail and UPS are welcome, as are friends.
Others should make an appointment."
If you do answer your door and find a school official on your doorstep,
be polite to avoid escalating the situation. You may show them your copy of the
affidavit you have provided to the State of California, whether it is the form
produced by the California Department of Education, the alternative form on the
CHN website or a letter. Explain to them that you have a legal private school.
If you are professional and articulate, they may hesitate to pursue the issue
What if the school official tells me, "You might as well let me in,
or I'm going to come back with a police officer?"
A police officer has no more right than a public school official to
enter your home without a warrant or court order.
What if they ask me who is enrolled in my school?
Do not give them the names of your children. If they are concerned
with a truancy issue, they must provide you with the name of the child in question.
You can say, "Yes, that child is enrolled and is meeting all our requirements."
What if they request to see my school records?
If they have another issue, such as wanting to inspect your school records,
student records, attendance, or verify your curriculum, tell them that "The information
you are requesting is confidential." You may refer them to Education Code Section 33190,
which allows them to verify that the affidavit was filed, but does not grant them authority
to look at any other information. Showing them records that they are not legally mandated
to see sets a dangerous precedent for all home-based private schools. Please do not
cooperate with illegal requests.
What if they ask to come in?
Don't invite them into your home. Step outside to talk. If you need to get
a copy of the Private School Affidavit to show them, close and lock the door and go get
it. It is always a good idea to get their business card so that you have a name, phone
number and job title. You may wish to politely explain, "This is not a convenient time;
school is in session. If you will leave me your business card, I'll contact you
What do I do when they leave?
At your convenience, call CHN and let us know about your contact. Often,
if we contact the school district on your behalf, their demands will cease. You may
wish, if you expect further contact, to make certain everyone is up and dressed by
8:00 a.m. for the next few weeks. If needed, straighten up your home. Be prepared
for another visit accompanied by a warrant, if the truancy officer reported "terrible
Do I handle CPS differently?
If you receive a visit from CPS and are told that you are being investigated
because of "homeschooling" or "educational neglect," please let CHN know as soon as
possible. You may also wish to contact an attorney. More
What are my chances of being contacted?
Your chances of being challenged are slim. | <urn:uuid:0273af56-9ffa-415c-b766-8b62ce9408a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://californiahomeschool.net/howTo/homeVisits.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97485 | 1,375 | 1.625 | 2 |
The Northern Renaissance (1500-1615)
The 16th century heralded a new era for painting in the Netherlands and Germany. Northern artists were influenced by the great innovations in the South; many artists travelled to Italy to study; and the Renaissance concern for bringing modern science and philosophy into art was also evident in the North. There was, however, a difference of outlook between the two cultures. In Italy change was inspired by Humanism, with its emphasis on the revival of the values of classical antiquity. In the North, change was driven by another set of preoccupations: religious reform, the return to ancient Christian values, and the revolt against the authority of the Church.
The Renaissance in the North crystallized around the intense vision and realism of Dürer's work. Other painters in both Germany and the Netherlands followed the Northern impulse for precise observation and naturalism in the fields of landscape painting (Patinir and Bruegel) and portraiture (Holbein). As in Italy, the Northern Renaissance ended with a Mannerist phase. Mannerism was to last about a generation longer in the North than it did in Italy, where it was outmoded by 1600. | <urn:uuid:61be1334-2d22-4184-8494-e046dba8f891> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arthistory.cc/tl/north-ren/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967843 | 244 | 4.3125 | 4 |
I located a copy of the 1880 Census Record for Jonathan PEACOCK and his family. He was the founder of the Peacock Brewery.
The census record listed his age as 59, married to Eliza (HAMMOND) PEACOCK, age 48. He was shown as the owner/master brewer. Eliza was shown as Keeping House.
At the time, the following children were also listed: Edwin H. PEACOCK (22), James PEACOCK (19), Charles PEACOCK (14), Frances PEACOCK (10), Olive PEACOCK (9). James and Charles were listed as workers in the Brewery, and the other children were enrolled in school.
The census shows Jonathan and Eliza were both born in England, but all the children were born in Illinois. Have not been able to locate the family on either the 1870 or the 1900 census.
Has anybody out there run across this family ??? | <urn:uuid:ce3cd4b4-4144-4fd5-8862-660c3e088e0b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boards.ancestry.com/surnames.peacock/1096/mb.ashx?pnt=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994818 | 192 | 1.703125 | 2 |
St. Lawrence University Associate Professor of Physics Daniel W. Koon participated in
the 8th Interamerican Conference on Physics Education in Havana, Cuba, which had as its
theme "Teaching Physics For the Future."
Koon described teaching projects undertaken in collaboration with a St. Lawrence professor and
a student at the conference, which drew over 200 participants from more than 25 countries.
Koon discussed his and Adjunct Associate Professor of English Jonathan Gottschall's science fiction-themed
First-Year Program courses "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" and "To Boldly Go: The
Science and Fiction of Space Travel -- Time Travel and Extraterrestrials."
Koon also presented a poster describing Jeremy Ouellette '04's measurements of cosmic muon
flux to test Einstein's special theory of relativity, an experiment which Koon has been
using to teach undergraduate nuclear and particle physics at St. Lawrence. The experiment,
which requires measurements at two or more locations at very different altitudes -- in
Ouellette's case, St. Lawrence and Mt. Washington -- is "well suited to undergraduate
laboratories throughout the Americas, and researchers at the conference expressed interest
in recreating it in their labs in Central and South America," according to Koon.
In addition to the presentations, Koon participated in a working group of the Interamerican
Council on Physics Education drafting recommendations for improving the training of
physicists throughout the hemisphere, recommendations to be implemented before the
Ninth Interamerican Conference, in 2006, in Costa Rica.
Posted: August 6, 2003 | <urn:uuid:0ba4e33c-c051-4d99-992d-fce695119e63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stlawu.edu/netnews/koon_cuba.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926385 | 337 | 2.1875 | 2 |
AGGIE FIELD OF HONOR & MEMORIAL CEMETERY
The College Station Memorial Cemetery is made up of a total of 56 acres, with 20 acres designated to the Aggie Field of Honor. The beautifully designed facility includes an Information Center, a Committal Shelter, an Aggie Field of Honor and a City of College Station Columbarium and standard burial plots in each location.
Another special feature is the Spirit Gate that honors the life and spirit of those Aggies who have passed on. As you look through the gate to Kyle Field there is a sense of connection between this final resting place and the place where these Aggies were educated and launched their lives. And one only needs to be an Aggie in Spirit to call this your final home. Former Students, friends, family and anyone who has a love of this university and its community are welcome.
The Aggie Field of Honor portion of the cemetery was a vision of former students over 30 years ago and has finally become a reality. Many Aggies return to College Station to retire because of their love of their alma mater and the wonderful traditions and memories they hold dear. A special place of rest for those who choose it here is now available.
For more information, please click here
COLLEGE STATION CEMETERY
The original College Station municipal cemetery is located at 2530 Texas Avenue South
. The Cemetery is open for visitation Monday through Saturday, 8 a.m. - sundown, and Sunday from 6 a.m. to sundown.
The College Station Cemetery was created in 1948 from thirty-one acres bought near the Shiloh community, approximately two miles south of Texas A&M on Highway 6. That tract surrounded an existing cemetery, which had been deeded to the Methodist Church in 1870 by W.G. and Josephine Rector. The A&M Methodist Church, in 1948, turned over those four acres to College Station to be incorporated into the city cemetery. In 1973, the cemetery was decreased in size when the City decided to designate eighteen of the acres for the creation of Bee Creek Park.
PRICING & REGULATIONS
Individuals interested in purchasing spaces or lots should first contact the Cemetery Sexton, Robert Hole at 979.764.3738 for an appointment. After the lot/space is selected, the purchaser will need to finalize the paperwork in the Parks & Recreation Office located at 1000 Krenek Tap Road. The office hours are 8 a.m. - 5 p.m., Monday - Friday.
AGGIE FIELD OF HONOR & MEMORIAL CEMEMERY
||Aggie Field of Honor|
|Standard space (4' X 9')
|Columbaria niche (10 1/2" X 10 1/2" X 10 1/2")
|Infant space (4' X 4.5')
COLLEGE STATION CEMETERY
|Standard space (5' X 10')
|Cremate space (2.5' X 2.5')
|Infant space (4' X 5')
---> CEMETERY RULES & REGULATIONS (PDF)
City of College Station Parks & Recreation Office
Stephen C. Beachy Central Park
1000 Krenek Tap Road, College Station
Monday - Friday, 8 a.m. - 5 p.m.
Robert HoleCemetery Sexton
979.764.3738 | firstname.lastname@example.org
Andrea LauerCemetery Secretary
979.764.5049 | email@example.com | <urn:uuid:641300d3-b6f8-4ad1-8752-beeda313f7a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cstx.gov/index.aspx?page=670 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939244 | 752 | 1.632813 | 2 |
The HL (option) Stats course is now on line with 16 new lessons with full explanations and examination style questions and answers.
Worksheets will be uploaded next week ready for examination revision.
Just added: Studies worksheets for Straight lines. Double Angles and Compound Angles in HL.
Uploaded in the past two weeks: Studies trigonometry worksheets, SL/HL trigonometry worksheets, Hl and SL algebra worksheets.
All worksheets have a full sets of worked answers.
All worksheets are passworded for subscribers only.
More worksheets uploaded on a weekly basis.
30 IB Practice Tests now available for download for members. All tests are passworded. If you are a subscriber and have not received the password information, please let me know.
I have started to add pdf worksheets ready for download. I have just added Transformations (SL and HL) and Reciprocals (HL). There are plenty more that are being proof read and ready to be uploaded.
Follow me on twitter (#ibmathsdotcom) for regular communication on new uploads.
New videos added under video help. You can also click on Individual Subscriptions to get a preview of the site.
Thanks for those who have passed on feedback to me. I have amended any lesson with typos or mistakes.
We have found two glitches with the site to date: the class list csv uploads, which is being fixed; and I have found a problem with the GDC video tutorials within the lessons. This will take longer to fix, but I am confident that this will be completed by the end of October at the latest.
Keep using the site, and keep your comments coming, as it is the only way to improve the service for you and your students.
ibmaths.com is all ready to view from 1st September 2012.
Follow ibmathsdotcom on Facebook and Twitter for regular updates on the site and teaching and learning Mathematics.
The new ibmaths dot com website will launch on 1st September 2012. It will feature over 200 brand new lessons updated and extended all written in Flash. The new site covers the entire Studies, SL and Core HL new syllabi.
We are looking for schools to trial the school site for free from September to December with no restrictions. Please complete the form here to express your interest. | <urn:uuid:7e652080-762c-4e93-997a-d1f104b17fbe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ibmaths.com/?option=com_ambrasubs&view=subscriptions&Itemid=67 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953563 | 500 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Click the animation below to learn more.
Although chiropractors main method of treatment typically consists of the spinal adjustment (spinal manipulation), chiropractors also employ many adjunctive therapies and applications in order to
provide the most effective and efficient relief from neuromusculoskeletal disorders.
The chiropractic spinal adjustment represents the cornerstone of the chiropractic treatment. Spinal adjustments are used successfully to treat a variety of different soft tissue disorders as well as a number of other health problems. Chiropractic doctors are the only health care professionals trained to deliver the chiropractic spinal adjustment.
Spinal adjustments or spinal manipulation is the process of applying a quick but gentle pressure to "subluxated" vertebrae in a corrective manner. The adjustments are not and should not be painful. In fact, most patients look forward to their chiropractic adjustments as they usually provide immediate relief from discomfort and increase one's sense of well being. Many years of study and practice are necessary to acquire the skills of providing an effective and safe spinal adjustment.
Research has shown spinal adjustments to be the most effective treatment in numerous conditions including back pain. This is because spinal adjustments correct many of the structural, biomechanical and neurological abnormalities of the spine which cause or contribute to a high number of back, neck and other non-spinal ailments.
There are a number of soft tissue therapy techniques which can be successfully employed to assist in the reduction of pain and muscle hypertonicity and spasm. Some of these include massage therapy, trigger point therapy, somatic therapy, proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, acupressure point therapy, and rolfing. The need and benefits of these therapies vary from patient to patient. Depending on your condition and response to treatment we may incorporate one or more of these therapies into your treatment plan.
Exercise is essential for a long, healthy and vibrant life. It has been scientifically shown to increase health by lowering blood cholesterol levels, strengthening the immune system, lowering body fat, increasing one's sense of well being, and increasing muscle strength, tone and function.
Chiropractors understand the importance of exercise and the essential role it plays in health. We encourage all patients to participate in physical activities which promote cardiovascular health and can assist you finding the right activity. We do recommend those over the age of 40 or those with known health problems to consult our office prior to initiating any exercise regimen.
Therapeutic exercises for the neck, back, and extremities are an essential part of the rehabilitative process following injury. Chiropractic doctors commonly prescribe specific strengthening and stabilizing exercises and stretches for their patients with back, neck and extremity problems.
Exercises provide many benefits during the healing and preventative stages. Early on, exercise prevents muscle deterioration and promotes joint health. Later on, exercises increase strength, proprioception and stability to protect from new injuries and recurrences of past problems.
Therapeutic stretching is important to prevent scar tissue and adhesion formation following injury. Stretching is most effective when initiated early on in the treatment plan before scar tissues become permanent.
Maintaining a regular stretching program once the rehabilitation stage of treatment has been completed will help keep tissues flexible and loose, increasing mobility and preventing the development of new injuries.
There are some physical modalities which in certain cases can provide additional pain relief and accelerated healing. Some of these more common modalities include muscle stimulation, interferential stimulation, therapeutic ultrasound, and diathermy (deep heating modality).
Employee health training and education is aimed at reducing work-related injuries. Optimal workstation setup, the employment of ergonomics, training of proper lifting techniques, adequate physical conditioning and the employment of appropriate safety precautions all play important roles in employee health, work injury prevention, and employee satisfaction.
Part of any successful and effective treatment plan should address these issues.
Dietary and nutritional imbalances are responsible for and contribute to a great number of disorders and illnesses which are prevalent in today's society. The top killers such as heart disease, stroke, diabetes and cancer have all been linked in numerous ways to diet and nutrition.
Doctors of chiropractic receive thorough training in the areas of human diet and nutrition. We can design a personalized dietary or nutritional program to minimize the risk of developing these killer conditions and to assist your body in achieving and maintaining optimal health and superior wellness.
Good health is much more than the absence of pain or discomfort. Health exists along a very wide scale and where you lie on that scale largely depends on the lifestyle choices you make on a daily basis. Years of many small unhealthy choices can manifest into very serious health problems. Unhealthy choices include habitual poor posture, improper lifting techniques, excessive alcohol consumption, smoking, excessive reliance on medication, excessive soda and coffee consumption, excessive saturated fat consumption, lack of nutritious fruits and vegetables, and excessive mental stress. These slowly chip away at your good health. We can help you sort through and identify those unhealthy decisions and provide you with practical strategies to deal with and effectively manage them. | <urn:uuid:5d1e7715-57c6-4c62-90aa-5cc75c20f7fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thetotalwellness.com/index.php?p=58781 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937247 | 1,043 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Goodison Park is one of the oldest stadiums in England and the home of Everton FC. The stadium currently has a capacity of 40,157 seats.
The stadium officially opened on the 24th of August 1892, with the first match played 9 days later between Everton and Bolton (4-2). At its inauguration the stadium consisted of three stands: two uncovered terraces and one covered seating stand.
In 1894 the stadium hosted its first FA Cup final, in which Notts County beat Bolton in front of a 37,000 crowd. In the decades following major improvements to the ground were made with the construction of a double-decker stand at the Park End in 1907, and the large Main Stand in 1909. The stadium was completed with two more double-decker stands built in the 20s and 30s. Two of these stands were designed by the renowned stadium architect of that time, Archibald Leitch.
On the 18th of December 1948 Goodison Park recorded its highest attendance in a match between Everton and Liverpool. A total of 78,299 supporters visited the match.
The stadium was one of the playing venues during the 1966 World Cup, at which it hosted three group matches, the quarter-final between Portugal and North Korea (5-3), and the semi-final between Germany and the Soviet Union (2-1).
The stadium underwent its next development in 1971 with the rebuilding of the main stand into a three-tier stand. At that time the stadium could hold about 55,000 fans, slightly less than half seated.
As with all English stadiums, Goodison Park got converted into an all-seater stadium after the Hillsborough disaster and subsequent Taylor Report. This reduced its capacity significantly. In 1994 the last major development took place in the rebuilding of the Park End.
Due to the stadium’s limitations, it being hemmed in by housing, in the last decade the club has been looking at relocating to a new stadium. However, the club’s proposals were finally rejected by the local government in 2009, and no concrete plans have been revealed since.
Goodison Park is located about 2.5 miles north-east of Liverpool’s city centre and Lime Street train station. The stadium is bordered by residential housing, St Luke’s Church, and Stanley Park. On the other side of Stanley Park, just half a mile away, lies Anfield.
By car from the M57, which runs east of Liverpool, take junction 4 and turn onto East Lancashire Road (A580) in the direction of the city. Follow the road for about 4 miles (after Queens Drive it changes into Walton Lane) until you see Stanley Park on your left and the stadium on your right.
Rail station Kirkdale is within walking distance of the ground, an approximate 20 minutes. The station is served by regular trains from Liverpool Central Station. The journey takes slightly less than 10 minutes.
Alternatively one can take bus 19/19A, 20 and 21 from Queen Square Bus Station (almost opposite Lime Street rail station), or line 311 and 350/351 from Sir Thomas Street (in the city centre).
On matchdays Everton runs a shuttle bus from Sandhills Rail Station (north of the centre) to Goodison Park.
Address: Goodison Park, Liverpool, L4 4EL
Tickets for Everton games can be bought online, by phone +44 (0) 871 663 1878, or at the Fan Centre Box Office at the stadium. The box office is also opened on matchdays until kick-off.
Standard ticket prices range from £31.00 to £37.00, though a supplement ranging from £3.00 to £5.00 is being asked for matches against more popular opponents. For the matches against Stoke City and Blackburn all tickets cost £25.00.
For more information call +44 (0) 871 663 1878 or email email@example.com .
Everton organises guided stadium tours that include visits to the dressing rooms and players tunnel. Tours last about 75 minutes.
Tours run on Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and Sunday at 11:00 am and 1:00 pm. There are no tours on matchdays or the afternoon before a match.
Booking is strongly advises and can be done by phone +44 (0) 151 530 5212, or email firstname.lastname@example.org. The tours costs £8.50.
Relevant Internet links:
Evertonfc.com – Official website of Everton FC.
Visitliverpool.com – Liverpool tourist information.
Merseytravel.gov.uk – Public transport travel information for the Merseyside area.
Nationalrail.co.uk – Check train times and fares. | <urn:uuid:53c3c583-c0e7-4103-9208-dd204dc76673> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stadiumguide.nl/goodison/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953875 | 985 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Finishing the planting of bed J (lower right on the sheet above) was the focus this weekend. I had half of the bed completed but was afraid to tackle the rest because I knew what was lurking underneath.
The bed from hell. These are roots of a certain pesky weed which I can't remember the name. And these are likely those weeds that just multiply when you break the root in two. Sigh. I did my best but at least I know I won't be planting any carrots here! I first sowed one more row of shelling peas just in case 132 plants aren't enough. Seriously, they say 170 for a family of four. We'll just see!
Then onto the weedy bed. It will be a guess just how much sun this bed gets in the full summer. I think a fair amount. There's a cedar tree just south of it that blocks out most of the sun in the winter.
I hope to save this leftover chard in the foreground. I transplanted two spinach plants over and planted two more squares. The bed will also have lettuces, radishes, kale, beets and flowers. And a surprise awaited me in the compost pile. A rapidly growing rhubarb plant which I did my best to salvage for another bed that already had the rhubarb.
I suppose in my haste of weeding beds last fall I chucked it before I knew what it was. We'll see if it survives although I'm sure any plant would be happier growing in pure compost. | <urn:uuid:1d63c9de-adef-453f-8335-191d5d83110b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weekendedible.blogspot.com/2012/03/planning-garden.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974244 | 312 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Yesterday, The Industry Standard published an article that I wrote about why it’s a good idea to start a company in a recession. The article is here. (You should probably read it if you want to follow the rest of this post.)
- The most common disagreement with the article seemed to be that many of the points that I was making about why it would be good to start a company in a recession also apply to starting a company in a boom. I agree completely. However, we unfortunately are not in a boom at the moment – we’re in (or entering into) a recession. The viewpoint of the article is “since we’re in a recession…” not “if you could pick between recession or boom…” I wholeheartedly agree that if you could set your ideal conditions in which to start a company, a boom would be the time.
- One commentor wrote: “start a company at a time and a place where there are no constraints and even the biggest idiot can be successful.” I disagree with the notion that there is ever a time that there are no constraints on a start-up. If there aren’t constraints, there should be. And this is the point I was trying to make. In a boom, start-ups don’t always SEE the constraints as readily or operate with restraint - but they should if they want to be using best business practices and give themselves the best chance of success. A recession forces those contraints on a start-up – but those constraints aren’t BAD. They help set good patterns and behaviors for running a business.
- In my opinion, it is not true that there is ever a time or place that ”even the biggest idiot can be successful.” Successful idiots – especially in the world of start-ups – are rare.
Finally, various commentors suggested three other reasons that it’s a good idea to start a company during a recession and I wanted to include them here because I thought that they were worth mentioning:
1) “Your competitors will go bust.” -m0nty
Another commentor put it this way:
“Because the well-funded riff-raff drops out sooner.” -edw519
2) “Businesses that increase market efficiency in novel ways seem, to me, more likely to succeed during a recession. This is so obvious that I’m surprised the article didn’t mention it.” -mkn
3) “Also could get one more attention — maybe — because the media won’t necessarily expect anyone to be doing anything positive. Recessions are one big moan, and the ‘yipee!’ of a startup will stand in stark contrast.” -sabat
Thanks for all your commentary – keep it coming.(Update: The discussion is continuing here: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=142792)
Popularity: unranked [?] | <urn:uuid:5088534b-6687-4d9b-a2a2-dac0a9878bb2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.16thletter.com/2008/03/21/more-on-starting-a-company-in-an-economic-downturn/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965172 | 634 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Mar. 17, 1999 Using a sophisticated computer algorithm, a team of scientists at the Whitehead Institute has designed a new technique to analyze the massive amounts of data generated by DNA microarrays, also known as DNA chips. This technique will help scientists decipher how our 100,000 genes work together to keep us healthy and how diseases result when they fail.
"DNA arrays have revolutionized DNA analysis by allowing us to observe the activities of thousands of genes simultaneously," says Todd Golub, research scientist at the Whitehead/MIT Center for Genome Research. "But until now, it's been really difficult to interpret this extraordinarily complex raw data. Our technique is among the first in a new generation of tools that will speed up the analysis of the enormous amounts of genetic data emerging from laboratories worldwide."
Dr. Golub and his colleagues at the Whitehead Institute, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Dartmouth Medical School, and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, report their technique in the March 16 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. The Whitehead/MIT Center for Genome Research is one of the flagship centers of the U.S. Human Genome Project, the effort to determine the 3 billion letters that make up the human blueprint.
"The core of the technique is an algorithm, called a self-organizing map (SOM), that takes advantage of the fact that many genes in a cell behave similarly," explains Pablo Tamayo, the lead author of the paper and research scientist at the Whitehead Institute. "Instead of having 2,000 individual genes, all doing different things, you might have 25 groups of genes doing similar things."
Tamayo compares the final product of the SOM to an executive summary for CEOs. Rather than having to read every page of a 1,000-page report, CEOs can get an overview of the report by simply reading the summary. "It's impossible to visually inspect every gene," he says. "This method produces a quick scan of what's going on with thousands of genes."
The researchers created a computer package called GENECLUSTER, which organizes the activities of thousands of genes in only minutes. To test GENECLUSTER, they analyzed the genes expressed in several models of leukemia cell growth. In many cases, the algorithm identified genes known to be important in this process, but occasionally it also identified unexpected genes. This finding suggests that the method might be useful in helping to identify the function of unknown genes. "Because genes that have similar functions are generally expressed in the same basic pattern, knowing the expression pattern of a gene could help identify its function," explains Tamayo.
SOMs have been used widely in data mining, particularly for large or messy datasets like stock market data, but this study is the first to apply them to gene analysis.
The study was supported in part by consortium of three companies -- Bristol-Myers Squibb Company; Affymetrix, Inc.; and Millennium Pharmaceuticals Inc.-- that formed a unique corporate partnership to fund a five-year research program in functional genomics at the Whitehead/MIT Genome Center. It was also supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health to the Lander and Dmitrovsky labs.
The paper is titled "Interpreting patterns of gene expression with self-organzing maps: Methods and applications to hematopoietic differentiation." The authors are: Pablo Tamayo, Donna Slonim, and Jill Mesirov, of the Whitehead Institute; Qing Zhu, of the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute; Sutisak Kitareewan and Ethan Dmitrovsky, of the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Dartmouth Medical School; Eric Lander, of the Whitehead Institute and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology; and Todd Golub, of the Whitehead Institute and the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
Other social bookmarking and sharing tools:
The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Whitehead Institute For Biomedical Research.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:24defe83-e842-42ea-aec3-3a6d13cd716c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1999/03/990317060418.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935822 | 859 | 3.796875 | 4 |
The Higgs Boson Mural At CERN By Josef Kristofoletti
If you’re a conscious, sentient being then you’re probably aware that yesterday some scientists working in a giant underground tunnel announced quite a significant discovery. The discovery was the very probable existence of the Higgs boson particle, a little part of the jigsaw that encompasses our understanding of the universe, how matter and mass exist, whether the big bang actually happened. This means we can all put down our tools and go off dancing merrily into the cosmic ether, holding hands with aliens because we found the meaning of life. Or something like that. We’re not a science blog so we wouldn’t know.
What we do know is that this is a pretty cool stop-motion video of a three-story tall mural painted on the side of the ATLAS control room situated above the detector at CERN, by artist Josef Kristofoletti. It was commissioned by one of the experiments looking for the Higgs boson, the ATLAS Experiment. And if you’re wondering what the explosion of color and form is, shame on you. It’s Kristofoletti’s interpretation of what the once-elusive particle might look like.
ATTN CERN: Can we get a verification on whether or not Kristofoletti was on the money? | <urn:uuid:c0bd43e9-4590-40e7-9840-4f94f30a7866> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thecreatorsproject.vice.com/blog/the-higgs-boson-mural-at-cern-by-josef-kristofoletti | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924126 | 286 | 2.328125 | 2 |
What impact do early experiences have on learning, behavior and health? How can science impact policies and practices in early learning, family support, foster care, child abuse and neglect?
The Illinois Department of Children and Family Services and the Illinois Governor's Office of Early Childhood Development partnered with Casey Family Programs to explore these questions at a forum held July 20, 2011, in Chicago.
The forum engaged national and state experts in helping Illinois' leaders in exploring scientific research and policy opportunities. Speakers included:
- Jack P. Shonkoff, M.D., Director, Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University
- Bryan Samuels, Commissioner, Administration on Children, Youth and Families
- Linda Gilkerson, Director, Irving B. Harris Infant Studies Program and Professor, Erikson Institute
- Erwin McEwen, Director, Illinois Department of Children and Family Services
- Shannon Christian, Director, Office of Early Childhood Development, Office of the Governor | <urn:uuid:db8203d8-163e-427b-a36a-b9261f0eb3e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://casey.org/Resources/Events/earlylearning/IL/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902305 | 199 | 2.5 | 2 |
History of FISA
FISA was formed in June 2008. The institute has its origins in the Association of Trust Companies, a prestigious body that was founded in 1932 to represent the interests of trust companies and their clients.
In June 2008, membership of FISA was broadened to include anyone active in the broader fiduciary industry. FISA actively invites membership from individuals who meet its entry requirements, be they from a legal, accounting, financial planning or other background. In this way FISA aims to assist in transferring skills to the broader industry as well as to set and maintain high ethical standards.
FISA is governed by a 12-person Council. There are seven special purpose committees comprising experts in the areas of trusts, estates, compliance, tax, education and training, employee-benefit trusts and beneficiary funds.
Visit our Council members page here to obtain contact details.
FISA also has local boards in areas where there is sufficient practitioner representation. This facilitates cooperation at a regional level between members and bodies such as SARS and the Master’s Office.
Who we are
The Fiduciary Institute of South Africa (FISA) is a non-profit organisation that represents fiduciary practitioners and sets high minimum standards for the industry to protect the public’s interests. FISA is the only professional body focusing solely on fiduciary practitioners in Southern Africa. Membership is drawn from trust companies and banks, as well as the legal, accounting and financial planning professions.
FISA has over 700 individual members, who collectively manage in excess of R250 billion. They draft several thousand wills each year and administer around 50 percent of deceased estates reported to the Master’s Office.
Activities of FISA members include, but are not restricted to, the drafting of wills, administration of trust and estates, beneficiary funds, tax and financial advice and the management of client funds.
FISA helps to make processes smoother for members and the public, particularly through its good working relationship with the Master’s Office and SARS.
Objectives of FISA
The objectives of FISA are:
- To protect the fiduciary profession
- to promote the interests of fiduciary professionals through the setting and enforcement of professional standards of conduct for fiduciary professionals
- to provide a framework within which members can achieve the qualifications and competence to practise as fiduciary professionals
- to ensure that members maintain the highest professional and ethical standards in the pursuance of their profession
- to promote the interests of members in fulfilling their professional aspirations
We aim to set minimum standards of education and experience for our members. | <urn:uuid:b125354d-4cb3-40d6-bcc2-d93e01402c45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fidsa.org.za/about/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959524 | 527 | 1.953125 | 2 |
“Our country cannot succeed when a shrinking few do very well and a growing many barely make it.” —President Barack Obama, during his second inaugural address.
“It’s going to take some give-and-take. I hope they’re not too proud to do so.” —Army Maj. Phillip Santoni of Fort Carson, Colo., just returned from Afghanistan, said about Obama and Congress as he waited to enter the parade route through a gate at 17th and H streets NW, near the White House.
“The president’s second term represents a fresh start when it comes to dealing with the great challenges of our day; particularly, the transcendent challenge of unsustainable federal spending and debt...Together, there is much we can achieve.” —Senate Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky.
“There were more people last time, but everybody has the same feeling.” —Michael Kimbro of Atlanta, Ga., who traveled to Obama’s first inauguration in 2009.
“It’s great to see the young ladies they are becoming and how well they handle themselves. They seem to be great role models for our youngsters.” —Meteza Owens, 40, of Charlotte, N.C., said about Malia and Sasha Obama while waiting with her husband, Andre, and two young sons, 10 and 7.
“I come down just to soak up what I consider to be very positive national pride. It feeds me. It energizes me.” — Paul Sutterlin, a 6th-grade social studies teacher from Middlefield, Conn., attending his third inauguration.
“In his first term, Obama was left to take care of everything that Bush left unfinished. Now in his second term maybe there’ll be more progress visible to the public so they’ll see that he is a good president for our country... I hope he does more for the job market, the economy and helping the homeless.” —Richmond Tolbert, 19, a homeless man from Olympia, Wash.
“He made the same promises as last time. It’s worse than four years ago... My grandkids will be in debt and their kids will be in debt.” — Frank Pinto, 62, of Wethersfield, Conn., watching the inauguration at a bar in Hartford, Conn.
“We ask that you grant our president the will to act courageously, but cautiously when confronted with danger, and to act prudently, but deliberately when challenged by adversity. Please continue to bless his efforts to lead by example in consideration and favor of the diversity of our people.” — Myrlie Evers-Williams, activist and widow of slain civil rights activist Medgar Evers.
“There was such a split between the two candidates that if it had gone against Obama there was going to be such a huge change to the country. I thought the election really made a difference this year... I’m not a rich person. I’m a person who wants everybody to have the right way of living in their country. You shouldn’t have to have money in order to have medical care.” — Anne Fenno, 62, retiree from Tumwater, Wash.
“This is the dream that Dr. King talked about in his speech. We see history in the making. ... This is something he spoke about, that all races come together as one.” —Joyce Oliver, visiting the National Civil Rights Museum in Memphis, Tenn.
I think the country’s less enthused this time around; we’ve been there done that in terms of electing the first African-American president. ... I think everybody’s tuned in, in terms of other things. They want to make sure the government gets done what we elected them for.” —Beniam Fantu, 34, of Dallas, Texas.
“I think he’s been doing an OK job, if he just takes that and continues it should be OK... Just a better economy, maybe a winding down of the wars, more general peace, less fighting with everyone, maybe better relations, that’s about it.” —Joel Bates, 32, of Grand Prairie, Texas, on what he’s looking forward to in Obama’s second administration.
“I have my political feeling, but I also feel President Obama is the president of the United States. We respect the Constitution and democracy and we have to respect the position.” — Kendall Gregory, a Millsaps College senior from Biloxi, Miss., who voted for Republican presidential candidate Mitt Romney.
“There is no mob, no coup, no insurrection. This is a moment when millions stop and watch.” — Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., co-chair of the inaugural committee.
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One Book, One Chicago Fall 2005
About the Author
Sketch of Jane Austen courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London
It is said that Jane Austen lived a quiet life. Only a few of her manuscripts remain in existence and the majority of her correspondence was either burned or heavily edited by her sister, Cassandra, shortly before she died. As a result, the details that are known about her are rare and inconsistent. What can be surmised through remaining letters and personal acquaintances is that she was a woman of stature, humor and keen intelligence. Family remembrances of Austen portray her in a kind, almost saintly light, but critics who have studied her books and the remnants of her letters believe she was sharper than her family wished the public to think.
Jane Austen was born in Steventon, Hampshire on December 16, 1775 and grew up in a tight-knit family. She was the seventh of eight children, with six brothers and one sister. Her parents, George Austen and Cassandra Leigh, were married in 1764. Her father was an orphan but with the help of a rich uncle he attended school and was ordained by the Church of England. Subsequently, he was elevated enough in social standing to provide Cassandra a worthy match whose family was of a considerably higher social status. In 1765, they moved to Steventon, a village in north Hampshire, about 60 miles southwest of London, where her father was appointed rector.
Like their father, two of Austen’s older brothers, James and Henry, were ordained and spent most of their lives in the Church of England. Of all her brothers, Austen was closest to Henry; he served as her agent, and then after her death, as her biographer. George, the second oldest son, was born mentally deficient and spent the majority of his life in institutions. The third son, Edward, was adopted by their father’s wealthy cousin, Thomas Knight, and eventually inherited the Knight estate in Chawton, where Austen would later complete most of her novels. Cassandra, Austen’s only sister, was born in 1773. Austen and Cassandra were close friends and companions throughout their entire lives. It is through the remaining letters to Cassandra that biographers are able to piece Austen’s life together. The two youngest Austen boys, Francis and Charles, both served in the Navy as highly decorated admirals.
When Austen was 7, she and Cassandra were sent to Oxford to attend school but sometime later the girls came down with typhus and were brought back to Steventon. When Austen was 9 they attended the Abbey School in Reading. Shortly after enrolling however, the girls were withdrawn, because their father could no longer afford tuition. Though this completed their formal schooling, the girls continued their education at home, with the help of their brothers and father.
The Austens often read aloud to one another. This evolved into short theatrical performances that Austen had a hand in composing. The Austen family plays were performed in their barn and were attended by family members and a few close neighbors. By the age of 12, Austen was writing for herself as well as for her family. She wrote poems and several parodies of the dramatic fiction that was popular at the time, such as History of England and Love and Freindship [sic]. She then compiled and titled them: Volume the First, Volume the Second and Volume the Third.
Sketch of Jane Austen courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery, London
Austen is said to have looked like her brother Henry, with bright hazel eyes and curly hair, over which she always wore a cap. She won the attention of a young Irish gentleman named Tom Lefroy. Unfortunately, Lefroy was in a position that required him to marry into money. He later married an heiress and became a prominent political figure in Ireland.
In 1795, when she was 20, Austen entered a productive phase and created what was later referred to as her “First Trilogy.” Prompted by increasing social engagements and flirtations, she began writing Elinor and Marianne, a novel in letters, which would eventually be reworked and retitled Sense and Sensibility. The following year, she wrote First Impressions, which was rejected by a publisher in 1797. It was the first version of Pride and Prejudice. She began another novel in 1798, titled Susan, which evolved into Northanger Abby.
The Austens lived happily in Steventon until 1801, when her father suddenly announced he was moving the family to Bath. Austen was unhappy with the news. At the time, Bath was a resort town for the nearly wealthy with many gossips and social climbers. As they traveled that summer, however, she fell in love with a young clergyman who promised to meet them at the end of their journey. Several months later he fell ill and died.
Bath was difficult for Austen. She started but did not finish The Watsons and had a hard time adjusting to social demands. She accepted a marriage proposal from Harris Bigg-Wither, the son of an old family friend, but changed her mind the next day. A few years later, in 1805, her father died, leaving Jane, Cassandra and their mother without enough money to live comfortably. As a result, the Austen women relied on the hospitality of friends and family until they were permanently relocated to a cottage in Chawton, Hampshire, belonging to her brother Edward Austen-Knight. There, Austen began the most productive period of her life, publishing several books and completing her “Second Trilogy.”
Austen finished the final drafts of Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice in 1811. They were published shortly after and she immediately set to work on Mansfield Park. In 1814, Mansfield Park was published and Emma was started. By this time, Austen was gaining some recognition for her writing, despite the fact that neither Sense and Sensibility or Pride and Prejudice were published under her name.
Austen began showing symptoms of illness while she worked on Persuasion, her last completed novel. It was published with Northanger Abby after her death. Unknown at the time, Austen most likely suffered from Addison’s disease, whose symptoms include fever, back pain, nausea and irregular skin pigmentation. On her deathbed, when asked by her sister Cassandra if there was anything she required, she requested only “death itself.” She died at the age of 41 on July 18, 1817 with her sister at her side.
Jane Austen’s Enduring Popularity
When asked why Jane Austen’s works are so popular, Richard Jenkyns, author of A Fine Brush on Ivory: An Appreciation of Jane Austen and descendant of Austen’s older brother, said: “I don’t think it’s nostalgia for the past and all those empire-line dresses and britches tight on the thigh, all that sort of thing. I guess that she is popular because she is modern… I think her popularity is in her representing a world, in its most important aspects, that we know.”
Although living in a world that seems remote in time and place, Jane Austen’s characters have experiences and emotions that are familiar to us. They misjudge people based on appearances, they’re embarrassed by their parents, they flirt and they fall in love. Her characters face social restrictions that can be translated into any environment, from a California high school in Clueless to an interracial romance in Bride and Prejudice. The critical and commercial success of the numerous recent film and television adaptations of Jane Austen’s novels, including nine of Pride and Prejudice, testifies to her timeless and universal appeal. Yet they fail to fully capture the genius of her writing. She was a great writer, a sharp wit and a wonderful satirist.
Takeoffs of Austen’s work, such as Helen Fielding’s Bridget Jones’s Diary and Clueless, have been huge successes. A number of sequels to Pride and Prejudice have been written such as Lady Catherine’s Necklace by Joan Aiken; Mr. Darcy’s Daughters by Elizabeth Aston; and Pemberley: or Pride and Prejudice Continued by Emma Tennant. Other novels such as Karen Joy Fowler’s The Jane Austen Book Club and Kate Fenton’s Vanity and Vexation: A Novel of Pride and Prejudice have contemporary settings using Austen’s characters or plots.
In The Eye of the Story, Eudora Welty wrote that Austen’s novels withstand time because “they pertain not to the outside world but to the interior, to what goes on perpetually in the mind and heart.” Perhaps, for these reasons, Austen’s work continues to fascinate, entertain and inspire us. | <urn:uuid:fa5489bd-72b9-48bb-a545-9ba230856d37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.chipublib.org/eventsprog/programs/oboc/05f_prideprejudice/oboc_05f_bio.php | 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 | 0.987628 | 1,882 | 3.359375 | 3 |
Faced with rising fuel prices and diminishing oil reserves, the Navy is rebuilding itself with a greener fleet. The USS Makin Island is the poster child of this restructuring, having cut its fuel consumption in half with an engine overhaul.
The USS Makin Island is the eighth and final WASP-class Amphibious Assault Ship in the US armada and the second to bear the name of the famous US raid on the Japanese-held island during WWII. However, that's generally where the similarities between the Makin Island and her sister ships end. Unlike other WASP-class vessels, which rely on antiquated steam power, Makin Island sports a state-of-the-art electric-hybrid propulsion system.
The Makin Island is outfitted with a pair of General Electric LM2500+ gas turbines, a pair of electromotors, and six diesel generators. Propulsion duties are split between the gas turbines and the diesel-powered electric motors, dubbed the auxiliary propulsion motor (APM), with the former used for high-speed travel (it tops out at 25 knots) and the latter for low-speed maneuvers (anything under 12 knots). The electric motors are employed about 70 percent of the time (since the diesel engines are more fuel efficient and produce fewer emissions) and the gas turbines enabled only sparingly, which reduces the ship's fossil fuel consumption by half. During its seven month maiden voyage, during which it circumnavigated the Earth carrying a full compliment of 1,200 Marines and 1,000 Navy sailors, 29 helicopters and 6 Harriers, the USS Makin Island burned just $15 million of its $33 million allotted for fuel costs. On average, the Makin Island uses 15,000 gallons of fuel a day, versus 35,000 to 40,000 gallons consumed by its old steam engine. Naval brass hopes to save close to $250 million in fuel costs over the life of the ship.
What's more, the new APM allows the Makin Island to deploy faster, requires a smaller crew to operate, and can remain active longer than its steam-powered counterparts. See, conventional steam propulsion drives may require up to three days in which to build enough of a head from a cold start to deploy—the APM requires about 60 seconds. While a conventional steam engine needs roughly 25 crew members to operate, the APM needs just 11. Even better, the APM is heavily automated and features 32 control centers spread around the ship so that if one area or engine is damaged or destroyed, the crew can still get moving. And once the Makin Island reaches its destination and deploys its forces, the fuel-sipping electric motors allow it to "stay on station" for nearly twice as long as if it were steam-powered.
"Our Sailors and Marines successfully met every mission during our historical maiden deployment in support of the nation's maritime strategy," Capt. Cedric Pringle, Makin Island's commanding officer said in a press statement. "As the Navy's first operational test platform for this hybrid-electric propulsion system, our fuel efficiency directly enhanced the ability to operate forward for longer. Additionally, our significant fuel cost savings, coupled with our lessons learned, will serve as a solid foundation for optimizing this ship, as well as current and future ship designs. The value of our first deployment will continue to increase, as we assess required refinements in engineering subsystems, training, and logistics support."
While the Makin Island is the most advanced ship in her class, is but a preview of the new LHA-class of Amphibious Landing Ships that will eventually replace her. The cutting edge machinery control system, water mist fire protection systems, and advanced command and control systems aboard the Makin Island will likely find their way into the next fleet. The only problem the USS Making Island faces now is finding a port where it can plug in. [US Navy - Navysite - CNet - Wikipedia - Image: Northrop Grumman Shipbuilding, Gulf Coast] | <urn:uuid:29082ce5-2b53-4595-b43c-322c55bacebd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gizmodo.com/5928625/the-uss-makin-island-is-a-mean-green-amphibious-assault-machine | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947844 | 818 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Deepening moats has been a lively topic in UK politics recently. One British MP expensed the public for the cost of deepening the moat at his castle and has been forced to resign. We discussed FOI and the MP expense scandal recently.
We have, of course, followed with some considerable amusement the contortions of the UK Met Office to avoid disclosing data. Last year, we reported how John Mitchell, Chief Scientist at the UK Met Office, obstructed compliance with an FOI request for his IPCC review comments by wrongfully claiming that his IPCC correspondence had been destroyed and then that it was his “personal” property, resiling from these absurd claims only when asked whether the Met Office had paid his salary and expenses for trips to IPCC destinations.
Recently, we’ve followed the amusing contortions at the Hadley Center webpage as they are conflicted between their use of Phil Jones’ land station data (CRUTEM3) and Phil Jones’ absurd campaign to keep CRU station data secret.
The Met Office webpage for downloading CRUTEM3 data http://hadobs.metoffice.com/crutem3/data/download.html presently says:
Station data: Most of the station data was given to us under conditions that don’t allow us to redistribute it; but the CLIMAT reports we use to update the data in near-real time have no such restriction. Summaries of these reports are available on this page.
Although many Met Office pages can be retrieved from the Wayback archive, this particular page has a robots.txt block and is not available at the Wayback archive. I wasn’t able to locate a google cache (though perhaps someone else can.)
The statement here raises an interesting question:
1) who is it that it is attaching conditions to the station data and, by what authority are they doing so?
2) If it’s Phil Jones, who is also subject to the UK Environmental Information Regulations, does he have the authority to attach conditions to the Met Office use of this data?
3) If the Met Office can’t show their underlying data, maybe they should discontinue the use of Phil Jones’ data and use data that they can show
4) Maybe whoever is funding Phil Jones (and I believe that the US Department of Energy is one of his funders) should require him to deliver the data back to them.
Update: The following sent to CRU on June 25, 2009:
Dear Mr Palmer,
Pursuant to the Environmental Information Regulations, I hereby request a copy of any digital version of the CRUTEM station data set that has been sent from CRU to Peter Webster and/or any other person at Georgia Tech between January 1, 2007 and Jun 25, 2009.
Thank you for your attention, | <urn:uuid:2f7b5812-edf8-4966-8627-993b1b405ce2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://climateaudit.org/2009/06/18/the-uk-met-office-deepens-the-moat/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957836 | 589 | 1.789063 | 2 |
We should always encourage children to eat a balanced and varied diet including calcium rich foods, lean proteins, whole grains and plenty of fruits and vegetables as the best way to get all the nutrients they need. Of course each child has their own unique needs and health issues that may require highly specific recommendations. But, generally speaking, if you feel your child is not eating enough variety to meet their needs then a basic multivitamin is safe and can help fill in nutritional "gaps". There are two additional nutrients that may be of even greater importance to supplement: omega 3 fatty acids and vitamin D. Many children simply do not consume fish or get adequate sunlight to meet vitamin D needs throughout the year.
Omega 3 fatty acids play a critical role in brain and eye development, learning, and mood with low levels associated with depression, learning and behavior problems, and ADHD. Many children do not like fish or have concerns about mercury contamination in fish. In this case, taking fish oil supplements is actually a safer choice than frequently consuming certain types of fish. Tests done by ConsumerLab.com on omega-3 fatty acid supplements showed that all but two were fresh and all contained their claimed amounts of EPA and DHA. None of the products were found to contain detectable levels of mercury. By comparison, mercury levels in fish generally range from 10 ppb to 1,000 ppb, depending on the fish. In addition, none of the products contained unsafe levels of PCBs except one intended for pet use. PCBs have been found in several fish including farm-raised salmon.
In young children under age 5, DHA is the fatty acid of most importance. Many products are now fortified with DHA including juices, milk, and yogurt or chewable DHA supplements. Infants can receive DHA via mom's breast milk if she is supplementing her diet with DHA or through fortified formula. At around 4 or 5 years of age children can begin to increase their intake of EPA. There is no RDA established for omega 3 fats and recommendations can vary depending on the specific needs of the child. For general health follow the label recommendations or consult with a knowledgeable health professional. In 2002 the Food and Nutrition Board set "Adequate Intake" levels for the omega 3 fat ALA, but did not set levels for EPA and DHA. A small amount of EPA and DHA can be made from ALA. Flax and walnuts are rich sources of ALA.
Vitamin D is crucial to bone development and immune system function and has been associated with a reduced risk of various cancers and autoimmune conditions including type 1 diabetes and multiple sclerosis. It also helps reduce the risk of colds and influenza. Researchers are now looking at its role in autism, depression, and other related disorders.
Many children simply do not consume enough vitamin D through food or sunlight exposure, especially in the winter months. The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends all children receive 400 IU/day of vitamin D3 starting in the first few days of life. This is double previous recommendations. Some health experts recommend even higher doses during the winter months. 1000-2000 IU/day would be a safe dose for most school age children during the winter months. The "Tolerable Upper Intake Levels" have been set at 1000IU/day for 0-6months, 1500IU/day for 7-12months, 2500IU/day for 1-3 years, 3000IU/day for 4-8 years, and 4000IU/day for children over 9.
If they are receiving adequate sunshine, such as during the summer months, then additional supplementation may not be necessary. Do not exceed these amounts unless testing has been done and higher dose supplements are indicated per your healthcare professional's recommendations.
If your child has any special health concerns please consult with a knowledgeable health professional before adding or changing any dietary supplements.
|Printable Version||E-mail a Friend| | <urn:uuid:89d1ac38-3a8b-4887-a2db-166ee0bbf6b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jandis.com/promog/featuredarticle.asp?storeID=7D612D95A81E4D1AB01BA80578A7D64D&ID=70&RedirShopperID= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946719 | 794 | 3.359375 | 3 |
September 20, 2010 21:23 by Ty
Each year battery technology improves right alongside of computing hardware, processing speed, memory capacity, sensors and other electronic advancements. If you recall Moore’s law, "The number of transistors incorporated in a chip will approximately double every 24 months." This can hold true for battery technology as well, and has opened new doors to higher capacity, longer lasting, and quicker recharging batteries.
Virus-powered batteries are being developed by a team of MIT researchers using lithium-ion battery technology with a harmless virus called M13. The M13 virus is a bacteriophage that creates a lightweight and multi-purpose battery that can be made in any shape or size. This allows the virus powering rechargeable batteries to be woven into closed and used for portable devices, such as iPods, GPS, radios, cell phones and other small devices. The U.S. military is interested in testing this technology on a larger scale with UAV drones.
Rechargeable batteries through kinetic energy are also on the horizon for future batteries. Just simply shake your device to keep it playing your favorite song, track your GPS location, or carry endless amounts of cell phone power. Nokia Corporation has recently filed a patent for the use of a battery using kinetic energy to power a device, which was called the “Piezoelectric Kinetic Energy Harvester.” Kinetic energy powered cell phones definitely look like a possibility for Nokia in the near future.
Swappable batteries are nothing new for electronic device technology. We do this with our cell phones, digital cameras, and radios when we run out of juice and need a full charge immediately. However, we have not seen Electric Vehicles (EVs) with swappable batteries readily available. With the growing amounts of EVs on the road, you can expect to see longer lasting batteries giving further range for electric cars. Many EVs have limited range, but a universal battery pack could resolve this issue by supplying fully charged battery packs that can be swapped at fuel stations across the country.
As technology keeps advancing, so will battery technology. Keep up to date with rechargeable batteries and recycle your used batteries to keep the green trend growing with renewable energy and minimizing your carbon footprint.
Source: The Future of Batteries | <urn:uuid:d407166a-7a4d-4b53-89ca-67fcb87d8532> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ebatts.com/blog/?tag=/EV+Swappable+Batteries | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947275 | 468 | 3.265625 | 3 |
By early afternoon in New York, benchmark West Texas Intermediate crude for April delivery was down just three cents at US$93.42 a barrel after having dropped as low as US$91.76.
Traders initially worried about possible fallout from a plan to pay for a bailout for cash-strapped Cyprus by slapping a tax on deposits in the country’s banks. Some bank customers withdrew as much of their cash as they could and the fear was the panic could spread to other countries and prompt capital flight from weaker EU economies.
Stock markets in Asia and Europe fell sharply. But as U.S. markets recovered from an early decline, oil started to rise.
Natural gas rose again, building on a month-long run that has seen the price jump 23 per cent. Futures gained three cents to US$3.91 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Brent crude, used to price many kinds of oil imported by U.S. refineries, was down 46 cents at US$109.36 per barrel on the ICE Futures exchange in London.
In other energy futures trading on the Nymex, wholesale gasoline lost two cents to US$3.14 a U.S. gallon (3.79 litres) and heating oil was unchanged at US$2.94 a gallon. | <urn:uuid:1d99900f-5541-4238-819f-63be264065b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.capebretonpost.com/Business/2013-03-18/article-3202451/Oil-recovers-from-early-losses-as-worries-about-Europe-dwindle;-natural-gas-rises/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965883 | 268 | 1.554688 | 2 |
A government task force is recommending that men should stop receiving a routine blood test to check for prostate cancer because the test does more harm than good. At best, the prostate specific antigen (PSA) blood test will save one life out of 1,000 men tested, but another man will develop a dangerous blood clot, two will have heart attacks, and 40 will become incontinent or impotent because of unnecessary treatment.
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force made this proposal to drop routine screenings last fall, and it’s sticking by the final guideline despite outrage from the medical community.
Not every form of prostate cancer needs to be treated because most of the cancers found through the PSA blood test are slow-growing and unlikely to cause harm, so a member of the task force said better ways to detect prostate cancer will help:
The controversy will end only with development of better tests — to finally tell which men’s tumors really will threaten their lives, and who will die with prostate cancer rather than from it, said Dr. Virginia Moyer of the Baylor College of Medicine, who heads the task force.
“We have been told for decades to be terrified of cancer and that the only hope is early detection and treatment,” she said. The reality: “You don’t need to detect all cancers.”
“We don’t want this to be the answer,” Moyer added. “We want to screen for the ones that are going to be aggressive, manage those early — and leave everyone else alone.”
Even with the new guidelines, it is unclear how many men will skip testing. The task force already recommends that men over 75 skip the blood test, but research shows that about half still have it. And for those who test positive and learn they have have prostate cancer, low-risk patients often choose aggressive treatments with few benefits, according to a 2010 study.
Overall, unnecessary health costs add $158 billion to the nation’s health care tab each year, and the Affordable Care Act invests in comparative effectiveness research to help determine the most cost-effective course of treatment to cut down on those unnecessary health costs. And to cut down on overtreatment, the task force’s guidelines to cut out PSA blood tests that do more harm than good — and lead to sometimes unnecessary treatment — are a good place to start. | <urn:uuid:30ace267-0030-4fcc-902a-07f78c345e75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thinkprogress.org/health/2012/05/22/488373/task-force-discourages-prostate-screening/?mobile=nc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952536 | 496 | 2.796875 | 3 |
MOSCOW (AP) — About 25 people reportedly have been arrested in Moscow on New Year's Eve for trying to hold an unsanctioned protest.
The gathering at Triumphalnaya Square in central Moscow on Monday attracted 50 to 100 people.
Among those arrested was prominent radical writer Eduard Limonov; the Interfax news agency cited activists as saying about 25 people were taken into custody.
For about two years, activists have tried to rally on the 31st of each month with that many days, a reference to Article 31 of the Russian constitution that guarantees free assembly. Authorities routinely deny permission for the demonstrations. Limonov's faction has fallen out with other elements of the wave of opposition to President Vladimir Putin that arose last year.
In his New Year's Eve address, Putin made no reference to the protests of the past year, saying only of 2012 that "it was very important to us," according to the ITAR-Tass news agency.
"We believe that we can change the life around us and become better ourselves, that we can become more heedful, compassionate, gracious" he was quoted as saying. Russia's fate "depends on our enthusiasm and labor." | <urn:uuid:389c652f-9fd0-4f53-910b-9571b0b4b219> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.khou.com/news/world/185297362.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977287 | 246 | 1.578125 | 2 |
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Mon September 24, 2012
Fireworks could soon be banned in Columbia
The Columbia City Council is considering a ban on possessing fireworks within the city limits.
The proposed law would make possession of fireworks a misdemeanor. The existing law prohibits the sale, manufacture and use of fireworks inside the city.
Columbia Police Sergeant Jill Schlude says existing laws restrict officers’ ability to respond to complaints. Shooting usually stops before they arrive.
“It just became a real issue – that enforcement was close to impossible based on the current language,” Schlude says.
Bob Gerau owns Bob’s Fireworks, a year-round retailer based in southeast Columbia.
He says the language of the law is troubling, and could confuse potential customers who plan to shoot fireworks legally outside the city.
“They buy some fireworks because they’re going to go down to the lake, where they can shoot them," Gerau says. "It’s not going to be against the law to have them in their house, when they’re not going to do anything illegal with them?”
The ban was introduced at last week's meeting, and the City Council is scheduled to vote on the bill October 1. | <urn:uuid:1ac187d8-3ddf-44ff-ba83-decc474fd1cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kbia.org/post/fireworks-could-soon-be-banned-columbia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96611 | 261 | 1.570313 | 2 |
I've seen the famous still from the early 1950s film noir THE BIG HEAT at least a hundred times or more over the years. It shows Gloria Grahame after Lee Marvin's character has scalded her face with boiling hot coffee. It's a pretty famous image and for years I was sure I had seen the movie it came from.
But watching the film last night on TCM (with the usual great introductory and closing commentary from host Robert Osborne), only one or two scenes seemed familiar. Others seemed vaguely familiar, until I realized I was thinking of another film noir flick from that period that just had a similar set up or outcome or even in some cases action and even dialogue.
THE BIG HEAT stars Glen Ford as a cop who temporarily loses his job and goes all vigilante (a trope of film noir and Westerns and other genre films during the McCarthy era as the idea of corrupt or compromised government entities needing to be straightened out by lone heroes who take the law into their own hands and carry out vengeance for the rest of us etc. became the metaphor used by both sides of that political turmoil though mostly by the right) after his wife is killed.
There's a lot of the above mentioned set pieces—the gangland moll who at heart is if not virtuous at least well intentioned (but by the movie code of that era has to die for her sins in the last reel), the overly flashy apprentice gangster who is the first prominent bad guy to get his just deserts, etc., even the "crippled" elderly woman who is the only one brave enough to rat on the bad guys, etc.—but the film is also full of original touches and performances that gave it the reputation it has as one of the classic film noirs.
And a lot of the credit for that has to go to Gloria Grahame. Her gangland boyfriend and the main evildoer played by Lee Marvin gives her a foil to play off, but it's Ford who she really works out with. It almost seems like Grahame's trying to get Ford, a relatively rigid actor whose persona was fairly consistent through most of his film work, attractive and interesting to watch, but limited, it's like she's trying to rile the actor himself and not just her character trying to get to Ford's.
In fact the sparks they created generated so much heat, so to speak, that according to host Robert Osborne, the studio cast them immediately in another film with the same director (Fritz Lang) but that one bombed and we had no more of Grahame and Ford. Though Gramahe went on to work with other stars, or had already (her bit part in IT'S A WONDERFUL LIFE being a perfect example of the impact she had on screen, I bet anyone who ever saw that movie can remember her being complimented on her dress as she walks down the street having prepared assiduously for the impact the dress would make and then charmingly waving off the compliment by referring to the dress, as she swirls the skirt of it around her beautiful legs, saying something like "This old thing?" or her turn as "I'm just a girl who cain't say no" in Oklahoma etc.) she never attained the level of Hollywood legend I always thought she deserved.
Her screen presence is always memorable, at least to me as a kid and an adult, because of her confidence and the light touch it gave her every line reading and every expression. She seems, for instance, in THE BIG HEAT, almost in another movie compared to Lee Marvin's bad guy heaviness. In fact, the best thing about this movie is watching Gloria Grahame. I hope her contribution to classic Hollywood films of the 1940s and '50s is never forgotten.
And just for full disclosure, I had the honor and privilege of working with her in the last movie she made, in which she had a small part and I was one of the leads (and in which John Carradine played my character's grandfather, a low budget horror film originally called PHOBIA but retitled THE NESTING). I actually got to hold her hand (and unwisely told her how much that meant to me while we were waiting for the director to yell "Action" and she was preparing which made her peeved with me but it was only my second professional movie acting job and I didn't have enough experience to respect another actor's methods etc.).
She became more notorious in some circles for being first married to Nicolas Ray the director of REBEL WITHOUT A CAUSE among other films, and then after he died, marrying his son (her stepson, shades of Woody Allen or Phedre!). She died on a plane ride over the Atlantic (I don't remember if she was going or coming) not long after I held her hand on that movie set. And now she seems almost forgotten. But to me, long before I ever met her, she was always one of the most unforgettable screen presences Hollywood ever presented to a movie audience—every scene she was ever in is captivating to watch, unlike even some of the most famous Hollywood legends, which she will always be for me. | <urn:uuid:7a94129d-c623-41e9-8f8a-d06d73165c78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lallysalley.blogspot.com/2009/08/gloria-grahame-and-big-heat.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985537 | 1,068 | 1.53125 | 2 |
This is a typical story of a homeschooling dynamic between me and my older son (age 9.5). I am finding this pattern repeating over and over especially in the last six months. At this point I suspect this is a stage, perhaps a stage of normal boy development.
Here is the pattern.
Left to his own devices my son takes the easy way out of something. I will use the example of reading. On his own he reads for pleasure (hooray!). However it is mostly comics and children’s magazines (Boys Life and Highlights). He also loves to read catalogs (LEGO, Boy Scout equipment), instructions/directions for toys etc. and idea books for things like what a person can make with LEGOs.
Left to his own for “reading practice” he picks easy books. He sometimes even picks picture books! I had to say “you have to pick a chapter book from this shelf” and presented him with a shelf. He got going on the Boxcar Children series and won’t stop. Well I am worried at this point that he needs a push to read harder materials.
The Library Director suggested “The Dark is Rising” by Susan Cooper. I owned it already and gave it to him. He said the first chapter was like a recap and was confusing. He said the second chapter was making a bit more sense. Then he came to me a little while later to say he read the cover and realized that this book is the second in a series. I verified this online. He said he felt it would be better to read the books in order. I agreed. I was surprised that the Library Director didn’t realize that, she later told me she didn’t realize it. This second book had won the Newbery while the first in the series did not, and I guess that is why it is so popular and why it was on a reading list that the Library Director used to guide me toward that book.
Anyway I needed another book quickly. I ran to the closet bookshelf and pulled off “Ace, the Very Important Pig” and “The Twenty-One Balloons”. We were packing for our trip so I didn’t have time to look up reading levels or anything.
On the day he was to read I presented him with the two books and let him choose. He was angry with me and went into the spiel again that he likes the Boxcar Children and why can’t he just read those?
He chose “The Twenty-One Balloons” after declaring he didn’t want to read a book about a pig. (He has loved other stories written by Dick King-Smith, so that is why I thought he’d love “Ace”). “The Twenty-One Balloons” is a fiction chapter book “juvenile literature” with 192 pages and white space on the page and a decent sized font. However that didn’t stop him from complaining. “How many chapters does it have?” He announced he prefers ten or less chapters. He seems to worry of the number of chapters. He then critiqued the font and said he likes the font size to be larger. “Tough”, I said. (Boy, can I be mean or what?)
(His eyes have been tested and he sees 20/15 in case you are wondering, so nothing is wrong with his eyes.)
I told him that “Twenty-One Balloons” is a very good story and many people love it. He sulked and went off to read it. I helped my younger son with his math. I later found out that my son did not do the reading but stared out the upstairs window at the cars driving by for the full 45 minutes that he was supposed to be reading.
He also drew a picture illustrating his anger toward me and drawing a diagram of my grandmother’s house and where we all were in the house. Me, my younger son and my grandmother were all smiling in the downstairs part, and he was pictured as angry and upstairs, and saying he didn’t want to be alone upstairs reading by himself. Yet he refuses to read anywhere where a person is talking as he says it disturbs him. He expects and wants us to sit by him in total silence while he is in close proximity to us yet he is undisturbed, a nearly impossible request. I take that opportunity to tell him that his request is unreasonable and if he were in school he be tortured by all the various sounds the other kids make and what goes on in the building for sounds! Saying that seems to do him no good but I say it anyway as I want him to know he has it pretty darned good around here in his homeschooling environment).
So anyway he did begin reading the book the next day. (I waited for the bad mood day to pass.)
On the second day of reading he suddenly exclaimed with true glee (I am not exaggerating): “This book is great!”. I took the chance to remind him that I’d not put a totally boring book into his hands as I take time and effort to find good books for him to read.
On the third day he loudly called out in the middle of the reading, “This book is GREAT!!!”.
The fourth day we didn’t do our homeschooling lessons, and he picked up the book on his own in his spare time and read it.
The fifth day we were returning home (driving 500 miles in one day) and he told me he was putting the book in the car near his seat as he planned to read it on the ride home at points when we were listening to music (we had planned to alternate music with listening to the audio book Harry Potter #5).
So there you have the typical pattern in our relationship as mother/son and teacher/student. I have a plan, he resists it and says he doesn’t like being told what to do. I tell him he will like it and he says he’ll hate it. He tries it, he loves it and he is happy, then he asks for more like it.
I am not a perfect mother or a perfect homeschooling “teacher”. My son is not perfect. I share this story to tell of a typical circumstance and of this little thing that comes up and how I dealt with it and how it resolved.
Since this pattern has repeated many times over ranging from books I chose, to classes I picked and signed my son up for without his prior consent and for swimming lessons and other things you would think by now that my son has learned to trust my judgment and to not be resistant, but so far he has not learned from his experience.
My husband and I remind this son of this pattern each time it comes up, not to say that I (the mother) am right (yet again) but to try to show him the careful evaluation I do of books, classes, etc. and how I know not only something will be good for a child in general but that I know him well and I know he will like a certain thing if he just gives it a try.
One goal here is to teach my child to try new things and to not just stick with the easy and familiar. A person doesn’t know what he is missing unless he tries it. A simple example which has also panned out for this son is trying new foods. He absolutely hates it when he finally tries a new food and finds that he actually (gasp) likes it. He wants to be right and he wants to not like the new food.
This is yet another example of why unschooling does not work for us. This son tends to stay only with the familiar, resisting exploration of anything new or different, even when self-guided. Despite what some happy unschoolers say, I can report from my son’s experience that unschooling does not work for every child or at least in every stage of their life. (Unschooling worked fine for my son up through most of his Kindergarten homeschool year.)
Everything in our family is done with consideration of each of our children’s unique needs and desires. Both my husband and I are flexible about certain things, much more flexible than many parents seem to be. There comes a point though, where we put our foot down and where we make the rules and set the limits and also ask our children to stretch their horizons, whether it is to try a new interesting opportunity (rowing with the Yale crew team) or trying a new food or taking a new homeschooling class. It seems the older the children get the more we are using our own discernment to help guide them.
We have used attachment parenting with our children from the day they were born. There were many times in our children’s lives when others judged us for doing things differently and outside of the mainstream (co-sleeping, breastfeeding and attachment parenting are some examples). We followed our hearts and I researched and found information to support our decisions so our choices were not willy-nilly and out of left field.
While in my son’s younger years we were very child-led in our family, as our children get older, we are not 100% child-led with regard to our choices. There are certain things like educational plans and goals that I feel are best left in the hand of adults. Perhaps with another type of child a more child-led learning environment would be fine (unschooling) but with this child it would not work and in fact at a certain pint in the past it has failed for this son. In the case of his reading instruction, the way I am applying my parental guidance is by finding good or great books and putting them into the hands of my children. It is also about me taking a book of a certain reading level and having my son read it in order to advance his reading ability.
By the way I just checked the Lexile scale and publication date of these books, in case you are wondering.
The Twenty-One Balloons by William Pene duBois: 1070L, (Newbery Award Winner),published in 1948
The Dark is Rising by Susan Cooper: 920L(Newbery Honor Winner), published in 1973
Ace the Very Important Pig by Dick King-Smith: 850L, published in 1990
Boxcar Children, various titles: 430-650L publication dates range from 1940s to 2000s
Technorati Tags: homeschooling, teaching reading, literacy in children, children’s books. | <urn:uuid:d3234e4d-5a94-4663-9044-4bd9d4abb068> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thethinkingmother.blogspot.com/2007/03/typical-pattern-in-our-homeschool-older.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986691 | 2,222 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Instructions for Preparing a Rapid Color Guide
Robin Foster email@example.com - December 2009
Environment, Culture & Conservation Division, The Field Museum, 1400 S. Lakeshore Drive, Chicago, IL 60605 USA
Most people are now using digital cameras, and we now make most rapid guides using photos from such cameras. However, if you do have slides/transparencies or negatives you want to use, these are often better quality than digital, and we can scan and digitally crop them to the correct dimensions and optimal resolution, etc. We can reimburse for sending them on temporary loan via express mail (e.g. DHL or FedEx so that there is no danger of the originals being lost). Prints on paper can also be scanned, but the resolution is usually not as good to begin with as a negative or slide.
If you have a digital camera or a good scanner for your slides, the easiest is to use the web programs of “MediaFire” or “Yousendit” (Express) to send images and folders. We now have a yousendit "dropbox" at: http://dropbox.yousendit.com/RobinFoster769244 which you can use at no cost. Using copies of the original images or near originals, you must make a compressed/zipped folder of the images that you want to use for a guide . The original folder remains intact, and your new compressed folder becomes a "file" (up to 2Gig) which you can choose for the dropbox. (write us for more instructions if compressing is a problem). After you click "send", we can download them from the web.
You can also put the digital images on a CD and mail it; or, send as many as you can at a time as attachments to e-mails (up to 10 meg per e-mail). It is helpful to send us a list of the species names that go with each image file name (long file names of images are sometimes cut off when burning a CD or transferring from one computer system to another). Also you should suggest an appropriate guide title, and list authors, photographers, institutions, or other acknowledgements you think appropriate to include -- remembering there is not much space in the title section.
You can send images of any format or dimensions and we will use Photoshop to convert and crop (cut) them to our standard shape. Since we use a vertical "portrait" orientation for most of our plant guides, it helps if the photos are in this orientation, but we can also rotate the image or crop a vertical section through a horizontal image, thus losing some of the image, although for most people's images we need to zoom in anyway. We also have templates for doing only horizontal "landscape" orientation of pictures, often best for animals, or using square images. Mixing orientations is possible but more complicated and results in fewer images per page, and is not recommended.
To produce the small JPEG images of plants for the guides, which are 500 pixels high by 375 pixels wide at 250 dpi and from 100 to 200 K in size (quality 8), it is best for us to have copies of original photos to work with in Photoshop that are at least 1 megabyte in size. The images you send can be larger, but that greater depth will not improve the small images for the guides. The advantage of a larger image is, if it is sharp, it will allow one to zoom into and cut out different parts of the image and still maintain quality, e.g. zoom into a picture of a flowering branch and get a nice close-up picture of the flowers or a leaf, in addition to the branch as a whole. It is more important that an image is in sharp focus than to have high resolution, and for several reasons, pictures taken with digital cameras are much more likely to be out of focus, no matter how many megapixels.
The originals can be smaller, e.g. 0.5 megabyte or smaller, and be tolerable, but are usually not as sharp, and give less flexibility for zooming in or for improvement in Photoshop. We recommend that pictures be taken with a flash or with a dark background so that the surroundings do not distract from the subject. It takes more time and trouble to darken or blur the surroundings in Photoshop. Read more on photography suggestions.
We will send you a test version of your guide for editing before making it available to the public, and there is usually some back-and-forth before a public version is ready. One filled page of a guide is usually 3-4meg in size (150-200K x 20 images). You will receive the MS Word files and PDF to use as you like, and we will print and laminate for free ~20+ sheets (2-sided) of the guides for you to use or sell. If you want to produce large quantities you will have to make special arrangements with us, or print them yourself. The author or author's institution will be co-copyright holder with our department of the pages. The photographers retain copyright to the individual photos, which can be used again in other publications in larger format with no problem.
And of course you can make a link from your own (or institution's) web page to your color guide on our site. You can also put your guide directly up on your own site, although the advantage of having it on just our site is that we track the number of downloads every week and to what countries, if that is useful for you to know.
Let us know if we should not include your pictures of plants in the Neotropical Live Plant Photos section of our web site. On this site the copyright credit of the photographer is included with each picture, as well as any notes you want, and a link can be included that takes visitors from our site to your own website or any other address. If anyone requests to use your photo in another publication or website, the request will be passed on to you. | <urn:uuid:f216f786-ce59-4d2a-a55d-38a742c72545> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mailto:%20lheaney@fieldmuseum.org/explore/department/ecco/instructions-preparing-rapid-color-guide | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940227 | 1,243 | 2.609375 | 3 |
By NATALIE SCOTT
Watson third-graders in Dana Elias’ class got the opportunity to study animals as part of their science projects, beginning in the early part of January and presenting their findings in a speech to their classroom Jan. 28.
The students had to meet a variety of criteria when examining their animals, including general facts, information about their habitats, one interesting fact about their animal, and a picture or other visual aid for their projects.
One of the first presentations was on chimpanzees, one of the mammals considered to be closest to human intelligence. The student told his classmates that chimpanzees are one of the few animals in the wild to use tools in their day-to-day lives. He also told them about the kinds of homes chimpanzees build and that humans are responsible for destroying many of their habitats.
Another student did a presentation on dolphins, who live in many different oceans. One of the most interesting facts about dolphins is that they don’t sleep like humans do, and when they do sleep, it is for very short times. The student also told her classmates that you can tell how old a dolphin is by their teeth.
Other presentation topics included bald eagles, hamsters, owls, elephants, tarantulas, and more. | <urn:uuid:e474cf77-b2af-46c4-bcb0-65bb191fff9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vindy.com/news/2013/feb/08/watson-students-present-animal-reports/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979106 | 260 | 3.5 | 4 |
The Associated Press reported Saturday that a new bill in New York's state legislature includes provisions to bar employment discrimination on the basis of gender identity and expression. If passed, a violation of the law would constitute a hate crime. Similar legislation has been introduced to the state assembly for several years by lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender (LGBT) advocates, but may now have enough Democratic support to pass, despite Republican opposition.
For transgender men and women, whose gender identity and expression may not match their anatomical sex, and for transsexual individuals who may be in the process of, or who may have completed gender reassignment surgery, discrimination is the leading cause of unemployment according to the the National Center for Transgender Equality, which found it to be double the national average. The Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation Law and Public Policy reported that between 8 and 17 percent of trans men and women have experienced being terminated from a job or passed over for a promotion based on their gender identity or expression.
Transgender and transsexual individuals are often left with little recourse in these situations, since anti-discrimination laws do not always include provisions to include gender identity. According to Respect and Equality: Transsexual and Transgender Rights (2002) by Stephen Whittle, "[t]he trans community in the US cannot see a way out of the legal mess, which allows most of them to legally 'change sex' yet affords them no protection from discrimination in or dismissal from their jobs." Senator Daniel Squadron (D-NY), who will be sponsoring the state Senate bill is hopeful of its chances of passing. He has stated that "[p]eople are shocked you can lose your job, or your home or be denied a place in a restaurant because of sexual identity. No one thinks that's what New York should look like." | <urn:uuid:e15ed62d-51ac-4d9d-bca1-0a75c7886425> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.examiner.com/article/new-york-legislature-aims-to-protect-transgender-job-seekers-from-discrimination?cid=rss | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955153 | 359 | 1.945313 | 2 |
What is Electrical Engineering?
The electrical engineering discipline encompasses a broad spectrum of technical areas that study electrical phenomena and its properties. The theory, design, development and application of systems that generate power through circuitry, equipment, and other various devices, create innovative ways to improve people's lives. The electrical engineering field employs the largest number of engineers because almost everything in today's world need electricity to run.
B.S. in Electrical Engineering at NIU
The Electrical Engineering curriculum will equip students with the basic competence and job skills needed to design, develop, and operate technologies that generate and use electricity, such as machinery, electronics, communications, and computers.
The department has extensive laboratory facilities that are equipped with state-of-the-art representations of exactly that which is found in the commercial sector, such as the robotics and sensors lab, a microelectronics design lab , a class-100 clean room, an application oriented DSP lab with an anechoic chamber, an RF communications lab with a walk-in shielded enclosure, an out-of-doors antenna testing tower, a dedicated computer lab, an image processing lab, and a biomedical signal analysis lab.
Undergraduate students majoring in the electrical and computer engineering emphasis study a rigorous four-year program. Students in the biomedical engineering emphasis follow a program in one of two tracks: one for biomedical engineers or one for those entering a medical field such as medical, dental, pharmacy, optometry or podiatry. | <urn:uuid:864c3b15-db45-4cf7-8961-98c651217099> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.niu.edu/CEET/CommunityCollegeAgreements/CEET%20Transfer%20Electrical%20Engineering.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930781 | 298 | 2.828125 | 3 |
Last week, the FCC ruled that Verizon Wireless can't keep its customers from downloading tethering apps, or apps that let you share your phone's internet connection like a hotspot with other devices. It's great news, but does it actually affect you, even if you're not a Verizon Wireless customer? Let's take a look.
If you're a Verizon Wireless customer, you probably know that for a while you couldn't find tethering apps in Google Play from your phone. Verizon had pressured Google to block access to tethering apps from Verizon Wireless devices, so if you wanted to install them you had to sideload them yourself. When the FCC got word of this (via a complaint filed by Free Press) , they started an investigation. Photo by Eugene.
See, Verizon's 4G LTE network is built on top of wireless bandwidth that Verizon bought from the government (specifically, the C Block of 700 MHz spectrum) a long time ago. That purchase came with a restriction called the Open Access Rule, which says anyone using it to provide service "shall not deny, limit, or restrict the ability of their customers to use the devices and applications of their choice on the licensee's C Block network." That means as long as you're a paying customer and using their equipment, Verizon can't keep you from spreading the wireless love to your iPad, your laptop, or any other device you own.
Verizon contested the issue at first, but after the better part of a year, they relented, settling on a $1.25 million fine and agreeing to stop blocking tethering apps, among other penalties. So now Verizon customers can download tethering apps with impunity—but there's more to the story.
I'm On Verizon, What Does This Mean to Me?
If you're a Verizon customer, this is a bigger deal to you, and the news isn't all good. Here's what we mean:
- You can download any tethering app you want now. Congratulations! Our favorite tethering apps for Android like PDANet. Wireless Tether, and EasyTether are all available on Google Play, and you can tether for free all day long as long as you don't go over your data cap (unless you have a grandfathered Unlimited plan, more on that in a second.)
- Customers with non-unlimited plans can tether for free. If you use Android's built-in tethering or a third-party tethering app like the ones we mentioned, you're in the clear—just don't go over your data cap. If you have a new "Share Everything" plan, tethering is rolled into the base price of your plan. The upside is you can use whatever app you want. The downside is you're essentially still paying for tethering in some fashion, it's just obfuscated. If you already pay for Verizon's Mobile Broadband Connect service or use Verizon's own app to tether, Verizon says the extra bandwidth their $20/mo plan offers is worth paying for, but that's up to you.
- Current customers with grandfathered unlimited data plans still have to pay. Unfortunately, if you want to tether with your unlimited plan, you have to either upgrade your plan to one of the new, Share Everything plans (which include tethering), or pony up $20/mo for Verizon's "Mobile Broadband Connect" service. You can still tether off the books and hope you don't get caught, but if they catch you, Verizon will either sign you up for Mobile Broadband Connect, put you on a Share Everything plan, or terminate your contract. Sorry.
- 3G customers can tether for free, too. Even though the ruling applies to the spectrum Verizon purchased for its 4G network, 3G smartphone owners can tether for free too. Verizon doesn't want the overhead of applying one policy to 4G users and another to 3G users, so they're making it an across-the-board thing. Grab your favorite app and go!
- This means nothing for the Verizon iPhone. Sorry iPhone users—even though Verizon's policy applies to 3G phones, all they have to do is not block tethering apps. The restriction on tethering apps in the iTunes Store is Apple's decision, not Verizon's, so until that changes, you're stuck jailbreaking and finding your own app, either through Cydia, or buying our favorite, PDANet.
For much more detail on how this changes things for Verizon customers, check out this FAQ at CNet.
I'm Not on Verizon, What Does This Mean to Me?
If you heard the news and thought that maybe this meant your carrier will have to make it easy for you to tether, don't hold your breath. However, there are some upsides:
- AT&T (and soon, other carriers) now include tethering as part of their wireless plans' base price. The folks at ExtremeTech point out that AT&T has already very quietly changed their plans to include tethering in the base price for new customers. Other carriers will likely follow suit, since it gets them out of the business of hunting people down for tethering, and ends the cat and mouse tethering game many of us play, trying to sneak it in without getting caught. Photo by Matthew Berggren.
- Other carriers will think twice about hiding or removing built-in tethering features. This especially applies to Android devices. Carriers work pretty hard with OEMs to try and obscure Android's built-in tethering tools, or pre-load Android devices with a carrier's specific tethering app that prompts you to sign up for an additional charge before you can use your phone as a mobile hotspot, and while they won't be required to stop, there's a strong disincentive now for doing it.
The Bottom Line: A Mixed Bag that Represents a Bigger Change
At the end of the day, it may seem like not much has changed, especially for non-Verizon customers—but in a few years, we'll likely look back on this as a shift in the industry—at least in the United States—away from charging extra for tethering and letting you use your smartphone the way it was designed (and the way smartphone users abroad are happy to tell you they already can). Bonus, as carriers look to buy up more spectrum to meet our growing mobile data needs, they'll probably all have to comply with the Open Access Rule, too. Granted, even those people who don't tether will wind up paying for it as part of their plan, but anyone who wants to will be able to, whenever they want to, without extra fees or worrying they'll get caught.
What do you think? Do you tether currently, or pay for Verizon's Mobile Broadband Connect service? Let us know what you think in the discussions below. | <urn:uuid:a5844510-dc6c-46d4-81c8-65f76a33fa02> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lifehacker.com/5933152/the-right-to-tether-what-the-verizonfcc-settlement-means-to-you | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956584 | 1,405 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Children at Renaissance Kids learn that creative ideas come from within and that the world is a wondrous avenue of endless learning. We encourage children to create authentic work as a means of expressing themselves and we guide children to draw their own conclusions about the world through observation, experimentation and reasoning.
We take into account that every child has a unique learning style and areas of interest. It is through the diversity of our instruction and a variety of teaching styles that we are able to reach each child’s potential and encourage a lifelong love for learning and exploration.
Our programs cater to parents who are seeking an educational program that combines a dynamic curriculum for our core academic subjects with strong fine art components. The Weekly Schedule for each group follows a logical sequence of structured and unstructured activities that provide opportunities for movement, creative expression and academic development.
Our curriculum is progressive and embraces best practices in early learning education with the use Montessori, Multiple Intelligences. Reggio Emilia as tools to facilitate learning and to meet the growing needs of our students with different learning styles. | <urn:uuid:036a9fd0-2b2c-4f1a-bc43-e11cd1168614> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.renaissancekids.ca/discover/our-curriculum/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946986 | 216 | 2.390625 | 2 |
A few months later, I think it was for Father's Day, my daughter made me very happy by crafting a similar piece of art for me. I couldn't be more pleased with it. Well, maybe I would be slightly more pleased if she had used more than two dogs. But I love it; it really captures the spirit of the work of Flo Boatright. And, thus, I am going to "pull rank" this Christmas, and demand that this be hung on our tree in a prominent location!
The story which inspired this work of art is, of course, found in 2 Kings, the 9th Chapter:
And when Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel heard of it; and she painted her face, and tired her head, and looked out at a window.
And as Jehu entered in at the gate, she said, Had Zimri peace, who slew his master?
And he lifted up his face to the window, and said, Who is on my side? who? And there looked out to him two or three eunuchs.
And he said, Throw her down. So they threw her down: and some of her blood was sprinkled on the wall, and on the horses: and he trode her under foot.
And when he was come in, he did eat and drink, and said, Go, see now this cursed woman, and bury her: for she is a king's daughter.
And they went to bury her: but they found no more of her than the skull, and the feet, and the palms of her hands.
Wherefore they came again, and told him. And he said, This is the word of the LORD, which he spake by his servant Elijah the Tishbite, saying, In the portion of Jezreel shall dogs eat the flesh of Jezebel: | <urn:uuid:0d26be75-2b84-4996-b13a-7d56a3a3c9d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hotrodanglican.blogspot.com/2011_07_18_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.991585 | 388 | 2.015625 | 2 |
THE Life Sciences Institute scientific conference has highlighted a growing public health problem of low vitamin D levels in the Australian population and the possibility that the recently released Vitamin D mushrooms may provide part of the solution.
Nearly 30% of Australians are reportedly suffering the effects of low vitamin D levels.
The symposium was told that Vitamin D mushrooms were able to deliver the daily requirements, making them a convenient, whole food option.
Health issues caused by insufficient levels of vitamin D include high blood pressure and increased risk of some cancers.
Australian Mushroom Growers Association general manager Greg Seymour said that a single 100g serve of Vitamin D mushrooms - around three button mushrooms - provided the recommended levels of vitamin D. | <urn:uuid:ac028cc8-cf7a-473b-b641-a1f7f024bdfa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.echonews.com.au/news/health-issue-addressed-at-conference-lifestyle/1450039/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932589 | 139 | 2.65625 | 3 |
A fast algorithm for computing longest common subsequences
Previously published algorithms for finding the longest common subsequence of two sequences of length n have had a best-case running time of O(n2). An algorithm for this problem is presented which has a running time of O((r + n) log n), where r is the total number of ordered pairs of positions at which the two sequences match. Thus in the worst case the algorithm has a running time of O(n2 log n). However, for those applications where most positions of one sequence match relatively few positions in the other sequence, a running time of O(n log n) can be expected. | <urn:uuid:7d61f987-d63c-486b-a2f0-f0555be38374> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.citeulike.org/user/nicolarebagliati/article/5977462 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945172 | 133 | 2.265625 | 2 |
The historic Carnegie Public Library in Ishpeming recently became more accessible for patrons with the completion of phase one of a major upgrade.
Earlier this month, library officials celebrated the installation of barrier-free access ramps to the main floor and to the children's area of the library, which has stood on North Main Street since 1904.
This phase of the Handicap Accessibility and Building Renovation campaign also included a new automated door and other entry modifications in addition to the ramps.
The effort got a major boost last year when former librarian Betty Anderson launched the campaign with a $25,000 donation. In a fitting show of appreciation for the generous gift, Anderson was given the honor of being the first person to use the ramp following the ribbon-cutting.
In all, the upgrades at Carnegie are projected to cost about $300,000, with each phase being undertaken once the funds for the work are secured. Included in the total package - according to the library's website at www.uproc.lib.mi.us/ish - are: New entry and ramp costing $53,000, existing entry modifications costing $31,000, elevator costing $88,000 and bathrooms costing $30,000, for a handicap accessibility total of $202,000; and renovation of the lower level into research and meeting spaces costing $98,000.
Librarian Jessica Norton said the ramps will not only benefit patrons who are physically unable to climb stairs, but will make it much easier for visitors with young children in strollers to access the library.
While the renovations and additions to the library will make it much more user friendly and functional, one aspect of the building that won't be changed is the majestic main entrance, Norton said, citing the desire to retain the historical appearance of the building.
Seeing the project is being done in phases with each phase started once funding is in place, donations are still being sought. Donations can be mailed to Carnegie Public Library, 317 N. Main St., Ishpeming, Mich. 49849, or dropped off at the library. For more information, call 486-4381 or visit the library's website.
Public libraries have always been and will remain a focal point of a community, and having residents and local organizations and businesses get behind the Carnegie project is a great display of community pride.
The Mining Journal | <urn:uuid:dd163b2b-412e-4d31-b8de-83638b58f6bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ironmountaindailynews.com/page/content.detail/id/537483/Carnegie-Public-Library-project.html?nav=5110 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94365 | 482 | 1.671875 | 2 |
PL/SQL: Stop Making the Same Performance Mistakes
PL/SQL is great, but like any programming language it is capable of being misused. This article highlights the common performance mistakes made when developing in PL/SQL, turning what should be an elegant solution into a resource hog. This is very much an overview, but each section includes links to the relevant articles on this site that discuss the topic in greater depth, including example code, so think of this more like a check-list of things to avoid, that will help you get the best performance from your PL/SQL.
- Stop using PL/SQL when you could use SQL
- Stop avoiding bulk binds
- Stop using pass-by-value (
- Stop using the wrong data types
- Quick Points
Stop using PL/SQL when you could use SQL
The first sentence in the first chapter of the PL/SQL documentation states the following.
"PL/SQL, the Oracle procedural extension of SQL, is a portable, high-performance transaction-processing language."
So PL/SQL is an extension to SQL, not a replacement for it. In the majority of cases, a pure SQL solution will perform better than one made up of a combination of SQL and PL/SQL. Remember, databases are designed to work with sets of data. As soon as you start to process data in a row-by-row (or slow-by-slow) manner, you are stopping the database from doing what it does best. With that in mind, a PL/SQL programmer should aim to be an expert in SQL that knows a bit of PL/SQL, rather than an expert in PL/SQL that knows a little bit of SQL.
SQL has evolved greatly over the last 20 years. The introduction of features like analytic functions and SQL/XML mean you can perform very complex tasks directly from SQL. The following points describe some of the common situations where people use PL/SQL when SQL would be more appropriate.
UTL_FILEto read text files if you can external tables. Using the
UTL_FILEpackage to read data from flat files is very inefficient. Since Oracle 7 people have been using SQL*Loader to improve performance, but since Oracle 9i the recommended way to read data from flat files is to use external tables. Not only is is more efficient by default, but it is easy to read the data in parallel and allows preprocessor commands to do tasks like unzipping files on the fly before reading them. In many cases, your PL/SQL load process can be replaced by a single
INSERT ... SELECTstatement with the data sourced from an external table.
Stop writing PL/SQL merges if you can use the
MERGEstatement. Merging, or upserting, large amounts of data using PL/SQL is a terrible waste of resources. Instead you should use the
MERGEstatement to perform the action in a single DML statement. Not only is it quicker, but it looks simpler and is easily made to run in parallel.
Stop coding multitable insert manually. Why send multiple DML statements to the server when an action can be performed in a single multitable insert? Since Oracle 9i multitable inserts have provided a flexible way of reducing round-trips to the server.
Stop using bulk binds (FORALL) when you can use DML error logging (
DBMS_ERRLOG) to trap failures in DML. By default, if a single row in a DML statement raises an exception, all the work done by that DML statement is rolled back. In the past this meant operations that were logically a single
INSERT ... SELECT,
DELETEstatement affecting multiple rows had to be coded as a PL/SQL bulk operation using the
FORALL ... SAVE EXCEPTIONSconstruct, for fear that a single exception would trash the whole process. Oracle 10g Release 2 introduced DML error logging, allowing us to revert back to using a single DML statement to replace the unnecessary bulk bind operation.
The thing to remember about all these points is they replace PL/SQL with DML. In addition to them being more efficient, provided the server has enough resources to cope with it, it is very easy to make them even faster on large operations by running them in parallel. Making PL/SQL run in parallel is considerably more difficult in comparison (see parallel-enabled pipelined table functions and
Stop avoiding bulk binds
Having just told you to avoid bulk binds in favor of single DML statements, I'm now going to tell you to stop avoiding bulk binds where they are appropriate. If you are in a situation where a single DML statement is not possible and you need to process many rows individually, you should use bulk binds as they can often provide an order of magnitude performance improvement over conventional row-by-row processing in PL/SQL.
Bulk binds have been available since Oracle 8i, but it was the inclusion of record processing in bulk bind operations in Oracle 9i Release 2 that made them significantly easier to work with.
BULK COLLECT clause allows you to pull multiple rows back into a collection. The
FORALL construct allows you to bind all the data in a collection into a DML statement. In both cases, the performance improvements are achieved by reducing the number of context switches between PL/SQL and SQL that are associated with row-by-row processing.
Stop using pass-by-value (
As the Oracle database and PL/SQL have matured it has become increasingly common to work with large objects (LOBs), collections and complex object types, such as XMLTYPE. When these large and complicated types are passed as
IN OUT parameters to procedures and functions, the default pass-by-value processing of these parameters can represent a significant performance overhead.
NOCOPY hint allows you to switch from the default pass-by-value to pass-by-reference, eliminating this overhead. In many cases, this can represent a significant performance improvement with virtually no effort.
Stop using the wrong data types
When you use the wrong data types, Oracle is forced to do an implicit conversion during assignments and comparisons, which represents an unnecessary overhead. In some cases this can lead to unexpected and dramatic issues, like preventing the optimizer from using an index or resulting in incorrect date conversions.
Oracle provide a variety of data types, many of which have dramatically difference performance characteristics. Nowhere is this more evident than with the performance of numeric data types.
Make sure you pick the appropriate data type for the job you are doing!
- Stop doing index scans when you can use ROWIDs.
- Stop using explicit cursors.
- Stop putting your code in the wrong order. Take advantage of performance gains associated with short-circuit evaluation and logic/branch ordering in PL/SQL.
- Stop doing intensive processing immediately if it is more appropriate to decouple it.
- Stop calling PL/SQL functions in your SQL statements. If you must do it, make sure you use the most efficient manner possible.
- Stop avoiding code instrumentation (
DBMS_SESSION). It's a very quick way to identify problems.
- Stop avoiding PL/SQL native compilation.
- Stop avoiding conditional compilation where it is appropriate. The easiest way to improve the speed of doing something is to avoid doing it in the first place.
- Stop reinventing the wheel. Oracle has many built-in packages, procedures and functions that will probably do the job much more efficiently than you will, so learn them and use them. You can also save time by using other people's code, like the Alexandria PL/SQL Utility Library.
Hope this helps. Regards Tim... | <urn:uuid:c333152d-d2c1-4ee4-b2c9-e30a866269c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oracle-base.com/articles/misc/plsql-stop-making-the-same-performance-mistakes.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912043 | 1,586 | 2.125 | 2 |
Study Uses Stem Cells to Treat Diabetes (With Video)
Madison, Wisconsin — A UW-Madison student newly diagnosed with diabetes has become the first patient in Wisconsin to enroll in a research study aimed at learning if an infusion of experimental stem cells, mesenchymal stem cells, will cure his Type 1 diabetes.
John Markwardt, 20, of Wausau, received his first treatment Thursday as part of the trial at the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health. He is scheduled for a second stem-cell treatment next month.
According to principal investigator Melissa Meredith, MD, the innovative study is one of the first attempts to use adult stem cells to treat diabetes, the seventh-leading cause of death in the United States.
|Listen to Melissa Meredith, MD, talk about using stem cells to help diabetes patients.|
The study is a randomized, "double-blind" trial, which is considered the gold standard of clinical research. Markwardt will receive intravenous doses of either actual stem cells or a placebo, and neither the patient nor the doctor knows which treatment is used. Double-blind procedures are used to guard against bias toward experimental treatments and placebo effects.
Meredith, a diabetes expert and associate professor of medicine (endocrinology), is working closely with Peiman Hematti, MD, assistant professor of hematology/oncology at the UW School of Medicine and Public Health, on the trial.
|Listen to Peiman Hematti, MD, discuss the potential of stem cells in treating diabetes.|
Mesenchymal stem cells are derived from bone marrow of adult normal donors and can be used without any tissue matching. So, one small donation of bone marrow sample can provide enough cells for treatment of many patients.
Markwardt was diagnosed in the spring with Type 1 diabetes, which requires regular use of insulin to regulate blood sugar levels. Poorly controlled diabetes can lead to serious health conditions such as heart disease, stroke, blindness, amputations, kidney disease, and nerve damage.
The experiment, sponsored by Osiris Therapeutics of Baltimore, Maryland, involves just 20 medical centers nationally. The company hopes to eventually recruit total of 60 patients between ages 18-30.
These patients will be monitored for up to two years to determine how much insulin they are producing and if the treatment can reduce or eliminate the need for insulin injections. Meredith says until then, they will receive insulin treatments as needed to control blood sugars.
Date Published: 07/13/2009 | <urn:uuid:d6fd43d8-12f9-42b0-be8d-b49876f5d524> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.med.wisc.edu/news-events/uw-school-of-medicine-and-public-health-using-stem-cells-to-treat-diabetes/1229 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931702 | 514 | 2.515625 | 3 |
From The Human Marvel:
Tai Djin was born in China in 1849. He was born unique, afflicted with hypertrichosis. Unlike Jo-Jo, who would be born a few decades later, Tai Djin was born into a highly superstitious family. As A result they saw his affliction as the work of demons and he was left in the forest to die.
A Shaolin monk traveling through the forest discovered the child and took him back to the Fukien Shaolin Temple. There Tai Djin was raised by the monks.
He was trained in martial arts and it quickly became apparent that he was exceptional in both appearance and ability. The boy must have been a sight practicing kung-fu with his face covered in fine fur. He quickly became a favorite of many of the Shaolin masters and, as a result, each master passed their knowledge on to Tai Djin.
He was a sponge and mastered every technique shown to him. He became the first to master over 200 different empty hand systems and over 140 weapon systems. His various specialties included the infamous Chi Ma, or ‘Death Touch’. After several years of extensive training he became the first Grandmaster of Shaolin and one of the first to master all skills of the seven Shaolin temples. | <urn:uuid:1f755a55-e998-48f0-87a8-e62cad00c7a5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neatorama.com/2007/01/15/su-kong-tai-djin-the-kung-fu-werewolf/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.992479 | 263 | 2.046875 | 2 |
1. Does the president have inherent powers under the Constitution to conduct surveillance for national security purposes without judicial warrants, regardless of federal statutes?
The Supreme Court has never held that the president has such powers. As president, I will follow existing law, and when it comes to U.S. citizens and residents, I will only authorize surveillance for national security purposes consistent with FISA and other federal statutes.
2. In what circumstances, if any, would the president have constitutional authority to bomb Iran without seeking a use-of-force authorization from Congress? (Specifically, what about the strategic bombing of suspected nuclear sites -- a situation that does not involve stopping an IMMINENT threat?)
The President does not have power under the Constitution to unilaterally authorize a military attack in a situation that does not involve stopping an actual or imminent threat to the nation.
As Commander-in-Chief, the President does have a duty to protect and defend the United States. In instances of self-defense, the President would be within his constitutional authority to act before advising Congress or seeking its consent. History has shown us time and again, however, that military action is most successful when it is authorized and supported by the Legislative branch. It is always preferable to have the informed consent of Congress prior to any military action.
As for the specific question about bombing suspected nuclear sites, I recently introduced S.J. Res. 23, which states in part that “any offensive military action taken by the United States against Iran must be explicitly authorized by Congress.” The recent NIE tells us that Iran in 2003 halted its effort to design a nuclear weapon. While this does not mean that Iran is no longer a threat to the United States or its allies, it does give us time to conduct aggressive and principled personal diplomacy aimed at preventing Iran from developing nuclear weapons.
3. Does the Constitution empower the president to disregard a congressional statute limiting the deployment of troops -- either by capping the number of troops that may be deployed to a particular country or by setting minimum home-stays between deployments? In other words, is that level of deployment management beyond the constitutional power of Congress to regulate?
No, the President does not have that power. To date, several Congresses have imposed limitations on the number of US troops deployed in a given situation. As President, I will not assert a constitutional authority to deploy troops in a manner contrary to an express limit imposed by Congress and adopted into law.
4. Under what circumstances, if any, would you sign a bill into law but also issue a signing statement reserving a constitutional right to bypass the law?
Signing statements have been used by presidents of both parties, dating back to Andrew Jackson. While it is legitimate for a president to issue a signing statement to clarify his understanding of ambiguous provisions of statutes and to explain his view of how he intends to faithfully execute the law, it is a clear abuse of power to use such statements as a license to evade laws that the president does not like or as an end-run around provisions designed to foster accountability.
I will not use signing statements to nullify or undermine congressional instructions as enacted into law. The problem with this administration is that it has attached signing statements to legislation in an effort to change the meaning of the legislation, to avoid enforcing certain provisions of the legislation that the President does not like, and to raise implausible or dubious constitutional objections to the legislation. The fact that President Bush has issued signing statements to challenge over 1100 laws – more than any president in history – is a clear abuse of this prerogative. No one doubts that it is appropriate to use signing statements to protect a president's constitutional prerogatives; unfortunately, the Bush Administration has gone much further than that. | <urn:uuid:3b03916a-34b3-4f80-9758-81ccbe3ae71b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.larryelder.com/b/Barack-Obamas-QA/-853148255513643456.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96116 | 759 | 2.453125 | 2 |
|Weight Loss in Overweight and Obese Women Reduces Urinary Incontinence
Reducing urinary incontinence can now be added to the extensive list of health benefits of weight loss, according to a clinical trial funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) and the Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), both part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The paper reporting the results of the trial will be published in the January 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The Program to Reduce Incontinence by Diet and Exercise (PRIDE), conducted in Birmingham, Alabama, and Providence, Rhode Island, recruited a total of 338 obese and overweight women who leaked urine at least 10 times per week. The women were randomly assigned to either an intensive six-month weight-loss program of diet, exercise and behavior modification or to a group that received information about diet and exercise, but no training to help them change habits.
The investigators report that women in the intensive weight-loss group lost an average 8 percent of their body weight (about 17 pounds) and reduced weekly urinary incontinence episodes by nearly one-half (47 percent). In contrast, women in the information-only group lost an average 1.6 percent of body weight (about 3 pounds) and had 28 percent fewer episodes.
“Clearly, weight loss can have a significant, positive impact on urinary incontinence, a finding that may help motivate weight loss, which has additional health benefits such as preventing type 2 diabetes,” said NIDDK Director Griffin P. Rodgers, M.D.
Urinary incontinence affects more than 13 million women in the United States and accounts for an estimated $20 billion in annual health care costs, according to the paper. Obesity is an established and modifiable risk factor for urinary incontinence, but conclusive evidence for a beneficial effect of weight loss on urinary incontinence has been lacking. The PRIDE trial provides evidence supporting weight loss as a treatment for incontinence.
An important finding of the study is the difference between the two groups in the reduction of incontinence. Among women in the weight-loss group, 41 percent achieved a clinically relevant reduction of at least 70 percent of total incontinence episodes per week, whereas 22 percent of women in the information-only group achieved the same level of reduction.
At six months, women in the weight-loss group were significantly more satisfied with the change in their incontinence than were women in the information-only group. This was assessed through self-reported perceived change in frequency of incontinence, volume of urine loss, the degree to which incontinence was a problem, and satisfaction with the change in incontinence.
“Studies have documented that behavioral interventions help people lose weight, which helps decrease the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and high blood pressure, improve control of high blood pressure and cholesterol levels, and enhance mood and quality of life,” said Leslee L. Subak, M.D., of the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and lead author of the study. “Our results suggest that a decrease in urinary incontinence is another health benefit associated with weight loss and that weight reduction can be a first-line treatment in overweight and obese women.”
Co-authors on the PRIDE paper were Deborah Grady, M.D., M.P.H., professor
of medicine at UCSF and the San Francisco Veterans Affairs Medical Center;
Rena Wing, Ph.D., of The Miriam Hospital and the Warren Alpert Medical School
of Brown University, Providence, R.I.; Delia Smith West, Ph.D., of the University
of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, College of Public Health, Little Rock, Ark.;
and Frank Franklin, M.D., Ph.D., of the University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Weight loss in PRIDE is comparable to that observed in the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) and in the ongoing Action for Health in Diabetes (Look AHEAD), two NIDDK-sponsored clinical trials in people with type 2 diabetes. The PRIDE intensive weight-loss program was modeled after these two trials.
For more information on PRIDE, go to http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ and type NCT00091988 in the search window.
For information on the DPP and Look AHEAD trials, see http://diabetes.niddk.nih.gov/dm/pubs/preventionprogram/, and http://www2.niddk.nih.gov/Research/ScientificAreas/Obesity/ClinicalStudies/AHEAD.htm).
More information on incontinence in women can be found at http://kidney.niddk.nih.gov/kudiseases/pubs/uiwomen/index.htm.
NIDDK, part of NIH, conducts and supports basic and clinical research and research training on some of the most common, severe and disabling conditions affecting Americans. The Institute's research interests include: diabetes and other endocrine and metabolic diseases; digestive diseases, nutrition, and obesity; and kidney, urologic and hematologic diseases. For more information, visit www.niddk.nih.gov.
The ORWH (http://orwh.od.nih.gov/) was established to serve as the focal point in the Office of the Director for women’s health research at the NIH. ORWH’s mission is to strengthen and enhance women’s health research and sex/gender studies, ensure that women are appropriately represented in biomedical and biobehavioral research studies supported by NIH, and develop opportunities for the advancement of women in biomedical careers and to support career development for women and men in women’s health research.
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) — The Nation's
Medical Research Agency — includes 27 Institutes and
Centers and is a component of the U.S. Department of Health and
Human Services. It is the primary federal agency for conducting
and supporting basic, clinical and translational medical research,
and it investigates the causes, treatments, and cures for both
common and rare diseases. For more information about NIH and
its programs, visit www.nih.gov. | <urn:uuid:3713f765-4275-45bd-8566-0c0fde474fab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nih.gov/news/health/jan2009/niddk-28.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935158 | 1,314 | 1.945313 | 2 |
For Immediate Release
Office of the Press Secretary
May 19, 2003
Remarks by President Bush and President Arroyo in An Exchange of Toasts
The State Dining Room
8:33 P.M. EDT
PRESIDENT BUSH: Madam President, Attorney Arroyo, it is a high honor for Laura and me to host you at the White House. Madam President, I know you attended college here in Washington, so perhaps I should say, welcome back -- or, as they say at Georgetown, Hoya Saxa. (Laughter.)
With your visit, the Philippines and the United States affirm our strong friendship, our common commitment the fighting terror, and our shared determination to promote freedom.
Our nations are natural partners. We are connected by an ocean, united by a shared history, and sustained by the bonds of family and culture. More than 2 million Americans have family ties to the Philippines. Some are with us tonight, and you're welcome. Filipino Americans strengthen America's culture, our economy, and our government. And we are privileged that they call this country their home.
The United States and the Philippines are also joined by common values, especially the value of human freedom. And when freedom comes under attack, our countries respond.
Madam President, you've been a fierce fighter of terrorism in your own country. You've earned the respect of the American people for your resolve. And after September the 11th, you were one of the first leaders to contact me and express your strong support for the war against terror. And you have not wavered.
The President was also a strong and persuasive voice on the need to disarm Saddam Hussein and to liberate the Iraqi people.
Madam President, for your leadership and for your friendship, I thank you.
Seventeen years ago, the Filipino people restored their nation's democratic tradition and inspired lovers of freedom across the globe. In the years since, the Philippines has emerged as a stronger and more confident nation. The Philippines is building its prosperity on the foundation of markets, and building its future on a foundation of democracy. These commitments are opening new opportunities for the Filipino people, and setting a hopeful example for other nations traveling the road to freedom.
President Arroyo is playing a large role in her nation's success. Her bold and determined leadership has opened a new chapter in the friendship between our countries, and is responsible for revitalizing our strong alliance.
In his last poem, Jose Rizal, one of the founders of the Filipino independence, referred to his native land as the "Pearl of the Orient Seas." More than a century later, this "pearl" is admired the world over for its beauty, its progress, and its wonderful people.
Madam President, it will be my pleasure to visit the Philippines later this year, with you as my host. And Laura and I, and the American people are honored to have you and your husband as our guests here tonight. Would you please join me in a toast to the enduring friendship between the Philippines and the United States.
(A toast is offered.)
PRESIDENT ARROYO: Thank you, President Bush, and Mrs. Bush. Thank you on behalf of the 8 million Filipinos for honoring our country with this state visit.
The bonds between our two countries run deep. We've stood side-by-side at every crucial point in modern history. World War, the second; the cold War; Korea; Vietnam; and now, the war against terrorism.
I visit you at a time of great change -- change in the way economies work; change in the way wars are fought; change in the way countries organize or disintegrate. But in two things, there must be no change -- in the way governments treat people; and in the manner by which friends stand by each other. In the first case, with care and justice; and in the second case, with courage and steadfastness. In a time of crisis, friends do not ask, why; they ask, how.
The Philippines and America are friends. To guide our friendship in the 21st century, our meeting today was essential, so that we can develop a strategic framework for this century based on mutual respect and mutual help. Our talks focused on stopping terrorism, fighting poverty, and undertaking economic reform on both sides -- meaning, offering more markets to each other, and less resistance to mutual trade and investment.
My fundamental concern in the Philippines is the need to lick mass poverty. Central to this concern is the task of building a strong republic -- a republic able to keep crime and terrorism totally at bay; a republic free from vested and corrupt interests that subvert free markets; a strong republic empowered to execute good policy and provide essential services to all our people.
In this task, we value America as a partner, a partner in our common desire to create the kind of world in which we want both our countries to exist -- a world of progress and ever-widening prosperity; a world of justice, freedom, and peace. These are within the grasp of modern economies and modern technology, and men and women of firm resolve and goodwill.
And how do we define a man or a woman of firm resolve and goodwill? It was once thought difficult to take a firm stand against tyranny, and nearly impossible to cope with terrorism. Now, the world knows better, especially after March 20th. Indeed, it's not easy, but, clearly, it can be done, with fearless leadership and iron resolve, combined with a bold strategic vision, and an unfailing sense of justice. I'm describing President Bush.
Only a strong and steadfast partnership, such as that between our two countries, can respond to the manifold and threats and challenges that the world working towards freedom and prosperity must face. I hope ever more countries join this partnership. Two are better than one. Three are harder to break. Four and more, nothing can prevail against them.
On that note of hope for an ever-widening partnership of the good to complete the greater task of the coalition of the willing, I invite you all to join me in a toast for the continued success and good health of President and Mrs. Bush, and the relations between out two countries. Mabuhay!
(A toast is offered.) (Applause.)
END 8:40 P.M. EDT | <urn:uuid:551e2ace-935f-46d1-a05b-9e90f31bffe7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/news/releases/2003/05/print/20030519-17.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956132 | 1,304 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Why not use nuclear subs for power supply?
We have all the risks of nuclear power in Hawaii but none of the benefits. Currently we are paying about 46 cents per kilowatt-hour compared to only about 6 cents in California, which they think is high.
After the last hurricane, when Kauai was without power, one ship plugged into the Kauai grid was able to power up the entire island - no problem. With all the nuclear vessels idle in Pearl Harbor, with all the risk, why not plug in and power up our grid? We support the military; the military should support us in exchange. Why blindly suffer risk and not access the benefit of power while these ships sit idle?
It might only be a temporary stopgap solution but every day that we save money and save oil that saves the planet. When the ships need to sail the high seas, Hawaiian Electric Co. can power up and drain our budget as usual.
We need alternative energy - and oil
I strongly agree with those who advocate expanding alternate sources of energy. We must maximally sustain that effort. That being said, we Americans will require millions of barrels of oil a day for the next 20 to 40 years and beyond. As we develop alternative sources of energy along with vehicles that use various alternative fuels (ethanol, biodiesel, hydrogen) we need to expand our own sources of oil. By so doing we can virtually eliminate the need for foreign oil. This will reduce our payments to foreign entities by trillions of dollars reducing our staggering balance of payments deficit.
Even if some of us can weather high-priced gas, it is likely many among our extended families cannot. We all need to encourage our representatives in Congress to adopt aggressive policies of environmentally sensitive oil and natural gas exploration.
Police are patrolling Oahu’s problem parks
I fully agree with the headline of your July 8 editorial ("Beach closings will be inadequate without enforcement")
and your enthusiasm for the parks patrol that Mayor Mufi Hannemann announced earlier this year, but I need to clarify a few points.
The enforcement that you advocate has already begun, and the city has been quite successful at turning around troubled parks because of a coordinated effort by police, parks officials and others.
The police department's parks detail was formed in April, and works with parks staff and regular beat officers to ensure that problems are addressed and new night closures are properly enforced.
Though this approach might not be highly visible to those who do not frequent formerly troubled parks at night, I assure you that it is achieving results. Since April, the parks detail has made 34 arrests for outstanding warrants and new offenses, issued more than 1,300 citations for vehicle violations and more than 100 for parking violations, and cleared out nearly 30 illegally parked vehicles.
Refurbished parks that are closed at night will not be allowed to slide back into trouble. As the editorial noted, additional night closures will take effect soon to deter criminal activity and protect public health and public facilities. These closures will be strictly enforced so that our parks remain safe, clean and welcoming during operating hours, just as Mayor Hannemann has insisted from the outset.
Lester K.C. Chang
Director, Honolulu Department of Parks and Recreation
Bus officials aren’t honest about filth
In your July 3 "Kokua Line"
column about foul-smelling bus seats, TheBus spokeswoman is being less than forthright or truthful in her claim regarding the cleaning of the bus fleet.
While I live in Makaha, I refuse to ride route C CountryExpress, which should be renamed route S SkankExpress for the same reasons the rider in the article complained of. The route C always smells like okole and underarm body funk. The bus is filthy. The floors are dirt-caked and sticky, the light fixture areas are never cleaned and are covered with a soot-like dust, and the windows are filthy. You also have all types of urine-soaked, fecal-encrusted bums riding in the same seats the working public has to sit in - not to mention if there are sick individuals on the bus coughing and hacking away, and there is no way to open the windows or get some fresh air inside.
Additionally, the reason why TheBus has no complaints about the homeless riding the bus is because the company will not take complaints about homeless riders. If you attempt to make a complaint, the customer service department will simply state that the bus does not discriminate and will not take the complaint - end of story.
The rider on Bus 784 (and the bus drivers he refers to) are not imagining anything. I would suggest that bus company executives and their spokeswoman get off their cans and start riding and see for themselves instead of denying that there is a problem.
Anita G. Diaz
Councilman responds to his community
During the past eight years I have alerted City Councilman Rod Tam's office to the existence of hundreds of dangerous conditions in our community. These dangerous conditions (road deficiencies, traffic sign malfunctions, sidewalk dangers and more) threatened the public.
In each case Tam's office assisted in getting the dangerous conditions promptly eliminated or corrected. Due to the actions of Tam and his staff, many serious injuries to the public were prevented.
Women need to act against their harassers
Mahalo to the several Honolulu police officers who assisted me in Waikiki Tuesday evening. I was scheduled to participate in a candidate forum at the Waikiki Neighborhood Board. During the event, the officers needed to enforce a protective order (TRO) involving a person at the forum. The officers conducted their business with a minimum of disruption to the meeting, while maintaining my safety.
From personal experience, I strongly urge women who are subjected to repeated threatening or harassing behavior, in the workplace or at home, to utilize the protective order system. The system is designed to be supportive to victims, while protecting the rights of all parties.
There are too many recent incidents of violence in Hawaii. Be safe.
Candidate, House District 23 | <urn:uuid:32788b63-f0c3-4252-8f6a-5651992963fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archives.starbulletin.com/2008/07/11/editorial/letters.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954942 | 1,239 | 1.757813 | 2 |
I finally got round to trying my hand at microcontroller programming. Following this instructable it was dead easy.
The main problem I ran up against was in the software. On Linux you need the ppdev module in order to have access to /dev/parports. In menuconfig it's Device drivers -> Character devices -> Support for user-space parallel port device drivers.
On Debian you need the following packages:
avr-libc binutils-avr gcc-avr avrdude
Your user also needs to be in the lp group for access to the parallel port. | <urn:uuid:b93a9f6b-2b65-488e-9f90-9f65555be9cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.flickr.com/photos/barnoid/547353796/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92575 | 122 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Things to see or do
- Mobile narrative: LibrariesNI hold two collections relating to Heritage and Genealogy.
County Down Heritage Collections - Libraries NIDownpatrick Down - Northern Ireland
LibrariesNI hold two collections relating to Heritage and Genealogy.
The County Down Collection is held in the Heritage Gallery, Downpatrick Library and features:
• Books relating to County Down, including the Gravestone Inscription series, Griffith's Valuation, Grand Jury Records and Ordnance Survey Parish Memoirs
• Street Directories
• A collection of fiction books by authors associated with County Down
• County Down maps
• Newspaper indexes
• Local newspapers on microfilm
• Guidance on family history resources
• Internet access to Ancestry Library Edition and other family history websites
See here for more information including contact details and opening times.
The Heritage Collection, situated on the 2nd floor in Newry City Library, holds a reference collection which includes books on Irish history, local studies and family history. Also available are historical maps of Co. Down covering the County series (1830s to 1930s), a selection of local newspapers on microfilm which can be viewed on the reader-printers, free online resources and some special collections relating to the area. Tours and talks can be arranged and exhibitions, events and workshops are held throughout the year. See here for more information including contact details and opening times. | <urn:uuid:1e0447db-78a5-4b03-bc12-d13056f93e4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.discoverireland.com/gb/ireland-things-to-see-and-do/listings/product/?fid=NITB_33207 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917276 | 287 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Dossia Versus the Healthcare MonsterBy Bob Violino | Posted 03-31-2009
Dossia Versus the Healthcare Monster
Want more on this topic? See a slideshow here.
Reducing healthcare costs and inefficiencies by providing electronic health records to individuals has long been one of those goals that keep receding into the future.
Now Dossia, a non-profit consortium of large companies committed to providing electronic records to employees, has begun working with its founders to provide their employees with access to their medical records via the Web. Retailer Wal-mart Stores Inc. is already offering the service to employees, and other companies are likely to follow.
Proponents say electronic records can help eliminate duplicate medical tests and incorrect or lost information, while reducing administrative costs and helping to prevent numerous serious illnesses or deaths that result from prescription or other medical errors each year.
The Dossia consortium, based in Cambridge, Mass., gathers health data from multiple sources, such as doctors and clinics, at the request of employees and other eligible individuals who are part of the program. Employee participation in Dossia is voluntary, and users have complete control over who sees their information.
Once information is gathered and securely stored in a database, it's continually updated and available to users for life, even if they change employers, insurers, or doctors.
In addition to Wal-mart, Dossia founders include AT&T, Applied Materials, BP America, Cardinal Health, Intel, sanofi-aventis and Pitney Bowes. The Dossia project has been endorsed by such organizations as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Academy of Family Physicians, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Association of Manufacturers.
The organization operates a highly secure data center in Massachusetts, storing healthcare records on Hewlett-Packard blade servers running the Linux operating systems and operating in a virtualized environment, says Steve Munini, chief operating officer of Dossia.
Virtualization gives Dossia the level of flexibility it needs to move workloads around to different servers depending on load and configurations, Munini says.
Building the Health Care Beast
Although Dossia is not subject to HIPAA regulations, it is subject to consumer protection laws that govern sensitive health information outside the scope of HIPAA, and much of the data that it stores comes from organizations that must comply with HIPAA regulations. The consortium has made information security a high priority, Munini says. For example, all health-care data is encrypted and there are several layers of firewalls in place, he says.
Dossia has also implemented infrastructure components, such as redundant servers, backup storage systems, uninterruptible power supply systems and generators, to ensure that its data center is highly available to users who need access.
"It's important that no single failure of a device should have an impact on customers," Munini says. "We've done a tremendous amount of benchmark stress testing and performance testing. We effectively handled the open enrollment at Wal-mart, which is one of the largest employers in the country."
Employees who are signed up for the program can access their health records via a user name and password. An employer, such as Wal-mart, is responsible for authenticating that an individual is actually an employee of the company. Personal health records are available to the individuals but not to employers, Munini says.
Users decide exactly what information is stored in their personal health records and who can send information into their file and who can gain access.
Employers can offer an "enhanced experience" to users, Munini says. For example, Wal-mart offers access to tools and applications on the WebMD site, and specific information on WebMD can be catered to individual users based on their health-care needs.
Munini wouldn't say which other companies he expects to launch access to the Dossia service. But he expects others to follow Wal-mart's lead this year. "We're quite happy with Wal-mart as the initial customer," because of the company's large size and influence in the business community, he says.
The Wal-Mart Way Of Handling Big Healthcare
The giant retailer began offering access to electronic health records to employees in the fall of 2008. The partnership with Dossia "helps Wal-mart provide our associates with the tools they need to become more engaged in their own health," says a spokesman for the company. "We know that if we give our associates the information and the tools to manage that information, they'll make better, more informed decisions about their health care."
Through Dossia and Wal-mart's health IT initiatives, "we believe that many of the current system's inefficiencies can be reduced, if not eliminated," the spokesman says. "For example, tests or x-rays don't need to be repeated because the original results haven't been lost or misplaced."
More than 50,000 Wal-Mart employees have enrolled in personal health record (PHR) accounts through its partnership with Dossia and WebMD. "We've only offered PHRs for six months, so we're pleased at the response from our associates and we expect enrollment to continue to rise in the months ahead," the spokesman says.
Wal-Mart IT performed a "complete security review" of the
Dossia system. But other than certifying that an individual is eligible for a PHR account, Wal-Mart holds no other functional role in the process. While Wal-Mart has no access to individual health data, the company is able to view reports on aggregate data from WebMD, which enables Wal-mart to better target employees' health needs.
Another company, mailstream technology and services provider Pitney Bowes Inc., is in the planning stages of a Dossia deployment. "We see this as a continuation of our investment in the health of our employees, filling a gap and helping to drive the transformation of healthcare delivery as it's done today," says Andy Gold, executive director, global benefits planning, at the company.
Gold says he expects that employees using Dossia will have more complete information to share with their healthcare providers. "The information is in one place so a physician will be able to get up to speed relatively quickly by [accessing] that information," he says. "This will have huge value to our employees."
While the Dossia service is currently available only to individuals based in the U.S., Munini expects there will be worldwide access in the future. "We will follow the desires of our founding organizations and other customers," he says. "The goal is to really help drive down costs over time by giving people the tools they need to manage their own health information." | <urn:uuid:0057abf4-0ac0-48ed-945f-4df67364d688> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cioinsight.com/print/c/a/Health-Care/Dossia-Versus-the-Healthcare-Monster-459611 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956471 | 1,383 | 2.015625 | 2 |
This post followed the speech and events surrounding President Obama’s commencement address at Notre Dame in South Bend, Ind., on Sunday afternoon. Susan Saulny and Dirk Johnson contributed reporting from South Bend, and Liz Robbins from New York.
Father Ted | 4:00 p.m. Near the end of his speech, President Obama spoke about the Civil Rights Commission, whose resolutions were the foundation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. One of the six members (one black and five whites) was the Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, then president of Notre Dame. Mr. Obama acknowledged how “Father Ted” brought the members of the commission to a retreat in Land O’Lakes, Wis., to break an impasse. Rev. Hesburgh found common ground when the men all spoke about being fishermen and took them on a twilight fishing trip.
“They fished, and they talked, and they changed the course of history,” Mr. Obama said, as CNN showed Rev. Hesburgh, who turns 92 next week, in attendance. “We are all fishermen,” Mr. Obama told his audience to remember.
Agree to Disagree | 3:31 p.m. President Obama said he was not suggesting that the debate surrounding abortion go away: “No matter how much we may want to fudge it – indeed, while we know that the views of most Americans on the subject are complex and even contradictory – the fact is that at some level, the views of the two camps are irreconcilable. Each side will continue to make its case to the public with passion and conviction. But surely we can do so without reducing those with differing views to caricature.”
The View Around Campus | 3:29 p.m. When the heckler interrupted Mr. Obama’s speech, several undergraduate students and their friends who were watching in a campus cafe hung their heads in disgust. One student said, “My stomach hurts.” But another woman in the cafe shouted, “Nothing is more important than human life!”
In protest of Mr. Obama, about two dozen graduating seniors gathered at an anti-abortion vigil at the Grotto of Our Lady of Lourdes on campus. Jon Buttaci, a graduating senior who skipped the commencement, said he recognized that his political views were a distinct minority here.
“The Catholicism on this campus doesn’t match up with what the larger church is teaching,” said Mr. Buttaci, who will study philosophy in the doctoral program at the University of Pittsburgh. “We’re standing up for prestige instead of standing up for the church.”
An Interruption | 3:08 p.m. A lone protester shouted, and then a chant erupted to follow soon after Mr. Obama began speaking.
As police officers took the protester away, much of the stadium cheered his removal. A few moments later, another single protester began shouting “Abortion is murder.” The crowd erupted with loud boos directed at the heckler and then broke into loud chanting of Mr. Obama’s campaign slogan, “Yes, we can.”
“We’re fine, everybody,” President Obama said, calming the students, some of whom had stood up. He continued to ad-lib based on the theme of his speech, saying: “We’re not going to shy away from things that are uncomfortable.”
Earlier, the president of Notre Dame, the Rev. John Jenkins, had introduced him by saying that “President Obama is not one to stop talking to those who differ with him.”
The Honorary Degree | 2:27 p.m. For all the anger and acrimony surrounding his visit, President Obama managed to get one thing from Notre Dame that he did not get from Arizona State University, where he delivered a commencement address last week. He just accepted an honorary doctor of law degree. Arizona State declined to give him an honorary degree, saying he had not yet accumulated the “body of work” that such recipients usually have.
Cheers from Crowd | 2:24 p.m. Suffice it to say that whatever the politics of abortion, this is not a hostile crowd for President Obama. As he entered the stadium, he was greeted by long, enthusiastic and sustained cheering that recalled his visits to other college campuses during last year’s presidential campaign.
Signs of Protest | 2:07 p.m. As students and professors flowed into Joyce Center, the university’s basketball arena converted into graduation hall, there was little sign of the protest outside the school gates. A relative handful of graduating students adorned their mortar board with yellow anti-abortion symbols. But just as many had Mr. Obama’s red-white-and-blue campaign logo on theirs.
Original Post | 1:56 p.m. President Obama planned to directly confront America’s deep divide over abortion on Sunday, appealing to partisans on both sides to find ways to respect one another’s basic decency and even work together to reduce the number of unwanted pregnancies.
Mr. Obama was heading here to deliver the commencement address and receive an honorary degree at the University of Notre Dame after a fierce argument about whether it was appropriate for a prominent abortion rights supporter to be honored at one of the nation’s most storied Catholic institutions.
Hundreds of protesters gathered outside the main gates of Notre Dame on Sunday as Mr. Obama flew here aboard Air Force One, a day after two dozen people were arrested for trespassing or resisting law enforcement officers. Some of the 2,900 graduating students planned to boycott the ceremony, but many rejected the protests and said they wanted to hear what the president had to say.
“The problem here is that we’re trivializing abortion,” the Rev. Frank Pavone, national director of Priests for Life, said on “Fox News Sunday” before the commencement ceremony. “But the people are speaking out. People are getting angry that 1.2 million children are being aborted every year. Now this honorary doctorate today is a law degree. Law is for the protection of human rights.”
Rev. Richard McBrien, a Notre Dame professor appearing on the same show, said Mr. Obama’s positions on other issues, such as immigration and poverty, are consistent with Catholic thinking. “If we required 100 percent agreement with the Catholic Church’s official teaching from everyone who speaks at or gets an honorary degree from a Catholic university, we would then not have any politicians of either party,” he said.
Michael Steele, the chairman of the Republican National Committee and a Catholic, said Notre Dame should have split the difference, allowing Mr. Obama to address the ceremony but not giving him an honorary degree. “I think it’s inappropriate,” he said on “Meet the Press” on NBC. “And the president should speak, but the degree should not be conferred.”
Until Sunday, Mr. Obama has largely tried to avoid getting too enmeshed in the abortion debate and at times labored to straddle the divisions, saying at one point that he wanted “to tamp down some of the anger surrounding this issue.”
After taking office, he repealed President George W. Bush’s restrictions on federal money for international organizations that promote or provide abortion services overseas, but he did so in writing late on a Friday, calling little attention to the move. He later repealed Mr. Bush’s restrictions on federal money for embryonic stem cell research but he decided to leave it to Congress to decide whether to lift a ban on the use of tax dollars to create human embryos or to conduct research in which embryos are destroyed.
Likewise, at a news conference last month, he made clear that he does not plan to expend much political capital on behalf of the Freedom of Choice Act, a measure promoted by abortion rights supporters, even though he endorsed it on the campaign trail last year. “The Freedom of Choice Act is not my highest legislative priority,” he said.
But Notre Dame invitation and the pending retirement of Justice David H. Souter had pushed the issue to the forefront again. Any Supreme Court nominee Mr. Obama picks will be scrutinized for past opinions about Roe v. Wade, the decision upholding abortion rights.
And a new poll by Gallup suggested a shift in American public opinion on the issue. A majority of 51 percent in the survey called themselves “pro-life” on abortion compared with 42 percent who described themselves as “pro-choice,” the first time most American adults have identified themselves that way since Gallup began asking the question back in 1995.
An earlier version of this post misstated who gave President Obama his honorary degree. It was the provost Thomas G. Burish, not the university president, Rev. John Jenkins. | <urn:uuid:8747a96c-0816-4414-8495-175eb5b85dbd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thecaucus.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/05/17/obama-and-protests-at-notre-dame/?hp | 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 | 0.970875 | 1,848 | 1.59375 | 2 |
New Delhi, Dec. 28 -- The work to lower the road below the 18th century Tripolia Gateways in north Delhi, which began recently after much delay, is being carried out in clear violation of a three-year-old Delhi High Court order, posing a danger to the monument. Using JCB machine, digging has been done right up to the wall and the foundation of the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI)-protected monument. Marks of the JCB machine gnawing the corners of the gateway are fresh.
Disposing off a petition by the Maharana Pratap Bagh residents welfare association (RWA), the Delhi High Court had in November 2009 said: "All construction work to be carried out in terms of the proposal (lowering of the road) will be carried out by the MCD under the supervision of the ASI. A distance of at least three metres will be maintained between any proposed construction/excavation, so as to avoid any damage/danger to the monument in question."
When HT visited the site on Thursday, the machine was digging out earth near the monument. While soil below two of the three arches was pulled out, work was on for the third (central) arch.
The North Delhi Municipal Corporation is carrying out the work under the supervision of the ASI. "In clear violation of court orders, they are using JCB machine right up to the monument's wall. If the levelling is not aligned properly with the deep drainage system beside it, water logging below the monument will damage it," said Anil Chandi, RWA's general secretary.
While civic officials were unavailable for comments, ASI sources said they were getting reports of the work from the conservation assistant. "When we came to know that the foundation of the monument was exposed, we asked the digging near it to be stopped," said DN Dimri, ASI's Delhi circle chief.
Asked why despite the court order JCB machine was taken near the monument, Dimri said, "Civic officials informed us that it was manually impossible to remove layers of road and concrete below the arches."
Published by HT Syndication with permission from Hindustan Times. | <urn:uuid:9538523a-33d5-42c9-a279-6c3501e75964> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cricket.yahoo.com/news/tripolia-gateways-violates-high-court-order-183000079.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963656 | 448 | 1.78125 | 2 |
No one has asked: What did the boy do to ask for it? What was he wearing? Why did he go into the showers with Sandusky if he wasn’t willing to have sex? Is he coming forward now because he wants money? How do we know it wasn’t consensual and then the boy regretted it? Was the boy flirting with Sandusky? How many times had the boy “done it” before?
Some of the lack of victim-blaming is because Sandusky’s targets were children and young teens. But before you embrace that as the whole explanation, remember these situations:
–11 year old girl raped multiple times by a bunch of boys and young men. Her neighbors said “she dressed older than her age, wearing makeup and fashions more appropriate to a woman in her 20s. She would hang out with teenage boys at a playground.”
–11 year old girl sexually assaulted by a 23-year-old man. The judge said, “I don’t think [the victim] is free of fault. I think the old adage that it takes two to tango is true here.” The defendant’s lawyer said the girl was “extremely well developed,” looked older than her age, and was wearing heavy makeup and a “split-skirt” when he met her.
–Three 12-year-old girls raped by a group of young men. In court they were referred to as “Lolitas.”
There are many more, but you get the point: Being a child or teen doesn’t exempt you for being blamed for your own attack.
So why isn’t victim-blaming rearing its ugly head in the Sandusky case? I’d say there are two interrelated reasons: sexism and heterosexism. Allow me to oversimplify.
Sexism: The idea that boys are worth more than girls. Females also have sexual powers that can overcome men (see: burqas). If men do something bad to a woman or girl, it must be (at least in part) her fault. And since women and girls are of low value, why does it matter if they are harmed? And why should men get in trouble for it?
Heterosexism/homophobia: The idea that two men having sex is repulsive, unnatural, and degrading. It’s unimaginable that any “normal” person (read: heterosexual man) would want to do that. So of course these boys are blameless.
Both of these systems of belief are heinous and wrong. All beings have value. Some people want to have sex with those of the same gender.
And blaming victims is wrong. No matter how old they are or their gender (and no matter what they wore or drank or where they went). The boys Sandusky abused/attacked are getting a pass on one part of the sexual assault experience: being blamed for it. Hallelujah.
But it’s not because we all had a sudden awakening about the wrongness of victim blaming. It’s time to notice that.
Photo Credit: bookgrl
Lauren Taylor leads Defend Yourself, which teaches skills for stopping harassment, abuse, and assault. She’s been part of the movement to end gender-based violence for more than 30 years, and she works hard not to internalize or perpetuate victim-blaming. | <urn:uuid:473ddfdb-8104-4314-a077-c6c6ba97fd8f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fem2pt0.com/2011/11/20/jerry-sandusky-and-victim-blaming/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971796 | 728 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Campers camp out in their thousands during National Camping and Caravanning Week
Almost 100,000 campers pitched, hitched and drove their way to a camping adventure this May Bank Holiday as part of National Camping and Caravanning Week 2008.
According to the audit, undertaken by The Camping and Caravanning Club, the total number of people camping out under the stars amounted to 95,388. “This is only the tip of the iceberg”, said Robert Louden, Director General of The Club. “Our members were out in their thousands, enjoying camping on award-winning Club, Certificated and independent sites as well as locally organised events and in back gardens. The Club believes that, had we captured absolutely everyone who was camping on that night, around 250,000 people were potentially camping.
‘The impact of these figure are that around £3million* were spent in rural economies on the audit night alone. This is great news for businesses, suppliers and the UK countryside.”
With forward bookings at 10%, The Club believes that camping is becoming more popular and certainly more accessible. People are searching out places to camp which suit them and their lifestyle choices coupled with superb equipment which caters for how they want to camp.
On top of this, campers are able to wake up and experience the truly ‘wild’ side of camping. A web survey of wildlife sightings during NCCW confirmed that campers saw owls, osprey and a whole host of other animals and creepy crawlies from the comfort of their accommodation.
“Camping is the only way to get the most out of the enormous variety of special places and experiences which are totally unique to our shores,” continued Robert.
*Research into local spend from The Camping and Caravanning Club
For further media information or pictures please Contact Us
Notes to the Editor:
- National Camping and Caravanning Week (NCCW) was launched in 2001 by The Camping and Caravanning Club. The aim of this week is to raise the profile of camping amongst the general public. Its timing is deliberate to coincide with the Spring Bank Holiday, traditionally one of the busiest camping weeks of the year.
- The Camping and Caravanning Club is 107 years old and is the world’s largest and oldest club for all forms of camping. It has over 100 award-winning sites throughout the UK and, through a partnership with the Forestry Commission – Forest Holidays – now runs a further 21 Camping and Caravanning and three Cabin Sites.
- National awards for 2007/8 include:
- The Maison de la France Tour Operator Awards for Best Camping/Mobile Home Operator 2008 - Carefree International Travel Service
- Practical Motorhome 2007 Sovereign Awards – Carefree International Travel Service awarded Gold Sovereign
- Loo of the Year 2007, Milarrochy Bay Site – Winner, Family Friendly Facilities in Scotland
- Loo of the Year 2007, Folkstone Site – Winner, Camping and Touring or Static Caravan Sites category in England
- Loo of the Year 2007, Kessingland Site – Winner, Family Friendly Facilities in England
- Loo of the Year 2007, Glencoe Site – Winner, Camping and Touring or Static Caravan Sites category in Scotland
- Scottish Thistle Awards, Glencoe Site highly commended 2006
- Tourism West Midlands 2007, Kingsbury Water Park awarded Silver
- Tourism West Midlands 2007, Leek Site was Highly Commended
- Barron’s UK’s favourite camp site 2007, Keswick | <urn:uuid:27285627-34bf-444b-bf7d-fa55c3942779> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.campingandcaravanningclub.co.uk/news/2008/may/campers-camp-out-in-their-thousands-during-national-camping-and-caravanning-week/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94148 | 746 | 1.578125 | 2 |
A SURFER muscled in, literally, to raise funds for rhino conservation.
Dene Botha, a surfer, actor and entrepreneur, helped raise R 1 1337.00 for RhinoProtect. RhinoProtect is an organisation dedicated to the protection and preservation of rhinos in this country. Botha raised the money through the Operation Man Cave promotion at the Decorex exhibition where he, sports' celebrities Bob and Dan Skinstad, talkshow host David Donde and soccer star Ryan Botha teamed up with top designers to create the ultimate male environment.
Botha was born and raised in the Fish Hoek valley Fish Hoek, Noordhoek and Kommetjie. He and designer Dani Erhlich came in second behind the Skinstad brothers in the challenge to raise the most money for their favourite charity over the four days of the exhibition, held in Cape Town.
Founded by Damian Vergnaud, RhinoProtect.org has developed a barium-dye which is injected into the horn of the rhino so the horn is more easily detected at airports and customs. This makes the rhino horn unfit for human consumption, as it results in diarrhoea and vomiting. It also becomes useless for ornamental purposes such as dagger handles or jewellery. The horn treatment is not harmful to the animal.
Elated at being able to contribute to the project, Botha says: “It was great to see all the people coming together to do something so unselfish and give something back to the community, children and animals." Botha was instrumental in helping set the Guinness World Record for the most surfers riding the same wave. He is also one of SA’s highest qualified surf coaches and can be seen in the new season of the Bar One Manhunt on SABC3. | <urn:uuid:a21b0cb3-2767-484e-a8d2-233ff428a3a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inverdoorn.com/blog-news/blogs/item/surfer-gives-it-horns | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951447 | 375 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Posted on 30 November 2011.
By Santanu Nandi
The customer is always right’ is a slogan always used during customer service training. Whether a customer’s experience has been largely neutral or positive, it is the few negative experiences that will stick in his mind. Telecom service providers can’t afford to neglect the impact of negative customer experiences associated with services.
Maintaining customer satisfaction while effectively cutting costs is crucial for the telecom service providers, especially during the times of economic slowdown. As every telecom provider knows, meeting the service expectations of customers is essential. With rising competition in the telecom sector, customers are now more willing to explore other options and service providers.
According to a report commissioned by Pitney Bowes, a provider of mail-stream services, customer churn in mobile telecoms hit 38% last year-up from 33% in 2005.
Additionally, non-telecom companies like Google, YouTube, Facebook, and Hulu are emerging as top providers of personal content on mobile phones. With these companies coming into play and offering end users personalized content, the key position of the telecom service providers is shifting and evolving. If this trend continues, telecom providers will soon be facing greater customer churn. Consulting firm Bain & Company has determined that it is 6 times costlier to acquire a new customer than retain an existing one.
Telecom service providers are increasingly turning to outsourcing companies to import their expertise on improving the quality of customer service. Using well-established methodologies such as Six Sigma and LEAN, outsourcers can implement incremental changes in processes that can improve the customer experience while also cutting down the waste.
For instance, one outsourcer created templates that advisors can fill in to make after call notes-rather than expecting them to type notes from scratch. This has helped reduce average handling time (AHT) by over 2 minutes in some cases-creating estimated efficiency savings for a telecom service provider client of over $1 mn per year as well as reducing wait times for the customer.
The review of another telecom service client revealed communication issues between offshore customer service operation teams and technical teams onshore. A direct communication channel was established in order to reduce resolution times, which helped in receiving updates on ‘escalated cases’ and creating a speedy resolution of customer issues within 24 hours.
Process excellence initiatives carried out for one telecom company to increase the ‘right first time’ experience led to cost savings of $1.6 mn and an overall impact on the business.
Outsourcing companies can also help to steer customer behavior away from expensive-to-process calls and help to reduce call volumes. For instance, when customers call with routine matters like checking account balance or paying bills, they can be reminded that this can be done online. Outsourcers have discovered that significant costs were incurred simply by processing the 1 in 5 calls that came from customers calling for confirmation that a task that they had already requested had been completed-for instance, the ordering of a new handset or the dispatch of a replacement SIM. ‘Reassurance calls’ can be cut down by proactively leaving a message for customers when a task has been completed.
If outsourcing companies are able to reduce the number of simple calls, then contact center staffs are free to deal with more detailed calls that need expert support and advice. In recent years, the increase in device complexity has created a need for more technical support and contact center agents who are trained to answer a wide array of customer inquiries.
The level of technical support needed for users can be costly, and the expertise of an outsourcing company in dealing with these kinds of calls can be essential in keeping costs under control (e.g., by providing support when it is needed at peak call times rather than having advisors available at all times).
And it is not just a matter of understanding technical specifications. Contact center staffs require good interpersonal skills. Tasks like the collection of overdue bills require empathy. Customers must be encouraged to cooperate rather than to ignore the problem. And, even more important, call center staff need to be persuasive when a customer calls with the intention of canceling their contract.
Equally, telecom service providers have to strike a balance between encouraging self-service to reduce call volumes and retaining an incoming flow of customer enquiries, which provides a window of opportunity to cross-sell additional products including broadband and landline services.
Telecom companies are realizing that outsourcing companies can provide added value in the area of turning ‘cost centers’ like customer service into ‘profit centers’ by selling customers new products. This obviously has to be done with subtlety and care. No one wants to feel that they are on the receiving end of a hard sell from their mobile provider when they had simply called up to check their balance or add a data bolt-on before a trip abroad. Using their deep-rooted experience in what has succeeded and what has failed, outsourcing companies can advise companies and import customer service lessons from areas like banking and insurance.
Many telecom service providers are already doing this. Datamonitor predicts that the telecoms outsourcing industry will grow to more than $51 bn by 2013. With customers now wanting to communicate via online chat and give feedback on a telecom service provider’s performance via comments on Twitter or Facebook, the world of customer service is changing at a faster rate than ever before. Balancing the need to keep customers happy and persuade them to buy more products while also making efficient savings is no easy task-and it is one that outsourcing companies can help telecom providers achieve. | <urn:uuid:181a921a-5bea-4ffb-8eeb-d51b5bfea6de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thesauce.net.au/category/outsourcing/contact-centre/customer-service/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951371 | 1,137 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Gun owners show Starbucks love
First the fiscal cliff, now the Second Amendment — Starbucks is once again brewing in the national political conversation.
Ed Levine, a northern-Virginia man who founded Virginia Open Carry, told POLITICO that this is the second year in which he’s encouraged people to buy from the Seattle-based coffee giant, urging gun supporters to buy coffee there Friday.Continue Reading
Why? Last year, he heard that Starbucks would not kick out patrons from a store who were carrying firearms because it did not violate state laws, despite other patrons’ requesting the store to do so. Those patrons had organized a boycott against Starbucks last February, so Levine fought back.
And for Starbucks — by trying to downplay the issue, they dove right into it.
Fast forward a year later: Given the recent emergence of a national debate on gun control (and not wanting to add more confusion for Starbucks employees on an already busy Valentine’s Day), Levine said he changed the date to 2-22 to symbolize the Second Amendment. He’s also encouraging folks to use $2 bills.
“Other businesses should learn from Starbucks. They should simply let the states where the stores are deal with the laws — if you make and sell coffee, do that and don’t get involved with the gun laws,” Levine told POLITICO.
Starbucks spokesman Zack Hutson told The Washington Post earlier this week that their “longstanding position is to comply with local laws in the communities we serve.”
He added: “We think that’s the right way to ensure a safe environment for our partners.”
Hutson told POLITICO that Starbucks “deeply” respects the views of people on both sides of the gun debate.
“We deeply respect the views of our customers and recognize that there’s significant and genuine passion surrounding open car weapons laws,” Huston told POLITICO. “We’re extremely sensitive to the issue of gun violence in our society.”
No stranger to the political limelight, Starbucks has remained tight-lipped about the contentious debate. Levine said he’s talked to them but that they’re “not looking for the limelight” on this issue.
Earlier this year, Starbucks dipped into the fiscal cliff debate by having employees write “come together” on all cups of coffee purchased in Washington-based stores to urge lawmakers to reach a deal.
“Rather than be bystanders, we have an opportunity — and I believe a responsibility — to use our company’s scale for good by sending a respectful and optimistic message to our elected officials to come together and reach common ground on this important issue,” Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz wrote in a public letter at the time.
Hutson declined comment on whether Starbucks is planning anything for the March 1 deadline for sequestration, when $1.2 trillion in automatic federal spending cuts for the next decade begin. | <urn:uuid:ec51b518-fc31-4958-9e09-696e64a1e801> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politico.com/story/2013/02/gun-owners-show-starbucks-love-87955.html?hp=l5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947774 | 616 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Ask the Expert - Prostate Cancer
Matthew E. Karlovsky, MD is on staff at Banner Desert Medical Center .
Question: What are risks for prostate cancer, how can I prevent it?
Answer: Prostate cancer is the most common cancer in men, affecting one in six. Fortunately, it grows slowly, and is treatable even if somewhat aggressive. The most common risk factors for developing prostate cancer is a positive family history, such a brother, father or grandfather who had it, or being African-American. Regular screening for prostate cancer begins at the age of fifty with a prostate exam and PSA (prostate-specific antigen) blood test, or age 40 for men at higher risk. Much controversy has surrounded whether the PSA is a useful tool, yet long-term studies from Sweden reveal that not only does prostate cancer kill a majority of men within a decade of diagnosis, but early screening with PSA allows for early diagnosis and treatment.
Good heart-health is also good for the prostate. Zinc, selenium, vitamin E, soy products, and lycopene (found in tomatoes) all promote prostate health, and some have been shown to lessen the risk for prostate cancer. Avoiding obesity also reduces the risk as well.
Question: What is PSA?
Answer: As men grow older, the prostate produces more PSA, and we expect a natural steady rise in PSA from decade to decade. Yet if the PSA is too high for a man’s age, or it jumps too high after being steady for a while, this may signify the development of prostate cancer. However, other common problems can also often cause PSA to rise such as benign growth of the prostate, prostate or bladder infections, having a urinary catheter in place, or even a vigorous prostate exam before the test. A firm nodule on the prostate is also a suspicious finding. A prostate biopsy, which is an in-office procedure, is done to make the diagnosis.
Answer: Most prostate cancer for the past twenty-five years has been diagnosed by the PSA test, which increases the chances of it being diagnosed early. The two most common treatments to cure prostate cancer are surgery and radiation. Generally speaking, they have nearly the same cure rates at approximately ten years, but some patients are more appropriate for one versus the other.
Radical surgery involves removing the entire prostate, seminal vesicles (attached to the prostate) and lymph nodes near the prostate. It requires a short hospital stay (2-4 days), but necessitates having a urinary catheter in for about 2 weeks. Full recovery takes about 6 weeks. Incontinence (loss of urine with straining) and erectile dysfunction can occur, depending on age, health and technique used to remove the prostate. The PSA test must continue to be checked, but should remain close to zero.
Radiation can either be given as external beam or as radioactive seeds placed within the prostate. External beam radiation is given in approximately 40 daily small doses, while seeds are placed under anesthesia on an out-patient basis. Urinary symptoms, diarrhea and nausea can occur during or after treatment. Prostate cancer slowly dies over time, and the PSA will decrease slowly as well. Each treatment can also cause incontinence and erectile dysfunction, and, uncommonly, injury to the bladder or rectum, such as bleeding, diarrhea, or mucous.
Hormone treatments are indicated in those where prostate cancer has spread systemically. If cancer recurs after surgery, radiation can be an appropriate second cure, whereas after radiation, freezing the prostate (cryotherapy) may be used. If diagnosed in the very sick or elderly, watchful waiting can be done. | <urn:uuid:7e543aeb-01a0-4275-a2c7-2c1b93bdd2f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bannerhealth.com/Services/Health+And+Wellness/Ask+the+Expert/Cancer+Care/_Prostate+Cancer.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951273 | 765 | 2.90625 | 3 |
An average student would tell you that these two terms are interchangeable. Anyone who’s ever worn a uniform (military, police, fire fighter, etc.) would tell you just how different these two really are.
The truth is that leadership and management are as different as oil and water. You can combine these two ingredients into one jar and regardless of how much you shake it up or turn it over, one of them always rises to the top. The same is true in organizations because leaders inevitably lead, and managers manage.
That sounds trite, but the difference lies in the details:
1) Have high levels of integrity
2) Are focused on the bigger picture
3) Are not comfortable with “intense detail”
4) Make their direct reports feel like they are a part of their vision
5) Do not punish mistakes – but rather see mistakes as learning opportunities from which to grow
6) Challenge the status quo
7) Are not afraid of being unpopular
1) Are process driven
2) Are comfortable with detail
3) Are more interested in the bottom line than the wider vision
4) Want to measure everything
5) Are not comfortable challenging the corporate view
6) Avoid change whenever plausible
7) Place people into processes instead of building the processes around their people
Monday Morning Perspective
“There is a difference between leadership and management. Leadership is of the spirit, compounded of personality and vision; its practice is an art. Management is of the mind, a matter of accurate calculation – its practice is a science. Managers are necessary; leaders are essential.”
-Field Marshall Lord Slim, Fmr. Governor-General of Australia
“Leadership is intangible, and therefore no weapon ever designed can replace it.”
-Omar N. Bradley
There is no question that managers and leaders are both important – both play crucial roles in their organizations. But likewise, it is important to acknowledge that good managers and good leaders are not one and the same.
In my experience, good leaders surround themselves with people who buy into their vision. Leaders always seem to be striving for improvement and, though not ‘change junkies,’ good leaders constantly question the status quo. It’s clear that leaders have an unquenchable thirst for improvement and excellence in all they do. They have pride of ownership but give credit everywhere it’s due.
Managers will manage whom ever they are assigned to. That managing doesn’t always translate to leadership. I’ve witnessed many a young non-commissioned officer march a platoon of Soldiers all over an Army post by barking orders without ever ‘leading’ them anywhere other than to their next meal.
I’ve also witnessed a volunteer lead an organization without any official title or recognition just by simply translating the organization’s vision into tangible action and inspiring others to do the same.
The point is that we get to decide where our journey ends. Are we happy to merely manage people, or do you really want to lead them? The choice is always ours!
Have a wonderful week!
© Crystal Dyer 2012. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:64fd6e1b-7a4c-49ce-8a69-3e01f51c6bd9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.professionalcc.com/2012/03/05/oil-water/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955488 | 657 | 2.375 | 2 |
Hybrid gasification Ltd (HGL) has developed its own novel fixed bed gasification technology to recover useful energy in the form of synthesis gas using hazardous and non-hazardous solid biomass residues from domestic and industrial sources. However, other processes such as fluidised bed, moving grate and plasma are also considered for specific applications. The syngas produced can either be directly consumed in gas/diesel engines or combusted in the boiler to produce power and heat or used for making fertilizer. The feedstock for gasification are either segregated dry solids post mechanical biological process or pretreated using steam via the autoclave process.
In addition, we have expertise in anaerobic digestion processes to produce methane for power generation using solid and liquid municipal/industrial wastes.
HGL also participates in R&D of solar energy systems for domestic and industrial applications.
With a strong research and development network which uses pilot scale testing facilities which include test facilities currently situated within the University of Northumbria at Newcastle UK, University of Glamorgan UK and University of Engineering and Technology Lahore, Pakistan | <urn:uuid:f71587ef-4834-4dad-b67d-c32000c1f203> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hybridgasification.co.uk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911825 | 221 | 2.375 | 2 |
SAN FRANCISCO (March 10, 2013) — Patients with a type of coronary lesion linked with poor prognosis fared significantly better with the stent technique known as double kissing crush than with culotte stenting, according to data from the DKCRUSH-III trial presented today at the American College of Cardiology's 62nd Annual Scientific Session.
DKCRUSH-III is the first head-to-head comparison of double kissing (DK) crush and culotte stent techniques in coronary artery disease. The study focused on bifurcation lesions, which involve a main branch and a smaller side branch forking off a major artery.
DK crush and culotte are two-stent procedures named for their configurations. The culotte technique places stents in the main artery and the side branch, overlapping them in the main vessel before the branch forks, akin to pants legs that meet at the seat. The DK crush technique extends a small piece of the branch stent into the main artery, where it is squeezed against the main artery's wall. This approach introduces two points where the balloons used in stenting inflate in the artery and connect for a "double kiss."
Bifurcation lesions are Y-shaped trouble spots, which account for about 15 percent of lesions treated with coronary stents. Bifurcation lesions present technical problems associated with higher rates of recurrent blockage at the treated site known as restenosis and lower rates of long-term favorable outcome. High morbidity and mortality are connected with a subset called unprotected left main coronary artery (ULMCA) disease. Approximately two-thirds of significant ULMCA disease involves the distal bifurcations. Such lesions magnify the challenge for the interventional cardiologist, who threads balloon-tipped catheters and stents through major arterial pathways and then must veer off to reach these smaller side channels. The best treatment for this lesion type has been a matter of debate.
"Angiographic follow-up at eight months found 12 cases of in-stent restenosis in the side branch with DK crush and 22 with culotte [6.8 percent vs. 12.6 percent]," said Jun-Jie Zhang, MD, an interventional cardiologist in the cardiovascular department of Nanjing First Hospital, Nanjing Medical University, in Nanjing, China. "Thus, we have to say that DK crush is superior to culotte stenting."
The multicenter study randomly assigned patients with ULMCA distal bifurcation lesions to treatment with DK crush (210 patients) or culotte (209 patients) stenting. At one year, major adverse cardiac events occurred in 6.2 percent of the DK crush patients and 16.3 percent of the culotte patients. The culotte approach had markedly higher rates of repeat intervention at the target lesion and the target vessel: 6.7 percent target lesion vs. 2.4 percent, and 10.5 percent target vessel vs. 4.3 percent. Clotting at the stent site was low in both groups.
"Although this trial did not include a bypass surgery group to contrast with the stenting techniques, the promising results achieved by DK crush were comparable with those after coronary artery bypass," Dr. Zhang said.
The study will extend clinical follow-up for participating patients to five years, and further research through the DKCRUSH-V study is ongoing.
DKCRUSH-III was funded by the Jiangsu Provincial Outstanding Medical Program.
The ACC's Annual Scientific Session brings together cardiologists and cardiovascular specialists from around the world each year to share the newest discoveries in treatment and prevention. Follow @ACCMediaCenter and #ACC13 for the latest news from the meeting.
The American College of Cardiology is a nonprofit medical society comprised of 43,000 physicians, surgeons, nurses, physician assistants, pharmacists and practice managers. The College is dedicated to transforming cardiovascular care, improving heart health and advancing quality improvement, patient-centered care, payment innovation and professionalism. The ACC also leads the formulation of important cardiovascular health policy, standards and guidelines. It bestows credentials upon cardiovascular specialists, provides professional education, supports and disseminates cardiovascular research, and operates national registries to measure and promote quality care. For more information, visit cardiosource.org.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system. | <urn:uuid:ec4b4188-0f8a-45c0-8f82-5e18fca7d358> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-03/acoc-fae031013.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933058 | 931 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Christianity Admin on 17 Dec 2006 10:20 pm
How do we know that religion is an imaginary fairy tale? Because of videos like this one:
The video is trying to portray “the Rapture” — the Christian belief that millions of believer’s bodies will be instantly transported to heaven one day.
“The Rapture”, of course, is pure mythology. Believing in “the Rapture” is the same as believing in Jack’s magical beanstalk or Cinderella’s fairy godmother.
How do we know that the Rapture is a fairy tale? In the same way that we know that “Jack and the Beanstalk” is a fairy tale. There is no evidence that Jack’s beanstalk existed, no example of any such beanstalk existing, and no biological process that would allow such a beanstalk to exist. An uninformed person is able to say, “But it COULD happen – a beanstalk COULD grow a mile into the sky in a day, and there COULD be a giant living in a castle in the clouds.” The informed response to that is, “No, I am affraid that you are incorrect. These things are not possible. Biological properties do not allow any plant to grow a mile high. Basic chemistry prevents anything from growing more than about a foot in a day. A cloud cannot support weight.” Etc. That is the end of the story. No amount of imagining or hoping will ever allow a cloud to support a castle.
As another example, look at Cinderella’s fairy godmother. She materialized out of nowhere, she was able to change pumpkins into carriages, and she could change mice into horses. How do we know that she didn’t exist and that these things did not happen? Because they are impossible. You might “believe” with all your heart that fairy godmothers exist, but you would be incorrect.
In the same way, there is no process that would allow the atoms of a human’s body to be spontaneously dematerialized from our universe and sent to an imaginary place called “heaven,” where the body’s biological processes suddenly become “everlasting.” There is no empirical evidence of any sort indicating that any “god” exists. Not only that, but there is no reason, even in the mythology, for it to happen. Why send a decrepit 95-year-old body, or the ashes of a cremated body, to heaven? A Christian’s only response is, “well, God can do anything he wants.” That statement proves that religion is a fairy tale. The only beings that can do “anything they want” are the imaginary ones.
It is time for us to dicard all of this mythology because it hurts us as a species. The fact is that more than half of American adults believe that Jesus will return and destroy the planet. This sort of mythology radically skews our understanding of what will happen in the future. Other aspects of religious mythology are hampering scientific progress and causing many different kinds of discrimination and conflict. It is time for humanity to realize that there are no mythological beings, and to deal with the reality of our world in a positive, rational way. Please start reading at Chapter 26 for details. | <urn:uuid:4a56550f-ddf1-4411-adb8-522fb55ca2ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whywontgodhealamputees.com/blog/?p=25 | 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 | 0.952653 | 713 | 1.960938 | 2 |
The most visited country in the world has many glorious facets; historic cities such as its beautiful capital, Paris, long sweeping beaches, incredible mountain scenery, fantastic food, fine wine and a passion for enduring style and world-class fashion. Twice the geographical size of the UK yet containing the same population, the feeling of space is one which enchants visitors, be it to the north of France, with its flatlands and military history, or to the west, where a rugged Atlantic coastline fringes the regions of Normandy and Brittany, famed for lush rolling hills, quiet little harbour towns and delicious regional cheese.
The eastern part of France, consisting of the Alsace, Lorraine, Franche Comté and Burgundy regions, produces many famous wines, including magnificent pinot noirs, while certain cities, such as Strasbourg, hint at a Germanic past through architecture and local cuisine. Whilst the centre of France is largely sleepy, the great treasure of this region is the stunning Loire valley, home to a plethora of breathtaking châteaux and charming, rural towns. Not to be overlooked are the dramatic Alps, which welcome skiers in winter and hikers in summer, especially to alpine lakes such as Lake Annecy. Head to the south of France for Mediterranean-inspired dishes, Roman ruins and of course the glamorous Riviera. Provence is peppered with medieval hilltop towns, whilst to the south west of France, the Dordogne, one of the most quintessential French regions, sits close to the sunflower region of Languedoc. The impressive Pyrenees, a southern mountain range separating France from Spain, has a Catalan culture and is a haven for skiers. Given its enormous variety, France truly offers something for everyone! | <urn:uuid:3add0cc7-61df-4845-87eb-b6fd39cbc15b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://solosholidays.co.uk/france | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928642 | 359 | 1.539063 | 2 |
[GPNY Co-chairs Howie Hawkins and Peter LaVenia on WAMC, the NPR affiliate in the Capital Region. ]
An Open Letter to Andrew Cuomo
December 30, 2010
Dear Governor Cuomo,
Congratulations on your election.
During our recent Gubernatorial contest, we emphasized different approaches as to how best restore the state’s fiscal health and to reduce the onerous impact of local property taxes. But as you prepare to start your administration, it is critical that the long term needs of our state take priority over the political rhetoric that dominates election campaigns.
For most New Yorkers, especially the more than one million who are unemployed or underemployed, the lack of jobs is the most critical issue. And with our state and country facing the greatest recession in seventy years, it is imperative that government policies at all levels provide a cost effective economic stimulation.
Progressive tax reform, starting with ending the rebate of billions of dollars annually from the Stock Transfer Tax, should at the top of the list for three reasons: for fiscal responsibility, for jobs and economic recovery, and for providing needed public services.
Fiscal Responsibility: As economists such as Nobel Prize winner Joseph Stiglitz have pointed out, it is fiscally irresponsible in a major recession to rule out progressive tax reforms that raise taxes on the wealthy and cut taxes for the middle and working classes. In particular, tax cuts for the wealthy such as recently enacted by Congress will do nothing to stimulate the economy because they do nothing to stimulate demand.
The share of income taken home by the richest 1 percent of Americans has almost tripled in the last three decades to 24 percent. New York has the most unequal income distribution of all 50 states. Yet the rate for the top income tax bracket in New York is less than half of what it was in the 1970s. The wealthy need to pay their fair share of taxes again.
Retaining the revenue from New York’s existing Stock Sales Tax would generate at least $13 billion in additional revenue, eliminating the projected $10 billion budget deficit for 2011. Along with other revenue reforms it would generate a surplus for job creation and public services, which will help the economy to recover.
The Stock Transfer Tax is a tiny sales tax on stock purchases, with a graduated scale topping out at 1/20th of 1 percent or $350, whichever is less, on large purchases of a stock. Compare that to the 8 percent sales tax on consumer goods. The tax has been collected since 1915. But since 1981, it has been collected and then immediately rebated.
This sales tax primarily hits on those who speculate on stocks rather than those who make long-term investments. The sales tax revenue been growing rapidly due the computerized high-frequency trading on their own accounts by big financial firms like Goldman Sachs and JP Morgan Chase – a form of insider trading that distorts the market and should be discouraged. These firms, which the taxpayers bailed out with trillions in federal loans and guarantees and are now highly profitable, pay the lion’s share of the Stock Transfer Tax.
Jobs and Economic Recovery: The economy needs public spending to raise demand in an economy that is stagnant, with excess productive capacity, intractably high unemployment, and mounting foreclosures and bankruptcies. The banks and corporations are sitting on trillions of dollars in cash. But they are not lending and investing because the consumer demand to make such investments profitable is not there. If government doesn’t step in with spending to raise demand, the economy will continue to deteriorate, lowering tax revenues, and necessitating further public spending cuts, which will further depress the economy. It is a vicious downward spiral. With consumer demand and therefore business investment depressed, only increased government spending can turn the economy around.
Public Services: In this stagnant economy, there is an increased need for public services, from safety net programs to aid the unemployed and their families to public jobs in public works and services to reduce unemployment. Whether it is the under-staffing of schools and snow removal crews due to recent budget cuts, it makes no sense to cut public jobs and services when we face high unemployment, depressed consumer demand, and increased needs for public assistance.
I highlight the Stock Transfer Tax because it is revenue the state already collects but gives right back. It is not a new tax. It just requires that the state retain revenues it already receives.
Income tax reform is another option. The massive and growing disparity of wealth in NY and the US is a fundamental cause of our present economic crisis and needs. The Progressive Caucus of the NYC City Council recently proposed changing the state and city income tax laws to recapture part of the hundreds of billions of dollars in a tax cut windfall recently given to the wealthy by Congress.
If New York went back to the progressive income tax structure we had in 1972, the state would raise $8 billion more in revenue while giving 95% of New Yorkers a tax cut. In 1972, New York State had a personal income tax with 14 graduated brackets, ranging from a low of 2% to a high of 15%. Today New York has only five flatter brackets, between 4% and 6.85%. Most people with a full-time job reach the top bracket. A single person reaches the top 6.85% rate once his or her taxable income reaches $20,000, a married couple at $40,000. A more progressive income tax would increase state revenues and, due to the tax cut for the working and middle classes, increase consumer demand to help the economy recover.
The state’s fiscal crisis is not due to excessive spending, but rather to under-taxing the wealthy. Let’s not make the state’s economy and fiscal crisis worse with austerity measures that cut public spending while leaving the existing regressive tax structure in place.
There are certainly areas of wasteful spending that should be addressed. We need to control our skyrocketing health care costs, by far the biggest part of the state budget. The first step should be to eliminating the enormous waste associated with our odd system of private health insurance. We need to stop spending billions of dollars on economic development and tax expenditures that reward campaign contributors rather than creating jobs. We need to stop wasting enormous amounts of tax dollars in contracting out services, such as we witnessed with the recent payroll scandal in NYC. We need to stop the endemic graft among state legislators.
It seems like every politician these days talk about a green vision for the future of New York. That will only begin to be realized under your tenure as Governor if you provide the leadership needed to make the necessary public investments to rebuild New York for a sustainable prosperity.
2010 Green Party candidate for NY Governor | <urn:uuid:a435f484-8d82-4c80-aa8c-81c4469f6c0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.web.gpnys.com/?p=8879 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955598 | 1,371 | 1.695313 | 2 |
SANTIAGO, Chile - An earthquake has shaken central Chile, rattling buildings in the capital of Santiago, but country's emergency office says there are no reports of injury or damage.
The U.S. Geological Survey says Thursday's magnitude-5.5 quake took place at 2:22 p.m. (1:22 p.m. EST; 1722 GMT) and was centered 11 miles (18 kilometers) from the city of Los Andes.
As the quake hit, people in the capital fled into the streets, but there were no reports of damage.
Chile's Emergency Office ruled out a tsunami and said electricity services and telephones are functioning normally after some phone lines were temporarily down.
A magnitude-8.8 quake and tsunami in central Chile in February 2010 killed more than 500 people.
The Associated Press | <urn:uuid:8f36c981-4b55-4618-88a5-4e04deac8650> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wkyc.com/news/story.aspx?storyid=264878 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961478 | 173 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Second graders at Lincoln Heights received first hand information on what it takes to become a successful writer. Author Gabriel Dunston who wrote the book “Monster in the Bathroom and Two Other Poems” read his story to the students and explained how it all came about.
His stories come from real life experiences which inspire him to write books and poems. “You can write anything at any age,” says the author. As long as you have the desire to write and work hard, you can do it.
Gabriel Dunston’s books include “Funny Thing Happened Today” and “Funny Thing Happened Today 2”. He is currently working on “Purgatory Pub”. | <urn:uuid:eb2b8e77-27c6-4ac9-a38c-04b1c108e11f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fuquay-varinaindependent.com/pages/home/push?per_page=3&class=&x_page=206&rel= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976114 | 154 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Morgenthau Wants Theater Commanders To Cooperate with WRB Rescue Operations
(January 28, 1944)
THE SECRETARY OF THE TREASURY
January 28, 1944
TO: Assistant Secretary McCloy
FROM: Secretary Morgenthau
In accordance with your timely suggestion it would be very helpful if instructions along the following lines were sent to the appropriate Theater Commanders:
“The President has instructed the Secretaries of State, Treasury and War to take action for the immediate rescue and relief of the Jews of Europe and other victims of enemy persecution. In an Executive Order issued January 22, 1944, the President declared ‘it is the policy of this Government to take all measures within its power to rescue the victims of enemy oppression who are in imminent danger of death and otherwise to afford such victims all possible relief and assistance consistent with the successful prosecution of the war.’ The order establishes special governmental machinery for executing this policy. It creates a War Refugee Board consisting of the Secretaries of State, Treasury and War. The Board is charged with direct responsibility to the President in seeing that the announced policy is carried out. The President indicated that while he would look directly to the Board for the execution of this policy, the Board would cooperate with the Intergovernmental Committee, UNRRA, and other interested international organizations. The President stated that he expected the cooperation of all members of the United Nations and other governments in carrying out this difficult but important task. He stated that the existing facilities of the State, Treasury and War Departments would be employed to furnish aid to Axis victims to the fullest extent possible. He stressed that it was urgent that action be taken to forestall the plot of the Nazis to exterminate the Jews and other persecuted minorities in Europe.
You should do everything possible, consistent with the successful prosecution of the war in your theater, to effectuate this policy of this Government. You should cooperate as closely as possible with all public and established private agencies who are active in your theater in this field in this matter. Consistent with your needs and military security considerations, you should make communications facilities available to these private agencies for appropriate messages for carrying out the policy of this Government herein stated, keeping the War Refugee Board advised through the Department. You should report to the Department any recommendations which you may have as to what you feel this Department can do to effectuate with all possible speed the rescue and relief of the victims of enemy oppression.
Foreign representatives of the Department of State and of other Government Departments are being similarly instructed and you should give them any possible assistance.”
I would appreciate your bringing this to the attention of Secretary Stimson. | <urn:uuid:0ec5bc79-6a77-4506-b166-1bf128babc40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/Holocaust/wrb3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958371 | 541 | 1.789063 | 2 |
MISS BEARDSLEE’S AMAZING TIGER STORY
by Mariane Holbrook
I was beyond afraid.
I gripped the edge of the church pew until the white knuckles of my thin, eight-year-old hands threatened to burst through my taut skin.
Miss Harriet Beardslee, a Christian missionary to India, was retelling her well-known “Tiger Story.” As frightening and true as it was, I had to hear it again. I had even invited two school friends to join me in listening to this amazing tale that thrilled and chilled me at the same time.
Miss Beardslee, a master storyteller, leaned forward with great drama and loudly whispered, “There we were, another single missionary and I, sleeping in a canvas-covered wagon with an open slit in the back. Outside, the fire we had built earlier, was still burning bright enough to cast an eerie glow over the blackness of the night there near a small village at the edge of the jungle. We had come to tell people about God’s love for them.
“Suddenly, we felt our wagon shake violently! A huge, man-eating tiger from the jungle slammed his heavy front paws on the end of our wagon and thrust his massive, furry head inside the canvas curtain. He bared his 7-inch-long fangs and uttered an unearthly growl deep in his throat.
“We were terrified. He was only feet from us, ready to spring! And this species of tiger, when hungry, is known to savagely tear into human flesh, kill around the throat, then eat his prey until satisfied.”
“What would you do if you’d been there?” she asked the sixty children sitting rigidly in fear before her.
One small boy’s hand shot up. “I’d run and get in bed with my mother!” he gasped.
Miss Beardslee smiled, then carefully explained that they had been alone with no houses and no other people around. And this was before cars were available in India for easy travel.
She continued on.
“Suddenly, I remembered a book I’d read in grade school many years before in America which explained how you can stare down a tiger . You must appear unafraid to the tiger. You can’t take your eyes from his, no matter how long it takes.
“Then I remembered something else. Just before I boarded the ship from America to India as a missionary, a little girl prayed aloud for me. “Dear God,” she prayed fervently, squeezing her little eyes tightly shut, “Don’t let the tigers eat Miss Beardslee.” I knew that God had brought these two things to my remembrance to comfort me and give me courage!
“I whispered to my companion in the semi-darkness of the wagon, “You pray and I’ll stare.” I would explain the staring part to her later.
“She quickly began to pray silently while I began to stare. Straight into the tiger’s forbidding eyes which were only a leap away from me.
“I stared and stared. I stared until my eyes hurt and tears streamed down my cheeks. The tiger didn't move. In my mind, I recited every Scripture verse I knew about God’s promise of protection. And still we continued to stare unblinking into each other’s eyes.”
By this time, the tension in the church was palpable. Every child was intently focused on Miss Beardslee as she opened her eyes wider and wider for effect. We knew she was a godly woman and would never invent such a tale or embellish it in any way.
“Finally,” she continued, “After about a half hour, the tiger lowered one giant paw to the ground, but kept on staring. Then he slowly lowered the other paw to the ground and began to back slowly, slowly away. When he was at the edge of the clearing, he turned and ran into the jungle, disappearing from our view.”
Sixty children exhaled loudly and simultaneously with profound relief.
Miss Beardslee then told us of the wonderful protecting power of God, how we can trust Him but that we must also exercise watchful care over ourselves. She thanked God over and over for sparing their lives, allowing them to spend many more years in India, working in the dreaded leprosariums and telling people that Jesus loves them.
She ended her story with this heart-stopper:
“In the morning when we had enough light to move our wagon to a safer spot, a guard at the nearby village cautioned us to be careful. A man-eating tiger had attacked someone in the small village during the night, had killed him and dragged his ripped and torn body into the jungle to feast on. It had happened near us, about one hour after God had helped me stare down the tiger in our covered wagon at the edge of the jungle in India.”
Mariane Holbrook is a retired teacher, an author of two books a musician and artist. She lives with her husband on coastal
North Carolina. She maintains a personal website
www.marianholbrook.com and welcomes your
Emails at Mariane777@bellsouth.net.
Read more articles by Mariane Holbrook or search for articles on the same topic or others. | <urn:uuid:72ee9420-65e0-48c5-9745-78b965100d74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.faithwriters.com/article-details.php?id=55647 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979273 | 1,156 | 1.796875 | 2 |
To some, it is an encouraging sign of tolerance in a diverse society. To others, it is a troubling break with tradition.
The classic public restroom arrangement - men over here, women over there - is giving way in some Wisconsin department stores, college campuses and elsewhere to a combined, gender-neutral facility that is intended to accommodate anyone.
Typically, a gender-neutral restroom is recognizable by an entrance sign that features the familiar male and female stick figures together rather than on doors leading to separate rooms.
People who are gay, lesbian, cross-dressers or transgender say that using a conventional restroom can be awkward or even dangerous if their outward appearance does not conform sufficiently to the gender designated for that particular location.
"It's very unfortunate when you have to defend your decision to use a restroom," said Quinn Bennett of Milwaukee, who was born female but now lives a transgender life.
As a student at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee, Bennett has helped persuade college administrators to convert several conventional bathrooms into gender-neutral facilities.
The concept also has arrived in department stores and other public places, some of which use the term "family restroom" because the arrangement also is convenient for parents with small children.
Organizers of the Web site www.safe2pee.org - designed to help transgender people find restrooms - say the number of gender-neutral facilities listed on the site has jumped from about 200 to more than 1,500 nationally in less than two years.
But moving away from traditional men's and women's restrooms has stirred opposition, too.
Julaine Appling, chief executive officer of the Wisconsin Family Council, said she was unaware so many places in Wisconsin had implemented the idea, including UW campuses that were the focus of a statewide effort by gay rights activists.
Appling said her organization believes gender-neutral bathrooms create an increased risk of sexual assaults by giving peeping toms and other predators easy access to potential victims.
While acknowledging that old-fashioned restrooms are inconvenient for transgender people, Appling said: "We don't have to have a solution for every aberration. To me, it is not worth the risk."
So far, the majority of gender-neutral restrooms in Wisconsin are single-stall facilities with locking doors.
The United Council of UW Students, a lobbying group, has promoted gender-neutral restrooms throughout the state and has succeeded in introducing the concept at UW-Madison, UW-Milwaukee and campuses in Waukesha, La Crosse, Green Bay, Eau Claire and elsewhere.
Shortly after some restrooms at UW-Waukesha were converted, vandals ripped down one of the signs showing male and female stick figures together, students said.
Patrick Schmitt, dean of the campus, said he has heard no complaints, however, and is comfortable with having facilities that accommodate students and employees of diverse sexual orientations.
"It seems like a reasonable thing to do," Schmitt said.
St. Mary's Catholic Church in Elm Grove and Unitarian Universalist Church West in Brookfield have established gender-neutral facilities.
The Rev. Suzelle Lynch, pastor of the Unitarian church, said she expects to see such restrooms become increasingly common, as society becomes more tolerant of people of various sexual orientations.
Lynch doubts, however, that Americans will accept European-style restrooms that allow all sexes and sexual preferences together behind one door.
"I think people are more conservative than that," she said. "As a culture, we're a little too uptight for that." | <urn:uuid:501fb790-7369-4636-b709-1d35505aad98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/29450334.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967244 | 724 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Monday, December 04, 2006
Champion committee blocked mental health legislation
Our legislators are falling all over themselves proclaiming their intent to craft bills that would prevent a recurrence of the tragedy that took place one week ago at the Anderson Guest House.
One possibility is a bill that would include the following provisions:
-The Department of Mental Health should be required to terminate contracts with private vendors having a pattern of abuse and neglect of patients.
-Private contractor employees who violate state laws and rules must be dismissed.
-Private mental health facilities and group homes must be included in the state's Family Care Safety Registry.
Certainly a bill with those provisions, and follow-up on the provisions by state inspections would have prevented Robert Dupont and his ever-changing corporations from having the responsibility for those who are least capable of taking care of themselves.
That bill would give teeth to state officials in their fight against corner-cutting, loophole-seeking businessmen trying to squeeze a few extra bucks out of the taxpayers.
Missouri had a chance to have such a bill. Senate Bill 986, proposed by Tim Green, D-Florissant, in the 2006 legislative session, contained those provisions. Senate records indicate the bill received its first reading Feb. 1, and after its second reading Feb. 7, it was referred to the Senate's Aging, Families, Mental and Public Health Committee, from which it never emerged.
That committee is headed by Sen. Norma Champion, R-Springfield. Its members include Sen. Jack Goodman, R-Mount Vernon.
Ms. Champion, however, did her part for the mentally ill, in SB 648, a modification of an existing bill that required fire escapes in public buildings. The bill is already in place, but Ms. Champion sponsored legislation that changed the term "lunatic asylum" in the older bill to "mental health facility."
Her bill made it through committee, was passed by the Senate and House and was signed into law by Governor Matt Blunt. | <urn:uuid:7cf57d4d-1735-4adc-a580-a6e25bbb7d0b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rturner229.blogspot.com/2006/12/champion-committee-blocked-mental.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9748 | 409 | 1.5 | 2 |
- Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General (report) released
In 2000, Surgeon General David Satcher released Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General. Publication of this report marked a milestone in the history of oral health in America. The report elaborates on the meaning of oral health and explains why it is essential to general health and well-being.
The central message of this report is that oral health is essential to general health and well-being and that although all Americans can achieve oral health, all do not possess it. The report explains that in spite of the safe and effective means of maintaining oral health that have benefited the majority of Americans over the past half century, many still experience needless pain and suffering, complications that devastate overall health and well-being, and financial and social costs that diminish quality of life and burden society. The report posits that what amounts to “a silent epidemic” of oral diseases is affecting America’s most vulnerable citizens—children from families with low incomes, older adults, and many members of racial and ethnic minority groups.
The report finds that the American public lacks awareness of the importance of oral health and that there are significant oral health and overall health disparities between racial and socioeconomic groups.
Because of the report’s findings, the Surgeon General called for action to promote access to oral health care for all Americans, especially children from families with low incomes and from minority groups, who were found to be at greatest risk for severe medical complications resulting from inadequate oral health care and treatment.
U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. 2000. Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial Research.
- The Face of a Child: Surgeon General’s Conference on Children and Oral Health held
The Face of a Child: Surgeon General’s Conference on Children and Oral Health, was held in Washington, DC, on March 19–21, 2000, in conjunction with the release of Oral Health in America: A Report of the Surgeon General, to consider children’s oral health by highlighting findings of the Surgeon General’s report on oral health; increase appreciation for the importance of oral health to overall health and well-being; increase appreciation for the need to integrate oral health into policy, research, professional training, and medical care for children; engage the child health and welfare community and the public in a discussion of the ethical, legal historical, and policy issues relevant to children’s health; and promote effective partnerships and community collaborations to eliminate disparities in children’s oral health and access to care.
Recommendations from the conference included (1) start early, emphasize prevention, and involve parents; (2) ensure a sufficient work force and public health capacity; (3) revamp health professional and health education; (4) integrate and innovate in-service delivery; (5) expand the knowledge base and transfer science; (6) develop strategic communication plans, and (7) align policy with the knowledge base and children’s needs.
U.S. Surgeon General. 2000. The Face of a Child: Surgeon General’s Workshop and Conference on Children and Oral Health—Proceedings (Draft).
Reproduced with permission from the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors.
- Partnership for State Oral Health Leadership established
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau (MCHB) established the Partnership for State Oral Health Leadership through a cooperative agreement to the Association of State and Territorial Dental Directors (ASTDD) to promote improved oral health for the maternal and child health population through increased access to oral-disease-prevention methods and oral health services by (1) enhancing state and local programs’ capacity and infrastructure and (2) enhancing communication networks to facilitate the transfer of science into practice and to promote best practices.
From 2000 to 2012, ASTDD collaborated with numerous organizations to initiate joint projects that address the core functions of oral health needs assessment, policy development, and assurance. With the federal funding, ASTDD provided support and technical assistance for state dental access summits, Head Start oral health forums and follow-up activities, and children with special health care needs oral health forums and follow-up activities.
Reproduced with permission from the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Policy Center.
- National Maternal and Child Oral Health Policy Center established
The Maternal and Child Health Bureau established the National Maternal and Child Oral Health Policy Center through a cooperative agreement to provide analysis of access to oral health care and identify ways to better integrate oral health services with other health services.
From 2003 to 2012, the policy center provided information and support (e.g., publications, consultation, technical assistance) for national, state, and local maternal and child health (MCH) programs and has developed policy that advances oral health for the MCH population.
Working in Partnership: Maternal and Child Health Bureau’s Oral Health Programmatic Activities [manuscript]. | <urn:uuid:42ace32d-00b7-4b05-9806-d2f335bf04e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mchoralhealth.org/milestones/2000.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919456 | 1,049 | 3.125 | 3 |
It is usually the frontal phase of the vehicle which is immediately noticed by passersby. Anyone who is knowledgeable on cars will usually see the difference when your Ford vehicle has been added with nonetheless but a Ford billet grille. Undoubtedly, when the auto's frontal faade has been subjected to any type of modification, then being attractive, appealing, and impressive are just among the after-effects of the customization process.
Apart from the impression that the addition of such Ford billet grille creates, the function of it cannot in any way be disregarded. When added onto the frontal phase of the vehicle, the billet grille serves as a protection of all the vital parts housed under the hood such as the radiator, the radiator fan, the air conditioning system, the engine, and the likes. During head-on crashes or collisions, it is a known fact that the billet grilles are likely to save the aforementioned vital auto components against possible damages.
Several vehicles' makes who's already got a name and a niche in the automobile industry always try to outdo each other. Physically, the body and the accessories produced for them are always as competitive as it can be expected. The resounding names of vehicle makes from which the name of Ford belongs, explains the richness of car accessories and parts made available in the market.
The Ford billet grille is just one of the most popular add-ons which can be installed into the vehicle. Ford billet grilles are catered to by a multitude of aftermarket and original auto parts manufacturers made available both in local stores and online auto parts shops. The billet grille ranks as one of the most favorite styling accessories of auto owners. It is due to the fact that billet grilles come in a variety of design, colors, and sizes. Indeed, Ford billet grilles can make a remarkable change and a desirable impact on the physical being of the car. | <urn:uuid:17a567dc-a21d-42a6-bce3-118327123177> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.carparts.com/ford/billet-grille | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953263 | 392 | 1.5 | 2 |
President Obama acknowledged his own struggle with smoking, and said, “I know how difficult it can be when you get started at a young age.” Americans also apparently understand the difficulty and would rather not have the federal government intrude on their personal decisions. A Gallup Poll released on June 22 found that 52 percent of Americans oppose the legislation while 46 percent support it.
Strangely, Philip Morris USA, America’s largest cigarette company, called the legislation “an important step forward.” Competitors of Philip Morris charge that the company’s involvement with drafting the legislation was designed to keep it in the dominant position by limiting advertising opportunities for all brands. Lesser-known brands rely on advertising to gain market share from leading brands, so Philip Morris stands to gain from less overall marketing. This does show the danger that federal interference in the marketplace can work to the benefit of special interest groups.
Congressman Ron Paul (R-Texas) noted in his weekly “Texas Straight Talk” column posted on June 15 that this federal interference is also “Moving Towards Tobacco Prohibition.” Regarding the law that President Obama has since signed, Congressman Paul, himself a physician, made these insightful remarks: “It’s always the case that when your liberty is seized, it is seized for your own good. Such is the condescension of Washington.” Noting that state legislatures are the proper venue for regulations regarding the marketing and sale of tobacco products to minors, Paul summarized the constitutionally correct point of view: “Other than ensuring that tobacco companies do not engage in force or fraud to market their products, the federal government needs to stay out of the health habits of free people.”
Dr. Paul notes that his objections to the bill “are not an endorsement of tobacco.” As a physician, he is well aware of the harmful effects of smoking, yet he recognizes it as a personal choice. While the choice may lead to a bad habit, “the way to combat poor choices is through education and information,” not by trying to take away the choice through regulation.
For many decades, federal regulation used to favor tobacco farmers with subsidies. Then the subsidies were taken from them. Now the government is enacting legislation that could hurt them or put them out of business. Welcome to the bizarro world of unconstitutional interference in the free market. Once Uncle Sam, or perhaps Auntie Samantha, is allowed to start running a Nanny State, the government gets to decide what is good for its citizens personally and professionally. Within a short time, a person’s choice of habits or way of life can go from federally favored to disfavored to discriminated against.
The only answer is to limit federal government to its constitutionally authorized role that entails national defense, international relations, and not a whole lot more (the actual federal powers are enumerated in the Constitution). The Founding Fathers realized that state and local governments would be more responsive to the needs of their citizens than the distant Washington bureaucracy, and they wisely left almost all regulatory authority in state and local hands. In the worst case scenario, Americans would then be free to move to another city or even another state to find a more responsive government. On the other hand, when Washington decrees something, there is no escape.
Imagine what could happen if a national, public insurance option controlled by the federal government were to be enacted. The federal government would be able to put sharper teeth behind its Nanny State efforts, raising premiums and deductibles for any behavior it deemed undesirable, and it could limit or deny coverage if the person has engaged in unacceptable behavior. As Dr. Paul said, this will begin with something that is supposedly for our own good, like not smoking, but the government will gladly expand this power to what it claims is for the common good. Eventually government will just do what is for its own good while claiming that it is making sure every citizen does his patriotic duty.
Recall George Orwell’s 1984 and how Winston Smith had to perform his compulsory exercise routine before the two-way telescreen; the onscreen instructress even addressed him directly by his coded number and name and told him to pay more attention. It was, after all, the best way for Big Brother to limit the cost of healthcare.
Photo: AP Images | <urn:uuid:6a1633eb-1843-4e02-a988-9e5f5197c81e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thenewamerican.com/usnews/health-care/item/1556-obama-signs-tobacco-regulation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967227 | 884 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Human Anatomy, Physiology, and Medicine. Anything human!
As far as 1979:
Lipopolysaccharides, cell wall components of gram-negative bacteria, are pyrogenic (fever-causing agents) and toxic (Weckesser and Drews, 1979). In Sewickley, Pennsylvania, an outbreak of gastro-enteritis is suspected to have been caused by cyanobacterial LPS (Lippy and Erb, 1976; Keleti et al., 1979).
i AM OUT OF TOWN, THUS DO NOT HAVE MY DOCUMENTS IN FRONT OF ME, BUT I WILL REMEMBER TO POST THIS ASAP-probably by Mon.pm
YYZ, oh, excuse me, I did have it with me re C3:
C3 DEFICIENCY SYNDROMES: As the focal point in the complement system, C3 participates in numerous effector mechanisms responsible for inflammation and host defence. Consequently it is not surprising that C3 deficiency leads to multiple, severe derangements including immune complex disease, impaired immune responses, impaired chemotaxis, reduced opsonophagocytosis and abnormal serum bactericidal activity. As with classical component deficiencies, these individuals are at increased risk for rheumatologic disease, 79% demonstrating a lupus-like syndrome or systemic vasculitis (310,313). These individuals have a striking disposition to severe and recurrent infections caused primarily by encapsulated organisms, which first manifests itself at an early age. Of all patients reported with this deficiency, 79% have had at least one episode of bacterial infection, particularly sinopulmonary infection, bacteremia or meningitis (310,313).
Most patients with C3 deficiency have pronounced susceptibility to bacterial infection (320). Cutaneous vasculitis, SLE-like symptoms and glomerulonephritis have also been observed. A dysfunctional form of C3 has recently been identified in a patient with SLE-like disease (321). Deficiency of the alternative pathway control proteins, factor I or factor H, leads to C3 hypercatabolism and secondary C3 deficiency (322,323). Factors H and I are primarily responsible for the down regulation of the fluid phase, alternative pathway C3 convertase. In the absence of either of these proteins the spontaneous formation of the C3 convertase goes unchecked, leading to C3 consumption and depletion. Although C3 consumption predisposes to immune complex syndromes, the small amount of residual C3 in the serum of persons lacking these factors seems to lessen their risk of these disorders.
Actually, I got it when I was reading about commensialism (SP?) but I'm curious as to what website and when you posted it, just to compare notes.
I just read about it about 5 days ago if that's any reference or not.
Well, what do you think about it anyway?
What I wanted to know was why he said that C reps cyano, then 3 reps trypos----That funny looking thing. why would he say that 3 reps this?
Also, whomever post that post about on page 10??? of this forum, stating that Dr. Martin and his alternative cellular energy pigments....well I watched as that poster changed their name and also deleted their post. I think there is more than one tam tam. The way they write is so different.
One4 is more patient and one is more pissy. We're the only damn ones that should be pissy unless they have this to.
Did you see-just like I said ...he would not address the issue at hand and then if things start heating up, an old regular will pop in. Have you noticed that also?
You want to know where a really strange university is located that I have kept up with for the last little while? For the life of me I do not know what I had typed onto google to find this university but it was the same night that I was searching on 3 mi. island and Chernobal, etc., see if you can find it. It's european.
The Department of Energy operated three gaseous diffusion plants (Paducah, Kentucky; Portsmouth, Ohio; and Oak Ridge, Tennessee) where they enriched uranium for nuclear weapons and power plants; creating depleted uranium as a by-product. Some or all of these plants received uranium extracted from spent nuclear fuels for recycling in the '50s, '60s, '70s, and '80s. Uranium extracted from spent nuclear fuels included low levels of transuranics (americium, neptunium, and plutonium), technetium-99, and uranium-236. The gaseous diffusion process concentrates these contaminants in the enriched uranium and decreases the levels in the depleted uranium so that only trace quantities remain. The DoE plants have established maximum allowable levels for radioactive contaminants in the enriched uranium extracted from recycled nuclear fuel. Routine monitoring has documented contaminant levels below these allowable levels in post-1980 sampling. DoE’s plant at Fernald has received and/or shipped loads from almost all of the DU produced by the gaseous diffusion plants and tested subsets. These data, included in a draft DoE report dated June, 2000, indicate that radioactive contaminants increase the radiation dose from the DU itself by less than 1 percent. This result agrees with the U.S. Army's testing of the DU used in its armor plate for the Abrams Heavy Tank.
http://lymebusters.proboards39.com/inde ... 569&page=2
halfway down the page or so
Hey, I had ne4ver opened that hyperlink you posted on Lbusters, but It is the same exact website. I only used it tonight b/c I don't have any papers with me and I knew Skytroll had it hyperlinked it a couple of pages back on this forum.But I sure wish I had seen it when you posted it. Yes, 3 support is full if info. The only thing is that Dr. wrote /produced two journal publications on the same dayte. Jan15th maybe. I thought this was weird-
men in black-funny.
Don't know if this is relevent, it's about BSE Infection. Also Scrapie. Very interesting. Causes severe mental problems then eventually, death.
I do remember quite a while back as I was researching something that TamTam said, and I found it quite odd that my google search results would pull up mental institutions for the answer. One particular was located in Canada. Here's more....
CJD presents as a subacute dementia, evolving over weeks to several months and is accompanied by pyramidal, extrapyramidal, and cerebellar signs. The mean age of death is 57 years but the disease may occur in the late teens and early twenties. At various stages of the progression of the disease, myoclonus with periodic sharp-wave complexes in the EEG appear. In the final stages of the disease, there is an incapacitating dementia, usually with severe myoclonus. Patients with GSS present initially with ataxia or dementia and deteriorate inexorably to death over 1 to 10 years. Protease resistant PrP and PrP immunoreactive plaques with characteristic morphology accumulate in the brains of patients with GSS.
Hey there Elmo,
Tam Tam mentioned something about folding proteins. This happens with CJD and mad cow.
Also entanglements in Alzheimers comparable to mad cow. In the 80's there was a bunch of it and it was buried in news. I saw the cows.
They kept falling, just like I almost do. I never wanted to be a cow.
This has gone from left side of body to right now.
Hip gives out, can't kneel on knee, right arm
extensior, wrists, and tooth ache on right side.
HmmmmmmmmmmmmUnfolding and folding of Prions, a protein.........
Well now, we have come full circle. In an article I read in a science mag, they talked about the cow having the biggest biofilm production going on, right it the cow's gut.
Well now, could it be?
also found this yyz and elmo.
Interesting things out on the web of delight......
Oh yeah, It was related to spongiform encephalitis of Bovine. I just don't think we have all got the same damn bacteria in us.
So many different patents. I will check out your above hyperlinks.
What I thought too was interesting comes from the swine- especially the VEE type from the Brazilian swine. It matched better than the one that has been established in North America.
So Captain Tam,
1. What do you say to the other c3 that we posted about? any good?
Tam, now don't you quit on us, we need you. That blueprint too.
Mr. Tam I've been reading about PHB copolymers. That damn company Metabolix Inc. and Oliver Peoples is just something, is it not? They even developed engineered plant systems for PHA production in an integrated biomass biofinery.
Why they even structured a strategic alliance for commercialization of fermentation technology.
I bet you already knew this. You still mad at me? I'm sorry I made you angry. As I said, just PM me and tell me to stop and I will!
Oh, yes, throw out your opininion of DU for us as well. We all know they used this on the Gulf war vets.
Thank You London
PS everyone.....Here's some news that's a fact.....
When I was in Switzerland in the year of 98, well guess who else was there attending an all girls boarding school? Yes, one of the Bush lil darlings. That is a fact I saw with my own eyes!
Who is online
Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest | <urn:uuid:0b0928ed-5649-42c7-b86a-6559ff0f03a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biology-online.org/biology-forum/about1958.html?p=24591&hilit=Pivot | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949804 | 2,076 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Iran released Christian Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani — who was previously sentenced to death because of his religion — but the State Department says the country has a long way to go on religious freedom.
“The United States welcomes reports that Iranian authorities have released Pastor Youcef Nadarkhani and finally allowed him to reunite with his family,” said State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland. “This comes after nearly three harrowing years during which he faced a death penalty sentence on charges of apostasy–in clear violation of Iran’s international human rights commitments.”
It’s not clear what Nadarkhani will do next. “His ability to preach in Iran, I don’t know,” Tiffany Barrans of the American Center for Law and Justice told CNN. “But I think at this point, he’s going to have to some time to assess the situation and all the emotions wrapped up in that before he makes any decision.”
The State Department called for Iran to expand religious freedom for other religious minorities, as well.
“Despite this welcome news, the status of religious freedom in Iran remains grave,” Nuland said. “Many more Iranians remain in prison and face persecution simply because of their faith. More than 100 Baha’is and members of the Sunni Muslim, Zoroastrian, and Gonabadi Dervish communities suffer in confinement, and we call for their immediate release. The United States will continue to stand with the people of Iran who struggle to have their fundamental human rights respected.” | <urn:uuid:84ef8c70-78c1-4904-8bf9-60c6a96372ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://washingtonexaminer.com/state-dept-welcomes-iranian-release-of-christian-pastor/article/2507516 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960174 | 329 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli called a local talk radio show on Tuesday to complain about rats in D.C. Specifically, Cuccinelli was peeved about a D.C. law — the Wildlife Protection Act — which, since March 2011, has outlawed some common pest control practices including the use of lethal traps on certain species of rats and mice (and on other wild animals that get stuck in homes).
“Last year, in its finite wisdom, the D.C. City Council passed a new law — a triumph of animal rights over human health,” he told the hosts of WMAL’s ‘The Morning Majority‘ show. “Those pest control people… aren’t allowed to kill the rat. They have to relocate the rat. And… that’s actually not the worst part. They cannot break up the family of the rat.”
“Oh no,” one of the hosts said solemnly as another loudly gasped. But what does any of this have to do with Virginia? Cuccinelli explained that wildlife trappers might now simply take the rats they catch in D.C. into Virginia.
“Actual experts in pest control will tell you, if you don’t move an animal about 25 miles, it will come back,” Cuccinelli said. “So what’s the solution to that? Across the river.”
“It is worse than our immigration policies, you can’t break up rat families or racoons and all the rest,” Cuccinelli continued. “And you can’t even kill them. It’s unbelievable.”
(The audio can be found at 92:35 here.)
Lest Cuccinelli’s rat rant seem a bit out of the blue, it is a topic that representatives of pest control businesses, including those in Northern Virginia, are still fuming over to this day. Industry leaders say the Wildlife Protection Act makes it prohibitively expensive for homeowners to pay for a letter-of-the-law pest control service. Such a service, they say, would involve trapping an entire family of animals in and around a home and then driving around the District looking for an uninhabited wooded spot to let the critters out.
In practice, according to Gene Harrington of the Fairfax-based National Pest Management Association, many pest control companies will simply try to skirt the law in one way or another. Rather than trying to find a safe spot to let the animals go in D.C., for instance, a company may simply decide to break federal law and transport the animal over state lines.
“If the District isn’t even going to let you use a snap trap to control a chipmunk or a squirrel, it’s just a lot easier for Commonwealth-based businesses to bring every animal captured in the District back to the Commonwealth,” he said. “They’ll simply just put them in the back of their truck, I’m sure, and take them across the river.”
While lethal traps are technically permitted for several common rat and mouse species, Jason Reger, the Virginia representative of the National Wildlife Control Operators Association, says that other rodent species are prevalent in the District and that it’s impossible for a trap to differentiate between the various species. Reger also contends that the Wildlife Control Act’s provision that allows animals to be trapped and then euthanized would be difficult to apply in practice.
Harrington, for his part, says he hopes changes will eventually be made to what he described as a “stupid, stupid, ill-advised, ill-conceived law.” | <urn:uuid:520ab37a-2437-43a9-ba00-7fccc90371a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arlnow.com/2012/01/12/cuccinelli-smells-a-rat-in-d-c/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949308 | 779 | 1.5 | 2 |
Earlier this year Google launched a piracy blacklist and began filtering keywords from its Instant and Autocomplete services. A necessary measure to counter online copyright infringement according to the search giant, but not everyone agrees. To partially undo Google’s censorship efforts, the “MAFIAA Fire” team has now released the “Gee! No evil!” Firefox add-on.
When Homeland Security’s ICE unit started seizing domain names last year, a group called “MAFIAA Fire” decided to code a browser add-on to redirect the affected websites to their new domains.
A perfect illustration of John Gilmore’s famous quote: “The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it.”
Releasing the browser add-on was a statement more than a technical breakthrough, but it had a bigger impact than the MAFIAA Fire team could have ever hoped for. ICE asked Mozilla to pull the add-on from their site but Mozilla denied the request, arguing that this type of censorship may threaten the open Internet.
This victory for the MAFIAA Fire team encouraged them to come up with more anti-censorship tools. Today the team lived up to that aim by releasing a new Firefox add-on named “Gee! No evil!” which targets Google’s recent censorship initiative.
Starting a few months ago Google began filtering “piracy-related” terms from its ‘Autocomplete‘ and ‘Instant‘ services. The unpublished blacklist includes “torrent”, “BitTorrent”, “uTorrent” and “RapidShare” and was updated with the term “Mediafire” last week.
According to Google, the blacklist is an effective tool to curb online piracy, even if the terms themselves are not exclusively linked to copyright infringement.
“While there is no silver bullet for infringement online, this measure is one of several that we have implemented to curb copyright infringement online,” Google spokesman Mistique Cano told TorrentFreak.
“This is something we looked at and thought we could make some narrow and relatively easy changes to our Autocomplete algorithm that could make a positive difference,” Cano added.
But not everyone agrees that censorship is the preferred solution here. The MAFIAA Fire team, for example, believe that Google has simply caved into pressure from the entertainment industry.
“Although typing a few extra letters is not a big deal for most, the fact that a non-innovative industry like the music industry has so much clout to pressure one of the icons in one the most innovative industry in the world was too much for us to ignore,” a MAFIAA Fire representative told TorrentFreak.
“We had to do something about it, just out of principle,” he added, and so today they released the “Gee! No evil!” add-on for Firefox. As with the redirector add-on, a Chrome version may be released later when enough donations come in.
The plugin reverses Google’s filter and adds the banned keywords to Autocomplete as soon as the user types in the first letter. It also kicks in if the second keyword is on the blacklist, so if a user types “Linux t” it will suggest “Linux torrent.”
“Gee! No evil! at work”
In addition to restoring censored keywords, MAFIAA Fire are also considering promoting other P2P services and cyberlockers with the add-on in the future, the opposite of what Google is attempting to accomplish. Site owners who want to support the initiative are welcome to apply.
With “Gee! No evil!” the MAFIAA Fire team have once again made a censorship effort defunct. But Google is not their main target, the pro-copyright lobby (MAFIAA) is what they are after. And their message is clear.
“Our message to the MAFIAA is this; the law of unintended consequences is very much alive. You took down Napster and what’s taken its place is far bigger. You are trying to censor little bits and pieces, but you inspired us to release more tools that will make you cringe for a very long time.”
“Censoring common words like “torrent” to help an outdated business model is not the right approach… and where does it stop? Who decides what goes on this slippery slope?” the MAFIAA Fire representative told TorrentFreak.
The above comment rightfully accentuates how subjective and risky censorship often is. While the U.S. Government is supporting tools to provide anonymous Internet to citizens of repressive governments, they also support drastic censorship measures at home. Although some may argue that it’s not fair to compare apples and oranges, censorship is censorship no matter how you frame it. | <urn:uuid:cdb28e7a-fb7b-4b96-abfc-d910dc310912> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://torrentfreak.com/google-censorship-gee-no-evil-add-on-110613/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947062 | 1,043 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Northern Beef officials canceled a planned inspection of the plant by the City of Aberdeen on Monday.
Passing the inspection would have lifted the production limit of slaughtering 500 cattle per day.
A plant official canceled the inspection because two projects required for the limits to be lifted were not completed, said Chad Nilson, Aberdeen building inspector.
It is possible the 500 cattle limit will be maintained; however, it could be fewer than 500, depending on the advice of the city attorney, city manager and others, said Brett Bill, planning and zoning director.
The city will need to issue a new or an extension of the temporary certificate of occupancy, he said.
The Temporary Certificate for Limited Production and Testing expired Nov. 16.
The beef plant was to have installed sampling equipment for wastewater as well as a metering manhole for the wastewater system, Nilson said.
"The beef plant called us to cancel the inspection because the necessary equipment had not arrived," he said.
The equipment is necessary before the plant can send its pretreated wastewater to the city treatment plant, he said. The plant has time to work out the problems because now all the wastewater is going to pretreatment lagoons, which are only 15 percent full, he said.
Northern Beef does not need to send any wastewater to the city until its lagoons are closer to capacity, he said.
Nilson said the plant continues to make progress on its list of minor projects. | <urn:uuid:cd95867b-51e3-4a4c-81fb-fd34ea748ae9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aberdeennews.com/news/aan-beef-plant-cant-increase-production-yet-20121120,0,3280227.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971999 | 298 | 1.515625 | 2 |
e-giving spurs new practices, donors. But biggest 'giving' is migrant workers' remittances.
SOURCE: The Index of Global Philanthropy, 2008, by the Hudson Institute/Rich Clabaugh–STAFF
Global philanthropy sports a multitude of faces. Bill Gates stands out, of course. But there's also the college student clicking a small online donation, the church contributing to microloans in Africa, and the Italian soccer team bringing "the beautiful game" and educational programs to kids living in the rubble of war.
The changing nature of private giving and its emergence as a worldwide phenomenon are spotlighted in a report to be released Monday by the Hudson Institute – The Index of Global Philanthropy 2008. The Index is the only comprehensive source on the scope and magnitude of private giving to the developing world.
Philanthropy is being transformed as technology opens the door to speedier, less costly forms of giving and inspires people of all ages and incomes to get involved. Wealthy corporate leaders and foundations are urging innovative approaches, from social entrepreneurship to combining for-profit and charitable enterprises. New tax laws are encouraging philanthropy in Europe and elsewhere.
"What I find exciting about private giving is that it's reinventing foreign assistance," says Carol Adelman, director of Hudson's Center for Global Prosperity, "and e-philanthropy is [creating] 'ordinary Oprahs' around the world."
Page 1 of 4 | <urn:uuid:f648b4a1-5fb7-40e2-8479-9dbb6ab36548> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.csmonitor.com/USA/2008/0512/p02s05-usgn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936994 | 298 | 2.21875 | 2 |
The term music technology actually refers to the devices, techniques, styles, or effects which music artists use to enhance or even create a musical piece. One of the most common application of music technology is the music editing software that a lot of music artists use so that they may be able to arrange their songs easily.
Other may also use special effects which may contribute to the improvement of the song being created. A lot of musical genres such as techno use this kind of music technology in enhancing the outcome of a single music. Almost all of the techno songs nowadays are produced using computer editing software or computer-generated sounds or special effects.
This only shows that the technology itself is a broad field and is not only limited to one particular field. Everything is possible with technology as long as you know how to use it properly. If you want to further your knowledge with music technology, you may find a university which offers this particular type of course. There are actually numerous universities nowadays which offer a course in music technology. The scope in the course music technology is not only limited to the music industry that we know today because it may also tackle programming, acoustic science, and music theories.
Music technology is actually a combination of two different fields namely music and technology. With this reason, it is just right that a student of someone who wants to know more about music technology itself should be knowledgeable of both music and technology.
If you are the type of person who knows a lot when it comes to computers and you also love music, then you should consider music technology as a viable career for you. | <urn:uuid:4a3fc13f-ee59-423d-8e1b-47f7b40275ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://music.ezinemark.com/music-technology-17347e2343f.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962749 | 318 | 3.171875 | 3 |
The Final Layer SetupYour scene 1 timeline mainly consists of 3 main layers, consecutivelly from the bottom: background image, snow, and text.
If you want to have some color animation of your background image, first you have to convert to background image to graphic, then set its alpha and color setting. This effect will enhance the visual color animation of your card. Don't forget to put your name inside the card. You can also put your picture inside it to make your card more personal. It's all about your taste and creativity.
I really hope you can enjoy this tutorial. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to let me know.
OK, last but not least...
Merry Christmas to all of you who celebrate it.
Happy New Year to all of you
Keep on Flashing...
:: Mimi Widjaja :: | <urn:uuid:bc8dd09a-a95e-4f42-bc87-ff137922ae11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.flashkit.com/tutorials/Animation/Christma-Mimi_Wid-871/more5.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924122 | 175 | 1.5625 | 2 |