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» Discovery -- UTSA Research
» Innovations -- College of Engineering
» Ovations -- College of Liberal and Fine Arts
» Spectrum -- College of Education
UTSA's 'Friday Nights, Celestial Lights' is Friday, April 16
(April 13, 2010)--UTSA's astronomy faculty invites the community to the UTSA Main Campus on Friday, April 16 in the afternoon and evening to enjoy "Friday Nights, Celestial Lights." Both events are free and open to the public.
April's "Friday Nights, Celestial Lights" event falls on the same day as Fiesta UTSA. To join in the fun, UTSA's astronomy faculty will set up university telescopes from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. in a booth at Sombrilla Plaza, adjacent to Fiesta UTSA, to allow the public to view the daytime sky. Astronomers will be on hand to answer questions and assist with the telescopes.
There also will be an evening event April 16, starting with a 7:30 p.m. showing of an episode of the 1950s T.V. classic, "Rocky Jones, Space Ranger." The children's sci-fi series that debuted in 1954, followed the adventures of hero Rocky Jones as he battled evil. The series, which lasted two seasons, gave way to many popular special effects seen regularly in sci-fi shows today. The movie showing will be in the Science Building Lecture Hall (2.01.12), which is wheelchair accessible.
At approximately 8:15 p.m., weather permitting, attendees can use UTSA's telescopes, including a 15-inch telescope and several 8-inch Cassegrain telescopes to view the night sky from the fourth floor patio of the Science Building, also wheelchair accessible. If the sky is clear, the Orion Nebula, the crescent moon and Saturn will be visible in the evening sky. Depending on the weather, Venus also may be visible.
UTSA's monthly "Friday Nights, Celestial Lights" events began in 2009 as a celebration of the International Year of Astronomy, which commemorated the 400th anniversary of Galileo Galilei using a telescope to observe the heavens. The series is sponsored by the UTSA Department of Physics and Astronomy. | <urn:uuid:d3e1c8d2-a1dd-4127-b812-5704067d690f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://utsa.edu/today/2010/04/celestiallights.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918642 | 453 | 2.046875 | 2 |
New uses for old collections
Can biological collections help us to understand ecological and environmental issues? asks Museum research scientist Graham Pyke.
In the 1960s, US scientists concerned about a decline in populations of birds of prey showed a link between the increased use of agricultural pesticides and a decrease in the thickness of egg shells.
The shells came from museum collections that pre-dated the widespread use of the pesticides in question, DDT and its derivative DDE. The scientists showed that thinner egg shells led to an increase in mortality of young birds and a decline in the populations of adult birds.
This research led to a ban on the use of these pesticides and was one of the earliest examples of using museum collections to answer environmental questions.
I have recently been using museum collections of the common Striped Marsh Frog, Limnodynastes peronii, to similarly evaluate their role in providing bio-indicators of environmental quality and change.
I hypothesised that chemical pollution of the frog’s aquatic breeding habitat would have peaked during the 1960s or 1970s, and that the incidence of physical abnormalities (including missing body parts and differences in symmetry between left and right sides of the body) for this frog species would tend to increase with increasing pollution.
By examining specimens from the Museum’s collection, I showed that this was indeed the case: the proportion of frogs with physical abnormalities peaked for specimens collected during the 1960s or 1970s and was lower for specimens collected during earlier and later decades.
In this and similar ways, biological collections may be ‘mined’ to provide useful environmental information and insights because each specimen has associated with it useful data such as the place and date of capture.
Using collection data, I am also looking at changes in the distribution of the Striped Marsh Frog and another common frog, the Common Brown Froglet, Crinia signifera. Both species are very well represented in frog collections over the last 50 years, a period for which significant climatic changes have already occurred. Combining records from the Australian Museum (about 1500 for each species) with records from other museums provides a sample size of over 10,000 recorded locations for each of these species. Any changes in distribution offer an opportunity to understand the effects of climate change – an opportunity that exists only by virtue of these existing museum collections.
These examples are part of a considerable and increasingly realised potential for research based on biological collections. An increasing number of scientific articles published over the last 30 years – about 500 by my count – report or discuss the use of biological collections in addressing environmental issues.
This trend further increases the relevance of biological collections and makes them deserving of greater recognition, support and funding.
Dr Graham Pyke is a Senior Fellow at the Australian Museum and an Adjunct Professor in Biology at Macquarie University.
First published in Explore 31(4).
Michael Hugill , Online Producer | <urn:uuid:f034658a-189b-4c96-822c-766f5f4f6452> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://australianmuseum.net.au/New-uses-for-old-collections | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947256 | 591 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Arnait Video Productions and Rotating Planet are co-producing a series about an all-women hockey team in Inukjuak, The Uluit. To be aired on APTN in 2011.
Mining has already started to change the look of the town in inordinate ways largely uncontrolled by the residents of Igloolik. Some Iglulingmiut support and others are strongly opposed to diamond exploitation. Mining creates jobs but takes its toll on traditional visions of and relations to the land. Still, the debate is not really on and public, with few outlets for expressing everybody’s concern and point of view.
We will use video as a tool for investigating our subjects, some of which are: the impact of industrialization and mining on local mythology and legends, how people make choices for their future, the coexistence of legends and economical development. This work will be shared through the internet and as a video installation. | <urn:uuid:0d54cbef-7d50-4491-9cf0-0d49b6342db7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.isuma.tv/hi/en/arnaitvideo/progress | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953041 | 191 | 1.664063 | 2 |
The typical supermarket contains 50,000 different products. Would you give up some of that selection for lower prices?
Millions of Americans are doing just that, at "limited assortment grocery stores."
You probably won't find olive tapenade, brie cheese or basmati rice at one of these smaller stores, but you can find big savings.
Here's an overview of the concept. Start with a space about half the size of a typical suburban supermarket. Stock it with 95 percent store brands. And only carry about 80 percent of the selection traditional stores do.
"Good Morning America" traveled to the Save-A-Lot in Hyattsville, Md., to check it out.
There wasn't as much produce on display, but it was good-looking and affordable. There were bananas for just 45 cents per pound, compared to 80 cents at a traditional chain nearby.
Save-A-Lot only carries name-brand products when it can score a deep discount on them and pass the savings along to its customers as a special deal.
Mostly you see shelves lined with unfamiliar store brands like Kurtz, Coburn and Portman's.
"Everything is great, it's fresh and I've never had a problem. Never had to bring anything back. This is the place to shop," one female shopper said.
Other signs of a unique philosophy: a smaller meat department with fewer cuts. And products displayed on the palettes they came in.
This store offered yellow mustard and ketchup -- but in one type, one size. One type, one size, so they're not using a lot of shelf space to stock dozens of brands.
Save-A-Lot claims to save its customers as much as 40 percent with this formula, and retail analysts back up that number.
"They come in every day because we do save them so much money. They're able to give their families more on the table for less money out of their pocket," said Shannon King of Save-A-Lot. "To be able to save a family money in this economy is a great thing for us."
The concept is working for the stores, too. While traditional grocery sales are stagnant, revenue at limited assortment grocers Save-A-Lot, Aldi and Grocery Outlet is growing. In fact, all three chains plan to expand dramatically in the next couple of years.
Some limited assortment stores push prices even lower by not accepting credit cards -- and the fees they have to pay for the privilege. The Save-A-Lot "GMA" visited charges a few cents for plastic bags, and asks customers to fill those bags themselves, all to cut costs.
Now, let's compare prices of the leading name brands with the Save-A-Lot store brands.
Tortilla chips: Name brand $2.99, Save-A-Lot 99 cents
Juice boxes: Name brand $2.80, Save-A-Lot $1.79
Canned veggies: Name brand $1.70, Save-A-Lot 49 cents
Save-A-Lot store brand prices vs. store brands at traditional places
Mac-n-cheese: Traditional store: 99 cents, Save-A-Lot 33 cents
Coffee beans: Traditional store: $8.90, Save-A-Lot $4.99
Soda: Traditional store: $1.09, Save-A-Lot 69 cents
Limited assortment stores typically offer their own store brands at low prices all the time and only have sales on name brand products that come and go.
Some stores may require you to pay to use a shopping cart.
Aldi stores require you to deposit a quarter, to get a cart from the rack, but you get your quarter back if you return it to the rack afterward.
It's all to save on the labor cost of having employees collect carts. | <urn:uuid:6ca199d2-2736-48f8-8148-ed61555d2d61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/Business/ConsumerNews/limited-assortment-grocery-stores-consumers-save-big/story?id=12808224 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95328 | 804 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The Redwood County Sheriff’s Department reported late last week it received a report regarding a phone scam alleging involvement form local organizations. The Redwood Area Chamber and Tourism Office was contacted July 25 by a Redwood County resident who had become suspicious of a phone call requesting donations which would be used to fund community outreach programs. The caller indicated the fundraising was being done in partnership with the Redwood Chamber of Commerce, the American Red Cross and the Redwood County Sheriff’s Department
As the one being called recognized the discrepancy in the title for the local Chamber, the call was disconnected. The Redwood County Sheriff’s Department reminds residents to never provide banking information over the phone.
These scams have become very common and often sound quite convincing.
Citizens are encouraged to contact the sheriff’s department or one’s local police department if they feel they have been the victim of one of these scams. The incident remains under investigation. | <urn:uuid:e2900fcb-8155-4309-add4-517006756cb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.redwoodfallsgazette.com/article/20120730/NEWS/307309955/0/googlenewssitemap | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964941 | 193 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The taxpayer rescue of the California electric industry was due to mis-regulation, not deregulation as claimed. California legislators set a low retail electricity price ceiling and passed environmental regulations leading to a high wholesale price. California utilities had to pay over 25 cents per kilowatt hour for electricity and sale it for 7 cents. The politicians obviously had no background in the electric business. Their decisions led to financial collapse, illustrating the pitfalls of government involvement in business. The lawmakers bankrupted the utility and confiscated its property as collateral for paying the $12 billion debt they created. The California electric industry was never deregulated, and is now owned by the state government.
The first step in regulating the electric industry occurred during the 1930s when the states made monopolies of competing local electric companies. The various electric companies, tired of competition, petitioned state governments for monopoly franchises. State politicians were happy to oblige in return for state tax revenue. The state monopolies are inefficient but with abundant energy sources the price of electricity has remained low. As energy sources become scarcer, energy prices rise and deregulation of the electric industry will become more important.
Lawmakers and local politicians with little concept of the energy industry are in the process of restructuring. Retail competition allows electricity customers to choose suppliers. Customers in high price states such as California, New York, and Florida want to buy from other states. With retail competition, producers are also free to choose customers and prices in the low price states will rise.
The push to restructure the electric industry comes from environmental regulations and increased energy scarcity. Coal remains the fundamental energy source but causes air pollution. Natural gas burns more cleanly and is piped from the Gulf Coast to a new generation of efficient turbine generators. The gas pipeline system is expanding more slowly than demand and price will climb steadily due to increasing demand and scarcity. Hydroelectricity is a reliable energy source but there is no discussion of building new dams due to environmental concerns. Other alternative energy sources cannot provide base load for industry. Nuclear generation will become more important over the coming decades.
Be wary of proposed government solutions to energy issues. Price controls are doomed to fail as did the gasoline price caps of the 1970s. Legislators have little knowledge of the energy industry. The best energy policy is to rely on energy markets. As consumers face higher prices they will economize. Prices ultimately depend on investment and supply as well as demand. | <urn:uuid:059458a5-0f34-447e-be8a-a8a4dd649f51> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.auburn.edu/~thomph1/california.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961536 | 486 | 3.265625 | 3 |
Mobile Search: Why link based algorithms are useless
People searching on the normal web version of Google are given a list of results matching their query. In a simple terms these results are ranked according to the number (and quality) of other websites that have voted for them using links.
In Google’s algorithm a link = a vote and the more votes a site has the more deserving it is of being ranked highly.
When a user is searching for something on a mobile phone two very important variables are added to the equation – time and location. These are so totally unrelated to links that it is impossible to use a link based algorithm to serve up relevant results. When you consider that very few mobile websites actually link out to other sites the issue becomes even more problematic.
Google has a patent that describes how a mobile algorithm could show results based on the users location, the time of day and their previous history. For example if you opened up Google at lunchtime it would display a list of phone numbers for your favourite local pubs before you even had to search for anything.
Opening up Google in the same location at midnight would bring up a list of local taxi firms and pizza shops, again without you having to search for anything.
Mobile algorithms are going to become more and more behavioural based as Google extracts more data from our mobile search habits. The key to ranking well in these algorithms is going to be very similar to the current online methods of ranking in Google Local.
Latest from B3Labs
- Another milestone reached for Branded3 as it’s acquired by the
St Ives Group
- The latest media consumer findings & what they mean for digital marketers
- Talk to Branded3 at @BuyYorkshire in Leeds next week!
Latest from Blogstorm
- After five years, Google still doesn’t know how to rank images
- Tickets now on sale for the next #B3Seminar in London – book now!
- Google Only Shows One Organic Result To iPad Users | <urn:uuid:873fc6d6-97d8-4a78-9f38-35c19172b4b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.branded3.com/blogs/mobile-search-why-link-based-algorithms-are-useless/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954193 | 409 | 1.882813 | 2 |
options and options on shares with restricted transferability. Most listed options on other instruments
are also US-style options, but a number of European style options have been introduced in recent
years, particularly on stock indices and currencies.
AMFI- Association of Mutual Funds in India
A firm / company / an individual who is engaged either on his own behalf or on behalf of any other
firm or organization that is regularly publishing securities recommendations based on research either
through print media and /or electronic media.
A rise in the price of a security or in the value of one currency in terms of another.
A person duly registered by the SEBI Board under the Securities Lending Scheme , 1997 through
whom the lender of securities will deposit the securities and the borrower will borrow the securities.
(1) Technically, arbitrage consists of purchasing a commodity or security in one market for immediate
sale in another market (deterministic arbitrage).
(2)Popular usage has expanded the meaning of the term to include any activity which attempts to
buy a relatively underpriced item and sell a similar, relatively overpriced item, expecting to profit
when the prices resume a more appropriate theoretical or historical relationship (statistical
(3) In trading options, convertible securities, and futures, arbitrage techniques can be applied whenever
a strategy involves buying and selling packages of related instruments.
(4)Risk arbitrage applies the principles of risk offset to mergers and other major corporate
developments. The risk offsetting position(s) do not insulate the investor from certain event risks
(such as termination of a merger agreement on the risk of completion of a transaction within a
certain time) so that the arbitrage is incomplete.
(5) Tax arbitrage transactions are undertaken to share the benefit of differential tax rates or
circumstances of two or more parties to a transaction.
(6) Regulatory arbitrage transactions are designed to provide indirect access to a risk management
market where one party is denied direct access by law or regulation.
(7)Swap driven arbitrage transactions are motivated by the comparative advantages which swap
counter-parties enjoy in different debt and currency markets. One counterparty may borrow at a
relatively lower rate in the intermediate or long term United States dollar market, while the other
may have a comparative advantage in floating rate sterling.
An alternative dispute resolution mechanism provided by a stock exchange for resolving disputes
between the trading members and their clients in respect of trades done on the exchange. | <urn:uuid:dce92772-6bfb-468a-bbec-cfc1d38cc50a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scribd.com/doc/23587040/634/Transfer-Agents | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900477 | 522 | 1.6875 | 2 |
About The Paramount
The Paramount, or 680 Mission Street at Third is a 40-story rental-apartment tower that is located in South of Market just outside of the Financial District on Mission Street in San Francisco. Construction of the 420-foot (128-m) tower was completed in 2002. At its time of completion in 2002, the building was the tallest concrete-framed located in Seismic Zone 4. It was also the tallest all-residential building in San Francisco from 2002 to 2008. The Paramount is one out of several new highrise projects completed or under construction on Mission Street since 2000. Other examples include 555 Mission Street, the St. Regis Museum Tower, and 301 Mission Street, 101 Second Street, and the JP MorganChase Building. UC Santa Cruz chancellor Denice Denton leapt to her death from the roof on 24 June 2006. She shared an apartment with her partner, Gretchen Kalonji, a former professor of materials science at the University of Washington in Seattle. Her mother, Carolyn Mabee, was in the building when Denton died, and reportedly said her daughter was "very depressed" about her professional and personal life. | <urn:uuid:41a36794-44df-4687-bdb9-050467654674> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://processwire.com/skyscrapers/cities/san-francisco/the-paramount/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967143 | 237 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Photo: David Flores
Smell is chemistry, and the chemistry of old books gives your cherished tomes their scent. As a book ages, the chemical compounds used—the glue, the paper, the ink–begin to break down. And, as they do, they release volatile compounds—the source of the smell. A common smell of old books, says the International League for Antiquarian Booksellers, is a hint of vanilla: “Lignin, which is present in all wood-based paper, is closely related to vanillin. As it breaks down, the lignin grants old books that faint vanilla scent.”
A study in 2009 looked into the smell of old books, finding that the complex scent was a mix of “hundreds of so-called volatile organic compounds (VOCs) released into the air from the paper,” says the Telegraph. Here’s how Matija Strlic, the lead scientist behind that study, described the smell of an old book:
A combination of grassy notes with a tang of acids and a hint of vanilla over an underlying mustiness, this unmistakable smell is as much a part of the book as its contents.Ed note: What makes rain smell so good?
Page from “The Story of the Glittering Plain Which Has Been Also Called the Land of Living Men or the Acre of the Undying,” illustrated by Walter Crane and published by the Kelmscott Press in 1894.
See more from the Kelmscott Press on the Virtual Library.
If you have ever felt overwhelmed by the ubiquity of McDonald’s, this stat may make your day: There are more public libraries (about 17,000) in America than outposts of the burger mega-chain (about 14,000). The same is true of Starbucks (about 11,000 coffee shops nationally).
…libraries serve 96.4 percent of the U.S. population, a reach any fast-food franchise can only dream of.
From Harper’s Weekly, February 4, 1860, part of a story on “The Hog Trade of Cincinnati.”
“To be born a pig and not die the death of a hog in Cincinnati were an ignominy that none but the most groveling and debased swine could endure. The litter sort will not submit to it. The stall-fed, corn-fattened hog, contemplates the purpose of his life from a higher point of view. He is actuated by a nobler motive. He realizes the aspiration and enthusiasm of the enraptured poet; he must see Cincinnati, and die.”
Above: a medieval manuscript mended with embroidery. Photos via the Uppsala University Library. Here is some information about the manuscript from their page:
The pages of the book are made of parchment and they show typical damage in the form of holes and tears that happened while the parchment was being made. Some time after the book was copied, the holes and tears have been mended artistically with silk of various colours, mainly in blanket stitch as used in embroidery.
The old mending is in good shape except for those parts which were sewn with black silk. The thread is so fragile that it disintegrates on touch.
Read more here.
Happy Birthday Maurice Sendak
Today would have been the beloved author’s 85th birthday and Google has honored him with a wonderful doodle on their search page.
The video we decided to share is a year old but it really shows what an amazing person Sendak was. Enjoy this illustrated talk between Sendak and NPR’s Terry Gross.
Before and after, from our scrapbook of John Robinson’s Ten Big Shows.
Over the last two weeks we’ve looked at the legacy of The Doors’ keyboardist Ray Manzarek, first by looking at some groovy organ jazz in our collection and then at other organ-centric rock bands. This week, the third and final installment of the series, let’s venture beyond, to some way-out experimental works featuring the organ.
Already well-known for his hypnotic masterpieces In C and A Rainbow in Curved Air, which synthesized burgeoning new age and classical minimalism movements, Terry Riley spent several years studying Indian music with Pran Nath. Although his music had always been tempered with an Eastern quality, this becomes fully present in his 1980 album Shri Camel. Riley plays a Yamaha combo organ augmented by a digital delay (which creates an intense “echo” effect), and the result is four tracks of shimmering organic undulations that drift seamlessly between Western and Eastern intonations. This title is available to check out on LP or to download for free from Freegal. If you prefer CD, start with Riley’s most enduring work, A Rainbow in Curved Air (which is also available on Freegal). Also, check out this far out video of Riley performing a segment from the album.
A pioneer of classical minimalism and one of the most influential living American composers, Steve Reich’s earliest works explored the idea of phasing, which occurs when two or more instruments or recordings simultaneously play the same musical phrase at slightly different speeds. At its purest, the effect can range from disorienting to spectacular, such as in his masterpiece Music for 18 Musicians, where the technique was applied for an ensemble of pianos, mallet instruments, and vocalists. Four Organs falls somewhere in the middle. Written for four organists that phase in and out of sync with one another and one maracha player to keep tempo, the piece is infamous for having nearly caused a riot when it was presented at Carnegie Hall in 1973. This is a difficult work to absorb, but to the patient, adventurous listener it offers the reward of a mind-expanding experience. Also worth noting, one of the organists on this recording is none other than Philip Glass.
Up until now, all the albums we’ve discussed have featured electric organs. Jon Gibson’s Two Solo Pieces features instead a massive pipe organ. The main work, Cycles, is 23 minutes of slow moving chord clusters. The effect is like watching clouds drift by, shifting imperceptibly from ominous to heavenly. This album is available to check out on LP. Fun fact: Jon Gibson is the maracha player on Steve Reich’s Four Organs.
From the liner notes:
The organ has been called “the monster which never breathes,” but perhaps its breaths are simply very long and deep. in Charlemagne Palestine’s perambulations through the organ’s sonic landscape, this is certainly the case—the breath is some 70 minutes long.
Yes, it’s true that Schlingen-Blangen consists of one chord sustained for more than an hour. There are no other instruments. Very little happens. But the quality of the sound continues to shift, creating an immersive headspace that the can be awe-inspiring. Palestine is also known for his eccentric stage presence.
This ultra-campy 2002 project by British artist Angie Tillett channels a smart, saccharine, and totally silly version of 1960s Swinging London. In Death by Chocolate’s Zap the World, Ray Manzarek-esque combo organ and fuzzy guitar riffs back Tillett’s deadpan stream-of-consciousness spoken word listing of interesting objects, confectionary ingredients, and what it’s like to stare at a Bridget Riley painting for too long (“your eyes will go pop!”). It opens with a totally convincing faux advertisement for the Vox wah-wah pedal (“It’s the now sound! It’s what’s happening!”). Also check out her more recent, equally groovy album Bric-a-Brac, which is available to download on Freegal. It includes the track My New Old Organ, which can stand alone as a part of your groovy-music collection.
Listen to This! is a weekly music column by Popular Library Music Geek/Reference Librarian Steve Kemple, featuring off-the-beaten-path music from the library’s collection. It is also a twice-monthly listening program held every 2nd and 4th Wednesday night at 7pm in the Popular Library Department at the Main Library. | <urn:uuid:877a5ca5-d177-4504-a249-354a348e8690> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cincylibrary.tumblr.com/ | 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 | 0.9466 | 1,758 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Equal Rights Amendment supporters rallied in 1982, shown in “Makers: Women Who Make America.”
PBS • Associated Press ,
TV picks for Feb. 26: "Women Who Make America,” "Celebrity Wife Swap”
- Article by: Neal Justin
- Star Tribune
- February 25, 2013 - 3:48 PM
Sisters are doin’ it for themselves
Meryl Streep narrates the thorough and thought-provoking “Makers: Women Who Make America” (7 p.m., TPT, Ch. 2), a three-hour documentary that tracks both the triumphs and shortcomings of the women’s rights movement. Gloria Steinem, Katie Couric and Hillary Clinton are among the talking heads.
If “Makers” shows women at their best, then “Celebrity Wife Swap” (7 p.m., KSTP, Ch. 5) shows them at their worst, especially when the gender is represented by reality “star” Kate Gosselin and Playmate Kendra Wilkinson. Their spouses had better have plenty of aspirin on hand.
Kevin Michael Connolly doesn’t let the fact that he was born without legs get in the way of seeking thrills. In “Armed & Ready” (9 p.m., Travel), the acclaimed photographer uses a tricked-out skateboard to push the boundaries in the Smoky Mountains and Hawaii.
© 2013 Star Tribune | <urn:uuid:7e5bbc71-2559-42d2-9488-9305a517cd4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.startribune.com/printarticle/?id=193117991 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900404 | 313 | 1.515625 | 2 |
2013 Peace and Global Security Workshops
Food is central to life. Yet all too often, the lack of food becomes a source of conflict globally. Join us for workshops that examine the challenges of food insecurity and food justice in the struggle for peace. We will lift up particular regional examples of conflict, the role of women, land grabbing, human trafficking, and human rights violations. Within the U.S. we examined current budget debates and how military expenditures are linked to social safety net programs and food.
Bombs, Bread, and Budgets: Assessing Our Priorities and the Cost of War
Recent budget debates have highlighted the need to better understand the Pentagon Budget and budgetary decisions in a period of fiscal austerity. This workshop will examine our national spending priorities and highlight ways in which Pentagon spending must change to protect critical social safety net programs and ensure a healthy and safe world.
Speakers: Ruth Flower, Associate Executive Secretary for Legislative Program, Friends Committee on National Legislation; Chris Hellman, Senior Research Analyst, National Priorities Project; Moderator: Rev. Michael Neuroth, Policy Advocate on International Issues, United Church of Christ
Breaking News on the Torture Issue and Addressing Anti-Muslim Sentiment
During the last four months, there have been critical developments in the work to end U.S.-sponsored torture. This workshop will offer practical ways to engage your church in these efforts as well as the work to diminish anti-Muslim sentiment in your community. Topics will include the film Zero Dark Thirty, the Senate Intelligence Committee report on torture, hate crimes against Muslims, countering efforts to stop the building of mosques, and how to build relationships with Muslims in your community.
Speakers: Rev. Richard Killmer, Executive Director, National Religious Campaign Against Torture; Dr. Mohamed Elsanousi, Director of Interfaith & Community Alliances, Islamic Society of North America; Christina Warner, Campaign Director, Shoulder-to-Shoulder
Drones, National Security, and our Faith Values
In the last few months, the United States’ use of drones to carry out targeted killings has come to the forefront of the American consciousness. Thanks to leaks like the Department of Justice’s ‘White Paper’, more questions are being raised regarding the legal and ethical concerns of carrying out such a program. This workshop will focus on understanding how and where drones are being used in South Asia and elsewhere, and the national security concerns and civilian impact that their use poses. The faith community’s unique contribution to the legal and moral considerations surrounding the program will also be addressed.
Speakers: Matt Southworth, Legislative Associate, Foreign Policy, Friends Committee on National Legislation; speaker invited from the Global Justice Clinic (GJC) at NYU School of Law
Fighting with Food: How Food and Conflict Are Interconnected
From international violence to community level disputes, hunger and food are related to conflict. This workshop will examine how food insecurity may trigger conflict and how the dynamics of hunger and politics of food are caused by fighting and used as weapons of war. Focus of this session will include broad characteristics and specific cases from around the world.
Speakers: Sam Gbaydee Doe, PhD, Senior Policy Advisor & Team Leader, United Nations Development Programme | <urn:uuid:2a3674f8-8341-4356-a635-147707e7e28c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://advocacydays.org/2013-at-gods-table/workshops/peace-and-global-security/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915318 | 662 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Posted at 6:59 AM on November 8, 2007
by Paul Huttner
Here's a new twist on climate change. Something is sparkling in Greenland these days, and it's not ice.
It seems the rush is on in Greenland for diamonds. Newly exposed rock that was under a sheet of ice several years ago has revealed some impressive diamond finds, including a 2.4 carat rock in a western Greenland trial dig.
This highlights a new era of oil mineral, and other natural resource exploration in the new Arctic frontier. As new islands emerge, new land areas jut out from under dissapearing ice.
Posted at 2:18 PM on November 8, 2007
by Mark Seeley
Over the years, meteorologists have come up with ingredients methods to
forecast specific weather events, especially winter snowfalls. Such methods
are used along with the numerical guidance models produced by the
These methods apply a cookbook-style ingredients list that
forecasters can use to estimate the precipitation process and apply to the
size and intensity of storms. Fundamentally, this gets to the formation of water
droplets or ice crystals, their structure, abundance, and longevity in the
Such methods are often built on case studies (historically documented)
using the pre- and post-storm data sets. In addition to measured precipitation
amounts these data sets may contain winds, mixing ratios, temperatures, stability
indices and other attributes. This approach truly lets history be our teacher.
A description of ingredients methods can be found here.
I am aware that the National Weather Service in Chanhassen, Minnesota has used the Garcia
Method (Crispin Garcia, 1994) and the Wetzel Ingredients Method (Suzanne Wetzel,
2001) for forecasting precipitation from winter storms. I suspect there are a
number of other methods in use as well. | <urn:uuid:7f308471-a957-4206-887c-604be30d5647> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/collections/special/columns/updraft/archive/2007/11/08/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918591 | 385 | 2.921875 | 3 |
What is MicroSIM?
A SIM card is the little chip in a GSM cell phone that holds your subscriber information.
A micro SIM, also known as a 3FF or "third form factor" SIM, is a smaller version of a SIM card that holds the same data, but is not physically compatible with larger SIM cards (2FF, "second form factor") like the ones used by mobile operators.
Micro SIM was released due to need of very small cards designed for devices whose secondary purpose would be to communicate, such as digital cameras or watches.
As Micro SIM chip is more technically advanced than one in standard SIM, contact area remains the same and backward compatibility is preserved.
The result is that the third form factor is a smaller version of the existing plug-in card, with much of the excess plastic cut away, but in such a way as not to impose restrictions on the chip size. | <urn:uuid:000f6df8-3eb2-4ddd-a5fa-3d39cdf3f3ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.microsimadaptor.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=47&Itemid=54 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969736 | 185 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Catcher in the Rye was a pivotal book for me. It was one of the first books that I read that seemed to speak the Truth… about phoniness and superficiality and adult hypocrisy.
As a preteen, I didn’t probe into the actual copyright date; I thought it had just been written about my generation - actually about ME specifically.
Up until that point, I’d mostly read series like Trixie Beldon and Nancy Drew, both admirable but neither of whom were very introspective.
I remember sprawling on my bed for an entire Sunday afternoon – not being able to put the book down, yet not wanting to let my new soulmate, Holden Caulfield, out of my life, either.
David Ulin says in the LA Times, “We possess the books we read, animating the waiting stillness of their language, but they possess us also, filling us with thoughts and observations, asking us to make them part of ourselves.” | <urn:uuid:adf4363a-ac38-49bb-bc3a-2f674afbe1b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.davenportlibrary.com/reference/2009/09/29/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974199 | 204 | 1.625 | 2 |
Since she is not truly an emergency patient, she is triaged to the back of the line, and other folks, those in immediate distress, get in for treatment ahead of her. She waits on a gurney in a cavernous green hallway.
The “chief complaint” on her chart at Grady Memorial Hospital, in Downtown Atlanta, might have set off a wave of nausea in a hospital at a white suburb or almost any place in the civilized world. It reads, “My breast has fallen off. Can you reattach it?
” (via Boing Boing
) [more inside]
posted by Joe in Australia
on Apr 24, 2012 -
Trial of the Will.
"Reviewing familiar principles and maxims in the face of mortal illness, Christopher Hitchens has found one of them increasingly ridiculous: 'Whatever doesn’t kill me makes me stronger.' Oh, really? Take the case of the philosopher to whom that line is usually attributed, Friedrich Nietzsche, who lost his mind to what was probably syphilis. Or America’s homegrown philosopher Sidney Hook, who survived a stroke and wished he hadn’t. Or, indeed, the author, viciously weakened by the very medicine that is keeping him alive." [Via]
posted by homunculus
on Dec 8, 2011 -
- a network of online data libraries on topics including census data, economic data, health data, income and unemployment data, population data, labor data, cancer data, crime and transportation data, family dynamics, vital statistics data
posted by Gyan
on Dec 26, 2007 -
Body fat causes cancer
according to a scary report from the American Institute for Cancer Research
and the World Cancer Research Fund
that reviewed 7000 studies. Obesity creates "a low-grade chronic inflammatory state" that promotes cancer. This report seems more foreboding than others of its ilk, e.g.: "Even small amounts of excess body fat, especially if carried at the waist, increase risk." Drinking is also carcinogenic: better limit yourself to 2 drinks a day if you're male and 1 if you're female. (Of course, breathing
is also bad, and so is sunlight
. ) Conclusion: you can live a really long time if you don't like to eat or drink, though you want to avoid taking this to extremes
posted by cogneuro
on Oct 31, 2007 -
The Australian cigarette health warnings
have pretty much filtered down to every retail packet that's bought now. They're pretty gruesome
and some smoking acquaintances cover them up with stickers. I thought I'd have a look around and see what other countries warnings were like. None of them were pulling any punches except for Uruguay.
posted by tellurian
on May 17, 2006 -
The Great American Health Check
Cancer.org has a great online resource to figure out what your individual health risks are, to help get into better shape or to help quit smoking. Its free and kicks out a personalized list of concerns to print out and bring to your doctor.
posted by fenriq
on Jan 27, 2006 -
Cancer be damned, kids wanna tan
“I know I might get cancer, but sometimes you want to look good no matter what. I’d rather look good that worry about what could happen to me–looks are more important to me sometimes than my health.” (Maclean’s Magazine)
Perhaps cancer is ‘natural selection’ at work trying to weed out all of societies undesirables from the gene pool. I for one think we could do without people this stupid.
posted by haasim
on Jun 23, 2005 -
Ivan Noble's Tumour Diary
The BBC's Ivan Noble has been keeping an online diary of his fight against a malignant brain tumour. Alas, his illness is now getting the better of him, and this will be his final column.
He has been, at times, an inspiration, incredibly brave and totally honest about his illness. As a former colleague, he shall also be remembered fondly.
Start from the beginning
, it's a must read.
posted by scaryduck
on Jan 27, 2005 -
Check out the giant cancer fighting colon... of science!
"It's part of a national tour to educate people about various types of common and preventable cancers. The 'Check Your Insides Out -- Top to Bottom' tour is full of interactive educational exhibits on colon, lung, oral, breast, prostate and skin cancers."
posted by ilsa
on Jun 24, 2004 -
Ling Chan gave up everything to come to America.
"Chan arrived in the United States with no knowledge of English, no support network, and a dependent child...she was happy to land a janitorial job with AXT Inc., a Fremont, California semiconductor manufacturing firm...on a four-person cleaning crew, scrubbing the boxes used to ship semiconductor wafers around the factory...after a few weeks, her colleagues -- mostly Chinese immigrants, like herself -- whispered that this was no ordinary dust: It could give you cancer." [via Fark, of all places]
posted by mr_crash_davis
on May 8, 2004 -
Cure for Cancer: 72 hours of sex!
A leading tantric sex guru who says he has counseled Whitney Houston, Princess Diana and Michael Jackson claims he "heals" women of terminal diseases such as cancer by sleeping with them -- 2,000 of them in 40 years, and his wife doesn't mind.
posted by Slagman
on Feb 2, 2004 -
The worlds longest hockey game
came to an end this afternoon after 80 hours of ice time. 39 players (all with ties to cancer through loved ones lost or afflicted) participated to raise money for pediatric cancer research.
What lengths would you go to for your cause?
posted by Starchile
on Feb 16, 2003 -
Cancer and Carbohydrates (per FT)
may be closely linked according to recent international study - and not just any carbohydrates but those that are our favorites - deep fried potatoes, rice, and bread all may contain high levels of cancer causing acrylamides. What's your average carb eater to do?
posted by zia
on Apr 26, 2002 -
Cure for Cancer in 10 Years?
Anyone else see West Wing
last night? Apparently, drugs called signal transduction inhibitors (STIs)
- such as phenoxodiol
, the drug referred to by Pres. Bartlet - are a reality, and early studies
have shown their effectiveness in striking cancer's Achilles heel. Furthermore, in the Law and Order episode which followed, Gleevec was mentioned as the key to curing a type of leukemia, which is in fact a remarkably potent STI recently FDA-approved. Perhaps Aaron Sorkin isn't spinning a fantasy tale as I initially thought -- any oncologists in the house? [If Newsgurus doesn't let you in, try Google's cache.]
posted by padjet1
on Jan 17, 2002 - | <urn:uuid:a29d03be-138f-4605-b64e-40da3730b5f0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.metafilter.com/tags/Health+cancer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956783 | 1,486 | 1.953125 | 2 |
WASHINGTON - Retail sales delivered the weakest performance in five months in July as shoppers shunned autos while they paid more for gas.
With the mass mailings of $92 billion in rebate checks now just a memory, there is concern the fragile economy could slow even more in the second half of this year.
The Commerce Department reported Wednesday that retail sales fell 0.1 percent last month, the first decline since a 0.5 percent tumble in February. It was a worse showing than the flat reading economists had been expecting and followed a revised but still weak 0.3 percent reading for June.
Analysts said retail sales would have been more feeble without the $92 billion in rebate payments the government sent out in May, June and July. Those checks helped to counter plunging home prices, rising unemployment and soaring gasoline prices.
The bulk mailings are now over, though, leaving economists worried about what will happen next to spending.
"Cautious and uncertain consumers are watching their wallets and with the back-to-school shopping season under way, that does not bode well for retailers," said Joel Naroff, chief economist at Naroff Economic Advisors.
Susan Taylor-Demming, of Naperville, Ill., said the squeeze on the family budget has meant, among other things, that she drove to New Jersey with her two daughters for a summer vacation rather than fly.
"Play dates instead of water park adventures," she added.
Gasoline prices have been falling since hitting a high of $4.11 per gallon and that should help consumer spending in coming months, economists said. But they wonder if that will be enough to offset the loss of the stimulus checks.
GDP forecast to shrink
David Wyss, chief economist at Standard & Poors in New York, said he believed consumers will spend about 60 percent of the money they receive in the first three months after getting the check, deciding to save the rest. That would be similar to the pattern seen when the government used tax rebates to fight the 2001 recession.
The overall economy grew at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the April-June quarter, helped in part by the stimulus payments. Wyss said he was looking for growth of around 2 percent in the gross domestic product in the current July-September quarter. But he forecast the GDP would shrink in the final three months of this year and the first three months of next year, as the impact of the rebate checks wears off.
Two consecutive quarters of falling GDP is the classic definition of a recession.
Other economists said they also were looking for negative GDP then.
Nigel Gault, chief U.S. economist at Global Insight, a Lexington, Mass., forecasting company, said he believed GDP would shrink at an annual rate of 0.7 percent in the fourth quarter of this year and drop by 0.4 percent in the first quarter of next year.
He said he was looking for these declines even with the help the economy will get if energy prices keep falling.
"I think there are too many negatives and the negatives are too large for a gasoline price decline to change the story significantly," he said.
At the White House, presidential spokesman Tony Fratto noted that the weakness in July retail sales reflected a big drop in auto sales during the month and other "substantial headwinds faced by households" such as high gasoline prices.
Auto sales fell by 2.4 percent in July - another dismal month for automakers who saw sales activity plunge to the lowest level in 16 years as the weak economy and rising job layoffs severely dampened demand.
Excluding the big drop in autos, retail sales would have posted a 0.4 percent increase. While that was a positive reading, it was still the weakest showing for sales excluding autos in five months.
Much of what little strength there was in July came from a 0.8 percent jump in sales at gasoline stations because of surging prices rather than increased demand.
The Associated Press Ellen Simon in New York contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:8e4003a6-6d8c-4fff-83f8-ea1b2265bb0d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://savannahnow.com/martin-crutsinger/2008-08-13/retail-sales-drop-first-time-5-months | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974306 | 821 | 1.625 | 2 |
Day two of the Brainstorm GREEN conference
yesterday revealed that Richard Branson will embark on an undersea venture
where he will explore some of the deepest parts of the oceans around the
GREEN conference is where thought leaders and business leaders - such
as Fortune 500 companies,
government policymakers and environmental activists - come together for a
three-day symposium in Laguna Niguel, California in order to exchange and
Branson is a British entrepreneur who is known for the Virgin brand. He first
launched Virgin Records in 1972, which later became Virgin Megastores. The name
then grew into over 400 companies, which make up the Virgin Group. Branson is
also deeply interested in environmental endeavors, such as the Virgin Green
Fund, which invests in companies that can compete with "dirty
industries" like oil and make a profit in order to eliminate
reliance on dirty fuels.
the Brainstorm GREEN conference, Branson told Fortune Managing Editor Andy Serwer that
he would be exploring the deepest parts of the world's oceans in the Virgin Oceanic submarine.
which was designed by Graham Hawkes, weighs 8,000 lbs and is made of carbon fiber
and titanium. It has an operating depth of 37,000 ft and can operate for 24
hours "unaided." It was designed in such a way that it looks like it
has fins and a unique flying wing so that can range the seas "in harmony
with its environment." In addition, Branson notes that it is much less
expensive to operate and manufacture than other subs that cannot achieve full
ocean depth like the Virgin Oceanic can.
Oceanic will expand the reach of human
exploration on our planet," said Branson. "By promoting and
utilizing new technology, Virgin Oceanic will aid humankind's ability to
explore our oceans, assist science in understanding our ecosystem and raise
awareness of the challenges facing our oceans."
noted that other submarines prior to the Virgin Oceanic could only dive 18,000
ft, while some of the deepest trenches in the world are around 36,000 ft. The
Virgin Oceanic was designed to be the first sub to explore some of these
Virgin Oceanic venture will consist of five dives in five different oceans. The
crew will explore the Mariana Trench in the Pacific, the Diamantina Trench in
the Indian, the South Sandwich Trench in the Southern Atlantic, the Puerto Rico
Trench in the Atlantic and the Molloy Deep in the Arctic Ocean.
dive will be piloted by different commanders with Chris Welsh diving to the
Mariana Trench (36,201 ft) with Sir Richard as back-up pilot, and Sir Richard
piloting to the Puerto Rico Trench (28,232 ft) - the deepest trench in the
Atlantic, which has never been explored before - with Chris Welsh acting as
back-up," said Branson. "The Virgin Oceanic sub has the ability to
'fly' underwater for 10 km at depth on each of the five dives and to fully
explore this unknown environment."
mission is expected to take two years. | <urn:uuid:133ff9c7-d743-4cf9-94d8-342a5974e2d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailytech.com/article.aspx?newsid=21307&commentid=669583&threshhold=1&red=1420 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934742 | 654 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Neohapsis is currently accepting applications for employment. For more information, please visit our website www.neohapsis.com or email email@example.com
[ISN] Hold the Phone, VOIP Isn't Safe
From: InfoSec News (isnc4i.org)
Date: Tue Feb 08 2005 - 02:54:17 CST
By Elizabeth Biddlecombe
Feb. 07, 2005
In recognition of the fact that new technologies are just as valuable
to wrongdoers as to those in the right, a new industry group has
formed to look at the security threats inherent in voice over internet
The VOIP Security Alliance, or VOIPSA, launches on Monday. So far, 22
entities, including security experts, researchers, operators and
equipment vendors, have signed up. They range from equipment vendor
Siemens and phone company Qwest to research organization The SANS
They aim to counteract a range of potential security risks in the
practice of sending voice as data packets, as well as educate users as
they buy and use VOIP equipment. An e-mail mailing list and working
groups will enable discussion and collaboration on VOIP testing tools.
VOIP services have attracted few specific attacks so far, largely
because the relatively small number of VOIP users doesn't make them a
worthwhile target. (A report from Point Topic in December counted 5
million VOIP users worldwide.)
But security researchers have found vulnerabilities in the various
protocols used to enable VOIP. For instance, CERT has issued alerts
regarding multiple weaknesses with SIP (session initiation protocol)
and with H.323.
Over the past year, experts have repeatedly warned that VOIP abuse is
inevitable. The National Institute of Standards and Technology put out
a report last month urging federal agencies and businesses to consider
the complex security issues often overlooked when considering a move
to VOIP. NIST is a member of VOIPSA.
"It is really just a matter of time before it is as widespread as
e-mail spam," said Michael Osterman, president of Osterman Research.
Spammers have already embraced "spim" (spam over instant messaging),
say the experts. Dr. Paul Judge, chief technology officer at
messaging-protection company CipherTrust, says 10 percent of
instant-messaging traffic is spam, with just 10 to 15 percent of its
corporate clients using IM. "It is where e-mail was two and a half
years ago," said Judge.
To put that in perspective, according to another messaging-protection
company, FrontBridge Technologies, 17 percent of e-mail was spam in
January 2002. It put that figure at 93 percent in November 2004.
So the inference is that "spit" (spam over internet telephony) is just
around the corner. Certainly, the ability to send out telemarketing
voicemail messages with the same ease as blanket e-mails makes for
Aside from the annoyance this will cause, the strain on network
resources when millions of 100-KB voicemail messages are transmitted,
compared with 5- or 10-KB e-mails, will be considerable.
But the threat shouldn't be couched solely within the context of
unlawful marketing practices. Users might also see the audio
equivalent of phishing, in which criminals leave voicemails pretending
to be from a bank, said Osbourne Shaw, whose role as president of ICG,
an electronic forensics company, has led him to try buying some of the
goods advertised in spam.
In fact, according to David Endler, chairman of the VOIP Security
Alliance and director of digital vaccines at network-intrusion company
TippingPoint, there are many ways to attack a VOIP system. First, VOIP
inherits the same problems that affect IP networks themselves: Hackers
can launch distributed denial of service attacks, which congest the
network with illegitimate traffic. This prevents e-mails, file
transfers, web-page requests and, increasingly, voice calls from
getting through. Voice traffic has its own sensitivities, which mean
the user experience can easily be degraded past the point of
Furthermore, additional nodes of the network can be attacked with
VOIP: IP phones, broadband modems and network equipment, such as soft
switches, signaling gateways and media gateways.
Endler paints a picture in which an attack on a VOIP service could
mean people would eavesdrop on conversations, interfere with audio
streams, or disconnect, reroute or even answer other people's phone
calls. This is a concern to the increasing number of call centers that
put both their voice and data traffic on a single IP network. It is
even more of a concern for 911 call centers.
But Louis Mamakos, chief technology officer at broadband telephony
provider Vonage, says he and his team "spend a lot of time worrying
about security" but the problems the company has seen so far have
centered on "more pedestrian" threats like identity theft.
Vonage has not yet signed up for the VOIP Security Alliance, said
Mamakos, and employees already spend a lot of time working on security
issues with technology providers.
"I'm not sure if (VOIPSA) is a solution to a problem we don't have
yet," he said. "We need to judge what the incremental value is in
working with another organization."
He also talked about how hard it would be to break into Vonage's
service. Access to Vonage's signaling traffic requires authentication.
The infrastructure is much more distributed than the websites that
have been taken offline by denial of service attacks. And anyone
wanting to eavesdrop on a Vonage phone conversation would have to be
physically very close to the broadband connection leading to the
target, as the farther away the eavesdropper is, the more commingled
the target's voice traffic will be with other traffic on the network.
Meanwhile Kelly Larrabee, a spokeswoman for the peer-to-peer VOIP
provider Skype, noted that Skype users control what information about
themselves is available and who can contact them. She also said
end-to-end encryption is used to protect voice conversations. The only
vulnerability so far, aside from uncertified third-party applications,
is through file transfers -- and again, this is under user control.
But these words could be like a red rag to a bull. As one commentator
put it, a continuous duel is going on between network users and
abusers, and spammers and hackers could well be reading this article.
This poses the question of whether a group like the VOIP Security
Alliance should refrain from announcing its efforts in the media and
from making its membership and e-mail list free and open to all.
In response, said VOIPSA's Endler, "The people we really have to worry
about are already thinking about (how to misuse VOIP)."
Today's effort is to ensure that VOIP systems are reinforced "before
it gets to the point that there are easily available tools for the
script kiddies to use," he said.
Bellua Cyber Security Asia 2005 - | <urn:uuid:06723d36-6263-4728-884f-b66791d9c312> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archives.neohapsis.com/archives/isn/2005-q1/0128.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940489 | 1,548 | 2.03125 | 2 |
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I feel like a terrible parent to my MilKids. Sometimes I find myself at a complete loss as to how to explain to them certain aspects of military life. Sometimes they need more answers, more reassurance than the old standby “because it’s daddy’s job.”
That’s why I’m so happy when I stumble upon resources like Military Kids Connect. This Defense Department website is the perfect place for military kids ages 6 to 17 to learn more about the life they’re living through fun activities and from other kids who are living the same life and asking the same questions.
The site is broken up into age groups (kids, tweens and teens), with age-appropriate games, activities, videos, resources, tips and message boards. When I introduced the site to my 8-year-old son, it took him only a few seconds to push me aside and take control of the mouse.
“Daddy has told me a lot about Iraq and Afghanistan,” my son explained as he clicked on the animated map. “I want to learn more.” Before I knew it, he was participating in an online lesson in Arabic and taking notes so he could practice later.
Then I watched him try out different games and read the Deployment Daily titled, “Do we have to move again?” He seemed almost surprised that there were other kids out there who were bummed about having to move again, just like he is.
And that’s why I love this website. There are only so many explanations we can give to our kids about military life. Sometimes they need to hear it from someone their own age.
You know what else is awesome about Military Kids Connect? It’s not just for kids. The site recently added new features for parents and educators. For some families, it can act as a conversation starter. After only one visit, my son and I were chatting about military “stuff” that was on his mind that he’d never shared with me before. The site can also be a resource for parents who, like many of us, have no clue how to talk to our kids about certain issues and what kinds of coping strategies we can offer them.
But, parents, don’t just stop there. Pass this website along to your children’s teachers. As a former teacher who earned a degree in a military town and taught in military towns, I was always shocked by the lack of training new teachers were given on dealing with the unique needs of military children. Thankfully, I could fall back on my own experiences, but what about those teachers who don’t come from a military background? Wouldn’t it be nice to find a way to give them a glimpse of what our children go through? I think so too. And Military Kids Connect is a good starting point.
I don’t know if my son will ever be fluent in Arabic, but I do know that he has found a special connection with this website. And that makes me feel like maybe I’m not such a terrible mom after all.
What other resources have helped your military children? | <urn:uuid:e7342e20-442b-42c6-9a50-38fe8c879b50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spousebuzz.com/blog/2013/02/website-for-milkids-helps-parents-and-educators-too.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976255 | 667 | 1.875 | 2 |
1. In accordance with Federal Law, as codified in 23 CFR, part 470.105, the division is responsible for the determination, evaluation and maintenance of statewide Federal Roadway Functional Classification. Functional Classification of roadways directly affects the planning for: Highway design, construction and maintenance prioritization, establishment of funding levels, roadway system continuity and control of access, National and State emergency response management, stratification of State highway capital outlay and maintenance expenditures, as well as multiple roadway system and traffic related statistics.
2. In accordance with Federal Law as codified in 23 CFR, part 420.105(b), the division is responsible for the annual update and submittal of Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS). The HPMS is a national inventory of all public road mileage. The HPMS is used in: Apportionment of Federal Aid Highway funds under the “Transportation Equity Act for the 21st Century” (TEA-21). Assessing the extent, condition, performance, use and operating characteristics of the states roadway system. Provides for the compilation and analysis of the nation’s transportation system condition and, as a resource for Federal and State analysis of investment Vs. performance. It is instrumental in the development of transportation plans and used directly in the determination of conformity to National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) via estimation of Annual Vehicle Miles of Travel. The submission of false data is a violation of USC, Title 18, section 1020.
3. In accordance with Federal Law, as codified in 23 CFR, part 460, the division is responsible for annual certification of the state’s public road mileage used in the apportionment of highway safety funds. At the state level, the division is responsible for compliance with NRS 365.550 including the annual reporting of improved road mileage for the distribution of state and county fuel tax and a physical audit of submitted mileages on a minimum 10-year cycle. All public road mileage is used as input into the Highway Performance Monitoring System (HPMS).
4. In accordance with Federal Law, as codified in 23 CFR, part 470, the division is responsible for submission of Federal-aid highway system actions involving the designation, or revision of routes on the Interstate system. This includes the establishment of new route numbers, future Interstate routes and the designation of the National Highway System (NHS). The division is responsible for the submittal of all Interstate and US route signing requests to AASHTO’s Special Committee on US Route Numbering for review and approval.
5. The division is responsible, at the state level, for maintaining inventories of all State Maintained roadways, including mileage by county and system, alignment, physical attributes and Rural/Urban designations. The division is responsible for responding to all requests for Roadway History, including all highway improvements, alignment, newly constructed routes, physical attributes and ownership/maintenance. Divisions requiring this data include: Roadway Design, Safety Engineering, Materials, Right of Way, Traffic Information, Operations Analysis, Maintenance, Construction, Bridge, Environmental, Location and NDOT Administration.
6. The division is responsible for the administration and maintenance of the NDOT Milepost Program. The division is responsible for determination of Mileposting including identification of new panel locations, documentation of current and historic panel locations, reference with Engineering Stationing and the coordination and verification of field panel placement.
7. The division is responsible for the collection of NDOT maintained roadway images. Images are made available to Department personnel via the intranet, and allow NDOT staff to view current, high quality images of NDOT roadways in digital format, eliminating a lot of travel. The Attorney General from NDOT Legal utilizes these images frequently for purposes of litigation.
8. The division is responsible for, at the State level, conducting and disseminating Passing Site Distance studies. These studies set the limits of “No Passing” striping painted on the roadways in accordance with FHWA’s Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD). NDOT District, Design and Safety request these studies as needed.
9. The division is responsible for, at the State level, administering Interlocal agreement between NDOT and the State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) to continue the Historic Marker Preservation program for markers within NDOT Right of Way. The division is responsible for reviewing and validating SHPO’s restoration work via progress reports and field review. Budgeting of funding for this activity, coordinating assistance from NDOT Maintenance division and reporting the status of the program to the Director annually. | <urn:uuid:c8d43a11-715b-4f35-bb21-6e09ddd1599d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nevadadot.com/About_NDOT/NDOT_Divisions/Planning/Roadway_Systems/Roadway_Systems_Homepage.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913798 | 943 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Elbow injuries can occur in most sports, especially those involving throwing or swinging (volleyball, golf, tennis and baseball, for example). The elbow also can be injured in contact sports such as hockey and football, and from falls sustained during gymnastics and wrestling. This article looks at the elbow and common injuries.
The elbow is a hinge joint between the radius and ulna of the forearm, and the humerus of the upper arm. The bones are held together by ligaments. The primary ligament of the elbow is the medial collateral ligament (MCL) on the inside of the elbow and the lateral collateral ligament (LCL) on the outside. Several muscles surrounding the joint are responsible for movement. The tendons attach the muscle to the bone, the cartilage covers and protects the ends of the bones, and bursa sacs provide lubrication and protection of the joint.
Fractures of the elbow joint can occur in any sport. Signs of fracture may include pain, swelling, deformity and loss of motion. The ability to move a joint does not always mean the absence of a fracture. A suspected fracture should be immobilized, and the patient should see a physician.
A dislocation is usually the result of a fall on an outstretched arm. Most elbow dislocations are posterior, where the forearm is displaced back beyond the humerus. Signs include obvious deformity, pain and swelling. The joint should be immobilized in the position in which it is found: Do not attempt to put it back in the socket. The athlete should see a physician.
A sprain is an injury to a ligament and a strain is an injury to a muscle. Sprains are commonly seen in athletes who throw. Signs of a sprain include point tenderness, joint laxity, general joint pain and swelling. Treatment includes rest, ice, anti-inflammatory medication, and gentle stretching and strengthening when the athlete is pain-free (see figures). Strains are treated similarly to sprains.
Muscle-Strengthening Exercises for Elbow and Upper Arm
Tendonitis is inflammation of the muscle tendon. Common forms of tendonitis are tennis elbow, golfers elbow or little league elbow. Tennis elbow is an overuse injury often caused by a bad backhand technique or grip that is too small. Signs of tennis elbow include pain on the outside of the elbow, weakness in the wrist, pain with extension of the wrist or fingers against a resistance, and tenderness on the bone of the outside of the joint. Treatment includes ice, rest, bracing for support, and gentle stretching and strengthening exercises. Tips for prevention include correcting any problems with technique, proper warm-up before play and proper strengthening. Golfer’s elbow or little league elbow affects the inside of the elbow. Signs include pain on the inside of the elbow, weakness in the wrist, and pain on the inside of the elbow when the athlete uses a strong grip. Treatment includes rest, ice, bracing, and stretching and strengthening exercises. A gradual return to throwing/golfing is recommended.
Bursa sac injuries are common in sports where there is risk of falling on the tip of the elbow. The bursa is a fluid-filled thin sack over the end of a bone. Bursa injuries can be chronic or acute. Acute bursitis is usually the result of direct trauma. Signs include pain, immediate swelling, and limited motion. Treatment includes ice, compression wrap, and possible aspiration if the swelling does not subside. Chronic bursitis results from repetitive trauma and build-up of fluid. The area around the bursa may feel thick to the touch. Treatment includes rest, ice, and anti-inflammatory medication.
This information is provided by Cleveland Clinic and is not intended to replace
the medical advice of your doctor or health care provider.
Please consult your health care provider for advice about a specific medical condition.
© Copyright 2013 Cleveland Clinic. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:025a1e61-4ccf-4d26-aef8-a89ce449129d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://my.clevelandclinic.org/orthopaedics-rheumatology/diseases-conditions/elbow.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936751 | 821 | 3.28125 | 3 |
Adult Foster Care homes provide room, board and general supervision of personal care services in a family home. Adult Foster Care can meet the needs of adults who require periodic or regular assistance with activities of daily living, but do not require nursing services. Examples of "activities of daily living" include: dressing, bathing, eating, brushing teeth, or combing hair.
Adult Foster Care homes may serve both private-pay and state-pay individuals. The Department of Social Services is responsible for case management services to individuals age 60 and over and receiving state payment. If the individual is under the age of 60, the Department of Human Services' Division of Developmental Disabilities is responsible for payment and case management.
Adult Foster Care providers must provide the following services and items:
Residents are determined eligible for a state Adult Foster Care payment under the same process used for Long-Term Care assistance. Prospective state pay for Adult Foster Care residents must obtain an application from a benefits specialist, through the Division of Economic Assistance, responsible for nursing facility application and must meet the financial requirements.
In addition, the Department of Social Services Medical Review Team must determine an individual is in need of Adult Foster Care Level of Care.
South Dakota law SDCL 28-1-45 (13) requires Adult Foster Care providers to be licensed if they receive reimbursement from state funds. The purpose for licensing these homes is to ensure a safe environment by establishing minimum standards designed to prevent unsanitary living conditions, exploitation and neglect. The Department of Health's Office of Licensure and Certification is responsible for licensing Adult Foster Care homes. The Administrative Rules for licensure of Adult Foster Care are located in Chapter 44:04:19. | <urn:uuid:6e9f1dd6-016d-4c10-9f5d-886e6b1a44f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dss.sd.gov/elderlyservices/services/fostercare.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928645 | 343 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Dorothy Malone30th Jan 1925 (Age: 88) · Chicago, Illinois, United States
Dorothy Malone (born January 30, 1925) is an American actress.
Malone's film career began in the mid 1940s, and in her early years she played small roles, mainly in B-movies. After a decade in films, she began to acquire a more glamorous image, particularly after her performance in Written on the Wind (1956), for which she won the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress. Her film career reached its peak by the beginning of the 1960s, and she achieved later success with her television role of Constance MacKenzie on Peyton Place from 1964 to 1968. Less active in her later years, Malone returned to film in 1992 as the friend of Shar... Read more | <urn:uuid:dcd12bda-1431-40cd-b64f-6b540f1542a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://moviegr.am/person/10487-dorothy-malone | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987464 | 165 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Postedon Aug 05, 2010 at 11:30 am
A federal judge’s ruling Wednesday striking down California’s ban on the freedom to marry is a historic and possibly pivotal legal victory for gay rights advocates, but the decision also poses a formidable threat to President Barack Obama’s strategy of relegating divisive social issues to the back burner.
Evan Wolfson: "His position on Prop. 8 has always been clear. What has not been clear is how he squares his position for equality with his refusal to embrace actual equality in marriage."
Postedon Aug 05, 2010 at 09:53 am
Evan Wolfson puts yesterday's historic Prop 8 ruling in perspective and highlights the work still to be done: "...to maximize the chances both of winning on appeal and winning at the ballot-box, we now must make as compelling a case for the freedom to marry in the court of public opinion as in the court of law."
Postedon Jul 16, 2010 at 08:51 am
Argentina has now gone the furthest in support of the freedom to marry of any nation in Latin America, and proponents are hoping the move influences other nations.
“I think it will have enormous impact in Argentina and South America and around the world, including in the US, because it signifies the tremendous momentum in favor of the freedom to marry," says Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry.
Postedon Jul 14, 2010 at 10:14 am
Freedom to Marry's Summer for Marriage tour begins today. With our local, state, and national partners, we've planned pro-marriage events across the country in July and August.
Postedon Jul 13, 2010 at 08:48 am
As both sides await news of a likely appeal in the Massachusetts marriage ruling from last week that could eventually lead to the Supreme Court, they are keeping an eye on California. A federal judge in San Francisco is expected to rule any day on whether voters in that state were within their rights when they supported a 2008 ballot initiative that banned marriage equality.
That decision could have major reverberations around the country and also end up before the nation's highest court.
Postedon Jul 12, 2010 at 09:16 am
A judge’s decision on Thursday declaring that a state law honoring the freedom to marry in Massachusetts should take precedence over a federal definition of marriage has exposed the fractures and fault lines among groups working to bolster states’ rights.
Evan Wolfson, executive director of Freedom to Marry, said the court's ruling "provides a return to the way the federal government has always dealt with marriage — leaving it to the states."
Postedon Jul 07, 2010 at 07:16 pm
Freedom to Marry executive director Evan Wolfson called the civil unions veto from Hawaii governor Linda Lingle “profoundly disingenuous” as exemplified by her recommendation that the public should vote on the issue, which it already did in 1998.
Postedon Jun 23, 2010 at 02:39 pm
Freedom to Marry is announcing that we will join NOM in embracing this summer as a Summer for Marriage. We will do this by spreading the word across the country about the importance of ending exclusion from marriage.
As part of Freedom to Marry’s Summer for Marriage, we are working with our supporters, as well as local and state partners, to plan rallies and other events wherever NOM is planning to push discrimination and distort the truth about gay couples and their families. In 17 states and the District of Columbia, we will share our stories and demonstrate how the denial of marriage harms same-sex couples and their families, while helping no one.
Postedon Jun 02, 2010 at 09:00 am
Freedom to Marry's Executive Director, Evan Wolfson, comments on last week's historic votes in the House and Senate Armed Services Committee to repeal the so-called 'Don't Ask, Don't Tell' policy.
"While repealing military discrimination certainly honors the values of our nation, it is only a step toward closing the door on fundamental unfairness."
Postedon May 24, 2010 at 12:00 pm
Freedom to Marry Executive Director, Evan Wolfson, and David French of the Alliance Defense Fund debated issues surrounding the freedom to marry on Thursday, May 20th on the Michael Medved radio show. | <urn:uuid:24b34f9e-0ff3-41e2-8597-a9e8040dd377> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freedomtomarry.org/blog/c/vfe-social-justice/P40/www.theseattlelesbian.com | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946185 | 891 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Jackson Hole Skiing
Jackson Hole Skiing Has Come a Long Way, Baby
Starting in the 1930s, skiing in Jackson Hole became more of a recreational sport instead of the essential mode of transportation that skiing and snowshoeing once was. Skiing in Jackson Hole has come a long way since the days when skiers wearing 10-foot long skis would grab hold of a stick on a rope tow to get to the top of Ruth Hannah Simms Ski Hill, now known around the world as Snow King.
Though Snow King was the first ski resort in the Jackson Hole area and continues today to be an instant sensation with the locals and tourists for winter amusement, today’s Jackson Hole residents and tourists have world-class skiing in their own backyards at Jackson Hole’s famous ski resorts- Jackson Hole Mountain Resort and Grand Targhee Ski Resort. And if you tire of shredding or swooshing down the slopes then give snowshoeing, backcountry hiking, snowmobiling, dog sledding or sleigh rides a go.
Click on one of the links below to learn about our Ski Resorts. | <urn:uuid:42c8f6dd-2d6d-4da9-ac00-149e3e53b878> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.realestatejackson.com/jackson-hole-skiing.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921836 | 231 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Friday, February 1, 2008 4 Comments
Why Congestion is Good - by Kent Strumpell
Bemoaning the evils of congestion has become perhaps the most common complaint heard about urban living today. Everyone groans about it but few do anything meaningful to lessen their contribution. Somehow government is supposed to solve it, but we all know how well that has worked. Stuck with it and stuck in our ways, here then, is a partial list of the benefits of being stuck in traffic.
1. Congested traffic is one of the few restraints on excessive automobile use. When a limited commodity like road capacity is free and demand is high, the result is invariably overuse. Heavy traffic causes most drivers to think twice before using their cars at peak hours and encourages many to carpool, use alternative travel modes or move closer to their most common destinations.
2. The daily experience of congestion can increase public support for investments in more fuel-efficient, environmentally sustainable travel modes such as public transportation, cycling and walking, which have multiple societal benefits and need more support.
3. Congestion can improve the experience of activities adjacent to roads. Roads with slow moving traffic are more conducive to walking, shopping, outdoor dining, conversing, crossing the street, children’s play on sidewalks, etc. On streets with fast, noisy traffic, all of these activities are less viable and less enjoyable.
4. Slow traffic is safer. It is an established fact that motor vehicle collision severity increases dramatically as speeds go up. Slower moving traffic also increases safety for pedestrians and cyclists.
5. Congestion can increase the value of retail property. When cars are able to speed by at or above the speed limit, motorists are less able to notice roadside businesses. When traffic slows down or stalls, drivers have more opportunity to take note of and stop to visit businesses.
6. Slower traffic can reduce energy consumption. The speed at which motor vehicles achieve their greatest fuel efficiency and lowest emission levels is around 30mph (admittedly, stop and go traffic makes matters worse). Above 30mph, aerodynamic drag increases fuel consumption in most cars.
7. Slower traffic can improve road efficiency. 25-35mph is the speed at which roadways achieve their greatest carrying capacity. Above that, it diminishes as the space between cars increases.
The point of this list isn’t to welcome or encourage congestion, but to point out the often-overlooked negative side effects of trying to eliminate it. Congestion may well be a condition preferable to what would be needed to continually alleviate it. If it’s any consolation, every prosperous city in the world has congestion (though many also provide pervasive alternatives to driving).
The solution to clogged roads will not be found in some optimized combination of highway improvements, advanced technology and behavioral tweaking. Instead, the key to becoming less burdened by traffic is to build and retrofit our communities so we can meet an increasing number of our daily needs without driving. Of course, not everyone is able to live close to their work, but many more could if land use planning encouraged and facilitated the creation of compact, walkable, mixed-use communities rather than automobile-oriented places with segregated uses. And travel to work is but one type of trip; many other excursions are to destinations that are easier to locate close to homes.
Roads in urbanized areas will probably always experience congestion. Our options for relieving it are increasingly limited and expensive. But if we design our communities to provide for more of our needs without driving, more of us could choose to opt out of congestion.
Kent Strumpell is a member of the board of directors of the Los Angeles County Bicycle Coalition and an a transportation and community planning advocate.
To read other guest essays at Street Heat please visit:
Images by dctraveler.com and Kent Strumpell | <urn:uuid:ad572a84-5647-4223-8d0a-d4f9fd7604a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://la.streetsblog.org/2008/02/01/why-congestion-is-good/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96069 | 796 | 2.5 | 2 |
04/05/2009 - The French spend more time sleeping than anyone else in OECD countries. They also devote more time to eating than anyone else and nearly double that of Americans, Canadians or Mexicans. The Japanese sleep nearly an hour less every night than the French and also spend longer at work and commuting than they do indulging in leisure activities.
These are some of the insights into the differing ways in which OECD countries use that most fundamental of resources, time, in the latest edition of Society at a Glance.
Society at a Glance gives an overview of social trends and policy developments in OECD countries using indicators taken from OECD studies and other sources. It attempts to help people see how their societies have changed, particularly in comparison with other countries.
A special chapter in the report investigates leisure time in the 18 OECD countries for which up-to-date time-use surveys are available. The time-use surveys included in this report are from 2006 and based on nationally representative samples of between 4000 and 200000 people.
The report reveals big differences in the amount of time men and women have for leisure. Italian men have nearly 80 minutes a day of leisure more than women. Much of the additional work of Italian women is apparently spent cleaning the house. Norway is the most equal society, with men having only a few more minutes of leisure than women.
Norwegians spend just over a quarter of their time on leisure, the highest among OECD countries, while Mexicans spend just 16%, the lowest.
So what are we doing with our leisure time? Watching TV absorbs nearly half of all leisure time in Mexico and Japan and falls to a low of 25% in New Zealand. Turkey is the most sociable nation, spending 35% of leisure time entertaining friends, more than triple the OECD average of 11%. But OECD countries are not very physically active: Spain reports the highest proportion of leisure time spent doing regular physical activities. Even there, exercise accounts for a mere 13% of leisure time.
Other social indicators covered in Society at a Glance include adult height, fertility rates, education spending, income inequality, obesity, healthcare spending and life and work satisfaction.
Country notes are available from www.oecd.org/els/social/indicators/SAG for Austria (in German), Canada, France (in English and French), Germany (in german), Italy, Japan, Mexico, New Zealand, Switzerland (in German), United Kingdom and United States.
Journalists can obtain a copy of this publication via the Password-protected Web site for accredited journalists or from the OECD's Media Relations Division (tel. + 33 1 45 24 97 00).
Non-journalists can download the raw data underlying each indicator and find out how to obtain a copy of this publication here.
For further information, journalists are invited to contact Simon Chapple (tel. + 33 1 45 24 85 45) in the OECD's Employment, Labour and Social Affairs Directorate. | <urn:uuid:d1cd8548-b966-4c83-b3fe-eccaf439ef3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oecd.org/mexico/societyataglancerevealsevolvingsocialtrendsinoecdcountries.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924169 | 602 | 2.5 | 2 |
On Sunday, NASA will launch its most sophisticated mission to Mars yet, and a Sorrento Valley company is playing a huge role in the venture.
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Malin Space Science Systems developed and built the four main cameras on the Mars rover "Curiosity," which will help gather important data to bring back to scientists for analysis.
Once Curiosity gets past the so-called "Seven Minutes of Terror" -- the moments leading up to the complicated landing on Mars -- pictures of the red planet's landscape will come to life. It's not the company's first mission to Mars, but it is definitely one of the more publicized.
"We've worked on these when they succeeded, we worked on them when they failed, but it's really a lot more fun when they succeed," said Mike Ravine, the advanced projects manager for Malin Space Science Systems.
The company won the bid to build the cameras for the rover back in 2004. The cameras took eight years of work with lots of challenges, including dealing with extreme weather on Mars.
"We had to build a prototype and we had to put it in a chamber and we had to cycle it over these very wide temperature swings 2,000 times," Ravine said.
Despite the cameras' high-tech abilities, there are some parts of it not as sophisticated as some may think.
"The cameras have 2-megapixel detectors and have 8 gigabytes of flash," Ravine said. "My phone [now] has a bigger format and a lot more flash in it than that."
The entire NASA project cost $2.5 billion.
Copyright Do you have more information about this story? Click here to contact usCopyright 2012 by 10News.com. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:5e3d3899-6225-42b0-82a3-c1a0673fd23f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.10news.com/news/local-firm-playing-big-role-in-mars-mission | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963684 | 385 | 2.84375 | 3 |
I’m sure this happens to all writers from time to time. It’s our curious nature that’s to blame and our quest to provide realism to our work. I’m talking about the odd stares from strangers for doing what comes so naturally to us, thinking like our characters in public.
While doing research for WIRED and ENIGMA, I came across an article profiling the behaviors museum staff and security are trained to spot as suspicious. It explains why there always seems to be a Docent close by, and when I leave an area, someone new takes up the post and I often spy them eyeing me as I wander around.
Jade Weekes, the main character in WIRED and ENIGMA is an art thief and a savant when it comes to museum security. If she could just get over her amnesia, she would remember she designed a very clever security system for her late father’s gallery. To walk in her shoes and let my imagination run with her personal obsession for impressionist art and all things Salvador Dali, helps me develop her personality and add concrete details to help readers see through her eyes.
When I’m channeling Jade, this is a bit of what I do:
- I like to walk the floor plan of the exhibit several times to see the traffic flow, and what physical and psychological barriers have been implemented to keep the public in place. (I attended a great seminar on the Rembrandt exhibit last year and gained a lot of insight on the subject.)
- I often take notes of these observations which include the placement of security cameras, staff and any climate sensing devices. Since photography is allowed (without flash) in most galleries, I use my phone to snap pictures for later scene building.
- I usually step to the sides of painting to see how they are secured to the wall and determine if any wires or hardware are visibly attached (security devices).
- I also note any missing gaps between paintings which could mean a work was removed for repair or other reasons.
Odd behavior for sure, but do I merit being tailed? A small vase or Rembrandt isn’t safe around Jade or the underworld types she deals with, but they are perfectly secure in my company. I need them on display so I can let my characters fight over them and scheme ways to ferry them from the museum without notice. That’s the part of the puzzle I love to work out as I note the emergency exits and service elevators.
So far, Jade has never been arrested, but she is well-known to law enforcement in three countries.
As writers, we should think and behave a bit odd, because that’s how fiction turns from isolated ideas to page-turning stories.
Suspicious? I think not… just creativity at play. | <urn:uuid:cd92e707-6ce5-4fe1-b1f9-1e28e9d62d3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jpgwriter.com/2012/12/20/when-your-characters-go-public/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=134bd2d71b | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964532 | 586 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Changes in pennation angle in rotator cuff muscles with torn tendons.
Summary of "Changes in pennation angle in rotator cuff muscles with torn tendons."
Although several authors have reported on the pennation angles of intact rotator cuff muscles, the relationship between their alteration and rotator cuff tears has not been fully clarified. The purpose of this study was to measure the pennation angles of human cadaveric rotator cuff muscles with torn tendons.
Twenty embalmed cadaveric shoulders were studied. Ten shoulders with various types of rotator cuff tears (tear group) were compared with ten shoulders that had intact rotator cuff tendons (control group). In seven shoulders with full-thickness tears, the area of the tear was determined by multiplying its length and width. After removing the muscles from the scapula, the superficial muscle fibers of each muscle were removed layer by layer until the entire intramuscular tendon was exposed. Photographs were taken and the pennation angles were then measured on digital images. The correlation between the size of the tear and the pennation angles of the supraspinatus and the infraspinatus muscles were determined statistically.
The pennation angles of the supraspinatus and infraspinatus muscles in the tear group were significantly greater than those in the control group (P = 0.027 and 0.007, respectively). In seven shoulders with full-thickness rotator cuff tears, a positive correlation was found between the pennation angle of the supraspinatus muscle and the tear length (r = 0.854, P = 0.014). Moreover, a positive correlation was found between the pennation angle of the infraspinatus muscle and the tear area (r = 0.759, P = 0.048). On the other hand, the pennation angle was not affected by the presence of the partial-thickness tears in the remaining three shoulders. DISCUSSION AND
In rotator cuff tears, the pennation angles of the involved rotator cuff muscles increased with increasing size of the tear.
Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, China-Japan Union Hospital of Jilin University, Changchun, China.
This article was published in the following journal.
Name: Journal of orthopaedic science : official journal of the Japanese Orthopaedic Association
- PubMed Source: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22094606
- DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00776-011-0176-6
Medical and Biotech [MESH] Definitions
Shoulder Impingement Syndrome
Compression of the rotator cuff tendons and subacromial bursa between the humeral head and structures that make up the coracoacromial arch and the humeral tuberosities. This condition is associated with subacromial bursitis and rotator cuff (largely supraspinatus) and bicipital tendon inflammation, with or without degenerative changes in the tendon. Pain that is most severe when the arm is abducted in an arc between 40 and 120 degrees, sometimes associated with tears in the rotator cuff, is the chief symptom. (From Jablonski's Dictionary of Syndromes and Eponymic Diseases, 2d ed)
The musculotendinous sheath formed by the supraspinatus, infraspinatus, subscapularis, and teres minor muscles. These help stabilize the head of the HUMERUS in the glenoid fossa and allow for rotation of the SHOULDER JOINT about its longitudinal axis.
Scattering, Small Angle
Scattering of a beam of electromagnetic or acoustic RADIATION, or particles, at small angles by particles or cavities whose dimensions are many times as large as the wavelength of the radiation or the de Broglie wavelength of the scattered particles. Also know as low angle scattering. (McGraw-Hill Dictionary of Scientific and Technical Terms, 6th ed) Small angle scattering (SAS) techniques, small angle neutron (SANS), X-ray (SAXS), and light (SALS, or just LS) scattering, are used to characterize objects on a nanoscale.
Congenital open-angle glaucoma that results from dysgenesis of the angle structures accompanied by increased intraocular pressure and enlargement of the eye. Treatment is both medical and surgical.
Glaucoma in which the angle of the anterior chamber is open and the trabecular meshwork does not encroach on the base of the iris.
PURPOSE: The relationship between glenoid version angle and rotator cuff pathology has been described. However, the effect of glenoid version angle on rotator cuff pathology is still unknown. The aim...
PURPOSE: Differing extents of tendon retraction are found in full-thickness rotator cuff tears. The pathophysiologic context of tendon degeneration and the extent of tendon retraction are unclear. Ten...
BACKGROUND: Hypoxia and decreased blood supply have been proposed as risks for tendon rupture. Visualization of the vascularity of intact and torn rotator cuffs would be useful for improving treatment...
OBJECTIVES: Although the teres minor has received little attention in the literature compared to the other musculotendinous units of the rotator cuff, it is an important component of shoulder function...
We have compared the outcome of hemiarthroplasty of the shoulder in three distinct diagnostic groups, using survival analysis as used by the United Kingdom national joint registers, patient-reported o...
The purpose of this study is to determine whether the immobilization period is helpful for the better healing of repaired rotator cuff. The investigators hypothesis is that the longer imm...
The purpose of this project is to provide information which can help us understand what happens over time to rotator cuff tears. In this study, the investigators will follow a population...
The purpose of this study is to evaluate patient shoulder functional outcomes following rotator cuff repairs reinforced with a surgical mesh.
Role of proinflammatory factors in Patients with Rotator Cuff Disease Objective: To measure the levels of various cytokines and metalloproteases in patients with rotator cuff disea...
Few studies are considering acute traumatic rotator cuff tears in previously asymptomatic patients. The purpose of the current study was to investigate if delay of surgery, age at repair a... | <urn:uuid:76154b96-7f4f-43ef-9fcf-b3f9f4672dbf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bioportfolio.com/resources/pmarticle/256905/Changes-In-Pennation-Angle-In-Rotator-Cuff-Muscles-With-Torn-Tendons.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921529 | 1,361 | 2.59375 | 3 |
At night it is increasingly...
At night it is increasingly easy to override your headlights, which will result in decreased visibility. In poorly lit areas especially, reduce your speed so that your stopping distance doesn’t exceed your sight distance.
Everything is more fun when the sun goes down, but if you’re on a motorcycle, it’s also more dangerous. Night riding is exciting — liberating even. There’s something about riding off into the darkness that gives you the exhilarating rush of riding into the unknown — even if you are riding the same roads you do daily.
According to numerous studies, the number one cause for motorcycle accidents — day or night — is drivers who failed to see the motorcyclist they turned in front of. At night however, the risks are even higher on a motorcycle because not only is the visibility of the other drivers hindered, but yours as the rider is as well. Fortunately, there are a number of tricks and techniques for riding at night that will increase your chances of arriving at your destination safely.
Wearing bright gear such as...
Wearing bright gear such as this fluorescent yellow AGV Sport jacket outfitted with reflective piping will make you significantly more visible to other drivers on the road.
Let’s start with the gear. While your black jacket-and-pant combo may look stylish during the day, at night you will blend into the darkness like a chameleon in the wild. Wearing bright gear will not only guarantee that other drivers will see you, but will without question increase your presence on the road. Simply wearing a fluorescent yellow jacket won’t exactly cut it either; you will additionally want to make sure that the jacket has a sufficient amount of reflective piping and fabric. It is important to also consider wearing a helmet, pants or gloves that are also bright in color and feature reflective fabric. Making yourself even more visible on the road can be accomplished by applying reflective tape to visible areas of your motorcycle — such as the wheels or fairings.
While the major concern at night is making sure other drivers see you clearly, another concern is with making sure you see clearly. This means that the dark shield you were sporting on your last day-ride should be swapped out for a clear one — and one that is scratch free, as one with scuffs can distort the light. If you’d rather pass on the shield swaps, you can also look into the new transitional faceshields that many helmet manufacturers are now offering which transition from smoke to clear as the sun’s light fades away.
On the road, it’s fair to say that your motorcycle’s lights are your next saving grace. That said, prior to taking off on any night ride — or any ride for that matter — double check to make certain your headlights, taillights, brake light, and turn signals are all working properly. At night especially, your brake light and turn signals are your way of forewarning other drivers of your intentions; attempting to ride without either light functioning properly puts you at risk, both from other drivers and law enforcement. Aftermarket brake light and headlight bulbs are an option too if you are looking to increase your presence on the road at night. Be wary though of bulbs and set-ups (such as HIDs) that can be both detrimental to your electrical system and illegal (non DOT approved).
When riding at night be flexible...
When riding at night be flexible about lane position. Change lanes if you feel another lane is better lit, will increase your line of sight or allow others on the road to see you better.
Adjusting your headlight beam angle is a quick and easy way of increasing your visibility on the road as well, and the increased field of view will allow you to better see any hazards that lay in the road ahead. The task will typically take just minutes and can usually be done at home; place your bike 25 feet from your garage wall, cast the headlight beam and measure from the ground to the center of the beam projected on the wall. Adjust your headlights as your state’s regulations allow.
Aside from increasing your presence on the road, it is extremely important that at night you adapt your riding and increase your awareness. On poorly lit sections of road especially, the best option is to ride slower than you would during the day, as that will give you more time to react to any hazards on the road. This is especially the case if you find yourself on a section of road that you have not ridden before, as you can’t be sure of what you’ll find around the next corner.
Another important thing to remember the next time you find yourself cruising down the road late at night is to increase your following distance. While just one or two seconds following distance is normally optimum, try giving the car or bike in front of you a three- to four-second gap.
In order to get a better view of the road ahead you can also use the light from the headlights of the car in front of you; just be careful to avoid tailgating and leave optimu m amount of room to make necessary avoidance maneuvers. Also, if you find yourself in a lane or section of road that is poorly lit, don’t be afraid to make a lane change or put yourself in an area where you will be better seen by others on the road. And although this is a hotly debated subject, we recommend running with your high beam on, so long as you are not following anyone and there is no oncoming traffic. Doing so will give you a much better field of view.
Night riding adds a new element...
Night riding adds a new element that is enticing and exhilarating; even your favorite roads will seem just a bit different as you roll through them and into the darkness.
Although a distraction at times, the headlights, taillights and brake lights of the cars on the road can be a great aid to you at night as they give you an indication of what the driver up front is doing or what hazards you may be coming up on. If you see a car’s headlights bounce up and down for instance, that is usually a good indication that there is a bump in the road; slow down or change your position in the road accordingly. Additionally, be sure to pay attention to the brake lights and turn signals of the cars around you so that you are aware of the driver’s intentions to slow, stop or change lanes. Also, scan the road for headlights peeking out from side streets or driveways; a driver looking to pull out onto the road may not see you and could possibly pull in front of you. Slowing down to a speed that allows quick action is the best option until you can be certain the driver has spotted you.
The bottom line is that night riding can be dangerous, which is why most states do not allow riders with a learner’s permit to ride after sunset. But in time, you will find that riding at night can offer a totally different experience on a motorcycle. Prepare yourself by wearing the proper gear, making yourself more visible and increasing your awareness and you will better enjoy the experience, and in a safer fashion. | <urn:uuid:d3cbc3a7-4265-4037-bd62-2c4579696efe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sportrider.com/riding_tips/146_1109_riding_at_night/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955117 | 1,477 | 1.929688 | 2 |
“It is the most magnificent Magna Carta of socio-economic change”
The federal structure of the country is not sustainable unless there is development in States, President Pranab Mukherjee said in Kolkata on Friday.
Speaking at a civic reception accorded to him by the West Bengal government on his first visit to his home State as President, Mr. Mukherjee said the federal arrangement was one of the “basic structures” of the Constitution.
“If we want to take the nation forward then we have to preserve the Constitution,” he said, adding the Constitution and Indian democracy had stood the test of time.
Recalling the words of the former Prime Minister of England, Anthony Eden, he said the Indian Constitution “is the most magnificent Magna Carta of socio-economic transformation. I believe this with all my heart and soul.”
Democracy in the country had survived over five decades not for a few political leaders but because the people had strengthened the country’s democratic set-up.
“I am literally overwhelmed,” Mr. Mukherjee told the congregation, adding the public reception would make him more humble rather than boost his ego.
“I am familiar with most of the faces in the crowd and call many of them by their first name,” he said, speaking about his five decade-long association with the city.
Governor M.K. Narayanan described the occasion as a “rarest of rare moments in the history of a State when one of its sons has risen to the post of the President and was felicitated in such a manner.” He described Mr. Mukherjee as an “erudite scholar President … closely associated with every building block of the country’s economic growth.”
“So long as he is the President, our democracy will remain protected,” Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said, wishing him a long and healthy life.
“The son of the soil has returned home,” Ms. Banerjee said, adding she would preserve the memories of the felicitation ceremony. She recalled her long association with Mr. Mukherjee and said the feeling that he is the President of the country had still not sunk in.
Eminent artists, representatives of the sporting fraternity and leading businessmen felicitated Mr. Mukherjee. | <urn:uuid:709291f2-8c18-4310-8a15-ae677483ab98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/national/indian-constitution-has-stood-the-test-of-time-says-president/article3898207.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977777 | 501 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Sunday, June 27, 2010
Breastfeeding is 'creepy' says parenting magazine
An article in Mother & Baby magazine that described breastfeeding as “creepy” has prompted a backlash among mothers and midwives on the internet.
By Alastair Jamieson
Published: 10:43AM BST 27 Jun 2010
The Department of Health recommends breastfeeding Photo:
In a candid discussion about the decision to use milk formula, deputy editor Kathryn Blundell said she bottle fed her children because "I wanted my body back. (And some wine) …”
She added: “I also wanted to give my boobs at least a chance to stay on my chest rather than dangling around my stomach."
The article – which appeared under the headline "I formula fed. So what?" – has reignited the often ferocious debate about the choice between breastfeeding or using powdered milk.
It has already prompted a Facebook campaign supported by about 600 users of the social media site, and at least six complaints to the Press Complaints Commission.
The Department of Health recommends that babies are fed only breast milk for the first six months of life but many women are unable to do so or opt for formula milk out of choice in the case of an outspoken pro-breastfeeding lobby.
The article said: “The Milk Mafia can keep their guilt trips. Bullying other mums about something as special and nurturing as feeding their babies (and yes, bottle feeding can be lovely and intimate) is a depth that even Vicky Pollard wouldn’t sink to.
“So, let’s hear it, ladies, for modern nutritional science, but most of all for our freedom of choice.”
Describing her own feelings about using her breasts for feeding, the author wrote: "They're part of my sexuality, too – not just breasts, but fun bags. And when you have that attitude (and I admit I made no attempt to change it), seeing your teeny, tiny, innocent baby latching on where only a lover has been before feels, well, a little creepy.”
The article did concede that " are all the studies that show [breastfeeding] reduces the risk of breast cancer for you, and stomach upsets and allergies for your baby.”
Among those to complain through Facebook were bottle-feeding mothers who objected to the tone of the article, which pondered whether formula users “just couldn’t be fagged or felt like getting tipsy once in awhile”.
On the Mumsnet website, the article was the subject of hundreds of comments. One contributor said: “People pay attention to these sorts of articles and if anyone who is having any wobbles about [breastfeeding] this may be the one article which steers them away from it, if they think that being seen to [breastfeeding] is in any way 'creepy'.”
However, other contributors welcomed the article as “tongue-in-cheek” and for dealing with a “taboo” subject.
Miranda Levy, the editor of the magazine, said the publication was “a constant and vocal supporter of breastfeeding” and that the article was reflected “personal experience” and had been praised by some bottle-feeding readers for making them “feel 'normal' and less of a 'failure' for not managing to breastfeed”.
For the full article and comments, visit: | <urn:uuid:af33eab7-5d75-45da-a9e5-787260158823> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bliss-breastfeeding.blogspot.com/2010/06/breastfeeding-is-creepy-says-parenting.html?showComment=1277911368850 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952844 | 726 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Throughout her life, Mary Pierce Brosmer’s voice has been silenced: by her blue-collar family and the 1950s Catholic church, in the schools she attended and the schools where she taught. Once, at a public poet’s workshop, she read one of her pieces about childbirth fears. “So what?” was one participant’s response. “I don’t care for mother poems,” added another.
Lesser women would have given up. But not Brosmer.
Twice in high school she was accused of plagiarism by teachers who insisted the excellent essays she turned in couldn’t have been written by her. Discouraged but not defeated, she went on to become a high school teacher herself, but her against-the-grain methods drew suspicions from administrators who went so far as to ban her chosen textbook.
Frustrated with teaching the traditional male canon of literature, she realized she had become “a female impersonator and ... a ventriloquist’s dummy, having men’s words about women put in my mouth that I in turn mouthed to my students.”
| WOMEN WRITING FOR (A) CHANGE: A GUIDE FOR CREATIVE TRANSFORMATION|
By Mary Pierce Brosmer
Published by Sorin Books, $15.95
Those painful experiences inspired Brosmer to dedicate her life to encouraging women’s voices, believing that women’s words “about our lives as women” can heal and transform — not only women themselves, but also the social fabric and even the planet.
Since 1991, Brosmer has run a school called Women Writing for (a) Change, which teaches collaborative writing as a creative, therapeutic and spiritual practice through semester-long classes, weekend retreats and one-day workshops. Begun in a Cincinnati living room, it now has affiliates in eight states. The school also has given birth to a foundation to support its work, the Feminist Leadership Academy to move its feminine model into other places and careers, an online radio show, special courses for young women and girls, a consulting service, and now this book.
In Women Writing for (a) Change, Brosmer shares the story of the school, her own trajectory of transformation through writing and a how-to for creating “containers” for reflective writing for individuals or groups (with a smattering of tips for teachers of any kind). The 30-page appendix alone includes a sample organizational chart, class agendas, exercises, code of ethics and glossary, among other tools.
It’s too much for one book, really, and in the introduction Brosmer preemptively defends the book’s structure, which she admits weaves a number of threads. The inclusion of poetry and prose along with letters, e-mails and journal entries works, but I fear some readers will get lost in the parts of the book not of interest to them.
The strongest threads are her argument for the power of unleashing women’s voices and the instructions for doing that through reflective writing. She cites the connection between women’s depression and women’s sense of their words having little effect on their listeners. “I have come to believe that women’s words, about our lives as women, are least likely to get a fair hearing,” Brosmer writes (emphases hers).
Later, Brosmer says that she believes “that more violence is done by not telling the stories than by telling them.”
She isn’t concerned about keeping any of the school’s trade secrets and freely shares the processes, rituals and exercises that have worked through the years and those that haven’t. Her themes echo the wisdom of other women’s groups (including a women’s spirituality center in Chicago where I was a board member for years): the importance of a supportive, nonjudgmental circle of women; the need for attending to the process not just the product; the expectation of criticism from the dominant, male-dominated culture.
Some complained that the processes at the school were too touchy feely or New Age. But Brosmer defends the importance of ritual for creating space for reverence, even though rituals as simple as passing a “talking stone” or writing a few thoughts on 3x5 “soul cards” have prompted cries of “cult.”
As a journalist always trying to craft the perfect lead to my article, I’m sensitive to beginnings of stories. Unfortunately, this one gets bogged down in details about the school’s history and some “foundational” stories about Brosmer’s childhood that would have worked better woven into later chapters.
More about Brosmer’s own personal story (including her “chosen exile” from the institutional church) probably warrants a separate book. It is my hope and bet that she will write one, despite admitting that she never longed to be published in the conventional sense
“I longed to be heard,” she writes. “I longed for the company of other truth-telling women. My longing has been met, for I have created for and with others a deep, loyal-to-ourselves-and-one-another company of truth-telling, word-loving women.”
Silenced, no more.
[Heidi Schlumpf is the author of While We Wait: Spiritual and Practical Advice for Those Trying to Adopt (ACTA Publications).]
Writing from a company of word-loving women
For your weekend enjoyment, we present women writers reflecting on women who write.
Women Writing for (a) Change
Contours of the daily and domestic
Ethnic bias is no longer an option
How the remotely possible could become real | <urn:uuid:638c8988-9443-49b7-852a-23acd0faaf2b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ncronline.org/print/news/women-religious/writing-company-word-loving-women | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96712 | 1,220 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Diyarbakir, Turkey (CNN) -- Thousands took to the streets Thursday in the predominantly Kurdish city of Diyarbakir, Turkey, to mourn three political activists killed last week in execution-style shootings in France.
The women were saluted as the "three flowers of Kurdistan" by a mourner using a sound system atop a bus, while some carried portraits of the victims or signs reading "Sakine Cansiz is immortal."
Cansiz, one of the three killed, was one of the co-founders of the Kurdistan Workers Party or PKK, a Kurdish rebel group that has waged a guerrilla war against the Turkish state since 1984.
Also killed were Leyla Sonmez and Fidan Dogan. French authorities said the bodies of the three women were discovered in the Information Center of Kurdistan in Paris. No arrests have been made in their deaths so far.
Many in Turkey fear that the triple killings could derail delicate peace talks between the Turkish government and the PKK. More than 40,000 people have been killed in the nearly 30-year conflict.
Turkey, the United States and the European Union have labeled the PKK a terrorist organization.
Kurdish activists accuse the Turkish government of decades of discriminatory policies against the country's largest ethnic group. Turkish security forces have arrested thousands of Kurds in recent years on suspicion of terrorist activities.
Last fall, the Turkish government initiated a new attempt at dialogue with Abdullah Ocalan, the PKK leader serving a life sentence in a prison on the Turkish island of Imrali.
In what appeared to be a sign of good will, Turkish authorities allowed the bodies of the three women, all Turkish citizens, to be repatriated from France.
Brigades of Turkish riot police armed with machine guns and gas masks fanned out across the grounds Thursday where mourners were gathered, even as Kurdish politicians denounced Turkey's prime minister and some carried portraits of Ocalan.
Kurdish leaders said they, too, were working to reduce tensions in the wake of the killings.
"Here the people of of Kurdistan, by claiming ownership of these three revolutionary women, are showing that they will not fall prey to provocation," said Sebahat Tuncel, a member of Turkey's parliament from the pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party.
"We showed our attitude beyond any doubt, that we are for peace, for freedom, and for a democratic and peaceful resolution of the Kurdish issue."
In recent days, the Turkish military bombed suspected PKK camps in the Qandil Mountains of northern Iraq. On Wednesday, a Turkish police officer was killed in "an armed attack on a police car," according to the office of the governor of the southeastern province of Mardin.
"They say peace on the one hand, but then they bomb Qandil. In short, we have no trust left in the prime minister," said a middle-aged Kurdish man attending Thursday's funeral demonstration. The man asked not to be identified for security reasons.
"The peace process has already been stalled. It didn't even begin."
The atmosphere in Diyarbakir was subdued Thursday, with nearly every shop shuttered, in a citywide shutdown coinciding with the funeral demonstration.
Kurdish politicians from the BDP told CNN they would accompany the bodies of the three murdered women to their hometowns of Maras, Tunceli, and Adana for burial later this week. | <urn:uuid:578160e1-4816-47b4-96e7-6af60a82787f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/2013/01/17/world/meast/turkey-kurd-deaths/index.html?hpt=ieu_c2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971883 | 707 | 1.75 | 2 |
Maputo is the capital of Mozambique. It is a bustling port city, with a population of about two million people and beautiful avenues of trees of various colorful types. Maputo lies only 100kms from its neighbors South Africa and Swaziland
There is a wide variety of tourist accommodation and destinations available to choose from and within the Maputo surrounds, can be found tourist or holiday destinations to meet anyone's need. Luxury hotels cater for the wealthier tourists and visitors, but there are a host of holiday accommodation and backpacker venues to choose from.
There is a ferry to serve those tourists or people who wish to cross to Catembe and there are various means to get to Inhaca Island and the tourist, holiday accommodation establishments and fishing destinations that are on offer there.
Maputo, formally known as Delagoa Bay and then as Lourenco Marques, or LM, was a very popular tourist destination until the early 1970s.
Things to see in Maputo
- The Railway Station on Praca dos Trabalhadores was designed by Gustave Eiffel (after his fall from grace in the Panama Canal scandal), and bears the mark of his genius.
- The National Art Museum has a small but good collection of Mozambican art, including several large canvases by the world-renowned Malangatana.
- The Jardim Tunduru is a very pretty (albeit small) botanical garden.
- The Museum of the Revolution chronicles Mozambique's fight for independence from Portuguese colonialism.
- The Mercado Central in the Baixa district has fresh fish, crabs, calamari, fruits and vegetables, and many household staples. Safe, lively and recommended, especially if cooking for yourself.
- Walk up Avenida Julius Nyerere. Start from the Hotel Cardoso or Natural History Museum along R Mutemba to Nyerere then left (north) to the Polana Hotel. Boutiques, restaurants, curio vendors, video stores, etc. to be seen in the relatively upscale Polana neighborhood.
- Praça dos Trabalhadores is a building built by Gustave Eiffel.
Places to eat in Maputo
Depending on the budget one can go to the many cafes that serve simple dishes that are affordable. One can try out the roadside stalls, which is usually cashews, fried bean cakes called Bhajia, fruits and ice-creams. If you want to eat in a nice restaurant, you can try out Chicken Piripiri which serves mouth-watering grilled chicken and only the best prawns. This place is also a middle-ranged place. But for those who want to splurge there are a couple of good restaurants to try. They include:
- Restaurante Escorpiao, in the Feira Popular (in the Baixa district). Has a huge menu, good wine list and caters to moderate and high-end budgets. Not fancy, frequented by locals. Slightly better than the Costa do Sol.
- Costa do Sol restaurant, in Costa do Sol (5km north of Maputo -- take a taxi, they will wait and bring you back). Icon over 50 years old. Great seafood in low-key atmosphere. Great variety too. Excellent service.
Night Life in Maputo
- Xima's bar, on Av. Eduardo Mondlane, is popular with the locals and has live music on the weekends.
- Africa Bar nightclub is on Av. 24 de Julho near Av. Karl Marx.
- Gil Vicente is a bar attached to the Gil Vicente theatre, across from the 'Jardim Tunduru.
- The Centro Cultural Franco-Mozambican has live music and cultural events.
- The Central Train Station houses a jazz lounge on weekends.
- The Feira Popular is located in the Baixa, and houses many bars and restaurants | <urn:uuid:2ebe9c6e-c4cd-4a23-b39e-68be9576936b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mozambiqueaccommodation.co.za/maputo-travel-info.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93965 | 808 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Solar fuel success
UD-developed solar reactor can produce solar hydrogen, but how much?
9:59 a.m., Feb. 4, 2013--Last spring University of Delaware doctoral candidate Erik Koepf and research associate Michael Giuliano spent two months in Switzerland testing a novel solar reactor Koepf developed to produce hydrogen from sunlight.
Eight weeks of sophisticated testing at temperatures up to 1,200 degrees Celsius revealed that the reactor’s mechanical, electrical and thermal systems worked just as Koepf had predicted.
Sampler ID Days
Graduate Student Forum
He was even able to collect small amounts of the stored solar energy in a vial, despite operating below critical reaction temperatures in order to validate the system’s components in a high temperature environment.
Next month, Koepf heads back to the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich to operate the reactor at full power for the first time.
“Our objective is to produce as much solar fuel as possible,” he said.
Fuels produced directly from sunlight have the potential to address concerns over energy security, declining conventional fuel production and long-term energy sustainability and environmental responsibility. It is a clean and benign energy harvesting cycle that creates no emission or by products just hydrogen from sunlight and water.
Koepf’s reactor is designed to accomplish the first step in a two-step water-splitting process to generate hydrogen renewably from sunlight. The reactor, which is closed to the atmosphere, uses gravity to feed zinc oxide powder (the reactant) into the system through hoppers that dispense the powder onto a ceramic surface. There it undergoes a thermochemical reaction upon exposure to highly concentrated sunlight within the reaction cavity, producing solar fuel.
Novel mirror assembly
In Phase I experiments, Koepf used an existing mirror assembly in place at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology to direct the concentrated sunlight and conduct his tests. But this time, in order to achieve the extremely high temperature range needed to produce solar fuel 1,750-1,950 degrees Celsius he will need a mirror nearly four times the size of the existing one.
Since no such mirror exists, Koepf and Giuliano designed and built their own.
The mirror is a perfectly flat, water-cooled aluminum plate with a 98 percent reflective foil surface. About one-inch thick, the mirror measures 45 by 45 inches square and contains 13 holes bored through the one-inch thick plate along one of the mirror’s axes, enabling water to continuously pass through the channels and cool the mirror’s surface when in use.
To allow for precise adjustments in real time, the mirror is suspended above the reactor by threaded rods connected to a motor and control assembly, and controlled using a joystick. Placed on a 45 degree angle, Koepf explained, it will enable a perfectly reflected, concentrated light cone that is free of distortion to enter the reactor.
“We are concentrating an area of light that is about a 10-foot by 10-foot area into a 6 centimeter diameter circle. Under these extremely high temperatures, even being off a few millimeters, for a few seconds could significantly damage the reactor,” Koepf said.
The mirror assembly and reactor, which weigh nearly 3,000 pounds, have already been packed and shipped to Switzerland. Koepf will follow in a few short weeks. While he said it would be nice to come back with “buckets of zinc infused with solar energy” instead of just a few vials, Koepf contends that the real work goes deeper.
“We want to analyze the reactor under different conditions to determine how our production rates vary under different levels of zinc oxide dispersal, temperatures and flow patterns,” he said of optimizing the system’s solar fuel production.
Koepf’s UD advisers are Ajay Prasad, professor of mechanical engineering and director of UD’s Center for Fuel Cell Research, and Suresh Advani, department chair and George W. Laird Professor of Mechanical Engineering.
“Erik’s project is extremely ambitious and multi-disciplinary in nature. It involves heat transfer and fluid dynamics in a very high temperature, chemically-reacting environment. He has had to master the use of high temperature ceramic materials and design his reactor to withstand enormous thermal stresses. His progress to date is a testament to his strong design and analysis skills and I am confident that his second campaign in Zurich will bring exciting results,” said Prasad.
According to Advani, Koepf’s project also illustrates the value of developing partnerships, both locally and globally. His work has led to international collaboration with Aldo Steinfeld, a worldwide expert in the field and head of the Solar Process Laboratory and the Paul Scherrer Institute.
Koepf’s reactor concept and design details, along with Phase I experimental findings, can be found in the Sept. 19, 2012 issue of the International Journal of Hydrogen Energy.
Article by Karen B. Roberts
Photos by Kathy F. Atkinson and courtesy of Erik Koepf | <urn:uuid:5f311502-d7fa-48da-ae6f-f655f677c3ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.udel.edu/udaily/2013/feb/solar-reactor-fuel-020413.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939156 | 1,054 | 3.375 | 3 |
Fading light dims the sight,
And a star gems the sky,
From afar drawing nigh,
Falls the night.
Day is done, gone the sun,
From the lake, From the hills,
From the sky.
All is well, safely rest,
God is nigh.
Then good night, Peaceful night,
Till the light of the dawn
God is near, do not fear,
Friend, good night.
Profiles in Courage
January 24, 1928 at Washington, DC
Entered Service in the US
Army from Washington, DC
30, 1951 at the age of 23
The Medal of Honor During the Korean War For heroism on
January 30, 1951 at Kamyangjan-ni, Korea
with Robert McGovern is his brother Jerome, who was killed in
action in Korea just eleven days after Robert's death. The
brothers were interred together in a joint funeral and
ceremony. Jerome McGovern earned the Silver Star before
Lieutenant McGovern led his platoon up a slope to engage hostile
troops emplaced in bunker-type pillboxes with connecting
trenches. The unit came under heavy machinegun and rifle fire
from the crest of the hill, approximately 75 yards distant.
Despite a wound sustained in this initial burst of withering
fire, Lieutenant McGovern assured the men of his ability to
continue on and urged them forward. Forging up the rocky
incline, he fearlessly led the platoon to within several yards
of its objective when the ruthless foe threw a vicious barrage
of hand grenades on the group and halted the advance. Enemy fire
increased and Lieutenant McGovern, realizing that casualties
were rapidly increasing and the morale of his men badly shaken,
hurled back several grenades before they exploded. Then,
disregarding his painful wound and weakened condition he charged
a machinegun emplacement which was raking his position. Within
10 yards of the position a burst of fire ripped the carbine from
his hands, but, undaunted, he continued his one-man assault and,
firing his pistol and throwing grenades, killed 7 enemy before
falling mortally wounded in front of the gun he had silenced. | <urn:uuid:92b48028-c7b7-48ff-a9a7-d1c7809dabc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.homeofheroes.com/gravesites/arlington/mcgovern_robert.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946945 | 468 | 2.3125 | 2 |
New books advocate 'open source' model for nanotechnology
- UTS's Dr Donald Maclurcan is author and co-editor of two new books assessing nanotechnology's potential contribution to addressing worldwide social and environmental problems
- The books build the case that global prosperity now demands innovation without economic growth, and nanotechnology shows such innovation is possible
Nanotechnology research should not be automatically harnessed to commercial objectives according to the UTS author and co-editor of two new books assessing the field's potential contribution to addressing worldwide social and environmental problems.
Nanotechnology and Global Equality, by Dr Donald Maclurcan, and Nanotechnology and Global Sustainability, edited by Dr Maclurcan and Dr Natalia Radywyl, build the case that global prosperity now demands innovation without economic growth, and nanotechnology shows such innovation is possible.
"Practices like 'open source nano-innovation' offer game-changing avenues for bypassing inhibitive start-up costs and ensuring scientific knowledge is freely shared," said Dr Maclurcan, an Honorary Research Fellow with UTS's Institute for Nanoscale Technology.
"For the first time in modern history, the right ingredients have surfaced for us to seriously consider innovating without economic growth," he said.
A US $254 billion market in 2009, recent data – outlined in the books – shows an expected rise to $2.5 trillion by 2015. More than 60 countries are engaging with nanotechnology research and development at a national level, including 16 'developing' countries.
"Nanotechnology research around the world is largely focussed on creating unnecessary products that ensure big gains for multinational corporations and bigger losses for our ecosystems," Dr Maclurcan said.
"In a world with biophysical limits and vast injustices, our survival depends on the redirection of science towards human need, not human greed."
The books were officially launched last week by Dr Vijoleta Braach-Maksvytis, former head of nanotechnology at the CSIRO.
Lisa Aloisio (+61 2 9514 4794) | <urn:uuid:f4bc50b5-2645-454b-abd9-a97ae0153448> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsroom.uts.edu.au/news/2012/04/new-books-advocate-open-source-model-for-nanotechnology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909824 | 432 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Annette Council had 20 bucks and a business plan. Most would see the combination as unpromising, even laughable. But Council saw possibility in it, and why not? In 1976, she watched her mother, Mildred Council, turn $64 into Mama Dip's Kitchen, a national destination in Chapel Hill for Southern home cooking that will celebrate its 35th anniversary in November.
"The things I've learned from my mom and my entire family that's worked [at Mama Dip's] is that we're creators," says Council. "We just always watched my mom create things, so she inspired us to go out and do things."
Also this November, Annette Council's home-launched business, Sweet Neecy Cake Mixes, will turn two. Since 2009, Council has sold 4,000 dry cake kits—butter, chocolate and spice—and secured contracts with several groceries in North Carolina, including Whole Foods Market, Weaver Street Market, A Southern Season and Earth Fare, where her product is one of a few, if not the only, local cake mixes available. Council is poised to do much more. She will soon be one of the first occupants in the region's new Piedmont Food & Agricultural Processing Center, a business incubator and commercial kitchen with rentable space and equipment that will allow farmers and small businesses to process food. The space—a collaboration between Orange, Durham, Chatham and Alamance counties that is set to open soon—contains kitchen and labeling equipment that will let Council increase production in ways that were limited in her home.
Council, like many of her siblings, spends most of her days as a full-time employee at Mama Dip's. She does the restaurant's books and oversees its front-of-the-house service. But on Thursdays, her day off, she creates Sweet Neecy's line of mixes and conducts in-store demonstrations at groceries across the state. "When I'm doing Sweet Neecy, it's like therapy to me," she says of fitting her own project into an already overworked schedule. Sweet Neecy functions as an outlet from the family business. But it's also an extension of it.
Initially, Council baked cakes to sell to her friends, but that process proved to be too much. "I couldn't keep cleaning up all of this mess after working at the restaurant all day long, six days a week," she says. "You know, coming home, making these cakes and then having to clean up this mess was just totally crazy. It just didn't make sense to me."
Council abandoned cake making for six months before deciding to attempt a less messy cake mix that people could use as a base to make a cake from scratch at home. The only additional ingredients needed would be eggs, milk and butter. "Then I thought, 'Am I crazy?' I don't know how to begin to make a cake mix," Council says. A year later, she decided to give it a shot. "Something said, just try it." She studied Duncan Hines and Betty Crocker boxes at her local grocery, invested $20 in a few pounds of flour and sugar, and put the simple ingredients together based on instinct.
Mildred Council writes about a similar style of preparing food—a tradition known as "dump cooking"—in Mama Dip's Kitchen. "After I left home, I had no measuring cups or spoons in my kitchen (salt and pepper were used right out of the container) until my children began to cook," she says. "Even then, I encouraged them not to rely on measurements too much. I would tell them to try learning to pour salt or pepper into their hands and then dumping it into the pot."
The method worked for Annette Council, even when applied to the precise and often persnickety process of baking. Upon tasting her first cake, she says, "I went out on my porch and was screaming because it was so good." The original mix makes a moist, buttery cake that can be served plain in the manner of a pound cake, or cut into layers and iced.
To turn the mix into a business, Council relied on skills she acquired from her mother. "We're basically all entrepreneurs," she says about her family. "It's just the environment we were brought up in since we were little kids."
Council applied for a business license, selected silver pouch-packaging that would stand out on a shelf next to ubiquitous cake mix boxes and enlisted the help of her daughter, Millen Umoh, to design a label. Umoh also coined Sweet Neecy's motto: "Make it Batter from Scratch."
The first store to stock Sweet Neecy was Whole Foods Market in Cary. Since then, Council says, her business has steadily increased, and with the new processing center, she wants to do even more. "Hopefully with that being in place I can go to larger stores because I will be able to process more," she says. "I want to be part of making this economy better." Council says success will be providing "one, two or three jobs" for others.
"You can create anything—all you have to do is try," she says. "And with Mama being 82 now, we have to continue to be creators to keep this legacy going. We have to keep creating more things and make it better. This is my portion of keeping the legacy going." But of course, her work at Mama Dip's is an important part of that, too. The two roles merge with similar purpose.
As Mama Dip's nears its significant date, Sweet Neecy is a reminder that the local restaurant has been much more than a place to simply dine. It's been something of a business incubator itself, a place where Mildred Council has fostered a sense of community and a hard work ethic—not the least of which includes the Council family. "My children came up through the grassroots," she says.
On a Tuesday at lunch, Council seats customers and runs the register. Mildred, who has been limited in her ability to do light prep work at the restaurant since a fall three months ago, sits in her booth and watches customers file in. "I hadn't even thought about that," she says of the upcoming 35th anniversary. "That's something, ain't it?" She pauses. "Maybe I'll make a cake." | <urn:uuid:c7b4d09b-7e8d-44eb-be95-f902b224c4b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.indyweek.com/indyweek/with-sweet-neecy-cake-mixes-annette-council-carries-on-the-mama-dips-work-ethic-and-cooking-skills/Content?oid=2650092 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983375 | 1,315 | 1.515625 | 2 |
A new rebel offensive around the Syrian capital has demonstrated the insurgents’ strengths after six months of combat in the Damascus region. But from afar it’s hard to gauge how close the rebels are to penetrating the central city or to capturing and holding new ground.
As in the country’s north, the rebels around Damascus have made gains against government bases, capturing weapons and demonstrating an ability to shoot down some of the government’s aircraft. But their advance has been slow in areas that are loyal to the government, and the government’s advantages of artillery and air power remain important factors in slowing the rebels.
Insurgents forced the closure of the Damascus airport, which lies several miles outside the city, last week for the first time. But the extent to which the fighting affected the airport itself – or merely the road leading to it – remains unclear.
Residents of the capital report disunion in the rebel ranks and instances of infighting between groups. Some of those fights appeared to be related to ideological splits, residents said, while others appeared to be battles over territory.
As in other parts of the country, Islamist rebel groups appear to be leading the fight in Damascus, including fighters from Jabhat al Nusra, or the Nusra Front, a group that U.S. officials say has ties to al Qaida and that the United States said Monday it would designate a foreign terrorist group.
Living conditions in the capital have deteriorated, with bread and heating oil in short supply. Residents reached by phone said electricity was available for only six to 12 hours a day, depending on the neighborhood. That’s a marked difference from the beginning of the rebel offensive six months ago, when gasoline shortages were being felt but the capital otherwise was functioning.
For at least the third month in a row, the greatest number of people killed in Syria during November died in and around Damascus, according to statistics compiled by Syrian human rights groups. The fighting has left districts at the edge of the capital, and some within it, in ruins.
Residents say rebels appeared to be trying to consolidate positions on the eastern and western sides of the city, in order to press the military from two sides.
Former residents of Daraya, a suburb southwest of Damascus that had become a rebel stronghold before a government offensive in late August, reported that fighting had destroyed most of the area and that rebels were the only people who remained in the district.
In Yarmouk, a district that once was home to about half a million people, shelling has destroyed many neighborhoods. The fighting there displaced many people for a second time, as they’d fled there from other parts of the country that were less safe. Fighting continues in the neighborhoods around Yarmouk, as well as in northeastern parts of the city leading to the long-restive suburb of Douma.
Direct clashes between rebels and a Palestinian militia allied with the government demonstrate the rift among Palestinians, a significant population in Yarmouk. Many Palestinian youths have supported the rebellion against President Bashar Assad, while older Palestinians have remained loyal to Assad. The tensions have sparked repeated clashes, with neither side taking clear control of the area.
In recent weeks, government airpower has been used increasingly in the battles around Damascus, suggesting an increase in rebel numbers and a greater control of some areas. But the airpower often appears ineffective, with helicopter crews resorting to rolling bombs out of their aircraft, in some cases explosives-packed canisters that Syrians refer to as “barmeels,” Arabic for “barrel.” One theory is that the tactic allows helicopter pilots to fly at heights greater than those necessary to fire missiles, allowing them to avoid anti-aircraft fire.
In a new twist, pictures were posted online Sunday claiming to show what appeared to be naval mines dropped from a government helicopter in Daraya. There was no explanation for why the military would have dropped such munitions.
Residents of Damascus said they saw little evidence of greater coordination among rebel groups fighting in the city than there had been in July.
The insurgents have worked quickly in past months to coordinate actions, and fighters in the eastern province of Deir al Zour said last month that some of their battalions from the area already were fighting in Damascus. Others said that when the government had been driven from Deir al Zour, Damascus would become their focus.
The split between Islamist rebel groups who refer to themselves as mujahedeen and those who say they’re fighting under the banner of the secular Free Syrian Army has become increasingly clear in recent months. | <urn:uuid:2d70ed12-9881-4eef-94f2-c2853f789fb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fortmilltimes.com/2012/12/10/2376734/after-6-months-rebels-gaining.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975414 | 934 | 1.695313 | 2 |
The latest Beltway clichés are beginning to irritate me and I can no longer resist the inclination to complain about them. “Put some skin in (the game)” brings up memories of falling and scraping knees, elbows, heads, and the like.
This cliché replaces “ante up”, which replaced “cough up”, whose demises please no one more than me. ”Put some skin in” is milder than “give a pound of flesh”, donated by Shakespeare but still it is pretty raw. “Ante up” comes from poker; it means literally to put more money in the game and hence is more fitting for the financial crisis than “putting in more skin” (unless, of course, you’ve been skinned by Bernie Madoff).
OK, the image is bad, so what is better? Let’s try “give/get a haircut”, as to give GM employees or AIG managers a haircut. Well, that isn’t a graphic image of an injury but then it doesn’t really imply a contribution to the cost of resurrecting our economic institutions. Hair cuts are something we all get on a regular basis and implies willingly giving up something we consider superfluous. It implies no kind of sacrifice at all which is the very point of these metaphors.
This is what comes of ignoring our poets and listening to the faces on radio and TV that talk faster than they think. Clichés, of course, are simply metaphors that catch on and are repeated ad nauseum by those who cannot come up with their own. I’m sure at least one poet in our midst has dreamed up a better metaphor than the ones that are morphing into clichés even as I click away now. | <urn:uuid:a399d7a2-e63b-48a9-af30-f8655dc64b6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.alphadictionary.com/blog/?p=269 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965743 | 377 | 1.570313 | 2 |
|Posted by hj on July 14, 2003 at 16:13:49:|
|In response to Re: Should one ever drain a water heater|
If you do anything, it should be to "flush" it by connecting a hose to the bottom valve and then opening the valve to permit any localized debris to be washed out. This, or actually draining the tank, will only remove accumulations near the valve so its benefits are subject to interpretation.
: I was reading on another website about water heaters that its recommmended to drain your water heater but it didn't give a reason why and also how frequently. What is the purpose of draining your water heater and how often, if it is necessary, should you do it. Also when you do drain it do you let it empty or not? Thanks!
|Replies to this post|
|There are none.| | <urn:uuid:05aaf944-45ac-4fb5-8d46-adc27e846938> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.terrylove.com/wwwboard/messages2/33571.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968541 | 183 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Call for chapters in an International Community Development book
Call for Papers Date:
Call for manuscripts for a peer-reviewed book: Community Disaster Recovery and Resiliency: Exploring Global Opportunities and Challenges.
Editors: DeMond S. Miller (Rowan University-New Jersey-USA) and Jason D. Rivera (Rowan University-New Jersey-USA).
Community Disaster Recovery and Resiliency: Exploring Global Opportunities and Challenges, an edited volume, provides a much-needed forum for policymakers, students, scholars, community organizations and citizens to discuss communities collectively experiencing trauma during the pre- and post (immediate and long term) disaster response and recovery periods as it is experienced around the globe. This volume engages practitioners, academics, researchers, policy makers and grassroots organizations in search of sustainable ways to rebuild communities after disasters (both natural and man-made). The editors of this volume are calling for diverse community examples as a framework to facilitate a candid in-depth comparison of the best practices illustrating how communities experience, recover, and affect social policies in such a way that the community’s vulnerability to disaster is reduced. This manuscript seeks to identify, explain and understand, from a social scientific perspective, the opportunities and challenges communities confronted on the road to recovery. Ultimately, we envision the impact of the work to provide overall better understanding of professional disaster management and safety for all citizens.
Chapter proposals in reference to opportunities and challenges to international community recovery are being accepted in the following areas:
Building and Public Infrastructure
Social and Cultural Revitalization (including formal and informal social support networks)
Public Health and Safety
Housing and Housing Policy
Private-Public Partnerships for Building Sustainable Communities
We seek chapters that attempt to address concerns similar to these listed below:
What are the current opportunities and challenges that enable or constrain communities in their struggle to access government/NGOs assistance?
What historic and contemporary opportunities and challenges exist in relation to social, demographic, political and public policy trends that impact the practice of civic-government interactions towards those most vulnerable and in need of help?
What “best practices” emerge after disasters that encourage the sustainable development of communities as they return to normalcy, result in lastly social change and enhance the lives of people at the local level?
The editors will consider a mixed methods approach among the chapters. We fully expect some of the chapters to be qualitative as well as quantitative (surveys, census data, focus groups, case studies, cross-cultural comparisons, etc…).
Send a title, an abstract and 3 – 5 page double-spaced chapter proposal, in English, by June 1, 2008 to: DeMond Miller at firstname.lastname@example.org.
DeMond Miller, Ph.D.
Robinson Hall, Dept. of Sociology
201 Mullica Hill Rd.
Glassboro, NJ 08028 Email: email@example.com
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Ok here's a lesson U can laugh at what they say like "ur fat!" you "hahaha nice one" or u can play dumb "ur ugly" you "haha I'm a turtle" or change the subject "butt head" you "I like your hair can I touch it?"
Turn the other cheek? I know it can be hard but sometimes you just have to report it, but that doesn't usually help much for me. You could also try to tell them to go get a life if all they do in their free time is pick on people? I really am not good at ignoring that kind of stuff i just flat out serve it to people definitely not the best way to do things I know...
My school has a zero tolerence for bullying. i haven't been constantly harrassed by someone. I've been called names though. But you should never ignore it or confont the bully/bullies. Things can get worse. Go right to your principle or a teacher right away. I know that serious cases you could still be bullied. But if it's really bothering you, you should switch schools.
IGNORE THEM, like you said. Get a parent involved, if necessary. Or laugh with them. Haha, that'll be fun thing to do. I would stand up to them. Who cares! Just make them feel stupid. Give them a look that you give your parents when they embarrass you. "oh my gosh", with your wide eyes and your appealed face that says, "what in the world are they doing?"!! Don't be afraid to fight back. Mentally& and if you have to, physically. So you let that person know, that your not the person to be bullied. | <urn:uuid:c7e6b8ac-8900-495c-bbb6-e3ae857aeb83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ask.com/answers/167109861/how-do-you-ignore-a-bully?qsrc=3111 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979702 | 358 | 1.773438 | 2 |
A news report says that a federal agency is giving permission for the possible sacrifice of whooping cranes, one of the biggest and rarest of American birds, to allow construction of a vast corridor of electricity-generating wind turbines.
The U.S. Fish & Wildlife Service is offering an exemption from the Endangered Species Act to wind developers who work in the corridor, which would cross nine states in the American west. Without an exemption, the developers would be subject to stiff sanctions should any of the protected birds be killed. The developers would be required to devise a conservation plan to offset harm to the cranes.
The agency said it must “do our part to facilitate development of wind energy resources.” | <urn:uuid:5e53b99e-e3cb-4ff7-8a79-8e0b30f96fc9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.democratandchronicle.com/520/?p=2055 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92005 | 146 | 2.375 | 2 |
Into this environment stepped Sir Thomas Malory, a 15th century knight of Warwickshire and a member of Parliament, who, during his lifetime, was in and out of prison with regularity for a large number of crimes, including ambush, extortion, robbery, and rape. According to certain allusions he himself makes, it's believed that, while in prison, Malory wrote (or at least began to write) Le Morte d'Arthur -- The Death of Arthur -- an attempt to tell the entire story of King Arthur and his knights under a single cover. To do so, Malory needed to find ways to fit several centuries' worth of conflicting stories together and it's a matter of opinion regarding how well he succeeded. Even so, Le Morte d'Arthur is probably the most famous version of the Arthurian legends, at least in the English-speaking world, where it served as the basis for many later versions, such as Tennyson's Idylls of the King, Sidney Lanier's The Boy's King Arthur, T.H. White's The Once and Future King, and John Steinbeck's The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights, among others.
Malory's original work was first printed 1485 and has been continuously in print for the last half-millennium. To call it a "classic" of English literature is probably an understatement. Of course, like most classics, relatively few people have ever read it, an omission made all the easier for some to justify owing to its archaic English. Though perhaps not as easily intelligible to modern ears as, say, Shakespeare, Le Morte d'Arthur's English is certainly closer to contemporary speech than Chaucer's The Canterbury Tales. For this reason, there's long been a market for "translations" of Malory, which attempt to update its 15th century idiom for modern readers, the latest of which is Peter Ackroyd's The Death of King Arthur.
Ackroyd is an English writer and critic, well known for his biographies of famous Britons. He's also previously penned a translation of The Canterbury Tales, which at the very least indicates his familiarity with the process he's undertaking in The Death of King Arthur. In "A Note on the Text," Ackroyd describes his method of translation thusly:
In my translation I have changed the name of the text from Le Morte d'Arthur to The Death of King Arthur; this gives a more accurate summary of its contents. I have tried my best to convert Malory's sonorous and exhilarating prose into a more contemporary idiom; this is a loose, rather than punctilious, translation. I have also chosen to abbreviate the narrative in pursuit of clarity and simplcity. I hope that by these means the essential story of Arthur and his knights emerges more clearly, and that the characters of Camelot are drawn more convincingly. Malory is often rambling and repetitive; much that would have amused and interested a medieval audience will not appeal to a modern readership. I have also amended Malory's inconsistencies. Despite these alterations, I hope that I have been able to convey the majesty and pathos of the great original.Anyone who reads this blog with any regularity will know that I regard punctiliousness as a virtue rather than a vice in translation -- all the moreso when the "translation" is simply between older and newer speech rather than between different languages. Consequently, I approached The Death of King Arthur with trepidation.
That trepidation was somewhat justified, as Ackroyd's translation is much more than that; it is, as the cover of the book proclaims, a "retelling" of Le Morte d'Arthur. It is a very good retelling, one that is both coherent and often beautiful, but I hesitate to say that it is Malory's tale. Now, my hesitation might, ultimately, be a matter of semantics and my own sense that there's no need to "translate" from 15th to 21st century English. Even as an American, I don't find Malory's English hard to grasp and its rambling and repetitive character is very often the root of the "sonorous and exhilarating prose" that Ackroyd rightly praises. Consider the following passage, which opens the book. Here's Malory's version (using modern spellings):
It befell in the days of Uther Pendragon, when he was king of all England, and so reigned, that there was a mighty duke in Cornwall that held war against him long time. And the duke was called the Duke of Tintagil. And so by means King Uther sent for this duke, charging him to bring his wife with him, for she was called a fair lady, and a passing wise, and her name was called Igraine.Ackroyd's "translation" reads:
In the old wild days of the world there was a king of England known as Uther Pendragon; he was a dragon in wrath as well as in power. There were various regions in his kingdom, many of them warring one against another, and so it came about that one day he summoned a mighty duke to his court at Winchester. This nobleman was of Cornwall, and he was called Duke of Tintagel; he reigned over a western tribe from the fastness of his castle on the rocks, where he looked down upon the violent sea. Uther Pendragon asked the duke to bring with him to court his wife, Igraine, who had the reputation of being a great beauty. She was wise as well as beautiful, and it was said that she could read the secrets of any man's heart on the instant she looked at him.Quite the difference, isn't it? Ackroyd's version is by no means unlovely. Indeed, there is poetry in it -- "a dragon in wrath as well as in power," for example -- but it's not really a translation so much as a retelling and indeed an embellishment upon what Malory wrote. I have no problem with that whatsoever, but I'll admit to being baffled as to why Ackroyd considers his book a translation of Malory rather than a new book altogether. Not only do his words differ from those of Malory but he adds details nowhere to be found in the text, such as Igraine's ability to read the hearts of men simply by looking at them. I mention my complaint with some sheepishness, since, as I said, Ackroyd's prose is smooth, vibrant, and often moving. The Death of King Arthur is an excellent introduction to Arthurian legend and even longtime aficionados may find enjoyment in it, but it's not Malory -- or at least it's no more Malory than was T.H. White or John Steinbeck. | <urn:uuid:96b45b8f-7925-436f-83eb-de13e63bba78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://grognardia.blogspot.com/2011/11/review-death-of-king-arthur.html?showComment=1320194787935 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984493 | 1,416 | 2.875 | 3 |
|NSW Seasonal Rainfall Outlook: probabilities for Spring 2006, issued 23rd August 2006|
Mainly neutral spring rainfall outlook in NSW
Although below normal spring (Sep-Nov) rainfall is favoured by the outlook over much of Queensland, the latest seasonal rainfall odds are mainly neutral over NSW, the Bureau of Meteorology announced today. So the chances are generally close to 50% for accumulating at least median rainfall over September to November.
The pattern of seasonal rainfall odds across Australia is a result of higher than average temperatures in both the Pacific and Indian Oceans, the latter of which has been warming strongly in recent months.
For the September to November period, the chances of above median rainfall are mostly between 40 and 55% over NSW, dropping a little below 40% in the far northwest corner of the State near the borders with Queensland and SA (see map).
So in years with ocean patterns like the current, about five or six springs out of ten are expected to be drier than average in NSW, with about four or five of ten being wetter.
Outlook confidence is related to how consistently the Pacific and Indian Oceans affect Australian rainfall. During spring, history shows this effect to be moderately consistent across most of NSW (see background information).
The Southern Oscillation Index (SOI) was negative for the third straight month in July with a value of −9. This came after readings of −6 in June and −10 in May. The approximate SOI for the 30 days ending 20th August was −16. If history is any guide, the SOI will probably stay negative for the rest of the year.
Although a late-developing El Niño event is still a possibility this year, especially considering the SOI, the consensus from computer models is for continued neutral ENSO conditions for the remainder of 2006, but on the warm side of average. Continued Pacific warmth and negative SOI values are generally associated with increased likelihood of below average rainfall in eastern and northern Australia. For routine updates and comprehensive discussion on the latest data relating to ENSO, together with details on what the phenomenon is and how it has affected Australia in the past, please see the ENSO Wrap-Up.
Click on the map above for a larger version of the map. Use the reload/refresh button to ensure the latest forecast map is displayed.
|More information on this outlook is available from 9.00am to 5.00pm (EST) Monday to Friday by contacting the NSW Climate Services section in the Bureau's Sydney Office: (02) 9296 1610 or (02) 9296 1525.|
THE NEXT ISSUE OF THE SEASONAL OUTLOOK IS EXPECTED BY 26th SEPTEMBER 2006 | <urn:uuid:365892e0-84df-4172-ac20-8178bc0672a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bom.gov.au/climate/ahead/archive/rainfall/20060823R_nsw.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940287 | 562 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Numerical Methods for Ordinary Differential Systems: The Initial Value Problem
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Numerical Methods for Ordinary Differential Systems The Initial Value Problem J. D. Lambert Professor of Numerical Analysis University of Dundee Scotland In 1973 the author published a book entitled Computational Methods in Ordinary Differential Equations. Since then, there have been many new developments in this subject and the emphasis has changed substantially. This book reflects these changes; it is intended not as a revision of the earlier work but as a complete replacement for it. Although some basic material appears in both books, the treatment given here is generally different and there is very little overlap. In 1973 there were many methods competing for attention but more recently there has been increasing emphasis on just a few classes of methods for which sophisticated implementations now exist. This book places much more emphasis on such implementations--and on the important topic of stiffness--than did its predecessor. Also included are accounts of the structure of variable-step, variable-order methods, the Butcher and the Albrecht theories for Runge--Kutta methods, order stars and nonlinear stability theory. The author has taken a middle road between analytical rigour and a purely computational approach, key results being stated as theorems but proofs being provided only where they aid the reader's understanding of the result. Numerous exercises, from the straightforward to the demanding, are included in the text. This book will appeal to advanced students and teachers of numerical analysis and to users of numerical methods who wish to understand how algorithms for ordinary differential systems work and, on occasion, fail to work. | <urn:uuid:cbeefb4d-75c1-4f6c-a9ad-47af7b8d4ef7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-0471929905,descCd-description.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941625 | 380 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Where Did Your iPod Come From? The Story of Stuff
Do you know the difference between planned and perceived obsolescence?
Do you know why high heels are fashionable with chunky heels one year, and thin heels the next year?
Why is breast milk the “food” highest in toxic contaminants?
And do you know why in the wake of September 11th, George Bush told us all to go shopping?
These questions and many, many others are answered in The Story of Stuff, a 20-minute documentary about the life cycle of products and services, explaining everything about…well…stuff.
The underlying environmental message is not communicated using sensationalistic footage or over-dramatic statements of Armageddon. In fact, the flash illustrations and enthusiastic presenter make this video appropriate (and constructive if you ask me) for even children to watch.
Fact checkers will enjoy the resources section of the site, which includes an annotated script. And anybody whose curiosity is piqued will find more information, along with constructive and innovative suggestions to harness change on the website.
It is worth the next 20 minutes of your life to learn about The Story of Stuff. Check it out here. | <urn:uuid:6478efe0-a7c9-4c27-bcac-eafc18954314> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wisebread.com/where-did-your-ipod-come-from-the-story-of-stuff-0?wbref=readmore-1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928345 | 244 | 2.15625 | 2 |
IAS 20 Accounting for Government Grants and Disclosure of Government Assistance
Last EU endorsed/amended on 23.01.2009
1This Standard shall be applied in accounting for, and in the disclosure of, government grants and in the disclosure of other forms of government assistance.
2This Standard does not deal with:
(a)the special problems arising in accounting for government grants in financial statements reflecting the effects of changing prices or in supplementary information of a similar nature;
(b)government assistance that is provided for an entity in the form of benefits that are available in determining taxable profit or tax loss, or are determined or limited on the basis of income tax liability. Examples of such benefits are income tax holidays, investment tax credits, accelerated depreciation allowances and reduced income tax rates;
(c)government participation in the ownership of the entity;
(d)government grants covered by IAS 41 Agriculture.
3The following terms are used in this Standard with the meanings specified:
Government refers to government, government agencies and similar bodies whether local, national or international.
Government assistance is action by government designed to provide an economic benefit specific to an entity or range of entities qualifying under certain criteria. Government assistance for the purpose of this Standard does not include benefits provided only indirectly through action affecting general trading conditions, such as the provision of infrastructure in development areas or the imposition of trading constraints on competitors.
Government grants are assistance by government in the form of transfers of resources to an entity in return for past or future compliance with certain conditions relating to the operating activities of the entity. They exclude those forms of government assistance which cannot reasonably have a value placed upon them and transactions with government which cannot be distinguished from the normal trading transactions of the entity.2
Grants related to assets are government grants whose primary condition is that an entity qualifying for them should purchase, construct or otherwise acquire long-term assets. Subsidiary conditions may also be attached restricting the type or location of the assets or the periods during which they are to be acquired or held.
Grants related to income are government grants other than those related to assets.
Forgivable loans are loans which the lender undertakes to waive repayment of under certain prescribed conditions.
Fair value is the amount for which an asset could be exchanged between a knowledgeable, willing buyer and a knowledgeable, willing seller in an arm’s length transaction.
4Government assistance takes many forms varying both in the nature of the assistance given and in the conditions which are usually attached to it. The purpose of the assistance may be to encourage an entity to embark on a course of action which it would not normally have taken if the assistance was not provided.
5The receipt of government assistance by an entity may be significant for the preparation of the financial statements for two reasons. Firstly, if resources have been transferred, an appropriate method of accounting for the transfer must be found. Secondly, it is desirable to give an indication of the extent to which the entity has benefited from such assistance during the reporting period. This facilitates comparison of an entity’s financial statements with those of prior periods and with those of other entities.
6Government grants are sometimes called by other names such as subsidies, subventions, or premiums.
7Government grants, including non-monetary grants at fair value, shall not be recognised until there is reasonable assurance that:
(a)the entity will comply with the conditions attaching to them; and
(b)the grants will be received.
8A government grant is not recognised until there is reasonable assurance that the entity will comply with the conditions attaching to it, and that the grant will be received. Receipt of a grant does not of itself provide conclusive evidence that the conditions attaching to the grant have been or will be fulfilled.
9The manner in which a grant is received does not affect the accounting method to be adopted in regard to the grant. Thus a grant is accounted for in the same manner whether it is received in cash or as a reduction of a liability to the government.
10A forgivable loan from government is treated as a government grant when there is reasonable assurance that the entity will meet the terms for forgiveness of the loan.
10A The benefit of a government loan at a below-market rate of interest is treated as a government grant. The loan shall be recognised and measured in accordance with IAS 39 Financial Instruments: Recognition and Measurement. The benefit of the below-market rate of interest shall be measured as the difference between the initial carrying value of the loan determined in accordance with IAS 39 and the proceeds received. The benefit is accounted for in accordance with this Standard. The entity shall consider the conditions and obligations that have been, or must be, met when identifying the costs for which the benefit of the loan is intended to compensate.
11Once a government grant is recognised, any related contingent liability or contingent asset is treated in accordance with IAS 37 Provisions, Contingent Liabilities and Contingent Assets.
12Government grants shall be recognised in profit or loss on a systematic basis over the periods in which the entity recognizes as expenses the related costs for which the grants are intended to compensate.
13There are two broad approaches to the accounting for government grants: the capital approach, under which a grant is recognised outside profit or loss, and the income approach, under which a grant is recognised in profit or loss over one or more periods.
14Those in support of the capital approach argue as follows:
(a)government grants are a financing device and should be dealt with as such in the statement of financial position rather than be recognised in profit or loss to offset the items of expense which they finance. Because no repayment is expected, such grants should be recognized outside profit or loss;
(b)it is inappropriate to recognise government grants in profit or loss, because they are not earned but represent an incentive provided by government without related costs.
15Arguments in support of the income approach are as follows:
(a)because government grants are receipts from a source other than shareholders, they should not be recognised directly in equity but should be recognized in profit or loss in appropriate periods;
(b)government grants are rarely gratuitous. The entity earns them through compliance with their conditions and meeting the envisaged obligations. They should therefore be recognised in profit or loss over the periods in which the entity recognizes as expenses the related costs for which the grant is intended to compensate;
(c)as income and other taxes are expenses, it is logical to deal also with government grants, which are an extension of fiscal policies, in the profit or loss.
16It is fundamental to the income approach that government grants should be recognised in profit or loss on a systematic basis over the periods in which the entity recognizes as expenses the related costs for which the grant is intended to compensate. Recognition of government grants in profit or loss on a receipt basis is not in accordance with the accrual accounting assumption (see IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements) and would be acceptable only if no basis existed for allocating a grant to periods other than the one in which it was received.
17In most cases the periods over which an entity recognises the costs or expenses related to a government grant are readily ascertainable. Thus grants in recognition of specific expenses are recognised in profit or loss in the same period as the relevant expenses. Similarly, grants related to depreciable assets are usually recognised in profit or loss over the periods and in the proportions in which depreciation expense on those assets is recognised.
18Grants related to non-depreciable assets may also require the fulfilment of certain obligations and would then be recognised in profit or loss over the periods that bear the cost of meeting the obligations. As an example, a grant of land may be conditional upon the erection of a building on the site and it may be appropriate to recognise the grant in profit or loss over the life of the building.
19Grants are sometimes received as part of a package of financial or fiscal aids to which a number of conditions are attached. In such cases, care is needed in identifying the conditions giving rise to costs and expenses which determine the periods over which the grant will be earned. It may be appropriate to allocate part of a grant on one basis and part on another.
20A government grant that becomes receivable as compensation for expenses or losses already incurred or for the purpose of giving immediate financial support to the entity with no future related costs shall be recognised in profit or loss of the period in which it becomes receivable.
21In some circumstances, a government grant may be awarded for the purpose of giving immediate financial support to an entity rather than as an incentive to undertake specific expenditures. Such grants may be confined to a particular entity and may not be available to a whole class of beneficiaries. These circumstances may warrant recognising a grant in profit or loss in the period in which the entity qualifies to receive it, with disclosure to ensure that its effect is clearly understood.
22A government grant may become receivable by an entity as compensation for expenses or losses incurred in a previous period. Such a grant is recognised in profit or loss of the period in which it becomes receivable, with disclosure to ensure that its effect is clearly understood.
Non-monetary government grants
23A government grant may take the form of a transfer of a non-monetary asset, such as land or other resources, for the use of the entity. In these circumstances it is usual to assess the fair value of the non-monetary asset and to account for both grant and asset at that fair value. An alternative course that is sometimes followed is to record both asset and grant at a nominal amount.
Presentation of grants related to assets
24Government grants related to assets, including non-monetary grants at fair value, shall be presented in the statement of financial position either by setting up the grant as deferred income or by deducting the grant in arriving at the carrying amount of the asset.
25Two methods of presentation in financial statements of grants (or the appropriate portions of grants) related to assets are regarded as acceptable alternatives.
26One method recognises the grant as deferred income that is recognised in profit or loss on a systematic basis over the useful life of the asset.
27The other method deducts the grant in calculating the carrying amount of the asset. The grant is recognised in profit or loss over the life of a depreciable asset as a reduced depreciation charge.
28The purchase of assets and the receipt of related grants can cause major movements in the cash flow of an entity. For this reason and in order to show the gross investment in assets, such movements are often disclosed as separate items in the statement of cash flow regardless of whether or not the grant is deducted from the related asset for presentation purposes in the statement of financial position..
Presentation of grants related to income
29Grants related to income are sometimes presented as a credit in the statement of comprehensive income, either separately or under a general heading such as ‘Other income’; alternatively, they are deducted in reporting the related expense.
29A If an entity presents the components of profit or loss in a separate income statement as described in paragraph 81 of IAS 1 (as revised in 2007), it presents grants related to income as required in paragraph 29 in that separate statement.
30Supporters of the first method claim that it is inappropriate to net income and expense items and that separation of the grant from the expense facilitates comparison with other expenses not affected by a grant. For the second method it is argued that the expenses might well not have been incurred by the entity if the grant had not been available and presentation of the expense without offsetting the grant may therefore be misleading.
31Both methods are regarded as acceptable for the presentation of grants related to income. Disclosure of the grant may be necessary for a proper understanding of the financial statements. Disclosure of the effect of the grants on any item of income or expense which is required to be separately disclosed is usually appropriate.
Repayment of government grants
32A government grant that becomes repayable shall be accounted for as a change in accounting estimate (see IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors). Repayment of a grant related to income shall be applied first against any unamortised deferred credit recognised in respect of the grant. To the extent that the repayment exceeds any such deferred credit, or when no deferred credit exists, the repayment shall be recognised immediately in profit or loss. Repayment of a grant related to an asset shall be recognised by increasing the carrying amount of the asset or reducing the deferred income balance by the amount repayable. The cumulative additional depreciation that would have been recognised in profit or loss to date in the absence of the grant shall be recognised immediately in profit or loss.
33Circumstances giving rise to repayment of a grant related to an asset may require consideration to be given to the possible impairment of the new carrying amount of the asset.
34Excluded from the definition of government grants in paragraph 3 are certain forms of government assistance which cannot reasonably have a value placed upon them and transactions with government which cannot be distinguished from the normal trading transactions of the entity.
35Examples of assistance that cannot reasonably have a value placed upon them are free technical or marketing advice and the provision of guarantees. An example of assistance that cannot be distinguished from the normal trading transactions of the entity is a government procurement policy that is responsible for a portion of the entity’s sales. The existence of the benefit might be unquestioned but any attempt to segregate the trading activities from government assistance could well be arbitrary.
36The significance of the benefit in the above examples may be such that disclosure of the nature, extent and duration of the assistance is necessary in order that the financial statements may not be misleading.
38In this Standard, government assistance does not include the provision of infrastructure by improvement to the general transport and communication network and the supply of improved facilities such as irrigation or water reticulation which is available on an ongoing indeterminate basis for the benefit of an entire local community.
39The following matters shall be disclosed:
(a)the accounting policy adopted for government grants, including the methods of presentation adopted in the financial statements;
(b)the nature and extent of government grants recognised in the financial statements and an indication of other forms of government assistance from which the entity has directly benefited; and
(c)unfulfilled conditions and other contingencies attaching to government assistance that has been recognised.
40An entity adopting the Standard for the first time shall:
(a)comply with the disclosure requirements, where appropriate; and
(i)adjust its financial statements for the change in accounting policy in accordance with IAS 8; or
(ii)apply the accounting provisions of the Standard only to grants or portions of grants becoming receivable or repayable after the effective date of the Standard.
41This Standard becomes operative for financial statements covering periods beginning on or after 1 January 1984.
42IAS 1 (as revised in 2007) amended the terminology used throughout IFRSs. In addition it added paragraph 29A. An entity shall apply those amendments for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2009. If an entity applies IAS 1 (revised 2007) for an earlier period, the amendments shall be applied for that earlier period.
43Paragraph 37 was deleted and paragraph 10A added by Improvements to IFRSs issued in May 2008. An entity shall apply those amendments prospectively to government loans received in periods beginning on or after 1 January 2009. Earlier application is permitted. If an entity applies the amendments for an earlier period it shall disclose that fact.
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Have 10 minutes to relax?Play our unique
Play The Game | <urn:uuid:7fdc9dd1-e410-4c1f-a899-eebbeff3327d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.readyratios.com/reference/ifrs/ias_20_accounting_for_government_grants_and_disclosure_of_government_assistance.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948579 | 3,352 | 2.28125 | 2 |
The every-two-year NAMLE National Conference is the premier opportunity for training and professional development in the field of media literacy education. This post lists links to some of the online highlights from the 2009 Conference in Detroit, MI.
Tag: "NAMLE Conference 2009 Detroit"
by NAMLE member Lisa Floading, Communications Educator at Port Washington High School, Wisconsin Perhaps English rock band The Clash said it best: “Know Your Rights!” In early August, I attended the 2009 NAMLE Conference and the “Yes, You Can! Understanding Copyright and Fair Use for Media Literacy Education” session presented by Renee Hobbs. I came [...]
The National Association for Media Literacy Education (NAMLE) has honored one of its own with its coveted Meritorious Service Award, during its national conference, “Bridging Literacies: Critical Connections in a Digital World,” held recently in Detroit. Elizabeth Thoman –Liz to her friends and colleagues – was recognized for her lifetime of work and exemplary leadership [...] | <urn:uuid:c8e3affe-5883-436f-8540-8d594df57386> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://namle.net/tag/namle-conference-2009-detroit/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949568 | 221 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Couch-potato kids are biggest child health problem in the US, adults say
Adults across the U.S. rate not getting enough exercise as the top health concern for children in 2012, according to a new University of Michigan C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.
In the poll's annual top 10 list, a nationwide sample of adults were asked to identify the top 10 biggest health concerns for kids in their communities. For the first time, not enough exercise was rated by most adults at the top of the list (39 percent). That was followed closely by childhood obesity (38 percent) and smoking and tobacco use (34 percent).
"Childhood obesity remains a top concern, and adults know it is certainly linked to lack of exercise," says Matthew M. Davis M.D., M.A.P.P., director of the C.S. Mott Children's Hospital National Poll on Children's Health.
"The strong perception that lack of exercise is a threat to children's health may reflect effective recent public health messages from programs such as First Lady Michelle Obama's 'Let's Move' campaign.
"But lack of exercise offers many more benefits other than weight loss or preventing obesity such as better attention and learning in school and improved sense of well-being," says Davis, associate professor of pediatrics and internal medicine at the U-M Medical School and associate professor of public policy at the Gerald R. Ford School of Public Policy.
The rest of the poll results were:
- 4. Drug abuse (33 percent)
- 5. Bullying (29 percent)
- 6. Stress (27 percent)
- 7. Alcohol abuse (23 percent)
- 8. Teen pregnancy (23 percent)
- 9. Internet safety (22 percent)
- 10. Child abuse and neglect (20 percent)
The poll's results varied based on race/ethnicity. Hispanic adults were more likely to rate childhood obesity first (44 percent), followed by not enough exercise (38 percent), and also rated drug abuse higher than smoking and tobacco use.
Black adults had higher levels of concern about smoking and tobacco use, ranking that most often (43 percent). They also had high levels of concern about racial inequality, ranking it seventh on the list, and gun-related injuries, ranking that ninth.
Black and Hispanic adults both identified sexually transmitted infections as a greater concern for kids in their communities than did white adults.
"Child health varies across communities, and these results emphasize a need for local programs that respect and address community-specific health priorities for youth," Davis says.
Provided by University of Michigan Health System
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National Lung Screening Trial (NLST) investigators also conclude that the 20 percent reduction in lung cancer mortality with low-dose computed tomography (LDCT) versus chest X-ray (CXR) screening previously reported in the ...
21 minutes ago | not rated yet | 0 | <urn:uuid:5ef5bd14-3c8b-4a7f-9cbd-d3f5a6126558> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-couch-potato-kids-biggest-child-health.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946235 | 1,683 | 2.59375 | 3 |
I’m in the Yes-Yes camp, and I was surprised that doubting one’s own free will was so common among the conference participants. It is striking how unrepresentative this result is for the general population who likes to hold on to the belief that personal choices are undetermined and unpredictable. In a cross-cultural study with participants from the United States, Hong Kong, India and Colombia, Sarkassian et al found that more than two thirds of respondents (82% USA, 85% India, 65% Hong Cong, 77% Colombia) believe that our universe is indeterministic and human decisions are “not completely caused by the past”(exact wording used in the study).
One of the likely reasons many people believe in free will is that if fundamentally there is no such thing as free will, how come that most of us* have the feeling that we do make decisions?
Lacking a good theory of consciousness, it may be that rather than making decisions, the role of our consciousness is to simply provide aggregated information about what our brain and body was doing, is currently doing, and provide a crude extrapolation of this information into the future. As we grow up, we become better at predicting what will be happening next –in our surrounding as well as with our own body and mind – and may mistake our prediction of what we will be doing for an intent to do it, and our imperfection of making precise predictions creates the illusion that we had a choice. (I doubt I'm the first to have this thought. If you know a reference with similar spirit, please let me know.)
This would mean, if you slap your forehead now, rather than consciously deciding to do so and making the choice to perform this action (which we may call the “standard interpretation”) your neuronal network has arrived at the necessary state that immediately precedes this action and your consciousness notes that next thing that will likely happen is you’ll be slapping your forehead, which it interprets as your impulse to do so (we may call it the “self-extrapolation interpretation”). You are not entirely certain about this since you have learned that your subconscious on occasion makes twists that your consciousness fails to properly predict, thus the possibility remains you’ll not be slapping your forehead after all.
It has in fact been argued that the reason why most people reject determinism it is their inability to predict actions, first by Thomas Reid I am told, and later by Spinoza, not that I actually read either. So possibly theoretical physicists are more inclined to believe in determinism because making precise predictions is their day job ;-)
Sean Carroll recently argued that free will can have a peaceful coexistence with modern science on an emergent level, in an effective description of human beings. That only works though if in the process of arriving at that effective level you throw away information that was fundamentally there. I believe Sean is aware of that when he writes “But we don’t know [all the necessary information to predict human decisions], and we never will, and therefore who cares?”
Well, I'd say that if you make room for free will by neglecting in principle available information, then his notion of free will is an empty concept that, as I've learned from the comments to his blogpost, the philosopher Edward Fredkin more aptly named “pseudo free will.”
I'm only picking around on Sean's post because it's short enough for you to go and read it unlike hundreds of pages that some philosophers have spent to say essentially the same thing. In any case, it is interesting how some scientists desperately try to hold on to some notion of free will in the face of an uncaring universe. I believe one of the reasons is that rejecting free will sheds a light of doubt on ones' moral responsibility, and since I feel personally offended, some words on that.
Morals and Responsibility
Whether the universe evolves deterministically, or whether its time evolution has a random element, an individual, fundamentally, has no choice over his or her actions in either case. It is then difficult to hold somebody responsible for actions if they had no way to make a different choice. This and similar thoughts have spurred a number of studies that claim to have shown that priming people’s belief in a deterministic universe reduces their moral responsibility.
For example, a study by psychologists Kathleen Vohs and Jonathan Schooler (summary here) had half of the participants read a text passage arguing against the existence of free will. All participants then filled out a survey on their belief in free will and completed an arithmetic test in which they had an option to cheat, but were asked not to. It turned out that disbelief in free will was correlated with the amount of cheating. Also, in the previously mentioned study by Sarkassian et al, most participants held the opinion that in a deterministic universe people are not responsible for their actions.
However, the issue of moral responsibility is a red herring, for morals are human constructs whether or not we have free will . From the viewpoint of natural selection, the reason why most of us don’t go around cheating, stealing, or generally making others suffer is not that it’s illegal or immoral or both, but that our self-extrapolation correctly predicts we will be suffering in return. Not primarily because we may be thrown into jail but because our brains would keep returning to that moment of offense, imagining how other people suffered because of our wrongdoing, telling us that way that we did act against the interests of our species, and more generally reducing our overall fitness.
In fact, that our species still exists and seems to be doing reasonably well means that most of us do not take pleasure in letting others suffer. The reason we don’t perform “immoral” acts is that we can’t: We’re the product of a billion years of natural selection that has done well to sort out those who pose a risk to our future, and we've called the result “moral.” (I am far from saying one can derive morals.)
The less consequences an act has for ones’ own future and that of others the larger the variety in people’s behavior. (There are more people jaywalking than strangling talk show hosts in front of running cameras.) That we have laws enforcing rules is because there remain people among us whose brains are some sigma away from the average and our laws are one more channel of natural selection, keeping these people off the streets, trying to readjust their brain’s functionality, or at least generally making their lives difficult. David Eagleman recently made a very enlightened argument for a rethinking of our justice system in light of neurobiological evidence for our reduced capability to change our brain’s working.
In a world without free will, we should not ask if a person is worth blaming, but simply look for the dominant cause of the problem and take steps to solve it.
Similarly, instead of asking if who is morally responsible we should ask what incentives do people have. The problem with the above mentioned test for moral responsibility in a deterministic universe it that the consequences of the alleged “immoral” act of cheating are entirely negligible. Putting forward the plausible thesis that the illusion of free will is beneficial to our brain’s performance (or otherwise, why is it so universal?), the test subject’s cheating might have been simply a reassurance of their illusion. If one would replace the temptation to cheat on a test with a questionnaire for the participant’s likings in food and then offer snacks, chances are those who were suggested a deterministic universe would feel the urge to select a food they do not usually prefer. Better still, one may have told the test subjects that the better their brains in the deterministic universe are adapted to living a modern life in modern times, the less likely they will be to perform “immoral acts” that violate the (written or unwritten) rules and values of that society (whether that is true or not doesn't matter).
Predetermined Lunch: Not Free Either
That our decisions are determined does not mean that we do not have to make them, which is a common misunderstanding, nicely summarized by Sean Carroll’s anecdote
“John Searle has joked that people who deny free will, when ordering at a restaurant, should say ‘just bring me whatever the laws of nature have determined I will get.’”
The decision what you will eat may be predetermined, but your brain still has to crunch the numbers and spit out a result. One could equally well joke that your computer, rather than running the code you’ve written, returns it back to you with the remark that the result is predetermined and follows from your input. Which is arguably true, but still somebody or something has to actually perform the calculation. Though in a deterministic universe it is in principle possible, it is highly questionable that the cook will be able to make the prediction about your order in your place, even after asking Laplace’s demon for input.
In other words, even if you don't have a free will, to make a decision you still have to collect all the information you deem necessary and scan your memory and experience to build an opinion, or perform whatever other process you have come to think is a good way to make decisions, may that be rolling a dice or calling your mom. Whether or not you believe you have a freedom in making a decision doesn’t save you the energy needed to do it.
The original version of this post had a poll included on the question "Do you believe in free will?" but the applet is no longer functional. The results were
- I believe human decisions are in principle predictable and there is no free will. 35.4% (45)
- I believe human decisions are in principle predictable, but still there can be free will. 28.3% (36)
- I believe human decisions are not predictable, neither in practice nor in principle, and we have free will. 27.6% (35)
- I believe something else that I'll explain in the comments. 8.7% (11)
* The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition, describes Depersonalization Disorder as follows: “The essential features of Depersonalization Disorder are persistent or recurrent episodes of depersonalization characterized by a feeling of detachment or estrangement from one's self. The individual may feel like an automaton or as if he or she is living in a dream or a movie. There may be a sensation of being an outside observer of one's mental processes, one's body, or parts of one's body.”
Thus, interestingly enough, not all of us share the feeling of being in charge of one's actions. That the failure to relate to oneself is filed under "disorder" seems to me to show that believing in free will is beneficial to the individual's functionality and well-being. | <urn:uuid:dee4b925-d574-47a7-980f-8820279e9c42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://backreaction.blogspot.com/2011/09/predetermined-lunch-and-moral.html?showComment=1315583706476 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959204 | 2,285 | 1.78125 | 2 |
The uneasy intersection of Tradition and Modernity is made all the moreso in a city so invested in its imperial past. Alan Behr recounts the good, the bad and the bewildering witnessed during this year’s event.
A former fruit seller and volunteer soldier, Khosrow Hassanzadeh treats subjects as diverse as the Iran-Iraq war, murdered prostitutes, women in chadors and Iranian wrestlers. Hassanzadeh's multi-layered, humanist works place individuals at the centre of things and examine harsh political realities.
According to period testimonies, Albrecht Dürer's painting drew crowds of visitors from all over Europe while the Emperor Rudolf II was determined to acquire it at any cost. Book Tip! The Life and Art of Albrecht Durer by Erwin Panofsky
An exhibition at The Studio Museum in Harlem features the works of two major figures in American and African-American art history: Bill Traylor, a draftsman from Alabama, and William Edmondson, a sculptor from Tennessee.
Following the end of the radical phase of the French Revolution, Jacques-Louis David was imprisoned and narrowly escaped the guillotine. The summer show at the Clark Art Institute in the Berkshires of Massachusetts traces the evolution of David's work from 1794, following the Reign of Terror, to his death in exile in 1825.
Kosovar artist Sislej Xhafa targets the power of lawyers in New York and Yugoslav Marina Abramovic re-enacts performance art classics that involve masturbation, crotchless pants and self-mutilation with razor blades. | <urn:uuid:dc3e967f-abb1-4f08-8d4b-d8f7d1083989> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://culturekiosque.com/art/travel/archive | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924977 | 330 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Standards for clearing snow and ice from highways are slipping, creating dangerous conditions for drivers, opposition MPPs told Transportation Minister Glen Murray Tuesday.
New Democrat and Tory MPPs said plowing standards are either not being met or the government must improve them.
Even Liberal MPP Steven Del Duca, who represents the riding of Vaughan, said his constituents have expressed concern about snow removal.
“I know that our government makes every effort to keep our roads safe. However, there are concerns in my riding of Vaughan that in recent years, standards for snow removal have declined,” Del Duca complained.
Murray said climate change has helped create chaotic weather conditions that make snow removal trickier.
A winter of little precipitation might be followed by a winter of large snow falls and then melts, he added.
“So the challenges are certainly greater than they were before,” Murray insisted.
Ontario’s roads are still the safest in North America, and the standards are being maintained, he said.
NDP MPP Gilles Bisson, showing reporters a photo of an Ontario highway still covered with slush and snow more than two days after a major storm, said the provincial government privatized snow removal, including the patrol that determines if salt, sand and plows are needed.
“The truth is across this province highways are not maintained to the same standards that they used to be,” the Timmins-James Bay MPP complained. “People are essentially driving at their own risk.”
Tory MPP Vic Fedeli, who represents the riding of Nipissing, said his party has asked the transportation ministry to explain how crews get rid of ice.
The MPP said that without proper treatment, salt bounces off the road at low temperatures — something he saw with his own eyes two weeks ago when travelling along a highway.
“As a consequence, we had about 30 or 40 calls that day alone about Hwy. 17,” Fedeli said. “It’s painfully obvious to me anecdotally that the standards aren’t being met.”
Do you think highway snow removal in Ontario has been efficient?
- 0 votes
- 0 votes | <urn:uuid:a9d1203c-ac52-4267-84ee-5f363769c52d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.torontosun.com/2013/02/26/snow-removal-standards-slipping-across-ontario-opposition-mpps | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967091 | 460 | 1.78125 | 2 |
(PhysOrg.com) -- The mechanism used by 'Natural Killer' immune cells in the human body to distinguish between diseased cells, which they are meant to destroy, and normal cells, which they are meant to leave alone, is revealed in new detail in research published today in PLoS Biology.
Understanding how this aspect of the body's natural defences works could help medical researchers develop new ways of boosting these defences to treat disease.
Natural Killer (NK) cells - a type of white blood cell - are a major component of the human body's innate immune system. Over 1,000 NK cells are found in every drop of blood. They provide a fast frontline defence against tumours, viruses and bacterial infections, by latching onto and killing cells in the human body that are cancerous or are infected with a virus or a bacterial pathogen.
On their journey round the human body NK cells regularly latch onto normal non-diseased cells too, before moving off, leaving them unharmed. Previously, the process by which NK cells made the right decision to kill or not kill another cell was unclear.
Now, a team of researchers from Imperial College London have used high speed microscopy imaging techniques to observe the NK cell decision making process in action. This has revealed striking differences in the behaviour of NK cells when interacting with healthy or diseased cells.
The outcome of the decision making process is determined by how receptors on the surface of the NK cell interact with proteins on the surface of the captured cell. Every NK cell has two types of surface receptors - activators, which turn the killing mechanism 'on' and inhibitors which turn the killing mechanism 'off'.
Professor Davis and his colleagues discovered that if a captured cell is diseased or cancerous, it interacts with a large number of the NK cell's activating receptors, which makes the NK cell stop dead in its tracks and spread out over the captured cell. During this spreading process the NK cell continuously reads the 'on' and 'off' signals from its surface contact with the captured cell. If the 'on' signals dominate, the NK cell prolongs contact with the captured cell and eventually kills it.
Conversely if the captured cell is healthy, it interacts with more of the NK cell's inhibiting receptors - and fewer of its activating receptors - meaning that the 'off' signals dominate and the 'stopping and spreading' process does not occur, allowing the NK cell to quickly move off in search of a new target.
Principal investigator of the new study, Professor Dan Davis from Imperial College London's Department of Life Sciences, explains:
"Scientists have known for a long time that the proteins on the surface on Natural Killer cells are involved in answering the 'to kill or not to kill?' question, but we've not known exactly how these molecular cues are translated into the correct response. Our research has shown that information gleaned from its surface receptors tells the Natural Killer cell whether to stop patrolling and commence killing, or to move off quickly, and harmlessly, in search of another target."
Dr Fiona Culley, lead author of the study from the National Heart and Lung Institute at Imperial, says that finding out how NK cells use this process to sift out diseased cells from normal ones paints a very clear picture of how these cells do their vital work:
"Considering that NK cells play such an important part in our immune response to cancer and disease, relatively little is known about their functionality - how exactly they work and how they interact with the cells they encounter inside us. This study adds significantly to our understanding of how Natural Killer cells distinguish between healthy and diseased cells."
Source: Imperial College London (news : web)
Explore further: Computational tool translates complex data into simplified 2-dimensional images | <urn:uuid:2375bb4f-4c17-4a50-9be8-9fe9cde2dacf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news167989314.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945311 | 766 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Computational model offers insight into mechanisms of drug-coated balloons.
MIT engineers and scientist colleagues have a new vision for the future of Mars exploration: a swarm of probes, each the size of a baseball, spreading out across the planet in every direction.
Thousands of probes, powered by fuel cells, could cover a vast area now beyond the reach of today's rovers, including exploring remote and rocky terrain that large rovers cannot navigate.
"They would start to hop, bounce and roll and distribute themselves across the surface of the planet, exploring as they go, taking scientific data samples," said Steven Dubowsky, the MIT professor of mechanical engineering who is leading the research team.
Dubowsky's team plans to test prototypes on Earth this fall and estimates that a trip to Mars is about 10 years away. He is now working with Penelope Boston, director of the cave research program at the New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, to create probes that can handle the rough terrain of Mars.
Scientists believe that lava tubes commonly seen on Mars are a promising location to search for signs of water. Lava tubes are tunnels left behind by underground lava flows. Signs of these tubes, which are also present in many locations on Earth, can be seen above ground.
The tubes could be entered through holes that formed on the Mars surface where sections of the tubes have collapsed, but these formations are too treacherous for today's rovers to explore. However, tiny bouncing probes could make their way inside the caves.
Mars also features canyons that could have once had rivers flowing through them. The canyons, too, are inaccessible to rovers, but small probes might be able to make their way down the canyon faces.
One of the major advantages of the mini probes is that losing a few out of hundreds or thousands of probes sent into a treacherous area would not derail the overall mission, Dubowsky said. "You would certainly be willing to sacrifice some of these 1,000 balls" to gather information from remote areas, he said.
Each probe would weigh about 100 grams (4 ounces) and would carry its own tiny fuel cell. "You could hop for a long, long time on a few grams of fuel," Dubowsky said.
Artificial muscles inside the probes could make them hop an average of six times per hour, with a maximum rate of 60 hops per hour. The devices would travel about 1.5 meters per hop; they can also bounce or roll. In 30 days, a swarm of probes could cover 50 square miles, according to Dubowsky.
Each probe would carry different types of sensors, including cameras and environmental sensors. The probes are made of durable and lightweight plastic that could withstand the rigors of Mars travel and the extreme cold. Their fuel cells will provide enough heat to keep their electronics and sensors operable.
One thousand of the probes would have the same volume and weight as the Spirit rover. "For the weight and size of Spirit you could certainly send more than 1,000 of these sensors up there, which would have much greater capability," Dubowsky said.
The probes would be able to communicate with nearby probes through a local area network (LAN). Data would be sent to a base station that would transmit information back to Earth.
Other possible applications for the small robots include search and rescue missions in collapsed buildings or other dangerous sites, and counter-terrorist activities (searching for terrorists in caves).
Last year, the researchers got funding from the NASA Institute for Advanced Concepts (NIAC). The NIAC grant is meant to help move the project from the concept stage to the prototype stage.
Other collaborators on the project include Jean-Sebastien Plante, a postdoctoral researcher in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Fritz Prinz and Mark Cutkowsky of Stanford University. | <urn:uuid:2cc2211a-40c1-4dd6-85a8-dc22acfee338> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://web.mit.edu/newsoffice/2006/microbots.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96169 | 779 | 4.03125 | 4 |
Thu February 2, 2012
A Butter Ad That Will Get You To Eat More Vegetables
Those northern Europeans are serious about their butter; many countries typically leave in more fat than we do in the U.S. Some would argue that makes for a better product.
But butter, and all that fat in it, is turning into enemy No. 1 in the fight against obesity. Denmark, for one, has become the first country in the world to tax butter and other sources of saturated fat.
So if you're a Danish butter company, it's probably a wise move to downplay butter's centrality at dinnertime. That's exactly what Lurpak has done in this ad for the U.K. market, featuring its new "lightest" spreadable butter.
As you can see, butter is allotted only a small role in this visual feast. Sure, luscious dollops are seen sailing into mashed potatoes, being spread over a multigrain cracker, and falling onto pots of corn ears and pulverized squash.
But the talented British director Dougal Wilson has made vegetables, in all their jewel-toned glory, the stars. This is a tribute to a variety of flavors and textures, and the multitude of ways of slicing and mashing fresh ingredients.
Who should buy this super-light butter that wouldn't dare compete with the greatness of broccoli or cabbage? The narrator isn't coy about it: "Health lovers: Say hello to new Lurpak lightest." | <urn:uuid:56150d66-995e-4504-82c6-972dbaf697a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wncw.org/post/butter-ad-will-get-you-eat-more-vegetables | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957174 | 308 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Demand for manpower to build a growing number of infrastructure projects in the Arabian Gulf is helping to drive remittance flows for Western Union.
Remittances in the Middle East and Africa rose 6 per cent during the first quarter of the year, with the bulk of cash emerging from the Gulf.
"The social spending in the Gulf is helping," Jean Claude Farah, Western Union's senior vice president for the Middle East and Africa, said yesterday.
"If the Gulf is bettering its infrastructure projects, who will do all the work? It's people from the manpower-exporting countries who will go here, to Saudi Arabia, Oman and Kuwait."
Remittance flows are rebounding after uprisings in several countries last year slowed migration in the region and disrupted the flow of cash. Despite the unrest, Western Union said none of its outlets in the region were closed for more than 21 days.
Growth of remittances fell to 1 per cent last year from 3 per cent the year before, Mr Farah said.
The rebound this year is being propelled by higher spending in the GCC. At the start of this year the Executive Council in Abu Dhabi gave the go-ahead for a host of projects including Abu Dhabi International Airport's Midfield Terminal and projects on Saadiyat Island.
Similarly, Qatar is raising spending on major infrastructure projects by a quarter this year as it gears up to host the 2022 Fifa World Cup.
Several of GCC states have also raised public-sector wages helping to drive spending in the region's retail and tourism sectors.
Widely viewed as a shadow sector to banking, the money-transfer industry enables migrant workers to send funds to their families, who can pick them up either through transfer agents or via the internet.
Cash inflows have provided a vital lifeline to several of the Arab Spring countries hit by rising unemployment and economic woes since last year.
But the euro-zone debt crisis risks hurting several countries in North Africa by curtailing the flows of cash from migrant workers. Significant numbers of Moroccans, Tunisians and Libyans work in European countries such as Spain, France and Italy.
The World Bank warned last week money transfers from the euro zone to developing countries including those in the Middle East and North Africa could drop 5 per cent in the event of a break-up of Europe's single-currency bloc.
"From the EU countries remittances might decline. Most definitely it will have an impact on Tunisia and Morocco," said Ahmed Ghoneim, a professor in economics at Cairo University, who was the author of a study for Western Union on regional remittances.
He also said more needed be done to put remittances to better use.
"Remittances are not channelled in the right way," he said.
"They are not used for investment; they are used to build houses and to alleviate poverty but they are not used to go into the system to enhance growth for the receiving countries."
The World Bank last year advised Egypt and other North African nations to consider creating so-called diaspora bonds to generate government cash for rebuilding their economies. | <urn:uuid:191d564c-8d78-4fbc-b373-dcdd70a5f953> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenational.ae/business/industry-insights/economics/new-arrivals-boost-remittance-flows | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953587 | 641 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Image via Wikipedia
“The double helix is an elegant structure, but its message is downright prosaic: life is simply a matter of chemistry . . . nothing but a vast array of coordinated chemical reactions” -- James Watson, the co-discoverer of DNA(DNA: The Secret of Life, 2003), quoted here.Read that quote again starting with "life is simply..." and see if you see the interesting word, from an intelligent design point of view. Does it jump out at you?
Coordinated. Coordinated chemical reactions. What or who coordinated these chemical reactions? If there is nothing outside of the chemical reactions themselves, no coordinator doing the coordinating, why not reduce life further and simply say it is chemical reactions, and leave it at that?
Watson is, of course, using a reductionist argument, the hallmark of materialists. We are nothing more than animals. Our minds are nothing more than our brains. Life is nothing more than chemicals. Materialism isn't really about climbing mount improbable; it's more like whittling away at God's creation -- what actually is -- to reduce it to a scrapheap of whittles.
As C.S. Lewis has pointed out, if our minds are nothing more than our brains, and our brains are nothing more than chemical reactions, and if these chemical reactions were caused by nothing more than undirected, purposeless, mindless processes, what rational basis do we have for actually believing anything our minds spit out or cough up -- if we are molecular machines, chemistry-at-work, they are, at heart, no different than a belch.
I believe in God because I believe in "me", conscious, moral, irreducible to chemistry alone. And God, and God alone, provides a sufficient explanation, cause, and reason, for "me". | <urn:uuid:3a9cf044-3b4d-4feb-8965-5dbf1d2d2dd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thewaytheballbounces.blogspot.com/2011/01/quote-of-day-life-is-simply-matter-of.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934458 | 381 | 2.078125 | 2 |
A Dangerous Concept: Childhood Obesity and Liposuction
Board-certified plastic surgeons express concerns with patient safety, long-term effects and psychological factors
NEW YORK, NY (November 13, 2006) – The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS) announced today that there is no scientific evidence to support the safety or efficacy of large-volume lipoplasty (liposuction) for weight loss in obese children. Further, the Society noted that liposuction is not an effective treatment for obesity in any patient—adult or child. The statement was issued in response to recent media reports of an obese 12-year old female who underwent large-volume lipoplasty.
Clinical studies have demonstrated that (lipoplasty) does not have the same health benefits (e.g., reduced risk of heart disease, diabetes or benefits to metabolism) as diet and exercise. It does not address the important lifestyle and diet issues necessary for long term weight loss success. The best liposuction candidates are close to their ideal body weight and have discrete fat deposits that, when treated, will result in a positive change in contour, not obese patients looking for weight loss.
“This treatment plan sends a dangerous message to our young people, that plastic surgery is a cure for being overweight. That is simply not the case,” said J. Peter Rubin, MD, of the Aesthetic Society's Body Contouring Committee and Assistant Professor of Plastic Surgery at University of Pittsburgh. "I would question the ability of a 12 year old girl to fully appreciate the scope of possible complications and make a reasonable decision about an elective cosmetic procedure."
“Childhood obesity is one of our nation's growing health problems and there are a number of widely accepted treatments for children and adolescents who struggle with their weight. Liposuction and abdominoplasty are not among them,” said Dr. David Sarwer, Associate Professor of Psychology at the University of Pennsylvania's Center for Human Appearance and Director of Clinical Services at the Center for Weight and Eating Disorders and noted authority on the subject. “There is no evidence to suggest that these procedures lead to improvements in health conditions affected by obesity. Hopefully, the media attention surrounding this story does not lead other adolescents and their families to think that liposuction and abdominoplasty are accepted treatments for obesity.”
“The Aesthetic Society is committed to excellence in education and patient safety,” said James Stuzin, MD, President of ASAPS, “the use of large-volume lipoplasty without the data to support its safety and efficacy in childhood obesity goes against our mission”.
Most experts agree that for appropriately selected younger patients, cosmetic plastic surgery can have a positive impact, but only after they have reached physical development and only if they are psychologically healthy. However, all patients need to:
Explore risks and expected recovery times: Teens and their parents should understand the risks of surgery, postoperative restrictions on activity, and typical recovery times.
Assess physical maturity: Operating on a feature that has not yet fully developed could interfere with its growth, or negate the benefits of surgery in later years.
Explore emotional maturity and expectations: As with any patient, the young person should appreciate the benefits and limitations of the proposed surgery, and have realistic expectations.
- Check credentials: State laws permit any licensed physician to call themselves a “plastic” or “cosmetic” surgeon, even if not trained as a surgeon. Look for certification by the American Board of Plastic Surgery. If the doctor operates in an ambulatory or office-based facility, the facility should be accredited. Additionally, the surgeon should have operating privileges in an accredited hospital for the same procedure being considered.
The American Society for Aesthetic Plastic Surgery (ASAPS), is recognized as the world’s leading organization devoted entirely to aesthetic plastic surgery and cosmetic medicine of the face and body. ASAPS is comprised of over 2,600 Plastic Surgeons; active members are certified by the American Board of Plastic Surgery (USA) or by the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons of Canada and have extensive training in the complete spectrum of surgical and non-surgical aesthetic procedures. International active members are certified by equivalent boards of their respective countries. All members worldwide adhere to a strict Code of Ethics and must meet stringent membership requirements.
Follow ASAPS on Twitter: www.twitter.com/ASAPS
Become a fan of ASAPS on Facebook: www.facebook.com/AestheticSociety
Become a member of Project Beauty: www.projectbeauty.com
Locate a plastic surgeon in your area: http://www.surgery.org/consumers/find-a-plastic-surgeon | <urn:uuid:9a532113-3cb2-45d9-8672-47c595f21e4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.surgery.org/media/news-releases/a-dangerous-concept--childhood-obesity-and-liposuction | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946963 | 974 | 1.789063 | 2 |
I am interested in the project. Can I participate?
I am/my organisation is located in a different region than North West Europe. Can the Watertruck concept also be applied in my region?
The Watertruck concept can be applied to all inland navigation waterways.
What are small waterways?
Watertruck aims at waterways of the size of class I (up to 300T), II (up to 600T), III (up to 1000T) and IV (up to 1350T). Currently ships of the size of “spits” and “kempenaar” navigate on these waterways.
What is a pusher-barge combination?
The pusher pushes the barge. Pushers exist is all sizes and push the (loaded) barges. A pusher can push several barges when these are coupled. The Watertruck concept stresses the importance to deploy smaller pushers. The smaller the pusher, the bigger the barge (and its capacity) to pass through the lock at the same time. The smallest lock to be passed is determining the applied combination pusher/barge. Small pushers are not numerous at the moment but the need for their deployment will definitely increase with the Watertruck concept.
What is the budget of the project?
1.78 million euros; 50% funded by EFRO, Interreg IVB NWE.
Who will own the pushers and barges?
The traditional inland navigation market is dominated by small-scale family businesses. The Watertruck project foresees a research part on models for financial exploitation that can be applied on industrial scale. The project will look into the opportunities of exploitation models from the deep sea world (shipping companies) or from the property business (e.g. shipping companies leasing/renting out pushers, other organizations deploying the barges etc.).
How much freight traffic by road is avoided by Watertruck?
A pusher combined with a barge with a capacity of 1000 T replaces 50 to 60 trucks (classical truck/ trailer). On smaller waterways on average two barges can be pushed, this results in 120 trucks less on the road.
Why do the smaller ships disappear?
On the one hand smaller ships are bought by East Europeans on the other hand skippers prefer to work on bigger ships (under the current system bigger ships generate more profit). These also have a larger accommodation on board. Due to the economic model of exploitation, banks are more inclined to finance larger ships instead of smaller.
What are the challenges for multimodal freight transport?
The majority of freight is transported by road while policy makers try to stimulate an increased use of inland waterways. Multimodal freight transport is not well known to the shippers and transporters and is often perceived wrongly (too slow, too difficult, etc). The biggest challenges lie in making the concept well known and creating innovation. | <urn:uuid:ab27a6b6-9872-4bba-934a-922f3334f6a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.watertruck.eu/dynapage.aspx?ID=05502fd8-030b-4701-8dff-202e6ee0fac2&Title=FAQ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936951 | 605 | 1.585938 | 2 |
EnviroClub Featured Blogs are created by university students around the United States and the World.
Our goal is to create dialogue around sustainability issues that focus on all aspects of conservation, business, energy use, healthy living, and individual responsibility.
|Posted by Lightningbug on March 5, 2013 at 6:20 PM||comments (0)|
Hi there! Welcome to my brain and my first blog piece! I'd like to take this opportunity to inform the readers of my thoughts that I strive to strike both a realistic and optimistic balance by providing as many useful facts and links to the latest scientific news, politically affiliated, and relevant topics, as well as practical solutions that everyone can be inspired to hopefully be conscientious of and incorporate into their daily lives. If what I sa...Read Full Post »
|Posted by Emily Allen on February 20, 2013 at 1:40 PM||comments (0)|
In 1985, Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and John Mellencamp started the first Farm Aid concert. The idea of the show was to raise money and awareness for the struggling families who worked in the farming industry. For those of you who don't know, farming has been taking a steady decline from what was once the most important industry in America, to what n...Read Full Post »
|Posted by Kylie Farris on February 19, 2013 at 11:55 PM||comments (0)|
As I was trying to come up with a topic for this blog post, I was trying to think of something that not only benefits the environment, but also people (and thier wallets). The University of Utah has recently launched thier Reusable Utensil Program to encourage students to purchase a reuable utensil set which includes a knife, fork, spoon, and a pair of chopsticks for a one time fee of $2. Students with meal plans recieve 5% off of thier meals purchased when they use the reusable wear. (pictur...Read Full Post »
|Posted by Britters on January 26, 2013 at 6:00 PM||comments (2)|
My name is Brittany, I am in college prepping to become a sustainable business entrepreneur. Here are the basics of me; I am a passionate environmentalist and an entrepreneur at heart. I walk the line of trying to live a medium, where I am living consciously as an environmentalist while still doing what I love, business.
Here are the facts: In order for the human species to keep progressing and living a goodlife, we need healthy resources and a healthy envir...Read Full Post »
|Posted by Kylie Farris on January 24, 2013 at 11:30 PM||comments (0)|
About a week ago I was at City Creek mall with some friends;while I was there we went into Lush to check out their new products. I was browsing the store and I saw something called “charity pot” and asked an employee what that meant, and she said that Lush sponsors around 25 grass roots charities and that all proceeds f...Read Full Post »
|Posted by EnviroClub, Inc. on January 23, 2013 at 2:05 AM||comments (0)|
First posted by Sustinable Utah on January 22, 2013. Reposted with author's permission.
University of Utah students, staff, and faculty: have you heard of the student energy ambassadors? How about rumors of free energy evaluations for students?
Whether you already know a little bit about us ...Read Full Post »
|Posted by EnviroClub, Inc. on January 14, 2013 at 4:10 PM||comments (0)|
First posted by Sustinable Utah on January 14, 2013. Reposted with author's permission.
HEAL Utah and several hundred Utahns gathered last week to make the case that we need to dramatically boost our supply of clean energy in the state. Prior to the event, HEAL’s executive director Christopher Thomas made the case ...Read Full Post »
|Posted by Emily Allen on January 10, 2013 at 12:05 AM||comments (0)|
|Posted by EnviroClub, Inc. on December 3, 2012 at 8:00 PM||comments (0)|
First posted by Sustinable Utah on December 3, 2012. Reposted with author's permission.
“You work in the Office of Sustainability? That’s so cool!”
That was the response I got nearly every time I told someone my current employer at the University of Utah was the Office of Sustainability (OS). I had to admit, I couldn’t disagree.
The goals of ...Read Full Post »
|Posted by EnviroClub, Inc. on December 1, 2012 at 4:50 PM||comments (0)|
First posted by Sustinable Utah on November 30, 2012. Reposted with author's permission.
I was just talking with a friend (Kelsey Sather – synergicliving.wordpress.com/) about supposedly alarmist rhetoric, or if “ranting” is ever appropriate. Maybe reading or hearing bold, declarative facts and opinions is off-...Read Full Post » | <urn:uuid:c8e62a7d-4c99-4c45-a6af-5c3ec29c5999> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.enviroclub.org/apps/blog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963748 | 1,078 | 1.984375 | 2 |
By Fabiana Frayssinet
RIO DE JANEIRO, Aug 23 2012 (IPS) – The release from prison of the Brazilian rancher found guilty of ordering the 2005 murder of U.S.-born rainforest activist and nun Dorothy Stang has alarmed human rights defenders, who warn that it could set a dangerous precedent in other cases involving land disputes and the rights of poor farmers. Late Tuesday, Brazil’s Supreme Court ruled that the rancher, Regivaldo Pereira Galvão, had the right to remain free pending the outcome of his appeal.Galvão, who was released from prison Wednesday in Altamira, a city in the northern state of Pará, was arrested in 2008 and sentenced to 30 years in April 2010. But he was freed after sentencing, when his lawyers filed an appeal. A year later he was jailed again, however, when a state court ruled that he had to begin serving his sentence before the appeal process was finished.
“I don’t understand what prompted the Supreme Court magistrates to decide that there were no risks,” Aton Fon Filho, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs, representing the Catholic Pastoral Land Commission (CPT), told IPS. Fon Filho pointed out that the 2011 decision to put the rancher back in prison was handed down “when it was discovered that he was pressuring workers on a rural property that he said did not belong to him, and (the court) understood that his being at large represented a risk to the public order.”
Moreover, “the confirmation of his responsibility for Stang’s death was accompanied by attitudes that kept up the state of tension in the area around Anapú (where she was killed). He continued to threaten local residents and the members of the sustainable development project that she created,” he said. Stang was shot on Feb. 12, 2005 near Anapú, a small Amazon jungle village where she was active for 23 years, helping local peasant farmers fight for their land and their rights in the face of encroachment by large landowners and logging companies.
Four other people were found guilty of the murder, including another rancher, Vitalmiro Moura, who is serving a 30-year sentence. The 73-year-old Stang lived in the Amazon jungle for three decades, working to preserve the rainforest and defend the right to land of the poorest farmers. When she was shot – six times at point blank range – she was only carrying a Bible.
According to the prosecution, she was killed because of her constant campaigning against slave labour in the area. Fon Filho fears that now that he is free, Pereira Galvão could “once again organise his gunmen to carry out new criminal actions against members of Stang’s sustainable development organisation.”
The lawyer stressed that a recent federal police investigation found signs that some provincial police officers in Pará were involved with landowners in committing crimes and issuing death threats. That means, he said, that people facing threats in the area “cannot even count on protection from their own police.”
After Pereira Galvão was imprisoned, the threats and tension had diminished, Fon Filho said. Maurício Santoro, a human rights adviser to Amnesty International in Brazil, told IPS that “there is a risk that the accused will flee.” Santoro also noted that Roniery Lopes, a witness who was going to testify against Pereira Galvão in a fraud case, was murdered in 2009 before he could give his testimony.
The message is that “not even in a case that had such a huge international impact…can the Brazilian justice system manage to give a quick response that guarantees the safety of human rights defenders,” Santoro said. Stang’s death was not an isolated incident in Brazil, where rural violence is rampant.
The CPT gave the president’s Human Rights Secretariat a list of names of 1,855 people who have received death threats because of land conflicts nationwide. The most violent states are Pará and Maranhão, and minorities likeblacks living in quilombos – isolated rural villages founded by escaped slaves – are the most vulnerable, according to the organisation, which is linked to Brazil’s national bishops’ conference.
The CPT reported that more than 1,500 peasants have been killed in land conflicts over the last two decades. Nearly all of the murders have gone unpunished. Santoro said Amnesty International has information on other people who could become “the next Dorothy Stang.” There is special concern about the situation in Maranhão, in northeast Brazil, where quilombo communities receive constant threats from local landowners. The authorities have promised to protect community leaders living under death threats, but nothing has been done, according to the human rights watchdog. “Forty-five families from the Quilombo Pontes community in Pirapemas, Maranhão state, Brazil, are being systematically threatened and intimidated by gunmen who are patrolling the area,” says an urgent action alert issued by Amnesty International Wednesday.
“The gunmen have been employed by local ranchers who are trying to push the community off the land. The community’s crops and property have been destroyed and its members are struggling to provide food for their families,” it adds.
Fon Filho and Santoro also called attention to the situation of a community of Guarani-Kaiowa Indians in the southwest state of Mato Grosso do Sul, who had occupied land to protest the delay in the process of officially demarcating their territory.
In November 2011, 40 armed men attacked one of their camps, killing a community leader and injuring several other people. “We haven’t heard of government measures to bring about the disarmament of these landowners,” Fon Filho said. He added that special protection measures are always adopted after someone is murdered, instead of preventively, as required in these cases. | <urn:uuid:073801e5-5007-4148-8f5c-0c4c752b8c6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://snddenjpic.org/2012/09/04/activists-alarmed-at-release-of-dorothy-stangs-murderer-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981331 | 1,254 | 2.0625 | 2 |
African Americans have access to modern HIV treatment, but far too many have not been tested and are not receiving medical care, according to speakers at the 2000 National Conference on African Americans and AIDS, February 24 and 25 in Washington, D.C.; racism, sexism, homophobia, stigma associated with HIV and AIDS, lack of trust in the healthcare system, and lack of access to healthcare, remain major barriers. The two-day conference, sponsored by Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and Bristol-Myers Squibb, was the second annual meeting on African Americans and AIDS, with talks by leading researchers, public health officials, and non-government activists.
- Long-term survivor Phill Wilson, who opened the meeting, later noted that 50% of the new AIDS cases among men who have sex with men are now men of color. "The tragedy is that this did not have to happen. Men of color were disproportionately impacted in 1989 when they were 30% of AIDS cases among men who have sex with men. The question now is what are we going to do at this time?" Wilson is a gay African American activist and founder of the African American AIDS Policy and Training Institute, http://www.AAAinstitute.org.
- U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Donna Shalala described the Clinton Administration strategy as three-fold: to put needed money into communities; to prevent the spread of HIV, and to eliminate barriers to care. "Too few African Americans are getting tested or getting access to care. The cost of treatment is high. The regimen of pills is difficult to follow. And prevention messages have not been targeted enough -- or become accepted enough -- in the African American community."
- Human-rights leader Jesse L. Jackson Sr. called for visible African Americans to model the importance of testing -- followed by his own public test at a local HIV clinic for African Americans.
- John G. Bartlett, M.D., from Johns Hopkins, discussed the government guidelines for HIV treatment, most recently updated January 29 (see New Guidelines for HIV Treatment; Resistance Testing Now Recommended, AIDS Treatment News #337, February 18, 2000). Dr. Bartlett also cited some of the long-term consequences of the HAART combinations, including elevated triglycerides and cholesterol levels, fat accumulation and fat wasting (lipodystrophy), insulin resistance or diabetes, and other disorders. He suggested that it is too soon to generalize about the benefits and risks of early HAART therapy.
- Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., Director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health, emphasized that while the guidelines are important, they do not mean that everyone must be treated -- and patients' rights to choose not to be treated should be respected. Dr. Fauci also noted that globally, 90% to 95% of people who need antiretroviral treatment will never get it. He referred the audience to http://www.hivatis.org for the latest updated version of the treatment guidelines.
- Robert C. Gallo, M.D., discussed the search for biological treatments for HIV infection, which could be nontoxic and inexpensive. His talk included beta chemokines, and also the role of tat in HIV infection and immune suppression. His group is developing a tat toxoid which might be useful in both treatment and/or vaccination against HIV.
Full audio and slide presentations should be available by April at the Johns Hopkins Web site, http://www.hopkins-aids.edu.
ISSN # 1052-4207
Copyright 2000 by John S. James. Permission granted for noncommercial reproduction, provided that our address and phone number are included if more than short quotations are used.
Back to the AIDS Treatment News March 17, 2000 contents page. | <urn:uuid:01e427d7-78dc-42e1-8b6e-16cd7832c005> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebody.com/content/art32163.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949661 | 787 | 2.78125 | 3 |
COLUMBIA — Legislators agree South Carolina's roads and bridges are in dire need of work. How to pay for it is another matter.
The Department of Transportation estimates it needs nearly double the amount currently spent on state-maintained roads — $1.5 billion yearly over the next 20 years — just to bring them to "good" condition.
The idea of raising the state's 16-cents-per-gallon fuel tax, unchanged since 1987, has been tossed around in recent years. But in a state controlled by Republicans who like to boast yearly of cutting taxes, legislators contend that's not even a possibility.
S.C.'s highway needs
The state Department of Transportation estimates needing an additional $1.5 billion yearly over 20 years to bring roads to "good" condition. It's responsible for maintaining:
41,444 highway miles: 851 interstate miles, 9,475 miles of federal and state highways, and 31,118 miles of secondary roads. Nearly 70 percent of secondary roads aren't eligible for any federal funding.
- 8,383 bridges
- 9 welcome centers
- 19 rest areas
- mowing of 128,000 roadside acres
- 20 million feet of sidewalk
- 1,700 miles of guardrail
- 5,600 traffic signals and flashers
- 643,000 traffic signs
- 23 million feet of curbs and gutters
Of those nearly 8,400 bridges:
- 7 are closed
- 420 have weight restrictions for crossing
- 886 are rated in poor condition
- 777 are considered functionally obsolete, due to outdated designs
Of those nearly 41,500 highway miles:
- 53 percent of secondary roads rate in "poor" condition; 36 percent are "fair," and 11 percent are "good"
- 47 percent of federal and state highways rate "poor;" 40 percent "fair," and 13 percent "good"
- 8 percent of interstate miles are "poor," 23 percent "fair," and 69 percent "good"
Source: SC Department of Transportation
In her State of the State address, Gov. Nikki Haley urged the Legislature to fix the state's crumbling infrastructure, calling it a safety and economic necessity.
"The citizens of South Carolina deserve to drive on roads that aren't littered with potholes and on bridges they know won't fall down. It's a core function of government. But it's also an economic development issue," she said, quickly adding, "But I will not — not now, not ever — support raising the gas tax. The answer to our infrastructure problems is not to tax our people more; it's to spend their money smarter."
But her suggestions fund a tiny fraction of the need.
In her budget proposal, she recommends re-directing $4.3 million of fuel taxes currently diverted to other agencies and using $10 million of capital reserves for road work. She also wants the majority of additional money that comes in above current revenue projections for 2013-14 put toward roads, but only after taking $26 million off the top for income tax cuts. While the amount depends on the economy, she says that could give DOT $77 million.
A bill sponsored by House Speaker Bobby Harrell would shift all of the roughly $100 million collected through the state sales tax on vehicles — which is capped at $300 — specifically to road work. More than 50 Republicans have signed on to the bill introduced Wednesday. But that idea has previously died in the Senate, with opponents saying it takes money from other needs.
DOT director Robert St. Onge often says his job is to "manage the decline of the state highway system."
That includes nearly 41,500 highway miles and 8,400 bridges, making South Carolina's system the nation's fourth-largest, funded in part by the fourth-lowest state tax. Of the $1.5 billion the DOT expects to collect next fiscal year, 60 percent comes from federal taxes.
St. Onge said he realizes legislators aren't going to double his budget.
"But every additional dollar you provide helps us to do better at meeting the needs of the state," he told a House budget-writing panel this week.
A nonprofit coalition is urging legislators to spend $6 billion over the next 10 to 15 years on the most critical projects statewide: $2.8 billion on interstate widening, $2 billion on bridges and $1.2 billion on resurfacing.
The report issued this week by the S.C. Alliance to Fix Our Roads — made up of business leaders, associations and chambers of commerce — is based on the DOT's own priority list, though it seeks immediate improvement of Interstate 26, calling that vital to tourism and port traffic.
Rick Todd, an alliance member, said the $1.5 billion price tag "blows people away," so the alliance wanted to break it down. Still, that's $600 million a year to get it done in a decade.
"It is ambitious, but at least somebody's put a plan on the table," said Todd, director of the state Trucking Association. "As crowded as the roads are now, I don't want to think about how congested and inefficient they'll be in 10 to 15 years. We've got to start."
While no lawmaker's suggestions come anywhere close to the funding requests, Todd applauded the willingness of Republican leaders to redirect money toward highway needs.
"We haven't been able to get this much focus and talk in a long, long time," he said. | <urn:uuid:d6d25df5-3f80-4f4d-936a-e33572e3eed1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.independentmail.com/news/2013/jan/25/sc-lawmakers-roads-need-work-funding-unknown/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968677 | 1,137 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Namdrol wrote:Astus wrote:Namdrol wrote:Outside of Tibeta Buddhism/Vajrayāna, Chan alone proposes that it is possible to attain fullbuddhahood in a single lifetime. But it seems that in Chan, "buddhahood" is a generally a euphemism for attaining the bodhisattva stages, and no Indian Mahāyāna tradition denies that it is impossible for someone to attain the path of seeing and so on. However, they would have done so based on past accumulations. So even here, Vajrayāna remain unique in asserting that one can attain full awakening 11 bhumi + in a single lifetime, soup to nuts.
It is not only Chan but also Huayan and Tiantai teach sudden enlightenment - interestingly Huayan puts "sudden enlightenment" one level below its own "complete teaching of the one vehicle". As for the difference between the entry to the bodhisattva stages and full buddhahood, in Chan it is clarified with the distinction of gradual and sudden paths. Gradual means the bodhisattva stages, sudden means immediate buddhahood. Of course, not everyone among the Chan teachers agreed with this view.
No, I don't think that sudden enlightenment in Chan means sudden full buddhahood.
The character in Chinese normally translated as "enlightened" or "awakening" is wu 悟 (read as satori in Japanese). This is different from chengfo 成佛, which means "attainment of Buddhahood" or "becoming a buddha".
I think in English there is a tendency to equate "being enlightened" with being a buddha, which is not the case. You can have a great awakening without being a buddha. Arhats, bodhisattvas and pratyekabuddhas are all examples of this.
Now that being said, it is not always clear in Chan texts what wu 悟 means and the often cryptic nature of the language, which is amplified several fold when attempts to translate it into any language are made. Also keep in mind much of Chan literature is just fictional accounts of past patriarchs in the lineage. Glorified hagiographies.
Zongmi's idea of enlightenment was one of "sudden enlightenment and gradual practice" dunwu jianxiu 頓悟漸修, but that does not mean buddhahood. The idea is that the sudden realization or enlightenment enables one to the gradually remove the defilements through practice in a serious way. The timetable for buddhahood would presumably follow the bodhisattva bhūmi stages as outlined in canonical texts like the Avataṃsaka Sūtra.
Now other Chan thinkers would have other ideas. There is no single Chan line of thought. It is quite varied and diverse.
In the case of Huayan thinkers like Fazang the description of the ultimate teaching might lead one to think he was saying Buddhahood right this moment, which is true in one sense (in principle this is the case, but it still takes conventional time to really achieve it), but in actuality I think he was proposing a vision of Buddhahood as attained through yogic insight into the tolerance of non-arising of phenomena. That is to say realizing time is empty and that ultimately Buddhahood does not take immeasurable kalpas of time to achieve, though conventionally this is still nevertheless the case. You might not actually have attained Buddhahood, but one has had a glimpse of it and realizing the time between now and then as empty, there is an unbreakable tolerance and motivation cultivated as a result. | <urn:uuid:f3022898-2f81-47ab-b57e-55343a2da258> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dharmawheel.net/viewtopic.php?p=53814 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965845 | 783 | 1.960938 | 2 |
- Three deaths linked to listeria outbreak
- Disease can grow from leftovers in fridge
- Be vigilant about avoiding food contamination
THE deadly listeria disease, which has claimed three lives, is far more serious than people realise, the Australian Medical Association has warned.
The most recent listeria outbreak is linked to the Jindi cheese factory in Gippsland, Victoria. There are a total of 26 cases, including the three fatal cases and one miscarriage.
A 68-year-old NSW man died from the infection last month, a Victorian health department spokesman confirmed on Sunday, and a Tasmanian man, 44, and a Victorian man, 88, have also died of the illness.
Dr Steve Hambleton, president of the Australian Medical Association, said the situation was serious.
"Listeria is actually already present in everyone's back yard. It can grow in the fridge, in leftovers and comes as a result of cross contamination in food and utensils," Dr Hambleton said.
"It's different from standard food poisoning like salmonella where it would affect everyone at a table of 20. Listeria is present in most people but only likely to flare up in certain people with lower immune systems. With pregnant women, elderly people, diabetics and HIV-positive people are most highly at risk."
Listeria is a type of bacteria that infects humans and other warm-blooded animals through contaminated food. According to Dr Hambleton the disease has a long gestation period and can take anywhere between three and six weeks to make a person sick.
Symptoms can vary, with some people experiencing headaches, vomiting, diarrhoea and other, more serious cases of septicaemia, and meningitis.
High risk foods include unpasteurised dairy products, camembert, brie, ricotta, processed meats, raw seafood and some prepared salads. Dr Hambleton said it was especially important that pregnant women avoid all these foods - especially eating leftovers.
The Jindi cheese factory may be at the centre of this recent Listeria outbreak but Dr Hambleton said the company was not to blame.
"Our emphasis now should be about decent food preparation. Do the things your grandmother taught you," Dr Hambleton said.
"Defrost meat at the bottom of the fridge so meat juices don't drip everywhere. Cut cooked and un cooked meat separately, ditto fruit and dairy products on separate boards and using different utensils."
If you concerned about possible listeria symptoms seek medical advice. | <urn:uuid:45fe99ab-c286-4be6-ac1c-24c67f7b3199> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news.com.au/lifestyle/health-fitness/listeria-are-you-at-risk/story-fneuzlbd-1226575278063 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957765 | 532 | 2.5 | 2 |
For most of us, our business is our greatest asset - and the source of our future wealth and freedom. As business owners, we have a pretty good sense of what drives the valuation of that asset; a formula consisting of the current profit we can generate times a "multiple" (put simply: Valuation = Profit x Multiple, or V=PM). As you probably know, that multiple varies by industry; each sector has a benchmark multiple (or average multiple achieved).
Who controls your future wealth?
When I ask entrepreneurs, "Who controls your profit?", they are all very clear on the answer: they themselves do. However, when asked "Who controls the multiple?", the benchmark, most reckon it to be out of their control. At Shirlaws, we profoundly disagree with this and contend that you can greatly influence the multiple in your business to significantly increase the asset valuation. If this is news to you, then you can discover more about why we feel this way in our article, 'What really drives equity value'.
There is a further complication. Whilst you can control the value of your business relative to the sector benchmark, the valuation of the entire industry can also be influenced by timing. We all appreciate that the benchmark multiple in our sector will shift depending on what is going on in the industry; but do you have a valuation strategy that is linked to timing in the marketplace?
Timing is influenced both by external factors, such as the economy, and by the perspective of the buyer or investor at a particular time. Let's look at this more closely.
Firstly the economy. Clearly, assets are generally downgraded in a recession. But things can turn around quickly from a valuation perspective, which is why a focus on assets is so vital at this point in the cycle. Having a clear strategy to build specific business assets and in the right sequence is vital to maximise the cyclical opportunities of the coming recovery.
When you come to sell will anyone be buying?
So what's the hurry? We can look forward to at least 8 -10 years of growth, surely? There's plenty of time to maximise the assets to sell or capitalise? Well, possibly not - and for sociological reasons which are both beyond our control and, all too often, not considered by business owners.
A quick glance at the demographic profile of western economies will show you that there are an awful lot more baby boomers than there are of younger folk (the so-called Generation X and Generation Y). Business owners now in their late 40s and 50s coming to sell their businesses in 8-10 years time may find an excess of businesses assets available for sale and a scarcity of people looking to buy.
Worse still, this younger cohort now becoming economically active have lived, studied and worked in some of the most challenging macroeconomic conditions since the 1920s; and this has bred in them a unique sense of ambition. A recent survey in the US suggested that 52% of the "millennium generation" either already had a business or had a credible plan to create one. You may find a generation of entrepreneurs coming up behind you with no interest in acquiring your hard-built business. They already have one.
These trends suggest that it is vital to get ahead of the curve and look to realise your assets sooner rather than later in the upward cycle. And that means marshalling your assets effectively now and over the next 2 years.
How your business feels might just determine what it's worth...
It's also important to examine the position of your venture in its own business life cycle. Businesses look and feel, to a buyer or investor, very different depending on where they are in this cycle. Inevitably, most of us want to enjoy our business when times are good. Whilst there are plenty of reasons to sell up (retirement, for example) all too many business owners only look to exit when running the company gets frustrating and stressful - because it has reached a naturally more challenging point in the life cycle.
Yet this is exactly the wrong approach to take if you want to maximise your value from a prospective investor. These lifecycle changes are entirely predictable and you can get a good idea where your business stands by taking our free diagnostic, now.
In summary, maximising the wealth you can accrue from your business is a good deal more complicated than waiting for the economy to improve. Luckily, it is also a good deal more within your control than you might have thought. Timing is everything if you want to fully enjoy the future you have worked so hard towards.
Guest post by John Rosling, Shirlaws UK CEO. Find out more about Shirlaws at: www.shirlawscoaching.com | <urn:uuid:4d8e0d68-cc90-4a33-b920-d9334947421c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mikesouthon.com/blogs-e-zine/2012/11/9/the-relationship-between-equity-value-and-timing-in-the-market-place.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962569 | 965 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F.
In a large saute pan, melt the butter. Add the apples and saute for 2 minutes. Add the sugars, lemon juice and flour. Continue to saute for 2 minutes. Season the apples with nutmeg, cinnamon, and salt. Mix thoroughly and remove from the heat. Mix in the pecans. Cool the mixture.
Cut the dough into 2 halves. Lightly dust a rolling surface with flour. Roll out each half of dough to 12 inches in diameter and about 1/8-inch thick. Fold one circle of dough in fourths. Carefully lift the dough and place in a 10-inch deep-dish pie pan. Unfold the pie dough and spoon the apples into the pie shell. Place the second round of dough over the apples. Using a sharp knife cut away the excess dough. Using your fingers, crimp the edges of the pie firmly to seal the dough completely. With the same sharp knife, make three slits, about 4 inches long and 2 inches apart, across the pie dough.
Place the pie in the oven and bake for 45 minutes. Remove the pie from the oven and sprinkle the cheese over the top. Return the pie to the oven and continue to cook for 8 minutes, or until the cheese is bubbly. Serve warm with vanilla ice cream.
In a mixing bowl, combine the flour, salt, and sugar. Add the shortening and work it in with your hands until the mixture resembles coarse crumbs. Add the water, 1 tablespoon at a time, and work it in with your hands. Add only as much as you need for a smooth ball of dough. Wrap the dough in plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least 30 minutes. | <urn:uuid:d04ecbf0-7deb-4d8b-8a27-5b8efc7e9b44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cookingchanneltv.com/recipes/emeril-lagasse/deep-dish-apple-pie.print.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906885 | 358 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Discover the cosmos! Each day a different image or photograph of our fascinating universe is featured, along with a brief explanation written by a professional astronomer.
2006 October 2
Explanation: Scroll right to see the largest crater yet visited by a rover on Mars. Reaching the expansive Victoria Crater has been a goal for the robotic Opportunity rover rolling across Mars for the past 21 months. Opportunity reached Victoria last week, and is cautiously probing the stadium-sized crevice. It is hoped that Victoria Crater will show a deep stack of layers uncovered by the initial impact, and hence new clues into the ancient surface history of Mars. Visible in the distance of the above image mosaic is the far rim of Victoria Crater, lying about 800 meters away and rising about 70 meters above the crater floor. The alcove in front has been dubbed Duck Bay. Victoria crater has about five times the diameter of Endurance Crater, which Opportunity spent six months exploring. If a safe path is found, Opportunity may actually attempt to enter Victoria Crater.
Authors & editors:
NASA Web Site Statements, Warnings, and Disclaimers
NASA Official: Jay Norris. Specific rights apply.
A service of: EUD at NASA / GSFC
& Michigan Tech. U. | <urn:uuid:86a59de7-b764-4db9-a4dd-8c38b8cdccb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://apod.nasa.gov/apod/ap061002.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919744 | 259 | 3.34375 | 3 |
While tending berry vines on my small farm this fall and winter, I’ve observed the sharp decline of the US’s artificial economy. Nature has a seasonal cycle of expansion and contraction. Now contracting, the US’s manufactured economy has been built on a growth-always fiction.
My main work for the last fifteen years has been on the organic Kokopelli Farm in Northern California. Watching the US economy descend, while caring for boysenberry vines, apple trees, and chickens, I’ve noticed a sharp contrast between nature’s ways of a real economy and the US’s false economy. Nature guides my farming, with permaculture being one system that I employ.
The US economy, unfortunately, is not nature-based. In fact, it conflicts harshly with nature’s rhythms and is now paying the price. The chickens are coming home to roost, unhappy with the all-growth pressure, wanting to take a break and rest.
“Things change,” the ancient Greek philosopher Heraclitus declared some 2500 years ago. They go up; they come back down. The US has had its ups; it’s now on a down cycle. Pump, pump, pump go the corporations, their media and governments, trying to inflate it back up. I don’t think so. The well is running dry.
Even a military budget larger than those of all the other nations in the world combined cannot protect our fortress. We are besieged, but more internally by our threatening practices than by terrorists or anything external.
Oh, our rulers may stimulate it back up a little, for a while. Throwing money at something can have a short-term impact. But it will come back down, and may all fall down. Gravity is a basic law of physics. Things go up, then they come back down, sooner or eventually. Sometimes it feels like a crash, unless one is aware of the inevitable downturn. Once things fall apart, they can re-assemble, often in an improved form.
All things carry their opposites, Heraclitus taught. Death is inherent to life. Transitions and impermanence prevail. This is not bad news; it just is. Birth/growth/contraction/death is nature’s way. All living things follow this natural cycle. Everything that lives perishes.
The growth-based US economy is contracting. Media economists are alarmed, even panicky. They describe this as a “recession” and wring their hands with woe. They should have expected this downturn and we should accept it. Lets see what will happen. Maybe the Earth will benefit from the declining US economy? Perhaps its pollution and other threats to the global climate and environment will lessen?
There are too many variables to accurately predict what will happen, or when. But I am planning for a radically different future. It is time to “powerdown,” to use the word that Richard Heinberg employs in the title of one of his books on Peak Oil. We should expect some chaos. The manufactured US economy is failing.
President Bush has proposed yet another “growth package” of $145 billion to boost the flagging economy by giving each taxpayer up to $800 each. Supported by many Democrats, the plan is to spend our way out of this mess. Go shopping. What a fantasy. This may worsen things, digging the hole deeper, rather than stepping out of it.
The government’s so-called “economic stimulus” is a false solution, attempting to further prop up the false economy. Giving people more money to spend — many of whom are already spending beyond their means — will not solve what is becoming our most serious economic crisis since the Great Depression.
Trying to avoid the economic fall seems futile. A better approach would be to roll with the punches and figure out how to even thrive during this transition from a no longer to a not yet. Those who do can even benefit from the changing reality.
The US economy has expanded for the last seven years. It’s time to contract, in spite of the wailing of economists. Economic growth slowed to barely 1% in the final three months of 2007 — a big drop from 4.9% in the third quarter. Growth may now be dipping into negative territory, according to a Jan. 17 Associated Press article.
Mainstream economists do not want to publicly utter words like “depression” or “collapse,” which may happen, if the contraction deepens. This will bring great changes, including inconveniences and difficulties. But that is inevitable, as opposed to bad.
As the US goes down, it can be a time for others to be up in the sun. A gracious fall is better than a bitter, ballistic, hostile one. The flexibility of bamboo would be a better model for our fall than rigid, fossilized bones likely to break and shatter. Then we may come back up, though hopefully in a different, more mature way.
The indigenous University of Hawai’i at Hilo professor Manu Meyer, who hails from an ancient culture, describes the US as “adolescent.” Since setbacks often help a person mature, perhaps this economic fall will help the US evolve.
Reinventing Collapse titles a provocative book by Dmitry Orlov, a Russian living in the US, scheduled by New Society Publishers to appear in April. He compares the evolving US collapse to that of the Soviet Union. Parts of this new book have been posted at www.energybulletin.net and elsewhere. The book’s final three chapters are “Collapse Mitigation,” “Adaptation,” and “Career Opportunities.” Orlov draws on his experiences observing the Soviet collapse to help people manage what might happen here in the only remaining superpower.
Now let me root this analysis in two quite different sources: the farming author Wendell Berry and the humorous gardener Chance, played by Peter Sellers in the classic 1979 film “Being There.”
For over 50 years now Berry has been publishing farm-based essays, poetry, and fiction. Since at least his 1977 book The Unsettling of America, published by the Sierra Club, he has been writing about the US economy. His field-based analysis is outside the box — based on farm-fresh wisdom rather than merely book learning or crunching numbers.
“The human household or economy is in conflict at almost every point with the household of nature,” Berry writes in his essay “The Total Economy.” Humans tend to look to nature as “merely a supply of ‘raw materials,’” Berry bemoans. The results are what he describes as “economic oversimplification” and “the folly” of a “foolish economy.” We fail to see the larger picture that one can sometimes see when they lift their eyes up from working in a field to see the sky and clouds above, as well as the expanse between the ground and our majestic blue covering.
“The global economy,” Berry asserts, “is based upon cheap long-distance transportation, without which it is not possible to move goods from the point of cheapest origin to the point of highest sale.” Now that the price for crude oil has surpassed the $100 a barrel ceiling, we are becoming increasingly aware of the decline of cheap oil and the rising price of this black gold that fuels industrialism’s food, plastics, transportation, war-making, and much of modern life.
We need what Berry describes as a “real economy,” rather than this house of cards (the cover of Heinberg’s new Peak Everything book) under which we live. Berry suggests that we work “to preserve things other than money” and advances “the idea of a local economy” based on “neighborhood and subsistence.”
“Did you see that old Peter Sellers film ‘Being There?’” a farm hand recently asked while we lay wool around the base of berry vines as mulch to suppress the weeds and stimulate activity in the soil. While working with our hands Jeff Snook and I had been talking about the litany of economic woes for banks, housing, the dollar, unemployment, retail sales, consumer confidence, etc.
Farmers sometimes talk about such things in fields and elsewhere. My Uncle Dale on his farm in Iowa in the early l950s, before electricity had reached parts of the rural Mid-West, used to talk about the economy. Since I have already lived without electricity — we had an icebox, root cellar, and gaslights — I can imagine doing it again. Instead of TV, we had night-time stories and day-time farm animals to entertain us. It was a good life, even without all the modern conveniences, some of which we may soon have to do without as we powerdown and make a forced transition with less available energy.
Many signs of contraction were visible as Jeff and I recently worked — leaves falling from nearby valley oaks, boysenberry vines shriveling, and beautiful chickens taking their annual break from egg-laying. These things are predictable and happen every year. I plan my yearly cycle accordingly, as do the wise birds and squirrels, putting acorns away.
“Chance in “Being There” is a simple-minded gardener who observed nature’s cycles and acted accordingly,” Jeff noted. “He knew that things should be planted in the spring and will then grow and die — a basic, natural rhythm.”
A fictional US president in the film comes to visit a financial advisor and meets Chance. The president is proposing a temporary economic growth plan. “As long as the roots are not severed, all is well in the garden,” Chance responds. “Some things must whither,” he adds. The “president” wisely takes Chance’s simple advice, which our current real president is unlikely to do. He accepts the seasonal, Earth-based wisdom, realizing that a long-term solution is needed, rather than a band-aid.
Our economy, in fact, has been “severed” from its “roots,” the Earth itself. We need a down-to-the-Earth approach to the economy, rather than the sugar pill “economic growth stimulus” that Bush is proposing with his tax break.
We need to get back to basics in the US. Our expectations of being permanently on top, always in control, forever the dominating ruler and evermore the superpower have been excessive. We need to do more than try to shore up a failing economy that requires so much war-making and destruction to keep it growing artificially, at the expense of the environment and other humans, animals, plants, and the elements such as clean water and air that sustain life. We need to accept the natural limits to growth.
Less than 2% of US citizens now farm. This number must increase, if we are to survive. Farming can be fun and educational, as well as put food on our tables and build communities. Agriculture, after all, is a basis of culture. May ours continue to prosper, but not by being based on a false, foolish economy, like the one that is now falling. R.I.P.
We need to re-align the US economy more around nature’s economy. | <urn:uuid:fa8ca348-6350-4e8c-abb4-cfeccd671c50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dissidentvoice.org/2008/01/the-false-us-economy-versus-nature%E2%80%99s-expansion-contraction-cycle/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962516 | 2,405 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Writing an Engaging Intro
Writing articles is the natural outcome of any research project. If you are only doing the research and not reporting your conclusions, you're doing only half of the job. However, the thought of writing anything causes many people to have flash backs of miserable academic experiences, and so, they put off that part of the task. That's unfortunate because when the facts are fresh and you're inspired by what you've found out, you're likely to write the best piece of your life.
Writing is a learned skill. The more you do it the better you get at it. I have found that many times people simply need a nudge to get them started. You don't have to be a great author to write an article about your family and have it published in a quarterly. Most society quarterly editors are begging their members for articles. With a little care and an analysis of what you know, you can write an article with a great introduction, which is half of the battle.
A well-constructed introduction draws your reader into your article. Unfortunately, too many authors are stuck in the chronology mode, thinking that they must start at the beginning of a person's life. Family-related writing frequently starts with this type of sentence, "Henry James was born in South Carolina on 5 September 1835." The introduction frequently continues with a dry recitation of facts. Your readers will read your article because they want the information. The problem is that they aren't going to enjoy it. In this article, I'm going to try to change that for you by giving you some suggestions that might help you write engaging introductions.
When I start writing, I use a few premises as a guide. The first premise is that every person's life includes drama, happiness, loss, silliness, tedium, fun, and work. The second premise is that people's lives frequently follow a pattern or illustrate a theme, which can be summed up in a word or two. The questions I ask myself are:
- Can I interpret the evidence I have to identify a theme?
- Can I state that theme in just one or two words?
- Can I write an introduction that supports the theme?
Let's start by looking at the timeline of a person's life--in this case, one Agnes (McKee) Anderson.
- 1802 Agnes is born in Ireland.
- 1830 Agnes marries James Anderson.
- 1830 to 1837 Agnes and James have children in Ireland.
- 1837 everyone in McKee family except Agnes moves to the United States.
- 1851 Cheshire, England census shows Agnes and family working in cotton weaving industry.
- 1854 Agnes' husband James dies, leaving her with four children.
- 1857 - 1859 all of Agnes' children marry in England.
- 1860's brings grandchildren and Agnes is making her home with her oldest daughter.
- 1864 Agnes' son-in-law dies leaving her youngest daughter a widow with two small daughters.
- 1867 Agnes (age 65) emigrates from Liverpool, England to New York City, and on to Illinois with her youngest daughter and two granddaughters.
- 1870 Agnes is living on a farm in Galum, Perry County, Illinois.
- 1870's Agnes dies sometime after the 1870 US census.
Can I interpret the evidence I have to identify a theme?
A few years in Agnes' life are pivotal. In 1837, Agnes is having her youngest child while her entire family is packing up and moving to America, leaving Agnes behind. Some time between 1837 and 1851, Agnes packs up and moves from Ireland to England, leaving behind everything she knows. In 1854, Agnes' husband dies and Agnes moves in with her oldest daughter. In 1867, Agnes packs up and moves to America, leaving her urban English home of many years and her older children and many grandchildren in England. She moves from urban to rural life.
Can I state a theme in a just one or two words?
The fact that jumps out to me is that Agnes is always separated from family members, and once separated, she frequently never sees them again or at least doesn’t see them for long periods of time. When the McKee's move to the United States, Agnes' father dies before Agnes makes her way to the U.S. When Agnes leaves England, she never sees her older children or her English grandchildren again. The word I would choose to define Agnes' life is alienation. That's not to say that Agnes was never happy or satisfied; but, one could observe that she is always being left or leaving. The people she cares about are never in one place.
Can I write an introduction that supports the theme?
My first task is to find a starting point and construct an opening sentence. Any one of the movements would work. When Agnes' family left Ireland for the United States, Agnes must have felt deserted. Can I empathize and imagine what she must have felt and remain true to the facts? The move from Ireland to England must have been frustrating for Agnes. She is leaving everything she knows for a place that is farther from her family in the United States. She seems to accept her fate. But life held one more move for Agnes. The move that is perhaps the most traumatic of all when circumstances force Agnes to move from her English home at an advanced age when she probably least expected it. Agnes dies in the bosom of her family but also as a stranger in a strange land bereft of her English children and grandchildren. The last move is the move with which I chose to start the introduction.
Here's the opening of an article about Agnes (McKee) Anderson.
In the fall of 1867, a 65-year-old Irish widow named Agnes (MCKEE) ANDERSON boards the ship Helvetia at Liverpool, England. Traveling with her are her young widowed daughter Mary Jane (ANDERSON) ASHWORTH and two orphaned granddaughters—Mary Louise Alice and Agnes Eleanor. As Agnes sails from Liverpool bound for New York, she leaves behind her English home of many years, her older children, in-laws, and many grandchildren. Her familiar world and her family simply slip away until they are no more.
Agnes is fleeing the deteriorating conditions in County Cheshire, England. As the Civil War raged in the United States, cotton shipments from the former colonies stopped, unemployment at English cotton mills mounted, and the food riots started. By the time Agnes leaves, the English government—in an effort to ease pressures in the Cheshire area—was paying passages to anywhere outside of England. I’m guessing that Agnes, Mary Jane, and the children took advantage of the government's offer and naturally decide to join the remainder of the Agnes' McKee family in Randolph County, Illinois. The fact that Agnes knows exactly where her family is hints that a thread spread across the Atlantic 30 years earlier when Agnes’ family left Ireland is still holding strong and fast.
The women arrive in New York on 30 December 1867. Agnes, Mary Jane, and the two small granddaughters must find their way through Castle Garden. Immigrants can stay at Castle Gardens if they have no other accommodations. Many immigrants do and describe parts of Castle Garden being covered with maps. They explain that agents list your options for going west and tell you the costs. Immigrants also describe the high walls that prevent the predators of New York from gaining access to unsuspecting immigrants with an eye toward stripping them of anything of value. The scene must have been dizzying for a woman of 65 with her daughter and granddaughters in tow.
By the time you start writing about the more mundane facts of the person's life, your reader is hooked and can't put your article down. As you write your article and get to the part of the person's life that you started your article with, you will have created a frame that allows you to bring the person's life full circle. You can then write about the remainder of the person's life and state any conclusion you have come to based on your research.
So fire up your word processor and use the questions from this article to create a framework for your next article intro. With a little thought, you can write an intro that will have your readers begging for more. With a little practice, you can write an engaging introduction for every article you write, and well written articles are always a welcome addition to society quarterlies. | <urn:uuid:8a0a1e13-15d3-414e-81a5-728bb3a980fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://technology-tamers.blogspot.com/2012/11/writing-engaging-intro.html?showComment=1352833711840 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965558 | 1,787 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Illustrations from More Techniques for Effective Mapping
The map area graphic was converted to a polygon called maparea.shp using the XTools Graphic to Shape tool.
After creating a hillshade for the DEM theme, the Map Calculator in ArcView Spatial Analyst was used to add the DEM grid and grid file generated from the Mapunion shapefile together.
Color from different palettes in the Shademax Color Set were applied to different ranges in mapgrid to separate the town from the surrounding area.
Return to article.
Table of Contents for the JulySeptember 2001 issue
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So apparently all the drugs Bill Walton has taken at Greatful Dead shows over the years have finally caught up to him. During the first half of the Suns/Clippers game last night he threw out this masterpiece, "Steve Nash and Bill Russell are the same person." What does that even mean? My first thought was obviously that Bill Russell was an African American Center and Steve Nash is a White Point Guard, but Bill goes into further detail....."They are both MVPs, They both went to small West Coast Colleges, both only got one scholarship offer, and they both came from tough environments."
Wait a tic? Okay let's break this down.....Bill Russell was born in Monroe, LA. Now I've never been to the lovely town of Monroe, but let's trust Mr. Walton for a second and believe that it was rough for Russell. Nash grew up in Victoria, British Columbia!!!! (That's in Canada for those not into Geography) Nash was born in Johannesburg, South Africa, but moved when he was three. But everyone and their mother knows Nash is from Canada right?
This comes from Wikipedia: His father John Nash was a minor league professional soccer player in South Africa. His brother Martin Nash has made 30 appearances for the Canadian national soccer team. His sister Joann was the captain of the University of Victoria soccer team for three years. Nash had decided to focus on basketball in his early teens, but still played soccer through high school, and was named British Columbia player of the year in soccer as well as basketball in his senior year. Soccer continues to be an important part of Nash's life. In fact, when Dirk Nowitzki arrived in the NBA from Germany, he and Nash became close friends, in part because they enjoyed watching soccer together. In addition to soccer, Nash excelled at hockey and lacrosse as a child.
The post-World War II years saw Vancouver and Victoria also become cultural centres as poets, authors, artists, musicians, as well as dancers, actors, and haute cuisine chefs flocked to the beautiful scenery and warmer temperatures. Similarly, these cities have either attracted or given rise to their own noteworthy academics, commentators, and creative thinkers. Tourism also began to play an important role in the economy. The rise of Japan and other Pacific economies was a great boost to the BC economy.British Columbia has a robust resource dominated economy. Unemployment is currently at a 30-year low of 5.2%.
Wow that sounds like a rough life!!! His parents were awful to take him away from the apartheid in South Africa. They should be reported! I'm outraged! In order of rough places to live it's
1) Compton 2) Detroit 3) British Columbia 4) Brooklyn, NY 5) Camden, NJ
It's tough to make fun of William Theodore Walton III when he has such amazing catchphases as "That's a terrible call!", "What is a foul?", and "Throw it down, big man!", "Nice Pass!" (and the fact that his stuttering made him a mute growing up http://www.billwalton.com/stuttering.html), but seriously....come on. The fact that he argued the point makes it even more ridiculous.
Side Note: When I was looking up Bill Russell's Bio this nugget caught my attention. "Russell Guest starred on the television series Miami Vice as a corrupt judge. " Now that's a cameo! | <urn:uuid:c3f36146-f627-49c4-8ee7-f146ea87a333> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.awfulannouncing.com/2006-articles/may/steve-nashbill-russell.html?_escaped_fragment_=/andrewbucholtz | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984342 | 699 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Web Content Display
CREST - Center for Research, Education, Sadhana and Training
CREST was established by the Sahaj Marg Spirituality Foundation (SMSF) with the purpose of exposing participants to a variety of religions, cultures, philosophies, and ideologies. The aim is to inspire an appreciation both of the multiplicity of approaches to the divine and of their single underlying essence. Participants are practicing members of the Shri Ram Chandra Mission (SRCM), who reinforce their own sadhana as they widen their understanding.
CREST is set up according to the ancient gurukula concept, where trainees reside in an ashram. Material conditions are plain, but the environment is spiritually enriched. Various parts of the program address the different aspects of human existence--physical, intellectual, moral, and spiritual.
The mission statement of CREST is given below.
“God has been of perennial interest to humanity. He has been the subject of deep thought, discussion and description in human history. Many a Master in the human annals had experienced HIM and taught the succeeding generations the methods of reaching HIM. These spiritual practices have later crystallized into religions. Amidst a welter of religions the Quest for the Spirit has survived and is continuing. It is unique. SAHAJ MARG is this unique Quest for the Spirit and incorporates in itself the quintessence of the ageless wisdom of humanity.”
Click on the link(s) below for information about CREST in India: | <urn:uuid:5d11767a-5d11-4c3f-9af3-0ed9624986cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dev4srcm.org/smww/crest-overview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936605 | 307 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Among the earliest settlers of the young village along the banks of the Cuyahoga River that was to become the City of Cleveland, Ohio, those of the Roman Catholic faith had their religious needs met primarily by priests making the arduous 250-mile journey from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati. By the mid-1820s, however, the town’s growing number of Irish Catholic residents established the parish of Our Lady of the Lakes. Known colloquially as — and eventually officially renamed — St. Mary’s on The Flats, that parish’s first wood frame church was erected by 1839 at the corner of Girard and Columbus streets, in the flats along the Cuyahoga.
The Catholic Diocese of Cleveland was created in 1847, and it’s first bishop, Louis Amadeus Rappe, was named. Bishop Rappe envisioned a newer, larger cathedral as the new diocesan seat. Therefore, upon land at the eastern limit of the growing city core acquired several years earlier by St. Mary’s pastor, planning began for The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist. The structure’s cornerstone was laid on October 22, 1848 by the Bishop, at the northeastern corner of Superior Street and Erie Street (now East Ninth Street). By Christmas of that year — as construction began on the new Cathedral — a temporary church, known first as the Chapel of the Nativity, but later renamed the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church, began operating on the site.
Designed by noted liturgical architect Patrick Charles Keely in Ornamental Gothic, the Cathedral featured such fine elements as imported handcut wood statues and altarpiece. Financial difficulties delayed completion of the new edifice until 1852. In fact, improvements, additions and renovations to the Cathedral and its ancillary facilities have continued with regularity throughout its entire life. A boys’ school was added in 1857, with both a parish hall and girls’ school following within the next decade After an intensive fundraising campaign, a spire and both interior and exterior decorations were completed by 1879. In the mid-1880s, walnut furnishings and stained glass windows were added. German art glass arrived at St. John’s in 1902.
By the Second World War, the Diocese announced further plans to renovate St. John’s, orchestrated by the locally-renowned architectural firm of Stickle, Kelly and Stickle. Originally faced in brick, the core Cathedral was enlarged and refaced in an ashlar pattern of orange-tinted Tennessee Crabtree limestone. A new bell tower was constructed and further decoration of the interior proceeded. Also added was a magnificent organ fabricated by Cleveland’s Holtkamp Organ Company. Its 72 ranks of over 4,300 organ pipes continue to serve the Cathedral today.
Also part of the 1946 renovation was the erection of St. John’s College at the eastern flank of the complex. St. John’s College later merged with Ursuline College, of the Ursuline women’s religious order, and its structure was demolished and land sold to enable the construction of neighboring Eaton Center in 1981.
By Christmas of 1988, parishioners could finally hear the pealing of six massive bells, installed just that year within the long-empty bell tower of 1946. The Diocese celebrated its 150th Anniversary in 1997, an event profiled in an ABC-TV special. Today The Cathedral of St. John the Evangelist stands as a distinctive landmark at the very heart of downtown Cleveland’s corporate/financial nexus, offering welcome aesthetic and psychological relief from the many high rise office and residential structures ringing it. | <urn:uuid:8169cb32-2295-4f45-8376-b3b77c2a0174> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.examiner.com/article/cathedral-of-st-john-the-evangelist-cleveland-ohio | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974105 | 762 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Are you a financier of the forestry industry? Are you aware of key environmental and social risks and issues posed by your clients?
Forest degradation is one of the most pressing environmental issues we face. It impacts the planets biodiversity and water resources, and is a significant contributor to climate change. Getting the balance right between economic development and deforestation has proven difficult, and the expansion of certified sustainable forestry has been slow. This is an issue for all companies involved in the supply chain, from forest producers, traders, processors, and end buyers to banks that finance forestry.
Consequently, there is growing interest in the sustainability issues linked to forestry and the risks and opportunities they pose for the financial sector. Many financial institutions have made, or are under pressure to make, commitments to the sustainable financing of forestry. The challenge to the financial sector is in developing consistent and effective policies, implementation and monitoring procedures for sustainable forestry.
The Sustainable Forest Finance Toolkit
In response to this need, PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) and the World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD) jointly developed the Sustainable Forest Finance Toolkit. The toolkit is designed to support the financial sector in sustainable financing of industries impacting forests.
The Toolkit has undergone an extensive and thorough stakeholder review, involving forestry companies, banks, NGOs, certification bodies, governments, investors, asset managers and multilateral institutions.
Main features of the toolkit
The Sustainable Forest Finance Toolkit comprises four key sections arranged in a practical, interactive format, and targeted at specific user groups within a financial institution: | <urn:uuid:b9e2dd6e-ca0e-4f03-b218-5f0b65da1d74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pwc.co.uk/sustainability-climate-change/issues/forest-finance-home.jhtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927523 | 321 | 2.765625 | 3 |
ArticleSearch iPhone App Released – Student Research Made Easy!Written by Christian Milsom on February 10, 2011 · Filed under Software
Almost synonymous with being a student is drinking, living off no money and reading though large amounts of old textbooks, but it is the last of these that ForeMind’s latest app for the iPhone is hoping to ease.
The ArticleSearch iPhone App essentially allows you perform simultaneous searches for academic articles across a range of sources, which not only saves you the time of having to search on a range of different engines, but also the irritating hassle of having to type all your criteria in every time.
The concept is fairly simple: you start by filling out one field (or a form for a more advanced search) and tap search which will prompt the app to gather results from the libraries, search-engines and databases that you have selected. It then displays the number of results in a nice little ‘test-tube’ graphic so you can easily see where the bulk of the results lie; to then access the specific content – which really is what you want to do – you just tap the relevant tube and the built-in web browser let’s you look at the results list and then on selection the raw text.
So the premise is promising: you can quickly search across a whole range of academic sources whenever and wherever you like, but there are a few other nice little features that make the app well worthwhile. For starters sharing the articles that you find through the search couldn’t be easier with simple buttons to both add it to favourites and send it to your friends/class mates through SMS or email. Also for those who like a nice visual touch the app has an accelerometer feature which means that when you shake the phone previous searches are cleared and the coloured test tubes empty.
So not only does this help students by making articles dead easy to find but it is also very easy on the pocket: the basic ad-free version which allows you to search on two standard and one premium search engines at a time is completely free. However if you are likely to be doing a lot of specialist searches it may be worth investing in the upgraded versions which allows you to access 3, 7 or an unlimited number (i.e. whatever your phone can cope with) of ‘premium’ libraries at a time.
Having only been released at the end of January the current source list isn’t all that expansive (there’s just over 40 different premium libraries) and boasts an odd mix of specialist and general engines – like ‘Google Scholar’ and ‘Astrophysics Data System’ – so you may want to check to see if the selection is useful for you. If it is then you are in luck and you will probably have found your next best friend when it comes to researching writing essays, theses and dissertations, but don’t be too disheartened if not as future updates with greatly increased numbers of libraries are promised for the future.
Admittedly the ArticleSearch iPhone App is fairly niche - you are unlikely to ever use this unless you happen to be studying in the subject that the search engines cover – but for those that do fall within that small group it could quickly end up being an invaluable tool, especially for those last minute additions on the bus! | <urn:uuid:3a0943fa-64f5-44e4-bef3-6a1a394d3232> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zath.co.uk/articlesearch-iphone-app-released-student-research-made-easy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945587 | 683 | 1.632813 | 2 |
One local woman’s decision to become an altruistic living kidney donor changed the lives of three families – two in Maryland, and the other in Minnesota. This ultimately led to a two-way kidney swap which took place on January 7, 2010, between UMMC and the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minnesota. Nancy Miller, of Glen Burnie, Md., started this process by deciding to be a non-directed living donor. She originally offered to donate a kidney to Cindy Wickesser, of Sykesville Md., after learning that she was in kidney failure from her husband Craig. But when they found out they were not a match, Miller and Wickesser entered UMMC’s Paired Kidney Exchange Program.
Kidney donor Nancy Miller (left) with kidney recipient Cindy Wickesser
Minnesota Newspaper Story
The Capital Newspaper Story
Kidney Transplant Program | <urn:uuid:b84208ef-d450-4485-8dc4-58fa416eef2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.umm.edu/transplant/kidney/two-way-kidney-swap.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95924 | 182 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Roland Piquepaille writes "Julia Fields wrote a very well-documented article about 'smart' clothing that "would do everything from deliver a massage and improve your golf swing to change colour according to the weather" for the Edinburgh Evening News, "Tech out the latest in fashion." Fields spoke with Professor George Stylios from the Heriot-Watt University School of Textiles and Design who is working on clothes that can save lives. "This technology isn't going to go away. In 20 or 30 years, computers, telephones, and televisions will become part of our intimate clothing," he said. For more information, please read the original article. But for illustrations, visit this photo gallery. It contains pictures of Elise Co's Puddlejumper jacket, Hussein Chalayan's airplane dress, Adeline Andre's ScentOrgan dress and other smart clothes." | <urn:uuid:707993fe-c23f-4a0c-ab37-de24417e27c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tech.slashdot.org/story/03/10/13/1154230/smart-clothing-a-fashion-show | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933998 | 179 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Vision and MissionAs we enter the new millennium, the pervasiveness of digital technologies is defining a new scenario: the era of interconnected things and augmented reality.
Human-machine interaction together with machine-to-machine interaction will become constant and more natural, even second nature. Digital technologies, through miniaturisation, will grow more and more intertwined with everyday life, until they fade into the background and become basically invisible.
We’ve already started to no longer use computers as computing devices: they are more and more sophisticated elements that give us the means to augment external reality and our comprehensive presence on the network and through the Cloud. Progress will be such that we will no longer see computers as computers, but as an integral part of our world, as an extension of ourselves. This is what we mean when we talk about the disappearance or invisibility of computers: they will become a part of our surroundings and will escape our attention.
The pervasiveness and ubiquity of miniaturised and interconnected computers means that it is no longer a matter of computers – in terms or objects or tools – but is increasingly a matter relating to everyday life.
We see pervasive computers as a mean for making objects smarter and infrastructure greener, and ultimately improve everyday life, making it simpler, safer and more comfortable.
Eurotech's mission is to integrate state-of-the-art computing and communication technologies into innovative solutions to improve Customers’ competitiveness and their ability to cope with the amazing evolution of digital technologies. | <urn:uuid:b4e1dc03-1e8c-4850-8bc1-00c190dcfb9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eurotech.com/en/about+eurotech/mission | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926866 | 305 | 2.15625 | 2 |
The Big Tujunga Mitigation Area is approximately a 210-acre parcel of land located in the City of Los Angeles Sunland area. The site was purchased by the Los Angeles County Department of Public Works (LACDPW) in 1998 for the purpose of compensating for habitat loss from other LACDPW projects.
BIG TUJUNGA WASH MITIGATION AREA MAINTENANCE ACTIVITIES ARE NOW COMPLETE
Maintenance activities that were conducted throughout the Big Tujunga Wash Mitigation Area between April 10 and 19 are now complete. All trails are once again open and safe to use. An additional maintenance event will be scheduled during mid-summer 2013. An alert notification will be sent out prior to the start of those activities.
If you have any questions regarding the maintenance activities, please contact Grace Yu at Los Angeles County Department of Public Works at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:22dc1c7f-b80f-433b-a548-a988b8e881c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dpw.lacounty.gov/wrd/Projects/BTWMA/index.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925665 | 196 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Superstorm Sandy has taken a tragic toll on the residents of the mid-Atlantic's barrier islands. All along the coast, hundreds of homes were lost, and thousands of people still have no power after Sandy wreaked havoc. The impact is not unlike many other destructive recent storms in the United States, such as Ivan, Katrina and Ike. So what can be done?
In their natural state, the barrier islands that line about half of the U.S. coast, including most of the region affected by Sandy, are mobile and change constantly in response to wind, waves, tides and sea level. In fact, these islands owe their very existence to storms and the long-term rise in sea level of the past several thousand years.
But much of today's coastline is a complex hybrid of a natural, dynamic landform overprinted with decades of immobile human development. Taking the dynamic nature of these barrier islands into account as we rebuild after major storms can help reduce the vulnerability of the local infrastructure to the inevitable next big storm.
Beaches and dunes are the first line defense from ocean waves and storm surge, protecting the island's interior. When dunes erode and fail, much of the sand is carried up onto the island as overwash. While a failed dune in a coastal community makes it more exposed to the next storm, dune failure can make an undeveloped barrier island stronger by adding elevation to its core. This is how the barrier islands were built in the first place.
During Superstorm Sandy, broad swaths of the coastline from North Carolina to Massachusetts experienced dune failure and massive overwash. The sand washed onto and across the barrier islands, filling roads, yards and living rooms. This overwash sand instantly added several feet of elevation to the islands. On a natural barrier island, this new elevation reduces the chance of inundation from the next storm. And as New Yorkers learned, a couple of feet can make all the difference between inconvenience and catastrophe.
As the army of bulldozers and other earth-moving equipment deployed along the coast suggests, current efforts appear headed to restore the islands to their pre-storm state. Pushing the sand off the streets and back onto the beach removes the elevation that would have added freeboard above future floods. On a developed shore, this excavation of the roads is absolutely necessary to regain the dunes that are the first line of defense. But, everyone must understand that by resetting the island back to pre-storm conditions, the long-term risks are increased.
Then there is the issue of rising seas. Sea level has risen 6 to 9 inches along the New Jersey coast since the last big storm in 1962 (the Ash Wednesday storm). Some residents say the 1962 storm barely reached their doorstep, while this time Superstorm Sandy flooded them by a foot. Although Sandy and the 1962 storm differ in their details, 50 years of sea-level rise certainly allowed water to reach areas that would not have been reached otherwise.
What we know about storms, sea-level rise and barrier island response can be applied to redevelopment of the New Jersey coast.
We can either try to thwart the natural response -- requiring increasing investment in construction and maintenance of storm protection structures -- or adapt by relocating farther away from the beachfront and upward as the barrier islands move.
There is historical precedent for adaptation by moving. In New Jersey, some pre-WWII beachfront communities had moveable houses. In 1888, the Brighton Beach Hotel on Coney Island was moved several hundred feet back from the ocean by six steam locomotives.
There are difficult choices to be made in our response to Superstorm Sandy. Doing nothing other than rebuilding is an easy choice and least expensive in the near-term, unless the next "superstorm" comes next year, or even this winter. Hundreds of miles of the East Coast where dunes were eroded or no longer exist are now more vulnerable than ever.
Protecting the entire coast with coastal structures like sea walls is not feasible or even desirable; there are aspects of coastal armoring that have negative consequences.
A practical response will be a blend of all the realistic options. This requires identifying which areas can adapt best, prioritizing which will receive the most protection and which will receive the least, or even none. This will be a challenging process.
But, if undertaken jointly by citizens, policymakers and scientists, it could be a refreshing response and yield a coastal environment that is more resilient and economically and environmentally sound.
Follow us on Twitter @CNNOpinion
Join us on Facebook/CNNOpinion | <urn:uuid:64380a67-18d0-417d-aeaa-41980bfd2674> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wcti12.com/news/national-news/Opinion-What-s-next-after-Superstorm-Sandy/-/13530322/17356484/-/m0rxyq/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955802 | 933 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Savant's been collecting Moody Blues concert video for quite a while, looking for one that reflects my own personal memories of seeing them twice in 1969-1970. Once was at San Bernardino's Swing Auditorium and the other at the Santa Monica Civic Auditorium. One promising disc called The Moody Blues The Lost Performance Live in Paris '70 turned out to be a video of the Moodies lip-synching to playback in a French studio! I reviewed it fairly positively with the understanding that there just wasn't any full film record of a Moody Blues concert to be found.
The Moody Blues Live at the Isle of Wight Festival changes all that. The eighty-minute disc contains at least forty minutes of straight performing footage from the giant 1970 festival that, at least in terms of attendance, was bigger than Woodstock. Featured were The Who, Jimi Hendrix, The Doors, Ten Years After, Joni Mitchell, Melanie, Richie Havens, Leonard Cohen and many others.
The disc starts with band members talking about the first incarnation of the group in Birmingham, with a different sound and personnel. The musicians describe the evolution with the help of some interesting film clips and then discuss the making of the Days of Future Passed album, which began as a rock 'n' roll version of the New World Symphony. The interviews are the usual reminiscences and anecdotes, capped by Mike Pinder's explanation of another Birmingham invention, the weird musical contraption The Mellotron, which enabled him to "sample" orchestral effects for live rock performances. The Mellotron used a rack of parallel-mounted pre-recorded audiotape loops. A keyboard mechanically engaged playback heads to read the individual sounds: typically (according to the IMBD) strings, cello, and a choir. We see a couple shots of Pinder's Mellotron in action -- it looks incredibly impractical!
Mike Pinder, incidentally, had worked at the electronics company manufacturing the Mellotron, as a quality control tester. Although the instrument showed up on the Beatles' Strawberry Fields Forever, the Mellotron was an integral part of the Moodies' sound on all their early albums. It must have been a prime source of concern in pre-concert setup.
Previous disc recordings of The Moody Blues in concert are all from latter-day tours that concentrate on a few big hits. With the need to remain competitive, the emphasis has been on a venue-rocking play list. Live at the Isle of Wight Festival will hit the spot with older fans because the song lineup and "mellow" stage presence is just as we remember it from the band's heyday. The August 1970 date aligns with the release of the A Question of Balance album.
When the lengthy concert portion of the disc arrives, we get the following playlist:
Most songs appear to be covered by at least two 16mm cameras; only one song is illustrated completely with shots of the concert goers -- we suspect no film was recorded, or it didn't come out right. Cutaways to crowd details are kept to a reasonable minimum most of the time. We see no backstage activity.
The audio recording is for the most part good, with only a few lyric lines delivered off-mike or otherwise not clearly heard. The performance appears to have a glitch or two, with a harmonizing voice sounding oddly off-key on a few notes. But the group's original mellow "feel" -- the Mellotron combined with the strange harmonies --is intact in a way not heard in the group's newer stage shows. The old Moody sound didn't go in for power drum solos and blasting guitar onslaughts. The song Question uses an acoustic guitar. 1
Eagle Rock Entertainment's DVD of The Moody Blues Live at the Isle of Wight Festival is a handsomely produced, budget-priced bargain. The well-designed disc holder contains an insert folder with liner notes by Michael Heatley. Audio comes in DTS, DD 5.1 and DD 2.0. So many "commemorative" concert discs of vintage groups end up being desultory performance scraps or rehearsal footage; this Moody Blues disc is a nostalgic treat.
On a scale of Excellent, Good, Fair, and Poor,
1. Frankly, the fun of rock "back then" (besides the 3 and 5-dollar ticket prices) was the fact that all the performers had were a couple of amplified guitars, a drum set and perhaps an organ or other musical instrument. Yet we saw terrific shows. Nowadays The Doors, Credence Clearwater and other groups' sound comparatively "thin" in a way considered under-produced. But at least we could tell that the talent was in the performers and not their electronics.
Reviews on the Savant main site have additional credits information and are often updated and annotated with reader input and graphics. Also, don't forget the
2009 Savant Wish List. T'was Ever Thus. | <urn:uuid:7c7d2534-8802-43d5-8b53-bd6fde55d436> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dvdtalk.com/reviews/print.php?ID=37488 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94437 | 1,020 | 1.734375 | 2 |
ISBN-13: 9780310590606 UPC: 025986590604 Availability: In Stock
This is an introduction to African Christian Ethics for Christian colleges and Bible schools. The book is divided into two parts. The first part deals with the theory of ethics, while the second discusses practical issues. The issues are grouped into the following six sections: Socio-Political Issues, Financial Issues, Marriage Issues, Sexual Issues, Medical Issues, and Religious Issues. Each section begins with a brief general introduction, followed by the chapters dealing with specific issues in that area. Each chapter begins with an introduction, discusses traditional African thinking on the issue, presents an analysis of relevant biblical material, and concludes with some recommendations. There are questions at the end of each chapter for discussion or personal reflection, often asking students to reflect on how the discussion in the chapter applies to their ministry situation.
Samuel Waje Kunhiyop is General Secretary of ECWA (Evangelical Church Winning All) and a visiting Professor of Ethics at Brigham University, Karu, Nigeria. He was previously Head of the Postgraduate School, South African Theological Seminary, and Provost and Professor of Theology and Ethics at Jos ECWA Theological Seminary (JETS). He holds a BA (JETS), MAET (Western Seminary, Portland, Oregon), and the PhD (Trinity International University, Illinois). | <urn:uuid:0534e79b-80eb-45c7-a993-ba22d9eda6ae> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianbook.com/Christian/Books/product?isbn=9780310590606&device=kindle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924487 | 287 | 1.632813 | 2 |
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DUE TO THE INCREASE IN RESEARCH and publications on the Caribbean area, this volume introduces a new contributing editor to share responsibilities for this chapter. Damián Fernández will continue to cover the general works on the area and scholarship on the three Latin islands of Cuba, Hispaniola (including Haiti and the Dominican Republic) and Puerto Rico, while Jacqueline Braveboy-Wagner will examine publications on the English-speaking islands as well as The Guianas and the smaller island nations.
GENERAL AND HISPANIC CARIBBEAN
The increased number of works on the region as a whole as well as on the Hispanic Caribbean attests to the growing emphasis on this field of study in the post-Cold War era. The extent of professional interest in this region may surprise some, but is indicative of the area's importance outside of traditional geostrategic considerations as well as proof of the large number of experts working on the Caribbean. Still, a growth in quantity does not necessarily mean growth in quality.
The criteria applied to include and annotate articles or books herein were as follows: 1) primary documents that could serve as sources for future research; 2) works on neglected topics and/ or subjects on which there is either a dearth of information, even in cases where the analysis is mostly routine (e.g., studies of Haitian and Dominican foreign relations, on the basis that future research will be well served by these annotated works); and 3) the quality of the scholarship, in terms of sound and/or original methodology and new light shed on a topic. Unfortunately, exemplary works of scholarship are few. One notable exception is Harold Dana Sims' article on US policy (item bi 93005430) toward the pre-Castro leftist labor movement in Cuba.
It would seem that three topics command the most attention from researchers: 1) the international political economy (e.g., the Caribbean Basin Initiative and the impact of North American integration on the region); 2) foreign policy studies, with Cuba leading the way as the most studied case in the region and perhaps in Latin America as a whole; and 3) the role of the US. Overall, however, one theme underlies most scholarship in the region and that is the interconnections between domestic and international politics.
Such a perspective, however, has not led scholars to apply postmodern approaches to the study of the international politics of the region. While the postmodern point of view is leaving its mark on the overall field of international relations, in our region the discipline is still dominated by traditional paradigms. In that sense we continue to lag behind now, as in the past. An emerging and welcome trend is the avoidance, on the part of scholars and writers, of the most polemical and overtly ideological approaches - either from simplistic neomarxist or new-right perspectives - which have dominated much of the literature since the 1950s. [DJF]
That the literature on the international relations of the non-Hispanic Caribbean has grown quantitatively is a healthy development. Unfortunately, the dearth of theoretical studies continues and, if anything, theory seems to have been abandoned altogether in favor of descriptive and, in particular, prescriptive approaches. One notable exception in this regard is Michael Erisman's work (item bi 94011317). To some extent, this is the inevitable consequence of the changes in the international system, given the fact that the 1990s are a time of strategic reassessment for both policymakers and scholars. But the result of this prescriptive preoccupation is a spate of studies that are very similar in tone and content and that contribute little to the long-term evolution of the field.
On the other hand, the end of the Cold War and the rise of international economic and social preoccupations have given impetus to research in areas other than the geopolitical sphere that so preoccupied scholars in the 1970s-80s. Although security studies are still in plentiful supply, even the most traditional now include some discussion of broader issues, for example narcotics trafficking or environmental issues, exemplified by studies such as Ivelaw Griffith's work (items bi 93024530) and Andrés Serbín's compilation (item bi 95023259).
Not surprisingly, the early 1990s are also witnessing a spurt of studies on economic trends and policies, especially various aspects of integration and free trade. While most studies are rather general, a few are notable for their detail and specialized analysis as evident in Guillermo Hillcoat and Carlos Quenan's publication (item bi 94008322) and the compilation edited by Hilbourne Watson (item bi 94011369).
A number of historical retrospectives have been written, resulting in some insightful backward glances at the role of the US in the Caribbean (Fraser, item bi 94004382); the breakup of the West Indies Federation (Wallace, bi 94008442); and - of particular interest - the role of the Jamaican left in the 1950s (Munroe, item bi 94011360).
Finally, while the general thematic literature is expanding, there are still few studies that deal either specifically or inclusively with Suriname (only one work annotated below, item bi 94011324). Haiti, with only five works included below, is also underrepresented, despite recent crises experienced by that country, events that usually trigger an outpouring of publications. Also noticeable is the dearth of in-depth studies of Guyana.
To conclude, the publication of informative studies on new themes in international relations is a highly positive development. However, the disregard for theory and the neglect of certain areas remain as serious problems. Without theory, Caribbean international relations is less of a scholarly pursuit than a sort of coincidental categorization of a region. [JAB-W] | <urn:uuid:493ca941-3832-4e29-8748-81dfcff915cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lcweb2.loc.gov/hlas/ss55ir-fernandez.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934851 | 1,217 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Earth-friendly firelogs and firestarters are also included in the military’s 2012 Severe Weather Promotional Package
ATLANTA, Ga. – May 15, 2012 – Enviro-Log®, Inc., an eco-friendly consumer products and recycling company, is pleased to announce that it has partnered with Euro-American Brands to distribute its earth-friendly firelogs and firestarters to 170 military commissaries throughout the United States. Enviro-Log Firelogs and Firestarters are also included in the military’s 2012 Severe Weather Promotional Package for emergency and hurricane preparedness which is available April 1 through October 31, coinciding with the peak periods of severe weather.
“We are proud to offer our earth friendly firelogs and firestarters to all military personnel,” said Ross McRoy, president of Enviro-Log, Inc. “Not only can Enviro-Log Firelogs and Firestarters be used for recreational purposes, but in emergency situations as well. Enviro-Log Firelogs and Firestarters are made from recycled materials and can be used to start a fire anywhere in any weather condition, or as a safe and reliable fuel source for warming food.”
Known as the greenest and most versatile firelogs on the market, Enviro-Log Firelogs are the ultimate firewood substitute. Enviro-Log Firelogs are made from 100 percent recycled waxed cardboard and when compared to firewood, Enviro-Log Firelogs burn cleaner, emitting 30 percent less greenhouse gases, 80 percent less carbon dioxide and 86 percent less creosote. Enviro-Log Firelogs can also be stored and burned in all weather conditions and can be transported for camping, RVing and other outdoor activities without the concern of restrictions imposed on firewood by some states and campsites. Safe to cook over, Enviro-Log Firelogs have been tested safe for use in chimineas, campfires, outdoor tailgating and cookout events.
Enviro-Log Firestarters are made from 100 percent recycled eco-friendly wax and offer an alternative to kindling, petroleum-based starter blocks, lighter fluids and ethanol-based gels. Each firestarter provides up to 20 minutes of burn time with tall and consistent flames that can even light firewood that has been dampened with light snow or rain. Burned to completion, each firestarter is 100 percent consumed and leaves no mess to clean up. Ideal for back packing, hiking, camping, fishing or tailgating, Enviro-Log Firestarters provide a safe, clean and environmentally friendly way to start a fire anywhere.
Founded in 1990, Euro-American Brands is one of the premier importers of confections and specialty food products in the U.S. It is one of the leaders for specialty and gourmet food - both imported and domestic - for the Department of Defense Commissary System and U.S. Government Exchange Systems. For more information about Euro-American Brands, please visit www.euroamericanbrands.com.
About Enviro-Log, Inc.
Enviro-Log is a registered trademark of Enviro-Log, Inc. All other trademarks or registered trademarks are properties of their respective companies. | <urn:uuid:23b74795-b3e8-41da-b0a6-9379005f01d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.enviro-log.net/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=98:enviro-log-firelogs-and-firestarters-now-available-at-military-commissaries&catid=34:press-releases&Itemid=60 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925448 | 694 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Caldwell has a general population of 7,584 and an overall student population of 2,284. Approximately 2,284 of Caldwell's students are enrolled in schools that offer accounting programs.
Caldwell College is the largest accounting school in Caldwell, based on student population. In 2010, Caldwell College graduated approximately 10 students with credentials in accounting.
In 2010, 10 students graduated with an accounting degree from one of Caldwell's accounting schools. If you decide to attend a accounting school in Caldwell, you can expect to pay an average yearly tuition of $24,600.
In addition to tuition costs, plan on spending an average of $1,200 for accounting related books and supplies each year. And if you live on campus at one of the Caldwell-based accounting schools, you will have an added expense of $10,000 per year, on average, for room and board. Students who live at home can cut this cost down to approximately $28,600.
If you decide to work as an accountant in Caldwell, your job prospects are not very good. In 2010, of the 60,500 accountants in New Jersey, 13,120 were working in the greater Caldwell area. Caldwell's accountant workforce is projected to increase by 2% by the year 2018. This projected change is slower than the projected nationwide trend for accountants.
As an accountant in Caldwell, you can expect to make an average salary of $39,710 per year. This is higher than the average salary for accountants in the state. | <urn:uuid:a40e4f12-994a-4d5e-bb11-6e1123541e5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hackcollege.com/school-finder/schools/new-jersey/caldwell/accounting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969709 | 308 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Sequester Puts Native American Loan Program on Hold; Uniform State Test Info; Interesting Prepayment Info and How it Impacts Pricing
Andrew Jackson's portrait is on the $20 bill of the United States - we know that. But what many people don't know is that for years, and perhaps to this day, many Native Americans will not touch a $20 bill due to the horrendous record Jackson had in dealing with Native Americans. Jackson not only owned slaves but was responsible for, according to one petition, "the cruel and brutal forced" removal of Native Americans from their homelands to Oklahoma known as the Trail of Tears (the goal being moving all tribes from east of the Mississippi to west of the Mississippi).
I mention this because Native Americans now have been impacted by the sequester. Mind you, compensation for Congress and the White House does not change due to the sequester cuts. The Oklahoma Mortgage Bankers sent out, "Hello Fellow Oklahoma Mortgage Bankers: This has been a very challenging week for all us of that originate the HUD Section 184 Native American home loans. As of last Friday when HUD Senior Management decided to put the program on hold as a result of "sequestration", homeownership dreams also were put on hold. If a lender did not already have a firm commitment in their hands with a cohort number issued by HUD then they were unable to transact their customer's home loan. To put that in perspective....a firm commitment and cohort number cannot be issued till all underwriting conditions of the loan are met which typically takes place at a minimum 3-5 days outside of a closing date. So think about the number of closings that came to a halt this week across the State of Oklahoma and our Nation and how many consumers lives were affected and not only Native Americans. While we view the situation as temporary, we know this hurts innocent Native American families and all those tied to the closing transaction. It also creates untold pain for Native Americans families that often have the fewest home finance alternatives. There are Native American borrowers that are not able to convert their loan request to an alternative program such as conventional or FHA. As a result contracts were lost and the home they had already started making plans on furnishing and establishing homestead was taken away from them. All of this relates to the so called "sequestration" and is politically motivated; in fact, the FHA and VA programs remain unaffected. The situation won't change until a new federal budget is passed or there is a new annual continuing budget resolution. As we are all aware, the next deadline for a federal budget is March 27th and we do not expect the program to restart loan closings before that date. While there are efforts underway to get HUD senior management to reconsider their position, it's most reasonable to assume HUD's position won't change in the short-term."
"In your commentary you mentioned the uniform state testing. Below is the verbiage and link to all the states that are early adopters of the UST directly from the NMLS for your readers. The following table lists the 24 state mortgage agencies which intend to adopt the Uniform State Test (UST), on either April 1, 2013 or July 1, 2013. The other 34 agencies may elect to adopt the UST at a future date, but are not required to do so. Candidates will need to pass the state-specific test component up until the actual date that state agency adopts the UST: more." Thank you to Chris Maturo, Director of Sales with Praedo Institute for sending this.
"Rob, I'd heard somewhere that the Japanese buy a lot of our Ginnies. Is that true, and why?" The answer is that they do and they don't, depending on market conditions - which is also why prices on rate sheets for FHA & VA loans vary versus prices for Fannie & Freddie loans. For example, in the middle of last year, the entire U.S. agency MBS sector became quite unattractive to Japanese investors. But with recent changes in the Japanese bond markets, currency fluctuations, the rise in US Treasury yields, and the widening of MBS spreads, the Japanese are buying those agency residential securities again. And Japanese investors typically buy GNMA MBS because they need the additional spread offered by MBS over US Treasuries to meet their yield targets on a currency-risk adjusted basis. And if you'd like to be more technical, the spread between current coupon GNMA MBS and the 7-year JGB (Japanese Government Bond) yield had sharply declined from 300-320 basis points in 2010 to only 150-160bp by the 3Q'12 but had recently widened to 220bp. Similarly, the currency risk adjusted spread metric has also come back closer to historical averages. Generally, keep in mind that from 2010 to 2012 a significant portion of the total overseas demand for GNMA MBS came from Japanese banks and insurance companies. Japan's demand for agency MBS appeared to have been quite weak over the past few months (possibly even negative net demand), but traders report it is picking up again.
Every month prepayment speeds are released, often with a yawn by many except for those that specialize in investing in securities backed by those mortgages that might prepay. Wednesday they really roiled the market, and many besides the usual quant jocks noticed. Originators know that investors call the shots - and what investor wants to pay more than par (100) for a loan that is going to quickly pay off - since they pay off at par? The February prepayment speeds were down about 12% (to a 26 CPR) in Fannies but most "Harpable" buckets slowing down 5-8%. Traders took notice, since investment banker actuarial staffs delve into the numbers to estimate paydowns and make value opinions based on their expectations going forward. They were greeted with prepays that, as one trader wrote, "If real, Ginnie Maes are way too expensive, and if not real, that GNMA has a reporting problem that needs to be addressed." Given the foreign appetite (see paragraph above) for this product, and given that about 30% of all new issues are from GNMA, this is a major problem for investors.
Speed declines were led by organic refinancing in keeping with higher rates and the declines in refinancing activity. Longer processing lags for weaker credit borrowers continued to keep speeds relatively elevated. 15-year Fannie speeds decreased 11% to 20 CPR. HARP speeds declined less than implied due to specific servicers but not nearly by as much as implied by the lower day count likely due to shorter lags on streamlined refinancing. "Wells Fargo speeds diverged from the rest with speeds on 2009 4s and 4.5s Fannies increasing over the month compared to speed declines for the rest. Reversing recent trends is that speeds on Golds are now faster than on Fannies due to Wells Fargo's higher share in the former and marginal slowdown amongst the rest. Speeds doubled on Taylor, Bean's originations driving speeds higher on higher coupons especially Gold 2007 6s and 6.5s." So it appears that much of this divergence can be attributed to differences in prepay trends across servicers.
Bank of America prepays in Freddie space increased 3%, while those in Fannie space declined 11% (based on prepays observed on pools with more than 80% concentration for a given servicer). The drop in Bank of America serviced Fannie loans is likely due to the transfer of Bank of America serviced loans to GreenTree - they probably weren't targeting the transferred borrowers to refi. Based on Freddie loan-level data, there were no transfers to Nationstar for Freddie loans and hence the limited drop in Freddie prepays. Ocwen prepays continued at their elevated levels for the second consecutive month; this pickup can be attributed to the increased origination capacity available as a result of the acquisition of Homeward Residential Holdings. Lastly, the numbers show a sharp increase in prepays of TBW loans. After Taylor Bean's (TBW) bankruptcy, TBW loans were being serviced by Cenlar, which did not have an origination arm but tied up with Fifth Third to offer HARP refinancing. It is likely that some of these borrowers have been able to refinance recently.
Some lenders are still backed up, with purchases taking priority over refi's. We all know that is takes too long to close a loan, and it requires too many touches to get it done. In his weekly column for National Mortgage News, my colleague Garth Graham compares our crazy business with the even crazier business of television production. http://bit.ly/13Hmk5c
Recruiting firm Hammerhouse launched its third annual survey for mortgage producers and leaders of producers. (The results are posted on its website.) "It contains 22 questions that focus on the Six Core components of an organization (Leadership, Culture, Business, Operations, Technology, and Geography). The questions center on issues facing the mortgage industry and impacting the production and job performance of producers, leaders and lenders. We are seeking participation to help clarify and validate areas of importance for successful and tenured professionals in the mortgage industry. Participants are eligible to win a new 16GB iPad." Here you go: http://www.teamhammerhouse.com/?p=2637.
Turning to a couple of relatively recent investor updates:
First, a clarification. Yesterday, in the investor update section, was listed, "Homeward Residential Capital has expanded its guidelines for same-servicer and Ocwen-serviced HARP loans to allow investment properties, unlimited multiple financed properties, and escrow waivers. For new-servicer HARP loans, Homeward will accept unlimited LTVs and CLTVs up to 150% for single family residences with FICO scores about 660 and 12 months' mortgage history. Ten-year amortization terms are now being offered as well, and subject properties in FEMA-declared areas no longer have to be re-inspected." This information is for the Client select group only - for Homeward Residential Inc.'s Client Select Division (Wholesale).
Provident Funding released a consumer mobile app that caters to its borrowers. The company also noted that it will shortly be launching another mobile app to better service Provident's private label subservicing borrowers. It appears PF's technology group has been busy as just a few months ago Provident Funding released a mortgage broker app that has been well received. Here is the link.
Cherry Creek is in the news, but for a non-mortgage related issue. This time it is a lawsuit involving contraception.
If you don't think that we live in a global economy, think again. Thursday morning all the traders were talking about how, "Treasuries traded firm out of the gates in the Tokyo session, with fast money and Asian real money accounts emerging as early buyers in moderate size...the Bank of Japan announcement, which came in as expected, had practically no impact on the market and flows were relatively think ahead of the ECB and BOE rate announcements...U.S. Treasuries were relatively flat throughout London, as Bunds traded heavy and global equities along with the Euro were better bid...French and Spanish bond spreads tightened and European equity markets were in the green...Comments from the ECB's Draghi that...." So yes, our weekly Jobless Claims number was stronger than expected, which would nudge rates higher, but we were already set up by the time folks arrived at their desks in New York. The release of the US bank equity stress tests was a non-event (17 out of 18 passed the Depression-like simulation), and the session ended at the lowest/cheapest levels of the day with the 10-yr at 1.99% and agency MBS prices worse .250-.375.
But that was yesterday, and today we've had the unemployment data for February. Non-farm Payrolls were expected +160k and the unemployment rate unchanged at 7.9%. It came in at +236k, and the unemployment rate dropped to 7.7%, much of it due to people dropping out of the labor force. December's numbers were revised higher, but January's were moved lower, nearly a wash. Nonetheless, the numbers were very, very strong, and the unemployment rate moves toward the Fed's target. Prior to the release the 10-yr.'s yield was slightly higher at 2.01%, but afterward it shot up to 2.06%, and we can look for MBS prices to be worse another .250-.375.
The Pope & the Rabbi:
Every time a new Pope is elected, there are many rituals in accordance with tradition, but, there is one tradition that very few people know about.
Shortly after a new Pope is enthroned, the Chief Rabbi of Rome seeks an audience. He is shown into the Pope's presence, whereupon he presents the Pope with a silver tray bearing a velvet cushion. On top of the cushion is an ancient, shriveled envelope. The Pope symbolically stretches out his arm in a gesture of rejection. The Chief Rabbi then retires, taking the envelope with him and does not return until the next Pope is elected.
A new Pope's reign was shortly followed by a new Chief Rabbi. He was intrigued by this ritual and that its origins were unknown to him. He instructed the best scholars of the Vatican to research it, but they came up with nothing.
When the time came and the Chief Rabbi was shown into his presence, they faithfully enacted the ritual rejection but, as the Chief Rabbi turned to leave, the Pope called him back.
"My brother," the Pope whispered, "I must confess that we Catholics are ignorant of the meaning of this ritual enacted for centuries between us and you, the representative of the Jewish people. I have to ask you, what is it all about?"
The Chief Rabbi shrugged and replied: "We have no more idea than you do. The origin of the ceremony is lost in the traditions of ancient history."
The Pope said: "Let us retire to my private chambers and enjoy a glass of kosher wine together; then with your agreement, we shall open the envelope and discover the secret at last." The Chief Rabbi agreed.
Fortified in their resolve by the wine, they gingerly pried open the curling parchment envelope and with trembling fingers, the Chief Rabbi reached inside and extracted a folded sheet of similarly ancient paper.
As the Pope peered over his shoulder, he slowly opened it. They both gasped with shock.
"It was a bill for the Last Supper from Moishe the Caterer!" | <urn:uuid:43f61d9c-5db2-47f0-930e-d5e4ac29faa6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mortgagenewsdaily.com/channels/pipelinepress/03082013-native-americans-20-bill-cpr.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975598 | 3,026 | 2.390625 | 2 |
O'Higgins, P. and Collard, M. (2002) Sexual dimorphism and facial growth in papionin monkeys. Journal of Zoology , 257 (2) pp. 255-272. 10.1017/S0952836902000857.
Full text not available from this repository.
Sexual dimorphism in the primate face has been studied intensively lately, but a number of issues remain controversial. For example, some studies have indicated that facial sexual dimorphism arises through ontogenetic scaling, whereas others have found it to be a consequence of both ontogenetic scaling and divergence in male and female growth trajectories. To shed further light on primate facial sexual dimorphism, geometric morphometric methods were applied to crania representing five papionin genera: Cercocebus, Lophocebus, Macaca, Mandrillus and Papio. A first set of analyses focused on the pattern and degree of facial sexual dimorphism exhibited by adult specimens. A second set of analyses concentrated on the ontogeny of facial sexual dimorphism in infant-to-adult age series. The first set indicated that the five genera exhibit significant facial sexual dimorphism. These analyses also revealed that the genera share several features of sexual dimorphism. Males are distinguished from females in having a more prognathic mid-face, a relatively more inferiorly and anteriorly positioned prosthion, relatively increased subnasal height and relatively broader zygomatic roots. They are also differentiated from females in their maxillae, which relative to the zygomatics are narrow but vertically deep, especially in the posterior aspect. Also, the first set of analyses indicated that Macaca is the most distinctive of the genera in terms of sexual dimorphism. The distinctive features of the Macaca sexual dimorphism are that males exhibit relatively wider nasal apertures and premaxillae than females, together with a relative increase in breadth across the inferior zygomatic roots. The second set of analyses demonstrated that in all the genera, sexual dimorphism arises partly through ontogenetic scaling and partly through a late divergence in male and female growth trajectories. The analyses also indicated that the relative contribution of these processes to sexual dimorphism varies among the genera. Ontogenetic scaling is by far the most important process in Lophocebus and Papio. Late divergence between male and female growth trajectories contributes proportionately more in Cercocebus and Mandrillus, although ontogenetic scaling still plays the major role. The relative contribution of late divergence between male and female growth trajectories is greatest in Macaca, in which it accounts for about half of the facial differences between adult males and females. In all five genera, ontogenetic scaling results in increased prognathism and greater relative maxillary size in males compared to females, whilst the late divergence involves the male mid-face becoming proportionately larger and deeper than the female mid-face, and the male posterior maxilla coming to lie more inferiorly with respect to the zygomatic root than its female counterpart.
|Title:||Sexual dimorphism and facial growth in papionin monkeys|
|Keywords:||Sexual dimorphism, ontogeny, geometric morphometrics, baboon, mangabey, macaque|
|UCL classification:||UCL > School of Arts and Social Sciences > Faculty of Social and Historical Sciences > Anthropology|
Archive Staff Only: edit this record | <urn:uuid:929fa314-8032-4d62-8f86-a3105fb306bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/15450/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900271 | 728 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Artistic Career of Muyassar Razzakova
The voice of amazing beauty, musical talent and mastery of vocal performance - these are the main attributes of Muyassar Razzakova's art.
What is a vocal art? The prominent Russian singer S. Y. Lemeshev once remarked on the subject: "A person comes out on the stage and you think, oh, such a wonderful voice! But after he has sung two or three romances you get bored! Why is that? It's because he does not possess an inner light, and the person himself is plain and talent-less, and it's only that God has blessed him with the voice. Sometimes it happens the other way round: the performer seems to have a regular voice, but he has pronounced something in a special way and the familiar romance suddenly shines, sparkling with new intonations. And you enjoy listening to such singer, because he has something to say, which is the most important" (1, p. 205). And Razzakova does have something to say!
In her childhood years Muyassar was very fond of bird songs, which could be heard only early in the morning, at sunrise. Not to miss this wonderful concert, the girl woke up few hours before it had begun, and when it started, motionless, she listened intently to these magical sounds. The sounds indeed produced a magical effect upon her. Once the birds were gone, Muyassar tried to reproduce their singing - splendid vocal passages. At that time she was only five years old. This peculiar school of nature where birds were her teachers had had its impact: "She has naturally trained voice", venerable pedagogues of vocal would eventually say.
Another school in her vocal education was radio. The concerts of the prominent opera singers becorpe her guiding star. Songs performed by S. Kabulova and the trills in Alyabyev's "Nightingale" performed by L. Barsova drew Muyassar's full attention. The most amazing thing was that she, without the knowledge of musical notation, onlybyear, could accurately reproduce these pieces. The same radio wave brought to her the wonderful arias of Gilda, Violetta and Mimi. A decision to become an opera singer was made at the age of sixteen.
In 1981 Muyassar was admitted to the Conservatory prep course, the class of Associate Professor L. Savinkova. She was heard by well-known musicians 2. Khaknazarov, N. Khoshimov and N. Barsov. Over two years of studies Razzakova learned musical notation, solfeggio and theory of music and successfully mastered vocal. After finishing the prep course, she entered the Conservatory, going to the same class of L. Savinkova. At her second year, due to the fact that her teacher left the country, Muyassar was transferred to the class of Rosalinda Laut, a well-known opera singer and the People's Artist of Uzbekistan. Muyassar loved to sing and worked very hard: she took very seriously every new part she learned. She persevered, working systematically, giving her entire spiritual and physical energy to it, for her driving force was perfectionism.
The approach of Rosalinda Laut to the education of her new student was not only of a professional vocalist, but also of an artist-musician who revealed the musical riches of pieces to her students, carrying them away with emotional communication of musical text, temperament and the art of performance. Right from the start, by demanding a thoughtful singing and emotionally coloured sound of the voice from her students, Laut at the same time put a lot of emphasis on the beauty of the vocal sound. To sing beautifully was one of the teacher's requirements. At the Glinka contest in which Razzakova participated with the aria of Antonida from "Ivan Susanin" opera, a member of the jury and the People's Artist of the USSR Bella Rudenko was pleasantly surprised with Muyassar's performance, for every sound in the part breathed the spirit of Russian folk art. With great emotional power the singer revealed the purity of soul, steadfastness and courage of Antonida. "How did you, an Uzbek girl distant from the life of Russian nation, manage to get such a deep insight into the essence of Antonida's personality and to sense the kernel of her character?" she would ask.
Then there was the Snow Maiden. With vivid timber colours and expressive intonations Muyassar created a radiant and poetic character of the Snow Maiden in the Rimskiy-Korsakov's opera of the same name. Subtle and spiritual, warming with her enchanting voice and heartfelt intonations, Snow Maiden Razzakova was overwhelming with her remarkable cantilena (continuous sound) that saturates the part. These qualities were most vividly demonstrated when the Snow Maiden was asking for "a little warmth of the heart". The voice of Snow Maiden Razzakova sounded so generously when she melted and blessed everything that lived and loved! Lyricism, the birth of a personality through love, and sublime emotions became the main theme in the singer's art.
Muyassar successfully graduated from the Conservatory and 1 was accepted by the State Academic Theatre (GABT) of Opera and Ballet named after Alisher Navoi. In 1988 the young debutante performed the part of Violetta in Verdi's "Traviata". Through the voice of her heroine Razzakova revealed rich and complex universe of ideas and human emotions, the heroism of struggle and the meanness of betrayal, the beauty of sacrifice and the power of love. Her success after the entry aria which is ranked "among the most challenging numbers in opera, makes one confident that Razzakova has a happy and brilliant future on stage" - that was how her debut was acclaimed in the Tashkent press.
Following her successful debut, Razzakova was offered Dilorom's part in the opera of a well-known Uzbek composer M. Ashrafi of the same name. Immortal verses of the great Uzbek poet Alisher Navoi became a literary basis (libretto) for the opera. The plot in "Dilorom" is inspired by his poem "The Seven Planets". The lead characters in the opera are Dilorom, the woman-singer, and Moni, an artist and architect. The characters embody the epic power of folk art to which Dilorom and Moni dedicated their lives. The power and depth of their love prevails over dark forces that oppose them and even over Death itself.
When working on Dilorom's part Razzakova was assisted by the People's Artist of the USSR Saodat Kabulova whose lessons yielded their good fruit. Performing Dilorom's part, Razzakova does not aim to produce an outward effect upon the audience by excessive duration of sound on a high note. She is guided by the sense of proportion that protects her from mannerism and exaggerated emotions. Her voice sounded even, saturated and vivid in the entire diapason. Splendid piano and tension-free forte, the silver notes of her unusual timber, and expressive lyrics all was channelled to reveal the idea of the piece and musical and psychological definition of the character.
Later on Saodat Kabulova, the master of vocal and excellent teacher, in her conversation with Muyassar admitted that "In Dilorom you surpassed me, and your heroine is much more prominent and emotional. Your interpretation of the character is more interesting, and the ways to produce an impact upon the audience are more powerful".
At the Chaikovskiy contest, in which Razzakova participated, she became an object of attention from the famous opera singer and the People's Artist of the USSR Irina Arkhipova who noticed the remarkable clarity of her lyrical coloratura soprano, large diapason of her voice, accuracy of imaginative thinking, understanding of composer's concoction and style, and the accuracy of intonation, and invited Razzakova to Moscow for advanced training. But she could not go as her mother passed away, and the burden of looking after a big family was laid upon Muyassar.
The singer kept perfecting her skill, "honing" the technique. All her brilliantly performed most complex grace-notes fit into the overall emotional structure of the role and the general musical pattern as their integral part. Take, for instance, operas such as Rossini's "The Barber from Seville", Verdi's "Traviata" and "Masquerade", or Donizetti's "Love Potion" and "Lucia di Lamermur".
Inexhaustible energy and hard work earned her the title of the Honoured Artist of the Republic of Uzbekistan she was awarded in 1993. Five years later the title of the People's Artist of Uzbekistan was conferred upon her.
Muyassar Razzakova says, "The opera parts I sang (Oykhon, Dilorom, Feruza, Antonida, the Snow Maiden, Marfa, Violetta, Gilda, Leonora, Amelia, Rozina, Lucia, Adina, Madame Herz, Santuzza) have become dear to me. In each of them I lived bits of my own life, reflecting a woman's destiny: love and suffering, joy and sorrow. Every performance turned into a festivity for me. Yet as years go by the festivities become fewer", she continues with sadness, "And I am so keen on singing the Shamakhan Queen the part I prepared myself, Floria Tosca, Madame Butterfly, Lucrezzia Borgia, and Leila from Buise's "Peal Hunters"... Well, there is no shortage of beautiful operas!" | <urn:uuid:ba1abe2c-8e93-4fe5-9fe0-68d5c1c66fbe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sanat.orexca.com/eng/2-08/muyassar_razzakova.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966614 | 2,054 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Someone asked what the graphs in Noise in Jones 1998 would look like for the other multiproxy studies. I speculated that they would probably look similar. In fact, they vary quite a bit. I’ve done plots for Mann and Jones , Esper et al , Crowley and Lowery , Moberg et al and MBH99. In some cases, I’ve got accurate proxy data; in other cases, I’ve done it with what I’ve got or reconstructed. For amusement, I’ve posted them up without identifying them. You should be able to guess some of them. (I’ll edit in a couple of days and insert labels.)
Caveats: I’ve used the Esper et al chronologies as I graphed them up a few days ago; I don’t have all the sites and the Tirol site must differ somehow. For Crowley, I have only the smoothed and transformed version. The transformed version is in [0,1] so I did a qnorm transformation, jittering the 0 and 1 values. The MBH99 data used is the proxy roster from the MWP step.
I’ve shown the "studentized G" measure of coherency of annual changes, which is my modificaiton of the Gleichlàƒ⣵figkeit G statistic, as used by Esper and other dendrochronologists as a measure of signal. The G statistic is the maximum of the number of tree rings with an increase in width or with a decrease in width divided by the number of samples. In an unstudentized version, 2 out of 2 counts the same as 23 out of 23. As I pointed out here, this statistic is readily "studentized" (or normalized) by defining the
studentized G (n,N) = the proportion of cases in a 50-50 binomial draw of length N which are less informative than n out of N.
For example, if there is a 50-50 split between + and – in a given year, the studentized G would be 0 since you get at least that good a match 100% of the time. If you get 2 out of 2 going the same way, the studentized G is only 0.5, since you get a less "informative" result (1 up, 1 down) 50% of the time. On the other hand, if you have 23 of 23 cores going the same way, the studentized G is nearly 1. This is a trivial modification but obviously a far more sensible measure of signal strength. The bottom chart shows the values for the Polar Urals site, which demonstrates some values in a site where there is some common signal (leaving aside the 11th century issue).
Figure 1. G and Studentized G for Polar Urals. Studentized G is consistently above 0.67 after 11th century.
In the graphs below, I’ve put a horizontal line to show a benchmark of 2/3; maybe I should have put it at 0.5, maybe higher.
An important point in these graphs pertains to the MWP. The Hockey Team theory is that the proxies are accurately measuring regional temperature and that the variability in the MWP proxies is evidence of a highly variable regional pattern, differing in nature from the 20th century warming. This is usually shown through spaghetti graphs showing a mess in the MWP. I’m interested in a couple of 20th century features: (1) how messy it is, given that the proxies have been selected on the basis of being "temperature sensitive" – which may mean little more than a trend; (2) the impact of non-normal distributions.
The studentized G values appear remarkably low for these studies.
More on this another day – for now, which is which? | <urn:uuid:11eac2ef-6c72-46d3-81c0-fbf57f783a68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://climateaudit.org/2005/09/26/384/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939018 | 800 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Vermont Pursues a Statewide Smart Grid Strategy
Vermont utilities are participating in eEnergy Vermont, which is part of a broad “eState Initiative” that includes the electricity, telecommunications and health care sectors throughout the State. eEnergy Vermont received a $138 million Smart Grid Investment Grant (SGIG) including $69 million in Recovery Act funds from the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE).
Smart grid investments began in Vermont in 2004 when Vermont Electric Cooperative (VEC) started its smart meter rollout. Thanks to the DOE SGIG project, utilities across Vermont have joined with VEC and are now installing smart meters, communication systems, SCADA systems, and distribution automation equipment including switches, regulators, and circuit monitors.
eEnergy Vermont participants are also engaging customers through web portals, in-home displays, programmable communicating thermostats, and time-based rate programs. According to Allen Stamp, eEnergy Vermont’s Project Manager, “Statewide collaboration has been a challenge at times to understand the various perspectives of the utilities and shape an agreed upon course of action. But the benefits of collaborating have been substantial.”
eEnergy Vermont’s SGIG project has cut smart grid implementation time in the state in half. Mr. Stamp notes, “We know that without DOE’s funds, several of the State’s utilities would not have been able to deploy smart grid equipment; and without the participation of these utilities, a successful statewide smart grid strategy would not have been possible.”
Vermont Electric Cooperative
Of the eEnergy Vermont utilities, VEC is furthest along the smart grid learning curve, having already provided about 80 percent of customers with smart meters before receiving SGIG funding. In 2009, VEC was able to continue its smart grid investments with about $10 million from the eEnergy Vermont project and has been able to extend its initial smart meter rollout to nearly 100 percent of customers and to install automation equipment and SCADA systems on most of its substations.
VEC also installed an outage management system for pinpointing locations when dispatching repair crews. According to Randy Pratt, VEC’s Project Manager, “The payback period for these investments is five years, in part through lower meter reading costs, but mostly through improvements in outage management.” Since 2008, when VEC’s outage management system was completed, two key reliability indicators have demonstrated improved performance: the System Average Interruption Frequency Index (SAIFI) decreased 50 percent, and the Customer Average Interruption Duration Index (CAIDI) decreased 40 percent. VEC’s results from its smart grid investments, including improved reliability, are being studied and replicated by other Vermont utilities in the eEnergy Vermont SGIG project.
The benefits of investing in outage management became clear after the 2011 tropical storm Irene resulted in flooding throughout VEC’s service territory. The storm caused $1.1 million in damages to VEC’s grid and about 12,000 customers experienced power outages of varying lengths. One initial result of the company’s smart grid investments in outage management at work is highlighted from a blog post by one of VEC’s customers:
At 1:36 p.m. yesterday the lights went out for 1103 customers in South Hero…. No surprise; tropical storm Irene was raging up Vermont. No need to call VEC in a panic, though; I could see immediately from the website that they knew about the outage including the exact number of customers affected. At 8:15 p.m. with the wind still raging, the lights came back on for most of us.... Immediately the outage website showed that 199 South Hero customers were still without power; something must have happened downstream from the original break. Without smart meters, the crews probably wouldn't have known about the second break for quite a while since the people who were cut off by it would have just assumed that the original problem hadn't been fixed yet and wouldn't have called in again until they lost patience or saw their neighbors’ lights on.
—from a VEC customer’s blog post
Other customers have recognized recent improvements in reliability. For example, following an outage last winter, VEC CEO David Hallquist said that the utility received “…more than 150 thank you notes from customers for the job we did, and we credit that to the smart grid.” eEnergy Vermont’s smart grid efforts benefit not only residences but also businesses, and allows Vermont utilities to play a more supportive role in local economic development. For example, a business in VEC’s service territory is expanding and plans to triple its electric demand from five to fifteen megawatts over the next three years. By employing smart grid approaches to peak load management and energy efficiency, VEC expects to make the business one of the state’s “most efficient electric customers.”
POWER Magazine provided more formal recognition to VEC in August 2011 by bestowing VEC with its first “POWER Smart Grid” Award.
eEnergy Vermont has also provided an opportunity for VEC to make workforce improvements, many of which can be duplicated at other Vermont utilities. According to Mr. Pratt, “We have been able to retain all of our positions, and there have been no significant job losses—even with the economic slowdown and the efficiency improvements from the smart grid investments.” He added, “We now have a new ‘Substation Automation Group’ comprising four or five new positions, several of which were filled by retraining former meter technicians.”
Forward thinking about grid modernization in Vermont extends beyond today’s smart equipment and considers what will happen after SGIG. The next horizon for VEC involves innovations in grid management, particularly new ways to engage customers in becoming more active participants in demand response and energy efficiency programs and more educated consumers in controlling their own electricity consumption and costs. “This challenge goes beyond smart meters and grid automation and includes all forms of communications between utilities and customers. For example, we are exploring social media such as Facebook to reach out to customers, explain what we are doing, listen to their ideas, and encourage more neighbor-to-neighbor exchanges.” says Mr. Pratt. VEC is educating consumers—not overpromising benefits but rather speaking frankly about both positives and negatives. The company believes that further innovations for grid modernization depend on open and transparent communication with customers. Through the statewide collaboration provided by the SGIG project, other Vermont utilities can benefit from these innovations.
The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 provided DOE with $4.5 billion to fund projects that modernize the Nation’s electricity infrastructure. For more information visit www.smartgrid.gov or www.oe.energy.gov. There are five recent reports available for download:
· Smart Grid Investment Grant Progress Report, July 2012
· Demand Reductions from the Application of Advanced Metering Infrastructure, Time-Based Rates, and Customer Systems – Initial Results, December 2012
· Operations and Maintenance Savings from the Application of Advanced Metering Infrastructure – Initial Results, December 2012
· Reliability Improvements from the Application of Distribution Automation Technologies and Systems – Initial Results, December 2012
· Application of Automated Controls for Voltage and Reactive Power Management – Initial Results, December 2012 | <urn:uuid:862ca837-20cf-4638-938a-ff84c13d6128> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smartgrid.gov/case_study/news/vermont_pursues_statewide_smart_grid_strategy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950191 | 1,517 | 1.664063 | 2 |
When Joyce Banda unexpectedly ascended to the presidency of Malawi last April, after the death of President Mutharika, many in her country and around the world wondered what her impact would be as Malawi’s first woman president. Among the many challenges, her government faces high rates of maternal mortality, high total fertility rates, and high HIV prevalence among women and girls, combined with low levels of women’s economic empowerment and widespread violence against women.
CSIS wanted to learn more about how women leaders in Africa are bringing new attention to women’s health and empowerment in their own countries, and to bring those voices into the discussion about U.S. policy priorities for women’s global health. To do this, we sent a small team to Malawi and Zambia in December 2012.
In this video, Malawi’s President Joyce Banda talks to CSIS about the importance of women’s health and empowerment in Malawi.
To learn more visit: http://www.SmartGlobalHealth.org/JoyceBanda
- Assistant Senate Majority Leader Richard Durbin (D-IL) and Senator Bob Corker (R-TN) introduced the Water for the World Act of 2011, a bill in the Senate which will make providing safe and clean drinking water around the world a priority for US foreign aid.
- More than 60 world nutrition experts met at WHO headquarters last week to revise guidelines and to identify solutions to tackle the growing problems of both malnutrition and obesity around the world.
- Ministers of health and other high-level health officials from throughout the Americas called for a series of actions to reduce the toll of chronic noncommunicable diseases, in a declaration issued last week in Mexico City.
- The Global Fund announced that former President of Botswana Festus Mogae and former U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Michael O. Leavitt have agreed to lead a high-level panel of experts that will conduct an independent and thorough review of the Global Fund’s financial safeguards.
- UN agencies are concerned that reduced donor funding due to the recession, combined with free trade agreements, will reduce the availability of low-cost HIV medications in developing countries.
- The United Nations General Assembly will convene a high-level meeting in September this year to discuss the financial burden caused by non-communicable diseases (NCD) on countries.
- A study done is Malawi by the World Bank attracted attention (and criticism) from Businessweek. Young women were given to stay in school and deter them from accepting money and gifts from “sugar daddies” in exchange for sex. The study found that HIV infection rates were 60% among schoolgirls who received cash compared to those who received nothing.
- A recent review of malaria treatment clinical trial results, published in the Chochrane Library, shows that artesunate was more effective that quinine at treating severe malaria.
- A personalized text messaging reminder service significantly boosted antiretroviral (ARV) adherence over a six-week period compared with a standard beeper reminder system, according to a study published in the March issue of AIDS Patient Care and STDs.
- About 600 people gathered at the Global Health Metrics and Evaluation conference in Seattle to discuss issues surrounding the evaluation of effectiveness of health programs.
- Global health blogger Alanna Shaikh discusses how micro-credit and the Green Revolution, two of international development’s biggest successes, are being re-evaluated.
- The Nepalese government is planning launch a large vaccination campaign against elephantiasis in 40 high-risk districts.
- Dubai’s Ministry of Health introduced Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine PCV13, a vaccine that protects young children from the worst effects of illnesses including pneumonia, blood infections and meningitis.
- The National Influenza Center of the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention has been designated as a World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza, making China the first developing country to house such an institution.
DISEASES AND DISASTERS
- Europe is concerned by the growing incidence of drug-resistant TB, particularly in children.
- The world continues to follow the aftermath of the earthquake and tsunami in Japan, including the unfolding situation at the Fukushima Dai-ichi nuclear power plant. The WHO has assured that there is no danger to individuals being exposed to radiation in nearby nations (e.g. China).
- As if Haiti needed any more bad news, a study published in the Lancet says that the UN estimate of 400,000 cholera cases in Haiti this year is nearly half of what the real projection should be for the recovering nation. Meanwhile, health officials in Lagos have called on residents to observe high standards of personal and environmental hygiene and have designated emergency numbers to call in case of suspected cases; the Ghana Health Service has set up cholera centers in Accra to deal with the outbreak there; and the interim federal government of Somalia on Tuesday denied reports of an outbreak of cholera in the country, responding to an Associated Press story over the weekend that Somali doctors had reported that more than 20 people had died from the disease.
- In the February 2011 issue of PLoS Neglected Tropical Disease Journal, contributing editor Serap Aksoy discussed the triumphs behind the control of human African trypanosomiasis, or African Sleeping Sickness.
- Although women get diagnosed for tuberculosis (TB) later than men, treatment outcomes among women are better than men with higher TB treatment success rate and lower default (drop-out) rate in the female patients. The finding was announced at a meeting on TB and women in New Delhi, India.
- While the total number of newly reported HIV positive people and AIDS patients are still low in Japan compared with other countries, the number of newly HIV-infected people in Japan has doubled in the past decade due to public complacency and lower awareness.
Posted in News
Tagged Accra, AIDS Patient Care and STDs, Alanna Shaikh, artesunate, ARV, Bob Corker, China, cholera, chronic disease, Cochrane Library, Dubai, Earthquake, elephantiasis, Festus Mogae, free trade, Fukushima, generic drugs, Ghana, Global Fund, Global Health Metrics and Evaluation Conference, Global Health News, green revolution, Haiti, HIV/AIDS, Japan, Lagos, Lancet, malaria, Malawi, Malnutrition, meningitis, Michael O. Leavitt, micro-credit, Nepal, obesity, PLoS Neglected Tropical Disease Journal, pneumonia, quinine, radiation, Richard Durbin, sleeping sickness, Somalia, sugar daddies, TB, trypanosomiasis, tsunami, UN, Water for the World Act of 2011, WHO, World Bank | <urn:uuid:5ffe6161-6fc2-468e-a387-5af77d469d4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aphaih.wordpress.com/tag/malawi/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936353 | 1,407 | 2.453125 | 2 |
Data security and cyber security are always important issues for financial services firms. After all, almost every business line in the industry depends on good, clean data. Until recently, however, cyber security hadn't received all that much attention, since firms had traditionally done a pretty good job of protecting against attacks.
This changed, however, when the he Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Cyber Fighters attacked major financial institutions in September with what is thought to be the largest distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack in history. Bank of America, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo and PNC Bank were all targeted and had service disruptions to their online banking portals.
Luckily, no major damage was caused by the September attacks, but banks aren't taking any chances. Many are doing a lot of work to bolster cyber defenses and are working with federal agencies to help protect against the next attack, according to speakers at the Bloomberg Link Enterprise Risk Conference last week.
[For more recent analysis of cyber security in the financial services space, read Can Banks Prevent the Next Cyber Attack?.]
"When we think about the lethal daily threats to the globally integrated financial services industry from nation-states and individuals, it is imperative that Chief Information Security Officers begin looking around corners, talk with each other and better prioritize the real threats to their firms," said Mike McConnell, Booz Allen vice chairman and former Director of National Intelligence in a statement. "Self-evaluation and industry-wide conversations are the new 'rules of the road' to creating successful, integrated cyber defenses. The CISO can really drive organization-wide change while still championing efficiency and customer service."
Here are Booz Allen Hamilton's Top 10 Financial Services Cyber Risk Trends for 2013:
1. Business/Information Risk Protection is not Just a Technology Issue: Spending on new technology alone is not enough to protect a firm's information and business. Firms must also invest in people and in fine-tuning processes to ensure, not only the proper use of technology, but that the processes that require interfaces between organizations are well managed and executed flawlessly. No matter how good a technology is, if not used correctly by skilled employees who follow well-defined processes, vulnerabilities will surface that can be leveraged by both internal and external threat actors.
2. Data Disruption Attacks May Become Data Destruction Attacks: The potential of threat actors actually destroying data is a major concern among risk and security professionals. Over time, the financial services industry will face threats from extremist groups who, when denied access to weapons of mass destruction, will use cyber as a "weapon of mass disruption." Additionally, threat actors who mean to disrupt a firm's business operations to make a statement or prove what they consider a moral point will also utilize destruction of data to ensure they make an impact.
3. Nation States and Threat Actors Are Becoming More Sophisticated: We now have to face more sophisticated threat actors such as smaller nation states and terrorist elements obtaining similar capabilities. The financial services industry must fully understand the entire threat landscape and what this means in terms of employing the right people, technology and processes to ensure business continuity and proper risk management.
4. Legislation Could Push Industry Standards Around Cyber Risks: Banks already share information, but they will need to do more in light of possible legislation to set standards for cyber protection. If Congress allows the sharing of important national security information, industry standards could become a benchmark requirement that firms must meet before they are given access to government information. Additionally, such legislation could help in reducing the valid fears of firms in sharing cyber incident information due to the threat of penalties and further regulation. The industry and government must acknowledge and treat firms as part of the nation's critical infrastructure because a breach at anyone bank or firm can have severe, cascading effects on the nation's stability. | <urn:uuid:634bef6e-eb78-46c3-9983-a1ffa2967d8a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wallstreetandtech.com/data-security/10-financial-services-cyber-security-tre/240143809?cid=SBX_wallstreetandtech_related_news_default_technology_risk_management&itc=SBX_wallstreetandtech_related_news_default_technology_risk_management | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95407 | 775 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Even though LACMA’s Chinese galleries have yet to be reinstalled, last month more than 150 students explored one of the department’s objects—Funerary Sculpture of a Bactrian Camel—through our distance learning program, which provides real-time, interactive videoconferences to kindergarten through twelfth-grade classrooms nationwide on topics drawn from various areas of the museum’s collection. Subsequently, I too found myself drawn to this popular mingqi (clay replicas of a person, animal, or other object that were made to go in the tomb of the deceased).
The camel was an import into China from the ancient kingdom of Bactria in present-day Afghanistan, a result of trade on the Silk Road. Able to store fat in two humps, thus needing less drinking water for long periods of time, the camel was the “fuel-efficient” mode of transport for its day. Changes in the camel’s behavior, possibly seen in the way the Bactrian Camel has its head thrown back and mouth wide open, were indicative of approaching sandstorms. These camels—strong and gentle—were invaluable for trading goods, some of which we can see packed on the back of the Bactrian Camel.
The distance learning students, who were all studying Mandarin, were engaged by the molded and modeled representation with its strong naturalism, lively pose, and fully packed saddle. High school art students from upstate New York creating their own ceramic vessels found inspiration in the colorful green, brown, and yellow color combination. Placed in a tomb, the Bactrian Camel provided the deceased—in this case a person of wealth and status—with luxury travel in the afterlife.
We looked at examples of other mingqi in comparison to the camel, including the very different Funerary Sculpture of a Chimera (Bixie) and the very similar Funerary Sculpture of a Horse. But the camel, with all its fine detail, won the day. In the context of my virtual and sometimes surreal experience of videoconferencing, it quietly calls out for me its own contemporary narrative about cultural exchange and globalization.
Toni Guglielmo, Education Coordinator, Distance Learning | <urn:uuid:7680e607-2f3e-48e4-b62a-57a859813030> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lacma.wordpress.com/2009/03/24/the-bactrian-camel/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=a34a077b61 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961663 | 463 | 2.640625 | 3 |
The Staff at Mount St. Mary's Hospital is sensitive to your pain. We believe that you are the person who can most accurately describe your pain. We will believe your reports. We will respond promptly and will address your concerns even though complete relief may not always be possible. We ask that you use a 0-10 scale (0=no pain; 10=worst pain imaginable). If you do not understand this scale, please tell us so that we may meet your needs using another rating system. If you need us to provide information in another language, please tell us so that you can participate in your care. We will ask you to rate your pain at least every 8 hours using this pain scale:
Taking Care of Pain is Important It helps you feel stronger and cope better
Pain can cause:
Pain can interfere with:
- Daily activities
- Interest in work and hobbies
- Enjoying friends and family
- Enjoying life
Pain relief is your right as a patient.
Help yourself by asking your doctor or nurse for pain relief when you need it. Then find out how to take your medicines safely, and follow your doctor's advice. It's your role in getting the best health care.
Don't Let Worries Like These Keep You in Pain:
- I'm afraid of becoming addicted
When pain medicines are given and taken in the right way, patients rarely become addicted to them. To be sure, talk to the doctor, nurse, or pharmacist about how to use pain medicines safely.
Many patients only need pain medicines for a time, until the cause of their pain goes away. When they are ready to stop taking the medicine, the doctor gradually lowers the amount of medicine they take. By the time they stop using it completely, the body has time to adjust.
Some patients will need to take medicines for the long-term. Taking medicines regularly should not make you feel like an "addict". You are following your doctor's advice and getting the treatment you need.
- I don't want to seem like a "complainer"
You have to ask for pain relief. In fact, telling the doctor or nurse about pain is what all patients SHOULD do. The sooner you speak up, the better. It's often easier to control pain in it's early stages, before it becomes severe.
- I don't want to lose control
Most people do not get "high" or lose control when they take pain medicines in the right way. You may feel sleepy when you first take some pain medicines, but this feeling often goes away after a few days.
A few people get dizzy or feel confused when they take pain medicines. Tell the doctor or nurse if this happens to you. Changing your dose or type of medicine usually can solve the problem.
If you're in Pain, Get Relief
Medicine and other treatments can almost always relieve pain. Treating pain is an important part of good health care. Pain relief can also help you enjoy life more.
- To get relief, talk to your doctor or nurse as soon as pain begins.
- Work with your doctor and nurse to develop a pain management plan
- Tell your doctor and nurse about any worries you have about taking pain medication. | <urn:uuid:7d7251a5-435f-416b-b60b-a69469b269a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.msmh.org/patient-rights/pain-management/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947381 | 660 | 2 | 2 |