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New Woes In Guyana
Special to The New York Times ();
January 22, 1968,
, Section , Page 64, Column , words
GEORGETOWN, Guyana -- The effects of the British devaluation were not long in reaching the shores of this former Crown colony in South America. The move by London quickly dealt this 20-month-old nation a series of sharp economic blows. | <urn:uuid:14f2d3a3-a16b-4aaa-b022-3f4b806252a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=FB0F12F83B5C147493C0AB178AD85F4C8685F9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918308 | 82 | 1.632813 | 2 |
HOUSTON – Astronauts tinkered Sunday with a troublesome piece of equipment designed to help convert urine and sweat into drinkable water, which is vital to allowing the international space station crew to double to six.
Station commander Michael Fincke and space shuttle Endeavour astronaut Donald Pettit changed how a centrifuge is mounted in a urine processor, which is part of the newly delivered $154 million water recovery system. The centrifuge is a spinning device that helps separate the water from urine.
It was on rubber grommets to reduce vibrations, and Mission Control asked Fincke to remove them and just bolt the piece down.
"We're very hopeful for this, and if not, we have a few other tricks up our sleeves," Fincke said from the space station after the task was finished.
The astronauts have been trying to get the system running for four days, but the urine processor has worked for just two hours at a time before shutting down. A normal run is about four hours.
An initial test after the repair ran for 3 1/2 hours and processed about a gallon of urine before shutting down Sunday night. Engineers again were trying to figure out a fix.
"It looks like we made things better, but we're maybe not there yet," Fincke radioed to Mission Control.
As a last resort, Endeavour could bring the problematic part back to Earth for repairs when the shuttle departs on Thanksgiving. That option could complicate plans to add crew members to the station since several water samples need to brought back for tests before astronauts can drink from the contraption.
Samples will be brought back on Endeavour and in February on space shuttle Discovery.
The water recovery system, delivered a week ago by Endeavour, is essential for allowing six astronauts to live on the space station by the middle of next year.
"Without being able to recycle urine, that does take down some of our capability," Fincke said. "It's not necessarily a show-stopper but it's something that we definitely need to address."
Engineers were studying whether six people could still live at the station with the urine processor working two hours at a time, said flight director Courtenay McMillan.
"We don't know if it's a good idea to start and stop it multiple times," McMillan said. "We may be breaking something further until we really understand what's going on."
Flight controllers had hoped the water samples would have a mixture of 70 percent from condensation and 30 percent from urine. Given the problems with the processor, that ratio stands at 90 percent condensation and 10 percent urine.
Mission managers have decided not to extend Endeavour's trip by an extra day since the astronauts have enough water samples.
While Fincke worked on the processor, Endeavour's seven astronauts had part of the day off Sunday, except Pettit who gave up some of his off-duty time to work on the water recycler.
Astronauts Stephen Bowen and Robert "Shane" Kimbrough prepared for the fourth and final spacewalk of the two-week mission. The spacewalkers will finish cleaning and lubing a jammed joint, which allows the station's solar wing to rotate in the direction of the sun. They also will lubricate a twin solar-wing joint, which is running without any problems.
On the Net:
7 months ago | <urn:uuid:704a88a1-357b-4bf8-9cc2-7433872be886> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spoonfeedin.blogspot.com/2008/11/tech-astronauts-tinker-with-urine-to.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967521 | 706 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Results 1 to 9 of 9
Thread: Think before speaking
11-29-07, 05:43 PM #1
Think before speaking
Here are six reasons why you should think before you speak -
the last one is great!
Have you ever spoken and wished that you could
immediately take the words back...
or that you could crawl into a hole?
Here are the Testimonials of a few people who did....
I walked into a hair salon with my husband and three kids in tow
and asked loudly,
'How much do you charge for a shampoo and a blow job?'
I turned around and walked back out and never went back
My husband didn't say a word...
he knew better.
I was at the golf store comparing different kinds of golf balls.
I was unhappy with the women's type I had been using.
After browsing for several minutes,
I was approached by one of the good-looking gentlemen who works at the store.
He asked if he could help me.
Without thinking, I looked at him and said, 'I think I like playing with men's balls'
My sister and I were at the mall and
passed by a store that sold a
variety of candy and nuts.
As we were looking at the display case,
the boy behind the counter asked if we needed any help.
I replied, 'No, I'm just looking at your nuts.'
My sister started to laugh hysterically.
The boy grinned, and I turned beet-red and walked away.
To this day,
my sister has never let me forget.
FOURTH TESTIMONY :
While in line at the bank one afternoon,
my toddler decided to release
some pent-up energy and ran amok.
I was finally able to grab hold of
her after receiving looks of disgust
and annoyance from other patrons.
I told her that if she did not start behaving
'right now' she would be punished.
To my horror, she looked me in the eye and said in a voice just as threatening,
'If you don't let me go right now,
I will tell Grandma that I saw you
kissing Daddy's pee-pee last night!'
The silence was deafening after this enlightening exchange.
Even the tellers stopped what they were doing.
I mustered up the last of my dignity and
walked out of the bank with my daughter in tow.
The last thing I heard when the door closed behind me, were screams of laughter.
Have you ever asked your child a question too many times?
My three-year-old son had a lot of problems with potty training and I was on him constantly.
One day we stopped at Taco Bell for a quick lunch, in between errands
It was very busy, with a full dining room.
While enjoying my taco,
I smelled something funny,
so of course I checked
my seven-month-old daughter, she was clean.
The realized that Danny
had not asked to go potty in a while.
I asked him if he needed to go,
and he said 'No.'
I kept thinking 'Oh Lord, that child has had an accident, and I don't have any clothes with me.'
Then I said,
'Danny, are you SURE you didn't have an accident?'
'No,' he replied.
I just KNEW that he must have had an accident, because the smell was getting worse.
Soooooo, I asked one more time, 'Danny did you have an accident? This time he jumped up, yanked down his pants,
bent over, spread his cheeks
'SEE MOM, IT'S JUST FARTS!!'
While 30 people nearly choked to death on their tacos laughing,
he calmly pulled up his pants and sat down.
An old couple made me feel better,
thanking me for the best laugh they'd ever had!
LAST BUT NOT LEAST TESTIMONY:
This had most of the state of Michigan laughing for 2 days
and a very embarrassed female news anchor who will,
in the future, likely think be fore she speaks.
What happens when you predict snow but don't get any!
We had a female news anchor that,
the day after it was supposed to have snowed and didn't,
turned to the weatherman and asked:
'So Bob, where's that 8 inches you promised me last night?'
Not only did HE have to leave the set,
but half the crew did too they were laughing so hard!
11-29-07, 06:22 PM #2
11-29-07, 06:34 PM #3
We dallied under
Vine maples and sapling alders
Searched for lady slippers
Found blackberry riots and
An old skid road
Brought ghost ferns and
Hollows filled with
While waves wrapped
Intricate lacings of weeds
'Round mule spinners
His cyanotic eyes
Were hard enough to make
The sun turn tail and
Tender enough to attract me
To his world of illusion
11-29-07, 06:48 PM #4
hmph....women say the funniest things when they aren't thinking
Meanwhile, fishing in Russia:
"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society, they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it." -- Frederic Bastiat
"Certainly there is no hunting like the hunting of man and those who have hunted armed men long enough and liked it, never really care for anything else thereafter." Ernest Hemingway
The opinions given in my signatures & threads DO NOT reflect the opinions, views, policies, and/or procedures of my employing agency. They are my personal opinions only, thereby releasing my agency of any liability, or involvement in anything posted under the username "Five-0" on Officerresource.com
11-29-07, 07:32 PM #5
11-29-07, 09:03 PM #6
LOLIt's better to be judged by 12 than carried by 6.
11-29-07, 09:43 PM #7
Those were good, and the "thinking before you speak" thing is so true. I need to work on that myself.
11-30-07, 07:15 AM #8
This is why I'm glad it's possible to edit and delete one's own posts on LEF.
11-30-07, 07:24 AM #9
Now that's an example of an oxymoron children everywhere could learn.*
*N.B. This post is for comedic effect only and is not meant as an insult to any woman living or dead, as we all know they think all the time. e.g. What shall I make for dinner tonight. Do these shoes go with this handbag. Does the dress make my bum look big. etc. etc.To be born an Englishman, is to be a winner in the Lottery of Life.
I've Talked the Talk and I've Walked the Walk, now I Sit the Sit!
It's not until you look at an Ant through a magnifying glass on a sunny day, that you realise just how often they burst into flames for no reason!
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Makhachkala, Russia — Getting to Friday services in Makhachkala, the capital city of the Russian Republic of Dagestan, was complicated. Three giant bombs had earlier gone off down the road, and authorities had sealed off streets near the synagogue. En route soldiers seized our taxi on suspicion that we were aiding Islamic terrorists. They detained us until Sabbath prayers had long ended.
The following evening we finally made it to the imposing brick building. Shimi Dibyayev, the aged chairman of the community, squired us with a limp through the refurbished facility, whose windows on all three floors were smashed in December 2007. Rebels calling themselves the Shari’ah Jamaat had warned of an assault months prior, yet no one knows for sure who did it.
Dibyayev is ready to take on attackers. “I always carry a pistol and have seven more weapons at home,” he said. “When someone upsets a Jewish person, he goes with two guns.” I did a double-take, because Dibyayev has trouble seeing and hearing, but he assured me: “Of course I’m used to guns. I’m 85 years old, what do you think?”
He certainly needs firepower, like most people in this restive Russian region on the Caspian Sea. A separatist jihad has been simmering for 20 years, since the breakup of the Soviet Union, and Dagestan has become the latest flashpoint in the North Caucasus. Barely a week goes by without another shooting or explosion.
While the rebels mainly target policemen and stores selling alcohol, Russia’s oldest Jewish community is stuck in the crossfire. After 12 centuries of comfortable co-existence with the Muslim majority, the so-called Mountain Jews are fleeing to Israel. Their numbers have gone from 50,000 to 4,780 over two decades, and their unique culture is literally dying out.
“During Soviet times, the Jews lived on four streets here. Now those streets don’t exist,” said Boris Khaiov, at 57 one of the younger members of the minyan. He said that many young people don’t speak Tat, the Mountain Jews’ tongue that blends Farsi and Hebrew much as Yiddish does something comparable with German and Hebrew for Ashkenazi Jews.
That the culture is fading is a loss not just for the Mountain Jews, but also, ironically, for many Dagestanis. The Tats, as they are also known, are so embedded in Dagestan that some Muslims consider them another of the 30-odd clans. Legend has it that the Tats came from Persia at some point, although some amateur historians posit that they were Khazars. Whatever their origin, the Tats gained renown over the centuries for customs not normally associated with Jews, such as cultivating tobacco and wine, and horseback fighting. | <urn:uuid:b8b12cd9-4551-43f2-b697-f6bb10dceeba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forward.com/articles/162028/dagestans-mountain-jews-flee-chaos/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971756 | 611 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Since April is National Poetry month and I’m also a poet (dowload / read my latest book ), I thought I’d share some ideas and resources for using poetry in your classroom.
I’ve used poetry a lot over the years in class. It can be done quite simply and doesn’t need to be any stuffy exercise. It is all about the power of expression. Simply handing out slips of paper and asking students to write one sentence based on your prompt, then collecting them and reading them out loud – is a wonderful activity and a great intro to poetry. Even songs are poems too! Just cut out the music and go for it….
1. Spoken Verse youtube channel.This is where the above video comes from.
4. PBS Favorite poem. Regular people read a poem.
6. Grammar Poems are delightful and can be used for any topic/content.
See an example below and read this to find out more about using them in your classroom.
If you liked this post – you’ll probably like the post “Teaching and Poetry” | <urn:uuid:121b8d93-ff45-450a-b5eb-366353a5f52a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ddeubel.edublogs.org/2011/04/19/poetry-and-teaching-english/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938084 | 233 | 3.390625 | 3 |
The War with Islam as a Faith
For Christian Zionists, the conflict between Israel and its Arab and Muslim neighbors is even more than a clash of civilizations. It is a contest between God and Allah. Several of the most prominent American evangelicals have denounced not just Islamic radicals but Islam itself and the prophet Mohammed. Many born-again leaders stress brutality as a defining quality of Islam. They consider the conflict between Israel and the Palestinians to be a struggle over whether the word of God is true. Many Christian Zionists believe that the devil created anti-Semitism in order to frustrate God’s plan to save the world through the Jews. They declare that Muslims have become Satan’s army in this ancient struggle. By 2006, Ahmadinejad had become a central villain to Christian Zionists, who repeatedly pointed out the messianic underpinnings of his actions. The charge that mainstream Islam is inherently violent is a distortion, note prominent scholars of religion and other observers. Some conservative Christians are not hostile to Muslims, but rather engage in dialogue with Muslim leaders and recognize the perspectives that they share. Some evangelicals argue that to bless Israel can mean rejecting the idea of a Greater Israel that includes the occupied territories.
Oxford Scholarship Online requires a subscription or purchase to access the full text of books within the service. Public users can however freely search the site and view the abstracts and keywords for each book and chapter.
If you think you should have access to this title, please contact your librarian. | <urn:uuid:992a559a-8909-439c-8bad-a8c3fb80e04b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oxfordscholarship.com/view/10.1093/acprof:oso/9780195368024.001.0001/acprof-9780195368024-chapter-5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950758 | 304 | 2.125 | 2 |
Reducing the amount of meat we eat has not only shown to reduce your personal carbon footprint, BUT GOSH DARN IT IT’S GOOD FOR YA TOO!!
I’m all in for trying new (and delicious) things, and that’s why I’m all aboard for Meatless March (or No Meat March). For my vegans and vegetarians out there, you must be screaming “POSER!” but if you think about it, this whole thing could spark something very permanent.
By testing yourself with this Meatless March, you get the chance to expose yourself to new foods, flavors, combinations and recipes you might not normally try. You’ll feel the difference in you body, the contrast between processed meats and fresh fruits and vegetables. Meatless March is the chance for meat eaters to get a taste (no pun intended) of a new world of cuisine.
And it’s not about recruiting new vegetarians, it’s about treating your body to a new experience, to a fresh and healthy one. It’s about considering reducing your meat intake, and learning all about the impact it can make.
Remember that saving the world, being green, it’s not about drastically changing the way we live and giving up everything, it’s about making small changes that are not only better for the earth, but better for yourself too.
So I’m inviting you to join me in this month of meatless magnificence by checking this tumblr for meatless recipes every two posts, and plenty of other posts about meat and vegetarianism, all sprinkled between your
regularly scheduled programming usual UT posts! | <urn:uuid:39fc061c-1532-44cb-80a9-45eddec48917> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ucfut.tumblr.com/tagged/Meatless-March | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922508 | 352 | 1.570313 | 2 |
View Comments By:
Contribute your own thoughts, experience, questions, and knowledge to this survey for the benefit of all MedPage Today Healthcare Professionals and Expert Patients™.
Whatever happened to the rapid response team who were notified that
the patient was doing poorly or a significant parameter had changed
so that they could go to the bedside and evaluate the patient and
intervene before they coded to prevent a code? This was the
intelligent response to head it off. It is a lot easier to
resuscitate someone when they are still breathing..
Rapid response really is the only thing that makes sense. The
problem isn't implementation of poorly studied therapies in
resuscitation medicine, which have very low success rates as well
as poor definitions for success (alive or alive w/o deficits). The
problem is we need more successful therapies. It astounds me that
hospitals spend so much money on ACLS (yes a money maker for AHA)
when the benefit of the entire therapy is so poor. Prevention is
really the only successful therapy.. | <urn:uuid:fb339b68-6381-4baf-a110-318ce6a1d6d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medpagetoday.com/comments.cfm?tbid=37870 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951069 | 226 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Shots - Health Blog
Thu January 12, 2012
Biggest Bucks In Health Care Are Spent On A Very Few
So you know how on Monday the federal government reported that the $2.6 trillion the nation spent on health care in 2010 translated into just over $8,400 per person?
Well, a different study just released by a separate federal agency shows that second number doesn't actually mean very much.
Researchers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality looked at the way people actually spend money on health care. They found that half the population spends practically nothing on health care in any given year, while a very few unlucky people account for the lion's share.
Specifically, in 2009, just 1 percent of the non-institutionalized population accounted for 21.8 percent of all U.S. health spending. And just 5 percent accounted for half the total spending.
Meanwhile, the bottom half of the population accounted for a mere 2.9 percent of total health spending in 2009.
So just who are those high spenders? Sick people, obviously.
But in looking at who remained in that top spending tier in both 2008 and 2009, researchers found that the high spenders were more likely to be:
- White and
- Covered by public health insurance.
Conversely, those who spent the least were more likely to report themselves as being in good or excellent health and to be younger. They were also more likely to be Hispanic or African-American.
The numbers could have political implications. At the least they help explain why so many people don't understand the health care system. They either don't have health insurance or don't use it if they do. | <urn:uuid:b78c0e00-5414-4365-80c4-c1d1e783b60a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.knau.org/post/biggest-bucks-health-care-are-spent-very-few | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97283 | 346 | 2.265625 | 2 |
The First Hanukkah
It was actually a Sukkot celebration.
Reprinted with permission of the author from A Different Light: The Big Book of Hanukkah, published by the Shalom Hartman Institute and Devora Publishing.
In addition to the victory parades of the ancient Maccabees that celebrated their political independence, the original holiday also took the form of a Temple Rededication Ceremony. In the Second Book of the Maccabees, which quotes from a letter sent circa 125 BCE from the Hasmoneans to the leaders of Egyptian Jewry, the holiday is called "The festival of Sukkot celebrated in the month of Kislev (December)," rather than Tishrei (September). Since the Jews were still in caves fighting as guerrillas on Tishrei, 164 BCE, they could not properly honor the eight-day holiday of Sukkot (and Shemini Atzeret), which is a Temple holiday; hence it was postponed until after the recapture of Jerusalem and the purification of the Temple.
This--not the Talmudic legend of the cruse of oil--explains the eight day form of Hanukkah. The use of candles may reflect the later reported tradition of Simchat Beit HaShoava (Water-drawing Festival),the all-night dancing in the Temple on Sukkot, which required tall outdoor lamps to flood light on the dance floor of the Temple courtyard.
"They celebrated it for eight days with gladness like Sukkot and recalled how a little while before, during Sukkot they had been wandering in the mountains and caverns like wild animals. So carrying lulavs [palm branches waved on Sukkot]...they offered hymns of praise (perhaps, the Hallel prayer) to God who had brought to pass the purification of his own place" (II Maccabees 10:6-7).
The connection between Sukkot and Hanukkah (as the Rabbis later called it) goesbeyond the accident of a postponed Sukkot celebration. Sukkot is the holiday commemorating not only the wandering of the Jews in the desert in makeshift huts but the end of that trek with the dedication of the First Temple (i.e. the permanent Bayit/ Home of God in Jerusalem by King Solomon circa 1000 BCE).
"King Solomon gathered every person of Israel in the month of Eitanim (Tishrei) on the holiday (Sukkot) in the seventh month…for God had said, 'I have built a House for my eternal residence'" (I Kings 8:2, 12).
Thus the Maccabean rededication celebration is appropriately set for eight days in the Temple. | <urn:uuid:17f560a1-e119-47d1-9d1a-48a683fd754b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myjewishlearning.com/holidays/Jewish_Holidays/Hanukkah/History/Maccabean_Revolt/First_Hanukkah.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953833 | 577 | 4.09375 | 4 |
As young unemployed people under a Tory government that wants to demonise and scapegoat us for the consequences of a global economic crisis, Polly Toynbee's article (These empty apprenticeship schemes are failing our young, 9 February) exposing the hollow nature of the work programme is a welcome one. Maria Miller, minister in the Department of Work and Pensions, seems desperate to characterise us as lazy and feckless scroungers – deeply offensive coming from someone who used £90 of public money to pay a gardener for work on the second home she "scrounged" £23,000 for.
Rather than blaming us for our situation and trying to convince us that eight weeks of unpaid shelf-stacking for Tesco amounts to a future, the government should accept both the failure of Project Merlin, and the CIPD report (Unemployment likely to worsen as private sector resorts to redundancies, 13 February) showing that the private sector plans to cut jobs, not "pick up the slack" for public sector cuts, as evidence that their politics of austerity is failing. Pictures of people lining up at soup kitchens in Greece show where this path leads if followed blindly. We want real jobs, not a rerun of the YTS schemes of the 80s – we challenge the government to change course and provide them.
Mark Dunk, Rhia Lawrence, Alexandra Sayer, Richard Donnelly
• Minister for skills and lifelong learning John Hayes's claim (Letters, February 13) of "irrefutable evidence" of "the government's unprecedented investment" in apprenticeships doesn't match reality. Only £50m has been pledged to help "the most disadvantaged young" into apprenticeships or work, which, when set against the scrapping of £750m for the education maintenance allowance and an unknown sum for the scrapping of the adult learner grant, plus the future scrapping of free places for first-time level 2 (over 25) and level 3 (over 24) courses by the end of this parliament, is scarcely a drop in an oilcan. The expectation that private funding will somehow make up the difference, is, with youth unemployment running at a record high, less than credible. As for access students, already struggling to balance work, home life and study, the notion of lifelong learning doesn't even have a half-life. So much for further education. | <urn:uuid:ef1698b7-7119-46bb-9caf-961d024b9029> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/feb/14/real-jobs-not-yts-schemes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947095 | 485 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Tensions are high and security has been tightened in Kano, the largest city in northern Nigeria, where police on Monday discovered 10 car bombs and hundreds of other unexploded devices as the death toll from Friday's coordinated attacks continues to rise.
Authorities now say at least 184 people, the vast majority of them civilians, died in the bombings and shootings that have been blamed on the militant Boko Haram sect.
The Obama administration has joined in the international condemnation of the attacks that targeted mostly police stations and government buildings in Kano. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said the United States is extremely concerned about what she termed "the horrific spate of bombings." She said counter-terrorism experts are being dispatched to Nigeria.
On Monday, Nigerian political and religious leaders gathered to pray for peace as businesses re-opened and traffic returned to the city streets. But the mosque where the Emir of Kano, Ado Bayero, prayed was half empty. Many city residents were afraid to attend.
Kano resident Aminu Garba said people fled for cover when the tire on a passing vehicle blew out, fearing a bomb had exploded.
"We are not safe at all," he said.
Boko Haram has said it is fighting to implement strict Sharia law across Nigeria, a country of 150 million people that is divided between the mostly Muslim north and the largely Christian south.
The ongoing violence has raised concerns that Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation and biggest oil producer, is sliding toward civil war.
Some information for this report was provided by AP, AFP and Reuters. | <urn:uuid:5ca0c678-ecef-4329-94b7-bec4af2a8f43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voanews.com/content/in-blast-shaken-kano-nigerians-pray-for-peace-137883888/151005.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976244 | 317 | 1.71875 | 2 |
No green shoots, but there’s life at the grassroots
March 9, 2012
It seems an age since any politician has been brave enough to mention green shoots, but things are certainly stirring at the grassroots, if not at the macro economic level.
As we continue to shape our definitions of the Big Society, one theme is emerging: some of the most effective drivers of social change are coming from the bottom up. Communities are realising that while they may not be able to solve the international banking crisis, they can make a real difference to the quality of life in the areas closest to them.
Often, they will need just a modest amount of moral support, technical help and financial input to turn a bright idea into a sustainable project that can create lasting benefits.
We at Groundwork have been putting this formula into practice since the early 1980s and as we celebrate our 30th birthday we are – to coin another phrase from a previous era – going back to basics.
We are teaming up with the Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) in a major campaign to get Britain gardening and help to transform communities. Our good friends at Marks & Spencer are supporting us in this endeavour.
Research by the RHS has shown that horticulture has a profound social and economic impact on communities. People who take part in its Britain in Bloom and It’s Your Neighbourhood programmes report improvements in community spirit, better health and wellbeing, falling crime figures and increased investment by businesses.
As part of our celebration, landscape designer and broadcaster Chris Beardshaw is designing a series of Urban Oasis gardens to showcase some of the most challenging urban environments where gardening, community work and good quality landscape design have brought people together and yielded powerful social benefits.
His gardens, created in conjunction with Groundwork trusts across the country, will be featured at the major RHS shows this year, showing an expert gardening audience what can be achieved from apparently uninspiring beginnings.
Chris says: ‘The green space around us – where we live and work – has a fundamental effect on our emotions and behaviour. It is well documented that in areas where these spaces are neglected and poorly designed we see strong evidence of social unrest and it is easy to see why when you stand in these spaces yourself.
‘Whatever the green need there is a solution and contrary to popular belief it doesn’t have to mean high cost – the Urban Oasis gardens showcase design solutions which can make such a difference in people’s lives.’
We are not claiming that a community allotment or a gated alleyway planted with hanging baskets can save the world. But that allotment or alleyway will make an appreciable difference to the quality of life of those who use the space. Multiply that across hundreds of similar projects and it starts to look interesting.
While everything in the wider ‘garden’ might not be rosy, we are doing our bit to help communities blossom. | <urn:uuid:f8f039b1-9851-4e88-8f8f-f8650c488c0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newstartmag.co.uk/your-blogs/no-green-shoots-but-theres-life-at-the-grassroots/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948216 | 609 | 1.84375 | 2 |
State expands 'safe haven' law for newbornsby Sasha Aslanian, Minnesota Public Radio
ST. PAUL, Minn. — State officials are trying to get the word out about the expansion of Minnesota's Safe Haven law for newborn babies.
The law now gives a mother, or someone acting with her permission, seven days after the birth of a baby to surrender the infant, rather than the previous 72-hour window.
The law also provides more options for handing over the baby safely, according to Human Services Commissioner Lucinda Jesson. That's critically important in rural areas of the state, she added.
"She can anonymously leave the baby at a hospital, or now at an urgent care center that's open," Jesson said. "Or most importantly, she can just call 911 and an ambulance will come take the baby and not ask any questions."
Minnesota has had a Safe Haven law on the books since 2000, in an effort to encourage new mothers in crisis situations to bring their newborns to a "safe haven," rather than abandon them.
But a spate of newborn deaths, including four babies who were abandoned in the Mississippi River over the past 12 years, spurred lawmakers to re-examine the law.
Jesson was joined at a State Capitol news conference Wednesday by State Sen. Michelle Benson, R-Ham Lake, who sponsored the legislation. Benson referred to a poster that state officials are distributing which explains the law, saying the public needs to know there are safe options.
"I would encourage crisis pregnancy centers and college wellness centers, and any place that reaches out to mothers in crisis, to have these posters available," Benson said. "It might be just that moment that they pass by the poster and say, 'OK, there's an option. I'm really not alone, even thought I feel like it.'"
The state hasn't tracked how many babies have come in under the Safe Haven law since it first passed in 2000, but Jesson estimated the number at 18. The expanded law puts a tracking component in place. | <urn:uuid:e9d94365-79a9-4272-9ac0-35d45f8316be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://minnesota.publicradio.org/display/web/2012/08/15/health/safe-haven-law-expanded?refid=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96562 | 419 | 1.90625 | 2 |
By MARC KOVAC Staff Writer WOOSTER A couple of local stops are included on a statewide tour of farms and agricultural facilities adopting sustainable practices. Ohio State University's Summer Farm Tour Series kicked off earlier this month with stops at berry farms in Amanda and Piketon. The initiative has been organized by Extension, the Ohio Ecological Food and Farm Association, Innovative Farmers of Ohio, and the Ohio Organic Crop Improvement Association Chapter 1, according to a recent OSU release. The events, scheduled at sites throughout the state, are open to the public, and there is no cost to attend. Operations include an "organic and pasture-based dairy, berry production, direct marketing, cut flowers, organic vegetable production, composting, rotational grazing, bioshelters, organic pork, school gardens and farm land preservation," according to OSU. The tour will stop at Larksong Farm of Fredericksburg on Aug. 6, beginning at 10 a.m., for presentations on organic dairy and intensive rotational grazing. OSU's Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center will be featured on Sept. 7 from 4-7 p.m., during the campus' Organic Food and Farming Education and Research Field Day. For more information, contact OSU Extension's Sustainable Agriculture Team at (330) 627-4310, or online at sustainableg.osu.edu. County reporter/Farm Editor Marc Kovac can be reached at (330) 287-1645 or e-mail at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:8d8f2b7a-d433-427f-96d2-cf9222a5904f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.the-daily-record.com/farm/2005/07/26/summer-farm-tour-series-continues-through-september | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919326 | 316 | 1.90625 | 2 |
(CNN) -- Imagine it. Someone binds your hands with a rope, hangs you from a wooden beam and beats your bare back with a whip until you deny the name your parents gave you.
Can you picture that? Would you accept the new name? Would the sting of the whip make you forsake your heritage and utter "David," even if your name was Greg?
The scene is from a television miniseries titled "Roots," which chronicled an African-American family's history from slavery until the 1880s. While the segment lasted moments, it summarized 246 years of American history in which slave owners erased a culture by denying Africans the right to use their names, speak their language, practice their faith and pass family history on to their offspring.
Now a Howard University geneticist has developed a method to match the DNA of African-Americans to ethnic groups in Africa. That test, which could be available early next year, gives African-Americans an opportunity to reclaim a stolen legacy and learn from which region of Africa their ancestors came.
"We have been mentally enslaved and physically enslaved in terms of our history," said Irena Webster, executive director for the Association for the Study of African-American Life and History in Silver Spring, Maryland. "The Europeans have all of that history of themselves, and we don't. Any effort to bring us closer to our history is critically important."
Identities erased in slave era
During the Colonial era, slaves outnumbered white people in some regions of the country, said David Organ, a geographer and director of the African World Studies Institute at Dillard University in New Orleans.
"There was a serious question about (slave) rebellion. There were worries about would some parts of America become African," Organ said. Consequently, slave owners had to devise ways to prohibit slaves from communicating and organizing.
"The removal of identity was a central function of the enslavement process," Organ said. "The whole issue of language and naming is so central to identity that slaves were not allowed to speak their native language or maintain traditional names."
Once in America, slave owners also would not permit drumming because they knew slaves could communicate through the rhythms, he said. "It was another form of language."
Database of almost 60 groups
The genetic testing that Howard University professor Rick Kittles has developed will establish the connections that most African-American families lost 15 generations ago.
Kittles, the project's lead researcher, describes the tests as the results of a 25-year "yearning."
"Since I was little, I wanted to know where my ancestors came from," he said. That yearning started after he saw "Roots" on television.
African countries have cooperated with the research team to provide blood and cheek swab samples for use in genetic testing. The database has samples from almost 60 ethnic groups from West and Central Africa, the regions from which slaves were taken.
Two tests, for which a fee will be established later, will be available. One traces a person's ancestry on his or her mother's side and the other determines the father's lineage. Both rely on DNA.
DNA, or deoxyribonucleic acid, is the basis of hereditary molecules. It determines traits that pass from one generation to the next.
Mitochondrial DNA passes from a mother to her child without ever changing. (A mitochondrion is the part of a cell that gives it energy.) This test would give people information about their mothers' and subsequently their great-great-great-great grandmothers' ancestry.
To determine where a person's father came from, Kittles' group would match data from Y-chromosomes. That chromosome passes from a father to a son without changing.
Kittles has conducted both tests on himself.
"My mother's (DNA) went to northern Nigeria," he revealed. "I tested myself for paternal lineage, and it went to Europe."
European paternal lineage common
In 1808, the international slave trade became illegal, Organ said, and slave owners participated in the breeding of African women.
Kittles' paternal lineage is a common one. "About 30 percent of African-American men would find that their fathers are of European decent because of the rape of African-American women by white men," the geneticist said.
Kittles' group has access to Native Americans' DNA samples for those people whose roots cannot be traced to Africa. Many Native Americans helped runaway slaves.
For those whose lineage does lead to Africa, the tests will match a person to an ethnic group in Africa and state in which region that group lives. There will also be information about what languages people in that area speak, Kittles said.
Ethnic information will be more meaningful to African-Americans because present-day African countries did not exist during the slave trade, Organ said. Colonial Europeans created those boundaries in the late 1800s.
"It's key for African-Americans who are trying to make linkages to pay attention to ethnic groups who might reside in more than one state," Organ said. "The ambiguity of modern-day boundaries don't coincide with pre-colonial nations, empires and kingdoms."
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“I had to learn how to be unseen,” says documentary photographer and photojournalist Dorothea Lange as she describes how having to quietly step between the drunks in New York’s Bowery at the age of 12 helped shape her into the photographer she would become. “I became acquainted with the New York Bowery, down which I walked every evening alone,” she says. “And I learned to be unseen at that age. I could step over drunks easily after a while. I learned that if one is not afraid and doesn’t look personally at anyone they will let you go by. And that has stayed with me all my working life.”
Lange's photographs for America's Farm Security Administration documented the human scale of the Great Depression and became a massive influence on photojournalism. In addition to Lange’s own fascinating anecdotes, our Friday morning video features friends and former colleagues recalling personal moments with the photographer who died in 1965 aged 70. Former assistant Rondal Patridge recalls her instruction to drive slower so she could see the people and tents at the camp where she shot migrant workers. These photos make up some of her most iconic work, including “Migrant Mother”, which is featured on the cover of our recently published book on her.
"I saw and approached the hungry and desperate mother, as if drawn by a magnet," Lange once revealed. "I don't remember how I explained my presence or my camera to her, but I do remember she asked me no questions. I made five exposures, working closer and closer from the same direction. I did not ask her name or her history. She told me her age, that she was 32. She said that they had been living on frozen vegetables from the surrounding fields, and birds that the children killed. She had just sold the tyres from her car to buy food. There she sat in that tent with her children huddled around her, and seemed to know that my pictures might help her, and so she helped me. There was a sort of equality about it."
You’ll find more of Dorothea Lange’s photographs in the Phaidon book, which includes 55 of her most famous photographs along with detailed captions explaining the story behind each one. For now though, take a look at the video, and, if you like it don't forget to share it.
Hier erhalten Sie wöchentlich Informationen zu unseren Titeln. | <urn:uuid:b729e069-cea8-4a77-a3e7-9bc46e2616f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://de.phaidon.com/agenda/photography/articles/2012/june/07/phaidons-great-way-to-start-the-day/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983557 | 519 | 2.125 | 2 |
Planning for a collections upgrade project requires a combination of staff and institutional commitment, time, and patience. Planning, simply to write the NEH proposal, which was submitted in October 2005, began in 2002. The first crucial step was securing a Conservation Assessment Program (CAP) survey grant from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. These CAP grants enable museums to consult with architects and conservators to assess the current condition of collections and to help prioritize collection needs. Preservation assessments identify short and long range preservation objectives and make specific recommendations about how to achieve these goals. They are the springboards to the next phases: project planning and proposal writing. After completion of the general preservation assessment survey, we inventoried the storage areas targeted for upgrades, conducted a pilot rehousing project to establish a standard methodology for rehousing certain collections, and consulted with a conservator regarding our proposed packing and rehousing methodologies. In addition, we conducted extensive background research on collection move projects, which involved attending conferences and seminars and visiting museums that recently completed storage upgrades.
Before we could begin consulting with museum storage furniture manufacturers and planning the project methodology, we needed to how much were moving and how much space the objects would require. We completed a comprehensive inventory of our ethnology storage area in May 2005 and established an approximate number of archaeological items by means of a volumetric assessment and survey of catalog records.
In spring 2005, a Beloit College anthropology, classical civilization, and museum studies student Anna Berg (nee Goodwin) `05 conducted a volumetric assessment of the non-climate controlled archaeology cage to determine whether the Collie storage room was large enough to accommodate all of the material from the cage. She analyzed the space and housing needs of the archaeological collections by examining each part of the collection’s size, significance, existing storage space and equipment, and potential for growth. We determined all of the collections would not fit in the Collie room and developed a plan that targeted certain collections for rehousing in the Collie room and others for rehousing in the museum’s visible storage Cube. After graduation, Anna was hired part-time to implement an archaeology rehousing pilot project. Two Delta Design, Inc. archaeology cabinets were purchased with existing funds and Anna spent the summer rehousing a portion of the collection in order to develop and refine the archaeology collections rehousing methodology.
Like many small museums and university museums, the Logan Museum does not have a conservator on staff. For this reason we contracted with a conservation consultant to conduct a site visit. During the site visit the conservator evaluated the museum’s preservation activities and reviewed and consulted about the NEH proposal methodology and standards. In addition, the conservation consultant was written into the proposal to conduct two site visits to evaluate practice and progress and to conduct staff training in packing and mount making.
The importance of consulting with museums that completed similar projects cannot be underestimated. Colleagues were eager to share what worked and what didn’t work. They offered ideas and solutions that were invaluable to our planning and proposal writing. The Science Museum of Minnesota’s Moving the Mountain: the Science Museum of Minnesota’s Guide to Moving Collections is a particularly valuable resource. An additional useful resource is the Campbell Center for Historic Preservation Studies. The Campbell Center provides professional development training in collections storage, computerization, preservation of various material types, and grant proposal writing. | <urn:uuid:297a93c2-2afb-46d3-83f5-f310721263fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beloit.edu/logan/collections/accessibility/planning/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949483 | 690 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Prisons in Maryland are looking to keep their costs down by instituting video conferencing technology in several courthouses and correctional facilities.
The program would require that video conferencing equipment be installed in several prisons to connect the institutions to hospitals, courthouses and other entities that do business with inmates. Currently, the prison video conferencing system is being tested in conjunction with the Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, the Associated Press reports.
"We've made huge strides in helping inmates control chronic conditions, such as diabetes and HIV," said Mark A. Vernarelli, spokesman of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services. "We manage these conditions closely, which in the long run saves taxpayer money because we will hope to spend less money on sick inmates (and) hospital trips."
Vernarelli added that video conferencing would allow doctors at any of a number of prominent Baltimore hospitals to consult on certain inmate medical cases, would would be "very helpful not only to reduce court trips, but maybe hospital trips as well."
Gary D. Maynard, secretary of the Maryland Department of Public Safety and Correctional Services, hopes that the initiative will both lower the costs associated with transporting criminals and help improve public safety by never requiring that prisoners leave their cells.
"Anytime you put officers and an inmate in a van, things can happen," Maynard told the AP.
Correctional facilities around the country are recognizing the benefits of video conferencing, such as some in Georgia and Nevada, among others. | <urn:uuid:153f872b-e603-4240-896a-203f5ce7bbfd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.megameeting.com/news/articles/Maryland-prisons-to-use-video-conferencing-for-inmate-health-800125317.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962426 | 312 | 2.125 | 2 |
Rowdy Cents was launched on May 1, 2009 to raise the financial literacy awareness of UTSA students.
These financial statistics and insights propelled us forward with launching and maintaining an online financial literacy awareness program.
[Most of the links on this web page will take the viewer off site.]
$19,237 in student loan debt was the average amount incurred by the 2007 graduating UTSA seniors. This was a 14% increase over the average in 2006. (Project on Student Debt)
Two-thirds of all financial aid awarded in the 07-08 academic year to UTSA students was in loans. (As reported by the Office of Financial Aid and Enrollment Services)
Fifth-year seniors graduating from UTSA in 2009 reported delaying their graduation due to working too many hours. (As reported by the Graduation Initiative Office)
$4000, a 44% increase since 2004, is the average amount of credit card debt that college seniors have upon graduation. A recent poll of college students reveals that the average undergraduate has just over $3000 in credit debt and the debt increases with years in college.
Young adults 18-25 is the fastest growing group filing bankruptcies as of the 2009 launch of Rowdy Cents web site.
Has the college financial landscape changed any? Debt is on the rise, as are tuition and fees across the nation. This and other factors still confirm the need for financial literacy awareness.
64% of UTSA seniors graduated in 2009 with student loan debt, a decrease of 5% over the 2008 class. The average student loan debt of this graduating class was $23,152, an increase of 11% over 2008 ($20, 815) and 20% over 2007 ($19,237).
The Project on Student Debt reports that the 2010 college seniors across the USA graduated with an average of $25,250 in student loan debt, a 6.25% increase over the 2009 class. In Texas, 56% of the graduating 2010 seniors of public, 4-year institutions averaged $20,919 in student loan debt, a 10% increase over 2009 class.
(Data sources from Project on Student Debt and CollegeInSight.)
2010 graduates who were fifth and sixth-year seniors reported to the Graduation Initiative Office that working too many hours and financial difficulties with affording tuition and fees delayed their progress to a more-timely graduation. This remains consistent with 2009 and 2008 graduates surveyed by the GI Office.
A 2010 survey report conducted by Gallup, How America Pays for College, revealed that credit cards remain as one of the funding sources for college. There was a 1% increase in the number of families (parent) utilizing credit cards for education expenses in 2010 over 2009. whereas the percentage of students utilizing credit cards for paying remained the same as in 2009.
The findings of a survey by US PIRG Foundation confirms that students are using credit cards and are incurring late payment fees, high balances and delinquencies. Source: The Campus Credit Card Trap Report
Financing higher education is on the minds of freshmen as reported by the Higher Education Research Institute's (HERI) "College Application Numbers Rise: Financial Concerns Influence College Choice".
We welcome student, faculty, and staff input to the site. Please use the email envelope on the left side bar to send suggestions and comments or contact the Graduation Initiative office at 210-458-4687.
Rowdy Cents focuses on increasing students’ personal finance literacy awareness so they will be better money and time managers. The site offers relevant information about personal finance basics, time management strategies, and the concept that "time is money" when considering the costs associated with the length of time to earn a degree.
This site is a project of the UTSA Graduation Initiative. The site was designed by a talented UTSA student. It was developed by a Graduation Initiative Senior Retention & Graduation Analyst, who is a Certified Personal Finance Counselor through a division of The Institute for Financial Literacy. Along with her 20-year career in higher education, the analyst has nine years in a banking career.
Neither the site nor its representatives offer investment and insurance advice. Additionally, the web links referenced throughout the site are for student/user convenience and neither constitute an approval of nor an endorsement by UTSA and its representatives.
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This movement from Benedetto Marcello's Sonata in E Minor for Violoncello, Op. 1 No. 2, published in 1732, was a piece I had to learn on contrabass as a first semester student in my mixed strings class as a music education major in college. I was given only the solo part, an ancient document crumbling with age. This year (many years later) one of the students at Imperial Valley College, where I teach, needed a piece for his first semester contrabass jury. This piece was just about his current ability, so I dug the piece out for him to study. Not having the original accompaniment, I intuited a basso continuo part to go with it. (The cello part was not written separately to save space, so there will be no cello doubling the lowest basso continuo part in the playback.)
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The PDF of this score should start downloading automatically, or alternatively click the download button below, or use this link to download the pdf. | <urn:uuid:1138d47d-eac7-45b5-bd67-fc232b194be5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scoreexchange.com/scores/31024.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939628 | 491 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Did you know you could spend the night in the hospital, or even several days, and Medicare would not cover the bill like it would if you were officially admitted? “Observation stays” or being held for observation switches you from being covered under Medicare Part A to Part B coverage.
These observation stays are most common if you go in through the emergency room, but they can occur in other situations, too. So, what difference could the way Medicare covers your time in the hospital make?
If the hospital bills Medicare for you as an “inpatient” who has been officially admitted, you have to meet the $1,156 2012 Part A deductible before you have coverage. After that, Medicare will pay for 60 days of hospital care without requiring you pay a portion of the daily bill. If you’re covered as an outpatient under Medicare Part B, you only have to meet the $140 annual deductible before Medicare starts paying bills, but it only pays 80 percent of most bills under Part B.
A study published in the Journal of Health Affairs shows that these observation stays increased by 34 percent from 2007 to 2009. And, Medicare patients were held in observation for longer periods of time, like three to five days, which is well past Medicare’s recommended 24 to 48 hours.
Hospitals are not required to tell you any of this, so you’ll have to ask whether your care is being handled as an inpatient or an outpatient. If you need more information about what Medicare covers, check our All About Medicare page. You can also call us if you want to discuss your health care options. Our personal advisors never charge you for a consultation. | <urn:uuid:095c613c-0dc5-4f00-a9b2-c40effb35ace> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medigapadvisors.com/medicare-supplement-blog/general-medicare/medicare-patients-beware-of-hospital-observational-stays/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967371 | 343 | 1.664063 | 2 |
East Valley companies that have relied on highly skilled foreign employees through a work permit program could see that labor pool shrink dramatically in two months.
On Oct. 1, the federal government will drop the number of H-1B nonimmigrant temporary worker visas nationwide from 195,000 to 65,000. The reduction means that U.S. companies may have a tougher time getting the number of visas they need to hire engineers, computer programmers, nurses and other high-demand workers, many of whom are graduating from local universities as foreign students.
In Arizona, 4,750 people hold H-1B visas, allowing them to work in the United States for six years, according to the U.S. Department of Labor. Nationwide, 60 percent are from India. More than half have bachelor's degrees, and nearly 40 percent are working in computer and information technology-related positions.
"We're going to have to look harder in more places to find candidates," said Lisa Chasse, human resources manager for Inter-Tel, a Tempe-based telecommunications company. "It's just going to make them more difficult to find here."
The reduction returns the number of H-1B visas to levels before 1999. To accommodate hiring demands during a booming economy, Congress passed legislation raising the cap to as high as 195,000 until the end of fiscal 2003. The law also established a $500 fee for each visa to fund education and training for U.S. workers.
To prepare for the reduction, Maricopa County is trying to access those fees by applying for a $3 million federal grant for training current employees and the unemployed. By increasing their skills, local job candidates become more competitive and companies may rely less on highly educated workers from overseas, said Suzanne Ledy, the county's H-1B grant coordinator.
"It has not only an impact for work-force development, but it also has an economic impact because we're growing the work force," she said.
The county was awarded the grant once before, and 346 people have graduated so far from Arizona State University and other schools. If the county is awarded the grant again this year, up to 600 people from 11 companies, nearly all of which have a presence in the East Valley, will be able to take advantage of training programs in engineering, manufacturing, biotechnology and information technology.
"We prefer to keep the jobs in the country," said David Curtis, director of technical applications support for Banner Health, which hopes to provide technology training to employees through the second grant. "By providing employment training to the local population without having to bring someone in from overseas, it means Maricopa County can have less need to import the kind of talent we could grow in our own back yard."
The reduction in visas comes at a time when businesses have shrunk their work forces, company representatives said. Nonetheless, companies such as Intel Corp., which is participating in the county's training program, said they will still be challenged by the drop in available worker visas. While job training helps, positions requiring specialized skills such as advanced process engineers remain hard to fill, said Tracy Koon, a spokeswoman for Intel.
The problem is linked to the nation's educational system, which does not do enough to develop math and science skills at an early age, said Margaret Sova, program manager for Intel's manufacturing research committee.
"We need scientists in order to stay leading-edge," she said. "It's hard to play catch-up when you're a freshman in college."
The result is growing demand and lagging supply of people with advanced technical skills, which forces companies to recruit people from outside the United States, Koon said. Critics have charged that the H-1B program takes jobs away from U.S. citizens, but the program is symptomatic of bigger educational problems in this country, she said.
"We're turning out fewer and fewer of these (technically skilled) people," Koon said. "It really is a budding national catastrophe." | <urn:uuid:d0e3d283-ef6a-4dd5-a9eb-704e993a06e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eastvalleytribune.com/news/article_d1f6603b-8b4a-5b64-a97c-b89d3137ceeb.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970957 | 817 | 1.679688 | 2 |
This rocky inlet located in the south-west of Malta is a favourite fishing spot with many. On calm days, colourful Maltese boats bob about lazily in the water – a picture of complete serenity.
But in winter, the fury of the sea is not to be trifled with and on windy days, the boats are safely brought to shore to wait for more opportune weather.
One must certainly exercise caution and stay away from the water because, as all those of us brought up here know, it has a very fickle nature.
In the distance, the island of Filfla seems so close that it feels as if you can almost reach out and touch it.
Zurrieq is derived from the Semitic word zoroq which means blue. Quite an appropriate name, would’t you say?
Location: Wied iz-Zurrieq, December 2008 & January 2010 | <urn:uuid:d5855064-33f3-4155-a23e-53b536aae520> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allaboutmalta.blogspot.co.uk/2013/02/snapshots-of-wied-iz-zurrieq-in-winter.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979023 | 192 | 1.671875 | 2 |
A professor emeritus at Loyola Marymount University, Limón taught U.S. and Hispanic literature and also served as chair of the Department of Chicano and Chicana Studies. Currently a visiting professor at UCSB and UCLA, she teaches courses in Latina/Chicana narratives, border narratives, and contemporary Latin American literature. Although she has written extensively on Mexican, Latin American, and Caribbean literature, she now devotes her time to creative fiction. Her most recent novel, "The River Flows North," came out in April.
Limón is also the author of "Left Alive"; "Erased Faces," which received the 2002 Gustavus Myers Book Award; "The Day of the Moon"; "Memories of Ana Calderón"; and "In Search of Barnabé," which was awarded The Before Columbus Foundation American Book Award.
A native of Los Angeles and the daughter of Mexican immigrants, Limón received her undergraduate degree in Spanish literature from Marymount College. She completed her master's and doctoral degrees in the same field at the University of the Americas in Mexico City and at UCLA, respectively.
"Graciela Limón is one of the most productive of Chicana novelists and one of the best," said Mario T. García, professor of history and of Chicano and Chicana studies at UCSB, and the organizer of the annual Leal Award. "She is long overdue to receive major attention as a major American writer."
The Leal Award is named in honor of Luis Leal, a professor of Chicana and Chicano Studies at UCSB, who is internationally recognized as a leading scholar of Chicano and Latino literature. Previous recipients of the award include Pat Mora, Alejandro Morales, Helena Maria Viramontes, Oscar Hijuelos, Rudolfo Anaya, and Denise Chávez. | <urn:uuid:f4b646d5-3210-4c73-bb24-3af2b7e49084> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ia.ucsb.edu/pa/display.aspx?pkey=2095 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965746 | 380 | 1.851563 | 2 |
This is a fairly common problem on both sides of the equation. We have to continually emphasize the importance of breathing during the techniques with newer students… and the importance of breathing out when having a technique performed on you. So step 1 is to trust that everyone in the room you are practicing has probably had this problem before, either in this or in another art.
As to things that you can do to improve:
When a technique is being performed it is very easy to get "caught up" in either the motion or, more frequently, in some specific part of the motion (e.g., in a strike-then-lock pattern it isn't uncommon to see people get preoccupied with the coming lock and thus throw a halfhearted strike). The goal here is to work to stay present all the way through the technique.
Essentially when doing the technique take it slowly (where you can) and focus on the flow and on how to breathe through the technique. When observing a technique make a note not just of how the bodies move, but also of how the participants breathe.
Take 10 minutes a day and do a breath awareness meditation of some sort. This doesn't have to be super formal (I used to do it on a train), but basically just pay attention to your own breath for ten minutes. Breath by Breath is a good basic guide if you are interested in the Buddhist variation of this practice.
Practice Something that Emphasizes Syncing Breath
Pick up something in addition to Aikido that makes syncing breath and movement explicit, e.g., yoga (or, heck, even running). Essentially find a practice where breathing is not optional and proper breathing is emphasized. Your branch of Aikido or your instructors may even have such a practice built-in which you can do on your own (hapkido has danjeon breathing). | <urn:uuid:c316a115-1c48-4ff8-8c4e-f074a11015bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://martialarts.stackexchange.com/questions/1432/avoiding-breath-lockups/1434 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958928 | 380 | 1.914063 | 2 |
All governments are flawed. We praise democracy, claiming it provides freedom, but our founding fathers knew that our rights come from our creator. Eventually the world of human governments will come to an end.
The earth as we know it will also come to an end, but the earth will remain a planet. Two millennia ago, Flavius Josephus recorded in the Antiquities of the Jews - Book I at the end of Chapter 2 - "upon Adam's prediction that the world was to be destroyed at one time by the force of fire, and at another time by the violence and quantity of water, they made two pillars, the one of brick, the other of stone: They inscribed their discoveries on them both, that in case the pillar of brick should be destroyed by the flood, the pillar of stone might remain, and exhibit those discoveries to mankind; and also inform them that there was another pillar of brick erected by them. Now this remains in the land of Siriad to this day." (The apostle Peter goes into much more detail about the flood and the coming destruction by fire in 2 Peter 3:1-14.)
Believers need only drive west on the Pennsylvania Turnpike and see layers of earth that were caused by sediment
We need not fear the atomic bomb, or global warming. We need to fear Christ the Son of God. Pledge your allegiance to Christ alone. | <urn:uuid:cbc0997c-c373-4720-89f0-8a2c3a314940> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.publicopiniononline.com/opinionmore/ci_22276828 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964803 | 279 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The great science reporter Robert Krulwich of NPR has a beautiful story up from earlier this year about epically tall trees in the ancient forests of California. I missed this when it was first published, but it's been making the rounds again this week on Twitter. Krulwich begins by introducing us to a tree in Humboldt Redwoods State Park in California, nicknamed "Stratosphere Giant." It's 369 feet high, "about twice the size of the Statue of Liberty (minus the foundation)." But...
After its short four-year reign as World's Tallest, two hikers, Chris Atkins and Michael Taylor, were deep in another section of another park, Redwood National Park (purchased in 1978 during the Carter administration) when they came across a new stand of trees, taller than anyone had ever seen before. The tallest of the tall is 379 feet 4 inches, 10 feet taller than the Giant. It's now called "Hyperion."
We have the precise measurements because after Chris and Michael announced their discovery, a team of scientists, led by Humboldt State University ecologist Steve Sillett, climbed to the top of the tree and dropped a tape down to the ground. Some things are still that simple. Steve's colleague, Jim Spickler (check out his biceps! scary), repeated the climb and brought a camera, so we can go with him. This video, which comes with dramatic music in all the right places, is, to use a much overused word, but I'll use it anyway..."awesome".
That video is above. Note that the exact location of these trees is not being disclosed, for the protection of the trees. Check out the rest of Krulwich's blog post here. A little aside: back when I was a weekly contributor to NPR, my producers sometimes used to tell me when we were stuck on a story, "ask yourself, what would Krulwich do?" He's that amazing of a storyteller, in text, on TV, and in audio.
Boing Boing editor/partner and tech culture journalist Xeni Jardin hosts and produces Boing Boing's in-flight TV channel on Virgin America airlines (#10 on the dial), and writes about living with breast cancer. Diagnosed in 2011. @xeni on Twitter. email: firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:c7a0dbfd-2a30-4093-b04f-c3233d18c810> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boingboing.net/2011/10/11/climbing-the-worlds-tallest-tree-in-california.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959412 | 490 | 2.203125 | 2 |
The shortcomings of cholesterol-lowering medications are all over the news lately, but rather then continue the beat down. Tara Parker-Pope of The New York Times Well Blog wants to know, is it possible to lower your cholesterol without drugs. Here’s a bit:
In fact, many doctors think dietary changes are too difficult for most of their patients. While they typically encourage better eating and a diet low in saturated fat, they also prescribe cholesterol-lowering drugs called statins as a faster way to lower bad cholesterol.
But many people can’t tolerate statins and their side effects. Others simply don’t want to take a pill every day or shoulder the cost of a prescription. For those patients, dietary changes may be a better option.
In 2006, The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition reported on a study of 55 patients with high cholesterol who, over the course of a year, started eating a diet rich in soy proteins, fiber and almonds. All those foods may have cholesterol-lowering properties. Twenty-one patients managed to lower their cholesterol by 20 percent or more by the end of the year. The researchers noted that whether the patient was motivated and actually stuck with the diet most of the time was key.
Kudos to Tara! There needs to be more talk about this, because as Dr. Fuhrman explains, dietary intervention is the best way to lower cholesterol and prevent and reverse heart disease. Check out this excerpt from Cholesterol Levels and Heart Attacks:
Make no doubt about it: lowering your LDL cholesterol below 100 offers powerful protection against heart disease. The evidence is overwhelming today that heart attacks, which kill half of all Americans, are entirely preventable. Heart disease is a condition that is preventable and reversible through aggressive nutritional intervention and cholesterol-lowering.
Now, in this post Dr. Fuhrman points to some specific foods that have well-documented cholesterol-lowering properties. I’ve clipped this snippet from Ideal Cholesterol 199? Have a look:
A vegetable, fruit, nut, and bean-based diet has been shown to be the most effective cholesterol-lowering dietary approach in medical history. This newsworthy data with the potential to save millions of lives has been ignored by the mass media. With this dietary approach, most patients drop their total cholesterol below 150 and LDL below 100, without the need for medications. In areas of the world where people eat a diet of unrefined plant foods, people have total cholesterol levels below 150, and there is zero incidence of heart disease in the population.1
Clearly, if we attempt to rival the low cholesterol of populations that eat mostly natural plant foods and do not have heart disease, we are always looking at total cholesterols below 150 mg/dl. The average cholesterol level in rural China, as documented in the massive China Cornell Project, was 127 mg/dl. Heart attacks were rare, and both cancer and heart disease rates plummeted as cholesterol levels fell, which reflected very low animal product consumption. The lowest occurrence of heart disease and cancer occurred in the group that consumed plant-based diets with less than two servings of animal products per week.
Alright, now this is where I feel for Tara. In the comments of her post she encountered the persistent of lunacy of the low-carb consortium. Here’s the comment and Tara’s response from the Well Blog:
Commenter: Alternatively, you and Jane Brody could look at the growing mountain of evidence that the diet you think is “healthful” is actually the problem…evidence which includes Brody’s own health!
Or you could read the most important book on diet in the last century, “Good Calories, Bad Calories” by Gary Taubes.
But you won’t; you’ll keep passing out the same old misinformation.
Nor will you publish this comment.
Tara: Of course I will publish your comment, and I think your point, if you strip away the personal attacks, is a good one. Nutrition writers like myself certainly have been complicit in confusing people’s notions about what constitutes healthful eating. (Although I’m curious about what I’ve written that offends you so.) I’m not sure I agree that Gary Taubes has written the most important book on diet (I’m a fan of Pollan as readers of this blog know). However, Mr. Taubes has certainly raised many important issues in his work. I agree, as Mr. Pollan writes, that the culture of nutritionism — viewing food as a sum of its nutrient parts — has been largely detrimental to the nation’s health.
Tara, I feel for you. This nonsense and its lemming-like supporters pollute the information super highway. Before I go any further, here’s Dr. Fuhrman dropping the hammer on Gary Taubes’ “most important book on diet in the last century.” From Nutrition Science and Gary Taubes:
Amazing how stupid people are. Gary Taubes is a known Atkins' devotee and nutritionally naïve and led by the Atkins' crowd. Now he has his own book. All I can say is that this makes me look like a genius comparatively when I am only stating the obvious. All I can say is: Health = Nutrition / Calories.
Your health is predicted by your nutrient intake divided by your intake of calories. Health = Nutrition / Calories, or simply H = N/C, is a concept I call the nutrient-density of your diet. Food supplies us with both nutrients and calories (energy). All calories come from only three elements: carbohydrates, fats, and proteins. Nutrients are derived from non-caloric food factors—including vitamins, minerals, fibers, and phytochemicals. These non-caloric nutrients are vitally important for health. Your key to permanent weight loss is to eat predominantly those foods that have a high proportion of nutrients (non-caloric food factors) to calories (carbohydrates, fats, and proteins).
I think Tara did a great job handling this over-zealous loon and luckily for her he wasn’t as radical as most of them. Just get a load of these vitriolic comments from one of DiseaseProof’s low-carb blog-trolls. Oh! Despite the different names, it’s all the same person:
RN: “STOP lying to people. NOW! Support your contention NOT SUMMARIES of summaries The blind leading the blind…I can and WILL argue this all day because I UNLIKE Dr. Fuhrman CAN back up my views.”
Susan: “FUHRMAN FRAUD.”
Razwell: “Persons who claim "paradise health" by following a certain diet are CHARLATANS.”
What does all this prove? That no matter how much you back up your claims the crazies, the cultists, and the sensationalists will do their best to disrupt your day—just another day in the life of a health-blogger!
1. Breslow JL. Cardiovascular disease myths and facts. Cleve Clin J Med 1998:65(6):286-287. Campbell TC, Parpia B, Chen J. et al. Diet, lifestyle and the etiology of coronary artery disease: the Cornell China Study. Am J Cardiol 1998; 8210B):18T-21T. | <urn:uuid:5811abfc-7d3a-421b-a1ae-1c00b634a90e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.diseaseproof.com/archives/cholesterol-cholesterol-well-blog-encounters-a-loon.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942125 | 1,556 | 2.03125 | 2 |
From the earliest church covenants and compacts of the Puritans to the present day, Americans have seen their Constitution as a fundamental bulwark of liberty and limited government. This collection of essays, intended to honor and further understanding of the work of one of the nation's foremost constitutional scholars, Georgetown University’s George W. Carey, analyzes the origins of public order in America and in constitutional government more generally.
The contributors discuss and develop Carey's key insights, including his argument that constitutional government cannot survive without general adherence to a "constitutional morality" binding political actors to the limited roles laid out for them in our frame of government. The essays further delineate a series of issues at the heart of American constitutionalism: Why should political actors respect constitutional restrictions on their exercise of power? What role has the drive to increase the power of political majorities played in the development or derailment of the American political tradition? And what effect have debates and developments regarding presidential power, foreign policy, and judicial review had on our constitutional system?
What They're Saying...
"The purpose of this study is to discuss and develop Carey's ideas on the American republic, namely, the "origin, development, and derailment of the American political tradition. Our republic, the editors warn, has slowly deteriorated. Part of this is due to the tension between an older political tradition that was not individualist or egalitarian and the newer American creed based on liberal abstractions from the Enlightenment. . . . Characterizing the origin, foundation, and derailment of our republic, these essays contain valuable information. And perhaps some roadmaps to restoration."
— Matthew A. Roberts The American Spectator
"Every essay in Defending the Republic deserves close attention. . . . In our time, Carey's writings are as essential a guide to constitutional morality as The Federalist itself is to the Constitution. Read him, and consult this book to deepen your understanding of our most distinguished constitutionalist."
— Daniel McCarthy The American Conservative
"These essays are timely, thoughtful, and well-written, and this title is recommended for college, university, and law school libraries."
— Catholic Library World | <urn:uuid:9f18073e-ec00-4f11-a848-f27b0dfedbcb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.isi.org/(S(svuua0idk0sv2xz2u3enh455))/books/bookdetail.aspx?id=094db542-052d-4a0f-89ac-75f614915602 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939276 | 436 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Oh? And why not?
For example, the Starwars-1 research problem had threat scenarios that went something like: " We have 300,000 incoming, what's real? what's not? we have 12 minutes to retrain our interceptors. Do we have time for a recursive Lisp algorithm?"
The answer to the last part of the question was "no". Recursive algorithms were too slow. The only way to meet the time constraints of the problem was to pre-identify all possible values of all possible variables and system states as a semantic mesh, and then to use incoming sensor data as reality constraints across this jungle gym of reasoning paths in order to ascertain the threat and take action in time.
The point is that the impact of all foreseeable reality constraints could be precomputed and the resulting declarative semantic web could be reasoned over in minimum time. Instead of a "no", the answer in this case was "yes".
On the other hand, the conclusion of the Star Wars I research was that, while researchers could beat a very complex and comprehensive set of threat scenarios, the military was unlikely to beat the potential enemy (in cold war days, it was usually the Russians) because the enemy could learn and adapt and do something unexpected. In short, they concluded that they could not foresee any and all possible threat scenarios. That is, their knowledge would remain incomplete.
So, to the limits of the knowledge (axioms, etc.) specified, the answer is "yes". I can precompute the implications of forward and backward chaining axioms. (The trade here is space vs time.)
In terms of reality, however, it seems that our "knowledge" is not "truth" but more a system of constraints. More often than not it is partial and incomplete, and likely to be in conflict or competition with other knowledge or values that we believe in.
Permit me to wax for a moment. I think the really interesting stuff of reasoning (e.g., questions where lives are on the line, questions of guilt or innocence, questions of ethics, questions about what is the best product design, or best course of action for a business, questions of public policy, or career choices) always involve more than logical consistency. They involve trade-offs and values. Often there is no "right" answer. Logic is just a tool.
On Sep 17, 2007, at 12:58 PM, Pat Hayes wrote:
Wouldn't the impact of all possible informational variables be (pre)computable at the time the backward/forward axiom was formulated?
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FL 32502 (850)291 0667 cell | <urn:uuid:81fa7111-5dad-4f12-a184-ea9611be5af6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ontolog.cim3.net/forum/ontolog-forum/2007-09/msg00230.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946709 | 588 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Sep. 22, 2006 In the animal world, squid are masters of disguise. Pigmented skin cells enable them to camouflage themselves—almost instantaneously—from predators. Squid also produce polarized skin patterns by regulating the iridescence of their skin, possibly creating a “hidden communication channel” visible only to animals that are sensitive to polarized light.
In research published today in the journal Biology Letters, MBL (Marine Biological Laboratory) researchers Lydia Mäthger and Roger Hanlon present evidence that the polarized aspect of the skin of the longfin inshore squid, Loligo pealeii, is maintained after passing through the pigment cells responsible for camouflage.
While the notion that a few animals produce polarization signals and use them in communication is not new, Mäthger and Hanlon’s findings present the first anatomical evidence for a “hidden communication channel” that can remain masked by typical camouflage patterns. Their results suggest that it might be possible for squid to send concealed polarized signals to one another while staying camouflaged to fish or mammalian predators, most of which do not have polarization vision.
Mäthger notes that these messages could contain information regarding the whereabouts of other squid, for example. “Whether signals could also contain information regarding the presence of predators (i.e., a warning signal) is speculation, but it may be possible,” she adds.
Mäthger and Hanlon maintain that the mechanism behind the transmission of polarized light through squid pigment cells warrants further study. Likewise, investigation of this masked polarization signaling system in squid and other cephalopods in natural environments would provide insight into animal camouflage mechanisms and may uncover similar examples in other species.
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Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:4fb29036-4df9-4768-bd26-b2afcd2283ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2006/09/060920191616.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905021 | 394 | 3.578125 | 4 |
A Lakeside Story
Nautical Themes Add Whimsy to an Airy House on the Shore
Ah, the mysteries of the human heart. Judith Bentley, a retired English professor, hails from the quiet purlieus of suburban Ohio, while her husband, Paul, a former advertising executive, grew up amid the hustle and bustle of Chicago. For a quarter century the couple peaceably shared a cottage outside Milwaukee, but when the last of their four sons had finished high school, they were both ready for a change of venue. The twist? She fancied a penthouse in the city (the stores!), and he pined for a lake house in the country (the chores!).
Or at least a sandy beachfront lot on the western shore of Lake Michigan in rural Sheboygan County, Wisconsin. “Paul had to persuade me that this was a good idea,” says Judith Bentley. “So he said I could pick the architect.” The couple were familiar with the work of Margaret McCurry, a principal at Chicago-based Tigerman McCurry and Judith Bentley’s top choice for the job. “I’ve always loved Margaret’s work because it’s modern but not extreme,” she says. “It’s like sculpture you can live in.” Concerned about the modesty of their own sculptural ambitions, Judith Bentley sent McCurry a timorous e-mail inquiry and received a favorable call back from the architect the very same day.
Standing out in the grassy dunes, Paul Bentley notes how the residence “pops” against its woodsy backdrop. “The charter fishermen use it to see where they’re going.”
The first thing McCurry did was ask her clients to draw up individual wish lists. “I made the bulleted function list,” recalls Judith Bentley, “and Paul cut out pictures in decorating magazines. He envisioned a big stone lodge kind of thing.” McCurry is better known for innovative and contemporary (though distinctly American) designs than for big stone lodge kinds of things—but, according to Paul Bentley, it didn’t take long for him to realize he “really wanted a Margaret house, not a Paul house.” Not that a Margaret house couldn’t reflect Paul’s sensibilities. A passionate scuba diver and a volunteer with the Wisconsin Historical Society’s Maritime Preservation and Archaeology Program, which documents shipwrecks on the Great Lakes, Paul Bentley wrote an essay for McCurry about the life of a ship captain that also sparked the architect’s imagination. “We knew we had to point out ‘to sea’ and to make the lake a very important part of the house,” she says. “It really was about how to take advantage of the incredible views.” Years before, McCurry’s partner and husband, Stanley Tigerman, had built a residence using a butterfly plan of matching wings at right angles to each other, and the design struck McCurry as a natural solution to the challenge of capturing the views of the lake and surrounding forest. She sketched out a V-shaped house whose twin projections form a welcoming embrace in front and in back evoke nothing so much as a ship’s prow.
In the middle of the house, a curvilinear glass-block entrance brings to mind a lighthouse (at night it shines like a beacon). The wings on either side are segmented by stepped roofs that define the different zones of the house. McCurry, who knows a thing or two about lakefront living—she and Tigerman share a house on the Michigan side—wrapped the residence in galvanized-steel siding that references the lake’s pole barns and fishing shacks and stands up to its lashing storms. At the rear, a pair of arcades shade the downstairs rooms and double as balconies on the second floor. The artist Patrick Beilman, a friend of the Bentleys’, put a modern spin on rosemaling, or traditional Scandinavian decoration, by painting these structures and the house’s cedar trim in a Crayola-like variety of colors that offset the sober metal façade and strict symmetry of the architecture.
On the outside, the residence exudes the cheerful personality of a Lego project on steroids. On a sunny summer afternoon the Bentleys greet a visitor in the light-filled entrance hall. The space leads directly to the heart of the house, the kitchen/dining area, where a panorama of water and woods fairly explodes through dozens of awning windows. On either side of the kitchen are a pair of architecturally alike but otherwise antithetical rooms: “I wanted a living room with books and a fireplace,” explains Judith Bentley, “and Paul wanted a room with a projection TV with surround sound.” These rooms are bookended by the garage at one end of the house and, at the other, a barn-like screen porch that the family makes the most of from June through November. Upstairs, two pairs of bedrooms for the couple’s visiting sons flank the master bedroom. The master sits over the kitchen and assumes its prow like shape; his-and-her baths and his-and-her widow’s walks conform to the house’s binary layout. “One of the things about Margaret’s symmetrical approach is that it’s very calming,” Paul Bentley observes.
He has amassed an impressive collection of industrial antiques and offbeat objects, for which McCurry designed handsome (and of course symmetrical) display shelves in the living room. In these precise settings, commonplace items look as important as pre-Columbian pieces in a museum.
Standing out in the grassy dunes that separate the house and the lake, Paul Bentley notes how the residence “pops” against its woodsy backdrop: “The charter fishermen use it to see where they’re going.” It’s also something of a landmark for the neighbors, who refer to the place as the clown house—as well as the Lego house and the Crayola house. “We get mixed reactions, but in the end people always say it grows on them,” he adds. “Whenever we have people up here, they say the house makes them smile.” No matter what’s happening outside. In a matter of minutes huge clouds sink to the horizon, and the previously calm lake turns choppy and whitecapped. A low rumble of thunder precedes the first fat drops in the sand. Goodbye, city life. | <urn:uuid:3d16e120-fffb-462e-8e49-c7a220091879> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.architecturaldigest.com/AD100/2010/margaret_mccurry/mccurry_article_102007 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943447 | 1,395 | 1.671875 | 2 |
“Sometimes we want to feel weak and receive some cuddling care and sympathy,” they said. “There are times when we feel ill or stressed or depleted. The response of our husbands is to ignore us or assume we can buck up and soldier on. Why can’t we feel pitiful at times?”
I couldn’t speak for all the husbands, but I assume we are being blamed for something the Women’s Movements encouraged. In the late 1960s, feminists complained that women should not be coddled by the menfolk. Women, they said, should show independence and drive with none of the nonsense about the “weaker sex.”
And it came to fruition. Today, women are more likely to graduate from a university with a Bachelor’s degree than a man. During the recession, women were less likely to lose their jobs than men, and in recent years, their wage gains have outdistanced males as well. You see strong leaders like Condoleezza Rice and Hillary Clinton, and admiration, not pity, comes to mind.
Men are not always the best communicators when it comes to emotion. Commiserating with a wife can be slippery. If I say, “Shall I call up and tell your boss you’re sick and won’t be in today?”, my wife might retort, “Don’t you think I can handle my job with a few sniffles?”
A man cannot always take a woman’s emotional temperature. It’s always easier to say, “You’re strong, you can do it.” We mean it as a compliment, not as an uncaring and thoughtless comment.
But if the women are right, we men will have to change our outlook – and I’ll have to relearn how to heat up the chicken soup.
DAWN: Before we get all “see what Women’s Lib hath wrought”, keep in mind that women are still earning only 82 cents to every dollar earned by men. Women’s health issues have been secondary to men for generations. Case in point, the famous scene in Pearl S. Buck’s A Good Earth, when the heroine gives birth in the rice paddies, puts the newborn on her back, and finishes the day’s work.
It might not be as blatant today, but statistics bear out that women are more likely to be misdiagnosed with a heart attack than men. Men presenting with the same symptoms are treated more aggressively as well. How else to explain that 75 per cent of men survive their first heart attack, but only a 62 per cent survival rate among women.
Most women I know don’t want the world to stop when we are feeling under the weather. We do pride ourselves on being sturdy and capable, but an occasional day of guilt-free pampering doesn’t hurt equality.
I will admit that I wear strength like a badge of honor; most women do. Why else would we endure natural childbirth? We also buy into the media’s glorification of women who run marathons two weeks after giving birth, already in their pre-pregnancy running shorts. Women compare and bemoan when we don’t measure up to the myth of the Super Woman.
This doesn’t mean we want to be treated by our loved ones as hard core soldiers – and this isn’t just a “woman thing.” Men and women alike want to get a little TLC when they are under the weather or the stress level is boiling over. It’s called being loved.
I am capable of making my own sick call, but don’t think you are being sensitive if you tell your wife she can skip the gym when she is coughing her lungs up and shivering under the covers. | <urn:uuid:64b10373-24f0-4e8c-9b99-107ff4d362bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://davisclipper.com/pages/full_story/push?article-Compassion+or+assuming+weakness-%20&id=18134370&instance=secondary_stories_left_column | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965373 | 819 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Although many of us most easily recognize risk in its physical form, it can also be emotional and intellectual in nature. Every one of us has a different tolerance for risk, and we all have a different starting point when it comes to facing different risks. This applies to relationships, business and life in general.
When we face risk, we learn about ourselves. We may learn what our limitations are but, most importantly, we learn about what our limitations ARE NOT. This can free us to try new things and to be more successful than we were before.
To learn about ourselves we must leave our “comfort zone” and go to a place that is new. However, if we venture too far out of this zone, we enter the “panic zone”, a place where the surge of adrenalin will fog our minds and paralyze our muscles.
For best learning we want to venture into the challenge zone, that sweet spot between comfort and panic where we can stretch ourselves in productive ways.
When you find yourself in a situation that seems uncomfortable for any reason you are likely stepping outside your comfort zone. When this happens we should Pause, Reflect and Respond.
Pause: stop and take a deep breath to center and calm yourself.
Reflect: take a look at what is happening, what you believe to be true versus what you know to be true.
Respond: Chose the action that will get you the best long term results.
Using this simple strategy will help you meet challenge effectively and learn in your challenge zone. | <urn:uuid:1a9f1485-94dc-4b28-a21e-aef83ff3f99e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://scottkress.com/?p=88 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939779 | 316 | 2.28125 | 2 |
The Last of the Mohicans
Cooper's most enduringly popular novel combines heroism and romance with powerful criticism of the destruction of nature and tradition.
Set against the French and Indian siege of Fort William Henry in 1757, The Last of the Mohicans recounts the story of two sisters, Cora and Alice Munro, daughters of the English commander, who are struggling to be reunited with their father. They are aided in their perilous journey by Hawk-eye, a frontier scout and his companions Chingachgook and Uncas, the only two survivors of the Mohican tribe. But their lives are endangered by the Mangua, the savage Indian traitor who captures the sisters, wanting Cora to be his squaw.
In setting Indian against Indian and the brutal society of the white man against the civilization of the Mohican, Cooper, more than any author before or since, shaped the American sense of itself as a nation.
Read a student review byRuth Mattock, 3rd year English student at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge
The Last of the Mohicans, A narrative of 1757 by James Fenimore Cooper
James Fenimore Cooper’s American classic gathers about a small group of great and honest men in their efforts to protect the daughters of Lieutenant Colonel Munro during the Seven Years War (1756-63). Based around the historical events of 1757, the novel tracks Cora and Alice Munro with their companions Major Heyward and David the psalmodist, as they follow British reinforcements joining Fort William Henry to fight against the French. Led astray by the villainous Huron, Magua, the party joins forces with a scout, Hawkeye, the wise Mohican Chingachgook, and his son, proud Uncas. An ambush separates them, but a bond has been created that devotes the scout and the Mohicans to the daughters.
First published in 1826, the story presents archetypes in the making. Cooper’s characters would contribute hugely to popular American images of man in the wild. Hawkeye’s knowledge of the forest and its movements is a language for the most part long forgotten, and the earth-wisdom of the Mohicans is an almost magical perception. Light-footed Uncas is a native-American Hermes, whose silent tread barely rustles the grass. But the narrative is constantly aware of that titular word ‘Last,’ and the admiration Fenimoore Cooper inspires for the ways of the natives cannot avoid a touch of sadness, a man of the future’s knowledge that the world would change.
Although an international war is the background for the novel, the native battles of the forest remain in the foreground and the two planes throw each other into perspective. One is a warfare of rigidity, of armies, truce-flags, advances and retreats, an institution that moves between the square safeties of its forts. The other, equally rigid in its way, slips in and out of the trees, blows a scent on the wind, and fires single shots with devastating accuracy. Taking the world as a battlefield, the threat is invisible and ever-present. The brutality of war is not cloaked, nor is it aggrandized, but it is served with relevance suitable to the theme.
Last of the Mohicans is a book of its time, and the dated hierarchies one would expect from that time are not absent. But any assertion of such systems struggles to be anything but superfluous among the greatness of the characters Cooper has created. The quiet honour and wisdom of the red men booms through the book (the treacherous Magua is a great orator) and their moments of silence have an effect greater than words.
There is one other element of Cooper’s piece that merits attention. Hovering quietly over the substance of the text is a love story, brashly re-envisaged by many a film adaptation, but here glowing in beautiful subtlety. Never uttered, never shared, never allowed even the significance of a gesture, it is one of the most powerful threads of the novel. Unspoken to the end, it will join the chorus of silence that Cooper sings so perfectly in this story. | <urn:uuid:4d973755-55ce-4bc2-906e-c049dddcf35f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.us.penguingroup.com/nf/Book/BookDisplay/0,,9780140390247,00.html?The_Last_of_the_Mohicans_James_Fenimore_Cooper | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947529 | 863 | 2.953125 | 3 |
My wife asked me, shortly after Architects of the Culture of Death was published, why I did not devote a chapter to the notorious abortionist Henry Morgentaler. It was a good question. I had thought that Morgentaler, the prime mover in the complete dismantling of all legal protection for the unborn in Canada, did not have much influence outside the country. One of my criteria for inclusion in the book was the widespread dissemination of the culture of death, either historically or globally.
Recent events, however, have nudged me to wonder if I had made an egregious omission. Now that Morgentaler is a recipient of the Order of Canada, the highest civic honor that the government can bestow on a Canadian citizen, he has become, in a sense, larger than life, an icon and trailblazer who embodies what Canadians are expected to imitate.
The Order of Canada is supposed to recognize a “lifetime of outstanding achievement, dedication to the community and service to the country” to those who “have enriched the lives of others and made a difference to this country.”
Since the infamous Morgentaler Supreme Court decision in 1988, the number of unborn Canadians who have been aborted is equal to the population of Manitoba and Saskatchewan combined. This surely makes a “difference” to Canada, but does it “enrich” any lives?
The Ottawa Gazette ran a memorial to these victims of abortion, referring to them as ex-potential recipients of the Order of Canada.
In the face of a landslide of lost lives, Morgentaler remains as glib as ever. He speaks of abortion as “necessary for the integrity of the family” and takes credit for helping to create a society where “people can realize their full potential.” The Quebec newspaper Le Droit reported that in one year Morgentaler grossed approximately $11 million from his cross-country abortion franchises.
Awarding the Order of Canada to Henry Morgentaler — not to anyone’s surprise — has provoked disorder in Canada.
At least eight Order of Canada medals have been returned. Petitioners throughout the country are urging the government to rescind the award, now that it has become debased and thoroughly discredited.
Yet, even these gestures have sparked further controversy. Edward Greenspan, a Toronto criminal lawyer, says that returning the medals is “madness,” “an ugly act,” “an obnoxious gesture.” Writing for the Toronto Sun, he charges that “Anyone who returns their [sic] medal clearly did not deserve it in the first place.” There is not much middle ground on this issue. Greenspan’s clarity will likely elicit someone else’s perplexity.
Polls indicate that the majority of Canadians oppose giving the award to Morgentaler. But the politically correct elite have gotten their way. They have attempted to create a personal memorial, a national enshrinement to a woman’s prerogative to choose abortion.
A memorial dispenses with argument. It is assumed to stand above debate and serve as an unquestioned beacon for others to follow. Has Morgentaler and what he represents now been made even more dangerous?
Nonetheless, the disorder this award has provoked may provide an impetus that opens an honest discussion of abortion, including its ill effects on women, its tearing at the family and how it deprives the unborn of realizing any of their potential.
Adding to the national disorder, a recently released short film, First-Degree Morgentaler, provides the testimony of Vicky Green, who attests that Morgentaler told her, “It’s not a baby” when she balked at going through with the abortion. She subsequently cried while undergoing the procedure.
Currently, the Canadian government is assessing Bill C-484, The Unborn Victims of Crime Act. The bill, if passed, would amend the criminal code and allow homicide charges to be laid when the death of an unborn child results from a criminal attack against a pregnant woman.
Some oppose the bill because they see it as the first step toward recriminalizing abortion and thereby denying women their reproductive “rights.” Others see it as a deterrent against assaulting pregnant women, given the fact that one in six women is physically abused during pregnancy in Canada.
In the House of Commons, the Yeas numbered 147, while 132 voted Nay. At this writing, the bill has been referred to the Standing Committee on Justice and Human Rights.
Abortion continues to be an issue that will not go away, despite the massive effort on the part of the Canadian government and the media to make it a non-issue. At present, it is forcing Canadians to decide what kind of society they want for themselves and their descendents.
The fact that Henry Morgentaler has received the Order of Canada while Linda Gibbons has served five years in jail for doing nothing more than peacefully trying to dissuade women from aborting their children, may indicate that Canada has reached a significant crossroad in its history.
Donald DeMarco is
adjunct professor at Holy
Apostles College and Seminary
in Cromwell, Connecticut. | <urn:uuid:c3dec33a-2801-445f-b88c-a373cb1af9d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncregister.com/site/article/disorder_in_canada_the_morgentaler_mess/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964679 | 1,073 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Flowers of the Son is an emotionally gripping, real-life look at the struggle to stand for Jesus in Israel. Only one-tenth of one percent of Israeli Jews know Jesus – the rest don’t even know his name.
Flowers of the Son movie trailer is given right below.
Israel is home to some seven and a half million people. But to billions others, it is a stray and distant thought—the very mention of which often evokes images of terrorism, religious conflict, and concrete rubble. But from amid the sounds of conflict, one group of missionaries hears the cry for peace and salvation.
Flowers of the Son documents the experiences of the volunteers participating in “Behold Your God,” a four week evangelistic outreach that spans twelve geographic regions of Israel. Through pamphlets, banners, skits, musical performances, phone calls, and door-to-door visits, these missionaries engage both young and old, religious and irreligious in conversation about the Messiah, Y’shua.
Directed, written, and produced by Emmy award-winners Herb and Amy Kossover, Flowers of the Son packs quite the punch in a short, 30 minute time slot. Despite its slightly cloying, Hallmark card introduction, this half hour is not filled with typical evangelistic fare—there are no heartrending accounts of injured orphans and puppies, no sickening musical number. It is the truthful, occasionally gruesome story of what these missionaries face on a daily basis.
If you want to buy the DVD for $10, goto the movie store page
It is made apparent that whether serving on the front lines or behind the scenes, these campaign workers have the unity of an army and the resilience of soldiers. Despite their uniform of brightly colored t-shirts, they are of different genders and nationalities with unique gifts and testimonies. But just like the campaign itself, this film is a collaboration. The voices of all types of missionaries are heard through narrative, interviews, and both live and reenacted footage.
But the cries of opposition are also heard, loud and clear. Instances of verbal abuse and physical assault permeate the film, providing a realistic picture of the spiritual war that is taking place in the streets of Israel. Fortunately, there is hope amid the horror. Serving as the dessert of this cinematic meal, two inspiring accounts of religious seekers leave a lasting taste of promise.
Whether showing moments of the ugliness of human nature or the beauty of salvation, the audience will be captured by the stunning cinematography, enjoyable soundtrack (including the sounds of New Light Ruins), and vivid storytelling. Flowers of the Son inspires those around the world to look past the crumbling cement and to see the life that is bursting up through the cracks.
Tags: buy, movie, play online | <urn:uuid:a5d9f7a7-037a-4989-8126-653a851046fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.turnbacktogod.com/flowers-of-the-son-movie-review/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936822 | 576 | 1.5 | 2 |
Depictions of the oil industry often involve images of geysering derricks, boisterous Texans and ultra-wealthy Arab sheikhs. Though these stereotypes have some element of truth in them, they conceal more than they illuminate about hydrocarbons in the 21st century. Conventional oil will remain the cornerstone of our energy economy into the forseeable future, but high demand, technological breakthroughs and political factors all suggest that unconventional energy sources are likely to play a crucial supporting role.
What is Heavy Oil?
Heavy oil is that which is extremely viscous, and very dense. Additionally, heavy oil tends to be very sulfurous or “sour”. Oil sand, or bitumen, is even more viscous, and by weight contains much less useful hydrocarbon than other crudes. Oil sands are composed primarily of clay, sand and water. Though oil gradation standards vary by country, heavy oil can be roughly defined as those crudes of less than 22° API gravity (American Petroleum Institute). Most standards bodies classify oil sands as distinct from heavy oil, but both pose similar extracting and refining challenges. Heavy oils such as these are generally used to produce fuel oil for heating, while light oil is more suited for creating gasoline and diesel.
The density, viscosity and impurity of heavy oil and oil sands makes extraction and transport much more expensive than “light” crude. It is necessary to dilute heavy oil before pipeline transport. Oil sands must pass through bitumen upgraders to become synthetic crude, or refined before long distance transport is viable. These costs are somewhat offset by the shallower depths of most heavy oil sources, decreasing drilling costs. Scientific advances and record prices have greatly improved profitability of heavy oil and oil sand extraction. Surface mining was once the only method of extraction, but in situ (in place) methods have made previously inaccessible deep oil sands viable.
Where is Heavy Oil Found?
The quantity of these unconventional hydrocarbon resources is immense. Some estimates peg the worldwide totals as approaching twenty trillion barrels of oil sands alone. Though not all of this is recoverable, it illustrates the potential value of heavier crudes.
Heavy oil is often found in deposits and formations with lighter, sweeter oil, and therefore all major oil-producing countries possess some heavy oil. However, large-scale extraction has thus far been largely concentrated in Canada, Venezuela, and the Soviet Union successor states. Venezuela’s Orinoco heavy oil belt and Canada’s Athabasca oil sands are the most notable projects worldwide. Recent prices have also spurred traditional light crude producers into reexamining their heavy oil reserves. The best example of this is Saudi Aramco’s recent announcement that it will construct multiple new refineries for heavy crude over the next decade.
Investing in Heavy Oil
So long as oil prices remain high, heavy oil and oil sands will be part of the fossil fuel economy. As energy prices have climbed over the past years, unconventional hydrocarbon projects have experienced a boom surpassing that of the late 1970s. Those extracting heavy oil and its close cousin oil sand have been among the chief beneficiaries of increasing energy prices.
Investors expecting dramatic decreases in oil prices should limit their exposure to heavy oil companies. The Canadian National Energy Board estimates “that US$30 to $35 per barrel for WTI [West Texas Intermediate Crude] is required to provide a 10 percent real rate of return to the producer.”
Most private investment has been concentrated in Canada so far. Several structural factors favour Canada’s unconventional oil sector. Most importantly, it has the largest reserves of unconventional oil in the world. “Alberta’s three major areas contain approximately 1.7 trillion barrels of bitumen in place; proven measures indicate there are 173 billion barrels of recoverable oil in the oil sands.” As well, America is the world’s thirstiest consumer of oil. These complementary facts allowed Canada to recently overtake Saudi Arabia as the leading supplier of oil to the U.S. Proposed North-South pipelines are likely to accelerate this trend in the future. A more tentative plan to create pipeline capacity to the Pacific Coast would allow Canadian heavy oil to reach Japan and the increasingly thirsty Chinese market. Finally, Canada has a combination of effective regulatory bodies, transparent government and publicly-traded oil companies that is extremely rare in oil exporting countries.
Investing in Canada’s oil sector is not risk-free, however. Alberta’s superheated economy has resulted in a chronic skilled labour shortage. Input costs are rising as demand for steel, energy and equipment grows worldwide. The American desire for more environmentally friendly energy also poses a significant risk. The U.S. Congress has already begun to act, passing the Energy Independence and Security Act of 2007, which prohibits Federal agencies from using fuel sources unless the lifecycle greenhouse gas emissions of that fuel are “ less than or equal to such emissions from the equivalent conventional fuel produced from conventional petroleum sources.” Though this clause will likely be amended or removed, it illustrates a legislative and political environment that must be watched carefully.
These uncertainties have led some players to slow down investment in the Canadian heavy oil/ oil sands sector. StatoilHydro ASA (NYSE:STO) and Nexen Inc. (TSE:NXY) have asked for a clearer idea of forthcoming regulations before they continue accelerating their involvement.
Venezuela’s reserves of unconventional oil are roughly analogous to Canada’s, and existing infrastructure supplies the United States, but the political dynamics are unstable. President Hugo Chavez’s sweeping nationalization of the energy sector in 2007 and subsequent poor management of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company PDVSA have helped create a profoundly underperforming energy sector. Chavez’s government has systematically appropriated PDVSA’s profits to fund social programs, with predictable consequences. Exploration, maintenance and equipment procurement have all suffered. In the near future Venezuela will need foreign investment in its oil sector, but is more likely to ask state-owned energy companies than publicly traded ones. The savvy investor should therefore keep an eye on developments in Venezuela, but not hold out hope for significant change in the near future. Russia and the post-Soviet states have a similarly hostile investment climate.
With demand for oil continuing to grow in the developing world and supplies straining to keep up, a timely investment in unconventional hydrocarbons may soon look like a bargain. Barring a massive decrease in crude prices, or the sudden discovery of a cheap, environmentally friendly energy source, heavy oil and oil sands will remain profitable commodities. The 21st century may therefore see the creation of a new oilman stereotype; the polite Canadian. | <urn:uuid:017db847-d760-4d5a-8804-5ec20cf5a41e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heavyoilinvestingnews.com/17-heavy-oil-and-oil-sands-introduction.html | 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 | 0.953304 | 1,377 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Sports psychology in Canesport Magazine – September 28, 2011 – John F Murray – Publisher’s Note: “Mind Games” is a column written for CaneSport each week by John Murray, a noted sports psychologist and author who has developed an index for evaluating the mental performance of players and coaches in games. We think it will provide all of us with a unique viewpoint as the Hurricanes navigate through the season.
The loss to KSU really had to hurt. We all envisioned a little boost of momentum going into the extremely tough part of the schedule starting with Virginia Tech on October 8. Miami had just overcome that huge obstacle in destroying Ohio State, and maybe, just maybe, there was a little too much post-OSU euphoria, or that it lasted a little too long for the team to be completely ready for KSU.
I don’t think Al Golden is to blame. He has been a student of Bill Snyder’s coaching, respects his abilities greatly, and made the strong point that KSU could not be overlooked. Still, one wonders if all the players really bought in to this 100%. Even the fans seemed just a little too comfortable going into the cross hairs of a Snyder attack. Maybe we should have focused a little more on just this one game, called it a huge impending battle, and stopped worrying so much about individual traits such as Jacory Harris’ maturity level or game managing capabilities.
Before the game, I received emails from KSU faithful saying that Miami was in for a huge challenge and probably a long day. I tried my small part by posting a warning in a Canesport forum. “Bill Snyder is genius,” these Kansas people asserted, yet the team wasn’t even in Kansas anymore as they strolled along South Beach and into a hostile Miami stadium with history on its side. It didn’t matter. Naive Kansas lads who didn’t even know the meaning of the word “fear” hid behind wheat fields, unleashed a surprise Snyder attack, and made candy canes of this bunch.
Now that the damage is done, I’m sure we all wish we had yelled louder about the threat of Snyder-trained Wildcats. That KSU team deserved their success, yet UM still had a chance to win at the end. Hats off to KSU. Congratulations to Bill Snyder for another fine football clinic. Lose with dignity when you lose, but please never forget how painful this one was. The “U” will take it and come back stronger in the future because of it. The lesson is as old as time. Always respect your opponent. You are never as good as you think you are, and your opponent is never as bad as you think they are. Painful, hard, and agonizing? Yes. Required reading? Absolutely!
Now that tears are dry and gaping holes in sports bar bathroom walls are repaired, let’s move on. I’ve always loved the phrase: “while mopping up your past you wipe out your future,” and it applies here. No more dwelling on defeat. We have a chance to get to .500 against Bethune Cookman this Saturday, and we will. Nobody will come close to making Bethune Cookman a favorite, but Miami still needs to go out and make it happen in a big way. They need to unleash a major attack with all three units and get a big win against somebody — anybody. They need this game for confidence. Lose this, and I’ll suggest that the U transfer to a flag football conference. Win big and get ready for war on October 8. Then beat Virginia Tech and the whole season has new meaning. Never say never!
Knowledge is power and you learn more when you lose, so let’s take a quick look at what actually happened against KSU. In a game played at a quality level slightly below average, KSU very barely outperformed Miami on the MPI-T by a score of .496 to .494.
If you look at the above chart, however, you will realize that while Miami started slow, by the end of the third quarter they were dominating the game on this overall performance rating .512 to .480! Give KSU credit for their 4th quarter touchdown drive and for keeping Miami out of the end zone on multiple pressure plays at the end. They really rose to the occasion and put a whipping on UM in the fourth quarter. Overall performance only slightly favored KSU and they also won the game 28-24.
Where KSU really excelled and Miami faltered was in pressure moments. KSU destroyed Miami in all three categories of pressure play by approximately 30%! Their total pressure score (MPI-TP=.643) was at 64.3 percent (95th percentile)! Simply stated, KSU came up big when they had to and Miami folded when the chips were on the line (MPI-TP=.336, 5th percentile).
Part of this I credit to a good coaching scheme by Snyder, and part of this falls on the players. KSU executed in the clutch and Miami did not. It was best exemplified when Miami could not get into the end zone after having a first and goal on the two.
Both offenses had their way in the game compared with the defenses. Whereas Miami’s offense dominated the KSU defense by 6.4%, KSU overwhelmed the Miami defense by 9.9%, and this latter statistic is at the 89th percentile for domination.
It was notable that Miami only performed at .439 on defense overall, far below average, whereas KSU performed better at .469. For the third week in a row, Miami’s special teams unit was the best one on the field even though their .550 performance was less than in the first two weeks.
In my last column, I laid out 5 goals going into the KSU game. Let’s see how Miami did on the goals established:
Goal 1: No more than 1 turnover and a T + P < 8
Results: Goals achieved! The Miami Hurricanes had one turnover and 4 penalties (T + P = 5). This is great progress. Jacory Harris does need to perform more effectively, but this is not the game to talk about turnovers and penalties!
Goal 2: Better balance with 240 yards rushing, 250 yards passing, 0 interceptions, and an MPI-T > .565
Results: Only 1 of 4 sub-goals achieved. On the positive side, Jacory and the Hurricanes threw for 272 yards. Rushing, however, was reduced to 139 yards despite Lamar Miller’s good performance. There was one interception, and the MPI-T score was nowhere near the .565 target set (MPI-T=.494).
Goal 3: Continued great special teams play with MPI-ST > .630
Results: Not achieved. However, the special teams unit has been the best on the field for Miami. Their score in this game of .550 is well above average even if it did not hit the .630 mark targeted.
Goal 4: Offensive dominance of at least 12%
Results: Not achieved. The Hurricanes offense did dominate the Wildcat’s defense, but by a more modest 6.4% (MPI-O Hurricanes = .533, MPI-D Wildcats = .469).
Goal 5: Dominate in pressure situations by 25%
Results: Are you kidding? Not even close! Not only did Miami fail to achieve this goal, but KSU actually dominated the Hurricanes in pressure situations by 30.7%! Great performance in pressure moments of the game belonged to KSU and this is the single greatest factor in a KSU victory. Overall pressure play for KSU, as stated, was at the 95th percentile.
I hope you enjoy the new graphic this week (you need to read the article at canesport.com to see the graph) in which I showed the cumulative MPI scores for each team every quarter. I will not do that every week, but wanted you to see how the game progressed, and how KSU really turned it up at the end whereas Miami faltered, and especially in the red zone at the end.
Let’s keep this painful loss as a lesson. Never underestimate your opponent, and realize that without smart play and execution in pressure moments, a win that seems easily in reach with first and goal at the 2 yard line can easily become a loss.
But how do you train the mental skills and get players to perform better in pressure situations? Aha, you had to ask a sports psychologist. This is what I do. We specialize in training athletes to prepare for the most difficult pressure moments imaginable so that when game time comes it should be a breeze. It works most of the time and I love what I do.
Let’s take a break for a week on setting goals. The talent levels between Miami and Bethune-Cookman are so different that I will not waste my time. If Miami loses, I will help them vigorously in their new flag football league. Sorry Canes world! I have to find a way to use humor to cope in a difficult time. I love this team and will continue doing whatever I can to help in this column. It all begins with brutal honesty in what the MPI numbers and percentiles reveal.
Win this game big, and we’ll get set for a tremendous week of excitement as we prepare to beat Virginia Tech! Don’t give up hope. This program is growing and will continue to get better even after such a painful lesson as the Snyder attack from behind the Kansas wheat fields last Saturday in Miami.
Dr. John F. Murray, described as “The Freud of Football” by the Washington Post, is a South Florida native and licensed clinical and sports psychologist in Palm Beach. He provides mental coaching and sports psychology services, counseling, speeches and seminars. He recently authored his second book, “The Mental Performance Index: Ranking the Best Teams in Super Bowl History,” destroying stigmas about the mental game in sports and showing football teams how to perform better and win more games by enhancing team performance assessments and training. For further information call Dr. Murray at 561-596-9898, visit johnfmurray.com or email firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:eb9e276d-e7e5-4f0e-b9a2-6c6071f47d66> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.johnfmurray.com/index.php/tag/lesley-visser | 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 | 0.972636 | 2,150 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Energy sapping: Households hurting in game of catch up
"From July 1 2007 the average electricity price paid by New South Wales households has increased by 108 per cent."
'Ok team, we are well behind in the game, the crowd is not on our side and Distribution and Networking are killing us up the middle - I need you to go out there and really give me 108 per cent!'
It is full of emotion and it really packs a punch - but unfortunately for New South Wales residents, the rising cost of electricity is no game.
Nor is the impact it is having on households throughout the state.
Despite a conscious effort to use less household energy, thousands of residents are opening power bills to find their energy-saving schemes made redundant by continually rising electricity prices.
According to Energy and Regulation Researcher at the University of Sydney Dr Lynne Chester, average power bill costs have more than doubled since July 1997.
"In the last few years the increases have been very significant," According to Energy and Regulation Researcher at the University of Sydney Dr Lynne Chester said.
"By my calculations, from July 1 2007 the average electricity price paid by New South Wales households has increased by 108 per cent."
Dr Chester identified distribution and maintenance costs as the main factors driving the price increase.
"It is a very complex mix of rates and tariffs - but there are four core components," Dr Chester said.
"One is to generate the actual electricity, one is to carry it over the poles and wires (transmission and distribution costs) and one is the final retail charge.
"It is those two in the middle - the network and distribution the network charges, the poles and wires - they have been the primary reason for this phenomenal increase.
"Unfortunately it's a very complex system that sets these charges, those network charges are set by a federal energy regulator, whereas the final retail charge that households will see in NSW is calculated by IPART (Independent Pricing and Regulatory Tribunal).
"Essentially the NSW regulator takes the advice of the federal regulator and passes them through to the household."
According to Dr Chester, government-owned distribution and transmission companies around Australia have put off upgrading their assets for too long.
Now they are paying catch up.
"They have been investing in ageing assets and replacing and upgrading them," Dr Chester said.
"They haven't been replaced for quite some time, decisions have been deferred.
"It becomes more expensive over time, the longer you put it off."
Unfortunately for New South Wales electricity users, further increases are expected.
"One of the federal energy regulators has estimated that across Australia we can expect to see 30-40 per cent (increase)," Dr Chester said.
"In New South Wales over the next couple of years the estimate is about 45 per cent.
"That is an estimate and it may not come through.
"It was made prior to the current debate and if anything we may see a halt to the expected increases while the politicians sort out how to make it more manageable."
"Finally the politicians are starting to realise that something as essential as electricity you cannot keep putting the price up and up because so many millions of Australian households are significantly impacted."
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Latest stories from ABC Central West NSW. Including audio, photo, video, recipes and reviews across the region. | <urn:uuid:b7cdc9dc-e32b-4aa0-9e60-49c124fe9b3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2012/08/13/3566564.htm?site=centralwestµsite=§ion=news | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962779 | 786 | 1.945313 | 2 |
The Appraisal of Modern Public Records: Foreword
- Table of Contents
- Evidential Values
- Informational Values
by T. R. Schellenberg
Bulletins of the National Archives
Number 8 (October 1956)
Perhaps the most difficult problem facing an archivist concerned with modern public records is that of appraisal. In the case of the Federal archivist this problem is particularly acute because of the recency and the mass of the records with which he deals. To help solve this problem, the present bulletin has been written. In it the values of public records are discussed in relation to the evidence they contain on the organization and functioning of Government bodies and the information in them on persons, things, and phenomena that were the concern of such bodies. While the bulletin contains no exact standards by which the value of records may be judged, it suggests certain broad approaches that should be taken in appraisal work.
The bulletin also contains convincing evidence that the evaluation of records is not a simple task. Appraisal judgments, it is clear, will be competent to the degree that the appraiser is well trained, has studied the organization, functions, and procedures of the agency whose records he is evaluating, and is familiar with the total research resources and needs of the field in which he is working.
Ever since the establishment of the National Archives 21 years ago, its professional staff has been appraising records. The results of that experience are reflected in the bulletin. As a part of our Records Management Program, we are now engaged in applying this experience to the management of current records and the improvement of paperwork generally throughout the Government. If properly carried out, this program should result not only in fewer and better records being created and maintained in the day-to-day business of Government, but in fewer and better records for future generations.
A recent report made by J. H. Collingridge of the British Public Record Office to the Third International Congress on Archives indicates that our professional colleagues abroad are also considering seriously the problems presented in appraising modern public records, and that their conclusions do not greatly differ from ours.
Dr. Schellenberg has been concerned with the problem of appraisal in various capacities in the National Archives. As Deputy Examiner he helped survey records of various Federal agencies to determine which of them were suitable for preservation; as Chief of the Division of Agriculture Department Archives he helped formulate procedures for scheduling records for disposal; and as Program Adviser he prepared a manual on the Disposition of Federal Records. He is now Director of Archival Management. During the Second World War he was Records Officer of the Office of Price Administration, and his experiences in selecting its records for preservation are reflected in this bulletin. He is author of Modern Archives: Principles and Techniques (Melbourne and Chicago, 1956).
WAYNE C. GROVER
Archivist of the United States
August 23, 1956
- Archives and Preservation Home Page
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- Contact Us | <urn:uuid:a360a382-dda9-4928-ad90-7682f42d07d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.archives.gov/research/alic/reference/archives-resources/appraisal-foreword.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95392 | 635 | 2.0625 | 2 |
NEW YORK, NY.- Tanya Bonakdar Gallery
is presenting The Distant Sound, an exhibition by Susan Philipsz that combines multiple channel sound installation, photography, and film. In these new works, Philipsz builds upon her recent presentation for dOCUMENTA 13, using a series of instrumental tracks to shape the gallery's space and immerse the visitor in sound. Each of the auditory and visual fragments that compose the show is powerfully evocative, and together the pieces combine to create an intangible but perceptible sense of distance, separation, and loss.
The exhibition takes its title from the 1910 opera, Der ferne Klang, or The Distant Sound, by the Austrian composer Franz Schreker. In Schreker's work, a composer is haunted by an ethereal noise that he tries all his life to capture. It is only on his deathbed that he realizes the sound has been around him all the time, in the rhythmic textures of modern life. In Philipsz's installation, bits of the score for the horns, strings, and chimes from Schreker's opera are disassembled and transcribed so that each note comes from its own speaker. Abstracting the individual notes from the composition as a whole transforms the music into sound and creates an open-endedness that allows the ambient noises of the space to intermingle with the work. Schreker himself incorporated atmospheric sounds into his operathere is a passage that resembles a bird call, and one that mimics the mournful wail of a far off train whistle. Philipsz isolates these elements, and combines them with her own ambient noises, including a series of recordings taken from train stations in Berlin. These station recordings reference the departure and arrival of immigrants. Like so many composers of his generation, Schreker was persecuted and his career was curtailed during the Nazi era. Although he himself did not move to America, he was a contemporary of the generation of Austrian composers who immigrated in the 1930s and 40s, and his work is representative of the displaced émigré culture of the mid 20th century.
A set of photographs that document the journey from Glasgow to Dundee, taken while Philipsz was still in college, create a stark visual landscape along the back wall of the main space. The atmospheric diptych, capturing cables in transit, speaks of the dynamic of movement and separation. Elaborating on this theme and echoing the slow string sounds found throughout the exhibition, Philipsz also includes film footage from her PS1 studio residency. Shot in 2001, the film is titled Bird by Bird, in honor of the old seven trains, which were painted red and referred to as "redbirds." The film captures the slow screech of the train trundling along the elevated tracks past the studio window as the light begins to fade. These images of traveling, of leaving one place to journey to another, visually echo the sound installations and together they create an abstract meditation on themes of absence and separation.
Winner of the 2010 Turner prize, Philipsz lives and works in Berlin. Her upcoming shows include a new permanent installation for Governor's Island in New York City, titled Day is Done, opening in 2013, as a well as a new commission for the Albright Knox Art Gallery, Buffalo, New York opening October 2012. Notable current presentations include I Wish This Was a Song,
The National Museum of Norway, Museum of Contemporary Art, Oslo, through January 2013 (group); More than a Sound, Bonniers Konsthall, Stockholm, Sweden, through December 2 (group); Study for Strings, dOCUMENTA 13, Kassel, Germany, through September 16 (group); Timeline, a public installation for the Edinburgh Arts Festival, through September 6; among others. Her work is included in museum collections around the world, including: The Carnegie Museum of Art, Pittsburgh, PA; Castello di Rivoli, Italy; The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum, New York, NY; The Hirshhorn Museum and Sculpture Garden, Washington, DC; The Museum of Contemporary Art, Chicago, IL; Museo Nacional Centro de Arte Reina Sofia, Madrid, Spain;
The Linda Pace Art Foundation, San Antonio, TX; Sculpture projects Münster, Münster (2007 permanent exhibition); The Tate, London; The Walker Art Center, Minneapolis, MN; among others. | <urn:uuid:ccb93b2b-0091-4823-bf3c-57209d655f6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artdaily.org/index.asp?int_sec=2&int_new=57797 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946637 | 910 | 1.976563 | 2 |
This project involved the development and evaluation of cultural consultation as a specialized service in mental health in Canada. The principle objective of the service was to improve the accessibility and cultural appropriateness of mental health services for the multicultural population of Montreal, including immigrants, refugees, and ethnocultural groups, as well as Aboriginal peoples.
This toolkit provides an overview of and lessons learned from the Cultural Competency Initiative, which was launched in 2000. The Initiative assisted mental health organizations create and implement culturally competent services by providing funding and technical assistance as well as by disseminating information about innovative minority outreach programs.
This guide is intended to serve as a reference for professionals to gain an understanding of stigma towards mental illness in non-English speaking background communities in Australia. Additionally, the guide was developed to aide in the development of strategies to reduce stigma in non-English speaking background communities.
This report documents a project, funded under the National Mental Health Strategy in Australia, aimed to consider the main barriers which people of non-English speaking background experience when they need public mental health services. The project explored both these barriers, and service responses to them in the Australian context, and in the academic literature.
This report outlines the results of a research project intended to document the cultural features of three well-established mental health programs developed by community members, or adapted by providers, to work for the cultural groups they serve.
This simple guide offers mental health professionals a better understanding of the factors which can affect their counseling and suggests ways to improve and enrich services for their ethnically diverse clientele. Topics covered include use of interpreters, confidentiality, outreach, and engaging with families.
In an effort to address concerns that the services offered by behavioral healthcare organizations may not be responsive to the special needs of multicultural populations, a two phase project was undertaken with funding from the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) to recommend and benchmark performance measures that could be used to make specific these concerns and
This policy brief discusses the increased attention given to multicultural issues such as minority utilization, language barriers, and provider diversity in mental health service delivery. The author discusses recent trends in demographic projections regarding the make up the U.S. population, as well as treatment outcomes, and implementation strategies.
This series of courses focused on disaster preparedness and crisis response focuses on training professionals so that in a disaster situation they can ensure that all people affected receive equitable, effective services in an appropriate manner.
The CCSAQ is an assessment tool designed for use in child and adolescent mental health systems to help organizations 1) assess their ability to deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate services, 2) identify cross-cultural strengths already present in the organization, and 3) guide leadership towards training interventions to improve cultural competence.
Everyone with an interest in cross cultural health issues is welcome to a free membership on the DiversityRx website. Members get additional opportunities to interact on the website and with colleagues in the U.S. and around the world. Learn about all member benefits. | <urn:uuid:51a5e028-efdc-4a24-bdf8-05a74c2ecc82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.diversityrx.org/resource-tags/behavioral-health | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945908 | 609 | 2.484375 | 2 |
The European collection is the crown jewel of the Museum, as was intended from the founding of the institution. From the start the collection was planned to provide a strong, in-depth survey of European art from the 14th to the 19th century. Of the 139 paintings and sculptures purchased with the original appropriation, 123 were European. When these paintings were augmented by the 75 primarily Italian paintings and sculptures given to the Museum by the Samuel H. Kress Foundation in 1961, they created a European collection that is recognized as one of the finest in the United States. Although it includes a number of noteworthy sculptures (in particular the 13th-century Parisian ivory and the Auvergne Madonna and Child, the Tino da Camaino roundel, Koellin’s Madonna of the Protective Cloak, Riemenschneider’s Female Saint, the Neptune attributed to Cellini, the Canova-studio Venus Italica, and Carpeaux’s Genie de la Danse), it has been primarily a collection of paintings. The acquisition of nearly 30 bronzes by Auguste Rodin—a gift from the Iris and B. Gerald Cantor Foundation—will assuredly change this perception. | <urn:uuid:5add2d0f-e394-4362-a558-87edb30fa8a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncartmuseum.org/collection/european/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949163 | 246 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Seattle fire, police departments reprioritized after Sept. 11
Seattle Times staff reporter
The Seattle police and fire departments will be on alert today, but they won't have all the tools they had hoped for should disaster strike.
After last year's September 11 tragedy, the Fire Department drafted a strategic plan for improving its response to terrorism and disaster. Today, most of the recommendations in the plan — including those considered most important by firefighters — remain far from reality.
Police Chief Gil Kerlikowske and Fire Chief Gary Morris readily admitted, in a joint interview yesterday, that there was still work to do.
"We're making progress," said Morris. "The problem is, we're like a dad-gum turtle going across the road. It takes a while to get there."
Not to mention money. Mayor Greg Nickels recently proposed a $10 million reduction in anticipated spending by the two departments for 2003.
That's not to say, however, that Seattle isn't better prepared than it was a year ago.
"People should feel more comfortable," Kerlikowske said. "We've devoted far more attention and resources (to terrorism and disaster). Even though there are not a lot of new resources, we've reprioritized."
With good reason, it seems. Photos of the Space Needle were found among al-Qaida documents seized in an Afghanistan cave earlier this year, and Kerlikowske said Seattle keeps popping up in "intelligence chatter" along with New York and Washington, D.C.
For the anniversary of September 11, both chiefs said they will have more staff on duty, particularly from special units, such as the bomb squad, and their departments will be in a state of "heightened awareness."
The chiefs cited a list of tangible improvements their departments had made in the last year. Few involved gee-whiz technology. Instead, the improvements tend to focus on better planning, especially by top-level commanders in the two departments.
At the top of their list was Nickels' push to create a new Emergency Preparedness Bureau within the Police Department. A big part of the bureau's work is identifying areas of Seattle vulnerable to terrorism, Kerlikowske said.
He declined to offer any details about vulnerable areas.
Next, the chiefs said their departments are collaborating more than they had. "Gary Morris made sure that police and fire staff came together. Now we meet and break bread on a host of issues," Kerlikowske said.
The two departments are also participating in larger collaborations with county, state, federal and international emergency-response teams.
In addition, the two departments have increased in-house training for terrorism and disasters, with a special emphasis on new threats such as bioterrorism and "dirty" bombs.
Yesterday, for instance, Kerlikowske said a four-hour police-training session was devoted entirely to weapons of mass destruction — something that would not have happened a year ago.
"Not everyone needs to be technical expert," Morris added, "but they need to be able to support the experts. It's not unlike the military where 25 percent of the troops might be on the beach while the other 75 percent are supporting them."
But the problem, according to the Seattle firefighters union, is that the number of supporting troops is declining at a time when it needs to be increasing.
The union will hold a rally tomorrow morning at Occidental Park in Pioneer Square to protest $3.3 million in cuts to the Fire Department budget proposed by Nickels.
"Are we any better off today than where we were last year? The answer is probably 'minimally,' " said union president Charles Hawkins.
He points to the Fire Department's strategic plan for terrorism and disaster and notes that little or no progress has been made on a number of recommendations.
For example, seven fire engines remain understaffed, he said, and the total number of paramedics on duty (15) appear to be inadequate for a disaster.
An officer-development program is also lacking, he notes, even though the strategic plan — which was prepared by administrators, not firefighters — stressed that the need for this "cannot be over-emphasized."
Other recommendations yet to materialize include a new emergency-operations center, a back-up dispatch center and a fire-alarm center.
Ground will be broken soon on a new training academy — also recommended in the strategic plan — but it will not be operating until late 2005.
It's possible more recommendations will be coming from the City Council. The council recently inked a $150,000 contract with a consulting firm from Arlington, Va., to review the city's emergency preparedness.
City Councilman Jim Compton, chair of the public-safety committee, said the group would help them obtain federal grants for emergency preparedness and would have preliminary work done in late October in time to be used in drawing up the city budget.
Compton said there were gaps in the city's readiness but that specifics were too sensitive for him to discuss.
"I don't think we should give a list of vulnerabilities to potential terrorists."
Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:530ada32-ed41-4784-b6d9-44ffa447b510> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://community.seattletimes.nwsource.com/archive/?date=20020911&slug=preparations11m | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96752 | 1,080 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Cold weather has long been linked to illnesses like the flu and bronchitis that can leave you stuffy and sneezing, but a recent study suggests that it might also be the root of some serious heart problems, too.
According to a recent study, heart-related deaths around the United States increased during the winter months, even in areas that have warm climates year-round. In seven areas studied by researchers, the number of deaths and heart-related deaths was more than 20 percent higher in winter than it was during summer months.
Although the study doesn’t draw a direct link between heart disease or heart attack and colder weather, researchers did suggest that there might be a few reasons behind this spike, including constricted blood vessels and hormonal changes, both of which can impact heart health. They suggest another factor, too: a lack of exercise.
“People are more likely to be inactive during colder months,” says Sean Janzer, MD, cardiologist at Bryn Mawr Hospital, Main Line Health. “Staying active and exercising is one of the best ways to keep your heart healthy, and if you’re ignoring that for three or four months out of the year, it will take its toll.”
Pair a lack of activity with a few extra holiday pounds, and you’re putting yourself at risk for worsened heart health during winter and all year-round. So how can you make sure you’re keeping your heart healthy? Make it a priority, says Dr. Janzer.
Talk to your doctor to see if you have any risk factors for heart disease, like high blood pressure or diabetes, and be aware of the signs of a heart attack. Although heart attack or heart disease can happen to anyone, those with risk factors are more likely to be affected. Continue eating well and exercising three to four days per week. If you are exercising outside, make sure to wear a hat, plenty of layers, and stay dry.
Another activity that puts hearts at risk during the winter months is snow shoveling. Many patients who experience heart attacks or other heart health issues first begin experiencing symptoms while shoveling snow.
“Shoveling snow and similar outdoor activities usually are not enough to trigger a heart issue, but if you have pre-existing conditions or other risk factors, it can be dangerous,” warns Dr. Janzer.
Keep your health in mind before heading out to shovel the sidewalk or driveway, and see if a neighbor or friend can assist if you have pre-existing conditions.
Studies like these that suggest that cooler weather may be a heart health risk are important to note, but don’t let it be the only time you’re concerned.
“Although heart-related problems might spike in winter, it doesn’t mean that’s the only time you should be paying attention to your heart health,” cautions Dr. Janzer.
Protect your heart by making regular appointments with your doctor or a cardiologist, especially if you’ve dealt with a heart condition in the past. To find a doctor near you, visit the Main Line Health website. | <urn:uuid:c06d9adf-98ee-4a06-b73e-87575e758cf9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://community.mainlinehealth.org/Blogs/Well-Ahead/December-2012/Can-Colder-Weather-Cause-Heart-Problems-.aspx?feed=blogs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960146 | 651 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Another Veterans Day has passed. Tragically, Washington creates more veterans every day. American politicians are constantly going to war for no good reason.
Special Forces to Uganda. What vital U.S. interest is threatened there? Bombing Libya. Why should Washington bail out the Europeans yet again? Nation-building in Afghanistan. Did any American imagine that more than a decade after 9/11 U.S. personnel would be dying trying to create a modern centralized nation state in Central Asia?
There’s the unnecessary, counterproductive, and duplicitous invasion of Iraq. The hypocritical and wasteful attack on Serbia over Kosovo. Foolish deployments in Somalia and Haiti. Bizarre little wars against Grenada and Panama. Crazy intervention in Lebanon.
American presidents appear to go to war simply because they can do so. The U.S. is the planet’s most powerful military power. No one forces the president to obey the constitutional requirement for a congressional declaration of war. So why not unleash death and destruction from time to time? Sadly, doing so seems to be the best way for presidents to get a high rating from historians.
About the only positive thing is that today’s wars are less costly than in the past—to America, at least. Some 200,000 Iraqi civilians probably died in the civil carnage following the U.S. invasion, more than 44 times the number of American deaths.
However, the consequences would be far worse for this nation if Washington managed to get into a shooting war with Russia or China. That may not seem likely, but it is possible. During the Russia-Georgia war in 2008 the Bush administration apparently considered military intervention; Washington has ambiguously committed to Taiwan’s defense against China. Wars in both of those cases could lead to nuclear exchanges.
Unfortunately, past policymakers have exercised no better judgment. The U.S. ended up in an extended and costly conflict in Vietnam out of fear that dominoes would fall to the communists. America’s Cambodian and Vietnamese allies collapsed—to be followed by the fall of communist dominoes years later.
The Korean War grew out of a series of dubious decisions by Washington—dividing and occupying the Korean peninsula, allowing the emergence of an authoritarian and belligerent ally, and failing to arm the Republic of Korea. Nearly six decades later the U.S. is still entangled in the Korean peninsula, defending its populous and prosperous dependent even as the latter subsidizes its bankrupt adversary, North Korea.
World War II at least featured serious aggressors with serious ambitions. But World War II did not occur in a vacuum. It reflected the unfinished business of the Great War, later called World War I. And it is World War I which gave birth to Veterans Day.
Veterans Day started out as Armistice Day, commemorating the armistice which on November 11, 1918 ended more than four years of mass killing. After the far more destructive World War II and surprisingly costly “limited” conflict in Korea, Congress changed the holiday to Veterans Day. | <urn:uuid:0049823c-4104-4934-bc70-717a9cae320a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forbes.com/sites/dougbandow/2011/11/14/veterans-day-lessons-the-sheer-tragedy-that-is-war/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938266 | 624 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Hawaiian Swordfish Fishery to Close Over High Sea Turtle Catch
In an unprecedented but legally mandated action, the Western Pacific Fisheries Management Council requested the Secretary of Commerce to shut down the swordfish fishery before it exceeds its allowable "take" of critically endangered loggerhead sea turtles.
The fishery reopened in 2004, after a federal Court mandated four-year closure, but with a requirement to use a new hook technology that the government claimed would drastically reduced the injury and mortality of sea turtles. Environmentalists opposed the re-opening due to questions about the scientific integrity of the study that led to their required use and the fact that the technology was never tested in the Pacific.
"Closures are the only proven technology that works to reduce sea turtle deaths from longlining, said Robert Ovetz, Ph.D., Save the Leatherback Campaign Coordinator with the Sea Turtle Restoration Project. "Using suspect schemes such as circle hooks to skirt our environmental laws to protect endangered species have become the norm under the current Bush administration."
"Ever since they reopened the swordfish longline fishery in April 2004, the Western Pacific Regional Fishery Management Council and NOAA Fisheries have been declaring they have figured out how to longline for swordfish without killing critically endangered leatherback and loggerhead sea turtles. Apparently, they were wrong. Let's hope this time they have the wisdom to keep the fishery closed," said Paul Achitoff managing attorney of Earthjustice in Honolulu who represented sea turtle conservation groups in litigation that initially shut down the longline fleet in 1999 for killing federally-protected sea turtles.
So called "circle" hooks were used to replace commonly used "J" style tuna hooks in the fishery and continue to be used by longline vessels targeting tuna which are exempted from the rule. A study by the Sea Turtle Restoration Project, "Techno-Fixing Sea Turtles: How the Bush Administration’s Manipulation of Science is Driving the Leatherback Sea Turtle Towards Extinction," released in September 2004, warned that the results of a 3 year study of circle hooks were rife with faulty science, politicization, and conflicts of interest.
"The failure of circle hooks to protect sea turtles can be traced directly to the politicization of NOAA Marine Fisheries Service's science that were then used to justify reopening the fishery," Ovetz added. "When the outcome of the study did not fit the desired outcome for industry, the regulations were changed accordingly."
Shutting down the Hawaiian swordfish fishery should also serve to put the brakes on a proposal approved last week by the Pacific Fisheries Management Council to reopen the West Coast to longline fishing and expand the effort of the CA drift-gillnet fishery, which also injures and kills sea turtles. The Council approved an expansion of the drift-gillnet fishery and its final vote to expand the longline fishery will take place at the its April meeting.
"Now that we have conclusive evidence that circle hooks have failed, the only option left is a closures on longline fishing in the Pacific, until proven actions can be found to eliminate the capture of these endangered species" concluded Ovetz. "The U.S.'s plan to convince other countries to use circle hooks needs to shift to identifying critical nesting and migratory areas that need to be closed."
The United Nations is currently considering a resolution that supports time and area closures to protect sea turtles. Currently, 1,007 international scientists from 97 countries are urging the UN to implement a moratorium on longline fishing in the Pacific Ocean to prevent the extinction of the critically endangered leatherback sea turtle. The scientists are joined by 281 non-governmental organizations from 62 countries. The list of signers includes famed primatologist Dr. Jane Goodall, Harvard biologist E.O. Wilson, oceanographer Dr. Sylvia Earle, a National Geographic Explorer-in-Residence, and former U.S. astronaut Bernard Harris, Jr. M.D.
• For a copy of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project's report "Techno-Fixing Sea Turtles: How the Bush Administration’s Manipulation of Science is Driving the Leatherback Sea Turtle Toward Extinction," go to: downloads/ACF4E.pdf
• For a copy of the scientist and NGO letters to the UN calling for a moratorium on longline fishing in the Pacific go to: http://www.seaturtles.org/press_release2.cfm?pressID=261
• For a review copy of the Sea Turtle Restoration Project's new documentary film Last Journey for the Leatherback? contact Robert Ovetz, PhD at 415 488 0370 x 106. | <urn:uuid:50100e12-0e50-4020-bb66-ea9a0540a5b2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seaturtles.org/article.php?id=794 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936477 | 953 | 2.859375 | 3 |
World Wide Web goes underground
Following on from last week's post about the Periodic Table of the Internet
, here's another interesting re-imagining of the World Wide Web, this time in the form of a map of the Tokyo metro
. It was created by Information Architects Japan and
I think it's almost as confusing as the real thing.
Unfortunately New Scientist
is absent. Perhaps we'll have to create our own "map" of the web, just to get ourselves a prominent position.Will Knight, online technology editor
Labels: images, internet, web | <urn:uuid:9df1f0d2-bc7b-435d-bd39-a95e0a71ce27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newscientist.com/blog/technology/2007/07/world-wide-web-goes-underground.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939669 | 118 | 1.875 | 2 |
(TIP: Don't forget to share this article with your friends.)
Relatively Speaking: Fish Story Viewed 131,814 timesBy: Senior Editor
Published for Somerville, New Jersey (Area-Info.net May. 25, 2012)
Recently, I was searching for additional information on the Fish family of colonial New jersey and Pennsylvania. In one of the periodicals I was reading, I came across this “whopper”: On 5 March 1756 at Christ Church, Philadelphia, John Codd married Mary Fish. The marriage was performed by the Rev. William Sturgeon. (An anecdote contributed by Mrs. William J. Kerr of Somerville, NJ)
Posted by the editor. www.Area-Info.net is the one location on the web where "you write the news."
Created to give anyone a voice that wants one, Area-Info.net is a nationwide forum for people who have something to say. Follow Us on Facebook
(TIP: Share your opinion, or news from your point of view: Go to Your View) | <urn:uuid:ec764a4d-775c-42ef-a751-f1cb225f5b74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://area-info.net/articles/show.php?cty=Rock%20Creek&st=Minnesota&article_id=1386&t=Relatively_Speaking:_Fish_Story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955502 | 221 | 1.609375 | 2 |
How might markets and economies unfold from here? Probably one of the better persons to ask this question is Robert Barbera, a noted Wall Street economist who has been following economic trends for over 25 years. He is also a professor at Johns Hopkins University and author of a recent book, “The Cost of Capitalism: Understanding Market Mayhem and Stabilizing Our Economic Future” (McGraw-Hill Publishers, February, 2009).
I will be reviewing that book shortly but first, Mr. Barbera’s (paraphrased) answers to some questions I recently asked him.
Q) In your book, you say the big monetary ease in 2001-2003 played a role in the formation of the housing bubble. Will the big easing in monetary policy in 2009 lead to another bubble?
A) First, we have to get through a difficult period and produce a recovery in the economy. After that happens, the Federal Reserve will need to rein in liquidity to keep inflation from becoming a problem. Then the risk remains of creating another bubble like the ones seen over the past ten years. This time, though, I don’t see it happening because I believe central bankers have learned from the financial crisis that they need to conduct monetary policy with an eye on more than just wage and price changes. They’ll also be looking at leaning against excessive risk taking and rising asset prices before they get too far out of line.
Q) In your book, you say the Savings and Loan crisis of the late 1980s and the recession of 1990-91 coincided with the beginning of Japan’s descent. Is China’s investment boom and “heady rates of growth” similarly at risk now that they can’t rely as much on exporting to U.S. and other developed countries?
A) China is definitely feeling the pinch. I was in Hong Kong recently and people there were remarking on how the air was so clean these days. It appears that the factories nearby in China had curtailed production substantially. But the drop-off in exports has led to the Chinese authorities launching a huge fiscal stimulus to build infrastructure and keep the economy running. They appear to be in the midst of replacing export-led growth with consumer-driven growth.
Q) If China is replacing export-led growth with domestic-sourced growth, could this mean U.S. interest rates might ratchet upwards since China won’t have as great a need to peg its currency and thus won’t be buying U.S. dollars as much as before and parking them in U.S. treasuries?
A) I see domestic stimulus by China and other emerging countries as a good thing. For thirty years, the U.S bailed out the world economy by easing its fiscal and monetary policies in response to downturns, which stimulated exports from Asia and elsewhere. We can’t do this again because it will worsen already tenuous structural imbalances. Asia and other emerging countries have to engineer their own growth. China’s fiscal stimulus will help the global economy recover in a way that should reduce structural imbalances such as chronic trade deficits and surpluses. China may buy fewer U.S. treasuries but other buyers will emerge – just the mix of owners will change. | <urn:uuid:aeea8e8c-43f0-44e7-8290-8c9f827d7295> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seekingalpha.com/article/137952-a-wall-st-economist-on-the-u-s-and-china | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969308 | 678 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Jan. 23, 2013 Researchers participating in the REGICOR Study (Girona Heart Registry)* have carried out a study to assess the impact of the partial smoke-free legislation passed in 2006 on the incidence of acute myocardial infarction in the province of Girona and observed it has dropped 11%. This decrease has been noticed especially among women, population aged between 65 and 74, and among non-smokers.
Researchers analysed data from 3,703 infarctions occurred in Girona between the years 2002 and 2008 and studied whether the number of infarctions had dropped during the period 2006-2008 (after the implementation of the law) compared to the data from the period running from 2002 to 2004 (before the law was in place). According to Irene Roman, researcher in the cardiovascular epidemiology and genetics research group at IMIM and one of the first signatories of the article, "the data from the study show that the total number of infarctions occurring in the population (whether they were treated in hospital or not) has dropped 11% in the period after the implementation of the law (2006-2008)."
Another important point is that this reduction has been observed basically among the group of non-smokers (-15%) and people aged over 65 (-18%). This, according to Roberto Elosua, the coordinator for research in cardiovascular epidemiology and genetics at IMIM, suggests that "the population group that has benefited the most from the law passed in 2006 is that of non-smokers, since their passive exposure to tobacco smoke has decreased."
Coronary heart disease occurs when not enough blood reaches the heart to supply its muscle cells, and is the main cause of death in industrialised countries. In Spain, the most recent statistics show that this disease in 2011 caused 35,268 deaths (9.2% of the total) and 52,725 patients were taken to hospital with an acute myocardial infarction, which is one of the most severe consequences of coronary heart disease. Besides the impact this has on the health of individuals, acute myocardial infarctions have a huge economic impact on society, with an estimated annual cost in Spain of around 1.46 billion Euros.
One of the main risk factors causing acute myocardial infarctions is smoking. In Spain, around 30% of the adult population state they are smokers; even if this percentage has dropped slightly, it continues to be high and has a great impact on cardiovascular health. It is estimated that smoking is the reason behind 20% of the burden of heart disease in European countries, and that passive exposure to tobacco smoke causes around 2,500 of the deaths due to coronary heart disease (7%) in Spain.
Spain has passed two smoke-free legislations: one in December 2005 (Law 28/2005), which entered into force on January 1st 2006; and another one in December 2010 (Law 42/2010) which entered into force on January 1st 2011. The first of these two laws was considered a partial smoke-free law since besides regulating the selling and advertising of tobacco, it banned smoking in the workplace and in hospitality establishments larger than 100 m2 (unless a specific smoking area was created). However, in hospitality establishments smaller than 100m2 it was left to the discretion of the owner of these establishments. In the law of 2011, smoking was banned in all public places.
At present, the effect of the smoke-free legislation which entered into force 2011 is yet to be studied; however, according to researchers, results seen from the partial smoking ban in public places would support the effectiveness of this type of legislation in reducing the burden of disease among the population.
* with the participation of IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute) from Barcelona, the Josep Trueta Hospital, the Blanes Hospital and IDIAP Jordi Gol from Girona (Primary Healthcare Research Institute)
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by IMIM (Hospital del Mar Medical Research Institute).
- Fernando Agüero, Irene R. Dégano, Isaac Subirana, Maria Grau, Alberto Zamora, Joan Sala, Rafel Ramos, Ricard Treserras, Jaume Marrugat, Roberto Elosua. Impact of a Partial Smoke-Free Legislation on Myocardial Infarction Incidence, Mortality and Case-Fatality in a Population-Based Registry: The REGICOR Study. PLoS ONE, 2013; 8 (1): e53722 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0053722
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:35f456a3-5b9d-47a2-9e58-96d30a279a74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/01/130123195354.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948739 | 963 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Die Jovis, 19 Octobris 1648.
THE humble Petition of the Trustees of those reduced Officers and Soldiers, that petitioned your
Honours on the Two-and-twentieth of August last, not
only in behalf of themselves, and them, but of all such as
have always served the Parliament faithfully, and neither
have or shall recede from their first Principles and Engagements.
Ordered, That the House be turned into a Grand Committee for an Hour: And that Mr. Speaker do forbear to
take the Chair in the mean time.
Mr. Whittacre reports from the Grand Committee upon the Ordinance for the Reformado Officers, That the
said Committee have adjourned themselves until Thisday-sevennight: And that the said Committee desire the
same might be confirmed by Order of this House.
Ordered, That the Grand Committee of the whole
House, upon the Ordinance for the Reformado Officers,
be adjourned until This-day-sevennight: And that the
House be then resolved into a Grand Committee: And
that Mr. Speaker do forbear to take the Chair.
Treaty with the King.
A Letter from the Commissioners in the Isle of Wight,
from Newport, of 17 Octobris 1648, was this Day read,
together with Six Papers inclosed; wherein they give an
Account of their Proceedings in the Treaty upon the
Proposition concerning Delinquents, and upon the Votes
they received from the Houses, for pressing the King to
a full Answer to the Proposition presented to him concerning the Church: The which were all read.
Resolved, &c. That this House doth declare, That
neither the Lord's Days, nor the publick monthly Fast
Days, that shall happen within the Forty Days appointed
for the Time of the Treaty, shall be accounted any of the
Forty Days limited for the Treaty.
Ordered, That the Lords Concurrence be desired herein.
Resolved, &c. That To-morrow Morning at Ten of
Clock, peremptorily, the House do take into Consideration the Letter and Papers now sent from the Commissioners in the Isle of Wight: And that Mr. Speaker do
put the House in mind hereof.
Ordered, That the Reports in Mr. Swynfen's Hands,
touching the Supernumeraries in the several Counties, be
taken into Consideration To-morrow Morning, the first
Business, at Mr. Speaker's taking the Chair.
Deans and Chapters.
Ordered, That the Ordinance for the Abolishing of
Deans, Deans and Chapters, appointed to be ingrossed,
be read the Third time on Monday Morning next.
Ordered, That the Order passed upon Mr. Swynfen's
Report on Monday last, 16 Octobris 1648, for the Payment of Four thousand Two hundred Eighty-one Pounds
Eighteen Shillings and Fourpence Halfpeny to Mr. Peck,
out of the Two-thirds of Recusants Estates, mentioned
in the said Order, sequestered for their Recusancy, be sent
to the Lords for their Concurrence.
Ordered, That the Lords Concurrence be desired in
the Vote formerly passed this House, touching the giving
Liberty to the Contractors, to sell any of the Lands or
Possessions of Archbishops or Bishops, as they shall judge
best for the Commonwealth; so as they sell them not
under the Rates limited by the Ordinance of 17 Martii
Earl of Nottingham.
A Message from the Lords, by Dr. Aylett and Mr.
The Lords command us to put you in mind of a
Message formerly sent by the Lords concerning a Noble
Peer of this Realm, the Earl of Nottingham: Which
they desire you to take into speedy Consideration.
Resolved, &c. That the Earl of Nottingham's Petition
be now read.
The Petition was accordingly read.
And the Question being put for Committing of it;
It passed with the Negative.
Answer returned by the same Messengers; That the
House will send Answer by Messengers of their own. | <urn:uuid:e9ac900a-8c6b-4b49-b93f-b3c44f32b8c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.british-history.ac.uk/report.aspx?compid=25498 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915662 | 902 | 1.867188 | 2 |
At Eastern New Mexico University we believe a successful transition to college life is crucial to a productive and enjoyable learning experience. Freshman Seminar (UNIV 101) and the Eastern Learning Community program help students find their place in both academics and social settings. Instructors and students working together in a collaborative learning environment allows the student the opportunity to make connections, form friendships, and accomplish their educational goals. The integration of courses and increased opportunities for interaction outside the classroom are what makes learning communities such a valuable learning experience.
What is Freshman Seminar?
Freshman Seminar is a three hour course designed for students entering the University with fewer than 30 credit hours. It focuses on enhancing academic skills and making connections to the campus. The course is a degree requirement at ENMU. Issues discussed in UNIV 101 include:
- learning skills, including time management, note-taking, active reading, test-taking, oral presentations, library skills and computer use
- knowledge of campus resources
- exploration of majors and courses
- diversity issues, culture and ethics
- transition and wellness issues
- University history, traditions and purposes
- exposure to fine arts events
What is a Learning Community?
A learning community is a group of 20–25 students who enroll in two or more courses together to explore a common interest or theme. Freshman Seminar (UNIV 101) is the cornerstone of freshman learning communities. The instructors cooperate to address the community theme from different perspectives. The extended contact time with other students and faculty offers a more engaging academic relationship than is possible in most traditional courses.
You do not have to know what you want to major in to join a learning community. Learning communities are offered in a wide variety of themes and interests and include courses that meet general education requirements.
How will I benefit?
Students who have participated in an Eastern Learning Community have said they enjoyed having several classes with the same group of people and really getting to know them. They also made friends more easily with other students and developed better relationships with professors. Other program benefits include:
- easing the transition from high school to college
- acquiring the knowledge necessary for success
- becoming an active participant in one's own education
- convenient block scheduling of particular classes
- developing valuable leadership, problem-solving, and communication skills
- experiencing a variety of learning approaches
- satisfying general education requirements while having fun
How do I enroll?
All entering freshmen are enrolled in a learning community when they register for classes. When you visit the Advising Center, you and your advisor will decide which learning community is best for you. You must register for all the courses offered in the community. | <urn:uuid:dd842ecb-c022-4b5b-a256-0b4486c647ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.enmu.edu/future-students/freshmen/communities.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956461 | 542 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Seated on a red velvet banquettes in the Brasserie de la Poste in Montargis, a modest provincial town in the Loiret, south of Paris, is the Shanghai-born doctor Peiwen Wang, an expert in Chinese tourists' tastes in France.
The special French menu for Chinese visitors begins with an aperitif of cider and local honey. The starter is foie gras on toast and salad, followed by duck – cuisse de canard, in honey.
"Chinese people don't like much red meat and would shudder at the sight of blood dribbling across a plate from rare cooking, so duck is a good choice. The key is local wine that is matched to each course and cuts through the fattiness of foie gras," Wang said.
"The typical French cheese course has been omitted as the Chinese aren't big cheese eaters. Likewise, dessert is light and based on fresh fruit."
France is the most popular European destination for Chinese tourists, with around 900,000 flocking there in 2011, a figure expected to quadruple in the next decade. Paris is the No 1 destination, with Chinese tourists on tightly scheduled coach tours often scrimping on accommodation in chain hotels off the ring-road and eating at ¤10 (£7.93) Chinese self-service buffets in order to spend on products such as designer bags and luxury perfumes and cosmetics, which are cheaper in France and tax-free.
The French daily Le Figaro has even launched a regular luxury goods supplement in Chinese. But about 60 miles south of Paris, the town of Montargis, best known for pralines and canals, has become a must-see – a symbolic stop-off for its role in the history of Chinese communism.
It was here in 1910 to 1920 that hundreds of Chinese students came to study, including future leaders such as Deng Xiaoping, and a group of friends of Mao Zedong. Chinese history books recount that it was in a leafy Montargis park that the young Chinese students set out in a letter to Mao their first ideas for a Chinese Communist party.
Wang, head of the China-Montargis friendship association, has lived in France for more than 20 years, and seven years ago set up guided tours of the Chinese history of Montargis. She now hosts about 100 Chinese groups a year, mostly senior functionaries and dignitaries.
The tour ranges from Hutchinson's rubber factory, where Deng worked in the women's shoes sectionas a 17-year-old, to the former public baths, via old dormitories and secret courtyards. French tourists can be seen around town reading the numerous bilingual French-Chinese historical plaques that the association put up with the local authorities.
Wang is now extending the tours to take in the increasingly popular chateaux of the nearby Loire valley, particularly the Chateau du Clos Lucé where Leonardo da Vinci spent the last three years of his life and whose rooms dedicated to his engineering exploits are an eye-opener for Chinese visitors.
"France's appeal to Chinese tourists is all about romance and romanticism," Wang said.
But time must always be set aside for shopping. Louis Vuitton leather goods are a key draw, and more modest souvenir gifts include Breton butter biscuits.
"Cosmetics and creams are more and more popular," Wang said. "Before I started this, I didn't know the Chinese word for Lancôme. I certainly do now." | <urn:uuid:7dd1a6f9-8abe-409f-9d69-a85693945c5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/aug/17/france-tops-table-chinese-tourists | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960743 | 726 | 2.203125 | 2 |
(CBS News) -- On Friday, as funerals and memorials continued for the victims of the deadly school shooting in Newtown, Connecticut, the National Rifle Association made its first public comment on the tragedy.
NRA Chief Executive Wayne LaPierre rejected calls for more gun restrictions, and instead stated that "gun-free" zones made schools less safe by inviting criminals with guns into unprotected areas.
LaPierre insisted, "The only thing that stops a bad guy with a gun is a good guy with a gun."
He called for the presence of armed guards in every school across the U.S. "We need to have every single school in America immediately deploy a protect program proven to work, and by that I mean armed security," LaPierre said.
LaPierre went on to add, "When it comes to our most beloved innocent and vulnerable members of the American family -- our children -- we as a society leave them every day utterly defenseless."
Two protesters interrupted his address, one carrying a large sign declaring that the "NRA is killing our kids."
Lapierre's comments also drew quick reaction from politicians, many of them sharply criticizing the gun lobby's response.
But the reaction to the NRA's public stance was more tempered in Newtown, Conn., as parents grapple with finding a resolution that will protect their children at school.
"There are some people I am sure who will say, 'Let's put more policemen in our schools, or bullet-proof doors or windows in our schools," Andrei Nikitchyuk, the father of a third grader who survived the Sandy Hook school shooting, told CBS News' Elaine Quijano. "What I could tell them would be, 'Do you really [want] to have a shootout in our schools like the OK-Corral, in our schools?'"
But another Sandy Hook parent says the NRA's rallying cry for such school security measures is a step in the right direction.
"We are a nation of strong opinions and strong beliefs," said Desiree Vaiuso, whose daughter survived the shooting. "And some of us are changing our minds." | <urn:uuid:c3d9ba2b-029f-4253-9604-c6bb2d811c2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wltx.com/news/national/article/213709/142/Newtown-Parents-React-to-NRA-Response | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973837 | 435 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Leonardo Da Vinci was an agent of S.H.I.E.L.D. So was Issac Newton. So were Imhotep and Zhang Heng and Galileo and many other geniuses throughout time. They were the first heroes to defeat Galactus and the Brood and turn Celestials back. They saved the world long before Captain America or Iron Man were ever born, but what does this mean to our heroes of today? What does this mean to Nick Fury? Do not miss this Marvel Comics masterpiece that fans will be talking about for decades to come. All the insanity is courtesy of JONATHAN HICKMAN (FANTASTIC FOUR, SECRET WARRIORS, Nightly News) and DUSTIN WEAVER (X-MEN).
Preview: S.H.I.E.L.D. (B&W) #1
Thu, April 1st, 2010 at 8:58pm PDT | <urn:uuid:5d8ffb8d-80f2-42b0-ad37-7735006975ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.comicbookresources.com/?page=preview&id=4807 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963111 | 196 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The following HTML text is provided to enhance online
readability. Many aspects of typography translate only awkwardly to HTML.
Please use the page image
as the authoritative form to ensure accuracy.
Oil in the Sea III: Inputs, Fates, and Effects
manufacturers have been producing new, direct injected (DI) two-strokes, and the technology is still in its infancy. While there are various techniques used in DI, they all inject the fuel directly to the cylinder after or nearly after the exhaust ports close. Direct injected two-stroke engines generally have 80 percent less hydrocarbon emissions than their predecessors. In DI two-strokes, oil is introduced directly to the crankcase to lubricate the moving parts and not mixed with the fuel.
As the name implies, four-stroke engines use four piston strokes for each combustion cycle.
Data Sources and Assumptions
Data on boating activity including number of two-stroke engines, average hours of use for each boating type (gasoline outboard and personal watercraft) and average horsepower was collected from the EPA Nonroad Emission Model (Jansen and Sklar, 1998). Several recent reports have measured discharge rates for fuel such as BTEX or fuel additives (e.g. MBTE) into surface water by recreational boating (Juttner et al., 1995; Barton and Fearn, 1997; Dale et al., 2000, Gabele and Pyle, 2000). In this calculation, BTEX was used as a surrogate for gasoline with aqueous discharge rates ranging from 0.20 to 0.70 g kW−1 hr−1 (Gabele and Pyle 2000). It is well established that comparable size four-stroke engines and direct injection two-stroke engines discharge approximately 5-10 times less fuel than standard two-stroke engines (Gabele and Pyle and earlier references). To our knowledge there is no population data on the four-stroke engine population and the existing two-stroke population data does not differentiate between standard and DI engine types. Therefore we assume that all the two-stroke populations are standard models requiring fuel and gas mixtures (Tables 2-2 through 2-6).
The average hours of use nationwide for two-stroke PWC engines is 77.3 hours per year and for outboard engines is 34.8 hours per year and calculated from a model (US EPA (in preparation)). These values are lower than past values for average boating-use of 91 and approximately 150 hours/yr (US EPA 1991). (The former of these 1991 estimates was provided by the National Marine Manufacturers Association and based on boater surveys; the latter is from an earlier EPA model). The average hours of use in this study does not distinguish between seasonal differences between regions where boating use may vary considerably. For example, states in northern latitudes generally have a shorter boating season and it is limited to the summer season.
The EPA population model also does not distinguish between engines used in coastal waters and those used in inland lakes and rivers that may or may not connect to the coast. For these calculations, we assumed that between 20-80 percent (average 50 percent) of the petroleum hydrocarbon discharge from two-stroke engines was to fresh water such as lakes and rivers that either did not connect to the coastal water or was included in Section F on petroleum hydrocarbon inputs from nonpoint sources.
Based on the discussion above, estimates for load of petroleum hydrocarbons to the ten U.S. coastal zones (see Tables 2-2 through 2-6) were calculated as follows.
Engine is the two- stroke standard engine population is from the boater registrations for each coastal county from the EPA population model.
Horsepower for two-stroke personal watercraft followed the EPA population model and divided into 4 categories (≤ 18.5, 35.4, 44.4, 75.1, 111) and 10 categories for outboard engine population (≤ 2.4, 5.2, 8.7, 15, 21.6, 35.7, 48.5, 78.3, 139, 228).
Hours of engine use per year is 77.3 hour year−1 for PWC and 34.8 hours year−1 for outboard engines for the entire United States (US EPA in preparation)
Discharge rate for BTEX is 0.21 g kW−1 hour−1 (Benzene), 0.70 (Toluene), 0.2 (Ethylbenzene), 0.55 (Xylene) (Gambel and Pyle 2000).
Conversion factor I 0.75 kW/ horsepower−1.
Density of hydrocarbon (gasoline) is 739.966 g L−1
Conversion factor II 3.79 l/gallon−1
BTEX is 37.4% of gasoline (Saeed and Al-Mutairi 1999)
Assumption: the amount of fuel that enters the marine environment is estimated at 50% (range 20-80 %)
Oil mixture is 2 % of the fuel mixture in two-stroke engines.
Overall, oil and gas inputs from two-stroke outboard motors are estimated to be between 0.6 to 2.5 million gallons per year (average 1.6 million gallons) or between 2,100 and 8,500 tonnes (average 5,300 tonnes) per year for coastal waters of the United States. | <urn:uuid:ee99239e-0adf-4a7c-808c-c45cbd490f54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://books.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=10388&page=220 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933693 | 1,117 | 2.921875 | 3 |
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New low-cost operators are attracting air travelers
When Bobbie Joe Crail prepared to return home to Detroit after visiting friends in St. Louis in mid-September, she checked the online fares for flights she had taken in the past. Stunned at the high prices for a seat on JetBlue Airways (JBLU) and Southwest Airlines (LUV), Crail, 22, cast about for alternatives. After a little digging, she stumbled on Megabus, an upstart bus line that would get her home—albeit over a two-day trek that wound through Chicago—for a mere $30. "The bus can be inconvenient," Crail sighs. "But it's so much cheaper to string bus trips together than to fly."
If airline deregulation spawned a generation of low-cost carriers, the era of $100-a-barrel oil is giving rise to a new breed of discount bus operators. And unlike discount airlines, low-cost bus lines are thriving. While overall bus travel continues to grow in the mid-single digits, discount operators such as BoltBus, DC2NY, Vamoose, and Coach USA's Megabus are enjoying heady growth by offering cheap, no-frills travel. "People are looking for alternatives...that are safe, reliable, and affordable," says Dale Moser, COO at Coach USA. "We think [growth] is going to continue."
Six-month-old BoltBus (a joint venture of Greyhound Lines and Peter Pan Bus Lines) won't disclose revenues, but it says it has ferried 225,000 passengers among the high-traffic cities of the Northeast—about 10% more than originally forecast. And Chicago-based Megabus says it has grown at a rate of 107% annually since its 2006 launch, prompting it to expand as far afield as Memphis, Toronto, and Boston with fares starting at $1, though only one seat per bus is guaranteed at that rate.
"It's not just high fuel prices—it's the hassle factor at the airports that has left many fliers disenchanted," says Joseph P. Schwieterman, a professor of transportation at DePaul University. "Travelers who wouldn't have given a thought to bus travel are now stepping on board."
For bargain bus lines, the key to success is their ability to keep costs to a minimum. BoltBus, for instance, picks up passengers curbside, sparing it the expense of leasing space at a terminal. And it only sells tickets online, which eliminates the cost of employing ticket agents. (Roughly 90% of Greyhound's tickets are sold either by phone or at a terminal.) BoltBus is also building business with a frequent-rider program.
Whether such players are making fistfuls of money at these prices is open to debate. But passengers are enjoying the ride. BoltBus offers free wireless Internet and power outlets. And at no point do passengers have to take their shoes off, undergo a pat-down, or deal with long airport delays. | <urn:uuid:d152f239-8beb-4ae9-a4a5-9b6184de86d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessweek.com/stories/2008-09-17/suddenly-its-cool-to-take-the-bus | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961236 | 637 | 1.601563 | 2 |
- Category: Front_page news
ON THEIR KNEES FOR IMMIGRANT FAMILIES
Florida is making a statement to the country - we will be on our knees to Washington, DC to send a message to our lawmakers and to the public. In a show of gratitude to all the millions of immigrant families in the U.S. today, we will be walking on our knees until we are heard.
Called the Knee-A-Thon Pilgrimage, the effort arose from a community in Sebring, Florida in an effort to draw attention to the daily reality that immigrants in this country are facing, in the current climate of fear and intimidation against immigrants in the U.S. Racial profiling, detentions, deportations, workplace raids, separation of families - these are the harsh realities that too many in our community are facing. Rather than hide in fear from the ugly rhetoric in the news media harshly targeting immigrants, supporters will be drawing attention to their cause and seeking media attention to raise the issues with lawmakers and the public. Kneelers meet every Saturday and Sunday from 7 to 10am to take turns marching on their knees. The Farmworker Association of Florida is supporting this effort with the donation of knees pads and in marching with others.
Read the article below. If you would like to join the pilgrimage, contact Santos De La Rosa through Facebook at "Knee-A-Thon: Thank You Pilgrimage."
Thanks for your support! | <urn:uuid:c0e30ed1-6f09-4198-8c39-f2a7b32d9174> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.floridafarmworkers.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=106&Itemid=116 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924327 | 303 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The European Central Bank kept the pressure on troubled euro zone countries on Thursday, sending a clear signal that while the bank may take further measures to bring sky-high borrowing costs down, struggling countries must act and take responsibility for their finances.
"First of all governments need to go to the EFSF ; the ECB cannot replace governments,” Draghi told reporters at a news conference after the central bank left rates on hold at 0.75 percent.
Troubled member states (related: world's biggest debtor nations ) can submit a request for aid from the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF), Europe’s rescue fund, which can then respond by buying up bonds to drive yields down. But Germany wants to attach strict conditions to such a move.
German officials have also warned the ECB against large-scale bond buying in recent days and Draghi conceded that the German Bundesbank and chief Jens Weidmann had their “reservations” about the bond-buying program.
“The ECB is trying to put the ball firmly back in the court of the politicians. Monetary policy cannot solve this crisis. It can provide breathing space but it cannot solve it, James Ashley, senior economist at RBC Capital Markets told CNBC.Page 1 of 3 | Next Page | <urn:uuid:c80a6f5f-b376-47a2-94ac-b5b934aa04df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://m.cnbc.com/europe/top_stories/48461336/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949348 | 264 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Firing Methods and Results
The process of Raku
firing differs from other firing methods because the pots are removed from
the kiln at their maximum temperature.
Thermal shock of this rapid cooling is
stressful on the pottery. It is achieved by using an open clay body. The
porosity of the clay body acts like a shock absorber, preventing the body
from immediately fracturing when the pot is removed from the kiln.
Raku glazes are often fractured, which are referred to as Crazing.
These crackle glazes are enhanced by the post firing smoking of Raku pots
that embeds carbon into the crackles of the glaze. | <urn:uuid:59f8f473-0c6d-42e6-abca-45fe73ff1481> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.robertcomptonpottery.com/Method%20of%20Raku-Firing-Pottery.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957974 | 142 | 2.625 | 3 |
Flu shots here, but in short supply
Just when the flu shot is in the highest demand, some residents are finding the vaccination hard to come by.
Calls to various providers around town reported shortages and delays in getting everyone vaccinated who sought the shot.
The Mesa County Health Department, for example, on Thursday had flu vaccinations, but wait times to receive one was about an hour. Vaccinations were sold out on Thursday at Rite Aid, 400 N. First St., but 50 doses were expected today. A waiting list of 25 people to get those shots had formed by Thursday morning. City Market, 200 Rood Ave., also was out of the vaccines on Thursday, but more were expected today.
Primary Care Partners, 3150 N. 12th St., said they were out of the vaccines and didn’t believe they weren’t getting any more this season.
Demand may be growing for the vaccine now that news is spreading that much of the nation is suffering from flu-like symptoms, according to the Centers for Disease Control.
Areas in New England reportedly have been experiencing an especially brutal flu season, with the city of Boston declaring a health emergency on Wednesday after the flu claimed 18 lives there.
Widespread flu outbreaks have been reported in 43 states, including Colorado. Statewide, 506 people had been hospitalized with the flu this season as of Jan. 5, according to the Colorado Department of Public Health and Environment.
However, Mesa County appears to be bucking some of those statistics.
Only 11 people had been hospitalized for the flu from Oct. 7, 2012, to Jan. 5, according to CDPHE. The number of reported flu cases has decreased in Mesa County from 1.4 percent for the week between Dec. 29 and Jan. 2, down from 2 percent the previous week.
Eighteen children nationwide this 2012-13 season have died after experiencing the flu, the CDC reported.
Though it may seem the flu season is almost over, the CDC reports that the sickness typically peaks in February and can linger through May. The organization recommends an annual vaccination for everyone six months of age and older.
Good luck if you can find one.
As of Jan. 5, 128.1 million doses have been distributed and manufacturers estimate they will produce 135 million this season, the CDC said.
In Boston, a public health emergency was declared Wednesday as flu season struck in earnest and the state reported 18 flu-related deaths so far.
The city is working with health care centers to offer free flu vaccines and hopes to set up places where people can get vaccinated. The city said there have been four flu-related deaths, all elderly residents, since the unofficial start of the flu season Oct. 1.
“The best thing you can do to protect yourself and your family is to get the flu shot,” said Boston Mayor Thomas Menino.
The city was experiencing its worst flu season since at least 2009, Menino said, with about 700 confirmed cases of the flu, compared with 70 all of last season.
Massachusetts was one of 29 states reporting high levels of “influenza-like illness,” according to the most recent weekly flu advisory issued by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The Associated Press contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:40ec8d62-cb98-445a-9c23-2e602b1e9f26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gjsentinel.com/news/articles/flu-shots-here-but-in-short-supply/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977558 | 676 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Signs and Symptoms
A woman with PID may have no symptoms, mild discomfort, chronic and/or progressive pain, or she may be severely and acutely ill. Many of the signs and symptoms of PID are nonspecific and may be seen with a variety of other conditions that affect the pelvic area. Symptoms may include:
Complications of PID include infertility, long-term pelvic pain, lesions on an ovary or fallopian tube, and an ectopic pregnancy. Even a small amount of scarring in the fallopian tubes can impair fertility. It can prevent an egg from becoming fertilized or prevent a fertilized egg from reaching the uterus. If a fertilized egg begins to develop in a fallopian tube, it can rupture the tube, causing a life-threatening emergency with internal bleeding and severe pain. | <urn:uuid:d5bb6d36-6d87-49ce-a1de-25e8956727df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.labtestsonline.org.uk/understanding/conditions/pid/start/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923362 | 164 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Question: What kinds of bioethical issues arise in your work, and how do you address them?
Gregory Hannon: In our own work, I think we encounter bioethical issues in a few different ways. One is anytime we are dealing with experiments with living animals. There are certain standards that we have to maintain about the treatment of those animals. And we also try to plan using statistical tests to make sure that we use enough animals to get a definitive answer, but no more than we actually need to do an experiment.
From the standpoint of using human materials, we encounter issues of bioethics in two different ways. They are in some ways related and I think this goes to the development of a lot of these new high-capacity technologies that are being deployed in biology at the moment. So, on one hand, anytime we use human’s samples, there are a set of rules that are in place to maintain the anonymity of patients. And so, for example, when tumor samples are collected, they are anonymized and we have no way of tracing back the material that we are analyzing to the patient that was its source.
The difficulty comes as we are more and more able to sequence people’s complete genomes for reasonable cost and in a very short time. If you think about how long the human genome project took and what its cost, I mean it was astronomical, compared to today when we could conceivably sequence an entire human genome in probably a week, maybe two weeks and presently for a cost of $40,000 to $50,000. And that time it’s taking to resequence a genome and the cost of doing so is dropping continuously to the point where, really by the end of this year, it will be down to $10,000 and maybe one week. And who knows where we will be in another year or so.
Essentially, once you have determined that genomic sequence, there is a unique identifier, an identifier unique to that person in whom the sample was derived. Now, if we go to publish data derived from that sequence, we are obligated to put the primary – the raw data to make it available to the community. So that means that a sample has turned into a sequence which is unique to that individual, which then essentially, in some ways, public. Now for other investigators to access that, they need to have specific bioethics training, etc., but that information is out there. And although it’s not immediately connected to that person from which that sample is derived, it is in some ways eventually connectable.
And so I think that one of the places that we really struggle now is using the power of these new sequencing tools to try to understand biology and how we can do that in a way that doesn’t necessarily put the sequence of many people’s genomes essentially freely accessible on the Web. And I think this is something that a lot of people are struggling with at the moment as the sequencing technologies that I’ve mentioned become more and more widely available within the academic community. We need to establish ways to, I think at least, anonymize the information that we provide to the community without degrading the quality of the science that we do and without hampering the ability of others to analyze that data and reproduce our work, or at least verify our conclusions.
Question: Are you optimistic that patients’ genetic information can be successfully anonymized?
Gregory Hannon: I think it will happen. A lot of it is driven – there is a sort of tug of war between maximizing people’s access to your raw information because essentially you’ve spent the money, you’ve spent the time, you’ve produced this resource, you’ve analyzed it in one way. But it could probably be analyzed in an infinite variety of ways by others. And so, you want to have people maximally be able to make use of the data you generate. And also able to, as I said, verify your conclusions. On the other hand, there is this drive to maintain privacy and in the end, what’s going to have to happen is that the community will have to establish a set of procedures that are universally acceptable to allow a sequence to remain private and anonymous without destroying the value of the data that we publish. And scientists can take a lead in this, scientific journals can take the lead in this, but it is something that we are going to face remarkably soon.
Recorded on February 9, 2010 | <urn:uuid:180bbdfe-e91c-41e1-bebd-f4d4bf793d4e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bigthink.com/videos/preserving-your-genetic-privacy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972385 | 926 | 2.25 | 2 |
In my lifetime, abortion has always been legal and virtually without restriction. I grew up in the post-Roe v. Wade era. To many in my generation, the anniversary of the fateful 1973 Supreme Court decision, which legalized abortion, might go unnoticed. But it shouldn't.
Since 1973, an estimated 54 million children have lost their lives to abortion and an untold number of women have been left to bear pain, regret and shame, often in silence.
These children could have been our classmates, our friends, our co-workers or maybe even our own siblings. We will never get to meet them. We will never get to experience their unique personalities, marvel at their gifts and talents or celebrate their achievements. Abortion took all this away from us.
We cannot undo what has been done, but we can make it right. We must overturn Roe v. Wade and restore legal protection for each human life.
PA Pro-Life Federation, Harrisburg | <urn:uuid:4e9ba7c2-7d42-49b5-ad76-3dc23004f721> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pennlive.com/letters/index.ssf/2012/02/overturn_roe_v_wade_and_make_t.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970733 | 194 | 1.570313 | 2 |
The Ministry of Information has existed under different names since independence in 1957. It has metamorphosed from being called Ministry of Information and Culture, Ministry of Information and Tourism, Public Relations Secretariat, Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Media Relations, Ministry of Information and Presidential Affairs (MIPA), Ministry of Information and National Orientation (MINO) and currently its new name; The Ministry of Information and Media Relations.
Ministry : Ministry of Information and Media Relations
Minister : Mahama Ayariga
Postal Address : P.O Box M 41 Accra
Telephone : (+233-302) 229870
Fax : (+233-302) 229870
The Vision of the Ministry is the attainment of a free, united, informed and prosperous society with good governance through development communication.
The Ministry of Information exists to facilitate a two-way free flow of timely and reliable information and feedback between the Government and its various publics and to assist in the development, co-ordination of policy; to monitor and evaluate the implementation of programmes and activities by the Sectors Agencies.
1. To strengthen institutional capacity for effective policy formulation and execution.
2. To ensure free flow of public information in pursuance of the open Government policy.
3. To effectively and efficiently monitor and evaluate public responses to Government policies, programmes and activities and provide timely feedback to Government.
4. To project the image of the country in collaboration with other agencies to attract foreign investment in consonance with Government policy.
5. To co-ordinate activities of the Presidency towards ensuring uniformity and focus in executing policies, programmes and activities.
The Agencies of the Sector are;
- General Administration
- Information Services Department (ISD)
- Ghana News Agency (GNA)
- Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC)
- National Film and Television Institute (NAFTI)
INFORMATION SERVICES DEPARTMENT (ISD)
This Department is the major operational agency of the Ministry. It serves as Government's major public relations organisation both locally and abroad.
The Department is mandated to:
Create awareness of Government policies, programmes and activities.
Promote Ghana 's international marketing agenda.
Provide Public Relations support to Government Ministries, Departments, Agencies and Ghana 's missions abroad.
Get feedback from the public to government for policy reinforcement or redirection.
Its modus operandi include, organising regular weekly interactions with the media on Tuesdays and Thursdays on various issues and Government programmes; produce various audio-visual documentaries for public education and outreach programmes.
The Department has contributed tremendously to the dissemination of information in the past through the use of visual, audio, print and face-to-face interaction through drama, films and talk shows, mounted on the ubiquitous cinema vans which criss-crossed the whole country and is determined to do more for the country with the advent of ICTs.
When the portal www.ghana.gov.gh was established in 2002, the Department assumed additional responsibility by discharging its traditional functions electronically through the provision of information and other public services through the Internet. The facility has proven to be one effective communication tool to disseminate Government's information to the public and to get feedback to provide the way forward in our national development. The Portal links MDAs with websites and other institutions.
The Information Services Department also collaborates with the Ministry of Communications and other stakeholders in the management of the Community Information Centres. There are other host of roles that the department play.
GHANA NEWS AGENCY (GNA)
The GNA plays a major role in contributing to the political, social and economic development of the nation through data-gathering, processing and dissemination through wire service. The Agency is re-engineering the process of transforming itself into an autonomous news agency.
GHANA BROADCASTING CORPORATION (GBC)
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation was founded to provide radio and television broadcasting services for general reception in Ghana. The legislation that basically set up GBC as a Corporation is the National Liberation Council Decree 226 (NLCD 266) of 1968.
Ghana Broadcasting Corporation has the mandate to inform, educate and entertain as well as engage in commercial broadcasting through the sale of paid adverts and exploitation of other sources of revenue related to the broadcast business.
GBC was founded in the era when it was the responsibility of Governments to set up and run media establishments as an essential tool for national development. Throughout the years, GBC as a public service broadcaster has performed creditably. It has made significant contributions not only to the spread of knowledge but also an instrument of education and a source of entertainment.
Broadcasting to a predominantly a non-literate society, GBC has over the years contributed in a far greater way to the enlightenment and mobilisation of the Ghanaian populace for national development.
NATIONAL FILM AND TELEVISION INSTITUTE (NAFTI)
NAFTI is a tertiary institution for the training of film and television production techniques in the country. The institute organises various seminars and workshops in film and television production for practitioners as well as staff development courses. It exists to augment the number of media practitioners for an improved quality of work. | <urn:uuid:e8b0d807-cce2-4b58-9be2-f9a948706c96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ghana.gov.gh/index.php/governance/ministries/317-ministry-of-information- | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921535 | 1,076 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The days of Open Source seem to be fading away. Now a day, open source is not much different than commercial software. There are a number of individuals and companies that take advantage of freely available applications as a means to profit. Gone it seems are the days of the Open Source Initiative and Linus Torvalds’ vision that “open source is the only right way to do software.”
What is Open Source?
Open source began as, and in part still is, software created by a community of people who are dedicated to working together in a mutual way.
Open source normally circumscribes software that is distributed under a license that guarantees that derivative works, or forks, will also be available as source code, protects the rights of the original creator, and prohibits limitations on how the software can be used or who can use it.
Commercial vs. Open Source Software
In many cases, the difference between software created by open source communities and commercial software is the license.
For example, osCommerce is an open source application freely developed and distributed by the osCommerce community. The community also freely develops and freely distributes contributions for use with osCommerce. CRE Loaded, a fork now developed by Sal Iozzia and Chain Reaction Web, has latched onto osCommerce and the community contributions like a leach, sucking all the communities hard work and sweat into his pocket. CRE Loaded once was a free open source application, that was until David Graham, a former CRE employee and now dean of the osCommerce University, suggested that it be sold. With CRE Loaded v6.2 came the dawn of a new era. CRE was released in three flavors, a free standard version, a $150 or so Pro version and a B2B version snatching $300 out of your palm. All three versions came with the same bugs that v6.15 did with the B2B and Pro versions promising support. Based on the CRE user forums and emails I received from end users, support for the application was poor or non-existent leaving many users wanting their money back. None of this sounds like what Linus Torvalds envisioned.
Creating Profit For Standards
For testing purposes, I recently installed Eos Online Merchant and found that the Eos “development” team had added code that overrides the original osCommerce and CRE Loaded code that allowed the end user to choose between using, and not using SSL [Secure Socket Layer]. By default, CRE Loaded and osCommerce does not require the use of SSL. Eos does and I asked David Graham why Eos would force the use of SSL and in short, Eos is creating standards. They cite FTC laws that don’t exist and payment card standards [The PCI movement] that have yet to be implemented. Suggesting that there are laws or security reasons for forcing the use of SSL is wrong. Telling an end user that name, address and phone numbers should be encrypted when transmitted is just plain dim-witted. How many of us have a mail box? How many of us have our name, address and phone number printed in a phone book? Has anyone ever used the Internet to find the name and address of a person using reverse lookup directories… and found that info on a reputable website that is Not using SSL?
One of the Eos dev team members, Inetbiz, insisted that name, address and phone numbers that are collected by a website are required to be encrypted by SSL – although both he and David Graham have used CRE Loaded for years and I have never noticed any complaints from either about SSL in the CRE Loaded forums. That might be that they had no control over CRE, and considering Inetbiz provides hosting services including the sale of SSL certificates, I am not surprised by the sudden move to forcing SSL in Eos Online Merchant. Create a new standard, force the purchase of SSL certificates and maybe it will catch on and no one will complain? Well I did and they did not like it. I don’t feel bad about it though. Much like CE Loaded, Eos Online Merchant is poised itself to fall flat on its commercial face. I think that is what happens when you take an open source application, add greed and indifference, and expect the world to follow you like the pied piper.
Just because you make it does not mean they will come
I am 100% for the development and distribution of open source applications. The likes of Joomla, WordPress and osCommerce are a few examples of what I believe open source should mean. Sure, there are people that create paid templates, add-ons, plug-ins and contributions for these applications – not unethical. There are just as many that do the same for free. What I find unethical is the type of thing that some forks of these applications are doing. I find it unacceptable that a fork would create standards and suggest that there are laws or security reasons for forcing something onto an end user merely for profit – the end user should be in the position of making their own decisions, not the developer. I find it disconcerting that groups of people feel comfortable taking an application, changing little of it, only to turn around and profit from it. I myself have a version of CE Loaded that I use on my hosting website. I do not openly develop or distribute the application – I have no time to support it. I modified the application to suit my needs. I removed the bugs for the features I did use. I do offer it to my hosting customers and will support its use by my hosting customers, but I don’t expect them to pay me for its use.
Open source had always been free. Free to modify, free to distribute. Adding greed into the mix does little for the open source community. Supporting the open source community does not mean that you should bend over for the developers. There are a slew of ways that one can support the open source community without having to know how to code. Participating in community forums is just as important as those behind the scenes writing the code. Helping to keep open source free is the goal… | <urn:uuid:543417d6-2a9f-464e-8a4c-d2195db0e5ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.supremecenterhosting.com/category/blog/open-source/cre-loaded-open-source/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96368 | 1,247 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Intel Corp. on Thursday released a statement that shows confidence of the giant in its standalone graphics processing unit (GPU) Larrabee architecture, but which also demonstrates the lack of assuredness of an actual product launch date. But maybe Intel does not want to open its cards just yet?
“Aligning to Intel’s ‘Terascale’ performance vision, Intel described features and capabilities of its first-ever forthcoming ‘many-core’ blueprint or architecture codenamed ‘Larrabee’. The first product based on Larrabee targets the PC’s graphics market and is expected in 2009 or 2010,” a statement by Intel released on its web-site reads.
It is strange to note that Intel decided not to provide any concrete details about the actual launch-date of Larrabee graphics processing unit. It is unclear whether Intel Corp. is uncertain the launch date or whether Intel does not want to let anyone know about the precise time-frame of the Larrabee release.
What is known is that Intel usually demonstrates its new microprocessors about 10 to 14 months before their release to market. The code-named Larrabee GPU is projected to be made using 32nm process technology, just like Sandy Bridge central processing unit (CPU). Neither Larrabee nor Sandy Bridge products have been demonstrated so far. Meanwhile, Intel has said that its next-gen CPU will be in manufacturing in late 2009. This leads to an assumption that both products will be released commercially in 2010, not next year.
Leading developer of graphics processors – ATI, graphics product group of Advanced Micro Devices, and Nvidia Corp. – tend to release new GPUs in early Spring or early Fall, which means that they should have new chips ready in January or February or sometimes in June or July. Obviously, this is the best case scenario and both developers from time to time do not fit into that schedule.
Considering Intel Corp.’s promises, it would hardly be ready with Larrabee in the first half of 2009. Moreover, since it has not demonstrated and actual Larrabee product yet, it is not at least 12 months behind before its release. Hence, it is hard to expect Intel to release its GPU in 2009, but it is more likely that the new graphics chip will reach the market in early 2010. | <urn:uuid:f7292bfb-d817-4724-b6bf-8c22e23ab4a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/graphics/display/20081120134314_Intel_Plans_to_Release_Discrete_Larrabee_Graphics_Processors_in_2009_or_2010.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956634 | 480 | 1.882813 | 2 |
by D. Dominick Lombardi
For his first one-person exhibition in New York, Ron Johnson offers up a collection of paintings that project a keen and sometimes-referential theory of color, a very curious technique, and a place between non-representation and our collective subconscious of catalogued experiences that flow through the exhibition in unexpected ways.
To achieve the sinuous interlocking and overlapping fields of color, Johnson employs pre-positioned dams to corral the poured paint and polyurethane mix. The dam walls, which are thin strips of canvas that sometimes bear the color of the previous pour, always leave a trace impression when pulled. In order to maintain as much precision as possible, each layer must be sanded flat to minimize the gaps where wet paint can escape. This sanding process, which is quite vigorous due to the hardness of the dry of polyurethane gives the painted surface a slight tactile quality that makes some of the colors, especially the gray backgrounds, appear to be natural or organic. In fact, if it wasn’t for the paint drips on the side of Give Me a Reason (2011), one might assume it was painted on a piece of freshly cut slate.
Ron Johnson, Wear You Wrong, 2011; Courtesy of the artist & Gary Snyder Gallery.
Johnson’s palette is, at times, reminiscent of masterworks. The colors used in One of These Days (2011) and the aforementioned Give Me a Reason remind me very much of Willem de Kooning’s paintings from the 1940s. There is more than a little bit of Arshile Gorky in Johnson’s work as well, not just with the palette, but with the shapes he favors and the feeling of weightlessness they imply.
Walking through the exhibit, you can’t help but feel subtle suggestions of previous realities or experiences. Every time I see Much Deserved (2011) in the corner of my eye a crazed, wide-mouthed snake appears as if ready to attack or speak. One of my favorite works in the exhibition, I Know the Pieces Fit (2012), reminds me of a spacey cartoon animation background the incomparable Tex Avery might create.
Ron Johnson, Easy for You to Say, 2011; Courtesy of the artist & Gary Snyder Gallery.
These suggestions or subjects Johnson manages to project hinge upon the way he composes his art. To get a sense of the land, the artist only needs to include the hint of a horizon with works like Easy For you to Say (2011), which is also a very good example of how he includes the reuse of orange, green and black primed canvas dams. To refer to the figure, or some such animated object, Johnson runs his composition up along the side in Talking with the Sun (2011) and Wise to the Light (2011), or straight up the middle in Give Me a Reason, that, like I know the Pieces Fit, has a decidedly cartoony feel.
One very waxy-looking piece, How Many Miles? (2011), has a multitude of powerfully pop-ish meanings from flavor bursts of chewing gum to a twisted and bloodied Barbie doll. However, the simplicity and straightforwardness somehow is strangely calming, and dare I say entertaining in a wicked sort of way.
—D. Dominick Lombardi
(Image on top: Ron Johnson, How Many Miles, 2011, Acrylic and polyurethane on panel, 24 x 24 inches; Courtesy of the artist & Gary Snyder Gallery.) | <urn:uuid:9338bb60-406f-42f8-92b3-64a10be5d637> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artslant.com/ny/articles/show/31351 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937045 | 722 | 1.53125 | 2 |
(Photo: Pyro Pictures)
Fans and foes alike have been taking to social media platform Twitter to express support and criticism for "Monumental," the documentary created by actor and devout Christian Kirk Cameron that links America's founding to faith in God.
Some who have seen the film, being shown in select cities across the nation this week, say it is as an insightful, historical account into the lives of the early pilgrims, who relied heavily on their courage and faith in God to migrate from England to America.
"If you want to know *why* we've had it so good in America, go see #Monumental. The Pilgrims are inspiring people. What faith! What courage!" tweeted Tania Michaels.
"Highly recommend you watch #monumental it is a [sic] eye opening film about our history that has been scrubbed by liberals over the last 50 years," tweeted Esteban Bovo, a Republican commissioner in Miami Dade County, Fla.
In the film, Cameron finds that the pilgrims relied on themselves, not the U.S. government, to instill the foundations of virtue and character in the future offsprings of America. Cameron, an active evangelist, believes that modern-day Americans have the same responsibility to teach their children good values, particularly the importance of faith.
"Today, most people are looking to the government to take care of them. Help me with my education. Help me buy a house, and get a job, give me my healthcare, give me my benefits and my government handouts, and take care of me and my family," Cameron recently shared with The Christian Post.
"What people are actually doing is looking to the government to be their savior […] and when you do that, you give all of the power to the savior that you are depending on," he added.
In the preview for the documentary, Cameron narrates that something is "sick in the soul of our country." Many supporters of the film have expressed agreement that Christians must encourage fundamental values in their children for the future of America.
"Saw Kirk Cameron's #Monumental last night. Awesome film. Amazing how far America has fallen & how our children are taught lies re: history," tweeted "Biblical Christian" and conservative Chris Black.
Other "Monumental" viewers, however, have expressed wariness of the documentary. Some question the film's historical accuracy, while others argue that it offers an extremist approach to "fixing America."
"Kirk Cameron's new 'documentary,' in select theaters tonight, presents a scary and extreme fundamentalist viewpoint," tweeted Americans United for the Separation of Church and State, a D.C.-based group that advocates for the separation of church and state.
"Monumental" was shown more than 500 movie theaters during its one-night special event Tuesday. Due to high demand, the film will be screened a second time on March 30 in select theaters. | <urn:uuid:23166352-afad-41ce-ba96-218f1dbb9502> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.christianpost.com/news/kirk-camerons-monumental-draws-praise-criticism-amid-nationwide-screenings-72264/print.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956344 | 608 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Barcelona is the capital and the most populous city of Catalonia and the second largest city in Spain, after Madrid, with a population of 1,621,537 within its administrative limits on a land area of 101.4 km2 (39 sq mi).
Palawan is a narrow archipelago of 1,700 islands on the western border of the Philippines. It is geographical location makes it seem remote from the rest of the country, and in fact, some of its southern islands are closer to Malaysia than to other p
Negombo is a town of about 121,933, approximately 37 km north of Colombo, in Sri Lanka. It is located at the mouth of the Negombo Lagoon, about 7 km from the Bandaranaike International Airport. Negombo has a small port, and its economy is mainly base | <urn:uuid:02b09143-18a1-4f09-8ac1-9e0b11e92a1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://link2me.com/index.cgi?menu=linksearch&level0=Recreation&level1=Travel&limit=540 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963111 | 169 | 1.648438 | 2 |
The UNITAR Peacekeeping Training Programme (PTP) contributes to the effectiveness of peace operations, by improving the preparedness of civilian, military and police personnel interested in deployment to field missions.
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Help to alleviate the global burden of trauma. New responses to a challenge for governements, UN agencies and civil society
UNITAR, in cooperation with EMDR Europe HAP and the NGO Forum for Health, is pleased to announce a program of lectures, discussion panels and individualized consultations on innovative trauma therapy in humanitarian, developmental and everyday settings. Representatives from three key groups (UN delegates, UN agency staff, and colleagues from the international humanitarian / development / health community in Geneva) are cordially invited. Program details are available by clicking here.
International Master's Degree in Conflictology - apply now for the Fall semester!
May 2013 - The International Master’s Degree in Conflictology presents empirical knowledge and insight on conflict resolution, transformation, mediation and management in an educational setting. Practitioners and academics from prestigious universities, the United Nations and peace research institutes get together with participants from different countries in this virtual course, no matter where they live, to learn about peace and security and to prepare for professional practice. This programme trains participants in all applications of conflictology and facilitates the development of professional projects by giving participants access to the largest network of people working to promote peace. Read more...
International certification grows in 2012
November 2012 - UNITAR has just been awarded two quality certificates for its courses "Introduction to Peace Operations" and “Understanding Conflict and Conflict Analysis”. The certificates were delivered by the Open ECBCheck Initiative, the international quality label for e-Learning on capacity building, through its Awarding Body, during a ceremony organized at the 2012 Online Educa Berlin.
UNITAR integrates the ECBCheck Steering Community since its inception. The Institute participated in the three awarding ceremonies organized so far, having previously received quality certificates for its course on Governance in Urban Sanitation (2010) and Innovative Collaboration for Development (2011). The courses “Introduction to Peace Operations” and “Understanding Conflict and Conflict Analysis” now add to UNITAR’s portfolio of internationally certified courses, in recognition for the fulfillment ofall criteria set by ECBCheck international quality label. Read more...
Internship/Traineeship opportunities with the Peacekeeping Training Programme
The Peacekeeping Training Programme (PTP) offers an internship/traineeship program for young professionals or fresh postgraduate students. The working experience is designed to allow interns/trainees to strengthen their knowledge and gain practical experience in the training and learning field, with a specialization in topics related to peacekeeping and peace operations.
PTP is a specialized programme of UNITAR intended to offer systematic and comprehensive preparation to civilian, military and police personnel eager to serve in peace operations. PTP presents an effective and thorough approach to training; PTP courses are designed and developed to respond to the evolving and complex training needs in peace operations.
Mandated to Protect - Protection of Civilians in Peacekeeping Operations
Over the past 20 years Protection of Civilians has moved to the forefront of the Security Council resolutions under which United Nations peacekeepers are deployed. But what exactly is meant by 'protection of civilians'? How are peacekeepers meant to protect? What are the responsibilities of heads of mission and force commanders? How are we to counter crimes against women and children which have become weapons of war? These and other questions are addressed in this documentary film which features contributions from United Nations personnel, military, police and civilian peacekeepers, as well as representatives from international non-governmental organisation around the world with vast experience in the Protection of Civilians in the context of peacekeeping operations.
Click on the picture to start the video.
Enhancing the Capacity of African Peacekeeping Training Institutions
Peacekeeping in Africa has grown dramatically over the last five years, with the continent hosting more peacekeepers than any other region. Today, more than ever, peacekeeping capacity building in Africa with African and UN institutions is imperative. Click here to read chairperson Jean Marie Guehénno’s singular report Enhancing the Capacity of African Peacekeeping Training Institutions. | <urn:uuid:a35fa0c3-26c1-44ee-8091-3d18ac7e635c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unitar.org/ptp/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918986 | 911 | 1.640625 | 2 |
The iPad Mini was once a product of conjecture, though soon became very real, with Apple launching the 7.9-inch tablet to appease consumers on a lower budget while competing with the likes of Amazon's Kindle Fire line.
Apple is now thought to be working on a low end iPhone, which is expected to be priced at between $99 to $149, according to Bloomberg. Cheaper components like plastic are thought to be used in order to achieve the price cut, rather than costly metal and glass materials.
It is likely that this is the same device referred to as the iPhone Mini on Reuters yesterday.
If true, the move would see the firm branch away from its traditional $500+ handsets, while the entry-level device could be released in late 2013, which has become the usual time Apple chooses to launch new products.
Sister site ME has the full story. | <urn:uuid:c477f3f7-75d1-4a6f-947e-66977b751b79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcvuk.com/index.php/news/read/99-iphone-rumours-doing-the-rounds/0109052 | 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 | 0.976916 | 180 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Aoraki/Mount Cook is New Zealand's tallest mountain and helped Sir Edmund Hillary to develop his climbing skills in preparation for the conquest of Everest.
The Aoraki/Mount Cook National Park is alpine in the purest sense - with skyscraping peaks, glaciers and permanent snow fields.
Although it encompasses 19 peaks over 3000 metres high, this park is very accessible.
State Highway 80 leads to Aoraki/Mount Cook Village which is situated beside scenic Lake Pukaki and provides a comfortable base for alpine activities.
Mountaineers regard the area to be the best climbing region in Australasia, while less skilled adventurers find plenty of satisfaction with the mountain walks that lead to alpine tarns, herb fields and spectacular glacier views.
At 27 kilometres in length, the mighty Tasman Glacier is a powerful piece of landscaping equipment. While it slowly carves the valley sides, it provides a landing place for small ski planes and helicopters. Surreal, milky lakes are a feature of the park - suspended, glacier-ground rock sediment makes the water opaque.
According to Ngai Tahu legend, Aoraki and his three brothers were the sons of Rakinui, the Sky Father. While on a sea voyage, their canoe overturned on a reef.
When the brothers climbed on top of their canoe, the freezing south wind turned them to stone.
The canoe became the South Island (Te Waka o Aoraki); Aoraki and his brothers became the peaks of the Southern Alps.
There are 10 short walks beginning near the village. All tracks are formed and well marked.
Encounters with the cheeky "Kea" (mountain parrots) along the tracks are part of the fun.
The Red Tarns Track, Kea Point and the Hooker Valley Track each take around two hours return.
For more experienced alpine hikers, there are three mountain pass routes - over the Mueller, Copland and Ball passes.
Glacier viewing and skiing
Helicopters and ski-planes provide access to the park's fabulous glaciers.
The Tasman Glacier is an excellent choice for intermediate skiers, while the Murchison, Darwin and Bonney glaciers promise excitement for advanced skiers.
Landing among spectacular ice formations and caverns is the start of an unforgettable experience.
From October until May, you can explore the Tasman Glacier's terminal lake by boat. | <urn:uuid:434b1a3c-ffe8-46ca-8079-6b6ee0fb579b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ibooknewzealand.com/area/mt_cook.htm?iframe=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93811 | 497 | 1.9375 | 2 |
The following drills can be used in the general conditioning for your specific sport. Adaptability training is a unique type of training that will challenge you to push yourself to another level. Stadium step workouts can be done as a leg workout or for conditioning to help build up work capacity. The plate and medicine ball workouts are dynamic core training routines that train both the core and the body as a whole. They can be used as conditioning tools or for regular training. Pool workouts can be used for many different situations in athletics, including for conditioning or for training variety. They can also be used for injured athletes seeking to stay in shape during both the in and off season. | <urn:uuid:8b6a9b1b-b2bd-4f07-bf2d-9d49ee70bb9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.xlathlete.com/browse_drills.jsp?sport_program_id=149&browse_sport_id=0&drill_type=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969604 | 131 | 2.15625 | 2 |
California Gov. Jerry Brown cited concerns of law enforcement in signing a bill to ban open carry in the state. But critics say there’s little evidence that stronger gun control leads to lower crime.
Daniel B. Wood
The Christian Science Monitor
Gov. Jerry Brown’s decision to ban the open carrying of handguns puts California squarely against the national tide at a time when many other states have acted to ease gun laws.
In announcing that he had signed the bill Monday, Governor Brown – a Democrat who owns three guns – said he was acting upon the advice of law-enforcement officials, including Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca.
“For law enforcement officers and community members, any type of weapon being carried, openly or concealed, could appear as a threat to their well-being and is regarded as a public safety threat,” said Sheriff Baca in a statement.
That rationale puts the California ban at the center of the national debate on the links between gun laws and public safety.
Forty-two states allow the open carrying of guns in public. California Assembly Bill 144, by contrast, carries a penalty of up to a year in prison and a $1,000 fine for anyone who carries a weapon openly in public, though hunters, peace officers, and gun-show attendees are exempt. It takes effect Jan. 1.
But do stronger gun-control laws make a society safer – as Baca suggests – or less safe? It is not clear from statistics whether gun control has lessened crime in the states that have implemented stronger laws, say critics…
…Brown signed another bill relating to guns, AB 809, requiring the state to keep records of rifle sales beginning in January 2014. Both signings were praised by the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence’s California chapter…
The entire article is at The Christian Science Monitor. | <urn:uuid:627b72c9-32ef-4505-9e5c-77d3e1fe4a0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://commonamericanjournal.com/does-open-carry-gun-ban-make-california-safer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956489 | 380 | 2.328125 | 2 |
We (and here I mean me and other academic scientists) suck at communicating. We suck at making things relevant. We suck at abandoning jargon – hell, we sneer at any attempt that removes our precious, precious jargon and replaces it with regular English. We just really suck at talking.
And OK, I am using “we” in an exaggerated sense. There are many wonderful scientists who work with their communities and the broader community to talk about their research in transparent, clear, ways. I am not knocking on Carl Sagan (though several high-power science organizations certainly did for his efforts at communicating science): I am pointing to a larger problem. It really burns my buns when I hear scientific experiments get laughed at, pointed to as frivolous, and seen as unnecessary. I strongly believe in the value of scientific research. At the same time, the fault lies with us, the scientists – we need to talk to people in real, sincere, open ways, without “dumbing down” or any of that pretentious bullshit.
It’s great to be enthused about learning for learning’s sake. That’s incredibly important and valuable and I don’t think that there are many people in academia who think that’s a total waste. On the other hand, academic scientists have a duty not just to increase knowledge but to find uses and applications for that knowledge, whether it is a patent, a new way to get kids interested in science, or a joint effort with the community to monitor and manage lead levels.
Funding keeps getting cut. Year after year budgets are slashed at the state and federal level, and times are dire even at private universities. There’s going to be less money for research in the foreseeable future and there’s no way out of it. But in my typical bullshit-Pollyanna way, I want to see this time as an opportunity for science communication specifically (and academic communication in general) to flourish. Now is the time to make our work relevant, either by explaining our relevance to others or by listening to what needs to be done and doing it. Working with the community requires conversation by both sides – this means both sides must speak and both sides must listen. | <urn:uuid:a3e80f5a-63c6-4ddd-bd67-e63d1e75debe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://persephonemagazine.com/2011/09/14/women-in-academia-let%e2%80%99s-talk/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962102 | 460 | 1.578125 | 2 |
My curiosity would not let me sleep, so I departed for my study abroad program in Germany a couple of weeks early and invested my time and savings into traveling through the Czech Republic. The Czech Republic along with 27 other countries in Europe is part of the European Union. A smart traveler from U.S. will take the opportunity to explore the countries that have not yet switched to the euro and enjoy the sweet exchange rate for the Czech koruna.
Today, traveling in the Czech Republic is very different than it once was. During the Communist era the Czech people could not travel outside the former Eastern Bloc. They could only go to East Germany. The real West was fenced off with several layers of barbed wire. The border had three zones. Zone I consisted of warning signs and barbed wire. Zone II was military access-only with a double fence of barbed wire and military border patrol. Zone III was not reachable to the everyday person. In fact, many immigrants trying to escape while hiring smugglers lost their lives in border areas. Limited exports were allowed into highly secured and heavily patrolled border crossings. But, today the only real difference between the Czech Republic and German borders are the languages of the traffic signs. There are no gates, army, or patrol-just a plain view of the road. All that remains from the past is an empty immigration building.
The Czech Republic, or the heart of Europe, is smaller than the state of Ohio and is home to 10 million residents. In November 1989 the Velvet Revolution ended the Communist era, and shortly after that, democracy started to develop and grow. The former Czechoslovakia split into two countries: the Czech Republic and Slovakia. Many mistake these two countries as being one, even after 20 years of independence. Many also think that the former Czechoslovakia was part of the former USSR, but that’s also a mistake. Czechoslovakia was as an independent country during the entire Communist Eastern Block era, so Czech people speak Czech, not Russian. Even though both are languages of Slavic origin, they are very distinct languages. Both languages use a different alphabet.
The capital city is Prague (PRAHA in Czech). One of the main sights is The Charles Bridge, named after The King of Bohemia and Holy Roman Emperor, Charles IV (1316-78). Historians claim that the Charles Bridge was built with sand, water, clay and tons and tons of eggs used for binding. Apparently, this was a very good idea because the bridge stands strong over the Moldova River (Vltava, in Czech) despite major floods in 2007. Charles IV also founded the first European University, Prague University, as well as St. Vitus Cathedral. Today the Charles Bridge is only a tourist-walking zone with an infinite number of artists performing and selling their art and crafts all year around.
Negotiating always pays off while making purchases on the bridge. If you offer to pay with the euro, the price will go down significantly since the currency is the Czech koruna and the euro is on demand. Downtown Prague is always crowded because it is attractive, magnificent and historically rich. Unfortunately, as with many European cities, Prague is a haven for pickpockets. Make sure to carry your backpack in front of you and cross your arms over it. Keep your money in several places, as close to your body as possible and never in your back pocket.
One of the biggest tourist attractions is the Prague Castle, which stands nobly on the hill overseeing the entire valley of the Moldova River. If you see the president’s flag waving on the top of the castle, it means that the Czech president is currently in the castle. From the Prague Castle, the popular view, “the city of thousands of towers” can be seen.
Today, Prague is home to major market players such as Microsoft, Dell, Apple, Procter & Gamble, Johnson & Johnson, Nokia, Motorola, Ford, KIA, Nissan, Mazda, Toyota, Citroen, Renault as well as IKEA, McDonald’s, Starbucks, Harvey’s… just about anything you find in the U.S. market, along with German major market players such as VW and others.
During my time in Southern Czech Republic, I visited small castles, belvederes, churches and cathedrals, which are even common sites for cities with 25,000 residents. I did not forget to wear proudly my CSU colors. My Viking shirt represented my university on the plane and during my time in the Czech Republic. | <urn:uuid:5afa81d2-d19c-4776-a93f-4728d9c60d47> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pinkpangea.com/2010/12/europe-on-the-cheap-in-the-czech-republic/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972627 | 937 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Happiness at work is big news. Take a look at this new video by the New Economics Foundation (NEF) who have worked together with Zappos to create a new happiness at work survey. This new tool which was launched recently gives companies a simple way to measure happiness and well-being in the workplace and to implement improvements to create a happier workforce. According to the article below from the Guardian Sustainable Business section, having a happy workforce actually makes good financial sense.
A happy workforce is more engaged, creative and more focused, increasing the overall productivity of a company, says Tim Smedley
How happy are you at work? Maybe you’re reading this at work right now? Which could indicate that you work in a friendly workplace culture where you’re empowered to do as you see fit and read whatever you want online. Or it could mean that you’re bored out of your brain, whiling away the hours until the clock clunks to home time. The former suggests that you’re a happy and productive worker; the latter, quite the opposite. And this link between happiness and productivity at work is becoming increasingly understood.
Nic Marks, of the New Economics Foundation (Nef), has spent the last 10 years of his life working in this field. It used to be known as ‘well-being economics’ until it was discovered that “normal people didn’t know what that meant”, says Marks. Happiness is what it’s really all about.
“People who are happier at work are more productive – they are more engaged, more creative, have better concentration”, says Marks. “The difference in productivity between happy and unhappy people at work can range between 10-50%. That’s 10% for non-complex repetitive tasks, or up to 40-50% in service and creative industries.” And that’s an awful lot in terms of business revenue.
The current poster boy for happiness in business circles is Tony Hsieh. A beneficiary of the dot-com boom he became a multi-millionaire in his early 20s by selling his web company LinkExchange to Microsoft for $265m. He then took over fashion start-up Zappos in 1999 because he missed working in a happy environment. “It began selfishly for me”, he admits. “I was in the financial position of not having to work again… so if I’m going to go back into an office it better be around people I would choose to hang out with. Otherwise, what’s the point? But it actually turned out to be a good business strategy.”
By 2005, Hsieh decided that a happy company culture was Zappos’s number one business priority, from which everything else would grow. In an ironic echo of the General Electric CEO Jack Welsch who advocated axing the bottom performing 10% of managers each year, Hsieh removed the 5-10% of employees who did not buy into the same vision. “The best way to make [a happy culture] stick is to get rid of the whatever percentage of people who aren’t living up to the company values”, he argues. “What we found is that short term pain was totally worth the long-term gain of strengthening the relationships with everybody else.”
By removing the cynics, says Hsieh, the remaining 90% “became super-engaged”. Empowerment policies then came thick and fast. The company moved from San Francisco to Las Vegas where they could recreate a college campus environment; the sole communication policy reads “‘be real and use your best judgement”; call centre staff are hired on friendliness – only 5% of calls result in sales but long-term relationships are built over time. By 2008 the company reached $1b in gross merchandise sales. In 2012, it is now over $2bn, with 5,000 staff. That sort of growth – especially through a prolonged recession – is hard to ignore.
The UK government is not ignoring happiness. For the last two years Lib Dem MP Jo Swinson has chaired the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Wellbeing Economics. When it started out, two people came. The last sitting in May was standing room only. “Anyone who has worked in a business knows that when colleagues feel motivated, empowered and wake up looking forward to going to work – then they will work better. We all know that”, says Swinson. “And increasingly businesses are recognising that too.”
In light of this groundswell of interest, Nic Marks and Nef have just launched an online tool to help businesses measure and manage the happiness of their employees. Marks feels that the employee engagement surveys run by many businesses are too extractive, based on what employers can get out of their employees rather than what employees want. To avoid disappearing down an HR blackhole, as Marks puts it, Nef’s happiness survey gives employees instant results – including personalised action plans – as well as collating the results anonymously for the business.
One company who trialled the Nef approach – The Works, a recruitment agency in the north of England – ended up changing its working hours and internal communications practices on the back of the survey. “It’s given employees empowerment, hopefully it’s given them more job satisfaction”, says Joanne Shires, the firm’s head of people and talent. “And for us it’s a return on our social investment.”
So can happier people at work actually lead to a happier and more prosperous society? In down town Las Vegas, Tony Hsieh and Zappos are putting that to the test. Having bought the old Las Vegas city hall to house the new company headquarters, planning the obligatory cool workplace trimmings – funky break-out areas, an internal pub – all felt too insular, says Hsieh. So Zappos set up and funded a $350m project to invest $100m in local real estate, $100m in residential development, $50m in small businesses, $50m in education, and $50m in technology start-ups.
“What started out as a new office move has actually turned out to be a project to revitalise down town Vegas,” says Hsieh. And guess what, “we’ve seen our employees become engaged on a whole new level because of this. It all feeds back into the Zappos brand… we can do well and do good.” Which has to be more than just a happy coincidence.
Article by Tim Smedley originally published in The Guardian on 20th June 2012. | <urn:uuid:1388bb0d-5598-4710-aea0-3410b1699bea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thehappinessexperiment.co.uk/tag/nic-marks/ | 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 | 0.965366 | 1,407 | 2.046875 | 2 |
6 Week Journaling Course
Week 6 of your journaling course - millionstoriesproject.com
Week 5 of your journaling course
Module 6 and its story telling time. I often look at my people section or use something that is niggling me and write a short story
Writing stories just for fun
Write for 15 minutes on any of the following, make your own up, or open a book and follow the first sentence that you see.
- He passed me the goddess of business voodoo doll…..
- The old photo looked vaguely familiar, where had I seen him/her before?
- I was driving along the old dual carriage way from Jerez to Gibraltar, when I saw…
- The house although wrecked had a hot tub….
- His cowboy boots were scuffed and his jacket stained, as he handed over his fiver I noticed
- She was drooling, it made me feel…..
- This evening I will….
- It was her voice…. (here is an example)
I hope that you have enjoyed your short course. Please stay tuned as I will be sending you hints, tips and journalling prompts through my occasional newsletter. It has been wonderful to share with you.
Carry on journalling!
PS: Don’t forget to enter the Million Stories Project writing competition… | <urn:uuid:465dd7a8-f068-428a-9a31-82dbb5d33be2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://millionstoriesproject.com/members-2/6-week-journaling-course/week-6-of-your-journaling-course/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969431 | 276 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Good read for all nonprofit board of directors, leadership, management. Governance today requires better and bigger responsibilities. . Not the least of these is the same as for profit groups, namely compensation of executive staff.
Excerpt: Committees of the board of directors or trustees of various not-for-profit entities are being asked to assume increasing responsibility and be proactively engaged in the leadership and success of the organization. Accompanying these expectations are new requirements and pressures from regulators, funding agencies, donors, beneficiaries, employees and other stakeholders that require board members or trustees to implement programs and structures that can effectively respond to and administer a decision-making process consistent with their fiduciary responsibilities of loyalty, honesty and care. The governance committee plays a critical role in deepening the understanding of the full board about appropriate processes that can assist in its critical role as a fiduciary. In relation to compensation decision-making, the governance committee can assist the compensation or human resources committee by helping identify potential new committee and board members who are well-versed in the expectations set by regulators and governing agencies, such as the Intermediate Sanctions Regulations, Stark Law requirements in health care, presidential housing valuation requirements for higher education and many more compensation- and benefits-oriented issues. In addition, the governance committee should understand the best practices for general governance protocols and other committees within its own not-for-profit community (e.g., higher education, health care, social services, religious). The committee should also be willing to adopt successful tactics from the for-profit community. A successful not-for-profit organization will have transparent internal communication processes and practices, policies and programs that can evolve along with the organization. • | <urn:uuid:f2ab6f51-4f19-4b67-8481-e1c19c30a04a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bjconquest.com/2012/06/25/governance-committees-and-compensation-decision-making-in-the-nonprofit-community/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945127 | 342 | 1.664063 | 2 |
IASI, Romania -- Researchers from security vendor Symantec Corp. have identified a new premium-rate SMS Android Trojan horse that modifies its code every time it gets downloaded in order to bypass antivirus detection.
This technique is known as server-side polymorphism and has already existed in the world of desktop malware for many years, but mobile malware creators have only now begun to adopt it.
A special mechanism that runs on the distribution server modifies certain parts of the Trojan in order to ensure that every malicious app that gets downloaded is unique. This is different from local polymorphism where the malware modifies its own code every time it gets executed.
Symantec [Nasdaq: SYMC] has identified multiple variants of this Trojan horse, which it detects as Android.Opfake, and all of them are distributed from Russian websites. However, the malware contains instructions to automatically send SMS messages to premium-rate numbers from a large number of European and former Soviet Union countries.
In some cases, especially when security products rely heavily on static signatures, detecting malware threats that make use of server-side polymorphism can be difficult.
"As with malware that affects traditional computing devices, the level of sophistication of the polymorphism used can affect how easy or difficult the threat is to detect," said Vikram Thakur, the principal security response manager at Symantec. "More complicated polymorphism requires more intelligent countermeasures."
In the case of Android.Opfake the level of polymorphism is not very high, as only some of the Trojan's data files are being modified by the distribution server.
"If antivirus vendors place their detection on the executable and non-changing sections, all files would be successfully detected," said Tim Armstrong, malware researcher at Kaspersky Lab. However, if the Trojan's executable code were also polymorphic, the challenge of detecting it would be more difficult, he said.
According to Armstrong, server-side polymorphism is not very widespread on the Android platform at the moment because most users get their apps through official channels and the current structure of the Android Market does not allow for a malware distribution scheme like this one.
However, he agrees that polymorphic Android malware could force antivirus vendors to step up their game in the future. "I think many of the features that are currently available on traditional platforms will start to arrive on these mobile platforms out of necessity as the criminals change their attack methods," Armstrong said.
There have been many new developments on the mobile threat landscape recently and increasing their attention towards smartphones is a logical move for malware writers, because they usually go where the money is, said Jamz Yaneza, research manager at antivirus company Trend Micro.
Users should become more aware of this fact and the capabilities of their mobile devices, which are now similar to those of mobile PCs, Yaneza said. "They should treat app downloads with the same caution as they do on desktops," and install or make use of whatever security add-ons they can as this creates another protective layer.
Meanwhile, InfoWorld U.S. reports that in an effort to improve security in its Android Market, Google has been using a service providing automated scanning of applications submitted to the mobile application store.
Code-named Bouncer, the service scans the market for potentially malicious software without disrupting the user experience or requiring developers to submit to an application approval process, said Hiroshi Lockheimer, vice of engineering for Android, in a blog post.
Google also analyzes new developer accounts to help prevent malicious developers from coming back, Lockheimer said. Bouncer has been in use for a while; Google found that between the first and second halves of last year, there was a 40 per cent decrease in the number of potentially malicious downloads from Android Market. | <urn:uuid:98438533-6ad8-4ed6-9990-067e50ddaa88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.itworldcanada.com/news/symantec-warns-of-android-trojans-that-mutate-with-every-download/144816 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947182 | 774 | 2.25 | 2 |
|Index of papers||Phil Gyford: web | email|
|Futures Methods I|
|Interview Report||PDF version||1999-11-02|
This paper looks at whether the Internet will cause cultures around the world to become increasingly similar, or instead encourage greater diversity. I conducted five telephone interviews on these and other effects over the next ten years. The interviewees mostly work within the UK new media industry:
Each was sent a copy of the questions in advance of the conversations, which all lasted less than thirty minutes.
We covered a wide range of topics and most respondents agreed with one overall theme. The question was whether the increase in the Net's popularity will increase the homogeneity of world culture or create more diversity. Both outcomes seem perfectly plausible. Firstly, the spread of Western (usually American) cultures into other societies is already apparent, largely due to the ability of TV, movies, etc. to spread ideas and images quickly. The Net may simply increase the ease of disseminating these ideas more quickly and thoroughly. On the other hand, the Net is different from traditional mass media. It is more easily personalised and allows individuals to publish their own material. This ability gives people more power to control their 'viewing' and, more importantly, to create their own audiences. These differences from the mass broadcast model have the potential to fragment cultures.
The respondents largely agreed that both trends could become increasingly strong: cultures around the world will become more alike, while the differences within each culture will become more distinct. These two contrasting trends of increasing and decreasing homogeneity almost imply each other at a logical level. As a national culture absorbs influences from others around the world it will encompass more diversity, becoming an amalgam of many fragments drawn from diverse sources. However, as more countries undergo this transformation, absorbing more foreign influences, they will become increasingly alike. Eventually all countries will consist of similar mixtures of international influences, creating a more homogenous world culture than we have today.
One interviewee uses Europe as a "test case," stating that on one level it is becoming more like a single country. For example, passports are't necessary for travel and it seems likely that the Euro will become the standard currency. On a continent-wide level Europe is becoming more homogenous, with poorer countries being brought up to similar standards of living through grants and trade. On a national level however the effect of closer neighbours is increasing differences within nations as attributes of foreign cultures are absorbed. This example does not account for the phenomenon of increasing regional identity, such as that of warring factions in former Yugoslavia or more peacefully in the devolution of Scotland. While an increase in a nation or region's diversity does occur, it may meet with resistance as people stand up for their native culture (another example being France's continual stand against the influence of the English language on their own soil). Extrapolating the European example to a global scale, an expansion of regional friction within nations may be the reaction to absorbing foreign cultures.
Another respondent thinks that while the increasing ease of access to information about other cultures is speeding the homogenisation of the globe, people are associating more with cultures rather than with nations. National identity is becoming less dominant and cultural identity more so, with individuals feeling less connection to the traditional concept of a nation. People don't feel bound by their nation's borders and see themselves as global citizens, an attitude typified by Wallpaper* magazine. One interviewee sees geography becoming irrelevant when it comes to people connecting through common interest while another asserts, "There is and will be a decrease in mass media as a unifying force in a society, but it will unify people within a global audience." However, he doesn't expect this unifying power of the media to be as powerful as it once was, with the flexibility of the Internet able to create more targeted and individual media experiences.
Between these two levels of fragmented nations and global homogeneity, language may create another form of association. The arrival of "language networks" whose borders are defined by a shared language was suggested. For example, an English speaker in New Zealand will feel himself part of a network with Britain, Hong Kong, and other English-speaking nations. Trade will create links between networks at an economic level and people will use the official second language of the 21st century, English. The possibility was also raised that English could one day become the first language around the world, depending on whether new generations learn it or not.
Few of the other subjects share such a rigid definition of language networks. One respondent agreed that these networks will arise on the level of the Internet, although right now tools like AltaVista's Babelfish ease the translation of foreign language websites. Back in the real world though, he acknowledges that however strong such virtual networks are, "France is still going to be closer than Australia." Countries that have a strong tradition of a second language will have an advantage, being able to access 'foreign' networks, while others, such as China, could still remain culturally isolated in an era of global connections. Another view was that information can easily be personalised and distributed in many languages, creating language-oriented virtual networks.
From all this an image of a world based on geography becomes increasingly irrelevant. On a personal level, people will associate with those groups which share their interest or culture, groups existing within boundaries defined by language. Traditional national borders become increasingly irrelevant as the rate of information flow amongst cultures rises. There will still be cultural differences among groups, but these groups will be less reliant on geography to define their boundaries.
There is a plausible alternative however, one which other interviewees may have found more likely. Some people have suggested that while the Internet is currently a varied and eclectic place it is destined to become increasingly more like conventional media, dominated by large multinational companies. It will still be technically possible for people to create their own content but the majority of users will only visit the large corporate sites which is little different from the effect of TV. In fact this consolidation is already underway, with Internet statistics firm Media Metrix stating that 20 percent of time spent on the Web is at the top ten sites.
The respondents may agree on this issue because they all, to varying degrees, know each other and are drawn from a similar area of a small industry. If, for example, five TV executives had been questioned we may have drawn very different conclusions. It should not, however, be assumed that the interviewees were all of one mind. Questions not directly relevant to this paper's topic were asked and a surprising amount of disagreement was evident.
|Index of papers||Phil Gyford: web | email| | <urn:uuid:58c8d0f9-4dd0-4616-a8d2-a5e16f6dec5b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gyford.com/phil/uhcl/methods1/interview_report.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956726 | 1,359 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Extinguishers Have Limits
Used properly, a portable fire extinguisher can save lives and property by putting out a small fire or containing it until the fire department arrives. Portable extinguishers for home use, however, are not designed to fight large or speeding fires. Even against small fires, they are useful only under certain conditions.
- The operator must know how to use the extinguisher. There is no time to read directions during an emergency.
- The extinguisher must be within easy reach and in working order, fully charged.
- The operator must have a clear escape route that will not be blocked by fire.
- The extinguisher must mach the type of fire being fought. Extinguishers that contain water are unsuitable for use on grease or electrical fires.
- The extinguisher must be large enough to put out the fire. Many portable extinguishers discharge completely in as few as 8 to 10 seconds.
Choosing Your Extinguisher
Fire extinguishers are tested by independent laboratories and labeled for the type and size fire they can extinguish. Use these labels as a guide to purchase the kind of extinguisher that suits your needs.
Classes of fire
There are three basic classes of fires. All fire extinguishers are labeled using standard symbols for the classes of fires they can put out. A red slash thorough any of the symbols tells you the extinguisher can not be used on that class of fire. A missing symbol tells you only that extinguisher has not been tested for a given class of fire.
The extinguisher must be appropriate for the type of fire being fought. If you use the wrong type of extinguisher, you can endanger yourself and make the fire worse. Multipurpose fire extinguishers marked ABC may be used on all three classes of fires.
Remember, in some cases it may be dangerous to use any type of extinguisher. For instance, pressurized extinguishing agent could spread a grease pan fire rather than put it out.
Portable extinguishers are also rated for the size of fire they can handle. This rating will appear on the lable -- for example, 2A:10B:C. The larger the numbers, the larger the fire that the extinguisher can put out, but the higher-rated models are often heavier. Make sure you can hold and operate an extinguisher before you buy it.
Installation & Maintenance
Extinguishers should be installed in plain view, above the reach of children, near an escape route, and away from stoves and heating appliances.
Extinguishers require routine care. Read your operator's manual to learn how to inspect your extinguisher. Follow manufacturer's instructions on maintenance.
Rechargeable models must be serviced after every use. (Service companies are listed in the Yellow Pages under "Fire Extinguishers.") Disposable fire extinguishers can be used only once and must be replaced after use.
Remember the PASS word
If you decide to use your extinguisher to fight a fire, keep your back to an unobstructed exit and stand six to eight feet away from the fire. Follow the four-step PASS procedure.
Always be sure the fire department inspects the fire site, even if you think you've extinguished the fire.
Should you fight the fire?
Before you begin to fight a fire:
- Make sure everyone has left, or is leaving, the building.
- Make sure the fire department has been called.
- Make sure the fire is confined to a small area and is not spreading.
- Be sure you have an unobstructed escape route to which the fire will not spread.
- Be sure you have read the instructions and that you know how to use the extinguisher.
For more information on the selection and use of portable extinguishers or to schedule a class, contact the Fire Prevention Division at (512) 218-3204. | <urn:uuid:f943d243-1da9-4c72-8e7b-eb1f0ff90253> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.roundrocktexas.gov/home/index.asp?page=419 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924167 | 792 | 2.328125 | 2 |
In the mid-1980's, celery growers in the US came up with what they thought was a better strain of celery that was highly resistant to bugs. Imagine biting into a juicy celery stalk and not having bugs all over it! The celery workers said that it would boost yield dramatically, but there was one tiny problem. The people who touched it got skin rashes, and people who ate it had stomach cramps. In truth, the celery was shedding psoralens, natural chemicals which become irritants when exposed to the sun.
In Europe, campaigners have been working to prevent genetically engineered crops being grown on the same scale as in North America. The campaigners have branded all genetically engineered crops called "Frankenfood". Disaster broke out in Britain, in August, when a food scientist falsely claimed that he had invented a type of potato that was toxic to rats.
The question that really matters in cloning fruit is, "How do specific genes and the proteins they encode behave in the body? Do the types of genes that are in the crops affect the body in any ill way? The answer lies in the biotech industry.
Return to Cloning Home Page | <urn:uuid:f51e3253-6ba2-42bd-a65c-67d8d485c269> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://library.thinkquest.org/J002564F/Strange%20Fruit...%20THE%20REAL%20TRUTH%20IS%20DONE!!.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979843 | 238 | 3.234375 | 3 |
American chairman and chief executive officer (CEO) of the international document-management and business-services company Xerox Corporation, who was the first African American woman to serve as CEO of a Fortune 500 company and the first female to accede to the position of CEO of such a company from another female.
Burns was raised in a low-income housing project on Manhattan's Lower East Side. She was the second of three children raised by a single mother who operated a home day-care centre and took ironing and cleaning jobs to earn money to pay for Burns to attend Cathedral High School, a Roman Catholic preparatory school. Excelling at math, Burns later earned a bachelor's degree in mechanical engineering (1980) from the Polytechnic Institute of New York University in Brooklyn. In the same year, she began pursuing a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Columbia University and joined Xerox as a summer mechanical-engineering intern through the company's graduate engineering program for minorities, which in turn paid a portion of her educational expenses.
After completing a master's degree in 1981, Burns joined Xerox as a full-time employee and quickly gained a role in product development. From 1992 she progressed through various roles in management and engineering, and in 2000 she became senior vice president of corporate strategic services, a position in which she oversaw production operations. The appointment eventually afforded Burns the opportunity to broaden her leadership in the areas of global research, product development, marketing, and delivery, and she was named president of Xerox in 2007. Two years later she was named chairman and CEO. Burns was widely credited with increasing the company's development, production, and sales of colour-capable devices.
In 2009 U.S. Pres. Barack Obama selected Burns to help lead the Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) Education Coalition, a national alliance of more than 1,000 technological organizations striving to improve student participation and performance in the aforementioned subject areas through legislative advocacy. The following year Burns was appointed to serve as vice-chair of the President's Export Council (PEC), a group of labour, business, and government leaders who advise the president on methods to promote the growth of American exports.
Jeannette L. Nolen | <urn:uuid:64895a9e-382e-45cf-942e-59dae2ddf360> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.britannica.com/blackhistory/article-9489840 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976154 | 452 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Making a working turret that tracks movement and shoots at its targets is challenging enough, but Penn State University student Kevin Swanson had an extra objective for his final Advanced Mechatronics project; it had to look like a turret from Portal, the popular puzzle game/shooter from Valve.
“My professor, who is obsessed with Portal, told us as a semi-joke [that he'll] only allow it if the turret looks like the Portal turret,” Swanson told GamesBeat in an exclusive interview. ”I just kind of ran with it from there.”
The robot uses an IP webcam to track targets and fire bullets. “The idea started with us playing with one of those USB desk turrets, and we wanted to automate it with a camera for our final project,” said Swanson. Don’t worry, this machine isn’t deadly. It just fires soft Nerf darts, but the bizarrely adorable device still talks to its would-be-victims, just like in the game.
“It’s not done yet,” Swanson told us. He’s still working on the familiar, egg-shaped casing for his machine. “I’m looking at about another month, and it should look just like the turret form the game.” We look forward to seeing the final project…as long as it’s still loaded with just Nerf ammo.
You can see the robot in action and learn more about how it works from Kevin’s video, posted below.
UPDATED: Kevin was kind enough to send us some pictures of the development of his incredible machine.
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- Next Slides | <urn:uuid:92549c22-9320-4273-b24f-ad39ba3f9070> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://venturebeat.com/2012/05/12/real-life-portal-turret/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9604 | 358 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Robert Blake, Baron Blake
||This article needs additional citations for verification. (July 2011)|
Robert Norman William Blake, Baron Blake (23 December 1916 – 20 September 2003) was an English historian. He is best known for his 1966 biography of Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, and for The Conservative Party from Peel to Churchill, which grew out of his 1968 Ford lectures. He was created a life peer in 1971 as Baron Blake, of Braydeston in the County of Norfolk.
He was educated at Norwich School and Magdalen College, Oxford, where he got a First in PPE and a hockey Blue. He served in the Royal Artillery during the war, was taken prisoner in Tobruk in 1942, escaped Italy in 1944 and was mentioned in despatches. He was in MI6 from 1944 to 1946. In 1947 he became Tutor in Politics at Christ Church, Oxford, and in 1968 was elected Provost of The Queen's College, Oxford, a post held until retirement in 1987. Blake was a good friend of the late historian Hugh Trevor-Roper. He was for many years Senior Member (the University Don responsible for ruling on internal disputes such as accusations of electoral malpractice) of the Oxford University Conservative Association. In 1987 he was nominated in the election for the Oxford Chancellorship, but lost to Roy Jenkins, although polling ahead of former Conservative Prime Minister Edward Heath.
His History of Rhodesia (1978) is a notable work on the development of that area: critical but sympathetic. It makes interesting reading in conjunction with the less critical Sunrise on the Zambezi (1953).
Blake opposed the Labour Party's policy to abolish the hereditary peers in the House of Lords:
"Abolition of the hereditary vote...is alleged to be phase one of a policy to substitute an elective Upper House for the existing chamber. Meanwhile we would have the biggest quango of all time: a House whose members would owe their seats solely to past or present prime ministerial patronage. Even as an interim measure, this would be thoroughly undesirable, and certainly no improvement on the present composition. The hereditary system, whatever its logical defects, does produce some people of independent opinions and also some who are much younger than the normal run of middle-aged legislators...My guess is that after achieving stage one, which would involve a great deal of parliamentary time and much controversy, a Labour Cabinet would rest on its oars and postpone for many years any plans for an elective chamber. There are immense difficulties involved – its powers, electoral system, and above all relations with the Commons, which would certainly resent the creation of a body with rival claims to democratic legitimacy."
- The Unknown Prime Minister. The Life and Times of Andrew Bonar Law, 1858-1923 (1955).
- Disraeli (1966).
- Disraeli and Gladstone (1969) (Stephen Lecture).
- Conservative Party from Peel to Churchill (1970) (later revised and updated as Conservative Party from Peel to Thatcher, then again as Conservative Party from Peel to Major).
- The Office of Prime Minister (1975).
- Conservatism in an Age of Revolution (1976).
- History of Rhodesia (1978).
- Disraeli's Grand Tour: Benjamin Disraeli and the Holy Land, 1830-31 (1982).
- The Decline of Power, 1915-1964 (1985) (part of The Paladin History of England series).
- An Incongruous Relationship. Lloyd George and Bonar Law (1992) (The Welsh Political Archive Lecture).
- Gladstone, Disraeli and Queen Victoria. Centenary Romanes Lecture (1993).
- Churchill: A Major New Assessment of His Life in Peace and War (1993) (edited with W. M. Louis).
- Winston Churchill (1998).
- Jardine Matheson. Traders of the Far East (1999).
- The Times, 23 July 1996. Jim McCue, Edmund Burke and Our Present Discontents (The Claridge Press, 1997), p. 123. | <urn:uuid:f299bfd1-2c34-4df9-a842-54f9e73bd959> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_Blake,_Baron_Blake | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953214 | 842 | 2.25 | 2 |
When you are using or installing certain programs, have you ever seen the message on the above? This message indicates that the WMVCore.dll error happens. What is the WMVCore.dll error? Why does this error happen? How to repair this error? These are what we are going to talk about in this article?
WMVCore.dll file is a vital part of the Windows Media Library. Usually, they work with the compressing and decompressing the media files. In windows, the Windows Player accesses these files in order to play music files or watch movie files that are labeled with wmv. When something goes wrong with this file, the WMVCore.dll error happens.
"Wmvcore.dll not found"
"This application failed to start because wmvcore.dll was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem."
"The file wmvcore.dll is missing"
"Cannot start [APPLICATION].A required component is missing .wmvcore.dll. Please install [APPLICATION] again",
The registry is an important part of the operating system and contains a large database of configuration information of users who are logged on to the system. If you want to repair the registry, you can use a fix tool which can effectively solve your problem.
Sometimes, the WMVCore.dll file is damaged, and this will prevent your PC from being able to read it. If so, the error will appear for several programs and will keeping showing no matter what you do to the computer. To repair the error, you can download WMVCore.dll and replace it into the C:\windows\system32 folder of your computer-allowing windows to read it better.
Mostly, we come across this error, when we are running some specific applications. So, when the specific software programs being unable to read the file it requires to run, the error happens. This situation can happen for quite a lot of reasons, and the causal way to repair it is to reinstall the software which causes the error.
This measure is always necessary whatever error happens. Scan your whole system and remove the existing virus. Make sure your compute is virus-free.
Use a registry repair tool. Download a registry repair tool which can fix the wmvcore.dll error and it can automatically do the above four things for you. | <urn:uuid:0e52246d-fa30-4f2d-8052-74141d4f63d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fixdllexe.com/How-to-Repair-WMVCore.dll-Error.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919617 | 497 | 2.578125 | 3 |
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If you, like me, have diabetes, you realize upon reflection that you are, despite the constant demands of the disease, blessed. Somewhere, sometime, you have benefited from the kindness, professionalism, and genuine concern of a medical professional, be it a nurse, pharmacist, dietitian, physician, therapist, or supporting staff.
Composing a letter of gratitude to one of these people who has touched your life is a wonderful way to celebrate the new year. Here are a few tips to get your started:
1: Take time to reflect. During your time with this disease, who has made the greatest positive impact on your life with diabetes?
2: Make a list. What qualities do you most appreciate in this individual? What specific incident or incidents influenced your diabetes management and outlook the most?
3: Write a first draft. Writing intimidates a lot of people, so allow yourself a rough draft or two to get all your thoughts on paper. Include as much specific information as possible, especially if the professional has a lot of patients.
4: Revise. Read your letter over and record any corrections that you would like to make in your final draft.
5: Write your final version, being sure to sign your name, and send it off to the postman. Many medical professionals communicate with patients by email, but an email has a less personal feel than a letter received in the mailbox.
I know that diabetes is sometimes incredibly isolating, and it's easy to forget the professionals who work diligently to make sure that we receive the care and education we need to self-manage our disease. When I take the focus off myself, I realize that diabetes care is a team effort. The people who seek to keep me healthy and strong deserve a "thank you."
Diabetes Health is the essential resource for people living with diabetes- both newly diagnosed and experienced as well as the professionals who care for them. We provide balanced expert news and information on living healthfully with diabetes. Each issue includes cutting-edge editorial coverage of new products, research, treatment options, and meaningful lifestyle issues. | <urn:uuid:064cb0ff-fc4a-43d6-a87d-2d110b435816> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://diabeteshealth.com/read/2011/04/07/7101/be-thankful--a-letter-of-gratitude-/?isComment=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95471 | 484 | 1.6875 | 2 |
An Illinois Neo-Nazi Calls on the Law
Would-be lawyer and World Church of the Creator leader Matt Hale has been busy trying to get the law on his side. After being denied a law license by the Illinois Bar Association, the East Peoria neo-Nazi recently petitioned the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case.
His crusade to keep his group's tax-exempt religious status got a boost when a judge threw out a state suit alleging that it was really an unregistered charity. And now, Hale is promising to sue Northwestern University near Chicago if he isn't allowed to start a white supremacist group there after collecting the required signatures.
As part of that last effort, Hale and a small coterie of supporters appeared near the Northwestern campus outside Chicago in January. Meeting with 150 angry protesters, Hale was swept up in a scuffle and emerged with a bloodied lip. Riot police escorted him away under a barrage of snowballs.
Hale's appearance was seen as a stick-in-your-eye outrage at Northwestern, adding insult to the fatal injuries that one-time "Creator of the Year" Ben Smith — a longtime Hale deputy — inflicted on a former Northwestern basketball coach.
Smith also killed another man and wounded nine people, all of them Jews or other minorities, during a Fourth of July weekend rampage. Then Smith killed himself.
Ever hungry for publicity, Hale has found his World Church of the Creator (WCOTC) in the headlines in other ways, as well. Recent developments:
A home security salesman and WCOTC member is running in the March 21 Democratic primary for Illinois' 3rd Congressional district. R. Benedict Mayers' platform: repeal the right of blacks to vote; prohibit interracial marriages; send black prison inmates "back to Western Africa"; redraw city lines to exclude blacks from city services; and undertake an "investigation" of international Jewry.
Florida WCOTC leader Jules Fettu, who police say was slated to become the national group's second in command, was sentenced to five years in prison for the 1997 beating of a dark-skinned Cuban man. At least six other WCOTC Florida members have recently been convicted or pleaded guilty to charges in connection with this incident and others, including cases of armed robbery and witness tampering.
A spate of some 30 hate letters sent to historically black colleges, the naacp and 16 offices of the American Jewish Committee included WCOTC catchphrases: "Hail Ben Klassen," referring to the group's founder who committed suicide in 1993, and the word "RAHOWA," shorthand for the group's motto, "Racial Holy War!" | <urn:uuid:da2381e2-2ff6-41ba-b67c-4bb8045622f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.splcenter.org/get-informed/intelligence-report/browse-all-issues/2000/winter/neo-nazis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971012 | 549 | 1.5 | 2 |
Seeing Bernie again reminded me this time of Herman Melville's final novel, The Confidence-Man: His Masquerade (1857). Human nature remains exactly the same as in Melville's day, but what may be more surprising is how much of Melville's language seems quite recognizable.
Then there are the unintentionally contemporary-sounding chapter headers, such as the one for chapter five, straight out of Colorado:
THE MAN WITH THE WEED MAKES IT AN EVEN QUESTION WHETHER HE BE A GREAT SAGE OR A GREAT SIMPLETON.
Next, here's a little sample from Chapter 42:
UPON THE HEEL OF THE LAST SCENE THE COSMOPOLITAN ENTERS THE BARBER'S SHOP, A BENEDICTION ON HIS LIPS.
"Bless you, barber!"
Now, owing to the lateness of the hour, the barber had been all alone until within the ten minutes last passed; when, finding himself rather dullish company to himself, he thought he would have a good time with Souter John and Tam O'Shanter, otherwise called Somnus and Morpheus, two very good fellows, though one was not very bright, and the other an arrant rattlebrain, who, though much listened to by some, no wise man would believe under oath.
In short, with back presented to the glare of his lamps, and so to the door, the honest barber was taking what are called cat-naps, and dreaming in his chair; so that, upon suddenly hearing the benediction above, pronounced in tones not unangelic, starting up, half awake, he stared before him, but saw nothing, for the stranger stood behind. What with cat-naps, dreams, and bewilderments, therefore, the voice seemed a sort of spiritual manifestation to him; so that, for the moment, he stood all agape, eyes fixed, and one arm in the air.
"Why, barber, are you reaching up to catch birds there with salt?"
"Ah!" turning round disenchanted, "it is only a man, then."
Bottom line for Mr. Melville: despite a few now strange-sounding turns of phrase, most contemporary English-readers will be able to understand his words, sentences and ideas more than 150 years later, cat-naps and all. The things that we have to look up or try to figure out from context, I suppose, represent the biggest changes in perception or normative communication between then and now.
Today's Rune: Fertility. | <urn:uuid:6a25ccc6-28cd-4b4a-b349-b9b6e2ba9172> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eriklerouge.blogspot.com/2012/12/the-confidence-man.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947054 | 539 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Like event planning checklists there are many event planning templates for you to choose. Understanding the needs of today’s meeting planner, Microsoft Office offers a free event planning templates downloads page. Of course when choosing any event plan template you must first determine what it is you want the event planning template to do for you.
An event planning template is designed to assist you, the planner. Whether it’s to organize your “to do” list, provide time management or to assist with a marketing schedule, an event planning proposal template is an important part of event planning. Organizational templates are generally used to keep you to a schedule. They are also important to make sure that every aspect of your event is being addressed. An event marketing plan template can be used to promote your events and draw attendees which contribute to the financial success of your event.
Choose the Event Planning Checklist Template That Best Fits Your Planning Needs
Recognizing the meetings and events industry’s use of templates, Microsoft Office offers an event planning template page covering many industry topics. For example, some planners may prefer to use an event planning budget template to keep their program within the school goals and other planners may prefer an event planning contract template that keeps them aware of what stages they are with the various suppliers. An event planning timeline template is one of the more common types. Of course like any template the ability to customize is important. The goal of any event planning template should be to organize you and make the job of planning the event easier. If you find your event planning template takes more time to set up and understand perhaps you could benefit from a simpler template. Like everything, over time you’ll develop a workflow that runs like clockwork. That certainly should be your goal. Getting to that stage will take a bit of planning up front.
While a good event planning template will help you execute a successful event, it itself should not become the focus of your event planning. Select a template that you can easily share with others without them requiring specific software. Microsoft Office recognizes the diverse needs of today’s meeting planners. On their event planning templates free page you’re sure to find a template to suit your needs.
- Event Planning Template for Establishing a Venue Budget
- Creating Your Event Planning Checklist (plananevent.org)
- The Right Event Planning Software For Your Business (plananevent.org)
- How To Find A Good Event Planning Guide (plananevent.org)
- Party Planning Checklist – Party Planner’s Map To A Fun, Worry-Free Bash (plananevent.org) | <urn:uuid:9bb85729-0335-45a8-9f7c-d998c41a669f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.plananevent.org/microsoft-offices-free-event-planning-template/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900466 | 542 | 1.585938 | 2 |
First, copy editors are amazing. Really. All this chicken scratch to the left actually means something important to the copy editing process. Delete! Insert! Move up! Move down! and my favorite, "AU," which is short for "Author, what the heck could you possibly mean by this passage?"
I'm used to marking up student papers, but only the first few pages.So I was shocked--and frankly, a bit chagrined--to see that my entire manuscript was marked up from beginning to end, with characters and symbols I didn't recognize. (Thankfully, copy editors don't seem to share my grading philosophy: "Make 'em fix it themselves!") But I'm deeply grateful for her enormous help, and cognizant of how fortunate I am.
Yet, as I've learned, few of these comma rules hold true in fiction writing. Why such a marked difference in style? I suppose in fiction, the goal is to keep readers breathless, which won't happen if they have to stop at every comma speed bump. So my takeaway?
Commas be damned!
And so so SO hard to exterminate! See how many I've used in this post alone? But being aware of them is half the battle, right?
I can't remember if I've talked about this already but let me just say: Continuity errors are extremely easy to make in the revising process.
(Ha! you see what I did there?) Seriously, I've discovered this problem the hard way. After I chopped out 10,000 words from the beginning and pushed the novel timeline back six months, I made some mistakes. These continuity errors also occurred, I think, when I cut a few minor characters (and reassigned their actions to other characters). Unless a writer is meticulous, which frankly I'm not, it's easy to make mistakes.
This leads me to the fifth thing I learned: The spreadsheet is my friend! I'd heard writers talk about their "Bibles" (Nathan Bransford calls his the "Series Bible"), which contain all their character descriptions and quirks, key points, timelines etc. Never mind the term is a complete misnomer, the idea is sound.
Systematically keeping track of stuff in a spreadsheet seems to be a particularly good idea now that I'm working on my second novel. This might give my Vice-President for Continuity Management (aka my alpha reader) a reprieve as well.
And the sixth, more serious, point: As much as I think I've scrutinized my manuscript for historical inaccuracies, they seeped in anyway. "The Fire of London," my copy editor politely informed me, "began on September 2, which was a Sunday morning, not a Monday morning." No! this couldn't be true! She must not have understood how the Julian calendar worked. Ten days off the Gregorian calendar, beginning on March 26, blah blah blah I've talked about this before. Bottom line: there was no way I had it wrong.
Confidently, I opened up my trusty historical date calculator, blithely went to September 2, 1666 and --Egads!-- found that the great calamity of London had indeed begun in the wee hours of a Sunday morning. I know my cheeks were a furious shade of red as I scrambled to reframe one of the most important scenes in my novel. It was hard work I wasn't expecting at this point, but I'm so grateful these errors were caught in the end.
I'm no longer shaping this malleable object, hammering it, re-firing it, working it just so. It's almost ready!
But the big question is...Am I?
Murder at Rosamund's Gate | <urn:uuid:30d8189d-9c71-4cf8-8c9b-08ed76de6ca4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.susannacalkins.com/2/post/2012/05/seven-things-i-learned-during-the-copy-editing-process.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977417 | 774 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Lazy Eye (Amblyopia)
What Is It?
Lazy eye, also called amblyopia, is an eye problem that can occur in growing children. In the typical child with lazy eye, the right and left eyes have significantly different qualities of vision, so that the images produced by one eye are weak or distorted compared with the images produced by the other eye. Because the weak eye sends poorly focused images to the brain, the brain learns to depend on the stronger eye for its visual information. If this situation is not corrected, the brain eventually chooses to accept images from the stronger eye alone and ignores images from the weak one. In other words, the weak eye doesn't learn to see.
The brain's choice usually is made early in childhood when the brain's visual pathways are still developing. This critical period begins at birth and probably ends sometime between ages 6 and 9. If lazy eye is not diagnosed and treated within this critical period, the brain may choose to ignore the weak eye permanently, causing a lifelong loss of vision on that side.
Lazy eye has several causes, including:
- Crossed eyes (strabismus). Children with crossed eyes often have double vision (diplopia) when they use both eyes at the same time. To prevent this, a child may consistently focus with one eye more than the other.
- Problems related to severe nearsightedness or farsightedness. When a child has nearsightedness (distant objects look blurry) or farsightedness (nearby objects look blurry), the problem may not affect both eyes equally. For example, one eye may have perfectly normal vision, while the other is blurred; or both eyes may be blurred, but one is worse than the other. In either situation, the brain gradually learns to ignore visual images from the eye that has poorer vision.
- Structural problems. Sometimes, a growing child's vision is blocked by a structural problem of the eye or eyelid. Common examples include a congenital cataract (an opaque area that develops inside the lens of the eye before birth), a scar on the cornea or congenital ptosis (a drooping eyelid that is present at birth).
In the United States, lazy eye affects an estimated 1% to 2% of the population. In rare cases, the brain ignores both eyes because both produce blurry images. This can cause permanent blindness in both eyes.
Lazy eye usually does not cause any symptoms. Sometimes parents suspect vision problems because a child squints, looks cross-eyed, or holds his or her head in awkward positions to see things. In many cases, the problem is detected by a routine vision screening exam, either before or after a child starts school. The screening exam will show that the child's vision is much better in one eye than the other.
If the results of a screening exam suggest that your child has lazy eye, your primary care doctor will refer you to an ophthalmologist, a doctor who specializes in eye disorders. The ophthalmologist will confirm the diagnosis by doing a thorough eye examination, including separate tests of how well each eye sees. As part of the diagnostic process, the ophthalmologist will inspect your child's eyes for structural abnormalities, check eye alignment to rule out crossed eyes, and assess movement of the eye muscles.
Lazy eye begins early in childhood. It should be treated as soon as possible. Without proper treatment, the condition can produce profound loss of vision that lasts a lifetime.
To prevent permanent loss of vision in a weak eye, the causes of lazy eye must be identified and treated as early as possible during childhood. Make sure your newborn receives a thorough eye exam within the first few days after delivery. This exam will check for any obvious abnormalities involving the structure of your child's eyes or eyelids. As your child grows, a doctor should check your child's eyes as a part of every "well-child" visit. Your child should have more formal vision testing, using pictures, letters or numbers, beginning no later than age 3, and at regular intervals after that. There are now techniques that allow detection of amblyopia even when the infant is pre-verbal.
Treatment of lazy eye has two goals:
- Produce clear vision in both eyes. Depending on the cause of your child's lazy eye, this can be done with prescription eyeglasses to correct severe focusing problems; surgery and eye muscle exercises to realign crossed eyes; and surgery to correct any structural problem of the eye or eyelid that is blocking normal vision.
- Strengthen the weak eye. The most common treatment is to have the child wear a patch over the stronger eye for a certain number of hours each day. In many cases, the doctor will recommend that the patch first be worn for the entire day.) This daily patching typically continues for at least six months. Your child's progress will be monitored with frequent eye exams. Once your child's vision has become normal, occasional patching may be necessary until about age 10. As an alternative to patching, some doctors use an opaque contact lens. Others prescribe atropine eye drops (Atropine-Care and other brand names) to blur vision temporarily in the stronger eye.
When to Call a Professional
Make an appointment to see your pediatrician or ophthalmologist if your child:
- Appears cross-eyed.
- Holds his or her head in an abnormal position while looking at something in the distance. The child tilts the chin up, looks down his or her nose, faces one eye forward or uses some other unusual posture to compensate for a vision problem.
- Squints often. Squinting temporarily corrects blurred vision, so it can be a sign that your child's eyes are not focusing properly.
- Consistently covers or closes one eye. Crossed eyes cannot work together without causing double vision, so if your child has crossed eyes he or she may eliminate the problem by blocking the vision in one eye. Conversely if a child objects to having one eye covered but does not object to having the other eye covered it may be a sign that one eye does not see well.
Also, make an appointment if your child's school notifies you that your child's vision exam was abnormal.
The outlook is good if the condition is treated early. Proper treatment during early childhood often produces near normal vision in the affected eye.
In the past, some doctors have offered a poor prognosis for treating lazy eye in children over age 12, or even younger. However, new evidence suggests that the outlook for lazy eye may be improved with prompt, appropriate treatment regardless of the age at which it is diagnosed. There have been cases in which teenagers and even middle-aged adults with lazy eye have recovered vision in the weak eye.
National Eye Institute
2020 Vision Place
Bethesda, MD 20892-3655
American Academy of Ophthalmology
P.O. Box 7424
San Francisco, CA 94120
American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP)
141 Northwest Point Blvd.
Elk Grove Village, IL 60007-1098 | <urn:uuid:1a553137-969d-45d3-996a-125b40657bbc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intelihealth.com/IH/ihtIH/WSI/9339/9442.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937896 | 1,463 | 3.71875 | 4 |
My Experiences with Solar Electric and Solar Hot Water Systems
An energy management consultant since 1974, Andrew Rudin shares his personal accounts, the good and the bad, with using solar panels to generate electricity and to heat water.
This is the second part of a conversation with Leslie Jackson, Associate Editor, and Larry Weingarten, a water heater expert and Renaissance guy. His solar-powered structural insulated panels (SIPs) house combines ordinary materials with extraordinary design. [continue reading]
Researchers at the Department of Energy’s Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory released a new study on the installed costs of solar photovoltaic (PV ) power systems in the U.S., showing that the average cost ... [continue reading]
This is an excerpt from a conversation I had with Larry Weingarten, a water heater expert and Renaissance tinkerer, at the 2009 ACEEE Hot Water Conference last June 2009. [continue reading]
If the solar bug has bitten your client, how do you help them to select a rightsized system for their needs? [continue reading]
Not your average homeowners - this couple has kept energy use data for 37 years. [continue reading]
It takes a village in this Massachusetts community to create sustainable, affordable housing. [continue reading]
The Leaf Community is the first sustainable community created in Italy. [continue reading]
As energy auditors and raters went about their business of testing homes, performing energy audits and HVAC system inspections, they ...
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE)’s national Home Performance with ENERGY STAR Program (HPwES) released the draft&... | <urn:uuid:25f6b2e9-3a8f-4790-8f6f-60865dea5886> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.homeenergy.org/list/topic/nav/solar/page/2/id/8 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90159 | 341 | 1.890625 | 2 |
NASA says space station will be visible over north Alabama twice this month
Published: Thursday, July 01, 2010, 3:21 PM Updated: Thursday, July 01, 2010, 4:13 PM
The station can be seen the following nights, times and locations:
July 11, 9:52-9:55 p.m. in the northwest sky moving north.
July 13, 9:10 p.m., north sky moving southeast.
The station is moving about 17,000 miles an hour, meaning it takes from 2 to 4 minutes to cross the sky. It shines with a white, unblinking light, making it easy to distinguish from passing jets.
EDITOR'S NOTE: An earlier version of this story quoted details from a National Geographic story which has since been proven inaccurate. The space station will not be visible tonight, according to MSFC's Dr. William Cooke, who said the magazine misinterpreted remarks he made earlier this summer about a viewing window that has since closed. This post has since been updated to indicate that the space station won't be visible until July 11. In other words, if you see a streak across Huntsville's skyline tonight, it has a greater chance of being a UFO than the International Space Station. | <urn:uuid:b96d547a-b97b-4bf9-8f16-125f02ea422c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.al.com/space-news/2010/07/nasa_says_space_station_will_b.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 | 0.959674 | 256 | 2.515625 | 3 |
The blogger at Sober Look writes,
This is telling us that mortgage modification programs have not been very successful, as the probability of re-default rises. By modifying mortgages, banks in many cases are simply kicking the can down the road – and now some are writing down these mortgages (which may be what is driving the higher charge-off numbers). We are therefore seeing an increase in delinquencies, but mostly among modified mortgages and concentrated in sub-prime portfolios.
It actually helps to have some experience in the mortgage business. Unlike Joseph Stiglitz, Martin Feldstein, Glenn Hubbard, and others who have written op-eds and influenced policy makers, I actually know something about the track record of giving delinquent borrowers a “break” by modifying their mortgages. What lenders have found is that, even in good times, loan modifications just set borrowers up to fail again. Maybe in the confines of your faculty office you can design a program that should work in theory. But in the real world, we observe failure in practice. | <urn:uuid:23d93b7d-9e39-41aa-96a3-09d2cf4915d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arnoldkling.com/blog/re-defaults/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960738 | 209 | 1.671875 | 2 |