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It’s funny how things change. These days, we think of our God as benevolent. He sees every sparrow fall. As Matthew 10:31 says, “even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”
However, back in the ancient days, we lived in fear and awe of the powerful forces around us. As a result, our relationship with the creators of those natural forces, our gods, has not always been a cordial one.
To the ancient Greeks, the gods were to be feared and placated with sacrifices. Zeus, king of all the gods, sent down his killing thunderbolts. The sun god sent his blessed rays, but they also baked the fields in time of drought. The gods, after all, did not love us. In fact, the creation of humans in the first place was an act of trickery foisted upon them by one of their hated enemies.
The constellations tell us much about that dim past. Aquila, the Eagle, sits low in the southeast right now, and near it, poised to strike a deadly blow, is Sagitta, the Arrow. How did the eagle get in such a fix? And why is its death a triumph for humanity and not a curse? Read on, gentle readers, and ye shall see.
The gods had fought a stupendous war for control of the universe with their hated predecessors, the Titans. They were immortal like the gods, so they were left imprisoned or in slavery by their defeat at the hands of the more-powerful gods.
The great patron of humanity was Prometheus, one of the Titans. The once-proud giant was now a toady to Zeus. But Prometheus had a decent spirit and a creative urge, so in his spare time he wrought from clay a race of beings with good hearts and mortal weaknesses.
The gods didn’t think much of the new human race. They demanded that humans search for food and sacrifice much of it to them or risk being swatted like flies.
What humans lacked was technology. They lived like animals. They died from diseases because they could not cook their food, and they perished from wild beasts because they could not forge effective weapons against them. The gods delighted in human weakness and spent many a lazy day watching humans perish.
Prometheus loved his human creations, and was ready to risk his own safety to give us comfort. He stole from the gods the secret of fire, the gift of unlimited energy to cook our food, forge our weapons and create, in effect, our great civilizations. He hid the fire in a hollow reed and gave it freely to humanity.
Zeus, the king of all the gods, did not take kindly to such duplicity. He chained Prometheus to the Caucasus mountains and sent his most loyal lackey to perform a particularly horrific punishment on the poor Titan. (Parents, please note: The following is not pretty.)
Here’s another thing that has changed: We think of the eagle as a noble bird, our national symbol. However, Zeus’s ignoble eagle performed with great pleasure every evil — theft, murder or kidnapping — that the god commanded. In this case, the bird pecked out and ate the liver of Prometheus. His liver grew back every day, and the eagle returned each day to extend the Titan’s agony.
Hercules, high in the east right now, was half man and half god and the greatest hero of his age. He set himself the task of freeing Prometheus. Before he broke the Titan’s chains, he let loose a poisoned arrow at the eagle and released Prometheus from his agony forever.
It is that titanic event we see commemorated in the stars of the Aquila, Sagitta and Hercules. Hercules had repaid humanity’s debt to its creator and benefactor. He had also freed humanity to grow and prosper using the great power that Prometheus had given it.
As the arrow flew upward to free Prometheus from his pain, the chains that had bound our human ingenuity and power were loosed as well.
Tom Burns is the director of Ohio Wesleyan University’s Perkins Observatory, and he would be very happy to answer your questions or sell you a ticket to one of its upcoming Friday-night programs. He can be reached at email@example.com or 740–363‑1257. | <urn:uuid:19edc9d1-dd51-4e2e-bcb6-ebd6b0451a55> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://delgazette.com/2012/07/scorpius-sting-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979427 | 924 | 2.578125 | 3 |
May 31, 2004
After reading The New York Times’ confession last week about its hapless reporting on Iraq’s weapons programs, I remembered Samuel Johnson’s comment after seeing a dog walk on its hind legs: It wasn’t done well, but the wonder is that it was done at all.
Truly, the Times’ Editor’s Note was a wondrous thing. Its scope alone was enough to provoke shock and awe.
The newspaper went way beyond copping to factual errors in its pre-war coverage of Saddam Hussein’s weapons of mass destruction (WMD). Having reviewed hundreds of its articles on one of the most momentous stories of the new millennium, it fundamentally recanted.
The Times concluded that its reporters had credulously, repeatedly and wrongly bought into a reality concocted by disinformation peddlers who sought war. The result was a spate of articles from 2001 through 2003 about biological labs, terrorist training, aluminum tubes for A-bombs and the like that were enormously influential — and largely untrue.
Information about Saddam Hussein’s weapons programs “that was controversial then, and is questionable now, was insufficiently qualified or allowed to stand unchallenged,” the Times stated. Readers weren’t told that the terrifying eventualities that unnamed “experts” warned about were considered farfetched, and even ridiculous, by other experts.
Times reporting was dependent on “a circle of Iraqi informants, defectors and exiles bent on ‘regime change’ in Iraq.”
Singling out Ahmed Chalabi — for years Washington’s favorite Iraqi exile — the note continued: “Administration officials now acknowledge that they sometimes fell for misinformation from these exile sources. So did many news organizations — in particular, this one.”
In a word The Times, the best news organization we have and are likely to see, had been had.
Though sweeping, The Times’ confession was also maladroit.
First, we never learn what prompted it. Mentioning Chalabi — newly branded a political pariah just days before when the U.S. raided his Iraq offices — unfortunately suggested that The Times felt free to discredit his information only because he had now been repudiated by official Washington.
Second, there’s a craven element to the note’s cozying up to the Bush administration as fellow victim of the same deception. That’s nonsense. It was the administration that warrantied Chalabi as credible, certifying his hysterical fictions as newsworthy and truthful.
Third, there’s nothing about the role other journalists played in forcing The Times to come clean. Excellent reporting in the New York Review of Books, the online magazines Slate and Salon and elsewhere had battered The Times for WMD errors and inconsistencies. The Editor’s Note represents a victory of professionalism over institutional pride, and the architects of that victory should have been acknowledged.
Finally, the recantation was relatively weightless. The note itself was 1,100 words, buried inside, with no front-page notice to readers and no advance word to other newspapers that had run the disputed stories.
Yet the coverage that the paper was repudiating helped bring about a war — partly by building support for it, surely by cutting the ground out from under its opponents. Last year, a team of Times reporters produced a 7,000-word treatise on the venial fabrications of a Jayson Blair, whose stories were at worst embarrassing. Why no similar commitment to exposing sins with such mortal consequence?
Still, as somebody who has castigated news media for pillorying goofball reporters over petty lies while blithely ignoring far more consequential, institutional failings, I find The Times’ admission deeply impressive. It was, as the distinguished British journalist Harold Evans put it, a “magnificent mea culpa.”
For the first time I can recall, a news organization has opened up to public scrutiny the squalid world of source relations, admitting not that it erred, but that in its haste to dominate coverage it was systematically manipulated by sources to whom its reporters became captive.
For the first time, an organization has admitted that its coverage followed a political line, and that stories consistent with that line were stressed while others were downplayed.
And for the first time, the organization has acknowledged that the wrongdoing was institutional in nature, and can’t be fixed by pitching a reporter or two over the side.
The Times’ admissions represent a step toward reasserting moral leadership within a profession that badly needs it. The step was unsteady, but it was bold. | <urn:uuid:c7279b43-7bef-4914-8805-800340ca2e0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ewasserman.com/tag/iraq/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973257 | 969 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Re: something to think about
The premise in the first post is correct. Any beekeeper who allows a hive to die of disease such as AFB, mites, or whatever, or get close enough to death that it gets robbed, will spread the infection to the hives that do the robbing.
Having said that, a hive that died of mites, will be mite free just a few days after the bees die. In a lab experiment, mites in a petri dish with no food lived a maximum of 4 days.
"We don't need no education" (Pink Floyd) - Yes you do, you just used a double negative. | <urn:uuid:1fe2534c-c285-462d-8b1c-8fd4933b19c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?276950-something-to-think-about&p=881301 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954693 | 135 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Portuguese Water Dogs (PWD) once existed all along Portugal's coast, where they were taught to herd fish into fishermen's nets, to retrieve lost tackle or broken nets, and to act as couriers from ship to ship, or ship to shore. Portuguese Water Dogs rode in bobbing fishing trawlers as they worked their way from the warm Atlantic waters of Portugal to the frigid fishing waters off the coast of Iceland where the fleets caught saltwater codfish to bring home.
In Portugal, the breed is called Cão d'Água (pronounced "Kown-d'Ahgwa"). Cão means dog, de Água means of water. In its native land, the dog is also known as the Portuguese Fishing Dog (Cão Pescador Português). Cão de Água de Pelo Ondulado is the name given the wavy-haired variety, and Cão de Água de Pelo Encaracolado is the name for the curly-coated variety.
The Portuguese Water Dog is a fairly rare breed; only 15 entrants for Portuguese Water Dogs were made to England's Crufts competition in 2002, although their personality and non-shedding qualities have made them more popular in recent years.
The closest relative of the PWD is widely thought to be the Standard Poodle. Like Poodles and several other water dog breeds, PWDs are highly intelligent, have curly coats, and do not shed. However, unlike Poodles, Portuguese Water Dogs are robustly built, with stout legs, and their tails are left naturally long and undocked. They have webbed toes, for swimming, which one can notice by trying to pass one's finger between the dog's toes. Their eyes are brown, and their coats can be black, reddish brown, white, or black and white.
Male Portuguese Water Dogs usually grow to be about 20 to 23 inches (51 cm to 58 cm) tall, and weigh between 40 to 60 pounds (18 kg to 27 kg), while the females usually grow to be about 17 to 21 inches (43 cm to 53 cm) tall and weigh between 35 to 50 pounds.
PWDs have a single-layered coat that does not shed (see Moult), and therefore their presence is tolerated extremely well among many people who suffer from dog allergies. Some call PWDs hypoallergenic dogs, but any person with dog allergies who seeks a dog with these qualities should actually spend time with the animals before purchasing, to test whether the dog is actually non-allergenic to them.
Most PWDs, especially those shown in conformation shows, are entirely black, black and white, brown, or silver-tipped; it is common to see white chest spots and white paws or legs on black or brown coated dogs. "Parti" or "Irish-marked" coats, with irregular white and black spots, are rare but visually striking. "Parti" dogs are becoming more common in the United States. However, in Portugal the breed standard does not allow more than 30% white markings. Overall, white is the least common Portuguese Water Dog color, while black with white markings on the chin ("milk chin") and chest is the most common color combination.
The black portions of Portuguese Water Dogs have a bluish tinge to their skin that may be hard to notice underneath their black hair. Predominantly white areas have pink skin underneath and are more sensitive to exposure to the sun than black or brown areas. White hair is finer than black.
Depending on their genetic heritage, many brown PWDS, as well as a few lineages of black ones, gradually turn gray over their entire bodies as they age, with the possible exception of their ears and paws. Once begun, this color change, which is sometimes called "blueing", continues throughout the dog's life; it is caused by the growth of white hairs among the colored ones, much like the greying of a human being's head or beard hair.
This breed does not shed its hair. The hair is either wavy or curly in texture. Many dogs have mixed pattern hair; curly all over the body but wavy on the tail and ears.
From the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America Revised Standard for the Portuguese Water Dog come these descriptions of the two coat types:
If left untended, the hair on a PWD will keep growing indefinitely. Problems associated with this include the hair around the eyes growing so long as to impede vision, and matting of the body hair, which can cause skin irritations. For these reasons, PWDs must be trimmed about every two months. Although it is possible to groom them at home, many owners find it easier to pay a professional groomer, and, in order to avoid matting, they brush out the coat regularly between groomings.
Occasionally, a dog may have what is termed an "improper" coat. This genetic condition causes the dog to have an undercoat. Because improperly coated PWDs do not adhere to the breed standard, they may not be shown in competition, but otherwise they are completely healthy and have all the excellent traits of the breed. They should not be used in breeding programs, because improper coat is a heritable condition.
The hair of PWDs grows continually and requires regular brushing and cutting or clipping. The coat is usually worn in a "retriever cut" or a "lion cut".
Sometimes owners will clip the hair of their dogs very short, especially in the summer months, in modified retriever cut.
The PWD's biddability, high intelligence, and tendency to vocalize and then seek out its human master when specific alarms occur make it an ideal hearing-ear or deaf-assistance dog. PWDs can be readily trained to bark loudly when a telephone rings, and then to find and alert a hard-of-hearing or deaf master.
Portuguese Water dogs make excellent companions. They are loving, independent, and intelligent and are easily trained in obedience and agility skills. Once introduced, they are generally friendly to strangers, and actively enjoy being petted, which, due to their soft, fluffy coats, is a favour that human beings willingly grant them.
Because they are working dogs, PWDs are generally content in being at their master's side, awaiting directions, and, if they are trained, they are willing and able to follow complex commands. They learn very quickly, seem to enjoy the training process, and have a long memory for the names of objects. They are generally considered too small to be used as service dogs or guide dogs for the blind, but they make unusually good therapy dogs and hearing dogs (assistance dogs for the deaf).
Owners of this breed will attest that their PWD usually stays in close proximity to them both indoors and outdoors. This is typical of the breed. Though very gregarious animals, these dogs will typically bond with one primary or alpha family member. Some speculate that this intense bonding arose in the breed because the dogs were selected to work in close proximity to their masters on small fishing boats, unlike other working dogs such as herding dogs and water dogs that range out to perform tasks. In any case, the modern PWD, whether employed on a boat or kept as a pet or a working therapy dog, loves attention and prefers to be engaged in activity within sight of a human partner. This is not a breed to be left alone for long periods of time, indoors or out.
As water dogs, the PWD's retrieving instinct is strong, which also gives some dogs tugging and chewing tendencies.
A PWD will commonly jump as a greeting. Owners may choose to limit this behavior. Some PWDs may walk, hop, or "dance" on their hind legs when greeting or otherwise enthusiastic. Some PWDs will stand upright at kitchen counters and tables, especially if they smell food above them. This habit is known as "counter surfing" and is characteristic of the breed. Although it can be a nuisance, many PWD owners evidently enjoy seeing their dogs walking, hopping, standing up, or "countering" and do not seriously discourage these activities.
While excellent companions to those who understand their needs, Portuguese Water Dogs are not for everyone. Their intelligence and working drive demand consistent attention in the form of regular vigorous exercise and mental challenges. Gentle and patient, they look (and are) soft, cuddly, and cute -- but they are not to be mistaken for "couch potatoes". When bored, PWDs will become destructive. A PWD can get into the garbage, silently snag food off the kitchen counters when your back is turned, and can even learn to open cabinet doors.
Some belief exists that the breed traces as far back as 700 B.C. to the wild Central-Asian steppes, near the Chinese-Russian border, terrains and waters guaranteed to nourish ruggedness. The early people who lived here raised cattle, sheep, camels, or horses, depending upon where they lived. They also raised dogs to herd them. Isolated from the rest of the world, these dogs developed into a definite type, very much like the heavier long-coated Portuguese Water Dog.
One theory of these long-perished times is that some of the rugged Asian herding dogs were captured by the Berbers, a people who spread slowly across the face of North Africa to Morocco. Their descendants, the Moors, arrived in Portugal in the 8th century, bringing the water dogs with them.
Another theory purports that some of the dogs left the Asian steppes with the Goths, a confederation of German tribes. Some, (the Ostrogoths), went west and their dogs became the German poodle, called in German the poodle-hund or puddle-dog, that is, water-dog. Others, (the Visigoths), went south to fight the Romans, and their dogs became the Lion Dog, groomed in the traditional lion cut. In A.D. 400, the Visigoths invaded Spain and Portugal (then known only as Iberia) and the dogs found their homeland.
A Portuguese Water Dog is first described in 1297 in a monk’s account of a drowning sailor who was pulled from the sea by a dog with a "black coat, the hair long and rough, cut to the first rib and with a tail tuft". The Portuguese Water Dog became known as the "lion dog" due to the appearance of this clip. Some believe that the Portuguese Water Dog made its contribution to history in the 16th century, working on board the ships of the Spanish Armada.
These theories explain how the Poodle and the Portuguese Water Dog may have developed from the same ancient genetic pool. At one time the Poodle was a longer-coated dog, as is one variety of the Portuguese Water Dog. The possibility also exists that some of the long-coated water dogs grew up with the ancient Iberians. In early times, Celtiberians migrated from lands which now belong to southwestern Germany. Swarming over the Pyrenees, circulating over the whole of western Europe, they established bases in Iberia, as well as in Ireland, Wales, and Brittany. The Irish Water Spaniel and Kerry Blue Terrier are believed by some to be descendants of the Portuguese Water Dog.
Dr. Antonio Cabral was the founder of De Avalade kennels in Portugal. Ch. Charlie de Avalade (Charlie), a brown-coated dog, and C. B. Baluarte De Avalade (Balu) were two of his many famous PWDs. He registered his first PWD in 1954, after Bensaude had pioneered the re-establishment of the breed in Portugal. Cabral worked with Carla Molinari, Deyanne Miller, Sonja Santos and others to establish PWDs in the US. The "Mark of Cabral" is a triangular shape of different color/textured hair, usually a few inches from the base of the tail. You can see it more easily on a fresh lion clip -- it can look like the clipper got too close.
Deyanne Miller is the single person most responsible for the rise of the PWD in America. In 1972, the Millers, along with 14 other people, formed the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America, Inc. (PWDCA). She worked with dogs from both the Cintron and Cabral lineages to establish a stable genetic pool of PWDs in the United States at her Farmion kennels. Another early US breeder of PWDs was the actor Raymond Burr.
As with all purebred dogs, PWDs are vulnerable to certain genetic defects. Due to the limited gene pool for this breed, conscientious breeders carefully study pedigrees and select dogs to minimize the chance of genetic disease and improper coat. Unfortunately, like many breeds, a growing popularity has encouraged breeding by people who are not knowledgeable about the breed. Anyone seeking a puppy should carefully research not only the breed, but also the breeder. It is recommended that you visit the web page for your national breed club, such as the Portuguese Water Dog Club of America, for up to date information on health concerns and health tests which reputable breeders will use before breeding a dog. National clubs often maintain breeder lists with contact information which will ensure that you are speaking with the actual breeder.
Like poodles, PWDs are vulnerable to hip dysplasia. However, the risk of a PWD developing hip dysplasia can be greatly reduced by thoroughly checking the pedigrees and health clearances in both the sire and dam of your dog.
Cataracts and PRA (Progressive Retinal Atrophy) are two eye diseases found in PWDs. As with hip dysplasia, some lines carry these defects more frequently than others. PRA, which causes "night blindness", may lead to complete blindness. Fortunately this is a simple recessive gene. DNA testing is now available which can identify a dog carrying the gene for PRA. Known as "Optigen Testing" a "normal" or "A" dog does not carry the gene for PRA. A "carrier" or "B" dog carries one copy of the PRA gene and the dog will NOT express the disease but may or may not pass the gene to offspring. An "affected" or "C" dog has two copies of the PRA version of the gene and will probably express the disease as late onset Progressive Retinal Atrophy. A "B" or "C" dog should be bred ONLY to an "A" dog to ensure that any offspring will not express the disease.
Ingrown eyelashes (distichiasis) is not uncommon in PWDs and other curly-coated breeds, due to their curly hair. The condition is minor and can be surgically treated if necessary.
GM1 Storage Disease, one of a family of conditions called GM1 gangliosidoses, is a recessive, genetic disorder that is inevitably fatal. It is caused by a deficiency of beta-galactosidase, with resulting abnormal storage of acidic lipid materials in cells of the central and peripheral nervous systems, but particularly in the nerve cells. Because PWDs are all rather closely related to one another and share a limited gene pool, PWDs who were GM1 Storage Disease carriers were able to be genetically identified, and the condition has now been almost entirely eliminated from the breed.
This is a rare, fatal condition caused by an autosomal recessive gene. It affects young dogs, who succumb to heart failure before reaching adulthood. As a simple recessive gene, it was difficult to identify and was particularly heartbreaking as healthy puppies would suddenly die- often shortly after joining their new families. Fortunately, there is now a genetic linkage test which seems to have a high degree of accuracy. This test became available in 2007 and was welcomed by PWD breeders. Since it is a recessive gene, if at least one parent is rated "normal" (does not carry a copy of the cardio version of the gene), offspring will NOT contract the disease. However, since this is a new test and is a LINKAGE test rather than an actual DNA test, the accuracy of this test for ALL bloodlines in not yet confirmed. | <urn:uuid:bebdf2ec-5fc9-4259-96ec-3f1d57e116e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reference.com/browse/water+dog | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96466 | 3,393 | 2.953125 | 3 |
|YOU vs WILD||
_Our Environmental Promise to You
_We believe in protecting the beautiful environment of New Zealand and want to ensure that your children and grandchildren can visit and enjoy it too. To this end, we've developed an environmental plan and welcome your support for this initiative.
Most of our clients want to help, so we invite you to join with us by enjoying your walk with us and understanding our environmental policy.
_Guided Walks NZ participates is supporting wildlife conservation:
• Supporting regeneration of native New Zealand forests & wildlife conservation by setting and maintaining Stoat and Rat traps in our local native forests.
• Offering our clients the opportunity to contribute & learn about our local environment by showing and explaining the purpose of the traps and the danger that stoats and rats are to the conservation of our native and endemic bird life .
_Guided Walks NZ is reducing pollution of waterways/noise/air/light by:
_Guided Walks New Zealand
_ has developed the following environmental policy which is based on a commitment to improving our environmental performance across all areas of our business practice, and in the Snowshoeing experience we offer.
Our sustainability will be an ongoing journey which will improve with time and experience. In order to achieve this we pledge the following:
_We also pledge to apply the following principles across all aspects of our business:
_"TAKE ONLY PHOTOS, LEAVE ONLY FOOTPRINTS" | <urn:uuid:dae2860f-8afe-434b-ba38-709b26260a1d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.youvswild.co.nz/environmental-policy.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925507 | 302 | 1.609375 | 2 |
The Wild Side of Cuba
He's been called the Ansel Adams of the Everglades. And landscape photographer and environmentalist Clyde Butcher has spent so much time in the marshy parts of Florida he says the alligators think he's a tree. To some he might resemble a large oak with Spanish moss for a beard. But there's no mistaking the twinkle in his green eyes as he talks about his work. Now Butcher is trying to bridge the distance between the people of Florida and Cuba by showing the wild side of the communist country in an exhibition at The Ringling Museum in Sarasota. WUSF's Susan Giles Wantuck spoke with him recently about trips to Cuba and his photographs.
©2013 WUSF. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:c6463bd4-6322-4c81-9f25-4eca8d0d9798> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wusf.usf.edu/news/2007/09/21/the_wild_side_of_cuba | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983064 | 153 | 1.960938 | 2 |
The dietary quality of persons with heart failure in NHANES 1999-2006
This article has been corrected. See J Gen Intern Med. 2010 March 23; 25(10): 1135.
BACKGROUND: Dietary quality may impact heart failure outcomes. However, the current status of the dietary quality of persons with heart failure has not been previously reported.
OBJECTIVE: To describe sodium intake, patient factors associated with sodium intake and overall dietary quality in a national sample of persons with heart failure.
DESIGN: Analysis of repeated cross-sectional probability sample surveys using data from National Health and Nutrition Examination Surveys (NHANES) of 1999-2000, 2001-2002, 2003-2004 and 2005-2006.
PARTICIPANTS: The study sample consisted of 574 persons with self-reported heart failure (mean age = 70 years; 52% women).
MEASUREMENTS: Diet of each survey participant was assessed using single 24 hour recall. Dietary nutrients of interest included sodium, the mainstay of heart failure dietary recommendations, and additionally potassium, calcium, magnesium, fish oils, saturated fat and fiber. Specific dietary goals were based on established guidelines.
RESULTS: Mean sodium intake was 2,719 mg, with 34% consuming less than 2,000 mg per day. Patient factors associated with greater sodium intake included male gender, lower education, lower income and no reported diagnosis of hypertension. Mean potassium intake was 2,367 mg/day, with no differences by type of diuretic used or renal disease status. Adherence rates to established guidelines for other nutrients were 13% for calcium, 10% for magnesium, 2% for fish oils, 13% for saturated fat and 4% for fiber.
CONCLUSIONS: Dietary quality of persons with self-reported heart failure was poor. Public health approaches and clinical dietary interventions are needed for persons with this increasingly prevalent clinical syndrome.
Stephenie C. Lemon, Barbara C. Olendzki, Robert P. Magner, Wenjun Li, Annie L. Culver, Ira S. Ockene, and Robert J. Goldberg. "The dietary quality of persons with heart failure in NHANES 1999-2006" Journal of general internal medicine 25.2 (2010).
Available at: http://works.bepress.com/barbara_olendzki/39 | <urn:uuid:32bbf4ab-780d-4171-8076-a35725803d6a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://works.bepress.com/barbara_olendzki/39/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903562 | 481 | 2.4375 | 2 |
1. Create a trigger which verifies the dates. However, only from MySQL 5.5 were SIGNAL's introduces which allows us to raise and exception. Prior to that version the process was to insert into a table that contain a duplicate value causing a duplicate entry exception to be raised.
2. A stored function which performs the checks and either inserts or not depending on the checks and returns either a 1 or 0 for success or failure.
3. In your PHP code perform the checks before calling the INSERT statement. | <urn:uuid:b29dba61-0e33-4a4d-8d99-fd426ad96999> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sitepoint.com/forums/showthread.php?865126-Adding-Constraint-to-Date-Field&p=5147120&viewfull=1 | 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 | 0.903963 | 106 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Dana-Farber Cancer Institute scientists have successfully disrupted the function of a cancer gene involved in the formation of most human tumors by tampering with the gene's "on" switch and growth signals, rather than targeting the gene itself. The results, achieved in multiple myeloma cells, offer a promising strategy for treating not only myeloma but also many other cancer types driven by the gene MYC, the study authors say.
Their findings are being published by the journal Cell on its website Sept. 1 and in its Sept. 16 print edition.
"Cancer is a disease of disregulation of growth genes in a cell, and MYC is a master regulator of these genes," says James E. Bradner, MD, of Dana-Farber, one of the study's senior authors. Previous attempts to shut down MYC by inhibiting it directly with drug molecules have been notably unsuccessful. "In this study, our idea was to switch MYC off, interfering with its ability to activate the cell-growth program."
They did so with a small molecule called JQ1, developed by Dana-Farber's Jun Qi, PhD, a co-author of the new study and namesake of JQ1. In multiple myeloma, MYC is hyperactive -- constantly ordering cells to grow and divide -- because it is in the wrong position in the cells' chromosomes. Instead of its normal, quiet neighborhood, MYC finds itself adjacent to a gene known as the immunoglobulin gene. This busy gene is switched on by bits of DNA known as immunoglobulin enhancers, which normally prompt the cell to begin producing disease-fighting antibodies. In myeloma, the immunoglobulin enhancers act on the out-of-place MYC gene like an impatient finger at a doorbell, repeatedly activating it.
Researchers found that the enhancers are loaded with a "bromodomain" protein called BRD4, which, they demonstrate, is used to switch on MYC. Conveniently, it is targeted by JQ1. When investigators added JQ1 to laboratory samples of myeloma cells, the bromodomain proteins fell off the enhancers and the enhancers abruptly stopped working. The result: a shutdown of MYC and a slowdown of cancer cell division.
"In a sense, the JQ1 molecule cuts the cable that activates MYC and also connects MYC to the cell-growth genes," Bradner says. "The signal is interrupted and growth abruptly stops."
When investigators administered JQ1 to laboratory mice harboring myeloma cells, the disease receded and the animals lived longer than those that had not been treated. The study authors emphasize that JQ1 is a protytpe drug and cannot be used immediately to treat myeloma or other cancers. Its success in the current study illuminates the promise of JQ1-based therapies that target bromodomain proteins in cancers dependent on MYC for their growth.
"Together, our findings show that BRD4 has an important role in maintaining MYC activity in myeloma and other blood-related malignancies," says the study's senior author, Constantine Mitsiades, MD, of Dana-Farber. "They also point to the potential usefulness of drug-like bromodomain inhibitors as novel therapies against these diseases."
The study's lead authors are Jake Delmore and Ghayas Issa, MD, Dana-Farber. In addition to Bradner and Qi, the paper's other authors are Hannah Jacobs, Efstathios Kastritis, MD, Timothy Gilpatrick, Ronald Paranal, Anne Schinzel, Michael McKeown, Timothy Heffernan, PhD, Irene Ghobrial, MD, Paul Richardson, MD, William Hahn, MD, PhD, and Kenneth Anderson, MD, Dana-Farber; Andrew Kung, MD, PhD, and Madeleine Lemieux, PhD, Dana-Farber and Children's Hospital Boston; Peter Rahl, PhD, and Richard Young, PhD, Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Mass.; Junwei Shi and Christopher Vakoc, MD, PhD, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor, NY; and Marta Chesi, PhD, and P. Leif Bergsagel, MD, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Arizona.
Financial support for the study was provided by the National Institutes of Health, the Chambers Medical Foundation, the Stepanian Fund for Myeloma Research, the Richard J. Corman Foundation, the Burroughs-Wellcome Fund, the Smith Family Award, the American Cancer Society, and the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation.
The above story is reprinted (with editorial adaptations by ScienceDaily staff) from materials provided by Dana-Farber Cancer Institute.
- Jake E. Delmore, Ghayas C. Issa, Madeleine E. Lemieux, Peter B. Rahl, Junwei Shi, Hannah M. Jacobs, Efstathios Kastritis, Timothy Gilpatrick, Ronald M. Paranal, Jun Qi, Marta Chesi, Anna C. Schinzel, Michael R. McKeown, Timothy P. Heffernan, Christopher R. Vakoc, P. Leif Bergsagel, Irene M. Ghobrial, Paul G. Richardson, Richard A. Young, William C. Hahn, Kenneth C. Anderson, Andrew L. Kung, James E. Bradner, Constantine S. Mitsiades. BET Bromodomain Inhibition as a Therapeutic Strategy to Target c-Myc. Cell, 2011; DOI: 10.1016/j.cell.2011.08.017 | <urn:uuid:036db362-d65f-49c7-a297-e393c29e27f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ebionews.com/news-center/research-frontiers/biomarkers-a-drug-targets/43635-novel-approach-scores-first-success-against-elusive-cancer-gene.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917398 | 1,190 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Disney Turns Your Body Into a Touch Screen
Touching and swiping on your smartphone or tablet is so 2011. What if you could select a new song, craft a text message, or launch an app without ever touching your gadget?
Disney Research has stepped away from creating animatronic creatures to investigate more complex uses for touch-based technology, and it landed on a system known as Touché.
A five-minute video (below) details some of the uses for Touché, but one of the more interesting options is using the body as a touch screen of sorts. Rather than pulling your MP3 player out of your pocket, for example, simply touch your finger to your palm to advance a playlist or increase the volume.
The user would likely be wearing a wristwatch-esque sensor to pick up movement, according to a paper from Disney researchers Munehiko Sato, Ivan Poupyrev, and Chris Harrison. The trio recently won Best Paper at the 2012 ACM SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems.
"For example, making a 'shh' gesture with index finger touching to the lips, could put the phone into silent mode," they wrote. "Putting the hands together, forming a book-like gesture, could replay voicemails."
Another somewhat hilarious (though possibly traumatizing) option the researchers laid out for Touché was "food training." The technology works with liquids, so let's say you were trying to get junior to eat his cereal with a spoon. Did he stick his finger in the bowl? A buzzer signals that he's doing it wrong. Chopsticks? Nope, another jarring buzzer. Trying with a spoon, however, prompts a soothing tone to signal that he is eating the cereal correctly.
Touché could also help people use their doorknobs as an away message in the office, researchers said. Are you on the phone? Anyone who touches your doorknob could see a "Do Not Disturb" message illuminate on the door. If you step away, meanwhile, different pressure could produce different messages - a light touch means "Back in 5" but closing the door with a full grip on the doorknob signals that you're "Gone for the Night."
In the home, how about sensors in your couch? Sit down and the TV turns on. Lights dim the longer you watch, with the TV and lights turning off completely should you fall asleep.
Touché is still in the concept phase, so touch screens are likely here to stay for the foreseeable future. But the researchers said they were inspired by Mark Weiser and his 1991 "disappearing computer" theory, or the idea that actual gadgets will fade into the background. For that to become a reality, however, "completely new interaction technologies are required, and we hope that this work contributes to the emergence of future ubiquitous computing environments," the Disney team said.
For more from Chloe, follow her on Twitter @ChloeAlbanesius.
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High school teachers face enormous pressure to prepare students for state standardized tests, college admissions tests, and AP exams. Do computers "get in the way" of teaching in such an environment or can technology improve achievement without taking time away from the curriculum? Education World's Tech Team offers opinions on the reality and possibilities of "teching" in high school. Included: Nine easy ways to integrate technology in high school.
AP exams...college admissions tests....the dreaded state standardized tests...no matter where you are in America, if you teach high school, you're probably teaching to a test. Almost everything you do in the high school classroom seems to revolve around test success, and much of that means cramming students with equations, dates, concepts, vocabulary, and more.
Is there room for computers in this quest for test success? Are the benefits of technology-infused lessons worth the risks of time away from a traditionally taught curriculum? Education World asked members of its Tech Team, many of whom are high school teachers themselves, what's really happening in high school technology -- and what could be happening with a little knowledge and planning.
CONTENT, CONTENT, CONTENT
John Tiffany, a high school science teacher at Wauseon (Ohio) High School confesses, "So much is demanded of us, with the curriculum being test driven, that there is too much real information to cover." In some ways, Tiffany argues, teaching technology in elective classes is easier, since the curriculum can allow for greater flexibility.
At college preparatory schools, the pressure might be even greater, according to Judy Rutledge, coordinator of educational technology at Tennessee's Memphis University School. She says, "Whether they like to admit it or not, college prep schools often are greatly affected by AP exam scores, SAT test scores, and the number of students they can place in prestigious universities."
That very real pressure is echoed by Fred Bartels, director of information technology at Rye Country Day School in New York. Bartels argues that, in many ways, laptop programs in particular -- in which students and teachers have 24/7 access to technology -- are easier to implement in middle school than in high school. Middle school classes, he argues, have more curricular flexibility than classes in grades 9-12, where the push to prepare for AP and other tests is paramount. "Effective integration is possible in the upper grades but it is harder and takes longer," he notes.
It might be, however, that some high school teachers view technology differently than others. Brenda Dyck, technology integration coach at Master's Academy and College in Calgary, Alberta, Canada, says, "Many high school teachers view technology as a tack-on for an already packed full program and they don't think they have time for it. That's because they can't envision technology being a conduit to delivering and enhancing the curriculum they teach."
LIMITED RESOURCES EQUALS LIMITED INTEGRATION?
In addition to the curricular pressures in high school, Tech Team members report a shortage of computer access. In schools where laptops are present, but not required, for all students, Fred Bartels worries that "changes in upper-school pedagogical practices might be delayed a long time--some teachers use that as an excuse for not making better use of computers."
As at any level of K-12 education, teachers' technology skills and interest also play a major role in how much computers are used in the high school classroom. Fred Holmes, high school LanManager/Webmaster at Osceola (Nebraska) High School has found that new teachers integrate technology more, perhaps due to more experience with integration during their preservice training.
TECH-ING AT A BEGINNING LEVEL
When technology is used in high school classrooms, Tech Team members report that many teachers give the same lectures and assign the same reports as they have in the past, only using technology when it's obvious and convenient. Holmes, for example, sees teachers who use projectors to share notes and maps. PowerPoint presentations or using whiteboards to highlight relevant Web sites are ways Judy Rutledge has seen technology used by high school teachers.
When students get access to computers, it's usually for research and word processing, according to Brenda Dyck, Judy Rutledge, and Jane Maness, technology integration coordinator for Harding Academy in Memphis, Tennessee.
WHY DO MORE?
There's no time, little training, and few computers. So, why bother using technology for more than note-taking and researching in high school classrooms? First, many high school students demand it. The skill and interest level in technology, as well as access to handhelds, laptops, and tablet computers, means students can -- and want to -- use technology. Melanie Northcutt, Latin teacher at Girls Preparatory School in Chattanooga, Tennessee, finds that many students "want to use their laptops for everything."
Another rationale for using technology in high school is that it can, in fact, improve the skills needed for success on standardized tests. As Brenda Dyck notes, "Technology is especially effective for facilitating the development of critical thinking skills in students. Technology helps move students from restating information to creating new information; facilitating innovative thinking in students. That is why the use of technology is especially useful in AP classes, in which teachers should be taking students beyond the regular curriculum."
Finally, technology's strength is its ability to break down classroom walls, figuratively speaking. Real time learning, in which students can remotely control microscopes at laboratories thousands of miles away or speak to experts in almost any field, for example, means that students are more engaged to learn. Technology, according to Elizabeth Sky-McIlvain, Literacy 8 teacher at Freeport (Maine) Middle School, "is, at the very least, a tool that facilitates learning in a now time and an any place."
SO...HOW DO WE DO MORE?
If and when a high school teacher is interested in moving technology integration beyond PowerPoint lectures and Internet research, what's next? Our Tech Team shared the following practical and innovative approaches to using technology in grades 9-12.
So, the pressure is real and the resources might be scant. Still, whether a teacher wishes to start with small steps or make huge leaps into the technology-infused classroom, options are available.
Article by Lorrie Jackson
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Woodworking projects can be a lot of fun, but sometimes it seems that you need more than one set of hands. This is when clamps for woodworking come in really handy. Get it? Handy and hands. Well maybe we should just forget that attempt at levity and just get on with discussing how woodworking clamps are important elements in any woodworker’s tool chest.
Clamps for woodworking help to hold parts and pieces in place when you have to work on some other area of the project, or you have to leave work that has been glued to dry overnight. They can also be used to a piece steady when working on some intricate detail work where the slightest movement might cause damage to the material being worked with or to cut a precise angle.
Woodworking clamps come with a great many advantages over working merely with the human hands. For one thing the torque applied with clamps for woodworking is always much greater than can be accomplished with the grip supplied by the hands.
There are many types of woodworking clamps as well as different sizes for different uses. When stocking a woodworking shop it is good to always have a nice supply of every size on hand even if you don’t think you will need them very often. That one time you are without a good clamp will prove the value of having at least a couple of each size to work with.
C-clamps are the most frequently seen types of woodworking clamps and are recognizable by their unique shape. They actually look like a C with a flat surface at the top of the clamp and a hole in the other end where a screw is inserted which also has a flat surface.
The bar clamp is another of the woodworking clamps that can make easier work of any woodworking project. Thinner pieces of wood are held with this type of clamp.
For larger projects that require pressure over a long space, pipe woodworking clamps will do the trick. The only limitation to this type of clamps for woodworking is the amount of space covered.
A very versatile type of clamps for woodworking is known as web clamps. They are typically constructed of nylon mesh and are straps that attach with metal ratchets that provide the user with the ability to tighten the clamps as needed. Odd shaped creations are generally held together with this type of woodworking clamps.
Corner clamps are another unique type of clamps for woodworking, and they are also called miter clamps. These clamps are used to hold projects together at a 90 degree angle. They are used to hold two pieces of a project together while being fastened together with nails, screws, nuts and bolts, or staples or to allow glue to dry. When you need accuracy at edges like corners of cabinets, door jambs, or any other type of finish edge, you may need corner woodworking clamps.
It is also important that when you do stock up on clamps for woodworking that you do not scrimp. It would be hard to finish your project if the clamps slipped or broke during the process. You do get what you pay for so even if it takes awhile to assemble a good variety it is worth the effort.
JoesWoodworkingTools.com offers high quality, affordable Clamps for Woodworking that are perfect for you, regardless of the job.
Part 2 – WoodworkingPlanSecrets.com These videos are a resource to all woodworkers and do it yourselfers looking to find the best plans for wood projects large and small. Both beginner and advanced woodworking professionals and enthusiasts will find an outstanding collection of the best plans, blueprints, tutorials, and advice available anywhere to ensure that projects are completed quickly and easily.
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The big, red pickup truck left without her this morning, and Sasha sits on top the berm at the edge of the front yard gazing across the fields at the barn about a mile away.
Watching from the window, I can almost see the bereft look in her eyes and sense the longing of her loyal doggie heart from the tension in her back.
To go or to stay, she must be considering.
The fields are muddy, and she will not find her master there. Busy, I turn away. The next time I look out, she is gone. I suppose she yielded to desire and trekked across the pasture and cotton field to await the arrival of the farmers.
But no, later I see her lying on the mat at the front door, warming in the southward traveling sun. More important, she sees me and perks up. She no longer feels deserted, although I do not have time for more than a word and a quick pat on her head.
A couple of hours later her patience is amply rewarded when the master returns and spends most of the afternoon in his workshop behind the house.
She is content to bask in the knowledge that her people are nearby. Since the day is not so cold, and the garage door is open, she opts to lie inside on her bed most of the afternoon.
Life is good. Her joy is complete.
Someone has said that if we really want to improve our relationships, we could take lessons from our dogs. When we have been away, the dog greets our return with unrestrained enthusiasm, not pouting because we have been long absent or scolding because we were late bringing dinner.
Being a pack animal, the dog needs and learns from companionship. Left too much alone, a dog may develop some negative behaviors such as constant barking, fearfulness, aggressiveness and destructiveness.
Often, what owners think is a problem dog really is problem humans who are inconsistent and undisciplined. Fortunately, many dogs survive and thrive even though their humans are not particularly attentive.
The first time I read a book on dog training, I was struck by how effective much of the advice is for rearing healthy children.
Fortunately for most of us, children and our pets are fairly resilient. Even the best of parents make mistakes. For that matter, so do the best of children.
We do well to remember that when we are tempted to criticize others.
The worst mistakes seem to be made at two extremes permissiveness and strictness. Oddly, the outcomes are often the same. Crippling.
Rearing children includes preparing them for making decisions. Consistency is still important, but there must be room for letting the child experience the rewards and consequences of good and bad behavior.
One thing is not different in importance. Your presence. For our children, the time is now, not yesterday, not tomorrow.
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Chapter 3 (continued)
At the sight of us, they came charging down like infuriated demons. I saw that three rifles would be no match for them, and so I gave the word to put out from shore, hoping that the "tiger," as the ancients called him, could not swim.
Sure enough, they all halted at the beach, pacing back and forth, uttering fiendish cries, and glaring at us in the most malevolent manner.
As we motored away, we presently heard the calls of similar animals far inland. They seemed to be answering the cries of their fellows at the water's edge, and from the wide distribution and great volume of the sound we came to the conclusion that enormous numbers of these beasts must roam the adjacent country.
"They have eaten up the inhabitants," murmured Snider, shuddering.
"I imagine you are right," I agreed, "for their extreme boldness and fearlessness in the presence of man would suggest either that man is entirely unknown to them, or that they are extremely familiar with him as their natural and most easily procured prey."
"But where did they come from?" asked Delcarte. "Could they have traveled here from Asia?"
I shook my head. The thing was a puzzle to me. I knew that it was practically beyond reason to imagine that tigers had crossed the mountain ranges and rivers and all the great continent of Europe to travel this far from their native lairs, and entirely impossible that they should have crossed the English Channel at all. Yet here they were, and in great numbers.
We continued up the Tamar several miles, filled our casks, and then landed to cook some of our deer steak, and have the first square meal that had fallen to our lot since the Coldwater deserted us. But scarce had we built our fire and prepared the meat for cooking than Snider, whose eyes had been constantly roving about the landscape from the moment that we left the launch, touched me on the arm and pointed to a clump of bushes which grew a couple of hundred yards away.
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I wrote a few days ago about the widespread belief in Britain that there has somehow been a dramatic collapse in the economy's potential. The Financial Times columnist Martin Wolf adds much more in a recent column, plus a link to a very important paper written by the economists Bill Martin and Robert Rowthorn — titled "Is the British Economy Supply Constrained II? A Renewed Critique of Productivity Pessimism" — that, by my reading, very effectively debunks that belief.
There's a lot of technical detail, but as I see it the main point is that we see a sharp drop in measured British productivity that could be the result either of some mysterious structural shift or the much more ordinary notion that many firms have held on to "overhead" labor in the face of what they expect to be only a temporary fall in sales. And the data just don't support any of the proposed explanations for the supposed structural shift.
Specifically, the popular line here is that it's due to the loss of all those high-value jobs in finance, which sounds plausible until you do the arithmetic and find that the figures are way, way too small. This bears a strong family resemblance to stories about alleged structural unemployment in the United States that focus on the shift out of construction; again, this sounds good until you do the numbers and find that it's tiny.
This matters,a lot. If Britain has not experienced a mysterious productivity collapse, it is suffering much more than acknowledged from a lack of effective demand — and also has a much smaller underlying budget problem than the government claims. The British may be poor-mouthing their economy — and in so doing creating a self-fulfilling prophecy, in which excessive pessimism about potential leads to policies that in fact impoverish the nation.
Do I know for sure that this is the truth? No. But it looks more plausible than the official line. And surely policy should take into account not just the so far purely hypothetical risk of a loss of confidence by the bond market, but also the very real chance that vast amounts of potential production, not to mention the future, are together being squandered through excessive pessimism.
The Trouble With Vanity
Martin Wolf nails it in a recent blog post at the Financial Times: Prime Minister David Cameron's government made a terrible mistake by going all-in for austerity doctrine — and now cannot change course, because to do so would be to admit its mistake.
"It may be humiliating for the government to offer such a speech now," Mr. Wolf wrote on May 28. "But there is no reason why the people of the U.K. should suffer for its mistake, indefinitely."
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We can not continue to silently witness the police violence that is taking place across the planet. Every day we suffer in every country, with most of the media saying nothing about it. Two days ago at sundown, French protesters were beaten, choking from tear gas, while Wall Street awoke with police tying the hands of those who dare to claim a fairer world yesterday. Meanwhile, Chile is experiencing one of the largest student protests in history, which has transformed into a conflict that has lasted for almost 4 months. The demand for a quality education, a free state and justice is being repressed and is going unnoticed by international eyes.
More info: https://occupywallst.org/
Early yesterday morning at least five protesters were arrested by the NYPD. The first detainee was a protester who confronted the police, preventing them from removing a tarp that protected the crew from the rain. Police said it was a canvas tent with no used to protect anyone. The police continued to use pressure tactics, saying that a protester using a bullhorn was breaking the law. The protester refused to stop excercising his rights under the First Amendment and was also arrested. Then the police started to arrest demonstrators indiscriminately; many of them drew their batons even though the demonstration remained peaceful.
One of the protesters took a big blow on the leg, another lost a tooth. Several police officers approached a protestor and sat on him continually in spite of the fact that he was experiencing an asthma attack. One of the doctors at the scene told police they had to call an ambulance because the condition could be fatal. They paid no attention. We do not have current information on this demonstrator, but we hope he was not killed by the police.
On Tuesday afternoon, outraged crowds traveled towards Brussels, then spent the second day in Paris, taking the Boulevard St. Germain, where they arrived by 9 PM. Without any warning or provocation, national police surrounded and teargassed marchers on the sidewalk. Under the guise of an identity check, police gassed them a second time and used violence (punches, kicks and insults) against the citizens of the various countries present (French, Spanish, Greek, German, English …)
The reason given for this violent intervention against peaceful citizens exercising their civil rights was that these “are the orders we received.” We recall that a police officer has a duty not to enforce an order that goes against French and European laws, and also to denounce those who have given these orders and the agents that run them.
These citizens were exercising their freedom of expression and did not disturb the public order because they were using spaces reserved for pedestrians. One person was seriously injured, and was unconscious when firefighters transported her and two others with lesser injuries (one with a dislocated shoulder); all are reported to be safe, along with the rest of their classmates.
Several people objected to the police intervention, standing in front of the police van that
carried the indigandos 80 (out of 117 retained) to the police station for identity checks.
Some detainees were reportedly taken behind the police van, out of sight, where they were insulted, slapped and kicked by riot police (CRS). The police reportedly sprayed tear gas on their gloves and smeared in on protesters’ faces and in their eyes, and finally put them in a van previously filled with tear gas. Most of the 117 detainees were released because there was no specific reason to detain them, but we believe that at least one person remains in jail for not having papers.
Data from police stations and detention:
§ Precinct 18, Rue de Clignancourt (Phone: 01 53 41 50 00)
All released (37 released)
§ Commissioner Central Paris 11th arrondissement, Passage Charles Dallerey
All released under a lower (35 released)
§ Commissioner District 6, Rue Jean Bart (Phone 01 44 39 71 70)
4 retained (assuming that 18 more)
§ Commissioner District 5, Rue Montagne St Genevieve
30 retained (5 released)
Demand that French police release all detainees! Call them on Skype:+330144415100 +330153415000 and #parisnofear on Twitter.
This brutal police action vividly symbolizes the dictatorship in which we live. It is the manner in which the French government welcomes its European partners, and their response to their aspirations of participatory democracy, direct and horizontal.
The presence of French media has been notorious in the area and people were coming out obstructed the police buses with banners saying “Freedom”.
There are currently two demonstrations similar to those at the the French Embassy in Madrid and in front of the French Consulate in Barcelona.
The French Law Commission requests urgent and thorough media coverage of events:
Facebook: 15M: Marcha Bruselas
Every day we experience the oppression of the oligarchy. It is urgent that we stand up to regain our rights. It is even our duty to do so. We want to rebuild this world that our politicians destroy every day. But we can only do with you and your voices. A united people is leading the way, the Resistance is on the march. Unite! Join us.
Information taken from: http://www.facebook.com/notes/acampada-nomada/informaciones-sobre-el-interp%C3%A9llation-violento-del-movimiento-de-los-indignados-/277508358926669
But the most scandalous case is certainly that of Chile, where students have been protesting for over 3 months for a quality public education, free for everyone. Despite the violent clashes taking place, the protests are going unnoticed, unlike what happened on Wall Street or in Paris. Twitter is not helping with information dissemination. Meanwhile, the country is being completely revolutionized.
In a country where the new generation was born into a false democracy, the people have no opportunity to participate in their country’s governmental decisions. Student revolution has been a forecoming problem for each government. While not the first student revolution in Chile, the current one is the biggest and longest lasting. Almost 4 months ago students began occupying their schools and universities. Since then, massive marches and national strikes involving huge numbers of citizens have continued, as well as a student hunger strike. Two female students from the Liceo Darío Salas of Santiago have been on a hunger strike for 65 days now, to pressure the government for a timely response.
In early August, demostrations exceeded 100,000 participants and resulted in more than 1,000 arrests. At the peak of the protests, over 800.000 people marched in Santiago alone, and an estimated 1.5 million in total demonstrated throughout the country. During the 48 hour national strike of August 24-25, cars were burned, windows broken and many people were injured. The country has not experienced mass riots like this since the Pinochet dictatorship, causing the Sebastián Piñera government to feel seriously threatened, as it suffers a 26% approval level, the lowest since the return to democracy.
It’s not just the government who must fear for its safety: Camila Vallejo, president of the FECh -Student Federation of the University of Chile-, was to testify in early August before the La Florida Office about the threats on Twitter. From the @1topone1 account timeline one could read: “Better change your residence or you will suffer a freak accident”, “@camila_vallejo you will suffer a freak accident for being an international communist sucks” and “we’ll kill you bitch.” Shortly after, it was discovered that the person behind these threats was sociologist José Luis Alonso, who had previously made public the home of the young girl from the @derechatuitera account. And yet, the Executive Secretary of the Book Fund, Tatiana Salles Acuña, wrote in his Twitter account: “kill the bitch, just a lever”.
While Chile is undergoing a genuine and dangerous revolution, the whole world is silent. Here are some of the most striking images.
To circumvent the information blackout by the national and international media, the protesting students have made many videos to document and disseminate the truth about the protests; these are some of the best we could find on YouTube:
Police repression has been the keynote in these last days. Police overreactions are the result of fear. Governments fear us, the state security forces fear us, NATO fears us. But its not only Anonymous, but up to any citizen to act against an untenable position such as that of this past year. We do not know how all these movements will end, prognostication serves nothing. It is we who are writing history, they are simply actors. We must be faithful to ourselves. Information is our best weapon. Let’s use it as we have done so far. With the information from us, the truth will show its best side.
Good morning and good luck. | <urn:uuid:93106f1d-b3ef-42a2-8dd2-721b4c6cd9ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://anonymousaction.wordpress.com/category/actions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960135 | 1,879 | 1.75 | 2 |
The Location of Spinal Arthritis Symptoms
Spinal arthritis symptoms will vary from person to person and the location of these symptoms will depend on which level of the spine is affected. The cervical spine, or neck, is the most common site of degenerative spinal arthritis, also called spinal osteoarthritis. If arthritis-related nerve compression occurs, symptoms could spread through the shoulders, arms, hands, and fingers. Chronic headaches also could occur. The lumbar spine (lower back) is the second most common area for spinal osteoarthritis to occur. Symptoms of this condition may radiate through the lower back, buttocks, hips, legs, and feet.
Knowing the Difference between Osteoarthritis and Rheumatoid Arthritis Symptoms
Spinal osteoarthritis, also referred to as wear-and-tear arthritis, involves the gradual deterioration of the cartilage that lines the facet joints. This means the joint has very little padding as it moves, which could give rise to the following symptoms:
- Limited range of motion
- Joint instability
- Spontaneous joint lockage
Rheumatoid arthritis is another fairly common form of arthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is an autoimmune disease, which means the body's immune system attacks its own tissues. With rheumatoid arthritis, the immune system attacks the lubricating synovial lining of certain joints. As a result, an excess amount of synovial joint fluid is produced, resulting in inflamed and swollen joints. Symptoms include:
- Warm pain
- Areas of deformity
- Abnormal joint stiffness
- Destruction of cartilage
When to See a Doctor about Spinal Arthritis Symptoms
If you think you may be suffering from any type of arthritis, consult your primary care physician. He or she can take the necessary steps to properly diagnose your condition, or your primary care doctor might send you to an arthritis specialist who can consult you about the latest treatment options. Many patients have found relief from non-surgical treatments such as non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, corticosteroid injections, nerve block injections, gentle stretching, massage, and ice packs. | <urn:uuid:53e80413-726c-4c18-bf18-8d0692294094> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vaxa.com/backpain/spinal-arthritis-symptoms.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918789 | 442 | 2.65625 | 3 |
This special section of In-Conference emerges from a panel at the Modernist Studies Association meeting, held in Houston just one month after September 11. In the wake of the attacks, it wasnt clear that anybody would be in Houston for the MSAwe didnt even know if the conference would be held. Nor was it apparent that our own commitments to the panel (Modernist Influence on Contemporary Poetry) could be maintained even if the conference did go on as scheduled. As coordinators, Michael Bibby, Cynthia Hogue, and I were extremely grateful to Kathleen Fraser, Carla Harryman, and Lorenzo Thomas for gathering to discuss questions of unmistakable urgency in the light of a changing political and cultural landscape. What emerged was a set of innovative and, in my view, extremely important reflections on poetry post-9-11.
The original purpose of the panel was to explore diverse experiments fostered by modernist poetic radicalismthose somewhat outside of commonly recognized avant-gardes, such as Language writing/theorizing. We were interested in other innovations, often taking place within recognizable lyric and narrative forms. Our three poets were to read their work; then the panel would open to a roundtable discussion about how modernism has influenced (perhaps frustrated, complicated) their writing.
Following 9-11, we began to discuss the need for a broader perspective. There was (and is) a new self-consciousness about doing what we do. We asked ourselves: Are priorities the same, for ourselves as poets, critics, teachers? What is the relevance of poetry in a time of war, of terrorism, of heated nationalism? What are the issues that newly confront us as writers, teachers, readers of contemporary and modern poetry?
The papers that follow all engage variously with these questions. Michael Bibby recounts our e-mail discussions preceding the conference to consider new meanings of innovation that might move beyond the avant-gardist rhetoric of rupture toward a poetry of suture. Kathleen Fraser documents acts of witnessing, culled from journal entries in the days immediately following 9-11. To contextualize the current political climate, Lorenzo Thomas returns to the literary scene during and after World War I, with a detailed chronology of censorship, racial politics, and artistic repression. Finally, Frances Presley provides a view from London, considering architecture, the spectacle of grief, and the building of a new avant-garde poetics.
In the weeks immediately following 9-11, the limits of language came up again and again, whether in informal e-mail exchanges or in mass media representations. In the Postcards section of How2, many wrote in to recount the painful sense of being speechless as writers, as critics in a condition of trauma. In one of the more mainstream articulations of this sense of being robbed of words, Eric McHenry noted Audens critique and ultimate rejection of September 1, 1939 (which emerged as the ur-poem of 9-11). McHenry argues that by expressing a sense of his own failure in the poem, Auden kept in play the possibilityby no means a certaintythat there are sorrows even the most well-chosen words cant reach. But is it perhaps that the expected forms of words cant reach us? In other words, that the new word, the news that stays news, is yet to be invented for this moment? Perhaps, then, an innovative poetics in the modernist or avant-garde tradition is precisely what is needed? Or, is the failure of language a response to trauma that any historical or personal disaster evokes? What sorts of poetry can be responsive to such inadequacies?
And, further, how can poetry respond in a cultural atmosphere that has wrought measures to revoke civil liberties? Things over the last six months have hardly changed since the days following 9-11, when TV journalists were asked to sign statements of allegiance, and others were chastised or dismissed for inappropriate critiques of U.S. actions. It is a time when an academic forum (in October) was denounced by the chancellor of his own university (CUNY) because faculty present blamed United States foreign policy and capitalist cultural messages as an underlying cause of the attacks. There are new surveillance and detention policies, such as the sweeping USA Patriot Act. In the words of Nat Hentoff, never in the history of the First Amendment has any suppression of speech been so sweeping and difficult to contest as this one, which allows the FBI to demand from bookstores and libraries the names of books bought or borrowed by anyone suspected of involvement in international terrorism or clandestine activities. What becomes of writing and publishing in such a climate? As one example, consider that Barnes and Noble refused to carry Jonathan Tels Arafats Elephant, a collection of short stories, unless the title was changed. (Since Tel refused, of the big chains, only Borders is carrying the book.)
At the same time, in the midst of all thisfrom September 12 onhas come a widespread circulation of poems by e-mail, appearances in newspapers and in memorials (both official and impromptu), with favorites including its own modernist canon of Moore, Yeats, Heaney, Auden. Whose modernism is this? Whose poetics provides such epigrammatic comforts?
There has been a clarion call for a new accessibility in our poetry. Among others, this item from the CLMP Newswire concerning New York City editors responses to 9-11: Martha Rhodes of Four Way Books describes looking more for the essential in language and accessibility. For the leaner and meaner.
My own response to shock and speechlessness in New York City was the oppositeto need, desperately, for language to be pushed outward or inwardto change and be changed, to be charged, remade. What might that new poetry look like? What sources might it look back to? And who will be its readers?
Eric McHenry, Auden on Bin Laden, Slate (September 20, 2001).
CUNY Chief Repudiates Forum Remarks, New York Times (October 4, 2001) D3.
Nat Hentoff, Big John Wants Your Reading List, The Village Voice (February 22, 2002).
New York in Crisis, CLMP Newswire 1.14 (October 1, 2001).
Bio: Elisabeth A. Frost is an Assistant Professor of English at Fordham University, where she teaches contemporary American poetry, creative writing, and womens studies. She has published articles on modern and contemporary poets in Genders, Postmodern Culture, Womens Studies, and elsewhere. Her book, The Feminist Avant-Garde in American Poetry (University of Iowa Press), will appear in Spring 2003. | <urn:uuid:44d08d04-029f-4665-9cd4-d8e542b99a20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asu.edu/pipercwcenter/how2journal/archive/online_archive/v1_7_200/current/in_conference/pp911wd/frost.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958893 | 1,383 | 1.882813 | 2 |
In 1987 John Joslyn embarked on the adventure of a lifetime.
Two years earlier, the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute had discovered the Titanic, and he co-led a $6 million expedition to the site of the sinking. Spending 44 days at sea, the expedition dove to the site 32 times and returned with hundreds of ghost-like images that formed the framework of “Return to Titanic Live!” a two-hour television special that became the second highest rated live TV documentary ever.
Twenty-five years later, the Titanic remains his obsession. He’s dedicated his career to her and the 2,208 passengers and crew aboard its tragic maiden voyage through the Pigeon Forge museum and a companion attraction in Branson, Missouri. These giant museums showcase one of the largest permanent collections of Titanic artifacts and memorabilia anywhere.
Inside, guests can climb an exact replica of the most famous staircase, view historic photos taken days before the sinking, grasp the wheel on the captain’s bridge, feel an iceberg’s chill and learn the stories of the passengers and crew.
For more information, check out titanicpigeonforge.com. | <urn:uuid:406845f1-9add-4560-bc15-0bae414e45a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://myfox8.com/2012/04/06/titanic-exhibit/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937608 | 238 | 1.617188 | 2 |
The road to a cleaner
How you drive and how well you maintain your vehicle has a direct impact on your vehicle's fuel efficiency and the environment. Here are a few ways to conserve gas, improve your mileage and contribute to a cleaner Canada. It's simply the smart, economical thing to do.
Pick a topic below and browse through our quick tips, articles and videos.
All-season vs. winter tires
Although all-season tires can be used in a moderate winter environment, winter tires provide the best cold weather performance below 7°C. This includes wet and dry in addition to snow/ice/slush surfaces where greater tread flexibility leads to better grip.Read more winter tips | <urn:uuid:6abe1164-fc7c-44c3-b141-7f94a45e7098> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gm.ca/gm/english/services/goodwrench/drivesmarter/overview | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93391 | 140 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Many high-net-worth individuals were sitting on the sidelines waiting to see who won the election before taking advantage of the $5.12 million gift tax exemption. Their hope was that Governor Romney would win the election and carry through on his promise to repeal the estate tax. Now that President Obama has won the election
, the repeal of the estate tax is unlikely. More likely, perhaps, is the president’s 2013 budget proposal of a $3.5 million estate tax exemption, a $1 million gift tax exemption and a top tax rate of 45 percent.
With the hope of the estate tax disappearing now gone and the probability of a much lower gift tax exemption on the horizon, time is running out for high-net-worth individuals to take advantage of their $5.12 million gift tax exemption. This is particularly true for those persons who wish to gift hard-to-value assets that require appraisals.
To add to the urgency are three estate tax proposals that are part of the President’s 2012 budget. One proposal would subject intentionally-defective grantor trusts
to estate taxes at the grantor’s death. Another proposal would eliminate discounts when valuing non-voting or minority interests in family limited partnerships or family LLCs. And another proposal would subject dynasty/perpetual trusts to estate taxes after 90 years. However, funding grantor/dynasty trusts with discounted assets before year end would probably be grandfathered.
As a result of all of these potential changes, more wealth may be transferred in the last few weeks of 2012 than ever before. But time is running out on what may be the greatest wealth transfer opportunity ever
THIS ARTICLE MAY NOT BE USED FOR PENALTY PROTECTION. THE MATERIAL IS BASED UPON GENERAL TAX RULES AND FOR INFORMATION PURPOSES ONLY. IT IS NOT INTENDED AS LEGAL OR TAX ADVICE AND TAXPAYERS SHOULD CONSULT THEIR OWN LEGAL AND TAX ADVISORS AS TO THEIR SPECIFIC SITUATION. | <urn:uuid:a8d25612-9861-471a-a008-595c9866e16a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.producersweb.com/r/pwebmc/d/contentFocus/?pcID=d5807e4491978e88ad2a5a8eff1377a9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944086 | 422 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Sale! Amazing You! Getting Smart About Your Private Parts
Mom, where do babies come from?
Many parents live in fear of the day their child asks that question, which inevitably happens, often as early as the preschool years. Here is a picture book designed especially for young children who are becoming sexually aware but aren`t ready to learn about sexual intercourse. Written with warmth and honesty, Amazing You! presents clear and age-appropriate information about reproduction, birth, and the difference between girls` and boys` bodies. Lynne Cravath`s whimsical illustrations enliven the text, making this a book that parents will gladly share with their young ones. Hardcover, 32 pages.
Amazing You! Getting Smart About Your Private Parts
Was $15.99, Now Only $7.95 While Supplies last! | <urn:uuid:698264b2-a00b-47cb-8c7f-55e9f1f019ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.selfesteemshop.com/products.php?pid=3467&detail=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911296 | 170 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Legendary teacher, Harvey Pennick is remembered for his famous quote, Take Dead Aim. Jack Nicklaus, in Golf My Way, described his pre-swing routine which included visualizing ball flight from start to finish before each swing, whether in practice or on the course. He then looked to his distant target twice before each swing, staring it down for several seconds each time before he swung. This routine imprinted a vivid image in his mind’s eye, keeping him focused on his target throughout the swing even though his eyes were fixated on the ball throughout the swing until just past impact. Every successful golfer has developed the ability to deliberately separate their mental focus from their visual fixation. I refer to this skill as “Visual Separation”. In golf, it is known as a Target Orientation.
Without this skill golfers eyes may inadvertently search for the ball prior to impact causing all sorts of ball flight problems or create a condition known as “being ball bound” in which the golf swing looks more like a series of slashes, lashes, and lunges than one continuous, smooth, flowing swing. Focusing both mentally and visually on the ball is why so many golfers have good practice swings but transform from Dr. Jekyll into Mr. Hyde time they have to hit a ball. Lack (or loss) of a Target Orientation creates many on-course ball flight problems. For example, if you fear hitting the ball into the water on a hole with a lateral water hazard, your fear directs your attention away from your target and onto the water hazard. This directs your eyes to move towards the water hazard. Your swing follows the movement of your eyes and so does the ball. Splash! I go into greater detail into Visual Separation and target Orientation in my upcoming book, Training the Eyes, Mind, and Body for Golf. It is also discussed more completely in my other book, Kingdom of the Tiger: A Golfer’s Guide to Playing in The Zone. For now, here is a simple practice strategy to develop Visual Separation and improve your Target Orientation. I refer to it as the “Focused Practice Swing.”
- Place a tee in the ground.
- From behind the ball select a distant target (if you were hitting a ball) and an intermediate target within two feet of the front of the tee.
- Keep your eyes on the intermediate target as you assume your address position, square (parallel) to the line created by the tee and your intermediate target.
- Move your head to view your distant target to create a mental image of your target.
- Bring your eyes back to the tee.
- While maintaining visual contact with the ball, take your mind back to your distant target.
- When you eyes are completely still and your mind is one with (focused on) your target, swing.
You will know you were successful when:
- The first thing you see after the swing is your distant target. That is, you don’t have to search for it visually.
- Your swing is smooth, fluid, and results in your ideal finish position.
- The club hits the tee.
Practice this technique for fifteen to thirty minutes daily with all your clubs for thirty days. When your Target Orientation strengthens and happens naturally begin using the technique to hit balls. Start with clubs you have more confidence with. If you have a fundamentally sound swing, your Target orientation will help you hit the ball straight and long. Have you professional video tape your practice swing, Focused Swing, and hitting swing to determine any discrepancies and if you lack a Target Orientation.
phot credit: ogimogi | <urn:uuid:e5347344-ca9a-46ea-83e5-7b38b5540e24> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://viewfromthefringe.com/2010/12/17/developing-a-target-orientation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952349 | 756 | 2.390625 | 2 |
One Book, One Denver 2012: Enrique's Journey
The 2012 One Book, One Denver selection is Enrique's Journey by Sonia Nazario. Reserve your copy now in the format of your choice!
One Book, One Denver Events
There's something for everyone during the 2012 One Book, One Denver program. Book scavenger hunts, a photo contest, teen writing contest, a book signing with the author, film showings, book discussions, and an evening with the author are but a few of this year's options.
For a complete list of events, please consult the One Book, One Denver Event Guide (PDF). You may also browse the City of Denver's One Book, One Denver site for schedules and other information. All activities and events are free and open to the public. Registration is required for some events (where noted). Otherwise, seating is on a first‐come, first‐served basis.
Events at the Denver Public Library
Tuesday, September 4, 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Sonia Nazario will be available for 1 hour after the press conference to sign copies of the book. Don’t have a book? No worries! The Library will have books available for sale onsite.
Saturday, September 29, 10 a.m.
Schlessman Family Branch Library
Discussion will be moderated by Kathy Sanchez Castejon, a third year doctoral student in the School Psychology Program at the University of Northern Colorado. Ms. Sanchez Castejon’s work with the Hispanic community includes interviewing Latino parents and their at-risk sons about their participation in a parent involvement program in Greeley. She has also traveled to Guatemala to provide in-service presentations on violence and trauma and how to address traumatized children’s needs in the schools. Recently, she traveled to Mexico and interviewed teachers about home-school collaboration systems being practiced.
About the Author
Sonia Nazario has spent more than 20 years reporting and writing about social issues, most recently as a projects reporter for the Los Angeles Times. Her stories have tackled some of this country’s most intractable problems: hunger, drug addiction, immigration.
She has won numerous national journalism and book awards. In 2003, her story of a Honduran boy’s struggle to find his mother in the U.S., entitled “Enrique’s Journey,” won more than a dozen awards, among them the Pulitzer Prize for feature writing, the George Polk Award for International Reporting, the Grand Prize of the Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award, and the National Assn. of Hispanic Journalists Guillermo Martinez-Marquez Award for Overall Excellence.
Expanded into a book, Enrique’s Journey became a national bestseller, won three book awards, and became required reading for incoming freshman at more than 50 colleges and scores of high schools across the U.S.
In 1998, Nazario was a Pulitzer Prize finalist for a series on children of drug addicted parents. And in 1994, she won a George Polk Award for Local Reporting for a series about hunger among schoolchildren in California.
Nazario, who grew up in Kansas and in Argentina, has written extensively from Latin America and about Latinos in the United States. She has been named among the most influential Latinos by Hispanic Business Magazine and a “trendsetter” by Hispanic Magazine. In 2012 Columbia Journalism Review named Nazario among "40 women who changed the media business in the past 40 years."
She began her career at the Wall Street Journal, where she reported from four bureaus: New York, Atlanta, Miami, and Los Angeles. In 1993, she joined the Los Angeles Times. She is now at work on her second book.
She serves on the advisory boards of the University of North Texas Mayborn Literary Non-fiction Writer's Conference and of Catch the Next, a non-profit working to double the number of Latinos enrolling in college. She is also on the board of Kids In Need of Defense, a non-profit launched by Microsoft and Angelina Jolie to provide pro-bono attorneys to unaccompanied immigrant children.
Nazario is a graduate of Williams College and has a master’s degree in Latin American studies from the University of California, Berkeley. In 2010, Nazario received an honorary doctorate from Mount St. Mary's College.
Previous One Book, One Denver Selections
- 2011: The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein
- 2010: The Help by Kathryn Stockett
- 2009: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
- 2008: The Thin Man by Dashiell Hammett
- 2007: Articles of War by Nick Arvin
- 2006: The Milagro Beanfield War by John Nichols
- 2005: Caramelo by Sandra Cisneros
- 2004: Peace Like a River by Leif Enger
About One Book, One Denver
One Book, One Denver is Mayor Hancock's citywide book club created to build community and stimulate people to read. Denver citizens, young and old, are encouraged to join others in the shared experience of simultaneously reading the same book and participating in related events. One Book, One Denver is brought to the community by the Arts & Venues Denver and a diverse group of partners including educational, arts and literary organizations throughout the city. | <urn:uuid:c3b18186-aeda-4a9e-b5a2-2e95e2ea92a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://denverlibrary.org/onebook | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942428 | 1,102 | 1.546875 | 2 |
A few weeks ago, I was taking my daughter to Strawberry on a beautiful Saturday morning. As many of you know, there are some breathtaking views of the Rim country from the Beeline Highway as you travel north to our neighboring communities of Pine and Strawberry.
My daughter and I were talking and meandering up the highway when all of a sudden, a bag of trash flew toward our van and bounced to the side of the road. We looked ahead of us to see a pickup truck carrying a full load of uncovered trash, obviously heading for the landfill.
Another bag flew out of the truck, then a box, then several large pieces of Styrofoam. The driver of the truck continued on his way, unaware that his uncovered load was bouncing out of the truck and marring the beauty of the tall pines that surround the highway.
We honked and waved, yelled and flashed our lights and finally were able to call the driver's attention to the trashy trail he was leaving along the highway.
I called the landfill to ask what authority they have to enforce covered loads. Workers there told me they can charge customers who are being irresponsible with their loads an extra $10, but drivers aren't required to cover their loads.
The county should require all vehicles entering the landfill to have covered loads. This is not an expensive request. It's a bit more inconvenient and time consuming, but how much time and money will volunteers, county workers and taxpayers save in highway cleanup costs?
I would like to thank the many conscientious landfill customers who do cover their loads. For those who don't, please take the time to tie a tarp over your loaded truck bed. Required or not -- it's the right thing to do.
--Richard Haddad, publisher | <urn:uuid:9f9d7b14-83a8-405a-9804-0aca74fa65fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.paysonroundup.com/news/1999/feb/15/county_should_require/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980582 | 359 | 1.773438 | 2 |
I downloaded and unpacked jsMath 3.6b, and created my own very small test.html file inside the jsMath folder. It contains just this HTML code:
<p>Some math: <span class='math'>x^2</span></p>
<script>jsMath.Process( document );</script>
The problem is that even this baby example only works on some browsers, but not others. I suspect I'm doing something wrong, because every browser I tried displays the much more complicated test cases from http://www.math.union.edu/~dpvc/jsMath/examples/Henrici.html correctly.
Here are the specifics.
I open the file in Firefox (3.0.6) on a Mac (OS X 10.5.6) and it behaves as expected; it initially shows up as x^2, and immediately later becomes typeset, with the "Processing Math: Done" window in the lower left.
So I tried on some other systems. Here are the results:
On Firefox 3.0.10 on Ubuntu 8.10, I get the same behavior as I did on Safari on the Mac (well, okay, with an additional "no TeX fonts" warning that's not relevant).
On Firefox 3.0.8 on Windows XP, I get the correct behavior (described above under Firefox 3.0.6 on Mac).
Error: Object doesn't support this property or method.
Why this wide variation in behaviors in such a simple test case? What did I do wrong?
My main purpose is to get it working on Safari, because I'm actually working on using jsMath in an application that embeds Webkit, and thus behaves much like Safari.
Thank you for any help available!
PS: I was doing a much more complicated example which sometimes worked and sometimes didn't, and I boiled it down to a failure in this simple case, at which point I was completely flummoxed and turned to this forum for help. Help! :)
Davide P. Cervone
Try putting a <HEAD> section in the document. This is actually required for properly formed HTML4.0, and it is needed by jsMath to do some of its initialization (e.g., it puts stylesheet information into the document HEAD). If the HEAD is missing, jsMath will fail in some browsers (Safari for one). Other browsers seem to insert a blank HEAD if it is missing.
See if that works.
That fixed it! Thank you very much for the quick help!
I feel quite stupid that it was something so simple, yet at the same time am quite glad it was something so simple.
For the benefit of others in the future, is it possible for jsMath to check for existence of a document HEAD, and if it's not there, yell at you with alert() or something? Just a thought.
But thank you again for the help! | <urn:uuid:e04cc352-68d7-4caa-b4cd-c6382d528ea1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sourceforge.net/p/jsmath/discussion/592273/thread/d53f31a5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919432 | 621 | 1.773438 | 2 |
An awareness campaign and candle lit vigil together with The Free Generation Movement and Lawyers For Justice for reconciliation in Libya on a very historical day in Libya's history. The anniversary of Tripoli's Liberation, the 20th day of Ramadan and the passover from The NTC to the National Congress.
After the many retaliations, personal revenge cases and human rights violations witnessed in the aftermath of the revolution, from both sides, the people of Libya are calling for justice, reconciliation and rule of law to progress forward, united as one Libya.
"National Reconciliation is about Justice. Its about the rejection of the punishment of whole communities based on the actions of it's individuals"
"It is for generations to come; after the court cases , after the trials and long after the prison sentences. It is for tomorrow , not for Today." - FGM
The Free generation movement were activist during the revolution and now continue their work in Civil Society.
LFJL is an independent non-governmental organisation of Libyan lawyers and its diaspora dedicated to defending and promoting justice in Libya through the promotion of human rights, the rule of law and democracy. | <urn:uuid:0c54d518-e320-41bc-8087-bf5977a4843e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://journomania.net/herstory/34-herstory/703-libyan-womens-vigil-for-reconciliation.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957532 | 232 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Dharmapala was of course aware of those sorts of criticisms (articulated by both scholars in Europe and scholars in South Asia who were employed by the British East India company) about 'the Orientals' which drew a connection between language and race. These ideas had made their way back into Sri Lanka by the late nineteenth century. F. Max Muller, editor of The Sacred Books of the East Series and who translated a still widely esteemed version of the Dhammapada, observed that Sanskrit...
'has ceased to live, and though it exists still like a mummy dressed in its ceremonial robes [we can assume that he is referring to the 'degenerate' religious traditions like Hinduism and traditional Buddhism], its vital powers are gone. Sanskrit now lives in its offspring; the numerous spoken dialects of India, Hindustani, Maharti, Bengali, Guzerati, Singhalese, &c.,all preserving, in the system of their grammar, the living traces of their comment parent.'
The above passage was cited in a paper presented to the Ceylon Branch of the Royal Asiatic Society on October 1863. It asserted that the Sinhala belonged to the northern and Aryan class of languages, rather than the Southern and Dravidian. The paper also reinforce the connection between language and race:
The colour as well as the features of the inhabitants of the Dekkan are certainly distinguishable from those of the Sinhalese even by a casual observer. An utter stranger to the various races cannot be three weeks in this Island before he perceives the striking difference between the manners and habits ofthe Sinhalese on the one hand, and those of the different other races on the other. European Teachers have frequently observed the facility with which the Sinhalese pronounce European tongues, presenting in this respect a quality distinguishable from every race of South Indian people (quoted in Buddhism and Science, p. 94).
Thus, by the last half of the nineteenth century the inhabitants of the colony of Ceylon, long divided into the Sinhalese and the Tamils, had been identified as Aryans and Dravidians (Buddhism and Science, p. 95).
Dharmapala, we could assume, was incensed by the kind of disparaging remarks made by John Davy above. But he was also aware of how the Aryan language (and hence nobility) was linked to the Sinhales. So he was able to adopt Victorian race science to Sinhalese myth to counter those Orientalist attitudes towards South Asians. So he traced SInhalese origin to the myth of Vijaya (also spelled Wijaya), an Aryan king of North India. Dharmapala wrote in 1902:
Two thousand four hundred and forty—six years ago a colony of Aryans from the city of Sinhapura, in Bengal, leaving their Indian home, sailed in a vessel in search of fresh pastures, and they discovered the island which they named Tambapanni, on account of its copper coloured soil.
The leader of the band was an Aryan prince by the name of Wijaya, and he fought with the aboriginal tribes and got possession of the land. The descendants of the Aryan colonists were called Sinhala, after their city, Sinhapura, which was founded by Sinhabahu, the lion-armed king. Ethnologically the Sinhalese are a unique race, inasmuch as they can boast that they have no slave blood in them, and never were conquered by either pagan Tamils or European vandals who for three centuries devastated the land, destroyed ancient temples, burnt valuable libraries, and nearly annihilated the historic race (quoted in Buddhism and Science, pp. 95-96).
Lopez thus suggests that:
For Dharmapala, then, Sri Lanka was triply Aryan, ennobled by its language, its race, and its religion. It was as if the Indian Subcontinent were a funnel, with the Aryan language, the Aryan blood, and the Buddhist dharma of the north trickling south to be concentrated and preserved in their purest form in the island at the funnel’s tip. The subsequent inhabitants of the island, the Tamil Hindus and the Muslims (“Moors” as he called them), were not true Sinhalese because they were (not Aryan in language, in race, in religion. He wrote in 1915, “What the German is to the Britisher that the Muhammedan is to the Sinhalese. He is an alien to the Sinhalese by religion, race and language. He traces his origin to Arabia, whilst the Sinhalese traces his origin to India and to Aryan sources.”" Elsewhere, he informs the “young men of Ceylon” that “by religion, by race, by traditions, by our literature we are allied to the Aryan races of the Gangetic Valley (Buddhism and Science, pp. 97).
By doing so, Dharmapala appropriated Orientalist negative attitudes about South Asians and used it against them--against not only the European colonizers but also Christianity which he sees as the force that had imbued in Europe the 'persecuting spirit'. Lopez (Buddhism and Science, p 98) further writes:
Dharmapala championed the general superiority of Indian civilization over that of Europe. Indian civilization is older, and more refined than that of Europe, which, without a civilization of its own, was susceptible to the primitive beliefs of desert tribesmen.
Remember India is a continent, not like Palestine or Arabia, peopled by wild, roving Semitic Bedouins, children of the desert, and that it is a vast country peopled by highly spiritualized races, with a civilization going back to thousands and thousands of years, and the cradle land of religions and philosophies. In a country where religious inquiry is man’s birthright, dogmatism has no place. India never knew in its long record of history to persecute people for their religious opinions dlhe persecuting spirit of religious tyranny began with the Semitic Jehovahism, and later ruthlessly followed by the founder of Islam. The Semitic spirit was implanted in the Latin and Teutorr heart after the introduction of the Semitic doctrine of Palestine into Europe. Never having had a religion with a history and theology among the European races, it was a quite easy for the promulgators of the Semitic faith to impress on the European mind the terribleness of the Jealous Jah of Mt. Horeb. Europe succumbed, and its future was made a blank by means of terrifying dogmatism ending with hell fire and brimstone to eternity.
If Buddhism has an analog in the West for Dharmapala, it is the ancient, pre—Christian civilizations of Greece and Rome, before the foreign slaves of the imperial Rome converted to Christianity: “The slaves accepted the teachings of Jesus since they suited the slave temperament." Prior to this, however, '"The ancient Greeks thought like the ancient Aryans of India, the gods they worshipped were not of the semitic type .... The draped figures of the Greek poets and philosophers were exact representations of the statues of the ancient Aryan Bhikkhus.” “Roman and Grecian civilization originally was Oriental. The religions they professed were not Semitic.” In his criticism of colonialism, Dharmapala traced the violence and rapaciousness of the European powers back to their religion. He wrote in 1926, “With the exception of Buddhism all religions have been destructive. In India Brahmanism partially destroyed Buddhism, and the remnant of Buddhists that existed was destroyed by the Muslims seven centuries ago .... Today England, the United States, Italy Belgium, France, Germany and other Christian countries are sending shiploads of missionaries to China, Ceylon, India, Japan, Burma to convert both Buddhists and Hindus, backed by the capitalists and gunboats.” In discussing the case of his own country of Sri Lanka in 1923, he found the religion preached by these missionaries, and indeed all “Western” religions, to be illegitimate. [Dharmapala writes]:
The Ceylon Buddhists that have succeeded in maintaining Buddhism for a period of 2200 years in the Island are now confronted with the sensualistic creeds of Mecca and Palestine. Judaism is a downright plagiarism. It has robbed from Babylonian religions, Assyrian religions, Egyptian religions, Zoroastrianism, the doctrines that were current in the Euphrates valley and in Persia. Its bastard offshoot has borrowed a large stock of ethics from Buddhism. The ceremonialism of the Byzantine Christian Church was copied from the Buddhism of Turkestan and Turfan.
We see in the above how Dharmapala is aware of the Orientalist attempts to claim an Aryan past as their own. Yet, he is unwilling to share this brotherhood with the European colonizers. He does this by making distinctions between the supposed superficial Aryanism that the Europeans have and the supposedly more authentic Aryanism of the Sinhalese--unlike the Sinhalese who are true Aryan because of their Buddhist lineage, the British (despite trying to claim a Aryan lineage) are really only 'barbarians'. He wrote in 1924:
The British people today take pride in calling themselves Aryans. There is a spiritualized Aryrmism and an anthropological Aryanism. The Brahmans by enunciating a system of Griha Sutras called those people only Aryans who lived in the territory known as Bharatvarsha. Those who did not conform to the sacred laws were treated as Mlechhas. Buddhism is a spiritualized Aryanism. The ethics of the Bible are opposed to the sublime principles of the Aryan Doctrine promulgated by the Aryan Teacher. We condemn Christianity as a system utterly unsuited to the gentle spirit of the Aryan race.
[Lopez comments]: Dharmapala here alludes to the two apparent meanings of Aryan. The British are not Aryan from the Hindu perspective because, regardless of their colonial occupation of India, they are not native to the soil of the Bharatavarsa, the ancient Sanskrit name for India. Furthermore, the British do not follow the ancient law codes of lndia. They are thus mlecha, barbarians. They are also not Aryan in the Buddhist sense because their religion is contrary to the ethical and thus ennobling teachings of the Buddha.
Now, let me clarify that I am not trying to demonize Dharmapala here. He, along with people like Rhys Davids, were pivotal in reconfiguring the kind of 'modern Buddhism' that we inherit today, both in Asian countries and in the West. My aim is here merely to point out the complex factors--or to use Buddhist lingo, the aggregates--that shaped the environment they were in and which were the early forces that gave rise to the contemporary Buddhism we have today. Just as we investigate the influence of the five aggregates on our identities and actions, I believe that we could also beneficially learn about the influence of these historical, political, social, and cultural 'aggregates' on 'modern Buddhism'--and through doing so, become more mindful about the wider 'aggregates' that are shaping our practice today
Being mindful of these 'aggregates' could allow us to reconsider and also become more circumspect about how we argue about Buddhism. It could give us the space to take pause and reflect on our cetana or intentions for wanting to speak for or 'defend' Buddhism. Consequently, it could also allow us to minimize any unskilful vipaka or consequences that might stem from our speech/actions.
What I am doing then, if anything, is attempting to reflect on kamma--although I have admittedly taken it beyond the traditional frameworks of explanation. My apologies if this offends anyone.
A closing passage from Lopez might be helpful here:
As South Asia came increasingly under British rule in the nineteenth century Aryan became a precious artifact of a classical past, long lost in a process of invasion, miscegenation, and decline, better preserved in Europe than in India. Dharrnapala was one ofthe consumers of this commodity in the British colony of Ceylon, just off the coast of India, where he made it his own, turning it into a weapon against the European oppressors and their religion. In order to do so, however, he resorted to a rhetoric that strikes our ears as distinctly non—Buddhist, even un—Buddhist.
OK good night/day to you, friends. | <urn:uuid:e2e69284-de66-4ff5-957d-fba0c8816773> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?p=41611 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967503 | 2,646 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Dose selection study designs in early phase II clinical trials
In the pharmaceutical industry, dose selection is a critical step in early phase II clinical trials. A nonparametric method of dose allocation, Binary Dose Spacing (BDS) is proposed. The BDS design is compared to another nonparametric method, Equal Dose Spacing (EDS) and to several parametric models—symmetric and non-symmetric. The methods of comparisons include A-, D- and D-optimality and the steepest slope—obtained using regression analysis on simulated data—between the zero dose and the lowest active dose and between pairs of active doses, for each design. The BDS, design outperforms the EDS design using D and E-optimality in a linear model when the number of doses is greater than or equal to three and r≤.75 ( r∈&parl0;0,1&sqbr0; give the EDS high dose). For A-optimality, it does better when the number of doses is greater than or equal to two and r≤.5 . For simulated data, the BDS performed as good as the EDS design. For the parametric models, solutions obtained based upon the D-optimality criterion are used to make model comparisons and to simulate data. Theses models are analyzed with and without a placebo group- Robustness to initial guesses of the model parameter(s) are investigated. When there only active doses, the efficiency of the D-optimal design to k-point equally spaced designs is computed. When there is a placebo in the model, the result that the D-optimal solution is supported at two or three points is not substantiated, except for the normal distribution. For simulated data, the BDS design performed best against the normal distribution, then the logistic distribution and finally the Richards models. It does as well or better at identifying the MinED in all cases and does better against symmetric models than against non-symmetric models. The BDS is advantageous over optimality criteria in that no underlying parametric model need be assumed and there can be several doses in the model without assumptions regarding the relationship between the doses. The other parametric models considered performed just as well as the logistic distribution in terms of the efficiency to departures from the D-optimal solutions. ^
Statistics|Health Sciences, Pharmacy
Anthony Cleophas Hamlett,
"Dose selection study designs in early phase II clinical trials"
Dissertations and Master's Theses (Campus Access). | <urn:uuid:a79f1154-0ea5-4b10-abfe-f13971caad7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://digitalcommons.uri.edu/dissertations/AAI9960025/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907291 | 527 | 2.21875 | 2 |
This article has missing audio files. Please help Nukapedia by uploading them.
| || This page is about the game itself. For an overview of our Fallout-related articles, see Portal:Fallout.|
For an overview article of the Fallout world, see Fallout series.
A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game
In 2077, the storm of world war had come again! In two brief hours, most of the planet was reduced to cinders. And from the ashes of nuclear devastation, a new civilization would struggle to arise.”— The Narrator, Fallout intro
Fallout: A Post Nuclear Role Playing Game, also referred to as simply Fallout, developed by Interplay and its division, Dragonplay, and self-published on September 30, 1997, is the first game in the Fallout series. The game was initially intended to use Steve Jackson Games' GURPS system, but when Interplay made the decision to drop GURPS on February 12, 1997, it created its own system, S.P.E.C.I.A.L.. Fallout is seen as the "spiritual successor" to Interplay's classic 1987 CRPG Wasteland.
Fallout is an RPG or role-playing game with turn-based combat and a pseudo-isometric view.
Fallout uses a character creation system called SPECIAL. SPECIAL is an acronym of Strength, Perception, Endurance, Charisma, Intelligence, Agility, and Luck. These are the seven basic attributes of every character in the game. They are used to determine the skills and perks of the given character. The developers originally intended to use the GURPS system, but late in the development process they moved to the new SPECIAL system.
There are 18 different skills in the game. They are ranked from 0% to 200%. The starting values for those skills at Level 1 are determined by the player's 7 basic attributes or SPECIAL, but most of those skills would fall between 0% and 50%. Every time the player gains a Level, he/she will be awarded skill points to be used to improve their skills, equal to 5 points + twice his/her Intelligence. The player may choose to "Tag" 3 of the 18 skills. A tagged skill will improve at twice the normal rate.
- 6 combat skills: Small Guns, Big Guns, Energy Weapons, Unarmed, Melee Weapons, Throwing.
- 8 Active skills: First Aid, Doctor, Sneak, Lockpick, Steal, Traps, Science, Repair.
- 4 passive skills: Speech, Barter, Gambling, Outdoorsman.
Books found throughout the game world can also improve some of those skills permanently, although books are scarce early in the game. However, after a skill reaches a certain Level, books no longer have any impact on that skill. Some non-player characters can also improve Skills via training. How high a skill can be developed is affected by the character's Attributes - a character with a low Intelligence will not be able to boost their Science rating as high as a character with high Intelligence, for example.
Some skills can also be improved while having certain items equipped. (E.g. equipping a lock pick would improve lockpicking skills.) Chems can also temporarily boost player's skills; however, they often have adverse effects such as addiction and withdrawal. As skills grow higher in rating, they begin to cost more skill points to increase.
Traits and PerksEdit
At character creation, the player may choose 2 different traits and perks for their character. Traits are special character backgrounds. Most traits have profound effects on game play. A trait normally contains one beneficial effect and one detrimental effect. They are listed under perks in the character sheet. Once a Trait is chosen, it is impossible to change, except by using the Mutate! Perk that lets them change 1 trait, 1 time.
Perks in the game are special elements of the level up system. Every 3 levels (or every 4 if the player chose the "Skilled" Trait), the player is granted a perk of their choosing. Perks grant special effects, most of which are not obtainable via normal level up in the game, such as letting the player have more actions per turn. Unlike traits, most perks are purely beneficial - they are usually offset only by the infrequency of acquiring them.
The game is set in a post-apocalyptic world following The Great War, a nuclear war that occurred on October 23, 2077 and lasted less than two hours but caused immense damage and destruction. Before The Great War came the Resource Wars, during which the United Nations had disbanded, a plague rendered the United States paranoid and Canada was annexed.
The game takes place in 2161, 84 years after the Great War in Southern California and begins in Vault 13, the protagonist's home. Vault 13's water chip, a computer chip responsible for the water recycling and pumping machinery, has broken. The Vault Overseer tasks the protagonist with finding a replacement. They are given a portable device called the "Pip-Boy 2000" which keeps track of mapmaking, quest objectives, and various bookkeeping aspects. Armed with the PIPBoy 2000 and meager equipment, the protagonist is sent out into the remains of California to find another Water Chip.
The protagonist is governed by the SPECIAL character system, which was designed specifically for Fallout and is used in the other games in the series.
At the end of the game, the Vault Dweller would be exiled from Vault 13 and would eventually found Arroyo, the starting point for Fallout 2. The Chosen One, the protagonist in Fallout 2, is the descendant of the Vault Dweller.
Recruitable non-player charactersEdit
A diverse selection of various recruitable non-player characters can be found to aid the player in the post-apocalyptic wasteland. Unlike in Fallout 2, there is no limit to the number of non-player characters that the player may recruit in Fallout. Non-player characters' statistics and armor remain unchanged through the entire game; only their weapons may be upgraded.
- Ian can be found in Shady Sands and is the first recruitable non-player character that the player meets. He is an experienced traveler and gunman. Ian can equip any pistol or SMG, and wears a leather jacket.
- Dogmeat is the only nonhuman non-player character that the player may recruit. Dogmeat can be found in Junktown, outside of Phil's house, preventing him from entering his house. The player may attract Dogmeat by either wearing a leather jacket or feeding the dog an iguana-on-a-stick. After that, Dogmeat will follow the player.
- Tycho is a former Desert Ranger, now living in Junktown. He can wield rifles, shotguns, and spears.
- Katja may be recruited in the library in the LA Boneyard. She can fight unarmed and wield pistols and SMGs.
The player initially has 150 days before the Vault's water supply runs out. This time limit can be extended by 100 days if he/she commissions merchants in the Hub to send water caravans to Vault 13. Upon returning the chip, the Vault Dweller is then tasked with destroying a mutant army that threatens humanity. A mutant known as "The Master" (previously known as Richard Grey) has begun using a pre-War, genetically engineered virus called Forced Evolutionary Virus to convert humanity into a race of "super mutants", and bring them together in the Unity, his plan for a perfect world. The player has to kill him and destroy the Military Base housing the supply of FEV, thus halting the invasion before it can start.
If the player does not complete both objectives within 500 game days, the mutant army will discover Vault 13 and invade it, bringing an end to the game. This time limit is shortened to 400 days if the player divulged Vault 13's location to the Water Merchants. A cinematic cut-scene of mutants overrunning the vault is shown if the player fails to stop the mutant army within this time frame, indicating the player has lost the game. If the player agrees to join the mutant army, the same cinematic is shown.
In version 1.1 of the game, the time limit for the mutant attack on Vault 13 is eliminated, allowing players to explore the game world at their leisure.
The player can defeat the Master and destroy the super mutants' military base in either order. When both threats are eliminated, a cut-scene ensues in which the player automatically returns to Vault 13. There they are told that they have done great things for the vault and all of humanity but if they came back everyone would want to leave the Vault and that the Vault Dweller must leave for the good of the Vault. Thus they are rewarded with exile into the desert, for, in the Overseer's eyes, the good of the vault. There is an alternate, non-canonical ending (available if the player has the "Bloody Mess" trait, has accrued significant negative Karma throughout the game, or performs the action manually) in which the Vault Dweller draws a handgun and shoots the Overseer after they are told to go into exile.
Vault 13 is the Vault Dweller's home. The first quest in the game is to find a replacement for the Vault's broken water purification chip. None of the inhabitants are permitted to leave the vault, under the leadership of the Vault's overseer, who is dedicated to protecting and sheltering them. Vault 13 was probably located under Mt. Whitney, as it roughly matches the location of the mountain. Vault 13 may also refer to a mountain in Indian Wells Valley, within the bounds of the Naval Air Weapons Station at China Lake, known as B-Mountain. The mountain looks very similar to illustrations of the location in the game, and is rumored to have a large underground research center inside.
Vault 15 was once occupied by an enormous number of people of very different ideologies and cultures. The overcrowding and the diversification led to the leaving of four different groups, three of them forming each one raiding group - the Khans, the Vipers and the Jackals - and one of them settling down and founding Shady Sands. Vault 15 is now lair to several mutated animals. This is (probably) the Dweller's first attempt to find a water purification chip, although it is nowhere to be found here.
A group of former Vault 15 inhabitants have founded a small village between Vault 13 and Vault 15. Shady Sands is ruled by Aradesh, who asks the Vault Dweller to help get rid of the radscorpions who are threatening the village. Here, the Vault Dweller can recruit Ian, an experienced traveler and gunman, to their group. It is also possible to "recruit" Tandi, the daughter of Aradesh, by failing to return her to town after her kidnapping. An obelisk in the center of the city has the inscriptions "In remind of hope and peace".
Khans raider campEdit
A clan of raiders known as the Khans, led by a man named Garl, have set up a camp near Shady Sands. Tandi, Aradesh's daughter, is eventually kidnapped by the camp's raiders, and it is up to the Vault Dweller to save her, choosing from a variety of methods.
Surrounded by piles of wrecked cars, Junktown is run by the shop owner Killian Darkwater, who is also the sheriff and grandson of the town's founder. Junktown's gates are closed in the night, and drawing weapons is not allowed except in self-defense. Gizmo, the town's casino owner, wants Killian dead, because he "cramps [his] business". The player can choose to either help Killian or Gizmo. The Vault Dweller can also recruit Tycho, a ranger, and Dogmeat, a wild dog, to their group.
As a major commercial town, The Hub is the most quest-filled location in the game. It is divided in several districts, each one controlled by a powerful group of people: the Water Merchants, the Crimson Caravan and the Far Go Traders. Here the Vault Dweller can send water merchants to Vault 13 to extend the time limit in which he/she must find the water chip. The Hub's approximate location corresponds to Lancaster in California.
The remains of what was once Bakersfield. Overrun by ghouls and containing a vast sewer system, Necropolis is the aftermath of Vault 12. Vault 12 was designed by the Enclave so that its door couldn't close and the vault's occupants would be exposed to high doses of radiation. This led to the transformation of its inhabitants into ghouls after the Great War. The ghouls were divided in three groups: the surface dwellers, who are the most numerous, and paranoid about non-ghouls and outsiders; the glowing ones, heavily irradiated ghouls, rejected even by their own and the so-called underground ghouls, living in the city's sewers. It is here that the Vault-Dweller finds the water chip whilst observing an unusual super-mutant invasion, which may be a serious threat to humanity's future.
The Boneyard, also known as The Angel's Boneyard, is the remaining portion of the Los Angeles cityscape. This is one of the later towns that the Vault Dweller may visit, receiving upgrades for end game equipment: the turbo plasma rifle and Hardened power armor. The player may also recruit Katja here.
Lost Hills BunkerEdit
(shown simply as "Brotherhood of Steel" in the Pip-Boy 2000)
Headquarters of the Brotherhood of Steel, an organization with roots in the US military and government-sponsored scientific community from before the Great War. The outpost consists of 4 underground levels; with level 1 closest to the surface and level 4 the furthest underground. Level 0 is the on-ground entrance.
Formerly known as West Tek Research Facility, The Glow is now an irradiated ruin. It is here that experiments were conducted on laser and plasma weapons, and the development of the FEV and power armor took place. The Glow is controlled by a mainframe called "ZAX". It is the Vault Dweller's objective to retrieve a piece of evidence for the Brotherhood of Steel, which is a holodisk left by a fallen Brotherhood of Steel member, that proves he entered the location. The difficulty in this assignment is that The Glow is highly radioactive, and the player must consume anti-radiation drugs to survive their visit. A player unaware of this zone's high radiation levels will find himself/herself quickly succumbing to radiation poisoning.
Mariposa Military BaseEdit
This former Military Base is where research was conducted on the FEV (which were previously conducted in the West Tek Research Facility). This is where new super mutants are created.
The Cathedral is the place where the Children of the Cathedral organization, which is a facade for the Master's plans, can be found. Beneath the Cathedral lies a secret vault, wherein the Master resides.
The Fallout developer team had nearly 100 members (mostly artists). Although most of the team dissolved after Fallout was released, about one third of them formed Interplay's Black Isle division that was responsible for Fallout 2. Some went on to work in future projects, and several key players left Interplay altogether to form Troika Games.
The game soundtrack for Fallout was composed by Mark Morgan.
The game underwent censorship in certain international versions, including the removal of all children from the game in some of the European versions (e.g. British and German ones). This censorship was apparently imposed because the game included the possibility of killing children, although this was in no way promoted (on the contrary, the game actively discourages this act, though it remains possible as part of the player's free will). Among its consequences are unfriendly responses from non-player characters, bounty hunters regularly and repeatedly attacking the player, and various non-player characters refusing to join the player's party. In addition to being frustrating for many of the game's players, the removal of children from the game is known to have produced a number of bugs in it. A fan-made patch that returned the children to the game eliminated both the censorship and the bugs.
New boxed editions of the game are published from time to time, usually included on one DVD together with Fallout 2 and Fallout Tactics. Fallout is also available for gold members and some times free members at GameTap (this version requires the GameTap client to play), and can be purchased at GOG.com (DRM-free version).
Interplay has also struck a deal releasing their own DRM-free copies of Fallout, Fallout 2, and Fallout Tactics as a set. Steam is also offering direct downloads for Fallout and Fallout 2, as well as selling them in a bundle which includes Fallout: Tactics. Both GOG and Steam carry only the censored UK version. However, older versions of the game might not work with newer computers.
In October 2012, GOG.com began sales of a version for OSX Macintosh computers. This version appears to be the DOS version running within a virtualised environment as a DOS4GW copyright message is present on the screen prior to the game loading.
Interplay Films, a division of Interplay Entertainment, was formed in 1998 and was to develop seven of the company’s most popular video game titles into movies, including Fallout. In 2000, Interplay was said to be partnering with Dark Horse Entertainment on the Fallout movie project. Brent Friedman (Dark Skies, Mortal Kombat II) wrote the script treatment. Eventually, no Interplay property was ever made into a film and the division was disbanded.
In March 2011, the full film treatment was released at The Vault, which Nukapedia shares its origin with.
Early concept visionEdit
At the Game Developers Conference in San Francisco, held from March 5–9, 2012, Timothy Cain of Obsidian Entertainment held a presentation about the original Fallout' s early development stages. Afterwards, a post-mortem document was released which describes the game's development progress and shows how the team overcame the many difficulties they faced from '94 till its release in September '97. It also provides several early concept art images.
- Mirror of the official Fallout website at Duck and Cover
- Mirror of the official early GURPS: Fallout website at Duck and Cover
- News related to Fallout at Duck and Cover
- News related to Fallout at the RPG Codex
|The contents of this page were entirely or partially copied from Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia, and are therefore licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License. The original version, its history and authors can be found at the Wikipedia page "Fallout (computer game)".| | <urn:uuid:ded4277b-1545-47e7-a04d-7b3c1b37c086> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fallout.wikia.com/wiki/Fallout?interlang=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960752 | 3,874 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Article 1: The University Council
Article 2: Membership on the University Council
Article 3: Officers of the University Council
Article 4: Standing Committees of the University Council
Article 5: Meetings of the University Council
Article 6: Faculties, Standing Committees, Councils and Boards of the Faculty and Administration
Article 7: Related Councils
Article 8: Selection of a President
Article 9: Human Rights
Article 10: Amendment Procedures
6.1 The University
6.1.1 Definition of University Faculty
The university faculty shall consist of all full-time staff members holding the ranks of professor, associate professor, assistant professor, and instructor.
6.1.2 Standing Committees of the University
There shall be standing committees of the University Council as designated in the bylaws.
184.108.40.206 These committees shall report all actions to the University Council, through the distribution of minutes to the University Council, through annual reports of their activities submitted to the University Council, and through the periodic presentation of action summaries.
220.127.116.11 Any actions which these committees recognize as involving a substantive change in academic policy should be submitted for University Council approval. If action is taken without University Council approval, which the University Council agrees (by majority vote) represents a substantive change in academic policy, the committee may be asked to submit the action to the University Council for review.
6.2 The Colleges
6.2.1 Definition of College Faculty
The college faculty shall consist of those members of the university faculty who hold their appointment within the college.
6.2.2 Standing Committees of a Degree-Granting College
Each college shall have such standing committees as may be designated in the bylaws to advise the dean on policy, personnel, curricular, budgetary, and other matters as deemed appropriate. These committees shall include a student advisory committee through which students pursuing academic degrees within the college may have input into the college policy-making process.
6.3 The University Libraries
6.3.1 Definition of Library Faculty
The library faculty shall consist of those members of the university libraries who hold academic appointments within the university libraries.
6.3.2 Standing Committees of the University Libraries
The libraries shall have such standing committees as may be designated in the Bylaws to advise the director on policy, budgetary, and other matters as deemed appropriate. Some of these committees shall include representation from a student advisory committee.
6.4 The Graduate School
6.4.1 Definition of Graduate Faculty
The graduate faculty shall consist of those who, on the recommendation of the academic departments and the dean of the appropriate college, have been approved by the Graduate Council and the dean of the Graduate School to be members of the graduate faculty.
6.4.2 Standing Committees of the Graduate School
The graduate faculty shall participate in the formulation and administration of policies affecting the operation of the programs of the Graduate School through the Graduate Council, provision for which shall be made in the bylaws. Provision shall be made for the participation of graduate student representatives on the Graduate Council. The bylaws of the Graduate Council shall provide for such other standing committees as may be deemed necessary or desirable. Any such other committees shall report regularly on their activities to the Graduate Council.
6.5 Administrative Committees
6.5.1 The President's Staff
The president's staff shall consist of the president and such other members as determined by the president.
6.5.2 Other Administrative Committees
There shall be such other administrative committees as may be established by the bylaws, by the University Council, or by the president.
6.6 The Council of Deans
The council of deans shall consist of the executive vice president and provost as chair, vice provosts, the deans, and such additional academic personnel as the executive vice president and provost and deans shall deem appropriate and necessary to the work of the council of deans. | <urn:uuid:cbe0f571-000c-4877-9919-90550c6ef15f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.niu.edu/u_council/constitution/constitution/page5.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936989 | 809 | 1.867188 | 2 |
The story of Helly Hansen started in 1877. After many years at sea, norwegian captain Helly Juell Hansen and his wife Maren Margarethe began producing oilskin jackets, trousers, sou'westers and tarpaulins, made from coarse linen soaked in linseed oil.
They certainly struck a nerve in the market, because over the first five years they sold approximately 10,000 pieces. In 1878 the company won a diploma for excellence at the Paris Expo, and began exporting its products.
In the 20th century, Helly Hansen made several breakthroughs in product development to complete the layering principle today known as the 3-Layer System™. In 1949 the Helox, a thin sheet of translucent PVC plastic sewn into waterproof coats, took over for the oilbased outerwear and became the must-have protection for outdoor use. With a production of 30,000 coats each month the success was almost immediate.
The original fleece, the fiberpile, was developed in 1961 and has been perfected for almost 50 years since. This new insulation layer was warm, lightweight and fast-drying, ideal for wearing under the protective layer. It was soon embraced by workers because it offered extraordinary insulation against the cold, and ventilated well during hard, physical work. It even protected against snow and light rain, staying extremely durable and warm after many washes.
The layering story was completed in the 1970s, with the development of LIFA. This wonder-fiber, used in LIFA, kept the skin dry and warm by pushing moisture away from the body, making it the ideal baselayer fabric for outdoor and workwear use. The latest generation of LIFA is still used in our baselayers today.
In 1980, the Helly Tech technology was launched, using both hydrophilic and microporous technology, which meant the apparel was both waterproof and breathable. This meant that anyone who participated in high-activity outdoor sports could expect their clothing to work with them, not against them. The evolution of breathable, waterproof jackets had a profound effect on the outdoor industry. Helly Hansen now produced technical outerwear garments.
The heritage from Helly Juell Hansen is still our cornerstone. Today our gear is used by world-class sailors, skiers and adventurers who spend their time between human will and nature’s forces, and demand full protection and performance when the conditions are at their worst. | <urn:uuid:ccda7b27-2a27-4fc0-88fb-c8ad5a53aa28> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.lescontamines.com/helly-hansen.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970977 | 504 | 1.742188 | 2 |
When I'm creating games, I really love the coding part -- designing, developing the main functionality and "core" part of the game. However, most of my games are reasonably small/easy in terms of coding, but require a lot of content -- whether graphics, levels, sounds, puzzles, story narrative, etc.
I find development speeds through the coding parts, but nearly halts when it comes to content creation -- it's tough, sometimes boring work.
What can I do to make content creation quicker and more interesting/fun? I'm already integrating content into a working game, and building/using tools as much as possible to quickly assemble my content.
Edit: my question is not about learning any particular labor-/time-intensive skills like drawing assets or picking out sound effects; it's about that psychological hurdle when you have to just sit down and grind out the rest of your game, even if it's not the most fun thing in the world to do. | <urn:uuid:2aa18c91-fe5b-4815-bac2-35dba67cef0c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gamedev.stackexchange.com/questions/16625/getting-past-boring-content-creation/16627 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947611 | 199 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Walking for Health
Walking For Health and Fitness
Until you have felt the rhythm of a good walk in your own muscles, and the psycho-physical tonic of a brisk walkout in your own mind and body, you don’t know what you’ve been missing. Because of the structure, shape and flexibility of the spine, the human body is better suited for walking than any other aerobic activity. Your body is built for action and movement, and as a way of getting from one place to another, it reaches its highest state of physical perfection in the act of walking. The following are just some of the benefits which walking can give you.
Walking Strengthens the Heart and Lungs
Provided you don’t stroll, but pace briskly, walking expands your lung capacity, and the efficiency of your exercising muscles and blood circulation is increased so that muscles and blood can process more oxygen – the aerobic effect. The beneficial effects are borne out by several studies which found that the least active people are twice as likely to have heart disease as the most active. More than 40 scientific studies worldwide have shown that moderate physical activity like fitness walking develops cardiovascular health and protects against heart disease. The Paffenburger study in the USA found that walking two miles a day can lower your chance of a heart attack by up to 30 per cent.
Walking Reduces Blood Pressure
Scientists have known for years that both exercise and weight loss, independent of each other, can lower blood pressure. Fitness walking, because it gives the heart an aerobic workout, helps to make the heart more efficient and at the same time helps the body burn calories which reduces body weight.
Walking Raises Level of ‘Good’ Cholesterol
Walking won’t cut high cholesterol – the only way you can do that is to eat less fat which you can do by following The Walker’s Diet. But fitness walking can alter the ratio of ‘good cholesterol’ (the so-called HDLs which protect the arteries) to ‘bad’cholesterol’ (the LDLs which clog up the arteries). The more you walk, the more your HDLs will rise.
Walking Helps Prevent Osteoporosis
Walking is a perfect body massage. It improves muscle tone and strength and wards off aching joints and potential bone problems such as osteoporosis – the brittle bone condition prevalent in the elderly. As weight-bearing activity, walking boosts bone density. As bones gain mass, they grow sturdier and less prone to breaks.
Walking Can Reduce Back Pain
More than 90 per cent of people suffer from back pain at some point in their lives. Back and joints become less flexible, often caused by an inactive lifestyle and bad posture. Fitness walking helps by working the large muscle groups and strenghtening the postural muscles of the legs, buttocks, back and abdomen. “Taking a walk regularly is one of the best things you can do for your back,” says Dr John Regan of The Texas Back Institute. | <urn:uuid:d64fc905-45bd-443e-b560-278081d5303a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.walking.org/walking-for-fitness/walking-for-health/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936702 | 634 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Throughout history, human beings have used the whistle for everything from hailing a cab to carrying a tune. Now, an orangutan's spontaneous whistling is providing scientists at Great Ape Trust of Iowa new insights into the evolution of speech and learning.
In a paper published this month in Primates, an international journal of primatology that provides a forum on all aspects of primates in relation to humans and other animals, Great Ape Trust scientist Dr. Serge Wich and his colleagues provide the first-ever documentation of a primate mimicking a sound from another species without being specifically trained to do so. Bonnie, a 30-year-old female orangutan living at the Smithsonian National Zoological Park in Washington, D.C., began whistling – a sound that is in a human's, but not an orangutan's, repertoire – after hearing an animal caretaker make the sound.
"This is important because it provides a mechanism to explain documented between-population variation in sounds for wild orangutans," Wich said. "In addition, it counters a long-held assumption that non-human primates have fairly fixed sound repertoires that are not under voluntary control. Being able to learn new sounds and use these voluntarily are also two important aspects of human speech and these findings open up new avenues to study certain aspects of human speech evolution in our closest relatives."
Previous studies have indicated that orangutans and chimpanzees are capable of species-atypical sounds and vocalizations, but only under the strong influence of human training. Bonnie, however, was not explicitly trained to whistle, according to Wich and his co-authors – Great Ape Trust scientists Dr. Karyl Swartz and Dr. Rob Shumaker; Madeleine E. Hardus and Adriano R. Lameira, doctoral candidates at the Utrecht University in The Netherlands assigned to the Ketambe Research Center in Sumatra, where Wich is research co-manager; and Erin Stromberg, an animal caretaker at the National Zoo.
Scientists have long known that orangutans copy physical movements of humans, but Bonnie's whistling indicates that the learning capacities of orangutans and other great apes in the auditory domain might be more flexible than previously believed, Wich said. The behavior goes against the argument that orangutans have no control over their vocalizations and the sounds are purely emotional – that is, an involuntary response to stimuli such as predators.
Bonnie appears to whistle for the sake of making a sound rather than to receive a food reward or some other incentive. If asked to whistle, she is likely to oblige, another indication to scientists that she makes the sound voluntarily.
In their paper, Wich and his colleagues also shared anecdotal information about Indah, a female orangutan who lived with Bonnie at the National Zoo before moving to Great Ape Trust in 2004. Indah also began to whistle some years after Bonnie was first observed making the sound in the late 1980s, but Indah died before recordings could be made of her whistles. Scientists believe that Indah's whistling was a vocalization learned from Bonnie.
That compares with what scientists assume about social learning in wild orangutan populations. For example earlier work by Dr. van Schaik and colleagues showed that wild orangutans in one population make a "raspberry" sound during nest-making, while orangutans in another population make a "nest smack" sound when engaged in the same activity. Wich said it's unlikely that purely genetic or ecological factors explain the differences in sounds of different orangutan populations. Rather, it's more likely others copy one orangutan's innovative sound because the sound serves a function.
"This is a very strong indication that different sounds among wild populations are learned and are not purely genetically or ecologically based," Wich said. "This is a great indication that orangutans can learn sounds not in their repertoire from another species, and they are flexible in using them."
The scientific investigation with Bonnie at the National Zoo was supported in part by a grant from the David Bohnett Foundation and complements field studies of wild orangutans, where differences have been noted in the call repertoires between populations. A strength at Great Ape Trust is the ability of its scientists to conduct simultaneous studies on both captive orangutans and wild orangutans on the Indonesian island of Sumatra at the Ketambe Research Center, where Wich is research co-manager.
"Bringing captive and field research together is an unharvested field," Wich said, "and it offers great potential to Great Ape Trust."
The research also builds on earlier investigations by ape language pioneer Dr. Sue Savage-Rumbaugh a scientist with special standing at Great Ape Trust, and others on the ability of great apes to imitate human speech. Specifically, Savage-Rumbaugh's 1991 investigation centered on whether the bonobo Kanzi, a member of the colony of bonobos now living at Great Ape Trust, might have structurally different vocalizations than bonobos in another group. In a 2004 study, Savage-Rumbaugh looked at whether Kanzi was attempting to imitate human speech.
The results of these studies did enlarge scientists' appreciation of the plasticity in primate sound and vocal learning and indicated that primates might have some plasticity to produce completely new sounds, Wich and his colleagues wrote.
The new findings reopen the door on such research.
"One of the main things we do not understand yet is the evolution of speech," Wich said.
Wich will present the findings on Dec. 18 at a scientific symposium on orangutan genetics at the University of Zürich, Switzerland.
Source: Great Ape Trust of Iowa
Explore further: University of Illinois biophysicists measure mechanism that determines fate of living cells | <urn:uuid:9d25ef6a-76ca-489f-a593-bd874fdb71c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news148226438.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941951 | 1,215 | 3.734375 | 4 |
Marcos Vescovi, Yumi Iwasaki, Richard Fikes, B. Chandrasekaran
Understanding the design of an engineered device requires both knowledge of the general physical principles that determine the behavior of the device and knowledge of what the device is intended to do (i.e., its functional specification). However, the majority of work in model-based reasoning about device behavior has focused on modeling a device in terms of general physical principles or intended functionality, but not both. In order to use both functional and behavioral knowledge in understanding a device design, it is crucial that the functional knowledge is represented in such a way that it has a clear interpretation in terms of actual behavior. We propose a new formalism for representing device functions with well-defined semantics in terms of actual behavior. We call the language CFRL (Causal Functional Representation Language). CFRL allows the specification of condistions that a behavior must satisfy, such as occurrence or a temporal sequence of expected events and causal relations among the events and the behavior of device components. We have used CFRL as the basis for a functional verification program which determines whether a behavior achieves an intended function. | <urn:uuid:5ef45bb2-01aa-4033-a35d-c495c224d450> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aaai.org/Library/AAAI/1993/aaai93-094.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919981 | 234 | 2 | 2 |
A family's challenge grew into Time Out Respite Care
Behind the doors of 24246 Harborview Road in Port Charlotte is a haven of relief to families of developmentally challenged children and adults. The name tells the story: For those who need it, Time Out Respite Care offers the services of its trained and licensed caregivers.
With their support, families can be freed up from the responsibility of staying at home around the clock, seven days a week. The story behind why those doors are open is a story of one family's courage to face a difficult challenge and to share their solution with other families.
Sharon Hartzell is the mother of a multi-disabled 33-year-old son. A few months after he was delivered, she was diagnosed with a stage 4 cancer.
In those days, Hartzell explained, "If you had a child with severe disabilities, you were highly encouraged to institutionalize him. My husband and I had no intentions of doing that."
They worked together to coordinate their son's needs and her ongoing medical treatments. "It was a difficult time," she recalled. "Thanks to the support of my family, we were able to do it."
Over the next few years, Hartzell met other families also trying to raise their disabled children.
"What they did not have was a lot of support," she said. "That is when I started the respite program to offer families occasional breaks from the long-term care they had taken on so they to meet their own needs." Hartzell got a $2,000 grant from the state which allowed her to start Time Out Respite Care with a group of volunteers. Time Out Respite Care representatives can step in so that family members who must handle the needs outside the home can do so freely.
The organization has expanded over the years, and now provides more than 14,000 hours of respite care yearly, along with its day training, companion and transportation services. Client needs might include the full range of family duties from shopping to keeping medical and dental appointments, or even socializing or taking vacations.
Often, family members need to take time out for personal tasks or simply a break from their responsibilities to the disabled child or adult. Sometimes, it is necessary for a family member to take time out to recover from an illness. Time Out Respite Care is prepared to keep the household in operation during difficult times, too.
While Time Out Respite Care is available in the homes of families of children and adults with various disabilities, the organization also offers services in any of its licensed caregiver homes or in its spacious respite care facility in Charlotte Harbor. Depending on its needs, a family can choose any of these care locations.
All Time Out Respite Care caregivers are required to complete a comprehensive training program, which includes courses in CPR, behavior management, communication skills and handling medically complex situations.
In addition, even respite workers who possess the ultimate quality Time Out Respite Care respects -- caring -- are also subjected to an extensive background investigation as part of their employment. A helping hand from time to time is helpful to anyone, and Time Out Respite Care is no different. Without official credentials, interested people may volunteer to help the business in other ways.
"Our slogan says it best when I talk about what we do: We provide families with the gift of time," Hartzell said. "Raising my son has helped me learn to look at life with the understanding that although we all have limits as to what we can handle, having support around enables us to do things we never thought we could. I also have learned patience and fulfilled my need to guide others to see that they, too, can keep their families together with a helping hand."
Families not eligible for financial assistance through the organization's funding sources may pay for services on a sliding-scale basis, when they are able.
For more information, contact the office at 941-743-3883. | <urn:uuid:b9f7e789-5bdc-4678-bb66-699a65d69e3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://feelingfit.com/home/10569-7/story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977288 | 814 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Buildings Insurance Guide
Home insurance may sound desperately dull, but the increasing incidence of extreme weather conditions means that it is more important than ever to ensure that your property is properly covered.
Buildings insurance protects you against the cost of damage to the structure of your home from the elements and is mandatory if your property is mortgaged. Home contents insurance, by contrast, is entirely voluntary, but the two insurances are often bought together because some insurers offer discounts if you take out both policies together.
Arranging buildings insurance is normally the responsibility of the person who owns the property, so if you live in a leasehold property, it is the responsibility of the freeholder to arrange buildings insurance and the cost will be passed onto the leaseholders via a service charge.
In flats and maisonettes, each apartment is normally insured under a single block policy, which also covers the ‘common parts,’ such as the hallway, stairways and lifts.
Click on the links below to move to the section you wish to read:
What does buildings insurance cover?
Buildings insurance covers the cost of rebuilding or repairing damage to your property, other than that arising through wear and tear. The policy will cover the building’s structure, including permanent fixtures and fittings such as built-in kitchen units and appliances, bathroom suites and toilets and built-in cupboards.
Cover may extend to outbuildings (such as garages and greenhouses). Boundary walls, fences, gates, drives, paths and swimming pools may be covered for an extra premium, depending on the policy terms and conditions.
The building should be insured for its full rebuilding cost, not the market value of the property. If you underinsure, your insurer will reduce your claim proportionately.
The common risks covered are damage to, and destruction of, the property as a result of:
Fire, storm and flood, lightning, explosion and earthquake; subsidence, heave and landslip; riot and vandalism, theft; aircraft (collision or fallout), falling trees, breaking or collapsing aerials, impact by animals and vehicles; water leakage from pipes or tanks and oil leakage from heating installations.
Policies may also cover:
- liability for damage to individuals and/or their property, up to a given limit (typically £1m);
- the cost of alternative accommodation in the event that you have to leave your home while it is being rebuilt or repaired, up to a reasonable level;
- accidental damage to underground water, gas and sewage pipes and electrical cables;
- replacement of glass in windows, doors and skylights.
Remember to inform your insurer if your home is used for business purposes, as this could increase the risk (particularly if you keep certain materials and equipment on the premises).
Mitigating your losses
Policyholders are required to keep losses to a minimum by taking pre-emptive action to contain or prevent damage. Thus, if you spot signs of subsidence for example, you should report this to your insurer immediately so that the situation can be assessed and the problem can be fixed at minimum cost.
Don't skimp on home repair costs. Cheap skate repairs can result in more serious problems later, triggering expensive claims (and the possible loss of your no claims bonus).
Excess and exclusions
Certain losses are not covered or are only partially reimbursable. The policyholder has to meet some of the cost of each claim, known as the ‘excess’ (typically the first £100 of each and every claim), which serves to keep policy premiums down and to deter trivial claims.
Damage caused by subsidence, heave and landslip is usually subject to a higher level of excess, typically around £1,000.
Common exclusions are losses arising out of:
- frost damage
- sonic bangs
- radioactive contamination from nuclear fuel or waste.
Cover against damage caused by acts of terrorism is a recent exclusion, although this can be added through payment of an additional premium on some policies.
Calculating the sum assured
You can commission a 'rebuilding cost assessment' prepared by a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. This is advisable if your property has unique features (for instance, historic or listed buildings which will have to rebuilt in their original style), is constructed from special materials, and is more than two storeys high and/or has a basement or cellar.
It is possible to do the calculation yourself for a standard dwelling, although you may find that you have to call in a local architect or building firm to assess the cost per meter of rebuilding, for which you are highly likely to incur a fee.
Alternatively, the Association of British Insurers has an online cost calculator and more information on how to calculate the rebuilding cost of a property at: http://abi.bcis.co.uk
Rebuilding costs depend on the floor area of the structure (including outbuildings, walls, fences and any other external structures), the type and age of the dwelling and the region in which it is located (for instance, building costs vary considerably according to area), as well as fixtures and fittings that are part of the fabric of the building.
Don't forget to add in the cost of site clearance, architect and engineers' fees, and emergency accommodation.
The sum assured needs to be adjusted periodically in order to reflect increases in building costs. Some insurance policies will automatically index your cover each year.
However, the insurer will not be aware of any home improvements undertaken (for example, a conservatory, a loft extension, new luxury fitted kitchen units) unless you report them, so you may well be yourself underinsured if you fail to do so.
Last edited August 2007 | <urn:uuid:d78ab3b3-9bc8-4834-8425-2ac516a76a80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.find.co.uk/insurance/homes/buildings_insurance_guide | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950747 | 1,179 | 1.742188 | 2 |
The UN High-level Meeting on Non-communicable Diseases held on 19-20 September 2011 in New York was a major milestone in the history of the global diabetes and non-communicable diseases (NCDs) epidemic. Building on the achievement of UN Resolution 61/225 on diabetes in 2006, and drawing from the lessons and successes of the HIV/AIDS UN General Assembly Special Session a decade ago, IDF saw the UN High-Level Meeting on NCDs as an opportunity to engage heads of state and governments to secure a comprehensive set of commitments at the highest political level and accelerate global progress on diabetes and the other non-communicable diseases.
The impact of the process
Since the unanimous decision to hold the UN High-level Meeting on NCDs, IDF and its sister federations in the NCD Alliance worked to lay the foundations for a successful summit and maximize this once-in-a-generation opportunity. The official process and preparations for the summit have changed the global health landscape forever. It has catalyzed high level discussions on diabetes and NCDs at national, regional and global levels that were not happening before – amongst non-governmental organisations (NGOs), governments, international organisations, and the private sector.
As part of preparations for the summit, IDF consulted national member associations and experts in diabetes to align priorities and bring a united voice for diabetes to the discussions. The top priorities identified by more than 115 member associations in 160 countries who responded to this consultation are presented in Box 5.1. Informed by these consultations, IDF and the NCD Alliance published a Proposed Outcomes Document setting priorities for negotiations.
The official process for the summit included WHO Regional Consultations on NCDs, many resulting in official Declarations which highlighted the similarities and differences in priorities of governments and political blocs. WHO also held a number of multi-sectoral consultations, co-hosted the First Global Ministerial Conference on NCDs, and worked with the UN to convene a Civil Society Hearing at UN Headquarters which provided further opportunities for government decision-makers to familiarize themselves with NCDs evidence and issues, and hear the priorities of civil society, including those put forth by the NCD Alliance. As part of the process, the WHO, the UN Secretary General, and the World Economic Forum all published reports strengthening the evidence for NCDs and highlighting cost of inaction.
Building and strengthening alliances
Another significant marker of Summit preparations was the strengthening of alliances and partnerships to tackle the global NCDs epidemic. IDF and the NCD Alliance created a NCD civil society movement in an unprecedented time, working together across diseases for a common cause. This civil society movement is here to stay and will be integral to continuing momentum and monitoring commitments post-Summit. Influential relationships were built with Governments, the private sector, and NGOs working in inter-related development issues such as maternal and newborn child health (MNCH), HIV/AIDS and TB. IDF and NCD Alliance partners produced two influential articles on NCDs priorities and solutions with the Lancet NCD Group. These alliances have promoted exchange of best practice and innovative solutions in diabetes and NCDs prevention and control.
Top priorities by IDF Region
(percentage of respondents strongly agreeing)
- Africa: “Access to low cost medicines and supplies” (86%)
- Europe: “Programmes for detection and management of complications of diabetes” (72%)
- Middle East and North Africa: “Improve the training, education, and support for healthcare professionals” and “extend health services to all areas of the country” (100%)
- North America and Caribbean: “Promoting a healthy diet through education” and “access to healthy food for disadvantaged population groups” (100%)
- South and Central America: “Access to low cost medicine and supplies” and “self-care education” (100%)
- South-East Asia: “Labelling food products” (100%)
- Western Pacific: “Self-care education” (93%)
The future of diabetes after the UN High-level Meeting on NCDs
These preparations fed into to the drafting of a Political Declaration for agreement at the High-level meeting. negotiations were drawn-out due to a lack of consensus on many important issues. However, the 193 Un member States finally agreed on a strong document with a comprehensive set of political commitments. This ground-breaking Declaration marks world leaders’ recognition of the magnitude and impact of NCDs and positions them as a development issue that reaches beyond the health sector. A record 34 Heads of government and State attended and 120 member States made statements. The High-level meeting has undoubtedly inspired political will and leadership for diabetes and NCDs and the resulting Political Declaration provides a framework for saving millions of people from preventable death and disability.
Areas of Success
Leadership and International Cooperation Diabetes and NCDs are now seen as a development issue. The Declaration encourages their inclusion in development agendas and urges international organisations to provide technical assistance and capacity building for NCDs to developing countries. National leadership is a strong component with a specific commitment for governments to establish or strengthen multi-sectoral national Policies or plans by 2013.
Essential medicines and technologies
Importantly for people with diabetes, the Declaration commits governments to increasing access to affordable, safe, effective and quality-assured medicines and diagnostic technologies. It includes specific language on the use of generics and patent licensing flexibilities to improve access, availability and affordability.
The Declaration recognises the importance of a well-functioning health system to deliver care to people with nCDs and of universal coverage in national health systems, particularly through primary healthcare and social protection mechanisms. The Declaration also includes commitments to promote training and retention of health workers.
Focus is put on health-promoting environments with action on promoting healthy diets and increasing physical activity through urban planning, active transport, and work-site healthy lifestyle programmes. Governments have committed to reducing salt, sugar, and saturated fats, and eliminating industrially produced trans-fats in foods although without agreed targets. The Declaration recognises the links between maternal under-nutrition during pregnancy and gestational diabetes and increased risk of the infant developing diabetes later in life. The Declaration promotes the inclusion of NCDs in reproductive, maternal and new-born child health programmes.
The UN Secretary general is required to report on progress in 2013 at the general Assembly and member States will hold a comprehensive review and assessment in 2014. This review will enable the tracking of commitments made in the present Declaration and of progress on future global targets and indicators that member States should deliver on. It is also an opportunity to ensure that diabetes and NCDs are integrated with other health priorities in future internationally agreed development goals when the current Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) end in 2015.
Areas for Further Action
The Declaration lacks overarching goals and time-bound targets. As the 2001 HIV/AIDS Political Declaration demonstrated bold goals and targets inspire leadership, ensure broad action and create a political action plan for stakeholders to measure progress. Member States have missed this opportunity, postponing the decision until 2012 when they will agree a comprehensive global monitoring framework for NCDs and voluntary global targets and indicators.
While the Declaration recognises that resources for diabetes and NCDs are not commensurate with the magnitude of the problem, it falls short of concrete commitments, only requesting member States investigate options for potential sources of funding. Encouragingly, it does specify bilateral and multilateral channels, which to date have been limited for diabetes and NCDs, as well as innovative long-term financing approaches.
Governments recognised the importance of multi-sectoral action, but failed to commit to a high-level nCD partnership to coordinate and drive follow-up action. Instead they requested the Un Secretary-general present recommendations in 2012 outlining options for such a partnership. NGOs must be involved in this process.
The UN High-Level meeting on NCDs is a watershed event, but it is just the beginning of a new era for diabetes. The Political Declaration opens the door for advocacy efforts in 2012 on the development of global targets, a monitoring framework and a high-level NCDs partnership. With the MDGs Review in 2013, the global diabetes community must campaign to ensure diabetes and NCDs are integrated into future internationally agreed development goals. Governments are now looking to civil society for guidance and technical expertise on implementing elements of the Declaration. IDF is ready to lend expertise to governments to deliver the necessary actions, as well as play a ‘watch dog’ role holding governments accountable for the promises made. IDF is proud to have led the movement to this achievement but the campaign goes on for the millions of people with diabetes worldwide. | <urn:uuid:46ebeb7c-d257-4c6d-a07f-dba6e108fe93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.idf.org/print/diabetesatlas/5e/the-un-high-level-meeting-and-beyond?language=ar | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934051 | 1,799 | 2.296875 | 2 |
Los Angeles Unified School District announced Thursday it is canceling the bulk of its summer school programs, the latest in a statewide wave of cutbacks expected to leave hundreds of thousands of students struggling for classes.
The reductions, which will force many parents to scramble for child care, are the most tangible effect of the multibillion-dollar state financial cuts to education. Community colleges also have announced summer program cancellations. – LA TIMES
Commentary by JAI: The lessening of the value of labor-power finds it complement in the depreciation of the worker’s skills (i.e. labor’s ability to add value during the production process. Similarly, when it comes to value-realization (i.e. the sale of the produced items), the workers’ ability to purchase the products of its own labor is diminished. A virtual virtueless spiral ensues.
The value of labor-power, as the value of any and all commodities, is itself the sum total of the values of the goods and labor that go off into its making. A large portion of that value is added to the worker-to-be during the education process. The diminishment of the school year, ‘pupil-free days’ and now the cancelling of summer school indicates the depth of the capitalist crisis. System-wide, labor is that which the capitalists cannot do without.
Labor is the only source of new value (surplus-value) though competition compels the individual capitalists to cut its own labor-force. This is the fundamental contradiction of capitalism. And this shrinking of the time and resources and personnel allocated by the system towards the education of its replacement labor force is but a parallel in the education factory of what takes place in the industrial factories.
There is absolutely no reason (save capitalism) that schools should cut back on education. There is no reason that factories ought close (save temporarily when they have (and could) produce what they are needed to produce). There is no reason for the insanity of wars, homelessness, poverty and famine save that these things exist eith because someone can make money off of them or ‘there is no money in them’. These are the evils of production-for-profit. These are the stigmata of capitalism.
Now! More so than ever. It is socialism or barbarism. | <urn:uuid:aa6e7012-bda1-461b-b8d6-dd98e9a95dc4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://advancethestruggle.wordpress.com/tag/news/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94833 | 484 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Gray Whale Rescue
Whale watchers at Dana Point Harbor in California spotted trouble on Friday night, March 23. A young gray whale was trying to swim with fishing net and rope wrapped around its tail! After gaining permission from the National Marine Fisheries Services, Dave Anderson of Capt. Dave's Dolphin and Whale Safari went into action. It was getting dark so he attached a buoy to the 30-foot-long whale to mark its location overnight. His overnight "babysitters" named him Bart, after a crew member. In the morning, Captain Dave's team, wildlife rehabilitation staffers and boaters with special training and gear gathered for a rescue attempt. They spent seven hours untangling Bart from the discarded fishing net tangled around his flukes. Captain Dave told what the young whale did before heading back out to sea: "He came right up to our boat and almost mouthed, like, a thank you. It was pretty awesome." The LA Times newspaper reported that Bart was last seen swimming four miles off Corona de Mar and looking healthy. This week's research question explores challenges faced by these whales in their annual migration of 10,000 miles. Safe travels, Bart!
Courtesy of Captain Dave at Dolphin Safari.com
Copyright 1997-2013 Journey North (www.learner.org/jnorth). All Rights Reserved. Search | <urn:uuid:808a1c24-063f-48ed-a772-013e6c957f3e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.learner.org/jnorth/gwhale/spring2012/caption032812_1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964787 | 270 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Looking back at my tutorials on drawing the head, I realized that I covered individual features, but completely left out hair. This tutorial will is split into 3 parts: The Basics, Types of Hair, and a Step by Step drawing. I’ll start this first part of the series with common mistakes that I see all the time.
Common Mistakes when Drawing Hair
Forgetting about the volumes
This is the most common mistake I see from newer students. There are over 100,000 strands of hair on our heads. This thought can be very distracting from the goal of 3-dimensionality. So, some people forget about volume and draw a bunch of lines. But, lines don’t create the illusion of volume. Gradations and value differences that show plane changes create the illusion of volume. Don’t draw a bunch of lines. Instead, focus on the volumes.
Too Much Texture
This one is similar to the first, but this can still happen even if one pays attention to the volumes. Too many repeating lines everywhere (in the lights, halftones, and shadows) can get very distracting. There need to be areas of rest, especially since you want the focus to stay on the face not the hair. I usually show the texture of the hair in the lights and choose to keep the shadows simplified. But it depends. If I’m drawing blonde hair with a strong light source, I might choose to blow out the lights and show the texture in the shadows.
Impatience – Bad Design
There are so many random little shapes in hair, that good design is a necessity. All the shapes can be intimidating and it’s easy to get impatient and sloppy. I’ve found that confidence is an important element for good design. Approach the hair with purpose and a sense of know-how.
I’m referring the the outer edge between the hair and background and also the connection between hair and skin. Unless the subject has a perfectly combed or gelled hairstyle, there will be stray strands that soften the edge between the background. But even if I see a sharp outlined edge, I will cheat in softer edges for variation. This also adds depth and atmosphere and connects the subject to the environment. Variation in edge is also important in the areas connecting the the skin. Drawing a sharp outline will make it look like a wig or a clip-on beard.
Consider the Form Underneath the Hair
Most hair styles you will draw will be affected by the skull underneath. So, it’s important to think of the ball when working on the overall value changes.
The groups of hair wrap around the form underneath and inherit the same light patterns. In the example below, I made sure to shade the large group of hair to resemble a ball, before I added all the texture on top. The left side of the hair mass is all shadow, while all the highlights are on the right:
If you’re drawing hair other than the hair on someone’s head, like a beard or an animal, consider the volumes underneath. For example with a beard, think of a block with a front plane and two side planes.
Adding Volume to the Hair
Hair strands are grouped together into locks. Very much like ribbons. It’s important to simplify and think about the geometric shape of the locks, before adding the texture. Adding the texture of the strands should not take away from the illusion of volume. We can simplify a lock of hair into its basic form using 3 essential elements: highlight, halftone and shadow.
Here’s an example of a lock of hair simplified to its basic form:
It doesn’t look like hair, but it does look 3-dimensional. To make it look like hair we need to add the 4th element of texture. This includes the separations between the smaller groups of hair, a few lines representing strands, and breaking up the contours. Now that we’ve established the 4 elements necessary to create the illusion of hair, let’s look at each individually:
Whether you are drawing straight hair, curly, wavy, short, spiked, or dread locks, there will be shadows. I like to approach shadows first with flat graphic shapes. It’s important to get an attractive, well balanced separation of light and dark before beginning to render/shade. Try to find ways to connect as many shadow shapes as you can. Even with curly hair, where you have a lot of little shapes, it’s important to connect them. Otherwise you’ll have too many floating shapes which can be distracting. This goes back to good design.
When drawing hair I first think of halftone as a gradient between the shadows and highlights. Later on this is where I’ll add most of the texture to separate smaller groups and strands.
These are the shapes that will be most eye-catching, so good design is most important here. Same principles apply to highlights as shadows. Try to connect them as much as possible only leaving a few lonely highlights. And try not to make each highlight the same. Give them variety in length, thickness, edge, and value.
Some tips when drawing the hair texture:
- Get the illusion of the strands. Don’t try to draw every single strand.
- Have confidence with every stroke. It’s better to draw a quick confident strand slightly out of place, then a wobbly stroke in the right place. Don’t be timid. This happens when drawing strands that drop down the forehead. People don’t want to mess up the face. But, it doesn’t matter if it’s in the perfect spot… Hair moves.
- Start the stroke at the root and let it taper towards the tip.
- Generally, lines should be lighter and thinner at the highlights.
- If working with graphite, use a combination of softer duller pencils and harder sharp pencils. For example a dull 4B for larger soft gradations and a sharp HB for more defined shapes. Watch out – sometimes a pencil that is too soft will cause the texture of the paper to show through. This ruins the illusion of hair texture, since hair texture is made of long flowing lines and paper texture is usually small repetitive dots.
Part 2 and 3 coming soon. Look forward to ‘types of hair’ and a step by step tutorial. | <urn:uuid:2cb58e80-0ac8-4f22-b99b-a85a556f7ef0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stanprokopenko.com/blog/2010/03/draw-hair/comment-page-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930246 | 1,332 | 1.8125 | 2 |
"The Jews are mentioned in the Quran and Traditions under the names of yahûdî, pl. yahûd, and banû isrâ.îl, 'Children of Israel'. No distinction is made between Jews and Isrealites. They are acknowledged to be the people in possession of a divine book, and are called 'ahlu-l kitâb', or 'people of the book'.
Musa (Moses) is their special law-giver, Ibrâhîm (Abraham) (not being a Jew, but a ' hanîf muslim '); they are a people highly favoured of God, but are said to have perverted the meaning of the Scripture, and to have called Ezra 'the Son of God'. They have an intense hatred of all true Muslims; and as a punishment of their sins, some of them in times past had been changed into apes and swine and others will have their hands tied to their necks and be cast into the Fire at the Day of Judgement." Dictionary of Islam
This does not contradict to treat the Jews well, as long as they do not fight against Islam and the Muslims. Nearly all the prophets from the Old Testament (Torah) are mentioned by name in the Quran or are referred to in the Traditions and commentaries. This is so because Islam was not a NEW religion but a confirmation and verification (1*) of the dîn-ul fitra, the eternal message sent down by God to man during the course of time. What is new is its purity, authenticity together with its forms and rites.
Islam incorporates all that Judaism and Christianity and other divinely revealed religions treasure. When Islam was established on the earth the old religions became obsolete.
It has always been the intent of Jews and Christians to deny the Prophet Muhammad (Salla-LLahu 'aleihi wa sallam) and his message of peace and happiness, because of their pride and because it was more convenient to follow their fathers' ways, no matter how deviated their religion had become. (2*)
Concerning the Jews' obstinacy to accept the message of islam, the first couple of verses in Quran-chapter (sura al-baqara 2) deal with this question. For example: (3*)
Concerning the Jews of today in the Palestine / Israel, the land belongs to those who live in peace with their neighbours and do not behave arrogantly. (4*)
(1*:) Quranreferens: sura an-nisâ (4), verse 47: "O you who have been given the Book! believe that which We have revealed, verifying what you have, before We alter faces then turn them on their backs, or curse them as We cursed the violaters of the Sabbath, and the command of Allah shall be executed."
(2*:) Quranreferens: sura al-baqara (2), verse 170: "And when it is said to them, 'Follow that which ALLAH has sent down, they say, 'Nay, we will follow that wherein we found our fathers.'What ! even if their fathers had no sense at all and followed not the right path."
(3*:) Quranreferens: sura al-baqara (2), verse 41: "O Children of Israel ! remember MY favours which I bestowed upon you, and fulfill your covenant with ME, I will fulfill MY covenant with you, and ME alone should you fear."
(4*:) Quranreferens: sura al-'arâf (7), verse 128: Musa said to his people: Ask help from Allah and be patient; surely the land is Allah's; He causes such of His servants to inherit it as He pleases, and the end is for those who guard (against evil). | <urn:uuid:83a1005d-6ca5-4b24-a88d-8801224981bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.livingislam.org/pb_e.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964052 | 799 | 2.625 | 3 |
This article about a cosmetic science program for kids at the Boston Museum of Science reminded me of all the other odd source of raw materials used in cosmetics. So, here are what the Beauty Brains think are some of the strangest ingredients used in cosmetic and personal care products.
Top 10 Strange Cosmetic Ingredients
10. Placenta – The life giving uterus lining expelled after birth has been used in some beauty care products for years. Various manufacturers claim it helps stimulate tissue growth, reduces wrinkles and is good for your hair. Unfortunately, none of those claims have ever been proven.
9. Whale vomit – This material called Ambergris is useful as a fixative in perfumes. It has a sweet, earthy odor and is usually found washed up on a beach in South America or Australia. It has mostly been replaced by synthetic alternatives.
8. Cochineal beetles – When you need a nice red color, you can drown a few of these buggers in some hot water, dry them out and pulverize them. The deep crimson dye is versatile enough to be used in skin creams, lipsticks and almost any other beauty product.
7. Waste cooking oil – Scientists say that a surfactant can be made from spent cooking oil that will help regenerate damaged skin. So the next time you order a burger don’t be surprised if you hear “Do you want a facial with that?”
6. Human breast milk – It could be a gimmick but some people swear by using human breast milk to make soap. Is this something you would try?
5. Bird poop – Ever heard of a Geisha Facial? It features deep cleansing, $180 price tag, and a big scoop of Nightingale bird poop. Supposedly the uric acid is supposed to be great for your face. Perhaps it is but you certainly don’t need to smear bird droppings on yourself to get it.
4. Bull semen - Want shiny hair? Then a few salons in Europe think they have exactly what you need. Protein from bull semen is supposed to give amazing results. I’m skeptical it will give you anything more than a stiff hair cut.
3. Snake venom – One of the most ridiculous new ingredients for keeping wrinkles at bay is snake venom. Cosmetic makers who use this stuff hope that you’ll connect the Botox poison with snake poison and figure both must work wonders on wrinkles. Despite what Jamie Pressly might think, snake venom hasn’t been shown to have any positive improvement in wrinkle creams.
2. Chicken bone marrow – Supposed to be a good source of glucosamine but how that helps your cosmetic remains a mystery. But people still use chicken bone marrow but they rarely advertise it as such.
1. Cow dung – It turns out you can make an incredibly pleasant smelling vanilla fragrance from extracts of cow dung. It’s not just a fertilizer any more.
We hope you enjoyed that stroll through the cosmetic chemist’s raw material wonder land. Have you heard of any other strange ingredients used in cosmetics? Leave a comment below. | <urn:uuid:750bfb7a-d611-45eb-b822-3ab93b05f6ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thebeautybrains.com/2008/07/23/the-10-strangest-ingredients-used-in-cosmetics/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932092 | 644 | 1.960938 | 2 |
When Things Go Wrong #2 – Identifying Triggers
Parenting is often a learn-as-you-go experience (aka trial and error). When things go wrong, it’s easy to feel guilty and continue the cycle of wrong by not learning from our behavior. Thankfully, there are some simple (note I did not say easy) steps one can take to work through the wrong and choose anew. In When Things Go Wrong #1, we discussed how to make amends after yelling at a loved one.
This article explores three straightforward ways to observe, become aware of, and work with personal triggers that lead to things “going wrong” as part of an overall approach to prevent yelling and other reactive behavior before it starts. Allow it to be a simple, curious process, and be gentle with yourself. This will take some practice.
Notice your body. I know, you’re in your body so of course this one will be easy, right? Not necessarily. We can tune out, ignore, repress, or otherwise misunderstand the signals of our bodies due to misinformation, cultural and family influence, and personal habits, among other things.
When you notice yourself slipping into reaction (yelling, shaming, grabbing, spanking, blame thoughts, whatever), notice how your body feels. Notice where you hold tension. Is it your throat, chest, heart, belly? All of them? Tune into the natural rhythm of your breath and notice what’s going on in your body. If you choose, allow your shoulders and body to relax a bit as you notice. Intend to remember this body experience and what brought it about.
Notice what’s going on in your mind. The mind is a tool. Some of us may benefit from assistance or practice in refining how we use our minds.
First step, check your thoughts. Are they blameful, judgmental, angry? Who is at fault? Are you berating yourself or someone else in your head? What are the specific thoughts you are thinking? Notice again what is going on in your body as these thoughts roll around in your mind.
Embrace accountability through transparency. Record what you observe or share it out loud or on paper with someone who can listen non-judgmentally. Why? Get it out of your head and into a space where you can see it for what it is.
Our buttons are less scary when we can see them as triggers that we can change. As we identify them, some that are ridiculous will immediately become apparent and we can choose whether we keep them or not. With others, they may stick longer, but we can learn to transition them to something new through simple inquiry — asking questions to determine if our thoughts are harmful or helpful and if we want to keep them.
Spend a day, week, month, or longer simply noticing triggers and the response they create in the mind and body, and create some sort of accountability with either yourself on paper or a trusted friend. When Things Go Wrong #3 will discuss some ways to disengage and transform triggers.
Photo Credit: Agnieszka Bernacka on Flickr | <urn:uuid:b2d627fe-3ba8-4c4a-a7fe-b8d04b11deaf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://naturalparentsnetwork.com/things-go-wrong-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936939 | 645 | 2.328125 | 2 |
(CNN) -- This time of year, I am disturbed at the number of curveballs we see being thrown during the Little League World Series.
I coached youth baseball for eight years, each spring and fall. Three years ago, I wrote that Little League Baseball should ban the use of the curveball by its young pitchers.
The evidence seemed clear -- and sports injury doctors seemed to all agree -- that pitchers who were 13 and younger were not physically capable of handling the torque and strain on the elbow when throwing a curveball. The ulnar collateral ligaments connecting the lower and upper part of an arm simply couldn't survive the strain, they said.
Now, there is evidence the curveball may not be entirely to blame. But there is still debate over whether it should be allowed at such a young age.
Little League and others did separate studies -- and got somewhat similar results showing that injuries can result not just from throwing curveballs, but from kids throwing too much, with too little rest between pitching appearances.
Little League instituted strict pitch-count and innings-pitched rules five years ago. But those rules don't apply to non-Little League-sanctioned games.
"The difference now is, kids are playing on a number of travel and showcase teams outside Little League, and they have no such rules," says Lance Auken, vice president of communications for Little League Baseball.
"Travel ball has no rules on pitch count or number of innings pitched. So you now have kids throwing 300 to 400 pitches over a four-day period," he says.
Doctor: 'Don't throw curveballs until you can shave'
Little League Baseball commissioned its study with USA Baseball and the University of North Carolina. More than 1,300 pitchers of all ages were examined. For the Little League age group, 409 pitchers were analyzed, looking for which factors influenced injury risk.
"What was causing arm problems was not the curve ball, but the overuse of the arm. It found no evidence to say breaking pitches caused no more injuries than any others," says Auken.
Meanwhile, a group of doctors including Dr. James Andrews, the country's leading doctor in sports arm surgeries, conducted their own study. Andrews specializes in "Tommy John" surgery, which reconstructs the ulnar collateral ligament and is named after a former Major League pitcher.
Andrews and his team at the American Sports Medicine Institute did their study in a laboratory, not on a field. And they found throwing a curveball enacts no more force on the arm than a fastball.
But, they say, throwing curveballs early can lead you down a dangerous path later in a baseball career.
"Dr. Andrews still insists, 'Don't throw curveballs until you can shave," Lanier Johnson, Executive Director of ASMI told CNN.
And, he acknowledges, "That was a controlled lab setting. The field of play during a game isn't like that."
"We've tracked Little League games right through the Little League World Series, and as the competition grows, the kids throw curveballs up to 70% of the time," Glenn Fleisig, ASMI's director of research and co-author of the Andrews study, told ESPN The Magazine.
"It's good that Little Leagues have enacted rules on pitch counts, but for say, a kid in the Dominican (Republic), if you see an unusually developed curveball at an early age, who knows the mileage on that arm?"
Johnson says, "The kid who throws all those curve balls in the Little League World Series is a hero. But does he ever get a change to earn a college scholarship or sign a major league contract? Do you want to take a chance on your son or daughter to get a college scholarship? Do you want to be a hero at 13 or 14 but never much else after that?"
Surgery on the rise for young players?
Even though Little League has instituted new pitch count rules, ASMI says Andrews has performed about seven times the number of arm operations on young pitchers that he did 15 years ago.
So why not err on the side of caution and take Andrews' advice?
"(Andrews) himself will say that is an opinion of his, and is not based on any empirical data," Auken says. "There wasn't any evidence in this study. It's a fine distinction between the two."
"Little League has always been the leader in sports safety. We make changes in our sport based on data, not on feelings. We act out of scientific evidence," he says.
However, Andrews' office does agree that kids who pitched while fatigued are 36 times more likely to have serious arm problems.
Some 2.6 million kids play Little League baseball all over the world. Parents often are sizing up the competition for their 10- to 13-year-olds for future high school teams and college scholarships, and believe their kids should play as much as possible to improve their chances.
Little League officials admit too much baseball is not healthy.
"Kids play year-round now," Auken says. "Kids shouldn't be playing year-round in anything. If a parent is making a 10-year-old do that ... it will make them hate the game by the time they are 16 or 17 years old."
Andrews' group isn't alone on its curveball stance.
Dr. Lyle Micheli, director of the Division of Sports Medicine at Children's Hospital Boston, told the Boston Globe in April that he still believes the curveball is best not thrown until a pitcher is at least 14. He also said kids shouldn't attempt to throw a slider, a pitch that puts even more stress on the elbow, until 16.
Don Friend, an Atlanta-based pitching instructor and former scout for the Atlanta Braves and the Boston Red Sox, gave my son the same guidance in years of lessons. My son went on to pitch for NCAA Division III Piedmont College.
Dr. Timothy Kremchek, an Ohio orthopedic surgeon who is the Cincinnati Reds' physician, told the New York Times this spring he performs 150 elbow ligament reconstructions a year.
"Seventy percent of those surgeries are pitchers who haven't hit college yet," Kremchek said. "I ask each one the same question: When did you start throwing curveballs? And they say: 'I was 10. I was 11.' Sometimes, it's 9."
Five years ago, I attended a coaches' clinic at Georgia Tech that included the coaches and trainers of Georgia Tech and the Atlanta Braves.
At the time, Georgia Tech had a team that counted and documented every pitch of the televised Little League World Series. Team members noted an increase in the use of the curveball every season. Andrews appeared in a video message, and all at the clinic agreed no one under 14 should be throwing the curveball.
If you are watching the Little League World Series as a baseball purist, that sweeping hook of the curve can be a thing of beauty.
But take a good look at the kids throwing them now. Chances are, you may not see them throw it or any other pitches without major surgery needed before they reach high school.
So I will ask Little League again: Why not ban the curveball? | <urn:uuid:aeae0ea3-76fb-45b3-a455-0a029aad4e4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnn.com/2012/08/25/health/little-league-curveballs/index.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+rss%2Fcnn_health+%28RSS%3A+Health%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974447 | 1,503 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Sevengill Shark Research with UC Davis
Supporting our mission of creating experiences that inspire conservation of San Francisco Bay and its watershed, Aquarium of the Bay is pleased to further its field research of Sevengill Sharks, Notorhychus cepedianus, by working with scientists from the Biotelemetry Lab at the University of California, Davis.
“Almost nothing is known about sharks in the Bay. Aquarium of the Bay is one of the first groups to fund a study on cowsharks, so now we’re finally learning about shark movements in the Bay,” said A. Peter Klimley, PhD, Director of the Biotelemetry Laboratory at UC Davis.
Sevengill sharks, live and reproduce in San Francisco Bay, but little is known about their behavior and ecology. Working with UC-Davis’ Biotelemetry Lab, Aquarium of the Bay staff are implanting two different types of transmitters into sevengills to track and detect the movements of sevengills in the bay. Watch "City of the Shark," a short documentary on our efforts, below.
During the 2008 project season, the Aquarium actively tracked four adult sevengills using ultrasonic transmitter tags implanted in the shark’s body. After tagging the shark, it is released back into the bay. Then, the transmitter sends a continuous record of the shark’s swimming direction, depth, and geographic coordinates. On the Aquarium’s research vessel, the Blue Shark, staff follow the tagged shark continuously for one to three days. The data collected will reveal valuable information about sevengill movements and activities in the San Francisco Bay.
In addition to the ultrasonic transmitters, the Aquarium Team implanted coded signature beacons in twenty sevengills. These beacons have a lifespan of five years, and transmit a signal every 45 to 95 seconds. Monitors positioned throughout the bay detect and record these signals, collecting information that will provide a long-term perspective on the sharks’ life patterns and basic ecology.
Researchers are continuing to analyze Sevengill shark movements and other data gained from this research project. | <urn:uuid:f7797132-e43f-470a-bdb2-6fee697b8a22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://aquariumofthebay.org/conservation/conservation-projects/sevengill-shark-research-with-uc-davis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921981 | 444 | 3.171875 | 3 |
Yellowstone Bison Numbers Down Sharply
BILLINGS, Mont. The number of bison in Yellowstone National Park has declined sharply since late last summer, when the population hit a documented high of 4,900. A park spokesman attributed the drop to the hundreds of bison captured and sent to slaughter and to normal winter deaths.
But Al Nash said Friday the new population estimate -- 3,500 -- is in keeping with what park officials anticipated, considering the captures, and that there continues to be a "large, viable wild population of bison in Yellowstone."
In 2003, the late-winter bison estimate was 3,100 animals, he said. By late summer in 2004, the population had grown to more than 4,200, he said.
The new population estimate, released Friday and based on an aerial survey, is still above the target population of 3,000 contained in a state-federal plan for managing bison that leave the park and enter Montana. Josh Osher of the activist group Buffalo Field Campaign, dismisses the target as politically based.
"There's no scientific validity at all in that number," said Osher.
During the first two months of the year, nearly 940 bison were captured near the park's northern boundary and most of those animals were sent to slaughter without first being tested for brucellosis, the disease central to the management plan.
Montana ranchers fear that wandering bison could spread brucellosis to cattle, jeopardizing the state's prized brucellosis-free status. Animal rights advocates counter that while brucellosis is found in the bison herd, the risk to domestic cattle has never been proven.
The late-winter estimate takes into account the bison captured as part of management activities, scientific estimates of winter mortality rates and other factors, park officials said. Nash said officials figure winter mortality typically at about 9 percent of the population.
A loss of about 500 more bison, which would bring the population to an estimated 3,000, would prompt discussions among state and federal officials about how best to deal with any migrating bison to limit the impact on the herd size, Nash said.
Osher said the population estimate doesn't matter as much as how the animals are doing, how they are using their habitat and how management actions might affect their dynamics.
Source: Associated Press | <urn:uuid:e44ac822-b45e-47e7-8bed-9533f99ba2cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.enn.com/top_stories/article/3814 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954069 | 480 | 3.109375 | 3 |
I’m (finally) tidying/unpacking/autmun-cleaning my study (a year after moving in), and of course turn to the Web to find something to listen to while I dust and shelve and shuffle one pile from here to there, and da da, via another link (thanks, Patsy! a great clip from Kurt Vonnegut on how to write a short story), I came across this fabulous and inspirational short film by Lawrence Bridges in which Ray Bradbury, the man who’s perhaps the greatest teacher of all, and almost certainly the loveliest and most enthusiastic, talks about his inspirations: fantasy and dinosaurs and Steinbeck and Dickens, and how libraries fulfil you, and most of all how you must place Love at the centre of your universe:
The things that you do should be things that you love, and things that you love should be things that you do.
Love again as a spur.
PS he was a famous non-driver, too. I collect these: Ray Bradbury, Allen Ginsberg, Ricky Gervais, David Attenborough, Nigel Slater, Albert Einstein. I’m in good company. Oh well, can’t be helped. | <urn:uuid:02159235-e775-405c-84e7-926710967e3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wille.org/blog/tag/ray-bradbury/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931222 | 254 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Click closer to scan this sketch and you just might learn something new. If anything, you’ll get a peek into the value of what a “graphic facilitator” can provide to a discussion. This was part of a twitter stream associated with Dell Innovation in Education Social Think Tank at MIT CSAIL. Great discussion, still available. Exciting to see lots of energy and enthusiasm. Far ranging discussion but underneath it all there are a lot of smart people in the room that care about the issues involved in education today, from platforms to digital books, tablets, iPads, students, teachers and so on. Dedicated to diving deeper into innovative learning models, moderator Michael Horn of Innosight Institute leads a talk that covers everything from Data Driven Innovation and Student Driven Transparency, and The Future of Innovation in a Non-Text Book World, to Closing the Learning Gap. Check it out right here.
Type in a name or topic:
Read these recent posts: | <urn:uuid:3d0512ea-33a0-4ac6-947c-b17752a627e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edtechdigest.wordpress.com/2012/09/13/trends-innovation-in-education/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=7ebcc2514d | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925401 | 200 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Ask a question about 'Antimicrobial peptide resistance and lipid A acylation protein family'
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Antimicrobial peptide resistance and lipid A acylation protein PagP
is a family
A protein family is a group of evolutionarily-related proteins, and is often nearly synonymous with gene family. The term protein family should not be confused with family as it is used in taxonomy....
of several bacterial antimicrobial peptide resistance and lipid A
Lipid A is a lipid component of an endotoxin held responsible for toxicity of Gram-negative bacteria. It is the innermost of the three regions of the lipopolysaccharide molecule, and its hydrophobic nature allows it to anchor the LPS to the outer membrane...
In chemistry, acylation is the process of adding an acyl group to a compound. The compound providing the acyl group is called the acylating agent....
(PagP) proteins. The bacterial outer membrane enzyme PagP transfers a palmitate chain from a phospholipid to lipid A. In a number of pathogenic Gram-negative bacteria, PagP confers resistance to certain cationic antimicrobial peptides produced during the host innate immune response. | <urn:uuid:c2eec521-50cb-4258-add0-f2bc86bba706> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.absoluteastronomy.com/topics/Antimicrobial_peptide_resistance_and_lipid_A_acylation_protein_family | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927966 | 279 | 2.5 | 2 |
By Laura L. Klure
This well-researched book tells about the migration of Black people out of the southern states and into other parts of the U.S. Although many African-American people left the south around the time of the Civil War, most of the migration happened later, in the 20th Century, 1915-1970. Writer Isabel Wilkerson states, “Over the course of six decades, some six million black southerners left the land of their forefathers and fanned out across the country for an uncertain existence in nearly every other corner of America. The Great Migration would become a turning point in history.” A Pulitzer Prize winner, Isabel Wilkerson was a bureau chief for the New York Times. She has won a Guggenheim Fellowship and other awards, and has taught at various universities. She is currently Professor of Journalism at Boston University. She shares some bits of her own family’s history in this book.
“The Warmth of Other Suns” chronicles the national saga of the Black migration, but it also focuses on the true individual tales of three real people. George Swanson Starling moved from the orange groves of Florida to work as a “coach attendant” on trains traveling out of New York. Ida Mae Brandon Gladney left Mississippi to find a new life and various jobs in Chicago. Originally from Louisiana, Dr. Robert Joseph Pershing Foster was educated in the south, but he chose to practice medicine in Los Angeles. By following the stories of these three Black Americans, Wilkerson illustrates how difficult the migration was, even though they gained some greater freedoms in their new homes. In some respects, the relocation of these American citizens was more challenging than the migration to the U.S. of people from various European countries.
The terrible treatment of Blacks in the south definitely did not end with the Civil War, as was told in a recent PBS program, “Slavery by Another Name,” based on the book with that title by Douglas Blackmon. As share-croppers, laborers, and servants, southern Blacks were still underpaid and gravely mistreated, well into the 1900s. But if they expected to be completely treated as equals in other parts of the U.S., they quickly learned that was not the case. Wilkerson documents the many barriers and prejudices that impacted the migrants in the northern and western states. Blacks who left the south might earn enough money to buy a house, but then they would discover that only certain neighborhoods were open to them. Blacks were not even considered for various jobs, and in some instances they earned less than whites working beside them. Wilkerson describes hostile, racist actions occurring in many situations outside the south. These ranged from unspoken shunning, to a bartender breaking the glass used by a Black man, and to extremes such as a Black boy in Chicago drowning after being pelted by rocks thrown by white boys.
“The Warmth of Other Suns” is not an easy book to read for several reasons, including the fact that it tells about numerous true, but horrific incidents, such as lynchings. It is also long, because it’s about a big saga. The main text is 538 pages, and then Wilkerson admirably details her methods and sources, and provides an index, adding over 80 more pages. Wilkerson interviewed more than 1,200 people for this project, and the three special stories were based on numerous interviews. If someone becomes particularly interested in the story of one of the three central migrants, following just that tale would require skipping through the sections of the book. Wilkerson stayed in touch with all three until they died, and their stories are told eloquently. The book does talk briefly about Martin Luther King, Jr., and the Civil Rights Movement, but that is not its central focus.
Most reviews of the book have been very positive, but some readers have considered it too long. A critic might not understand the significance of chronicling ordinary lives in such detail. For people who know just the barest outlines of their own family’s migrations, this book may provide some pertinent details and insights. It can help young-adult readers come to a better understanding of what their grandparents and earlier generations went through. White readers or those unfamiliar with the south are almost guaranteed to learn many things. For example, even though I had traveled through parts of the south in the 1950s and 1960s, this writer had very limited experiences from a Caucasian perspective, and I also did not know anything about how bad conditions were for Blacks in Florida.
“The Warmth of Other Suns” came out in hard-back in 2010, but paperback and Kindle versions are now available. The book is listed for sale and is reviewed on various websites, such as Amazon (also see online listings for Blackmon’s book).
|< Prev||Next >| | <urn:uuid:44700eb5-bfda-4500-ad73-26e4e85fb112> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blackvoicenews.com/commentary/more-commentary/47559.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975969 | 1,017 | 3.765625 | 4 |
At Summer Wind Stables, our trainers are knowledgeable, kind and experienced horse handlers. They will work with you and your horse to insure that you see the results you expect. We train students for Hunter-Jumper, Dressage, Eventing, Fox Hunting, and Western. We believe it is important to offer a variety of activities for riders to give them a well rounded experience. Both rider and horse stay excited about their experiences because of the variety. We can take a young horse, or a horse with training issues, work with it and have the horse trained properly for the owner, as well as work with the owner to make sure horse and rider are able to work together successfully.
Showing at Local Barns
We have taken Summer Wind students to shows for years! It is a great way to instill goal setting. It is also a way to see progress the students make from show to show. The students who show learn so much from the experience. It is not about the blue ribbon. It is about the students ability to continue on if stressed to perform, to continue on if the horse is not perfect that day, and to work with other students and cheer each other on. Showing with Summer Wind teaches teamwork, responsibility, and fortitude. | <urn:uuid:f7935e51-fb6f-4f43-9a89-13aeb4494371> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.summerwindstables.com/Training.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975707 | 255 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Adriano and Juma live alone quietly on the outskirts of the village of Mlevelwa. We aren’t quite sure of their history but they have been surviving day to day without anything or anyone for at least 14 years. In addition, their diminutive size has kept them from participating in the rigors of village life. It is a wonder that they are still living.
Our students got involved in December to rebuild their home. The mud, stick and thatch house which their parents had left them was caving in leaving them exposed to the elements. What started as a “semi-community project” ended up being our students’ big pet project as different people contributed in many ways to make this house even better than originally planned! Our students went from thinking that we were going to build another stick and mud house for them, to the final project of a burnt brick and thatched home. And it is lovely. Adriano and Juma moved in last night!
What is delightful is not just our student’s satisfaction at working together with Juma and Adriano to do such a good job, but the true joy all of our students had over the last two months helping Juma and Adriano. Our students by World Bank standards are the poorest of the poor in the income brackets of the world, but what the statistics can’t describe is the amazing ability packed into these young people. They are poor – no question of it – but they are generous and they are hard working. Our kids, who have been helped by so many so that they can get the chance to study, have now been able, through this project, to be of great help to two people, even more needy than they are. And they loved it! As I drove the last team of boys home this afternoon, they wanted to know who we were going to help next!
Although I have never seen it, I have heard about a TV show called “Extreme Makeover.” So I would like to share with you some pictures of what our very own Extreme Makeover was like here. There is great joy in working with our students. I'm glad I get to be with them both in and outside the classroom. They are the future of this great country.
Adriano and Juma’s original dwelling from the outside.
Their old house from the inside.
The kids measuring for the new foundation.
Cosmas and Timotheo finish attaching the thatch.
The last team of students standing with Adriano (red cap) and Juma (standing in front with his arms crossed.) | <urn:uuid:6bbc0265-b287-4676-9424-a8822afff340> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.villageschools.org/blogs/susan/2011/january/27/extreme-makeover | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987718 | 537 | 1.78125 | 2 |
What’s Different about the Catholic Religion?
I’ve argued repeatedly that the key to Catholicism, in comparison with every other religion on earth, is its authority principle. That is, only the Catholic Church claims that it is an infallible custodian of Divine Revelation, such that in every age it can preach Jesus Christ “the same yesterday, today and forever” (Heb 13:8). Thanks (once again) to Fr. Saward’s anthology of The Spiritual Tradition of Catholic England, we find that the great G. K. Chesterton expressed the same thing in his wonderfully inimitable fashion, with particular reference to Protestantism:
At the moment when Religion lost touch with Rome, it changed instantly and internally, from top to bottom, in its very substance and the stuff of which it was made. It changed in substance; it did not necessarily change in form or features or externals. It might do the same things; but it could not be the same thing. It might go on saying the same things; but it was not the same thing that was saying them. At the very beginning, indeed, the situation was almost exactly like that. Henry VIII was a Catholic in everything except that he was not a Catholic. He observed everything down to the last bead and candle; he accepted everything down to the last deduction from a definition; he accepted everything except Rome. And in that instant of refusal, his religion became a different religion; a different sort of religion; a different sort of thing. In that instant it began to change; and it has not stopped changing yet.
[This is taken from The Well and the Shallows, one of Chesterton’s last books, regarded by many as his best collection of essays.]
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Posted by: Justin8110 -
Oct. 12, 2012 6:03 PM ET USA
And it is on the point of authority that also make the self professed "Orthodox" just as wrong as Protestants. They have true sacraments and a true priesthood and a beautiful liturgy but no real authority. Their ecclesiology of autocephalous "jurisdictions" and nationalism is a joke and in many ways more tragic than Protestantism. The Orthodox actually sometimes look like the true Church but when you look closer there is nothing there but factionalism and chaos with no authority.
Posted by: AgnesDay -
Oct. 11, 2012 2:14 PM ET USA
Mr. Chesterton,as always, is correct. How many of my friends have informed themselves about the Church, but freeze at the thought of crossing the Tiber. It is authority, not the Eucharist, not our Blessed Mother, that is the stopping point. When you think of it, it's the very same conflict as the Tree of Knowledge. | <urn:uuid:9107e9fd-1a5e-466b-bf5b-26abaf5c1690> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/the-city-gates.cfm?id=421 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961087 | 702 | 2.40625 | 2 |
Winton Malcolm "Red" Blount Jr. (1921-2002), a Montgomery business executive, was one of the most renowned philanthropists in the history of Alabama, funding the highly acclaimed Alabama Shakespeare Festival and many educational programs as well as donating large sums to the National Postal Museum in Washington, D.C. Blount was known as "the father of postal reform" for leading a major reorganization of the U.S. Postal Service while serving as Postmaster General of the United States from 1969 to 1971. In addition, he was active in the state Republican Party for 50 years and ran unsuccessfully for the U.S. Senate in 1972.
Blount (pronounced "blunt") was born in Union Springs, Bullock County, and was the oldest of three children of Winton M. "Beau" Blount Sr. and Clara Belle Chalker Blount. (Blount's first name was spelled with a "y" on his birth certificate, but he used Winton as an adult in his business dealings to avoid having to explain the unusual spelling.) The senior Blount owned a sand-and-gravel plant and a short-line railroad that ran 50 miles from Union Springs to Tallassee. Winton Blount attended Union Springs High School, and after graduating in 1938, he attended Staunton Military Academy in Virginia for one year and then enrolled at the University of Alabama. He left the university after three semesters, preferring work to academics. He spent a year in his father's business before enlisting in the Army Air Corps when the United States entered World War II in December 1941. He became a flight instructor during the war and attained the rank of first lieutenant. He was about to transfer overseas for combat duty as a bomber pilot when the war ended in 1945. In 1942, while in the military, he married his high-school sweetheart, Mary Katherine Archibald, with whom he had five children. The couple would divorce in 1981.
Blount and his younger brother, Houston, capitalized on the post-war construction boom by borrowing $28,000 to start Blount Brothers Construction Company in 1946. Houston left the company in 1948 to work at Vulcan Materials Company, eventually becoming its president. Blount Brothers (which later changed its name to Blount Inc. and then to Blount International Inc.) grew rapidly under Winton's leadership. It began by building commercial fish ponds in Alabama, then moved to roads and bridges, and eventually to large structures such as the Superdome in New Orleans, a launch complex at Cape Canaveral in Florida, and the campus of King Saud University in Saudi Arabia. By 1979, its revenues exceeded $500 million a year.
As the company grew, Blount became active in community organizations, including the United Appeal and the YMCA, seeking to share his good fortune. He also developed a passion for politics. Originally a Democrat, Blount switched to the Republican Party in 1952 because he admired Dwight Eisenhower, the Republican candidate for president. A self-described conservative, he continued to support Republican candidates and raise money for their campaigns for the rest of his life, helping to transform the Alabama Republican Party from a small group to the influential organization it is today.
During the civil rights era, Blount was a voice for tolerance and calm when protests swept across the South. He did not favor the passage of federal civil rights legislation—believing that the South could resolve its racial issues on its own—but he urged Alabamians to obey federal civil rights laws after they were enacted. In 1963, when Gov. George Wallace threatened to defy a federal court order and prevent two black students from enrolling at the University of Alabama, Blount—who was by then a member of the university's board of trustees—intervened by contacting U.S. Attorney General Robert F. Kennedy and working out a compromise. Wallace was permitted to stand in the doorway of the registrar's office and make a statement but then stepped aside and allowed the students to enroll, averting a confrontation with federal troops, who were on campus to enforce the court order.
In 1969, Blount took a leave of absence from his company to join President Richard Nixon's cabinet as Postmaster General of the United States. For decades, local postmasters and rural letter carriers had been appointed by politicians. Blount helped create today's independent U.S. Postal Service, in which jobs and promotions are based on merit. He resigned as Postmaster General at the end of 1971 to run for the U.S. Senate but lost badly to incumbent John Sparkman during the Republican primary and did not run again for elective office.
Blount returned to his company in 1973 and eventually refocused it, selling the construction business and expanding into industrial manufacturing. By the 1970s, the business had made Blount wealthy, and he began to give away much of that wealth. Gaining an interest in the arts, he became a leading advocate for government funding of museums, theater groups, and other arts organizations. His company assembled a major collection of American paintings, including works by Edward Hopper, Stuart Davis, and John Singer Sargent, and in 1988 donated 42 of them, valued at $15 million, to the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts.
In the early 1980s, Blount became involved with the Alabama Shakespeare Festival (ASF) at the urging of his second wife, Carolyn Varner Blount, whom he married in 1981. ASF began as a summer theater group in Anniston and had achieved renown, but rapid success had left the organization deeply in debt. Blount paid its debts and spent $22 million to build a theater for it in Montgomery—at the time the largest donation ever made to an American theater company. ASF is today the sixth biggest Shakespeare festival in the world, attracting more than 300,000 visitors annually. He donated another $20 million to create the 300-acre Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park, which contains ASF, the Montgomery Museum of Fine Arts, and other cultural attractions. (Blount used the original spelling of his name in his philanthropic work.)
Blount believed deeply in the value of education, even though he himself never graduated from college. He was a trustee of the University of Alabama from 1959 to 1991 and donated millions of dollars not only to that university but also to Huntingdon College in Montgomery and Rhodes College in Memphis, Tennessee. In 1992, he was a founder of Montgomery Success by Six, which supports preschool education.
In 1999, Blount sold his company to Lehman Brothers and retired from business, but he remained active in cultural and educational organizations such as ASF and Rhodes College.
He died in 2002 at his summer home in Highlands, North Carolina. His wife, Carolyn, died three years later. They are buried
in a private chapel near the ASF theater. Two research chairs at the National Postal Museum and the Winton M. Blount Chair
in Social Sciences at Rhodes University were endowed by his estate. In 2008, Blount's children donated his 19-room home in
Montgomery and 103 acres of land around it to the state of Alabama, which is using it initially to entertain dignitaries and
may one day use it as a governor's mansion. The land is adjacent to the Wynton M. Blount Cultural Park. Blount's oldest son, Winton M. Blount III, is active
in the Alabama Republican Party and ran for governor in 1994 and 1998.
Blount, Winton M. with Richard Blodgett. Doing It My Way. Lyme, Conn.: Greenwich Publishing Group, 1996.
New York City
Published August 12, 2008
Last updated September 6, 2012 | <urn:uuid:6faa6ebd-d317-402a-ad08-818897026a08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.encyclopediaofalabama.org/face/Article.jsp?id=h-1637 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975252 | 1,579 | 2.171875 | 2 |
NYC Medics is an international disaster-relief organization formed in 2005 following the response of a group of 13 paramedics and physicians to the South Asian earthquake. This earthquake killed more than 80,000 people and left four million homeless throughout northern Pakistan and Kashmir. Realizing there was a need after large disasters for small, mobile medical teams to reach areas larger relief organizations couldn't, we formed NYC Medics. When the Haiti earthquake struck, we were ready.
Each of our teams consists of physicians, physician assistants, paramedics, nurses and a public health specialist. These teams are prepared to be fully self-sufficient, carrying their own food, water and shelter, as well as all the medical and surgical equipment required to provide outpatient emergency medical care for up to 500 people a day for 10 days. They travel directly to areas that have not seen any care or relief, and get there by any means necessary: airplanes, helicopters, vehicles, foot or even mules.
Upon their arrival in Haiti, within five days of the earthquake, NYC Medics' first teams bypassed the places where large-scale aid was already gathering and headed to the places where aid might take longest to arrive. Our advanced assessment team assembled within hours to determine how NYC Medics could be of most assistance. A team of trauma surgeons and anesthesiologists deployed to a hospital north of Port-au-Prince that was still standing, but had received little support. The hospital had been flooded with patients who had managed to escape the capital. They operated every day for 16 to 20 hours straight.
A second team established a mobile medical clinic in Cite Soleil, the poorest slum in Port-au-Prince and one of the largest in the Western Hemisphere, where they continue to see 400 to 600 patients daily. Working in coordination with the United Nations' cluster system (a system for grouping U.N. agencies, nongovernmental organizations and other international organizations around a sector or service provided during a humanitarian crisis), NYC Medics is implementing mass vaccination campaigns in Cite Soleil.
Additional teams have been deployed to Jimani, on the Haiti-Dominican Republic border, where a refugee camp has developed.
Thousands of donors and supporters have allowed NYC Medics to deliver care on the ground in Haiti directly to those who need it. We are continuing to rotate teams through Port-au-Prince and the surrounding areas and need your help to continue our work. Please visit our website, www.nycmedics.org, for updates and information on how to volunteer or donate.
Sean Kivlehan is a member of NYC Medics and has deployed on missions to Haiti and Pakistan. Sean M. Kivlehan, MD, MPH, NREMT-P, is an emergency medicine resident at the University of California San Francisco and a former New York City paramedic for 10 years. Contact him at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:eb2297cf-0b87-4117-9d19-d362140c3196> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emsworld.com/article/10319838/helping-haiti | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964476 | 599 | 1.835938 | 2 |
I've been attending on our hospital's palliative care service. Several things have been on my mind, and although I don't have time to flesh them out in a full post, I would appreciate the thoughts of the GeriPal community on these issues.
- An elderly man with mild cognitive impairment made several racist remarks in an initial meeting last week. How should I have responded? Confronting him about the inappropriate and offensive nature of these statements may have jeopardized our new relationship, compromising my ability to help him in the long term. Not saying anything may have tacitly transmitted the message that racist statements are OK. These issues were compounded by: 1) the patient's advanced age and likelihood that these were long held attitudes; 2) mild cognitive impairment; and 3) the patient's short life expectancy and the need to work on other pressing issues.
- In discussing "code status" with patients I advised the fellow and intern I was working with last week not to use the phrase "if you are dead." In my experience patients who we may code are rarely dead, more likely they would die if we did not otherwise intervene. Later in the week, however, I found myself uttering these same words in a family meeting. What do you think about the use of this term...is the distinction between "dying" and "dead" important to these discussions? Is it just important to clinicians, or to patients and family members? (see similar controversy over the term "allow natural death" in the comments to this post).
- Palliative - from the latin palliare "to cloak." Is that what we're doing, cloaking? Covering...what? Symptoms maybe. But as Patrice Villars said yesterday, "I think we're trying to look under the cloak."
- A patient fired me again last week. I've written about being fired previously. No one has ever empirically studied being fired in the practice of geriatrics or palliative care. This leaves those of us who have been fired to wonder...are we alone??? There is an uncomfortable silence around this issue. | <urn:uuid:779b7e31-b333-424d-b2b9-a79199507cca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geripal.org/2009/11/potpourri-from-clinical-work.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976534 | 432 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Art, the Book, and the World
September 18, 2004
This colloquium, convened by Bob Volz, was presented in collaboration with Williams College and the Chapin Library on the occasion of the exhibition The Book as a Work of Art: The Cranach Press of Count Harry Kessler, on view at Chapin Library and the Williams College Museum of Art from July to September 2004. It brought together curators, art historians, historians, and creators of artist books to discuss the life, work, and legacy of Count Harry Kessler, whose extraordinary reach into early-twentieth-century German culture is witnessed not only in his creation of the Cranach Press but his many links with the literary, artistic, and political cultures of his times.
Participants included: John Dieter Brinks (independent scholar and Kessler/Cranach Press Collector, Laubach, Germany), Laird Easton (California State University, Chico), Thomas Föhl (Kunstsammlungen zu Weimar, Weimar, Germany), Alexandra Garbarini (Williams College), Charles W. Haxthausen (director, Williams College Graduate Program in Art History), Reinhold Heller (University of Chicago), Gunnar A. Kaldewey (Proprietor, Kaldewey Press, Poestenkill, NY), Françoise Forster-Hahn (University of California, Riverside), Stefanie Spray Jandl (Williams College Museum of Art), John R. Stomberg (associate director, Williams College Museum of Art), and Robert L. Volz (custodian of the Chapin Library, Williams College). | <urn:uuid:18402ce8-6b9f-4bf4-b423-c573ddb9845c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clarkart.edu/research/content.cfm?ID=356&email=1&email=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901112 | 339 | 1.867188 | 2 |
By Monica Alonzo
By Ray Stern
By New Times Staff
By Stephen Lemons
By Chris Parker
By Monica Alonzo
By Stephen Lemons
By Robrt L. Pela
Pay raises are rare occurrences for most Arizona state employees, who rank last in the nation in average salary.
So it is understandable that many of the state government's 40,000 workers have been closely watching $3 million in salary increases tossed their way last year by the Legislature. That appropriation was meant to improve pay in those state jobs with salaries significantly below the rate paid in the private sector.
But that legislative decision does not mean that equal work gets equal pay in Arizona. Instead, pay raises seem to depend on where that work is done.
During a legislative committee meeting last month, Republican state Representative Laura Knaperek grilled bureaucrats from the Department of Administration about the distribution of $1.8 million in salary increases for state employees whose base pay was deemed to be at least 25 percent below market rates.
What rankled Knaperek was a complaint from a state worker who discovered that DOA used $286,700 of the appropriation to funnel hefty pay raises to accountants working at DOA--while giving no raises to workers in identical jobs in other state agencies.
"It became quite apparent that DOA had decided to use the ... money for their own employees and didn't spread it among the other agencies, which I believe was legislative intent," says Knaperek.
One of the classifications DOA identified for a salary increase was "fiscal service specialists"--that is, in English, accountants. Fifty-two accountants with college degrees working in DOA's General Accounting Office received an average $5,500 annual salary increase on January 1. Similarly credentialed accountants in other state agencies received--nothing.
DOA spokesman Spencer Kamps says the General Accounting Office accountants were 25 percent underpaid compared to accountants in other state agencies. As a result, he says, the accounting office was experiencing high turnover.
Furthermore, Kamps says, the General Accounting Office accountants do work that has "statewide responsibility," and therefore work under a burden other state accountants don't carry.
"These fiscal specialists are completely different in terms of statewide responsibility and are different than fiscal specialists in any other agency," Kamps says.
Needless to say, other fiscal service specialists, who toil away at demanding jobs and bring home less than $30,000 a year, have trouble seeing the distinction.
"As a fiscal service specialist with over four years of state service, undergraduate and graduate degrees in business, and certification as a management accountant, I have no doubt that my qualifications, abilities and professionalism meet, and likely exceed, those possessed by the majority of DOA employees benefiting from this action," says one state worker who does not work in the Department of Administration.
The employee, who asked not to be identified for fear of retaliation, says all state accountants should have shared in the raise, not just those working at DOA.
Analysts for the Joint Legislative Budget Committee, which monitors salary appropriations, agree.
"This allocation (to General Accounting Office accountants) conflicts with our general belief that (salary) adjustments are provided only when sufficient funding is available to address all positions in a job classification, across the entire personnel system," budget analyst Lynne Smith wrote in a November 21 memo to Knaperek.
Smith's memo also raises questions about whether DOA misled the Legislature when the agency released its salary distribution plan to the budget committee in August.
The DOA plan does not state that General Accounting Office accountants would receive pay raises while identical positions in other agencies would not, Smith's memo says.
Knaperek says DOA appears to have misled the committee by not explicitly stating that only DOA accountants would get raises.
"You give them legislative intent and you trust that is what they are going to carry out, and they don't," she says. "It's very frustrating."
Nonsense, says DOA spokesman Kamps.
"We made it clear from day one we were going to give these individuals raises," he says.
Knaperek says state employees excluded from the pay raise already are demanding the Legislature provide additional funding to equalize the salaries.
"This puts the Legislature in a very precarious situation," she says. "We gave money for equity raises, and they only gave one agency raises. So the employees in the other agencies will want raises, too."
DOA reviewed pay scales for all state agencies except the judiciary, the Department of Public Safety and the state universities, which received separate appropriations to upgrade base salaries.
In total, nearly $2.9 million was distributed to different job categories throughout the state. Half of the money was spread across 1,672 employees, who received an average pay hike of $900.
The average increase for DOA accountants--$5,500--was the largest pay boost. Capitol police received the next highest average increase: 25 officers divided $98,800 in additional pay, for an average hike of nearly $4,000.
Other large distributions include: $140,900 to 41 economists, for an average annual salary increase of $3,437; $408,500 to 124 buyer/purchasers, reflecting an average salary increase of $3,294; $351,700 for 168 revenue auditors, which provided an average pay hike of $2,093; and $173,500 to 86 librarians, who will receive an average increase of $2,017.
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Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city | <urn:uuid:bca1c04d-8872-457d-82aa-f562d01dd5f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phoenixnewtimes.com/1996-01-04/news/one-for-me-none-for-you/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962828 | 1,202 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Summer may be winding down but that isn't stopping solar from heating up in New York
While most of us are off doing some form of R&R in the waning days of summer, New York Governor Cuomo is hard at work putting the sun's energy to greater use for the benefit of all New Yorkers. Today he officially made law, three solar energy tax exemption bills with the backing of bi-partisan support in the New York state legislature. These three bills (details below) will help New York continue to grow its clean economy and meet the goal of his NY-Sun initiative “to quadruple* the amount of solar in New York State by 2013.”
We commend Governor Cuomo’s leadership in taking this important next step to respond to the call from New Yorkers for more solar energy. We are confident that the Governor and legislature will build off this positive momentum and early success of the NY-Sun Initiative to hammer out a long-term program when they return after the election. Such a commitment would cement New York’s position as a national leader on solar by providing the necessary clarity, longevity and scale to develop this homegrown, job-creating industry.
New York is second in the nation (behind California) in terms of number of solar companies owned and operated in its own borders. (Image is a screenshot from the Solar Energy Industries Association, “State Solar Policy: New York” New York Solar Business Map.)
Here are more details on the solar tax exemptions signed into law by Governor Cuomo today:
- A.34b/S.149b expands the 25% tax credit on eligible residential systems to include leased systems.
- A.5522b/S.3203b exempts the sale and installation of commercial solar energy systems equipment from sales and compensating use taxes; grants municipalities the option to grant such exemption from local sales and use taxes.
- A.10620/S.7711 Extends NYC property tax credit (set to expire in 2013) and extends it to 2015.
In addition to these new laws, the state has several other policies in place to promote solar investment, including a feed-in tariff through Long Island Power Authority (LIPA), a New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) customer-sited tiered program, and net metering rules via investor-owned utilities that credit customers for excess power generated on-site.
*According to the NY-Sun Initiative FAQ page, "quadrupling" will result in approximately 120 megawatts (MW) of new solar installations (240 MW total) in New York by the end of 2013. | <urn:uuid:2d2dabb0-7a9e-41e6-b0f4-6d4eb325cf55> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/pbull/summer_may_be_winding_down_but.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+switchboard_all+%28Switchboard%3A+Blogs+from+NRDC%27s+Environmental+Experts%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926987 | 540 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Now I know what you're thinking, and no, this isn't a scene from Hoarders. It's the world's most complicated Rube Goldberg machine built by Purdue University, who just beat their own record for the Rube Goldeberg machine with the most steps. The last one had 232. This one? 300. "Like the Spartans!" Exactly like the Spartans. Don't get me wrong, 300 steps is impressive and all, but my apartment building has like 400 and a vagrant that sleeps at the bottom of one of the stairwells. Unfortunately it's the one that's closest to the parking garage so I have to take the long way.
Hit the jump for the most complicated way to blow up and pop a balloon. Also, if I were Purdue I would have waited for somebody else to beat my record before doing it myself because when you one-up yourself like that it just makes it look like you're the only one who cares about something.
Thanks to Nicholas and buzz, who can blow up and pop a balloon in two steps. SAME. Makes me wonder about the quality of education at Purdue. | <urn:uuid:1081cd8a-3d1c-4e53-bbd7-9126f8a604c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geekologie.com/2012/04/worlds-most-complicated-rube-goldberg-ma.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974653 | 231 | 1.507813 | 2 |
A digest of important news from sources selected by our local editors. Delivered weekday mornings.
Patricia Middleton considers flowers a luxury item that many people cut back on when the economy turns sour.
And that’s a challenge for Middleton, the sole owner of Volcano Orchids, a wholesale business in Mapunapuna, who has been growing and selling flowers for more than three decades.
Volcano Orchids is primarily a flower wholesaler, bringing in approximately 30 tons of flowers, reeds and leaves a year from parts of Oahu, the Big Island, Maui, Washington State and South America to sell to other flower shops and businesses. The 2,000-square-foot space in the Mapunapuna industrial area houses a small warehouse, office and two commercial refrigerators.
Middleton’s stock includes roses, carnations, ginger, anthuriums and orchids. She also stocks maple leaves, branches and eucalyptus leaves to supplement arrangements.
Middleton began her career in the flower business in 1978 when she started a Big Island orchid farm. She moved to Oahu a decade later and expanded as a flower wholesaler, teaching herself the art of flower arranging. In 2003, she diversified her business by adding the Funeral Wreath Shop. She also provides floral arrangements for stores, weddings and businesses.
Her clients include American Savings Bank, Hawaiian Airlines, Oahu Country Club and First Hawaiian Bank. She also assembles some of the floral arrangements for Longs Drugs/CVS stores, local Safeway stores and Foodland. Sales to the three retailers totaled approximately $350,000 last year, representing about 70 percent of her annual sales of $500,000.
Middleton said her profit margin has shrunk in recent years as materials, shipping and fuel costs have risen.
Lynn Nakagawa covers labor and workplace issues, banking and finance, higher education and technology for Pacific Business News. | <urn:uuid:e713831a-dc30-45c1-9677-d9872cbb81d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bizjournals.com/pacific/print-edition/2011/10/21/flower-business-takes-root-in-mapunapuna.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945241 | 404 | 1.578125 | 2 |
One of my current clients is in the broadcast space. As a result, i've been paying a lot of attention to the technology shifts in this space. The two hottest technology topics being discussed online, and just about anyplace else, will impact this industry dramatically. These topics are: Tablets and Cloud.
You're not surprised, right? Apple's iPad has changed the way we consume content until the next great innovation comes along. We watch TV with our iPads in hand, reviewing news, checking our Facebook accounts, sending email or watching complementary content to that which is on our TV screens. Just about every broadcast network has an iPad app (or, at least has one in development). Getting content to the iPad requires some effort behind the scenes It is expected that the content will be a combination of video and text; that it will enable some level of interactive; and that its design will be extremely user friendly and enticing. However, the broadcaster must now produce content in formats useable on the iPad. This requires editing transcoding, distributing and delivering the content itself. These are familiar tasks for any broadcaster, but it adds to the already heavy workloads of the personnel responsible for preparing and managing that content.
At the recent NAB conference, multi-channel content delivery was front and center for many vendors. This is a primary investment area for all broadcasters. The challenge is how will they integrate tablet content preparation into their existing workflows. Will they create separate a "tablet" team to edit and adapt content for the end device? Or will they partner with other vendors who will manage this challenge for them. This introduces the other hot topic - cloud.
To a certain extent, content delivery has been in the cloud for ages. The original content delivery networks provided the infrastructure and network resources to internet companies to enable the efficient delivery of their content to consumers. They invested in the technology (e.g., algorithms, edge cache servers, bandwidth, etc.) and created service level agreements with customers, who paid a fee based on the amount of content served or the bandwidth consumed.
Today, additional tasks along the broadcast workflow can be performed in the cloud. CPU-intensive functions such as rendering and transcoding or content management challenges such as storage or metadata management are the already happening in the cloud. Across the board, every storage vendor at NAB was promoting its cloud capabilities. Companies that could be considered pure product companies were introducing and showcasing their cloud storage capabilities. Why is this of interest to broadcasters? It converts capital expense to operating expense. It provides centralized access to users, regardless of their location. While the largest broadcasters may elect to build their own centralized archives, they may still choose to use cloud storage for disaster recovery.
Cloud computing provides broadcasters with investment alternatives. The challenge will be defining which functions can exist in the cloud, developing the relevant interfaces to access the functionality and integrating cloud services with in-house functions for a seamless workflow. NAB even had a Cloud Pavilion this year with companies offering video production in the cloud. Broadcasters, across the board, must find cost-effective, agile solutions to address internal and external pressures to produce meaningful content and deliver it to the consumer device of choice. Perhaps a cloudy day is just what they need.
What's your perspective? | <urn:uuid:98e0d37d-4863-4cc5-8ff5-a067df7ba8c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.madperspectives.com/_blog/MAD_Perspectives_Blog/tag/content_delivery/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945337 | 662 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Over time, MoMA 's senior curators of photography have helped to define our understanding of the artistic merits of the medium of photography. One such curator, John Szarkowski was Director of Photography from 1962-1991. He wrote many wonderful books about the Art of Photography. A "must read" for all photographers is entitled "The Photographer's Eye." It's not easy writing about photography's anatomy and uniqueness as a visual art. Szarkowski was one of the best.
The exhibition "Family of Man" was first displayed at MoMA in 1955 and curated by Edward Steichen himself. This singular exhibit traveled throughout the world and made a huge impression on how the medium of photography can speak to and confront the human experience. At MoMA's dedicated space specifically designed for photographic exhibitions there is always a provocative exhibit on display for viewing.
Next to MoMA, another towering museum is the Metropolitan Museum. Establishing an independent curatorial department in 1992, the Metropolitan's Department of Photographs houses a collection of more than 25,000 works as well. The collection spans the history of photography from its invention in the 1830's to the present. Among the many historical jewels in the collection are a rare album of photographs by William Henry Fox Talbot made just months after he presented his invention to the public; a large collection of portrait daguerreotypes by the Boston firm of Southworth and Hawes; magnificent landscape photographs of the American West by Timothy O'Sullivan and Carleton Watkins; and fine examples of French photography of the 1850's by Charles Negre, Gustave le Gray, Nadar and others.
It is interesting to note that the Metropolitan began collecting photographs in 1928, when Alfred Stieglitz (whom I wrote about earlier, regarding his passion to have photography become recognized as fine art) made the first of several important gifts to the museum from his own private collection, which was substantial.
For ways photography explores human rights issues and beyond, the International Center for Photography is an incredible institution. Located in the heart of Manhattan with some splendid galleries, it also functions as a school and research center. The brother of one of the world's greatest war photographers, Robert Capa, founded the Center in 1974. Cornell Capa started it with the help of photographer Micha bar-Am with the intention being to keep the legacy of "Concerned Photography" alive; a tradition of documenting serious issues in the world that affect all of our lives, both positive and negative. The photographer Sebastian Salgado is a great example of such a brilliant social photographer.
The Solomon R. Guggenheim Museum ("The Guggenheim") is a prestigious museum located on the upper east side of the city. Revered by architects worldwide, it was designed "as a temple of the spirit" by Frank Lloyd Wright and is considered one of the 20th Century's most important architectural landmarks. The cylindrical museum building is wider at the top than at the bottom. This magnificent structure was opened to the public in 1959. It is the permanent home of a continuously expanding collection of contemporary art, including photography. Its unique ramp gallery extends in a long continuous spiral from the extraordinary skylight, a walkway from the top to the bottom with adjoining side galleries. It flows from one work of art into another. Recent exhibits include photographers such as Rineke Dijkstra (from Holland). The museum has installed a compelling and in-depth retrospective of her work.
Along with the outstanding museums in New York City, there are also some of the finest private galleries that both sell and display photography. Located throughout Manhattan, there are a number of such venues. The Howard Greenberg Gallery, located in midtown Manhattan, has a vast and ever-changing collection of some of the most important photographs in the medium. The gallery maintains an extensive catalogue of original photographic prints by such luminary photographers as Bernice Abbott, Henri-Cartier Bresson, André Kertész, William Klein, Josef Sudek, and Edward Weston. They also represent many contemporary photographers like Joel Meyerowitz.
The Leica Gallery in Greenwich Village is both unique and historical. Over its many years of existence the gallery has dedicated their exhibits to photographers who used the infamous 35 mm Leica film cameras (and now digital Leicas as well) to create their memorable photographs. Bruce Davidson, Helen Levitt, Elliot Erwitt, Ralph Gibson, George Rodger, Danny Lyon, Josef Koudelka (to name a few) all have had their photos exhibited at the Leica Gallery. The Leica Gallery has exhibited many of the greatest MAGNUM Photographers - the legendary photographic cooperative created by Cartier Bresson and Robert Capa with a few other outstanding photojournalists in 1947. Such a cooperative preserves the independent nature of photographers - that idiosyncratic mix of reporter and artist.
Another internationally recognized New York art dealer is the Gagosian Gallery, representing photographers alongside traditional artists, including painters, sculptors, and conceptual artists. Last spring in the Chelsea district space, the Gallery exhibited the work of Richard Avedon. I saw the show and it was an incredible exhibit of Avedon's large mural-sized portraits along with some smaller prints. Even enlarged contact sheets with Avedon's hand-written notes on them were included in the exhibit.
There just isn't enough space or time for me to list all of the wonderful places one can visit in NYC to view great photography, I'm talking about original prints -not reproductions (nothing compares to an original) - or to hear a provocative lecture by an outstanding photographer or museum director talking about the Art of Photography. There is a superb New York publication that comes out monthly simply called "PHOTOGRAPH." It's a great source of information to discover exhibits and events in NYC, listing both galleries and public institutions. It's a smaller version (in size) of a standard magazine.
NYC is also a great place for anyone who loves "street photography." What I'm referring to is the celebrated art form (and genre) of the existential randomness a photographer will subject themselves to while on the lookout for a great photograph walking down a street, witnessing people in candid, spontaneous situations at parks, beaches, social events, political conventions, sex scenes, revolutions, war zones... and so forth. The street photographer is an explorer of hidden truths and mysteries. Someone in search of a mirrored reflection of reality, to be captured by a still camera, visualizing an existential time and place.
The beginnings of street photography in America can be likened to that of jazz in the music world, both emerging as outspoken delineations of everyday life. The connection is seen in the work of the New York School of photography. This was not an official institution; the New York School is a term referring to groups of photographers in the mid-20th century who were based in New York City. One of the most notable of these photographers, Robert Frank, was part of the beat movement interested in Black-America and counter-cultures. Frank is perhaps the most celebrated street photographer because of his raw, intense personal photographs that appeared in his controversial book "The Americans".
The streets of New York are also inspirational because of the phenomenal architecture one encounters, both vintage relics and modern skyscrapers, the way the sunlight bathes the city through huge high-rise buildings, the individuals who walk the streets in different neighborhoods, with different window displays and different vibes, skin tones and features, NYPD looming everywhere it seems, within a post- 9/11 heartbeat.
The exposure to cutting edge advertising, below in the subway stations and on the streets of New York, on the sides of large buildings, in window displays, Time Square at night are all overwhelming at times, but rich in purpose.
Photographing in NYC, and its surrounding burrows compares to perhaps a pilgrimage to Mecca... Once you've arrived- there's enough intense human energy, space and form -that it will inspire and challenge any photographer.
There are many other reasons to go to New York besides the abundant rewards it offers photographers, like the countless other historic sights to see. The 9/11 Memorial is incredible to experience in person, the restaurants, Broadway, Times Square at night, the bars... and of course, New Yorkers themselves with their amazing will and energy. | <urn:uuid:be8a45b9-6519-4fe4-924f-45be686e178e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.samys.com/g/friedkin_reflections_on_new_york/2941.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960285 | 1,699 | 2.296875 | 2 |
SINGAPORE, Aug. 27, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Boeing (NYSE: BA) predicts the Asia Pacific region will require hundreds of thousands of new commercial airline pilots and maintenance technicians over the next 20 years to support airline fleet modernization and the rapid growth of air travel.
The 2012 Boeing Pilot & Technician Outlook, a respected industry forecast of required aviation personnel, calls for 185,600 new pilots and 243,500 new technicians in the Asia Pacific region through 2030. China will have the largest demand in the region, needing 71,300 pilots and 99,400 technicians over the next 20 years.
"This great need for aviation personnel is a global issue, but it's hitting the Asia Pacific region particularly hard," said Bob Bellitto, global sales director, Boeing Flight Services. "Some airlines are already experiencing delays and operational interruptions because they don't have enough qualified pilots. Surging economies in the region are driving travel demand. Airlines and training providers need new and more engaging ways to fill the pipeline of pilots and technicians for the future."
Boeing is working globally to meet this anticipated demand. In June, the company signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Indonesian Ministry of Transportation to jointly work to establish aviation training programs. Boeing is also expanding partnerships around the world to develop a global flight school network to better supply capable and well-qualified aviation personnel.
The Boeing outlook projects that North East Asia will need 18,800 pilots and 26,500 technicians over the next 20 years. South East Asia will require 51,500 pilots and 67,400 technicians. The Oceania region will need 12,900 pilots and 17,100 technicians and South West Asia will need 31,000 pilots and 33,100 technicians.
"As an industry, we have to get the next generation excited about working in the field of aviation," Bellitto said. "We are competing for talent with alluring hi-tech, software and mobile companies and start-ups. We're working hard to showcase our industry as a truly global, technological, multi-faceted environment where individuals from all backgrounds and disciplines can make a significant impact."
The Asia Pacific region also leads the demand for new commercial airplane deliveries over the next 20 years, with 12,030 new airplanes needed by 2031 according to Boeing's 2012 Current Market Outlook.
More information on the 2012 Pilot & Technician Outlook is available at http://www.boeing.com/commercial/cmo/pilot_technician_outlook.html
About the Boeing Edge
Boeing offers a comprehensive portfolio of commercial aviation services, collectively known as the Boeing Edge, bringing value and advantages to customers and the industry. Boeing Flight Services provides integrated offerings to drive optimized performance, efficiency and safety through advanced flight and maintenance training as well as improved air traffic management and 24/7 flight operations support. Flight Services provides digital tools and data to enhance overall operations, airport infrastructure, fuel efficiency, flight planning, navigation and scheduling. | <urn:uuid:979ce563-9c07-4f7c-80b2-d0acba734173> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aviationpros.com/press_release/10769969/boeing-projects-high-demand-for-aviation-personnel-in-asia-pacific | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916174 | 606 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Editor’s Note: Today’s post is written by the producer/director of the Smithsonian Channel’s documentary, 9/11: Stories in Fragments. The documentary is based on the museum’s September 11 collections and the stories they convey. It is available for viewing on air or online.
Our crew was having dinner in New York City when we heard Osama bin Laden had been found and killed. We grabbed a cab back to our hotel so we could watch President Obama’s speech and on the way told the cabbie what had happened. He was so excited he could barely drive—trying to tune the radio in, asking us to tell him a second time. Later, the criticism of people celebrating made me think of that New York cab driver. He wasn’t vindictive; he was just so glad that part of a long, sad chapter of that city’s history was over.
The next day we did eight interviews with people who had experienced the events of that day firsthand. Overall, their reactions to the news were mild—we heard “that’s great but it doesn’t really change anything.” Maybe it was one pat headline too many for people who had had the misfortune to find themselves in the intersection of news and personal trauma.
Our film is about the objects in the National Museum of American History’s September 11 collection. At first we worried that the focus was too narrow, but the more people we talked to, the more it seemed like the right way to approach the story of that day. We filmed at the firehouse where Jules Naudet, who captured the only shot of the first plane hitting the World Trade Center’s North Tower, was making a documentary 10 years ago. I had a chance to chat with firefighters who were there that day and heard things I’d never heard before—things that probably don’t belong in a film or a blog. Mostly though, it was clear that no one like me could do more than scratch the surface. One firefighter asked me to follow him down to their basement. In the corner of the room was a collection of their own—truck parts mostly, crushed and twisted metal. Things they had saved from the day, just lying in the corner of a basement for ten years. That’s how September 11 is—you don’t know what to do with it, you can’t throw it away.
It was hard to balance the story of the artifact collecting with the story of the day in the film. The survivors, the loss, and how the objects in the museum connect a viewer to that day trump almost everything else. But the Smithsonian curators were profoundly affected by the collecting experience. (One of them, David Shayt, is sadly now deceased. We never knew him, but we felt his presence as many of the people who donated objects spoke of how wonderful he was to work with.) We heard stories about climbing into shipping containers full of airplane parts and visiting the horrifically named “Fresh Kills” landfill-turned-crime-scene on Long Island. These curators spent months wading into what any sane person would try to avoid, looking for meaningful objects. Everyone who experienced the aftermath—the massive “pile” of wreckage in New York, the burnt hole in the ground in Shanksville, the melted office interiors at the Pentagon, got a dose of the awfulness that lasted much longer than one day.
Everyone in our film talked about the smell—from Noe DeWitt and Carrie Hunt who lived next door to the World Trade Center, to iron worker Jimmy Connor who, with his brothers from Local 40, helped clean up the wreckage. (Jimmy told us that he found a case of wine in a wooden box—something “crazy old like 1940 or something” with only three bottles broken that might have come from Windows on the World on the 103rd floor. They drank a few bottles one night with hamburgers at the Salvation Army’s mess tent for World Trade Center workers.) On our first day of filming with the actual objects, we got a sense of what they were all talking about. Even ten years later, they smell. It’s been described as jet fuel—and that is part of it—but it’s also everything else. It’s the smell of grief and disaster.
Jeff Wiener lost his life in the World Trade Center. Sitting at a desk in a library, deep in the part of the museum visited only by staff, I read through a fat file of paper donated by the Wiener family. There were official documents, reports from the medical examiner’s office detailing the effort to recover his remains, evidence of a long and careful search for information. And then there were stacks of sympathy cards. You could tell that Jeff was someone special, loved by many. The Wiener family donated his things to the museum to create a legacy for a young man who died without having had children of his own. I like the idea that in a hundred years another curator, researcher, or filmmaker may read those same cards and also try not to cry directly on them.
When we arrived to film at the beautiful Pentagon Memorial, the sun was going down, it was empty and I walked around looking for people’s names I knew—Barbara Olson, Jerry Henson’s office mate Jack Punches, Dave Thomas’ best friend Bob. The memorials are arranged by victim’s age. When you walk in, you almost breeze past the first few because there is a big space between them and the rest—that’s the space between the children and adults. I don’t know their stories, but those kids and that big space just killed me. A bunch of teenagers arrived in a bus to wander around and it seemed wrong that they were laughing and sitting on the benches.
The teenagers were there—wearing clothes I didn’t really understand, goofing around, and splashing the water—because life just rolls on and on which, undoubtedly, is a good thing. But what the next generation will know about September 11 won’t be based on memories. They won’t have stories of where they were when the towers fell. I hope that the personal stories in 9/11: Stories in Fragments and the physical objects in the Smithsonian collections will help bridge the gap of time, giving future generations a way to remember.
Molly Hermann is a producer/director for the Smithsonian Channel. | <urn:uuid:aa8c044b-12ff-43d7-bf0f-de2570cad692> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.americanhistory.si.edu/osaycanyousee/2011/09/stories-in-fragments-september-11.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980188 | 1,358 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Strength training has proven to be a safe and effective method of conditioning for adults. The popularity of this type of exercise has trickled down to children and adolescents as a way to improve health, fitness and sports performance. As parents, coaches and health providers, the questions that should be asked are: Is it okay for children and adolescents to be involved in strength training? And if so, what are some guidelines to ensure that it is safe, beneficial and enjoyable?
Many myths regarding the dangers of strength training on growing bones and the cardiovascular system of healthy kids have been dispelled by recent research. As outlined by the American Academy of Pediatrics and American College of Sports Medicine, when done properly, strength training has been shown to be safe and effective. That is not to say strength training is without any risk of injury, not unlike any other exercise activity. By following the guidelines described below, strength training can have many potential benefits for children, including enhancing physical and psychosocial development, improving muscular coordination, lowering injury risk in other sports, and preventing obesity, diabetes and other chronic medical illnesses which are currently on an alarming rise in children.
Strength training does not need to occur in a dimly lit, hot, smelly weight room. It should be done in a safe environment free of hazards. Also, strength training can be done by using a variety of modalities including body weight exercises (eg. push ups), rubber tubing, medicine balls, free weights or weight machines. Strength training should be done in conjunction with aerobic activities, such as jogging and biking, for balanced fitness. Proper diet and adequate hydration should also be emphasized.
Remember, the goal of strength training is not to build muscle mass and turn children into "The ROCK," but instead to improve strength, coordination and fitness in an enjoyable, safe and healthy environment.
Consult your primary care physician for more serious injuries that do not respond to basic first aid. As an added resource, the staff at Nationwide Children’s Hospital Sports Medicine is available to diagnose and treat sports-related injuries for youth or adolescent athletes. Services are now available in five locations. To make an appointment, call (614) 355-6000 or request an appointment online. | <urn:uuid:9810ee9a-a6cd-454c-a436-936cd50f1086> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nationwidechildrens.org/strength-training-for-children | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952879 | 447 | 3.359375 | 3 |
ACTION: Keep honing your marketable skills.
Unemployment numbers are much easier to track than underemployment numbers. Being underemployed is pretty subjective, but in today’s economy, sometimes even people with graduate degrees are happy to get a check as an entry-level retail associate at a department store. That, my friends, is underemployment.
A Pew Research Center study found that among 18-34 year olds, 49% have taken a job they didn’t want just to pay the bills, and 24% have taken unpaid internships just to gain the appropriate experience.
Life happens. You might find that you need to take whatever you can get just to keep your cellphone and lights on even if the job has little to nothing to do with your past experience and educational background. It’s advised that you save as much money as possible and keep your marketable skills sharp. That means not only the usual step of going to networking events within your industry, but also being an active member of your profession’s organizations. Get in there, help out on committees and chime in during meetings.
If you’re a journalist, join the local chapter of NABJ. If you’re an engineer, get to know your fellow NSBE enthusiasts. Stay in the loop and take advantage of conventions, courses and workshops (especially free ones) that help you sharpen your skills.
ACTION: Simple: Leave.
You’ve tried all of the previous tactics and nothing has worked. You feel like you’ve done everything you possibly can and you are still desperately unhappy at your job. Guess what? It’s time to go. But don’t just step out on faith. Do your due diligence and hit the ground running.
“If you are not growing in your job, not moving forward, get out of that job,” Nelson says. “Know your value. It is so key, particularly when you are young, to make wise choices early in your career and not get stuck.”
Oftentimes, when you are unhappy at your job, your job feels the same way about you, and that’s what Samuels learned. “My layoff was very mutual and timely because I was unhappy and bored and they were unhappy that I wouldn’t support their initiatives and plans that I didn’t agree with,” says project engineer Samuels, who now works at a large corporation in a well-resourced, team atmosphere. She was fortunate to get a two-month, paid transition period in advance of her position being eliminated, and she used that time to go job hunting full throttle.
“Finding a job was my job. It was two months of hardcore interviewing via phone, e-mail and in-person,” Samuels recalls. “I used LinkedIn and my alumni groups to get the inside edge on landing interviews. I applied to dozens of jobs, got several interviews and even turned down a few offers.”
The moral of the story is, be in constant contact with your mentors and make sure your social media profiles, resume and skills are up to date. You are in charge of your career, so when you get stuck, it’s up to you to dig out and keep moving in the right direction. | <urn:uuid:e58a438a-01ea-47de-bb3b-c26c627d234d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blackenterprise.com/career/four-ways-to-get-out-of-boring-job-career-rut/2/ | 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 | 0.968501 | 702 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Story by Kate Petrusa
I first visited Rootdown Organic Farm in June 2010, one month after the farm team took possession of their new land. A modest white farmhouse beside a large tree greeted our cars as we drove up the access road. It was easy to feel small so near to the dramatic, snow capped mountains towering over the farm. Bordered by a creek, the farm was enveloped in an agricultural valley in Pemberton, BC that teemed with birds and greenery. I was visiting Rootdown as part of a UBC Farm Practicum field trip. As our group walked towards the production fields of the property, all I could see was a sea of green. It looked to me just like a large grassy field. It was then I began to realize that the Rootdown farmers, Sarah and Simone, were up against a serious obstacle on their new land: couch grass.
Sarah and Simone, both UBC Farm Practicum graduates (2008), fortunately had access to land of their own, but needed to start from scratch. There were no existing beds on which to grow their crops, just a large grassy field that had had been hayed for years and depleted of nutrients in the process. Couch grass, Elymus repens, (pronounced ‘kooch’ grass) also known as quackgrass, is a very invasive perennial grass. Its rootstalks ‘creep’ horizontally across the soil surface, and prove to be extremely difficult to eradicate even with weeding or tilling with a tractor, because each piece of rootstalk can develop into a new plant.
Early in the season of 2010, when Rootdown farmers were still leasing neighbours’ land, Sarah was working with her neighbour to bring two pigs onto her leased land for their own consumption. Sarah’s inspiration for experimenting with pigs came after reading Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall’s The River Cottage Cookbook. She found “his ethics very much in line with ours regarding farming and treatment of animals … He was talking about raising pigs and I was really interested. I talked to our neighbour, and the two of us decided to raise two pigs that year.”
Before the pigs’ arrival, to their surprise Sarah and Simone found that the land they had been eying for months became available for them to purchase. Although they decided to follow through with the original plan of sharing feed and infrastructure costs with their neighbour, they decided to give up their lease and keep the two pigs on their new land. They decided on Tamworth pigs, a heritage breed, known for good bacon and high quality meat. Tamworths are not well suited to industrial-style production methods and are listed as a “threatened” species in the U.S. “They were just so easy to care for, especially after we figured out our fencing issues! At the end of the season, they were getting out of their pen quite a lot, and they were going for trots down the dyke and would end up a kilometer down the river.”
After a successful experiment with two Tamworth pigs on the farm, Sarah and Simone looked more closely at how to integrate and benefit from pigs in their farming system. “We had a really hard year with couch grass, and fertility is an issue too. We thought if we have a larger number of pigs, they can work on eliminating the couch grass and we can use their manure on the fields. Also, we all felt pretty strongly about the integration of animals into the fields and our farm system.” Not only can pigs improve soil quality and help with weed management, their meat provides a valuable commodity for the farm at the end of the season.
After working hard to find a breeder in BC with Tamworth pigs, the two farmers arranged to have 12 pigs on the farm for the 2011 growing season. They took another big step by creating a rotational grazing system for the pigs that integrated their 50 chickens. To do this, they had to build movable sheds and fencing for both the chickens and the pigs, and worked out a rotation that they hoped would achieve their goals of fertilizing the soil and eliminating the couch grass.
“We built a shed for the pigs measuring 20 x 10 feet, about 4 feet high and estimated to weigh over 1500 pounds. It’s sturdy!… At the beginning we actually couldn’t move it, and it was just sitting where it was built. It was too heavy for our tractor.” The team needed to make a few modifications in order to make the pig shed mobile. To facilitate sliding the shed along the ground, Sarah and Simone cut two snowboards in half to act as skids. Next, they drilled a large hole in the wall, through which they threaded an industrial-size chain. This was then hooked up to the tractor bucket for pulling. After the modifications, they succeeded in moving it about every 4 weeks. “The last few moves of the year were much harder because it was getting muddy, and there were lots of divots in the ground. We really need to figure out what to do about that this coming year.”
To forage, the pigs would be outside most of the time, so establishing a movable fence to surround the shed was a key part of the infrastructure. “We experimented with solar powered fencing, and it wasn’t strong enough for pigs. They have tough skin and they are pretty headstrong… We ended up going with an electric hard-wire system that was plugged into the wall, and we just rotated with the shed. We were wondering how the pigs would adjust to hard-wire, but they did really well. They learned to respect it. I think as long as we moved them enough and they had enough pasture to go dig up, they were pretty happy with where they were.”
Adding a further layer of complexity to the rotational grazing system, chicken coops were also integrated into the movable pig shed infrastructure. Rootdown opted to build two small chicken coops rather than one big one, simply because smaller coops are easier to move. Simone describes the chicken coops as resembling “giant rickshaws”. “There are BMX bike wheels on one end. You pick up the other end and drag it like a rickshaw.” Similar to the pigs, the chickens needed an outdoor run, so Rootdown also set up another electric fence that they could move fairly easily. “The first couple of times you move all this, it takes a long time, but as we went through the season, we could get this down in an hour, but we needed four people to do it. I think this season will give us the time to iron that out a little bit and get more efficient with our rotations […]”.
Managing a total of 12 pigs and 50 chickens, the 2011 growing season marked Sarah and Simone’s first year of experimenting with the rotational grazing system and their self-made infrastructure. Their initial plan was to have the chicken pen following behind the pigpen along the land, but they quickly realized that it wasn’t going to be that simple. “Pigs are really good at turning over the soil, but they are so good, it doesn’t leave anything for the chickens.” With this lesson learned, they put the chickens and pigs in completely distinct field areas and moved them through the land independently of each other. “That worked really well, and they made just one pass on one area of land throughout the season … I’m pretty proud of it. It took some brainpower to figure it out.”
This coming season, Sarah and Simone plan to improve their animal integration system while adapting it to a longer-term production plan. They plan to divide the production fields into three standard sections, each just under an acre. Every year, each section will be assigned to vegetable production, pigs or chickens. The following year, the section assignments will rotate and again host either vegetable production, pigs or chickens. This means that over a three-year period, a one-acre section of land will host vegetables, pigs and chickens – a richly diverse crop-livestock rotation.
With the momentum gained from the previous year, Sarah and Simone are thrilled to start the 2012 growing season. Not only are they winning the battle against couch grass with the help of pigs and chickens, they are building the fertility of their soil, selling the chicken eggs at markets and providing a highly coveted Community Shared Agriculture (CSA) pork option to their customers. Moreover, their tireless efforts have yielded a model that can be adopted by other small-scale organic farmers who seek to integrate their own vegetable crops and livestock. In just two short growing seasons, Rootdown has progressed in leaps and bounds, using their savviness and resources to capitalize on the benefits of integrating animals into the farm system. I can’t wait to visit again to see the transformation of couch grass sod into rich production space! | <urn:uuid:7aca2d20-73c3-4f3a-a534-5c32845268d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ubcfarm.ubc.ca/2012/04/18/the-chicken-or-the-egg-and-the-pig/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984201 | 1,868 | 2.390625 | 2 |
The Mind and How to Build One
August 12, 2010 by Ray Kurzweil
At the Singularity Summit in San Francisco at 11:00 am on Saturday, August 14, Ray Kurzweil will present an overview of “arguably the most important project in the history of the human-machine civilization”: to model and reverse-engineer the brain, with the goal of creating intelligent machines to address the grand challenges of humanity. He prepared the following statement on his talk at the conference.
What does it mean to understand the brain? Where are we on the roadmap to this goal? What are the effective routes to progress – detailed modeling, theoretical effort, improvement of imaging and computational technologies? What predictions can we make? What are the consequences of materialization of such predictions – social, ethical? I will address these questions and examine some of the most common criticisms of the exponential growth of information technology including criticisms from hardware (“Moore’s Law will not go on forever”), software (“software is stuck in the mud”), the brain (“the brain is too complicated to understand or replicate”), ontology (“software is not capable of thinking or of consciousness”), and promise versus peril (“biotechnology, nanotechnology, and artificial intelligence are too dangerous”).
There is now a grand project comprising at least a hundred thousand scientists and engineers working in diverse ways to understand the best example we have of an intelligent process: the human brain. It is arguably the most important project in the history of the human-machine civilization. The goal of the project is to understand precisely how the human brain works, and then to use these revealed algorithms as a basis for creating even more intelligent machines.
As we learn the algorithms underlying human intelligence, we will similarly be able to engineer it to vastly extend the powers of our intelligence. Indeed this process is already well under way. There are literally hundreds of tasks and activities that used to be the sole province of human intelligence that can now be conducted by computers usually with greater precision and vastly greater scale.
Was it inevitable that a species would evolve that is capable of creating its own evolutionary process in the form of intelligent technology? I will argue that it was.
According to my models we are only two decades from fully modeling and simulating the human brain. By the time we finish this reverse-engineering project, we will have computers that are millions of times more powerful than the human brain. These computers will be further amplified by being networked into a vast world wide cloud of computing. The algorithms of intelligence will begin to self-iterate towards ever smarter algorithms.
This is how we will address the grand challenges of humanity such as maintaining a healthy environment, providing for the resources for a growing population including energy, food, and water, overcoming disease, vastly extending human longevity, and overcoming poverty. It is only by extending our intelligence with our intelligent technology that we can handle the scale of complexity to address these challenges. | <urn:uuid:f8757f55-4173-45db-b382-c3d540723509> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kurzweilai.net/the-mind-and-how-to-build-one | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939436 | 616 | 2.65625 | 3 |
PRESS STATEMENT BY SECURITY COUNCIL PRESIDENT ON CENTRAL AFRICAN REPUBLIC
Following is the text of today's press statement on the Central African Republic by the President of the Security Council, Wang Yingfan (China):
Members of the Security Council listened to the briefing by General Touré, Special Envoy of the Secretary-General for the Central African Republic, and discussed the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in the Central African Republic.
Council members voiced their support for the efforts of General Touré and the Secretary-General as well as the work of BONUCA (the Office of the United Nations in the Central African Republic).
Council members emphasized the critical importance of alleviating poverty and ending the violence in order to restore peace and stability in the Central African Republic and the region as a whole.
Council members condemned the attempted coup in May and the killing of the United Nations security coordinator in Bangui yesterday, and expressed condolences to the bereaved family.
Council members called for the respect of human rights, national reconciliation and political dialogue in the Central African Republic.
Council members called on the international community to increase assistance to the Central African Republic and stressed that international assistance would be more effective if supplemented by appropriate structural reforms.
Council members expressed their readiness to conduct further review of the situation in the Central African Republic, with a view to adopting a presidential statement as early as possible.
* *** * | <urn:uuid:324d1b17-12f5-48d2-a140-8bfdf01f3ce1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2001/sc7096.doc.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933404 | 295 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Feb. 19, 1998 New Haven, Conn. -- Many frog and other amphibian species throughout the world appear to be experiencing declining populations, with several species already extinct and others showing alarming rates of deformities. No single cause has been identified. Some scientists believe habitat disturbances are to blame, although declines have occurred in relatively undisturbed areas.
Now, field experiments in the Oregon Cascade Mountains have confirmed what many scientists had suspected -- ambient levels of ultraviolet-B (UV-B) radiation from the sun can cause high rates of mortality and deformity in some species of frogs and other amphibians. The earth is shielded from UV radiation by the ozone layer, which is believed to be thinning because of the increased use of chlorofluorocarbons as refrigerants, solvents and cleaning agents.
"There has been a great deal of recent attention to the suspected increase in amphibian deformities. However, most reports have been anecdotal, and no experiment in the field under natural conditions had been performed previously," said Joseph M. Kiesecker of Yale University, who presented his findings Feb. 17 at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science in Philadelphia.
Kiesecker, along with Andrew R. Blaustein of Oregon State University, compared the embryos of long-toed salamanders shielded from UV-B radiation by mylar filters to unshielded embryos. They found that 95 percent of the shielded embryos hatched, compared to only 14.5 percent of the unshielded embryos. Even more striking, only 0.5 percent of the surviving shielded salamanders had deformities while 91.9 percent of the unshielded salamanders had deformities. Malformed tails, blisters and edema were the most frequent deformities.
"The recent thinning of the protective ozone layer in the upper atmosphere has been linked to increased risks of skin cancer and cataracts in humans as well as to the destruction of fragile plant life. Deformed and dying frogs may be linked to thinning ozone as well," said Kiesecker, who is studying other possible factors, such as water level and quality, which also can affect the amount of UV-B radiation reaching amphibians.
UV-B radiation also may impair disease defense mechanisms, making amphibians more susceptible to pathogens and parasites that may hamper normal development and increase mortality, Kiesecker said. For example, he found increased mortality associated with a pathogenic fungus (Saprolegnia ferax) infecting some embryos exposed to UV-B, while embryos under mylar filters were not infected. The UV-B may work synergistically with the fungus, said Kiesecker, who reports seeing an outbreak of fungal pathogens in a number of amphibian species in the last 10 years.
Amphibians are ideal species for the study of UV-B exposure, he noted. Many lay their eggs in open, shallow water where exposure to UV-B is high. Typically, a population of 200 breeding pairs of toads, for example, will produce as many as 1 million embryos. Furthermore, amphibian species have varying amounts of an enzyme called photolyase, which is the principal enzyme for repairing UV damage to DNA. Photolyase attacks a major UV photoproduct in DNA -- cyclobutane pyrimidine dimers -- which can cause mutations and cell death if left unchecked.
Kiesecker, a zoologist and postdoctoral fellow, reported that frog and toad species with the greatest photolyase activity had the lowest mortality rates in developing embryos. For example, he and his colleagues noted an increase in embryo mortality of 15 to 20 percent in the Western toad and the Cascade frog -- two species with low levels of photolyase -- while the Pacific tree frog, which has a high photolyase level, is thriving. All three species live in the same habitat in the Cascade Mountains.
The field studies, which were completed in May and June 1997, also are reported in part in the December issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Funding was from the National Science Foundation and the Donnelley Fellowship sponsored by the Yale Institute for Biospheric Studies.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Yale University.
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Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:9fad3582-516e-4ee7-8d42-9da01e66768e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/1998/02/980219062627.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955278 | 926 | 3.140625 | 3 |
It helps students develop the Key Competencies of:
a. Critical Thinking because the graded questions move students up the levels of Bloom’s taxonomy from Remembering to Evaluation
b. Managing self because students have to manage aspects of their learning; complete tasks in their own time; show an improvement in scores and ‘working at’ levels via their results.
c. Using language, symbols and texts in an interactive, web-based ICT environment.
Processes and Strategies
Using Live-wire, students are given opportunities to develop knowledge, skills and understanding related to the learning areas of English, mathematics and statistics, science and the social sciences. These include:
- learning the specialist vocabulary associated with that area
- how to read and understand its texts
- how to read and communicate knowledge and ideas in appropraite ways
Because students work at different levels of readiness and employ different styles of learning, it is important to provide a variety of approaches that neither bores nor frustrates students but provides appropriate levels of challenge and reward. Within each subject Live-wire Learning incorporates a wide range of material, pitched at different levels of difficulty so that the less able and the more able can work independently and in a rewarding way.
Accelerated Learning Principles
Live-wire enables teachers to use the principles of accelerated learning which include:
1. Immediacy of Feedback. Live-wire Learning (LWL) marks instantly whereas teachers often take work home to mark and bring it back to students the next day. Thus there is a 5 minute learning cycle vs. a 24 hour one. LWL therefore has the ability to have multiple learning cycles in one period.
2. Individualised and specific feedback. Even if you have 20 students in a computer suite the feedback is specific to the student and to the content. This can never be achieved by a classroom teacher unless immediacy is sacrificed.
3. Immediate reinforcement of appropriate cognitive strategy. The green (correct) answers immediately reinforce correct thinking strategies.
“In addition there is the ability for the teacher to rotate around the room to track progress and discuss learning at a higher metacognitive level. For example: What strategy did you use on this problem? You got it wrong why did you change it? Did the change work? What other strategies could you use?”
- Wayne Duncan, DP at Northern Southland College | <urn:uuid:b5ee6681-eedf-47fa-8397-31393c40ab79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.livewirelearning.co.nz/information-for-teachers/the-new-curriculum-and-learning | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936413 | 490 | 3.78125 | 4 |
The dark fiction gave birth to the Tuscan Italian dialect and is widely considered the work that has defined the western world’s contemporary conception of hell and purgatory. The poem tells the tale of Dante who journeys through the twisted, menacing nine circles of hell in pursuit of his beloved Beatrice. Dante’s tortured and tormented world is an ideal setting for this 3rd person action and adventure of a video game, Dante’s Inferno.
Written in the 14th Century, The Divine Comedy was published and read aloud in Italian (unlike the Bible), thereby making the poem accessible to the mass public. The poem delivers a striking and allegorical vision of the Christian afterlife and the punishments of hell. In part one, known as Dante’s Inferno, Dante traverses all nine circles of hell; limbo, lust, gluttony, greed, wrath, heresy, violence, fraud and treachery.
Dante’s Inferno is coming out for the PSP, Xbox 360 and PS3 in 2010.
More articles about Dante's Inferno | <urn:uuid:b8c4af05-7034-47ec-8145-495f03f247cf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://worthplaying.com/article/2009/5/1/news/61328/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918797 | 217 | 2.734375 | 3 |
of Communiqué from High-Level Group (in English and
High-Level Group on EFA
demands redoubling of efforts
The first meeting of the
High-Level Group on EFA ended today in Paris by adopting
a Communiqué requesting all EFA partners to redouble
their efforts to meet the goals of Education for All.
The Communiqué calls for greater co-ordination
of efforts, partnerships with civil society and increased
and more efficient funding of basic education.
The Group comprising twenty-nine
Ministers of Education and of International Co-operation,
heads of development agencies and civil society representatives,
agreed on setting up a Task Force to develop a strategy
to operationalize the Dakar Framework before March 2002.
The strategy should, inter alia, identify major actions
to be taken with specified time-lines, general roles and
responsibilities of partners and a consensus on a global
initiative for resource mobilization that should be implemented
with immediate effect. Led by UNESCO, the Task Force will
bring together some fifteen representatives of all EFA
The Communiqué also
proposes a series of immediate actions to be taken to
accelerate the EFA process at country level.
1. Countries must accelerate
progress towards sector plans which encompass all EFA
goals. These plans must be in place by 2002.
2. Building on existing
structures, partners at the country level must develop
criteria and mechanisms for reviewing and mobilizing resources
for the EFA plans. Where countries are unable to fund
their action plans, the World Bank should take the lead
in identifying and filling the resource gaps. In situations
where the World Bank cannot do so, the United Nations
and other partners should find ways to fill these gaps.
The Communiqué also
calls for an authoritative and analytical annual EFA monitoring
report drawing upon national data and assessing the extent
to which countries and the international community are
meeting their Dakar commitments.
Finally, the Communiqué
proposes that UNESCO build on the experiences of the first
High-Level Group meeting to ensure a more focused discussion
in future meetings.
Highlights of the discussion
on the second day of the High-Level Group
The debate focused on:
- Resource mobilization
- The G8 Task Force on Education
- A role for civil society
To implement the Dakar
pledge that no countries seriously committed to Education
for All would want for lack of funding, two critical questions
need to be answered, said Clare Short, Secretary of State
for International Development Co-operation (DFID), United
Kingdom. When is it clear that a country is seriously
committed and how will the international community
fulfil its pledge? We need to clarify what developing
countries need to do to show a serious commitment to Education
for All, she said. She suggested the following criteria:
- Strong political will
showing commitment to universal primary education and
eliminating gender disparities;
- Sound national policies closely linked to poverty reduction
strategies. Separate EFA plans, outside poverty reduction
schemes or in addition to existing education sector plans,
should not be developed.
- Rapid abolition of user fees and other cost barriers
- The level of national allocations to basic education;
- Efforts to promote gender equality. This includes training
teachers to greater awareness of gender issues and the
creation of safe school environments, etc.
If countries are found to be seriously committed, agencies
must respond appropriately, Ms Short said, adding that
development agencies as a whole are still not giving
basic education the resources it needs.
Jo Ritzen, Vice-president,
Human Development Network of the World Bank referred to
need to reconcile two inter-connected challenges. The
need to fill the financing gap and the policy gap. The
financing gap, he explained, was the difference between
the resources countries themselves can mobilize and the
amount they will need to meet the Dakar goals. Current
estimates, generally based on existing unit costs and
financial structures were, he said, unsatisfactory because
they assume for the most part that EFA can be achieved
by doing what is already being done, only more of it.
Yet EFA entails reaching out to ever more marginalized
populations, and children with disability and addressing
issues such as repetition and drop out, he said.
EFA will not be achieved
therefore without a dramatic shift in country policies.
The effort to bridge the financing gap must be matched
by a commitment by countries to fill the policy gap. Without
bridging one we will not be able to bridge the other,
said Mr Ritzen, adding, "we will support you as you
work through these change processes country by country.
A new estimate of the EFA
financing gap, based on a country-by-country analysis,
will be developed prior to the spring meetings of the
World Bank and the Development Committee, said Mr Ritzen.
Mr Takao Kawakami, President
of Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA) announced
that Japan intends to allocate roughly $750 million to
education, health, medical services and water in Africa
over the next five years. During this period, Japan will
also spent a total of $3 billion in measures against infectious
diseases including HIV/AIDS and, starting next year, will
send youth volunteers to work with African communities
on disseminating information on HIV/AIDS.
Mr Kawakami also referred
to Japans comprehensive package - to the tune of
$15 billion over five years - to bridge the digital divide.
The French Co-operation
Minister, Charles Josselin, reaffirmed the commitment
of France to assist Education for All efforts nationally
and internationally but warned that "additional resources
should not be invested in education system showing no
efficiency". "Basic education must be elaborated
within an overall sectoral strategic framework and ownership
and partnerships are keywords for developing sound EFA
action plans," he said.
Mr Josselin announced that
France will give debt relief of some 10 billion Euros
(roughly $8,7 billion) under the Heavily Indebted Poor
Country Initiative (HIPC) to benefit the social sector,
in particular education. France is also reorienting its
development aid to top up countries' capacities in evaluation,
analysis and decentralization. France is also recruiting,
Mr Josselin said, 350 technical assistants to assist developing
countries and has created a French education fund of 3,5
million France ($467,000) within UNESCO to assist committed
countries in developing their EFA action plans.
In the ensuing debate,
the President of Education International, Mary Hatwood
Futrell asked how, when and under whose leadership the
international community will help countries fund national
EFA plans of action. "Some countries have developed
sound plans and need money now to start implementing them,"
she said. Tanzania urgently needs some $93 million per
year for EFA, she said. She urged that greater investment
in education should make a difference in the classroom
rather than to bureaucracies. Clare Short of the United
Kingdom replied that a Global Fund sounds good but it's
not the way forward. "We want to create a sustainable
system, building on a reform process," she said.
The "urgent task" is to operationalize the goals,"
said Jean-Claude Faure, chairman of the Development Assistance
Committee of the OECD. "We need to be able to measure
the flow of aid," he said, adding that mutual accountability
is essential for countries and donors.
The Minister of Education
of Senegal, Moustapha Sourang, welcomed the donor promise
to finance national EFA action plans. "It is the
first time since the 1980s that we see such concrete commitments,"
he said. "It will give us a huge boost although we
know that we cannot rely on external finances alone".
The G8 Task Force on Education
Director-General for Italian Development Co-operation
and Chair of the G8 Task Force on Education outlined the
purpose of the Task Force, set up by the G8 meeting in
Genoa. It will:
- facilitate co-ordination between governments and donors,
- mobilize the resources, and
- respond to clearly identified needs and monitor advances
towards the Dakar commitments.
Other operational proposals,
he said, could consist of systematically including basic
education in development assistance programme; promoting
the training of planners, catalysing civil society participation
and promoting innovative ways to transfer know-how from
the private sector. He cited as an example a worldwide
campaign for businesses to promote training programmes
in developing countries within the framework of national
This Task Force will hold
its first meeting tomorrow (31 October).
A role for civil society
After drawing attention
to the role of civil society in EFA internationally, nationally
and locally, OXFAM Director Barbara Stocking sketched
her vision of the Global Initiative. It is based on sound
national plans, a global ledger in the form
of an annual report tracking progress and a financing
UNESCO, the World Bank
and other partners should work together on the financing
gap to produce a global picture, she said. She stressed
the urgency of having such a global assessment by spring
to allow for discussions on it at the UN Special Session
and at the upcoming G8 meeting in Canada.
For Kailash Satyarthi,
Chairperson of the Global March Against Child Labour,
the right to education must be non-negotiable. We
treat education as a welfare measure, not a right,
he said, before going on to emphasize a number of preconditions
to make education a right: ownership by the common people;
genuine participation of all stakeholders at all levels,
national and international funding and monitoring of these
funds; co-ordination between ministries involved (education,
finance, labour, gender, social welfare, etc.), commitment
and action to eliminate child labour, etc. Making education
a right should be dealt with in a legal framework, said
The next meeting of the
Group will take place next autumn.
more information on the two-day High-Level Group meeting | <urn:uuid:74e46217-cc39-4a75-8a59-9790f7c33d01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.unesco.org/education/efa/bulletin/en/b_36.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908337 | 2,194 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Organised by folk singer and songwriter Vivien Scotson, the protest will take place in George Square on Sunday at 1pm, to raise awareness about the problem of 'pay to play' which she describes as "immoral".
'Pay to play' is when musicians are asked to hand over money to promoters in order to be allowed to play at certain venues.
Vivien said musicians are being forced to sell tickets for their own gigs and hand over the majority of the money to promoters, even if they do not sell all the tickets.
World renowned jazz guitarist and composer Martin Taylor is backing the campaign, alongside promoters who are opposed to the practice.
Vivien said it is a "wide- spread" problem that is exploiting musicians in Glasgow.
She added: "It's already having an impact. Musicians from Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Dundee and Irish musicians, feel put off coming to Glasgow because our music scene is being polluted by these people who are expecting musicians to give them money in order to be allowed to perform.
"It is lowering the standard of how things are done.
"Glasgow is the UNESCO City of Music. That's why we are trying to flush this out."
Pay to play is not a new practice in Glasgow, in fact it has been around since the 1980s, but there is no legislation to regulate such deals.
Vivien said the protest aims to raise awareness about the problem and educate the public and music venues and promoters about the impact of 'pay to play'.
She added: "It needs to be recognised that this is a problem, and it needs to stop."
Martin Taylor, who has been a professional musician for 40 years and plays concerts all over the world, said: "You wouldn't ask anybody in any other profession to pay to do their job.
"You wouldn't say to a plumber 'come round and fix my bathroom sink but you have to give me some money for doing it', it's crazy."
He added: "If musicians don't have financial support then it makes the creative process very difficult."
Sheena MacDonald, regional organiser at the Musicians Union, said the organisation has always been "opposed" to pay to play.
She added: "We do not think that bands should be exploited at any point in their career.
"Musicians should not be expected to pay to get on stage to play a gig.
"If musicians are not getting paid it undermines the value of live music." | <urn:uuid:4e7ed83f-65cc-4b31-bc29-7742bda30a35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eveningtimes.co.uk/news/musicians-protest-as-pay-to-play-deals-hit-bum-note.17340791 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979856 | 516 | 1.648438 | 2 |
System Software vs Application Software
System software and application software are computer programs. The system software is also installed during the installation of the operating system. However, the application software utilizes the capabilities of the computer on which it is installed.
The programs and the file that comprises the operating system are called system software. These files include configuration files, system preferences, system services, libraries of functions and the drivers for the hardware installed on the computer. The computer programs in system software include compilers, system utilities, assemblers, debuggers and file management tools.
Once you install the operating system, the system software is also installed. Program such “Software update” or “Windows update” can be used to update the system software. However, the end user does not run the system software. For example, while using the web browser, you don’t need to use the assembler program.
System software is also called low-level software as it runs at most basic level of the computer. It just creates a graphical user interface thorough which the user can interact with hardware with the help of operating system. System software just runs at the back so you don’t need to bother about it.
The system software provides an environment to run application software and it controls the computer as well as the applications installed on the machine.
The subclass of a computer program which utilizes the capabilities of computer is called application software. Application here means the application software and the implementation. The example of application software programs includes media players, spreadsheets and word processors. When multiple applications are packaged together then it is called application suite.
There is a common user interface in each application suite which makes it easier for the user to learn different applications. In some cases, such as Microsoft Office, the various application programs have the ability to interact with each other. This facility is very handy for the user. For example, a user can embed the spreadsheet in a word processor using the application software. Application software cannot run without the presence of system software.
|Difference between system software and application software
• System software gets installed when the operating system is installed on the computer while application software is installed according to the requirements of the user.
• System software includes programs such as compilers, debuggers, drivers, assemblers while application software includes media players, word processors, and spreadsheet programs.
• Generally, users do not interact with system software as it works in the background whereas users interact with application software while doing different activities.
• A computer may not require more than one type of system software while there may be a number of application software programs installed on the computer at the same time.
• System software can run independently of the application software while application software cannot run without the presence of the system software. | <urn:uuid:4cf14588-fc09-4d8d-9584-2c46b646a8b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.differencebetween.com/difference-between-system-software-and-application-software/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930229 | 567 | 3.390625 | 3 |
John Muyiisha and his community in Kalangala, Uganda, have lost their land. One day, BIDCO, a Kenyan company, arrived and told him that the land was now theirs. Bulldozers came that flattened the ancient forest and John's coffee plants. The company planted oil palms instead. With just 2 acres left to make a living, John and his community are now fighting for the right to their land. This is their story.
Daniel Pentzlin introduces Farming Money, Friends of the Earth Europe's latest report that looks at how European banks and private finance profit from food speculation and land grabs. | <urn:uuid:5ff7cf4d-4765-41f0-b82e-f6af4b2cdece> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foei.org/en/what-we-do/programs-and-newslinks/?b_start:int=14&-C= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972811 | 127 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Nepal officially opened its Great Himalaya Trail, one of the longest and highest walking trails in the world, tourism officials said Wednesday.
Thespreads across the Himalayan foothills, cutting across Nepal from Taplejung district in the east to Humla and Darchula districts in the west.
'This is one of the longestin the world with its 1,700-kilometre length,' tourism board spokesman Sharad Pradhan said.
The trail has one route across the higher Himalayas, at an altitude of 5,000 metres, and another at around 4,700 metres, according to the Dutch Development Agency, which partnered withto develop the trail.
'The trek is expected to be 150 days long, if it's done in phases, as we have divided it into 10 different sections,' tourism board advisor Gyaneshwor Mahato said. 'But for those who attempt the trail in one go, they could finish it in up to 60 days.'
In 2010, American adventurer Sean Burch set a Guinness World Record by completing the Great Himalaya Trail in 49 days, 6 hours 8 minutes.
Fewer than 10 people have attempted the route so far.
On October 2, Dutch couple Han Tijnagel and Elvira Nijkan plan to take on the daunting trail as the first trekkers to attempt it after the official launch.
'We're hoping the launching of this trail will help promote Nepal in a new way among international trekking lovers,' Pradhan said.
'It's a new product, after the popular Everest and the Annapurna Base Camp adventures, and should give new energy to Nepal's trekking industry.'
Trekking in Nepal is a major attraction for tourists, but popular destinations have been limited to the regions of Solukhumbu, Everest, Annapurna and Langtang.
The promoters said the purpose of developing the trail was also to promote socioeconomic benefits to mountain communities.
The Great Himalaya Trail covers 16 districts, ranging from Dolpa that connects with the Tibetan plateau, to Darchula, which borders India.
'The trail passes through areas of rich cultural diversity, while the distribution of flora and fauna is equally diverse along the route,' Mahato said.
'And because it is the only trekking route at such a high altitude, it is very challenging for adventure seekers.'
The adventure has been priced at 3,200 dollars. | <urn:uuid:02acbcb2-e142-4892-af5a-341117fde179> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://himadventures.net/outdoor_forums/old/content/nepal-opens-1700-kilometre-himalaya-trekking-trail | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936921 | 507 | 1.921875 | 2 |
In the summer after the tragedy of Sept. 11, my family visited Stone Mountain, Ga., for the incredible laser show.
We should remember that once we were strangers in Egypt and that once we were poor. Once, God reached out to rescue us from slavery, indignity and poverty, Guttman writes. (PhotoBucket)
I remember three songs from that show: Ray Charles' "Georgia On My Mind," The Charlie Daniels Band's "The Devil Went Down to Georgia" and Lee Greenwood's "Proud To Be An American.
A most incredible thing happened during the last one. The words of the chorus read:
I'm proud to be an American where at least I know I'm free.
And I won't forget the men who died to give that right to me.
I'll gladly stand up next to you and defend her still today.
Cause there ain't no doubt, I love this land, God bless the USA.
At the moment that the song played "stand up next to you," the entire lawn of several thousand people stood up.
I certainly understand this within the context of Sept. 11. As Jews, we often pride ourselves in retelling the Passover story.
It reminds us of our history in Egypt, going from slavery to freedom. It should remind us, like Lee Greenwood's song, of our appreciation of the freedom with which we are all blessed. Certainly patriotism has its place.
It occurred to me during a recent study of Deuteronomy 24 that patriotism is not the only response to freedom, and might not even be the response Scripture urges.
The book of Deuteronomy, particularly at the end, consists of instructions as to the sort of society that is to be established in the land of Israel after its conquest. In Deuteronomy 24:17-22, we read:
"You shall not subvert the rights of the stranger or the fatherless; you shall not take a widow's garment in pawn. Remember that you were a slave in Egypt and that the Lord your God redeemed you from there; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment. When you reap the harvest in your field and overlook a sheaf in the field, do not turn back to get it; it shall go to the stranger, the fatherless and the widow – in order that the Lord your God may bless you in all your undertakings. When you beat down the fruit of your olive trees, do not go over them again; that shall go to the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. When you gather the grapes of your vineyard, do not pick it over again; that shall go to the stranger, the fatherless and the widow. Always remember that you were a slave in the land of Egypt; therefore do I enjoin you to observe this commandment."
This passage is defining certain modes of behavior toward three types of people: the stranger, widow and the orphan.
In my opinion, the "stranger, widow and the orphan" are the means by which the Bible refers to people who lack power and are poor.
The stranger is the person not "from here." He or she is the new immigrant in our country.
Twice in this passage, we are told to treat the stranger kindly and to grant rights to the stranger because we had been strangers in the land of Egypt.
This biblical command is found in the five books of Moses more than any other command, including the commands to love God and love one's fellow human beings.
In terms of sheer numbers, the commandment to treat the stranger equitably and with kindness could be seen as the most important commandment in the Torah (Pentateuch).
It is human nature for us not to welcome strangers. All protestations to the contrary, we gravitate toward our "in groups."
Outsiders look different, have different customs and may even speak different languages (or, heaven forbid, speak our native language with accents).
All the more so, the Torah demands the proper treatment of strangers over and over again.
Consequently, the idea that we would mistreat strangers or make life so difficult for strangers that we would force them to return to their native land through some process of "self-deportation" is absolutely against biblical ethics.
In addition, the idea that we would forcibly deport the child of an immigrant, who has lived almost his whole life in the United States but was not born here, is also against biblical ethics.
In addition to being a very cruel act to children, it is an act that deprives our country of much needed intellectual and social capital.
I also note that in verse 17 it says, "You should not take a widow's garment in pawn."
When I first read that I asked myself, Why would this be so? The answer, it seems to me, is that when one loans money to a widow and takes collateral from her, one should realize that there is a very real chance that this debt will not be repaid.
To me, the Bible is foreshadowing what today we know as predatory lending: the practice that banks loan money at low-interest teaser rates to people that have very little chance to repay loans, later hiking the rates after missed payments or in many cases without cause or warning, repossessing such a person's home. This is clearly an abusive financial practice.
What about the widow who really needs help? The answer is given in this passage as well.
In the passage, it talks about the charitable act of leaving olives and grapes for the stranger, orphan and widow.
This is the Torah's way of teaching us that we have an obligation to make sure there is a social service safety net that protects people who are poor.
So if the stranger, orphan and widow represent poor people, it is clear that Deuteronomy is telling us three things.
- Such people must have the same legal rights that everyone else has.
- Such people should not be the victims of predatory lending.
- We should not be greedy, but rather should be charitable toward the poor.
Indeed, if we are blessed with freedom and with material goods, let us always remember that God has been our partner in achieving what we have.
The bottom line here is that true freedom not only includes patriotism, but also consists of using that freedom to establish a society based on equal rights for all, (citizen and immigrant), economic justice, compassion and charity.
Should we forget this basic premise, we should remember that once we were strangers in Egypt and that once we were poor. Once, God reached out to rescue us from slavery, indignity and poverty.
In today's world, should we not also extend our outstretched hand to our brothers and sisters, all of whom are created in God's image, who have arrived in this country from lands near and far as well as those who need help because they are homeless and hungry?
Fred Guttman is rabbi of Temple Emanuel in Greensboro, N.C. | <urn:uuid:0810f4ee-51e6-44c1-8129-7291e1f05c2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ethicsdaily.com/true-freedom-will-create-society-of-justice-cms-19998 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969806 | 1,445 | 2.53125 | 3 |
I am ready to create a text based oop game.
Posted 15 October 2011 - 05:18 AM
I have looked for layouts everywhere and still can not find anything to help me know where to begin. Like the Game Loop and whatever Loops are inside that loop, and so on.
I have tried looking at UML to get an idea of object layouts but I always end up frustrated. This is my first post and I really hope someone can shine a light on my situation.
Thanks in advance!!! Jamie
Posted 15 October 2011 - 09:14 AM
Im not sure why you would need UML, just write an oop c++ program, text based, with windows sockets and you got a traditional mud, or maybe not so traditional. ;)
I take object oriented programming for granted, I just code hybrid c,c++, it suits my needs. My advice is just learn a language, then youll know what to do.
Maybe an object layout would be... "character" and "map location" and "item" and "spell" maybe.
Posted 15 October 2011 - 04:50 PM
I guess what I am asking is there any Game Templates out there for beginners to give them an idea of the first steps in designing a text based game.
Any websites are greatly appreciated. Thanks!!
Posted 15 October 2011 - 06:04 PM
A typical mud is a large graph, where each node represents an area and its edges dictate what direction you can move in. Each node would contain, for example, a modifiable description, a dynamic list of people, monsters, items, things that can be interacted with, etc. Brainstorm and write down all the nouns in your game. Use a UML editor and figure out the relationships between classes. Use inheritance where logic is common amongst multiple entities, or use templates if you want to break the entities down by type. Think about the NPC engine and how you will use "smarts" to move NPC and monsters around. Maybe define a zone where they will dwell for example.
There's a lot more game mechanics you will run into, such as AI, turn based combat, large scale graph handling, serializing, etc. These are topics you should think about as you architect your game. I don't know of any MUD dev how-to websites, but just think about it. It's not terribly difficult to conjure something up.
Posted 15 October 2011 - 06:33 PM
Maybe I am going at this in a different perspective or completely wrong altogether. At least now I have more I can research.
I will take all that I can get!!!!!
Posted 15 October 2011 - 09:56 PM
Of course I could barrage you with a whole lot of my knowledge, but its best for you to learn your own way, really.
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0 members, 1 guests, 0 anonymous users | <urn:uuid:fa85adfd-f6b8-401d-8cc0-b8623ae47cb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://devmaster.net/forums/topic/15291-i-am-ready-to-create-a-text-based-oop-game/page__pid__80863 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955478 | 602 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Hi guys! I'm just starting to work with Arduino as i need it for a science fair project. I think i should be all set on the programming side but i was really hoping you guys could nudge me in the right direction to help me complete my project by January. I'm basing my project off of this abstract http://www.sciencebuddies.org/science-fair-projects/project_ideas/Robotics_p003.shtml
What i really need help with is deciding which motors to use and somewhat of an idea of how to breadboard. For this science fair i'm testing 2 different types of motors to see how much pressure the hand can have on a pressure sensor. So i think i need motors with different amounts of torque(?). Also i need an idea of how much power my breadboard would, what type of breadboard, and how to use transistors.
Any help would be appreciated. Links would be great too as long as you explain to me what im looking at. | <urn:uuid:63b3e36d-5152-405f-adea-80d76c5a3532> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forum.arduino.cc/index.php?action=profile;u=151249;sa=showPosts | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964295 | 210 | 2.71875 | 3 |
The upswing in retail beef, pork and milk prices slowed last month, though supermarket meat and dairy inflation this year remained on track to post among the biggest increases from the past two decades, according to a government report.
Nationwide retail beef and veal prices last month rose 9.6 percent on average compared with October 2010, according to updated data released Nov. 16 by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Before October, beef prices posted year-over-year gains of at least 10 percent during six of the first nine months this year.
Retail pork prices during October rose 5.9 percent from a year earlier after increasing by an average of 9 percent over the first nine months of 2011. Average retail prices for dairy and related products rose 9 percent in October after jumping 10.2 percent in September.
The deceleration in part reflects hog and raw milk prices that have dropped from summertime highs. But the respite may be short-lived because of strong U.S. beef and pork exports and historically low inventories of slaughter-ready animals that are expected to persist into 2012, according to some analysts.
Cattle prices reached all-time highs earlier this month, while wholesale beef is up 23 percent from a year ago as meatpackers curbed slaughter. Industry analysts Steve Meyer and Len Steiner said some beef customers are “short bought” on steaks and other cuts and need to stock up before the year-end holidays, suggesting prices will rise more.
“End users have faced significantly higher beef prices for much of the year and either due to fear, or by design, some end users are caught with short positions coming into the holidays,” Meyer and Steiner said in CME Group’s Daily Livestock Report Nov. 16.
“The decision to stay short bought makes sense given the ongoing uncertainty in global markets and constant chatter about another financial crisis brewing in Europe,” the analysts wrote. “The problem with being short bought, however, is that when packers suddenly cut slaughter, it dramatically reduces the supply of product in the spot market… In that situation, end-users have no choice but to pay up to fill their needs.”
Average retail beef and veal prices in 2011 are expected to rise 8 percent to 9 percent from 2010 and increase another 4.5 percent to 5.5 percent in 2012, the USDA said in a forecast last month. The projection for 2011 would be among the five largest annual increases since 1990.
Among specific cuts last month, choice-grade, boneless sirloin steak averaged $6.32 a pound nationwide, up 4 cents from September and up 32 cents from October 2010. Lean and extra-lean ground beef averaged $3.82 a pound, little-changed from September but up 19 cents from a year earlier.
Prices for milk and some pork cuts declined from previous months but remained above last year’s levels.
Boneless pork chops averaged $4.08 a pound during October, down from $4.21 in September but up from $3.89 a year earlier, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Bacon averaged $4.59 a pound, down from $4.82 in September and down from $4.77 in October 2010.
Compared to September levels, retail beef prices rose 0.5 percent, pork rose 0.4 percent and dairy rose 0.1 percent.
Broader readings from the Labor Department's Consumer Price Index showed costs for food eaten at home rose 0.1 percent last month compared with September and rose 6.2 percent compared with October 2010. The food at home index rose 0.3 percent in 2010. | <urn:uuid:7af2e829-9f8f-40c7-ab0f-967eec2a8871> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dairyherd.com/dairy-news/Grocery-meat-dairy-inflation-slowed-in-October-but-remains-high-133988098.html?view=all | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954574 | 759 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Thanks to our policies, "for the first time in state history, we have put millions of dollars into our rainy day fund in consecutive years."
Scott Walker on Friday, May 11th, 2012 in a blog post on campaign website
Gov. Scott Walker says he has made first back-to-back payments to Rainy Day Fund in state history
With a better-than-expected tax-collection estimate and savings from delaying some debt payments, Gov. Scott Walker on May 10, 2012 made a small deficit at the mid-point in his two-year budget -- poof -- disappear.
Gone along with it: An issue Democrats were using against Walker in the June 5, 2012 recall election.
This was posted the following day on the Walker campaign blog:
"Not only have we turned away from the failed policies that drove us to the brink of insolvency with chronic billion-dollar budget deficits, double-digit tax increases and record-setting job loss, but we have taken a complete 180 degree turn to true prosperity with a budget surplus that will help far into our future," the post read in part.
The Walker’s campaign boasted the news was so good extra funds will be socked away in budget-stabilization account: "For the first time in state history, we have put millions of dollars into our rainy day fund in consecutive years."
History, or course, can be an awful long time.
Did back-to-back contributions happen thanks to Walker’s policies?
Wisconsin first created a stabilization fund in 1985, so it’s actually a fairly new thing. But the state has seldom put money into it. That’s one reason Wisconsin lives closer to the fiscal edge than many other states.
According to the Legislative Fiscal Bureau, the first deposit into the fund was in 2006-07, during the final term of Democratic Gov. Jim Doyle, Walker’s predecessor.
That deposit totalled $55.6 million, but was quickly used up in a budget crisis later in Doyle’s term.
The second deposit made to the fund -- $14.8 million -- came at the end of Doyle’s last budget, 2010-11. The deposit was made after Walker had taken office. His first six months overlapped the final six months of the Doyle budget.
That brings us to May 2012.
That’s when Walker signalled that he could make another deposit, estimated at $45.4 million, after the fiscal year ends June 30, 2012.
So, did Walker -- for the first time in state history "put millions of dollars into our rainy day fund in consecutive years"?
First, the deposit is a projection. It would make two budgets in a row for the first time if it happens. It looks likely that a deposit will be made, but it’s premature to say it already happened.
Second, the numbers are not based on the "official" revenue estimates that come from the Fiscal Bureau, the neutral scorekeeper on budget items. That caused Democrats to howl in protest when Walker put out the well-timed news.
In February 2012, the Fiscal Bureau said that tax revenues were coming up short, leaving a small projected deficit by June 2013.
The new Walker estimate is based on revenue forecasts compiled by Walker’s Department of Administration for February, March and April. In a May memo to Walker, Administration Secretary Mike Huebsch described it as "the potential" for a $45.4 million deposit when the books close at the end of June 2012.
While not official, the estimates are based on the same sources of data used by the Fiscal Bureau. Bureau Director Bob Lang told us he didn’t verify Walker’s numbers but said they don’t appear unreasonable.
We’ll know the size of the actual deposit, if there is one, when the state completes its annual financial report once accounts are settled, in late summer. It’s also possible the deposit could exceed the projected $45.4 million.
Who deserves credit?
While 2011 was Doyle’s final budget year, it was Walker who brought the budget back into balance with his budget-repair bill in early 2011.
You may recall that little old bill -- the one that included higher pension and health-insurance payments from state and local government employees, and curtailed collective bargaining for most public employees.
Likewise, the expected 2012 surplus would clearly be on Walker’s watch.
But it’s arguable how much a governor has to do with rising tax collections. Walker’s administration attributed the brighter tax-collection forecasts in large part to improved job-creation figures and personal income growth, which are subject to economic cycles.
Additionally, putting money in the stabilization fund is not a matter of choice. By law, 50 percent of any surplus from higher-than-expected income and other tax collections must be transferred to the rainy day fund. That’s exactly what Walker is saying he would deposit.
"I believe that both the Doyle deposit and pending Walker deposit were not done by volition or predetermined plan but by a state law requirement when excess funds appear," said Todd Berry, president of the Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance.
But we attribute budget deficits to elected officials, so they must also get some credit for surpluses.
Walker’s took credit for what the campaign said was a historic double-up of surplus tax funds into a rainy day fund for stabilizing future state budgets. The chances for a second straight transfer into the fund appear good, but it’s premature to say the money is in the bank.
Walker gets the bulk of the credit, but his campaign claim is just partially accurate, because it skips over the important fact that the deal’s not done yet.
We rate it Half True.
(You can comment on this item on the Journal Sentinel's website)
Published: Thursday, May 31st, 2012 at 9:00 a.m.
Subjects: State Budget
Scott Walker campaign website, blog on budget surplus, by Nathan Conrad, deputy communications director, May 11, 2012
Phone interview with Jocelyn Webster, spokeswoman, Department of Administration, May 30, 2012
Phone interview with Dave Loppnow, fiscal analyst and program supervisor, Wisconsin Legislative Fiscal Bureau, May 29, 2012
Email interview with Todd Berry, president, Wisconsin Taxpayers Alliance, May 29, 2012
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Walker’s team expects $154.5 million surplus by 2013," May 10, 2012
Department of Administration, General Fund Tax Collections and Fund Condition, May 10, 2012
Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, "Legislature considering steps to create rainy-day fund," April 14, 2011
We want to hear your suggestions and comments. Email the Wisconsin Truth-O-Meter with feedback and with claims you'd like to see checked. If you send us a comment, we'll assume you don't mind us publishing it unless you tell us otherwise. | <urn:uuid:2eabd2b9-8914-4541-88f6-9a5ab2d60473> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politifact.com/wisconsin/statements/2012/may/31/scott-walker/gov-scott-walker-says-he-has-made-first-back-back/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953446 | 1,455 | 1.695313 | 2 |
A host of federal tax breaks are set to expire on Dec. 31 unless Congress takes action. Collectively, they are part of what is being called the “fiscal cliff.” Some of the tax breaks are part of the tax cuts enacted during the George W. Bush administration that were set to expire at the end of 2010 but were extended by Congress nearly two years ago.
Some of the biggest changes that could occur on Jan. 1 would affect high-income individuals and business owners in particular:
• A reduction in the lifetime estate and gift tax exemption from $5 million to $1 million, along with an increase in the top estate tax rate from 35 percent to 55 percent.
• An increase in the top tax rate on dividends from 15 percent to 43.4 percent.
• An increase in the top rate on most capital gains from 15 percent to 23.8 percent.
• An increase in the top rate on ordinary income from 35 percent to 39.6 percent and to 43.4 percent for passive investors.
Other tax breaks that are set to expire include the American Opportunity Tax Credit, the Earned Income Tax Credit and the Child Tax Credit. The 2 percent payroll tax cut, which reduced the federal withholding rate in paychecks, is also due to expire.
We asked Brian Crotty, manager of HDH Advisors LLC, and Mike Collins, a partner with Denman & Co., about some of the strategies they’re giving clients to avoid pain in 2013.
What are you advising on the estate tax change?
Crotty: Most of our clients who have estates greater than $1 million are business owners; the majority of their estate is stock in the business. If they do the right kind of tax planning now, they can either give that stock away to their kids, or lower the value of that company, which the IRS calls “discounts for lack of control and marketability.” So they can essentially move as many assets as they want out of the estate to the benefit of their children or whoever they want to give it to, as long as they do it before Dec. 31.
Are a lot of clients taking this advice?
Crotty: That’s a good question. I would say maybe half are proactive about it, whereas the other half will read this story and say, “Oh, geez, I should have done this sooner.” A lot of business owners are wary, too, about giving away too much stock to their children. But there are a lot of things you can do in that process to make sure dad still has control over the company.
I hear most professionals say that Congress is bound to do something to avoid the fiscal cliff. Your thoughts?
Crotty: We’ve all read the same opinions. It’s just a matter of whether you wait until after the fact and react to what’s happening, or take that proactive stance now for your benefit and locking it in, as opposed to waiting and trying to deal with it after the fact. It’s going to be a different comfort level for every business owner.
What about the Bush-era tax cuts that could be ending? Are there any strategies to address that?
Collins: My advice is to at least think about it and be ready to do something. If Congress were to happen to change the law between now and year’s end, you don’t want to act too early, but at least be ready. Some of the things that will expire that people might not notice right away is the 2 percent payroll tax cut. You may not notice that because you’re not writing a check. Probably the closely held companies may want to accelerate income this year; the normal process is to defer income.
Some examples of how that might be done?
Collins: If you have control over invoicing your customers, you can do invoicing earlier rather than putting it off until after year’s end. Of course, the flip side is that your customers may not want to pay you as soon because they’ll want the deduction probably later to offset the higher tax rate.
Crotty: Or they could increase bonuses or compensation to pay lower taxes now.
Are your clients hesitant about making capital expenditures this year, or should they move forward and invest in their businesses?
Collins: With the depreciation rules that are in place for this year that will not be in place next year, I think most of them are wanting to accelerate those into this year so they can get faster write-offs, even though the tax rates will be higher for next year.
Crotty: I personally have seen a couple of our clients sell certain assets or take more dividends to try to avoid the higher capital gains rate next year. That’s one thing where I’ve seen people be proactive; they’ll be thinking about selling off certain assets if they think they can lock in on the 15 percent capital gains rate before it goes up. That’s the one thing that Congress has really only talked about raising, if anything, at least for higher-income earners.
Collins: Specifically for C corporations, or S corporations that used to be C corporations that have built-up earnings, they may want to look at paying out dividends this year from those C corporation earnings. It may not be appropriate for everybody, but you can take advantage this year of the 15 percent capital gains rate on those dividends, whereas in the future they could be at ordinary rates, up to 39.6 percent. Plus we have a 33.8 percent tax on investment income if you’re above certain income levels, too. So that goes from 15 percent up to 40-plus; it’s a big difference.
What are you advising middle-income clients?
Collins: One of the things that could happen is that the alternative minimum tax, which is patched every year, is currently not patched for 2012. The estimate is that if it’s not patched, an additional 24 million would be subject to that tax. That could affect people under $200,000 in income, so that could sneak up on them. Also, the earned income credit and child tax credit are due to expire, which would affect low- to middle-income families. The marriage penalty relief also goes away, and the American Opportunity Tax Credit for people with kids in college expires at the end of the year.
Crotty: The problem with some of these credits that expire for low- and middle-class income, there is far less opportunity for them to mitigate these increased taxes. If you’re just a wage earner, you’re just going to end up paying more taxes. It would be very tough to just try to make that up somehow. Business owners obviously have more flexibility, so potentially I think it would be a higher impact on the lower and middle class, because they don’t have the control to fix these things if something doesn’t get fixed. | <urn:uuid:ef16cb01-bcc9-41f1-bd70-72bfaf5d03d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessrecord.com/Content/Finance---Insurance/Finance---Insurance/Article/How-not-to-fall-off-the-fiscal-cliff/171/833/41216 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97116 | 1,451 | 1.71875 | 2 |
ADRIAN — A discussion of disability issues turned into a wide-ranging political debate Friday between 57th District state House candidates Nancy Jenkins and James Berryman.
Berryman, the Democratic challenger, criticized incumbent Republican Jenkins’ votes to cut state spending, especially for education, while lowering businesses’ taxes. Berryman said good teachers are being driven out of the profession as their incomes fall to the point some are losing their homes. Jenkins said the new Republican majority has stabilized Michigan’s budget after years of deficits and uncertainty, spurring the business growth and jobs needed to support education and social services.
The one-hour debate was before an audience made up mostly of HOPE Community Center clients. Scott Watson, the agency’s program director, said the candidates were given a list of five questions regarding disability issues before their appearance.
Both voiced support for services that allow those with disabilities to remain in their communities.
They then clashed over education funding.
“You don’t cut $1.3 billion from public education to give corporations a $1.8 billion tax cut,” Berryman said. As a Michigan Education Association union official, he said, he sees on a daily basis how education cuts have made life more difficult for teachers.
Berryman said his son, a special education teacher, recently told him, “If I had known the state of Michigan would do this to me I would have done something else.”
He said Jenkins was aiming to punish the teachers’ union by voting for a bill to stop schools from continuing payroll deductions for union dues.
Jenkins said a financial crisis in state government had to be fixed in order to preserve the education system and other services. For years under Gov. Jennifer Granholm, she said, the state was dealing with budget crises year after year.
“We were making promises we couldn’t afford,” she said. There was a
$48 billion deficit in the teacher pension fund, Jenkins said, a figure almost as large as the entire state budget.
“In order to ensure there is education funding and education support, we have to ensure there is sound budget stability,” she said.
Responding to a question about increasing an employment rate of 17.8 percent for people with disabilities, Jenkins said the overall economy and employment rate have to be improved.
“The public sector is funded by private dollars,” she said. More funding of social programs depends on creating an environment where businesses will expand and employment will grow, she said.
“That’s what I ran on, getting people back to work and the economy moving again,” Jenkins said. “Things are starting to do well,” she said, crediting lower business taxes and fewer regulations.
Berryman said job growth is too slow. Private and public partnerships are needed to create more opportunities for the disabled, he said. Economic development programs he supported as a state senator in the 1990s brought what is now called the Inergy plant to Adrian, he said, and aided a dozen other business projects in the county.
Last year, Berryman said he actively supported a county millage to fund new efforts by the Lenawee Economic Development Corp.
“My opponent refused to come out and support that millage,” Berryman said.
Both said they support maintaining the state’s Medicare program.
Budget changes enacted under Gov. Rick Snyder and Republican leadership have tapped into more federal funds for the program, Jenkins said.
“We are doing what we can to preserve these dollars for Medicare because that’s an important program,” she said.
Berryman said he supports expanding the program by covering an estimated 500,000 more eligible people.
“There’s no people who ought to be left behind,” Berryman said. “If we can afford tax breaks for people at the top, we can certainly afford services for people at the bottom.” | <urn:uuid:49de6a8a-a35f-4e2c-9292-20e6fabd8d5c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lenconnect.com/article/20121006/NEWS/121009641/0/PHOTOGALLERY | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970277 | 829 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Linking that most familiar Philadelphia story - the struggle for American independence and freedom - with the harsh and lesser-known reality of slave-owning founding fathers won't be a stroll in the park.
But it's a story that must be told - especially since it played out within a block of Independence Hall.
The good news is that it's taking shape impressively - if decades late - at Independence National Historical Park. On Wednesday, the latest plans and designs were unveiled for the entrance to the new Liberty Bell exhibit at Sixth and Chestnut Streets.
Both within and just outside the $12.6 million bell pavilion debuting this year, the interwoven historical facts of freedom and slavery will be explored in far greater detail than ever before. (As plans evolve, though, the design should be tweaked to yield less fortress-like structures.)
In the fall, National Park Service officials revealed details of the reworked bell exhibit itself. Visitors are to learn in detail of the old statehouse bell's antislavery link as a symbol adopted by 19th-century abolitionists - once just a passing mention.
This week's presentation to a meeting of 200 people at the African American Museum in Philadelphia portrayed the most troubling historical irony. That is, the fact that both slave and master lived under one roof in a mansion at Fifth and Market Streets.
The slave owner was President George Washington. His captives, eight household slaves. The setting: the nation's first White House in the decade that Philadelphia served as the nation's capital.
Not a story told much, if at all, in the decades since the park's creation. Enter the makeover of Independence Mall, with construction of the new pavilion, a visitor center and the National Constitution Center.
Credit historians, African American activists, and citizens with insisting that the Park Service launch the present effort to "fill in the blanks," as an advisor, Rutgers University history professor Clement A. Price, describes it.
For all their wrongheaded efforts to impose heavy-handed security measures at America's birthplace, Park Service officials have sketched out ambitious ideas for honoring the African American history at the site.
Through outdoor exhibits, murals, and statuary on the site of the Washington house, the Park Service hopes to convey the breadth of black experience in the 18th-century city. With free-born blacks and freed slaves living and working here, setting up the first churches and other institutions, 18th century Philadelphia is viewed by historians as the African American capital of the young nation. Such a rich past deserves retelling today.
In devising the exhibits, the Park Service met a congressional mandate. Now, Congress should pitch in to cover the $4.5 million cost. Teaching all the lessons of America's early years is well worth the expense. | <urn:uuid:6fbe8bc4-d765-48d8-aab1-41af878cb57f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ushistory.org/presidentshouse/news/inq011703.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947328 | 572 | 3.234375 | 3 |
Auxiliary PolicingThe Ontario Provincial Police (OPP) supports a contingent of dedicated civilian volunteers through its Auxiliary Program which receives its mandate from Ontario's Police Services Act.
The Mission Statement of the Auxiliary Program:
"To provide fully trained volunteer Auxiliary members to assist in the delivery of traffic safety and community-based crime prevention initiatives and; to perform police duties only in special circumstances, including an emergency that the police officers of the OPP are not sufficiently numerous to deal with."
An Executive Committee comprised of senior Auxiliary officers, commissioned officers and representation from the Commissioned Officers Association and the Ontario Provincial Police Association administers the Provincial Auxiliary Program.
Members of the Auxiliary have no police authority/power and must rely on the same arrest provisions afforded regular citizens.
The Police Services Act does, however, provide for instances when the Auxiliary Member may have the authority of a Police Officer. This can occur in an emergency situation where the OPP requires additional strength to cope with a special occasion or event.
Being a volunteer with the OPP Auxiliary allows citizens the opportunity of experiencing first hand both the excitement and challenges as well as the routine and the uneventful in any tour of police duty. | <urn:uuid:0c19a928-a5bd-4fac-ac86-fbeb0764fc57> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opp.ca/ecms/index.php?t=31&id=7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946286 | 249 | 1.867188 | 2 |
One day I was walkingt home from school, I was on my block when I saw a cat lying on the side of the street. The funny thing is is the cat was my best friend Jeff's cat. I walked over to pet him and he got up and started walking away. I followed him and he went out behind a really big castle. On the back lawn of the castle was two bunny rabbits. Jeff's cat Fred had to walk through the woods to go say hi to his friend the Bunny rabbit. The whole time I was following he had no idea. While I was walking through the woods I ran into a bees nest. I got stung five times OUCH! I was trying to hold back from saying ouch. I decided to hang back in the woods and watch. I saw Fred start digging at the ground and the a button revealed. He pressed his paw on the button a secret door popped up. It said Cat castle and the the two bunnies and Fred were greeted at the door by about one million cats.
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Do you have another interpretation of the story behind these pictures? Add it to the collection as a new story! | <urn:uuid:35fa6919-9693-4f66-8f4a-17d834028cc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://5card.cogdogblog.com/show.php?id=1372 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988563 | 279 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Surah / Chapter
Surat Ar-Rūm (The Romans) - سورة الروم
Sahih InternationalThey know what is apparent of the worldly life, but they, of the Hereafter, are unaware.
Sahih InternationalDo they not contemplate within themselves? Allah has not created the heavens and the earth and what is between them except in truth and for a specified term. And indeed, many of the people, in [the matter of] the meeting with their Lord, are disbelievers.
Sahih InternationalHave they not traveled through the earth and observed how was the end of those before them? They were greater than them in power, and they plowed the earth and built it up more than they have built it up, and their messengers came to them with clear evidences. And Allah would not ever have wronged them, but they were wronging themselves.
Sahih InternationalThen the end of those who did evil was the worst [consequence] because they denied the signs of Allah and used to ridicule them.
Sahih InternationalAllah begins creation; then He will repeat it; then to Him you will be returned. | <urn:uuid:d0ecaefd-f6a2-46fe-b46b-7229334b7f33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://quran.com/30/7-13 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974691 | 240 | 1.867188 | 2 |
NEW YORKA regimen of twice-weekly gemcitabine(Drug information on gemcitabine) (Gemzar) plus radiation therapy in patients with unresectable pancreatic cancer appears promising, according to results of a phase I dose escalation study presented at the Chemotherapy Foundation Symposium XVII. The twice-weekly delivery may be more cytotoxic than standard once-weekly dosing, and gemcitabine may act as a radiation sensitizer, said A. William Blackstock, MD, assistant professor of Radiation Oncology, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, NC.
Laboratory studies have confirmed that gemcitabine is a potent radiation sensitizer, and ongoing studies of the gemcitabine-radiation interaction are expected to shed more light on the underlying mechanism, he said.
In this study, Dr. Blackstock and his colleagues escalated gemcitabine from 20 mg/m² to a maximum tolerated dose of 60 mg/m². The agent was given as a 30-minute IV infusion each Monday and Thursday for 5 weeks concurrent with 50.4 Gy of radiation delivered over the course of 5 days. The optimal schedule was to give gemcitabine within 72 hours of delivery of radiation. Dose-limiting toxicities were nausea and vomiting, neutropenia, and thrombocytopenia.
At 40 mg/m², the regimen was well tolerated, although thrombocytopenia frequently necessitated a break in treatment during the third week. Median survival in the 19-patient group was an encouraging 12.3 months, Dr. Blackstock said.
Based on these findings, a phase II trial has been initiated through the Cancer and Leukemia Group B (CALGB) to evaluate the efficacy of twice-weekly gemcitabine plus radiation in locally advanced unresectable pancreatic cancer. A second phase II study is looking at the same approach as adjuvant therapy following surgery in resectable pancreatic cancer. | <urn:uuid:584b8d3e-954f-4004-9d59-f7cd7152a3d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cancernetwork.com/news/display/article/10165/97628 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924664 | 414 | 1.757813 | 2 |
I am confused with the uses of "ahí", "allí" and "allá".
It seems they are used according to different situations.
Could you please tell me what are the differences and provide some examples?
As far as I know, there are no strong differences between those words, at least in spoken language. There might be tiny differences according to the dictionary, but here are a few examples of their use, at least uses I can think of:
This can be explained with the three grades of demonstratives and of verbal persons:
The acá and allá versions are less precise. You might in English say over here or around there. Por acá is around here, por allá is over there somewhere. There is no *ahá version for euphonious reasons; people use por ahí to mean out there somewhere, as though it were the -á version of the middle (2ª persona) degree. | <urn:uuid:29f96678-e394-4939-aab3-8593406a35b7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://spanish.stackexchange.com/questions/1728/differences-betwen-ahi-alli-y-alla/1732 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965921 | 194 | 2.796875 | 3 |
The Shadow Of Newtown
There used to be a small gravestone on Burial Hill in Plymouth, Massachusetts (my family's hometown) marking the final resting place of F.W. Jackson, who died on March 23, 1799 aged one year and seven days. The inscription read,
Heaven knows what man he might have been,
But we know he died a most rare boy.
That couplet captures the saddest aspect of the mass shooting at Newtown, Connecticut on December 14 that claimed the lives of 20 children and seven adults: all the things that might have been, the lives that will not be lived. The little souls lost that day will never marry, or have their own children, or comfort their parents in old age. Their loved ones can never fully recover what has been lost.
I will be traveling to Plymouth during the holiday season to be with my mother, who family members tell me is rapidly approaching the end of her own life. However, I will not feel the despair that parents in Newtown are feeling in this holiday season, because my mother is 94; she has outlived almost all of her contemporaries, and outperformed most of them. If she dies today -- the anniversary of my father's death -- she will still be one of the lucky ones, who led a long life full of happy moments and major achievements.
The same cannot be said of her father, who killed himself at a much earlier age with a gun. That probably explains why there are no guns in my mother's house, even though my own father -- a lifetime member of the National Rifle Association -- collected them up to the day he died. Which brings me back to Newtown, and the shadow it casts over a holiday season that is supposed to be about joy.
We cannot organize our society on the basis of what we fear the craziest or most desperate person among us might do in any given situation. America's success is grounded, in large measure, in the willingness of its citizens to take risks. My mother took such a risk during World War Two when she joined the Army, and if she hadn't she never would have met my father. We have to accept that risk is an inevitable part of life, and cannot be avoided if we wish to accomplish anything worth doing.
However, there is a difference between prudent, necessary risks, and risks that do not need to be taken. It is prudent and necessary to let people own weapons that might be used to protect their homes and families. It is not prudent or necessary to allow anyone to own an assault weapon or magazine capable of holding over a dozen bullets. In a population as big and diverse as ours, easy access to semi-automatic weapons is an invitation to continuous tragedy.
Individual homeowners can decide whether they need a handgun or rifle to defend themselves; but we as a society ought to recognize that nobody really needs a Bushmaster for their safety. Removing those guns from our midst will reduce -- not eliminate, but reduce -- the likelihood of further mass killings, and make it more likely that our children can lead the kind of productive, rewarding life that my mother has. | <urn:uuid:3f938b4c-51ff-4d0c-bd2b-d3e63226dc68> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lexingtoninstitute.org/the-shadow-of-newtown?a=1&c=1171 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973064 | 633 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Among the attractions in my life is a good view. On a clear day, I can stand on my balcony and trace the line of the Jordan River in the Valley ten or so miles to the east, and see the buildings of Amman on the Mountains of Moab 15 miles further to the east.
In recent days, I've seen the construction of Israel's security barrier about a mile from me. If good fences make good neighbors, this may improve the quality of our life.
Israel has been building a barrier between it and the West Bank for eight years. It currently bends and twists for more than 700 kilometers, about 60 percent completed. Less of its planned route has been finished in the area of Jerusalem.
Construction began in the high-casualty years of 2002 when 457 Israelis were killed by Palestinian suicide bombers and other acts of terror. The barrier's advocates credit it with helping to reduce the deaths to an annual average of 26 in 2006-08.
There is now a bit of the wall going north from the road to the Jordan Valley. Other sections that we see from our neighborhood are several kilometers in overall length, but include gaps between what has been built.
Some of the delay and gaps reflect legal challenges mounted by Palestinians who protest land being taken for the barrier, or the inconvenience it causes for their travel between areas of the West Bank or into Israel. Much of the barrier is close to the armistice line that prevailed from 1948 to 1967, with variations to include major Jewish settlements close to that line. Lack of completion also reflects ambivalence about the barrier, and the lack of desire to spend huge sums all at once on a project that may not be all that effective.
Skeptics admit that the barrier has added to the problems of Palestinians from some areas to enter Israel. However, a quarter million Palestinians will be on the Israeli side of the barrier in Jerusalem. Recent shootings and rampaging heavy equipment have been the work of Jerusalem's Arabs.
To the left of the road to the Jordan Valley is Anata. It is outside the municipality of Jerusalem, and meant to be on the other side of the barrier. To the right of the road is the Arab neighborhood of Isaweea. It is part of Jerusalem, and will be on our side of the barrier. Its residents drive through our neighborhood of French Hill, and some of the boys from Isaweea play soccer in the school yard right alongside these fingers.
Arab friends have advised me not to visit Isaweea. Police observers have photographed the area from the roof of our building. Occasionally we see police check points on the road, and read of violence nipped in the bud, or traced to Isaweea..
The best explanation of the reduced carnage may be Palestinian fatigue. There are also some 12,000 Palestinians in Israel's security prisons, most of them seized since the onset of the intifada in 2000, and about 5,000 Palestinians in cemeteries due to the work of Israeli security forces. The Palestinians killed and captured have come disproportionately from the leaders and activists of the violence. There may be no shortage of Palestinians willing to replace them, but the overall quality and intensity of potential terrorists have declined.
Israel has invested heavily in intelligence, and frequently enters the West Bank for a short time in order to seize people wanted for questioning or incarceration. Palestinians still intent on doing us harm must evade that intelligence, even before they set off for one of the gaps in the barrier.
I welcome comments sent to my e-mail address, below.
Ira Sharkansky (Emeritus)
Department of Political Science | <urn:uuid:5554cb2f-a899-49a0-b187-c2450c01c7fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.usefulwork.com/shark/archives/012872.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95542 | 740 | 1.914063 | 2 |
(Courtesy of York)
It may surprise you to learn that the air inside your home can be up to three times as polluted as the air outside. Learn how ventilation systems, humidifiers and air cleaners can improve your home's indoor air quality (IAQ).
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Your home's thermostat may have a lot to say about your comfort and your heating and cooling costs - literally. Learn about the innovative, programmable "Talking Thermostat." | <urn:uuid:2ef1f4eb-6d52-48f9-85aa-03478fa57ed2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newhomesource.com/chroniclehomes/HomeGuideCategory/category-Product-Manufacturers/subcategory-York/categoryid-12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923168 | 96 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Construction of Scripps Pier 1916 Photo: SIO Archives
Ellen Browning Scripps Memorial PierYear Built: 1987-1988
Architect: Ferver Engineering
Construction firm: Kiewit Pacific Company
Named for: Ellen Browning Scripps (1836-1932), the most significant donor to the institution in its formative years. Born in London, Ellen emigrated to the United States with her father in 1844, and grew up on a farm in Illinois. She attended Knox College in Illinois. In 1866, she joined her brother James in his newspaper business, and later she worked with her younger half-brother E.W. Scripps in his newspaper business. E.W. settled in the San Diego area about 1890, and Ellen built a house in La Jolla soon after that. Never married, and wealthy from funds derived from the family newspaper businesses and from inheritance from another brother George, she became a major benefactor in La Jolla and elsewhere. In its earliest years, Ellen provided generous funds for the Marine Biological Association, served on its board, and gave it a large endowment. An unassuming person, she preferred that the institution be named for her brother George, but the University of California chose the overall Scripps surname in 1912. Finally, in 1988, the pier was named for this remarkable woman, whose biography was recounted at the dedication ceremony by her grand-niece Ellen Clark Revelle.
The new Scripps PierThe original Scripps Pier, built in 1915-1916, was a 1,000-foot-long facility for acquiring clean seawater for the campus laboratories and the public aquarium. Ellen Browning Scripps provided all of the money ($36,000) for its construction. That structure well built for its day, of reinforced concrete pilings and a wooden deck survived many years and storms, but extensive repairs were made to it in 1926 and 1946. Major concerns about the soundness of the old pier finally led to its total replacement. The new one, which is 1,090 feet long, was built of reinforced concrete alongside the original pier, which was then removed.
As one of the world's biggest research piers, it is used for boat launching and a variety of experiments. Data on ocean conditions and plankton taken from the pier since 1915 provide an unparalleled source of information on changes in the coastal Pacific Ocean. The pier also provides a supply of fresh seawater, a critical resource for a marine institution, to an array of laboratories and aquaria. Seawater is pumped up from the end of the pier, then filtered and stored in holding tanks. Scripps pumps about 1.8 million gallons of seawater each day.
Halfway down the ramp north of the pier is the Diving Facility, used since 1958 by Scripps divers to house their compressors and equipment for recharging scuba tanks and as a site for inspection and maintenance of diving equipment. The training program for scientists using underwater breathing apparatus began at Scripps in 1951; it is the oldest program of that kind in the country, and has established many of the rules for safe diving with underwater equipment. | <urn:uuid:7df067fe-ebc3-4217-af67-9a47150434fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sio.ucsd.edu/About/Scripps_Overview/History/Scripps_Pier/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962899 | 650 | 2.53125 | 3 |
“I love you, Jacqueline!” I cried. “And you—you?”
She thrust her hands out and turned her face away. There was an awful fear upon it. “Paul,” she cried, “there is—somebody—who——
“I have known that,” she went on in a torrent of wild words. “I have known that always, and it is the most terrible part of all!”
I laid a finger on her lips.
“There is nobody, Jacqueline,” I said again, trying to control my trembling voice. “He was another delirium of the night, a fantom of your illness, dear. There was never anybody but me, and there shall never be. For to-morrow we shall turn back toward St. Boniface again, and we shall take the boat for Quebec—and from there I shall take you to a land where there shall be no more grief, neither——”
I broke off suddenly. What had I said? My words—why, the devil had been quoting Scripture again! The bathos of it! My sacred task forgotten and honour thrown to the winds, and Jacqueline helpless there! I hung my head in misery and shame.
But very sweetly she raised hers and spoke to me.
“Paul, dear, if there never was anyone—if it is nothing but a dream——” Here she looked at me with doubtful scrutiny in her eyes, and then hastened to make amends for doubting me. “Of course, Paul, if there had been you could not have known. But though I know my heart is free—if there was nobody—why, let us go forward to my father’s home, because there will be no cause there to separate us, my dear. So let us go on.”
“Yes, let us go on,” I muttered dully.
But when the issue came I knew that I would let no man stand between us.
“And some day I am going to tell you everything I know, and you shall tell me,” she said. “But to-night we have each other, and will not think of unhappy things—nor ever till the time comes.”
She leaned back against my shoulder and held out her hands to the fire-light. She had taken off her left glove, and now again I saw the wedding-ring upon her finger.
She was asleep. I drew her head down on my knees and spread my coat around her, and let her rest there. She was happy again in sleep, as her nature was to be always. But, though I held her as she held my heart, my soul seemed dead, and I waited sleepless and heard only the whining of the heavy wind and scurry of the blown snow.
The wolf still howled from afar, but the dogs only whimpered in answer among the trees, where they had withdrawn.
At last I raised her in my arms and carried her inside the tent. She did not waken, but only stirred and murmured my name drowsily. I stood outside the tent and listened to her soft breathing.
How helpless she was! How trusting!
That turned the battle. I loved her madly, but never again dare I breathe a word of love to her so long as that shadow obscured her mind. But if sunlight succeeded shadow—— | <urn:uuid:9c5f2ecb-836b-4538-857b-b5276d6091a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/16771/41.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983195 | 728 | 1.546875 | 2 |
By S. Pajot
By Tim Elfrink
By Tim Elfrink
By Kyle Munzenrieder
By Tim Elfrink
By Michael E. Miller
By Kyle Munzenrieder
By Kyle Munzenrieder
Every woman has her breaking point. Amy Gerstenfeld's arrived at the crowning moment of her wedding vows. As her family and friends sat gathered before her on Memorial Day weekend inside a banquet room at South Beach's Loews Hotel, she listened solemnly to her rabbi pose that all-important question. Then she turned to her fiancé, Robert, and softly said, "I do." The newlywed couple paused, savoring the moment before the groom crushed a glass beneath his foot, a Jewish tradition that stands as the final consecration of the marital bond. What occurred next, however, was not in the Torah.
Loudspeakers in the room and throughout the hotel suddenly blared to life: "IF YOU ARE NOT A GUEST OF THE HOTEL, PLEASE EVACUATE THE LOBBY!"
"I literally almost fainted," Gerstenfeld recalls. "I just stood there numb, in complete shock, with my mouth wide open until the end of the ceremony. Finally we walked back to where no else could see us and I completely lost it."
Meanwhile several confused wedding guests began complaining of burning eyes and sore throats, the apparent effects of clouds of pepper spray being discharged by hotel security in the adjoining lobby, where one onlooker described a "near-riot situation" in progress. (A spokesman for the Loews did not return calls for comment.)
A month after that weekend, which saw upward of 200,000 predominantly young black partiers converge on South Beach, the city is still reeling, engulfed in bitter recriminations of civic neglect and counteraccusations of racism on the part of locals. Media accounts have largely centered on questions of law enforcement, turmoil in the streets, and coded examinations of hip-hop music (it was the critical-massing of hip-hop's glitterati that served as the main draw for many out-of-towners). Yet the reason that weekend still dominates local conversation centers on a more overarching question: What is the future of South Beach?
The Loews Hotel incident merely offers a dramatic example of two starkly different visions colliding with each other -- literally. "I could've bought a house with the money I spent on the wedding," Gerstenfeld freely admits of her sumptuously catered affair, which filled 70 pricey hotel rooms with guests from New York. "I grew up in Miami, and I used to go to South Beach every weekend. It's a stylish, upscale, unique collection of personalities. Sure there was drugs and partying, but in a classy way." She catches herself and begins laughing: "If you can put those two words -- drugs and class -- together." That, no doubt, is music to the ears of the real-estate developers, hoteliers, restaurateurs, and nightclub magnates who have actively conspired to burnish the Beach's international reputation as the so-called American Riviera.
This same group, though, is alarmed at the prospect of their sun-bleached playground morphing into what George Clinton once imagined as Chocolate City. In their eyes, a Jay-Z video sprung to life along Collins Avenue may be a lot of fun, and may even provide some short-term profits. But if these thong-clad arrivistes are going to send the Amy Gerstenfelds of the world packing off to the Hamptons, never to return, it spells financial ruin.
"I would like notto concentrate on the issues of this past weekend," gingerly declared the Miami Beach Planning Board's Mel Schlesser as he opened a special workshop session Tuesday, May 29. Which, of course, ensured that Memorial Day weekend would dominate the meeting.
A standing-room-only audience of residents, Beach commissioners, police officers, nightclub owners rarely spotted moving at the ungodly hour of 1:00 p.m., and no less than six television news crews all stood by expectantly, waiting for answers. What they got was Steve Polisar, a well-known local attorney and self-described expert on the entertainment industry.
"The sky is not falling despite Chicken Little running around," Polisar announced, and then began a rambling speech on just what city hall needed to do. Or rather notdo. After he'd droned on for what seemed an eternity, Schlesser broke in. Are there too many clubs oversaturating the market? asked Schlesser, a prominent Miami Beach developer. How do we retain high rollers? Is the development of downtown Miami's nightlife a factor? And what about the prior weekend's turmoil -- how do we avoid a repeat?
"Let the market decide," Polisar intoned in response, as if uttering a Zen mantra from on high. At this point several of Polisar's own nightclub clients in the audience became audibly distressed at their lawyer's apparent failure to grasp the gravity of the situation, or at the very least to sound coherent. Finally, as Polisar turned his attention to the nightclub Chaos, several exasperated voices in the crowd cried out: "Chaos is closed!"reminding the flummoxed attorney that the once A-list establishment had changed owners, names, and customer bases nearly a year earlier.
It was an exchange that seemed to capture the current mood of the Beach's old guard: perplexed by the growing scarcity of the "high-end clientele" that once considered the area their grazing spot of choice and aggrieved at what they deem a lack of action to stem its receding tide. To put a fashionista spin on Pete Seeger: Where have all the models gone? Michael Tronn, co-promoter of Anthem, the popular Sunday-night gay shindig at crobar, wondered aloud about the city's lack of direction. "You take a slum, throw in some fashion people, some gay people -- and ten years later you have a Gap and Banana Republic," he concluded in puzzlement. "Why do you think Madonna sold her [Miami] house?"
Accordingly there was plenty of loaded symbolism as news broke two weeks later that come August, theSource magazine would be staging its annual Hip-Hop Music Awards at the Jackie Gleason Theater. Ted Lucas, president of Miami's own Slip 'N Slide Records (home to Trick Daddy, Trina, and Iconz), excitedly announced to the Sun-Sentinel: "I'm going to have the biggest party the Beach has ever seen, [even] if I have to have it outside in the streets."
That kind of promise (or threat, some would say) only helped fuel fears of a Memorial Day redux. Indeed one of the chief reasons the Sourceawards show relocated from Pasadena, California, was an effort to avoid a repeat of last year's embarrassing spectacle wherein slugfests in the audience led police to clear the hall and cut short the affair barely halfway through its program. With that in mind, reporters searched in vain for a comment from Miami Beach Mayor Neisen Kasdin and City Manager Jorge Gonzalez.
Both men were unavailable, having traveled across the Atlantic to Switzerland, where they were celebrating their capture of a very different sort of high-profile show. The Art Basel fair was finally set to arrive at the Miami Beach Convention Center in December, in no small part because of Kasdin's wooing over the past few years. With its Swiss parent expected to gross $250 to $300 million in art sales this year, even a small slice of that pie (not to mention its jet-setting clientele, for whom a six-figure painting is a leisure purchase) would be welcome relief to an increasingly jittery local business community.
So can the American Riviera and Chocolate City coexist? Of course, says Sourceeditor-in-chief Carlito Rodriguez. Whatever problems occurred over Memorial Day weekend were simply the result of a handful of individuals pumped up on "testosterone and alcohol," he explains. "Nobody wants a repeat of anything negative. We're going to do whatever we can to prevent any nonsense," Rodriguez adds, citing meetings this past Monday with Mayors Kasdin and Alex Penelas, as well as members of the Miami Beach police force.
In the end the controversy over hip-hop on the Beach will be resolved not by issues black and white, but rather green. As witnessed by the imminent arrival of the Latin Grammys, corporate poobahs of the record industry may be able to accomplish in Miami what decades of brave activism could not. When faced with the loss of an estimated $35 million should the city spurn the Grammys and its possible inclusion of heathen Cubans, el exilio's leadership finally dragged itself kicking and screaming out of the Cold War.
"Money is the bottom line," Rodriguez agrees, warming to the topic. "So all these people saying hip-hop events are never going to happen on Miami Beach -- the chamber of commerce, hotel owners, and whatnot -- are all eventually going to turn around and say, 'Fuck it! Okay, we'll take the money,' because they see the potential behind it. If you want to get into economics, the awards show is in August, the off season. Nobody wants to come to Miami in August!"
So greed will help everyone overcome prejudice?
"That'd be ironic," Rodriguez laughs, "but it would be all right."
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Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city | <urn:uuid:dc8fd559-24b0-4d58-98da-faa80f7362cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.miaminewtimes.com/2001-06-28/news/the-color-of-hip-hop/full/ | 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 | 0.958559 | 2,027 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Have you suffered abuse by the hands of another? October is National Domestic Abuse Awareness month, and on today's program, you’ll hear how one woman was set free from the pain of her past as God healed her deep wounds from the abuse she suffered at the hands of her father and a close family friend.
Why are boundaries so important? Do children really want limits set on their behavior? Is it okay to spank my child, or will it lead him to hit others and become a violent person? Join the millions of caring parents who have found much-needed answers to their questions in the wisdom of parenting expert and family counselor Dr. James Dobson. The New Dare to Discipline is a revised and updated edition of the classic bestseller, designed to help you lead your children through the tough job of growing up. This practical, reassuring guide will teach you how to meet your children’s needs of love, trust, affection — and discipline. | <urn:uuid:8e159f72-551c-430a-b07f-0cbb688aa0a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oneplace.com/ministries/family-talk/player/overcoming-the-shame-of-the-past-ii-228868.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967482 | 194 | 1.515625 | 2 |