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By Carol Dreibelbis
A landmark study published recently by the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture and Food Security surveyed over 700 farming households in East Africa about how they are coping with climate change. Researchers set out to answer the seemingly simple question, “Are households that are more innovative more likely to be food secure than less-innovative farming households?”
According to the report, more than half of all households surveyed made innovative agricultural changes over the past decade. These farmers have been adopting a wide variety of strategies and technologies to protect against heat, water scarcity, eroding landscapes, depletion of soil nutrients, and other factors that can decrease yields and increase food insecurity. For instance, 55 percent of households planted one faster-maturing crop variety, while 56 percent planted one drought-tolerant variety; at the same time, 50 percent of households took up agroforestry, or incorporated tree crops into a farming system; 50 percent introduced intercropping, or planting multiple crops in a small space; and 25 percent used crop rotation techniques.
But even as these farmers were willing to embrace certain farming strategies and technologies, the report shows that there is a limit to the innovation taking place. Many yield-boosting strategies have yet to take hold in these villages. Only 25 percent of farmers used manure or compost to improve soil fertility; only 16 percent of households used terracing, ridge-building, or other soil management techniques to conserve water; and only one-third of households in Ethiopia and one-fifth in Tanzania are taking steps to manage pasturelands to better support livestock. All in all, most households made minor, non-transformational changes to their farming practices.
Patti Kristjanson, one of the study co-leaders, explains that “for generations, farmers and livestock keepers in East Africa have survived high levels of weather variability by testing and adopting new farming practices. As this variability increases, rainfall patterns shift, and average temperatures rise due to climate change, they may need to change faster and more extensively.” So what is keeping these farmers from making more dramatic changes?
The study found that food insecurity is a key obstacle to innovation. As might be expected, households that struggle to feed themselves are not in a strong position to innovate. Unfortunately, the study was unable to determine the direction of causality in this relationship—in other words, it is unclear whether food insecurity results in decreased innovation, or whether limited innovation results in food insecurity.
Given that small-scale farmers in the developing world are particularly vulnerable to the weather and ecological changes associated with climate change, such as decreased rainfall or wider temperature variation, future research to better understand the relationship between innovation and food security will be crucial.
What agricultural innovations are effective for coping with the effects of climate change in your experience? What are the biggest barriers to their implementation? Please let us know in the comments.
Carol Dreibelbis is a research intern with the Nourishing the Planet project.
To purchase State of the World 2011: Innovations that Nourish the Planet please click HERE.
- Climate Change Leads to Disrupted Migration and Conflict for Pastoralists in East Africa
- Kenyan Professor Promotes Indigenous Food to Solve Climate Change Food Crisis
- Climate Change Exacerbates Scarcity in Already Food Insecure Regions
- What Works: Farmers Adapting to Climate Change
- World Scientists Tackle Food Insecurity
- Traditional Food Crops Provide Community Resilience in Face of Climate Change
- At Agriculture & Rural Development Day, Agricultural Solutions to Climate Change and Food Security
- Indigenous Farming Methods: Mitigating the Effects of Climate Change While Boosting Food Production | <urn:uuid:64d8c0f5-1334-4ef2-8822-62f77c177a15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.worldwatch.org/nourishingtheplanet/coping-with-climate-change-and-food-insecurity-in-east-africa/ | 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 | 0.924489 | 750 | 3.34375 | 3 |
It's time to read and vote for your favorite article in the 2013 Write-Off Contest! The four finalist's articles are featured in the May 13 newsletter and can be found through this link. Hurry! Voting ends May 18.
You've found the famous Dave's Garden website! Join this friendly global community that shares tips and ideas for home and gardens, along with seeds and plants!
Check out the DG homepage for a brief overview of what you'll find in this gardening mega-site.
I think these are what us country boys used to call mae pops (or may pops). When I was young they grew in every ditch in and around Opelika, Al. They would form a soft pod and we would use these pods as if they were snowballs to battle other kids in the neighborhood. I can't remember the time of year but it was while school was in progress because as soon as I got off the school bus we would head to the ditches to get the pods to throw as we walked the rest of the way home. The state of Tn. has a web site and I found the passion vine and the m?? pop listed as the same and it (they ) being the state flower. Didn't mean to go way back in time but couldn't help myself. Jim
Thank you all for the help you have given me, plus the link to a site was great. Now, let me try to clear something up. The leaves on the blue passiflora has heart-shaped leaves. I have tons of the maypops growing all around here and they have the tri-lobed leaves(and you are right, the one next to the plant in question is a maypop. Although you can't see it very well, the bloom on the one with heart-shaped leaves is a totally dark purple, small band of white and then the beautiful blue. I'll try later to get more pictures in which I'll separate the pots so they'll show up better. It is so crowded in front of my green house, I have a path to barely walk though, lol,; I promise though that if I am lucky, I'll have it cleared up to where I can post a few neat pics of the different plants I have. I always feel I can get answers to my many questions on this site and you all are really great. Thanks again, | <urn:uuid:0ebd47d0-59b3-40ab-9956-67c24f73dc87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://davesgarden.com/community/forums/t/45464/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98261 | 488 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The Invisible Saviour
Once, a little boy named James saw that many mangoes had fallen from the mango trees in the public garden near his home. There had been a huge storm the previous night. With his mother's permission he went to gather some mangoes. No sooner had he begun, a big storm struck again. Rain came pouring down. Lightning split the sky and thunder rumbled overhead.
James was terrified. He remembered his mother's advice and started chanting (repeating God's name). He ran under a mango tree to find shelter. Soon though, he felt that someone was calling out to him from nearby. He tried to listen over the sound of the pouring rain and again there it was, "James! James!" He looked around but saw no one. The whole garden was deserted. He was surprised that he could not see the person who was calling out to him although the person seemed to be very near. He heard the voice again, and chanting the Lord's name he ran out from his "shelter" into the rain, to look for the person who had called him.
He had not gone fifty-sixty feet from the tree, when a streak of lightning flashed down, followed by a loud crash. It struck the mango tree under which he had taken shelter. The tree was completely burnt.
The storm finally subsided and James began to walk back home. After covering a little distance, he saw a lady and a little toddler playing in the garden with a small dog. He asked her, "Did you call me earlier?" The lady smiled and answered, "No, I did not. I did call my son, James, who is playing with his dog." Once again, she called her son and told him not to go too far.
Now James realised that God had saved his life. He thanked God and returned home, wet, shaken and repeating God's name in a tone of gratitude. He noticed that his faith had increased. He hugged his mother and narrated the incident to her. His mother led him to the altar and they knelt and said a prayer of gratitude unto Lord Jesus.
Moral: This story shows that since God alone knows all, only He can protect us in situations, where we do not even know of any danger. To get this protection and love from God, our invisible Saviour, we all can learn to chant and pray like James did. To start, we can chant God's Name as per our religion and 'Om Gan Ganapataye namaha' daily for 15 minutes each. We can also pray and chant before getting out of bed each morning, going to bed each night, while waiting for the school bus, walking, eating and so on.
Copyright © 2009 Forum for Hindu Awakening All Rights Reserved.
No part of this website may be reproduced in any form.
No picture or text may be duplicated or copied without the express
written permission of the editor of the Forum for Hindu Awakening. | <urn:uuid:b5b25de5-af36-4f7d-aeb6-c00318c3a49c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.forumforhinduawakening.org/understanding/stories/the-invisible-savior | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985352 | 610 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Steps towards human-level AI
A confluence of three factors is changing the kinds of AI experiments that can be done: (1) increasing computational power, (2) off-the-shelf representational resources, and (3) steady scientific progress, both in AI and in other areas of Cognitive Science. Consequently, I believe it is time for the field to spend more of its energy experimenting with larger-scale systems, and attempting to capture larger constellations of human cognitive abilities. This talk will summarize experiments with two larger-scale systems we have built at Northwestern: (1) Learning to solve AP Physics problems, in the Companions cognitive architecture. In an evaluation conducted by the Educational Testing Service, a Companion showed it was able to transfer knowledge across multiple types of variant problems. (2) Learning by reading, using the Learning Reader prototype. Learning Reader includes a novel process, rumination, where the system improves its learning by asking itself questions about material it has read.
Kenneth D. Forbus is the Walter P. Murphy Professor of Computer Science and Professor of Education at Northwestern University. His research interests include qualitative reasoning, analogy and similarity, sketch understanding, spatial reasoning, cognitive simulation, reasoning system design, articulate educational software, and the use of AI in computer gaming. He received his degrees from MIT (Ph.D. in 1984). He is a Fellow of the American Association for Artificial Intelligence, the Cognitive Science Society, and the Association for Computing Machinery. He serves on the editorial boards of Cognitive Science, the AAAI Press, and on the Advisory Board of the Journal of Game Development. | <urn:uuid:cadf11ca-c850-4b76-94c6-754d65bc8b8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cs.cmu.edu/~iseminar/speakers/ken_forbus.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 | 0.940725 | 328 | 2.53125 | 3 |
QUEENSTOWN'S local doctor in 1950 delivered 360 babies.
Only four babies were delivered last year on the entire West Coast, and that is because their mothers could not make it to Burnie on time.
There is no vet on the West Coast, no permanent GPs, agency nurses fly in to fill jobs at the hospitals, school enrolments are falling, houses sit empty, shops are closing and students are forced to leave to complete years 11 and 12.
Elderly people also are forced to leave and move to larger areas because of a lack of aged care.
Its dwindling population often wonder if other Tasmanians, who enjoy the wealth the region's mines create, have forgotten about them.
Mining contributed more than half of the State's gross export income last year, and the Government received $50.3 million in royalties from mining companies.
As the multi-million dollar redevelopment of Hobart's waterfront continues, West Coast Mayor Darryl Gerrity fears for his region's future.
"In Tasmania's capital, people are besotted with ice-skating rinks and cable cars, but we need to ask where that money is coming from," Cr Gerrity said.
"Down here we are struggling to provide basic services.
"If nothing happens to avert population decline in the next 25 years, the State and Federal governments will have a gigantic social and financial crisis," he said.
The population bleed is speeding up. Fifty years ago there were 20,000 people in the region.
The population has now dropped to fewer than 6000 with 600 people lost in the past decade. More than half of those moved out in the five years between 2006 and 2011.
The region is in a Catch 22 situation people will not relocate with families if there are not enough services, but these services cannot be provided without money that comes from a stable rates base and population growth.
Local families have been replaced by drive-in, drive-out workers.
These days six out of every 10 miners on the West Coast live either elsewhere in Tasmania or in Victoria. Just 20 years ago, 99.9 per cent of the workers both lived and worked in Queenstown, Rosebery and Zeehan.
Fewer than 2000 of the 2971 total dwellings in the West Coast municipality are rateable properties.
Cr Gerrity -- who was born in Queenstown -- says the drive-in, drive out trend is now spreading to the fish farms in Macquarie Harbour, which have recently been given approval to expand.
He recently told a Federal Government inquiry into fly-in, fly-out mining workforces about the region's woes. The inquiry listened and he has been asked to provide more information.
In his submission, Cr Gerrity says in the past mining companies built towns, a pool, ovals, halls, supplied housing and health needs, and supported the town's many clubs.
"Now that support has diminished or disappeared completely, but the cost of maintaining these facilities has come back to council," he said.
Mining companies built three swimming pools on the West Coast. It now costs the council $450,000 a year to maintain them. The companies also built community halls, which cost $150 an hour to heat.
Cr Gerrity says introducing a new tax zone allowance of $10,000 a year could be the first step in turning the population situation around.
Unlike the remote mining areas of WA and Queensland, people working on Tasmania's West Coast currently receive $57 a year in tax zone allowance the price of a carton of beer.
"I believe our proposal for a $10,000 zone taxation benefit would assist to reverse population decline and should be trialled as a pilot scheme for five to 10 years," he told the parliamentary inquiry.
"An increased zone allowance would help people come and bring their families, and live and work on the West Coast. That is not only miners; that would be nurses, doctors, teachers and other professionals that would go out into regional Tasmania."
Cr Gerrity hopes the interest being shown by the inquiry could be a turning point.
"At least they are listening. Hobart does not care about us. We get officials here on junkets, but that is it," he said.
He says funding from both State and Federal governments was lacking and promises often broken.
He wrote to all political parties in 2009 asking that 25 per cent of the royalties paid to the State Government each year be returned.
He got no answer.
Cr Gerrity says the region was dudded during the Helsham inquiry and when dam compensation funds were handed out.
More recently funds pledged for the West Coast have been diverted into other projects.
"We had $10 million for the Mt Lyell mediation project. Mt Lyell was the largest copper mine in the world at one stage, but it has heavily polluted the Queen and King rivers and Macquarie Harbour," Cr Gerrity said.
"We got $10 million to clean it up. Nine tonnes of copper a day, 22 tonnes of aluminium and 50 tonnes of iron all go down this river in solution. They were going to mine this solution out, use it and sell it, and also sell the technology because there are 60,000 mines throughout the world screaming out for this technology.
"But the federal Environment Minister took the $8 million that was left and gave it to the Tasmanian Fox Eradication Taskforce."
Cr Gerrity has never received an answer about when, and if, that might be replaced, despite writing letters to Environment Minister Tony Burke.
An election promise to upgrade the rail line carrying ore from the West Coast to Burnie has stalled and funds earmarked for that diverted to the Midland Highway. | <urn:uuid:7e818de6-bd8c-473d-9a0f-e6ffad9294d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.themercury.com.au/article/2012/08/19/354611_todays-news.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97487 | 1,179 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Since the Sandy Hook Elementary massacre in Newtown, Conn., last December, and even more recently, the 5-year-old Alabama boy snatched from a school bus and held captive for a week, schools have been at a heightened state of security – and rightly so.
Sylacauga Students Services Coordinator Bobby Hall said the community demands and deserves to know their school system is doing everything possible to prevent situations like those from happening here.
“You want to make sure parents in the community know you’re doing the best you can to secure the schools,” he said. “Back when I was in school, it was a safe haven, but now that’s obviously not the case, so we have to put extensive measures in place to provide that security.”
While there is always more that could be done if funding allowed, Hall said Sylacauga schools are making the most of what is available.
“We don’t have the resources to do what some larger school systems may do, but for what we have, I think we hold our own,” he said. “I think we’re right there at the top compared to schools across Alabama and even nationwide with safety, and most schools in this area are doing some of the same things.”
Talladega City and Sylacauga schools have recently revised each school’s safety plans, which outline response actions for a wide variety of scenarios, including an active shooter. Schools have also minimized the number of entry points and are required to keep all external and classroom doors locked at all times. Sylacauga is in the process of purchasing electronic, magnetic locks to be installed on every external door.
While the locked-door rule can be an inconvenience, Hall said it is necessary.
“Personally, I could care less about inconveniencing a parent or teacher, because our priority is student safety,” he said. “As educators, we have one responsibility above education, and that’s to make sure the kids get back home to their parents, because that’s a treasure. It’s a gift that we have, and if a kid is harmed because we didn’t lock the doors, we’re being negligent. So, we’ve had some negative calls, but we’ve had more praise than complaints about it.”
Alabama schools are required to have two lockdown drills a year, although they typically do more than that, and a monthly weather and fire drill. As a further precaution, Hall said he and Sylacauga police are conducting threat analysis at each school, where they walk through and identify potential safety weaknesses, such as students walking from one building to another to get to class, and ways to strengthen them.
Sylacauga is also adding a second School Resource Officer, a full-time, in-school policeman, next school year with costs to be split between the Board of Education and the city. While Talladega does not have any SROs, Talladega City Superintendent Doug Campbell said they maintain a close relationship with Talladega police, the Talladega County Emergency Management Agency and other responders.
The visibility of police in schools, and particularly SRO Willie Kidd in Sylacauga, is invaluable to a school system, Hall said.
“Officer Kidd is a real diamond in our schools to have someone who loves the kids and provides so much in the way of safety, not only inside the schools, but out in the community also,” Hall said.
In a typical day, Kidd said he talks to students and other school staff to get a feel for their mood and any issues that may arise. He also does home visits to keep issues from getting into the classroom. Also, Kidd said SROs are crucial to bridging the gap between the Police Department, schools and the juvenile courts.
“In the past, it was either an incident happened in school or it happened in the street, and the two didn’t intersect at all,” Kidd said. “With the SRO, you know what’s going on in school and on the street to give the everybody a better understanding of what students are dealing with, because their life continues beyond school day.”
Talladega County Schools declined to disclose any specific safety plans; however, Operations Director Dan Payant said safety is a priority for the school system.
“The only thing I will say is that we have a comprehensive safety plan in place,” Payant said. “We worked very hard on it with all the local first responders and agencies and the state department, and nothing is more important to us than making sure our children are safe.”
These and other major changes in school access and safety over the last five to 10 years is a direct reflection of the changes in society, Hall said.
“We are a society of copycats,” he said. “When there’s a school shooting incident put in front of the media, you have others who want to do the same thing, and that’s just the world we live in right now.”
Hall said schools are forced to be more sensitive about possible threats and cannot take any suspicion casually.
“You want to make sure you are addressing every complaint, every potential concern,” he said. “If a kid says, ‘I’m going to blow this place up,’ you can’t take that lightly. We’d have to suspend that student. If somebody points their finger at somebody like a gun, we have to discipline them. Years ago, you could do that and no one would think anything of it, but you can’t ignore that kind of thing now, and that’s probably the biggest change in safety over the last 10 years. You can’t take anything for granted.”
Campbell said the improvements in technology have also contributed to the changes, providing safety options that simply weren’t available before now.
“In this day and time, you can take more advantage of technology,” he said. “We have surveillance, phone systems, handheld devices, the Internet, all to help us coordinate between the school district and first responders.”
Some possible security improvements for local schools in the future include installing entry gates around schools and video systems outside the front door to screen visitors before they enter the building. Hall said Sylacauga is also considering implementing Watch DOGS (Dads of Great Students), a national program that allows father figures in schools to patrol hallways and provide another layer of security.
Realistically, Hall said schools know a closed door or a video camera will not stop a deranged intruder – even Sandy Hook had electronic locked doors – but the goal is to set as many barriers between students and a potential danger as possible.
“Our objective is really to buy time,” he said. “If you are an intruder, and you come into a school, you’re not going to spend time getting into a locked door, because the more time you spend trying to get in, here come the good guys.”
Campbell said the key is to use the knowledge and resources at hand to provide a peace of mind to parents, teachers and the community at large.
“When an incident occurs on national level, parents will ask questions, but by in large, we feel as though our community has been pleased with the efforts we have in place,” Campbell said. “I feel we are as safe as you possibly could be under the circumstances.”
Hall said the intention of every school system’s security efforts is to make school an environment conducive to learning.
“The bottom line is school should be a place where kids want to be and feel safe, so that’s what we have to provide,” he said.
Contact Emily Adams at email@example.com. | <urn:uuid:ca9f5b76-34da-4f74-b504-d9b46100b0b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dailyhome.com/view/full_story/21674177/article-Schools-going-to-great-lengths-for-classroom-safety | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971689 | 1,671 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton
Cecil Beaton was the premier royal photographer of his age - as well as a hugely accomplished fashion photographer and film designer. On the 60th anniversary of her accession to the throne, the V&A’s exhibition, 'Queen Elizabeth II by Cecil Beaton: A Diamond Jubilee Celebration’ draws into focus Beaton’s work with the Queen, and shows her many roles as a monarch.
This film features interviews with curator Susanna Brown, Robin Muir of Vogue and a very special discussion with two of Beaton’s Coronation Day assistants, John Drysdale and Ray Harwood – together again for the first time in 60 years.
Cecil Beaton is generally thought of as among the 20th century’s great visionaries in the world of fashion photography... | <urn:uuid:6586099d-cd64-4d95-a027-df605017ca5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vam.ac.uk/channel/happenings/exhibitions_and_galleries/exhibitions_archive/queen_elizabeth_ii_by_cecil_beaton/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952951 | 178 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Samadhi Cushions and Store: Meditation cushions and benches made here in Vermont. A nonprofit carrying incense, gongs, books, cds, and other meditation supplies.
South Korea's Buddhist monks have urged the government to allow disgraced scientist Hwang Woo-suk to continue his stem cell research.
"It is deplorable that research by Hwang Woo-suk and his team is suppressed unreasonably," the monks said in a resolution. "The government should approve the research in order to save a greater soul."
The resolution came ahead of the Health Ministry's decision Saturday over whether to approve Hwang's request to restart his work.
Hwang, once considered a national hero, has been on trial for alleged fraud and violation of bioethics laws after his team was found in January 2006 to have fabricated results to claim success in his study. | <urn:uuid:92b1bb91-dd1e-4876-83cb-3405a5be42ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tricycle.com/p/669 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977555 | 180 | 1.953125 | 2 |
How we came to be
Originally inhabited by the coastal Miwok tribes, Horseshoe Cove became home to Fort Baker long before there was a Golden Gate Bridge. In 1866, the U.S. Army acquired the site for a military base to fortify the north side of the Golden Gate. The 24 buildings around the 10-acre parade ground at Fort Baker took shape between 1901 and 1915. The Army post remained active through World War II.
From Post to Park
In 1973 Fort Baker was listed as a Historic District in the National Register of Historic Places. When the Golden Gate National Parks were established in 1972, Fort Baker was designated for transfer to the National Park Service when no longer needed by the military. In 2002 Fort Baker transferred officially from post to park.
For more on the history of Fort Baker, please visit: | <urn:uuid:132e6e33-3796-4bc2-ab5b-1cc929b12572> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cavallopoint.com/history.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965095 | 171 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Colloquium Discusses Complexity of Ralph Ellison
The inaugural lecture of the Heimert Colloquium in American History and Literature was held on Oct. 14 in Butler Library and was introduced by Andrew Delbanco, Julian Clarence Levi Professor in the Humanities . In his talk "Ralph Waldo Ellison, New England and Black American Culture," Arnold Rampersad, dean of humanities and Sara Hart Kimball Professor of the Humanities at Stanford University, focused on the Ellison's complex relationship with the region and its history. Rampersand, who held the Zora Neale Hurston Chair at Columbia from 1988 to 1990, described the contrast in emotions that Ellison, author of The Invisible Man, struggled with in sorting out his relationship to Harvard and the larger American community. From watershed moments such as receiving an honorary doctorate as well as a job offer from Harvard to the long-term influence of transcendentalists such as his namesake, Ralph Waldo Emerson, Ellison is delicately portrayed as a man who drew influence from the chaotic nature of American life.
The colloquium is named in honor of Alan Heimert, who received his master's in 1950 from Columbia and influenced generations of students at Harvard, where he was master of Eliot House for more than 20 years. Students and friends funded the Heimert Colloquium at Columbia in his memory. His widow, Arline Grimes Heimert, donated his private library to the University; a portion of it is shelved in the American History and Literature Reading Room in 502 Butler. The Heimert Colloquium will take various forms in the future, from lectures to conferences and symposia. | <urn:uuid:1f37e8b3-378d-4695-8aa3-67ce642ac663> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.columbia.edu/cu/news/media/04/316_ralphWEllison/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969042 | 338 | 2.28125 | 2 |
"The Future of the Book is a design exploration of digital reading that seeks to identify new opportunities for readers, publishers, and authors to discover, consume, and connect in different formats.
As more people consume pages in pixels, IDEO designers wondered why we continue to discover and consume the written word through the old analog, page-turning model. We asked: what happens when the reading experience catches up with new technologies?
The team looked at how digital and analog books currently are being read, shared and collected, as well as at trends, business models and consumer behavior within related fields. We identified three distinct opportunities - new narratives, social reading with richer context, and providing tools for critical thinking - and developed a design concept around each one.
The first concept, 'Alice,' turns storytelling on its head by making narratives non-linear and participatory. With Alice, the story world starts bleeding into the everyday life of the reader. Real-world challenges, like acting on a phone call from the lead character, or participating in photo based scavenger hunts, unlock new aspects of the story, and turn other readers into collaborators or competitors. Alice is a platform for authors to experiment with narratives, to allow their stories to transcend media, and to engage fans in the storytelling process.
The second concept, 'Coupland,' makes book discovery a social activity by allowing readers to build shared libraries and hear about additional texts through existing networks. Coupland makes it easy for busy professionals to stay on top of industry must-reads. Businesses can assign book budgets to their employees and build collective libraries through a group-licensing model. Personal recommendations, aggregation of reading patterns, and the ability to follow inspiring individuals and groups help ensure that Coupland users always are tapped into the latest essential content within and outside of the organization.
The third concept, 'Nelson,' connects books to commentary, critique, and contextual information, letting readers explore a topic from multiple perspectives. Nelson reinforces the role of books as carriers of knowledge and insight. Readers can explore polarizing material and see whose word currently has the greatest impact on popular opinion and debate. Layers of connected commentary, news, and fact-checking augment the core book content - providing greater context and encouraging debate and scrutiny.
Each concept features a simple, accessible storytelling format and a particular look and feel. We believe that digital technology creates possibilities, so our solutions truly adapt to the new environment, rather than emulate analog qualities onscreen. For example, we resisted any temptation to move books closer to the bite-sized character of other digital media, because longhand writing encourages immersion (deep reading) and reflection."
"Fiction - with its redolent details, imaginative metaphors and attentive descriptions of people and their actions - offers an especially rich replica. Indeed, in one respect novels go beyond simulating reality to give readers an experience unavailable off the page: the opportunity to enter fully into other people's thoughts and feelings.
The novel, of course, is an unequaled medium for the exploration of human social and emotional life. And there is evidence that just as the brain responds to depictions of smells and textures and movements as if they were the real thing, so it treats the interactions among fictional characters as something like real-life social encounters."
(Annie Murphy Paul, 17 March 2012, NYTimes.com) | <urn:uuid:3147d783-03a3-4dec-8f2e-eb0838db1567> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://folksonomy.co/?keyword=25247 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924812 | 684 | 1.867188 | 2 |
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We recommend ZoomText as a quick, relatively inexpensive, and painless way to find out about screenreaders and magnifiers. (We use it to test sites for screenreader accessibility.) You can download a demo copy from their site. | <urn:uuid:c2b005a2-0d83-4bfe-b8d3-4f8fd39f3b6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://fast-consulting.com/accessibility.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901158 | 394 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Co-Director of the Save New Orleans Sound Initiative, Christophe E. Jackson Ph.D. has earned bachelors and masters in Biology and Piano Performance and completed an interdisciplinary PhD in Performance Arts Medicine through the Biology department at the University of Alabama at Birmingham where he worked across the disciplines of biology, physiology, physics, engineering, and music. Jackson was awarded funding from the prestigious National Science Foundation (NSF) and Ford Foundation to conduct seminal research to compare the voice fatigue of trained and untrained singers. His research focused on the translation of scientific investigation into clinical application for specialized care to performing artists as well as the design of portable acoustic devices to dampen ambient noise.
In addition Jackson is a “musician at heart” who maintains an active classical and jazz performance life. Growing up in the heart of Montgomery, Alabama, Christophe Jackson made his first public piano concert at the age of eight at the First United Methodist Church’s Nellie Burge Community Center, and never stopped playing thanks to the support of his grandmother and the congregation.
Outside of performances and research, Jackson actively seeks opportunities to increase awareness and educate musicians about performance health. He has established state-of-the-art voice laboratories, developed acoustic environments to dampen noise, established voice screening for incoming voice students, and facilitated visits for music students, during which he taught other musicians about preventative health and wellness for performing artists.
Currently, Jackson is working with researchers from Wichita State University and Tulane University to establish a center for music, science, and technology. Its purpose would be to conduct interdisciplinary studies on music cognition and neuroscience, performance arts medicine, technology, and the performing arts. The center would be a hub for other Universities to establish collaborations, which would promote, scholarship, innovation, and culture found only in New Orleans.
Jackson intends to enroll in medical school to become a clinical research surgeon specializing in the care of musician’s hearing and voice. His training in music, scientific research and medicine will facilitate integration and translation across these disciplines. He feels that active involvement in music making is vital to the empathy and understanding needed to improve musicians’ health.
Read more about Christophe Jackson | from BMetro, 7/01/2012
504-415-3514 | email@example.com
Stacey Morigeau is a lifetime live music supporter and a graduate from the University of Montana with a BA in Drama. Stacey is currently in her second year as the Programs Coordinator for the New Orleans Musicians Assistance Foundation. In addition to the work she does to sustain healthy life styles among New Orleans musicians through NOMAF, Stacey assists local bands by selling merchandise. Periodically she also serves as a stage manager and has been a volunteer at WWOZ (90.7) for the past 6 years.
Felice Guimont – RN (Nurse Care Manager)
Save New Orleans Sounds Coordinator
Felice Guimont RN, is a native New Orleanian, nurse, poet, singer/songwriter, who has dedicated her life to healing pursuits in conjunction with the arts. She currently is the Nurse Care Manager for the New Orleans Musicians Clinic. Being a performer herself, Felice knows firsthand the impact of practicing safe sounds. Seeing so many of her musical peers permanently affected from prolonged exposure to higher than neccessary sound levels, inspired her advocacy towards changing this correctable problem. She encourages dialogue between other artists on this subject, and more proactive efforts towards a healthier well being. She performs with her band “The Overtakers” at various venues and festivals.
Drew Price – Researcher
Drew Price is a Doctor of Audiology student currently attending Rush University in Chicago, Illinois. She graduated from Louisiana State University with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication Sciences and Disorders, and is a Chicago liaison for the New Orleans Safe Sounds initiative. She is also a lifetime music lover and has a passion for hearing conservation within the arts. Price’s research will focus on what precautions music programs are taking to protect the hearing of their students, as well as finding out to what degree these programs consider noise-induced hearing loss to be an occupational threat to themselves and their students.
Switch to our mobile site | <urn:uuid:568ae0b4-5c24-4ce9-8cd1-7cc271dc9f06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neworleansmusiciansclinic.org/medical-resources/hearing/about-save-nola-sounds/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953659 | 867 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Incoming South Korean president Park Geun-hye, basking in her election as her nation’s first female leader, yesterday promised to stand tough on national security despite seeking engagement with North Korea.
In her first policy address since her historic win on Wednesday, Park stressed the “grave” security threat posed by the North as underscored by last week’s rocket launch.
She also pledged to work for regional stability in Northeast Asia where South Korea, China and Japan are engaged in a series of bitter territorial disputes.
“The launch of North Korea’s long-range missile symbolically showed how grave the security situation facing us is,” Park said.
“I will keep the promise I made to you to open a new era on the Korean Peninsula, based on strong security and trust-based diplomacy,” she added.
During her campaign, Park had distanced herself from the hardline policy of South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, who suspended major humanitarian aid to the North.
Park had promised a dual policy of greater engagement and “robust deterrence,” and had not ruled out a summit with the North’s young leader, Kim Jong-un, who came to power a year ago.
Analysts say she will be restricted by hawks in her ruling conservative New Frontier Party, as well as an international community intent on punishing the North for what it saw as a disguised ballistic missile test.
“Given her basic stance towards Pyongyang and the rocket launch, she is unlikely to be the first mover in improving relations with the North,” said Hong Hyun-ik of the Sejong Institute think tank.
“But she won’t object if the second [US President Barack] Obama administration moves to engage the North in dialogue after the dust over the rocket launch has settled,” Hong said.
China congratulated Park on her election and pushed for an improvement in Seoul’s ties with Pyongyang.
“We hope the North and South of the Korean Peninsula can resolve their problems through peaceful means and realize a lasting peace,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokeswoman Hua Chunying (華春瑩) said.
Park promised to work on building trust in Northeast Asia, but, in an aside clearly aimed at Japan, stressed that stability had to be based on “a correct historical perception.”
Seoul and Tokyo are embroiled in a sovereignty row over a tiny group of South Korea-controlled islands in the Sea of Japan. Japan is mired in a separate, but similar dispute with China.
Park’s election victory over her liberal rival Moon Jae-in, by a margin of 51.6 percent to 48 percent, reflected the polarized nature of the electorate.
Park is the daughter of the former military ruler Park Chung-hee — who ruled from 1961 to 1979. Park Chung-hee’s legacy loomed large over his daughter’s campaign and, in an apparent effort at reconciliation, she publicly acknowledged abuses under his regime and apologized to families of the victims.
Yesterday morning she paid her respects at her father’s grave, and also at the grave of one of his bitterest critics and political rivals, former South Korean president Kim Dae-jung.
“I will try to break the vicious circle which has caused such extreme division and discord in the last half-century,” she said afterwards.
While North Korea and other regional tensions will top her foreign agenda, Park Geun-hye’s immediate challenge will be to deliver on the domestic issues that dominated the election. | <urn:uuid:71ee7d42-e7f5-41d1-8a68-c930bf10b70f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2012/12/21/2003550644 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959974 | 753 | 1.796875 | 2 |
I don't consider myself an expert on Indic scripts, but here is what I
know related to the half vs halant forms being discussed.
ISCII expects an 'Explicit Halant' to be used to display the halant
forms of consonants. Sample sequence that is expected to display the
first consonant in its halant form:
Ka Halant Halant Ta -> KaHalant Ta
While to retain the half form of a consonant, a 'Soft Halant' is
Ka Halant Nukta Ta -> KaHalf Ta
Would you please give an example in Bangla (a conjunct, or a word that
contains this conjunct) where the 'half' form of Ta is used, and how
this half form is expected to be displayed?
I believe Bangla does not have distinct half forms (as in
Devanagari/Gujarati); and that halant forms are hence also considered
half forms. The khanda Ta is used in both cases as shown by words like:
mahotsav (where the khanda Ta is used as half form), vidyut (where the
khanda Ta is used as a halant form) etc.
Also, Bangla is known to have continued its use of the traditionally
rich conjunct ligatures it shapes into. So the use of such halant forms
(as half forms) is limited to displaying conjuncts that are not natively
used by the Bangla language.
From: Doug Ewell [mailto:firstname.lastname@example.org]
Sent: Saturday, May 18, 2002 4:12 PM
To: Unicode List
Cc: Somnath Kundu
Subject: Re: Bengali script - where is "khanda ta"?
This mailing list gets a LOT of questions asking why Indic
half-consonants and other forms (such as khanda-ta) aren't separately
encoded in Unicode. The Unicode model for Indic scripts is supposedly
based on ISCII-1988. How were these problems handled in ISCII? Do
users of ISCII have the same problems? Are there significant
differences between the ISCII and Unicode approach to these issues, and
if so, should Unicode spell out more explicitly what those differences
are? (The FAQ talks rather generally about "in some cases" and "in
other cases.") Or are these questions being asked by people who have
previously used ASCII-hacked font solutions instead of ISCII?
This archive was generated by hypermail 2.1.2 : Sun May 19 2002 - 19:16:46 EDT | <urn:uuid:5cdc2dea-864d-40a3-9dab-73355765979a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://unicode.org/mail-arch/unicode-ml/y2002-m05/0165.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917071 | 563 | 2.625 | 3 |
Filson – the standard for severe-weather protection. Starting in 1897, Clinton C. Filson designed his goods for the extreme conditions of the Klondike. He said "TO OUR CUSTOMERS: if a man is going North, he should come to us for his outfit, because we have obtained our ideas of what is best to wear in that country from the experience of the man from the North – not merely one – but hundreds of them."
Their values have never changed: make sure it's the absolute best. Clinton Filson talked a lot to his customers and refined his designs to their specifications. They still do today. Comfort, protection and durability never go out of style. Made in the United States. | <urn:uuid:84f34001-e942-445c-8eb8-22c14086956e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://duluthpack.com/brands/filson?mode=list&order=name&dir=desc&p=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97359 | 147 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Hearts of the City: The Selected Writings of Herbert Muschamp
Alfred A. Knopf
Journalists are often novelists at heart. They tell tales of people, cities, places, and buildings that are real enough—sometimes all too real—yet beginning, one way or another, with “once upon a time.” When newspapers ask for a “story,” that’s just what they mean. For critics employed by newspapers, this means thinking in terms of good yarns, casts of theatrical characters, sensations and scandals wrapped with powerful emotions.
For the architecture writer this can mean writing, in some way, stories that might begin like this: “Once upon a time, a shiny building clothed in titanium rose from the rusty docks of Bilbao, a town where the people spoke a language all their own, and where a terrorist once planted a bomb in a giant puppy made of flowers hoping to kill the King of Spain.” Or this: “Once upon a time in America, an architect came to build a 1,776-foot-high tower symbolizing Freedom where the twin towers of the World Trade Center had once stood. Although he stopped short of a Stetson, he sported cowboy boots, and . . .”
When I pored over the 912 pages of the selected writings of Herbert Muschamp, the architecture critic for The New York Times who died two years ago, I couldn’t help thinking that here was a fine novelist who wove words from the great architectural fabric of New York. Perhaps the finest stretch of writing in the book, published with a gracious introduction by Muschamp’s successor at the Times, Nicolai Ouroussoff, comes at the very end.
This is a partial, very much unfinished memoir of growing up in Cold War Philadelphia in what he makes out to be an intelligent but uptight and slightly out-of-place Jewish family, and how he made the transition to the cosmopolitanism of New York and wrote about architecture. And most of all about his personal relationship to New York viewed through the structures and windows, the architects and clients of its buildings.
Here he is on his childhood home: “The living room was a secret. A forbidden zone. The new slipcovers were not, in fact, the reason why sitting down there was taboo. That was just the cover story. It was used to conceal the inability of family members to hold a conversation. Who knew what other secrets might come tumbling out if they actually sat down and talked? The cause of Mother’s headaches might come up.”
In New York, Muschamp joined free and easy conversations on any number of fresh, exciting ideas in the company of architects. After that Philadelphia childhood, who wouldn’t revel in talks with Frank Gehry, Tod Williams, Elizabeth Diller, Ricardo Scofidio, Rem Koolhaas, Jean Nouvel, and Bernard Tschumi who together represented a public exuberance the young Muschamp had longed for without being able to express until he found New York. The city gave him a voice.
Gehry and Co. were architects, according to Muschamp, “trained according to the modern idea that reason and objectivity should be the driving principles of architectural form.” Yet “their work pursued dimensions of urban life that had been left out of this equation. Memory, affect, fantasy, play, irrational pleasure: modern architects had restricted these qualities to the private domain. In the ’90s they burst forth into the street.”
This is the point in the book—the NYT years—when Muschamp’s writing does the same thing. With the ’90s, his writing blossomed. Why? Partly because he met people who challenged him, made him think, but mostly because he learned how to “burst forth into the street,” to connect his own wider love and passions for art, cinema, popular culture, and New York to an ever bigger and wider architectural debate. As his character connected with his criticism, so Muschamp became bolder in argument, and boy-oh-boy, are there some rattling good rows in this book.
Muschamp got hot under the collar over the long-running redevelopment of Columbus Circle, and famously, over Daniel Libeskind’s Freedom Tower. His blistering case against Libeskind led to letters flying between architect and newspaper editor. Whatever your take on the subject, here was the critic in the thick of it. It reminded me of my own battles with Tony Blair’s New Labour government spin-doctors over the absurd Millennium Experience in London—$1.5 billion down the tube.
A critic’s job is to support, encourage, explain, and promote—and to fight when necessary. This requires a certain courage and a convincing writing style. Muschamp had both. Here he is, at his most engaging on the new Bilbao Guggenheim: “What twins the actress and the building in my memory is that both of them stand for an American style of freedom. That style is voluptuous, emotional, intuitive and exhibitionist. It’s mobile, fluid, material, mercurial, fearless, radiant and as fragile as a newborn child. It can’t resist doing a dance with all the voices that say ‘No’. It wants to take up a lot of space. And when the impulse strikes, it likes to let its dress fly up in the air.”
There are plenty of curators and architects with negative things to say about Gehry’s Gugg, yet Muschamp makes you want to love it as so many people wanted to love Marilyn. And then, here he is on Libeskind’s Freedom Tower: “Even in peacetime that design would appear demagogic. As this nation prepares to send troops into battle, the design’s message seems even more loaded. Unintentionally, the plan embodies the Orwellian condition America’s detractors accuse us of embracing: perpetual war for perpetual peace.” Ouch.
This is a book as big, as heavy, and often, hard-hitting as a brick. But it’s also a roller-coaster guide through the architecture of the 20 years between 1987 and 2007, a ride taken with an opinionated, occasionally self-indulgent yet warm, brave, and fully alive companion.
A version of this article appeared in AN 01_01.20.2010.
This is the first of what will be a new weekly feature, where AN posts a review from a recent issue each Friday. Do check back this time next week for more. | <urn:uuid:f615864f-ee88-4713-a8b0-4d56ea21d075> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archpaper.com/news/articles.asp?id=4231 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960492 | 1,415 | 1.859375 | 2 |
FDA Concept Would Mean Fewer Prescriptions, More Over-the-Counter Drugs
FDA Concept Would Mean Fewer Prescriptions, More Over-the-Counter Drugs [Ventura County Star, Calif.]
From Ventura County Star (CA) (May 12, 2012)
May 12--In the paradigm pitched by the Food and Drug Administration, people who won’t see doctors for high blood pressure or diabetes may have another way to get their meds: Go straight to a pharmacy and buy them.
Officials of the federal agency want to make some relatively low-risk medications that currently require a prescription available over the counter. It’s unclear what drugs would be included, but treatments for certain chronic illnesses would likely be in the mix.
Supporters of the concept, targeted for public comments in a forum that ended this week, predict it would mean lower costs, fewer delays and a way for people who go without meds to get them.
Doctors, drug companies and some pharmacists, however, worry the plan would jeopardize safety and push patients away from physicians. The initiative has stirred so many concerns that an FDA official acknowledged Friday that more work is needed. She said a plan that would require new laws or regulation changes is more than two years away.
"But I do think it will happen," said Dr. Janet Woodcock, director of the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. She said the challenge is in convincing doctors and others that the changes won’t put people in harm’s way but will propel them toward medication to control their illnesses.
"About a third of the people are untreated," she said, singling out those with hypertension. "A third of the people who are under the care of a physician are under-treated."
In the FDA concept still being developed, pharmacists would likely play a greater role in dispensing certain medications. People might need to go through a diagnostic test or get a doctor’s OK for an initial prescription but not refills.
People would likely self-diagnose, using Internet tools to discern symptoms and assess needed medication. They might use pharmacy kiosks set up to allow patients to screen themselves for conditions, perhaps employing tools like blood-pressure monitors.
Maybe it would drive down costs and make it easier to get medications, said Dr. Stan Frochtzwajg, a Ventura family doctor. But the plan also makes him think of three patients he admitted into the hospital recently. Each had internal bleeding because of over-the-counter medications they didn’t take properly.
"Every one of those medications (the FDA is) looking to put over the counter can cause a person to go into shock, can cause a person to go into liver failure, can go into a wide array of side effects," he said, asserting the risks overshadow the gains.
Woodcock said medications available without a prescription would be determined on a case-by-case basis. Drugs that carried higher risks wouldn’t be on the list. Patients with numerous conditions, elevating the chance of side effects or other risks, would not be good candidates.
In many parts of the world, people can get medications over-the-counter that require prescriptions in the United States, said Umesh Manglani, a Ventura pharmacist. Risks can be minimized by carefully picking which medications are available and also reducing recommended dosages.
Making drugs available over the counter not only improves access but can dramatically drive down the price of pills, particularly brand-name drugs that would be available as over-the-counter generics, Manglani said. A $200 prescription drug might go for $10.
"It saves people money and time," he said.
Woodcock said it’s unclear how much money the plan would save consumers. She said the FDA is working with insurers to make sure coverage of medications would not be affected.
Some pharmacists argue they could play a greater role in dispensing medications for hypertension. Others reject the plan.
Even with a doctor’s help, people don’t follow a doctor’s instructions in taking medications, said John Skovmand, a pharmacist and owner of Seeber’s United Drug in Santa Paula. Take away that expert advice and things would get worse.
"It’s going to cause more illness," he said, suggesting risks for diabetics would include "more blindness, more amputations, more kidney disease. Not something to mess with."
As he walked out of a CVS Pharmacy in Ventura, World War II veteran Larry Almack admitted he forgot to ask his doctor for more cholesterol medication. It means he’ll have to go without for a week, maybe longer, while his doctor and the Department of Veterans Affairs processes the order.
"When you get over 90, you tend to forget when to order them," said the 90-year-old Venturan, noting the FDA plan could make his life simpler. He could just walk back into the pharmacy and buy what he needed.
Dan Norton, 56, of Ventura sees his doctor every six months for high blood pressure and to see if his medication is working.
"It keeps you in touch with the doctor," he said, expressing his distrust of a plan that would allow people to sit at a computer, diagnose themselves and pick their own meds.
"They’ll get out of it what they want to get out of it," he said.
But people self-diagnose all the time when they use aspirin, sunscreen or other over-the-counter drugs, said Woodcock. She said the FDA plan would be set up in a way that would push people toward care, not away from it.
She compared the opposition to the resistance against allowing pharmacies to give flu vaccines. Now it’s clear that giving pharmacies a greater role increases access to flu shots.
Online assessment tools give health care professionals a way to dispense information that can help people figure out which medications will treat an illness, she said. Blood pressure screening machines tell people when they need to worry about hypertension.
The technology is there. The over-the-counter plan is one way to use it, she said.
"We shouldn’t be locked in the ‘70s," she said.
(c)2012 Ventura County Star (Camarillo, Calif.)
Visit Ventura County Star (Camarillo, Calif.) at www.vcstar.com
Distributed by MCT Information Services
Posted: May 2012 | <urn:uuid:ca54a85d-dd7c-44fe-be5a-10e0c3a04b19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drugs.com/news/fda-concept-would-mean-fewer-prescriptions-more-over-counter-38163.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961021 | 1,350 | 2.3125 | 2 |
The Virtual Project Management Office: Best Practices, Proven Methods is intended to help solve problems that project managers face in developing a virtual project management office (VPMO). It is based on the authors’ experience in this dynamic technology and global environment. The book identifies and offers solutions to the most common VPMO problems encountered. To provide these answers, the authors build a framework for developing a virtual office based on over 30 years combined experience.
Based on their experience as consultants in a variety of commercial settings and as university professors, Gordon and Curlee provide a thorough review of the issues in building and sustaining a VPMO. They clarify how globalization and geographic distance change project management and how new technologies change the dynamics of management and communication.
Robert L. Gordon is currently a senior faculty member with Keller School of Management (DeVry University). Dr. Gordon earned his Doctor of Management and organizational leadership degree and his master of business administration from the University of Phoenix, and an undergraduate degree in history from UCLA. He has been active in project management and supply chain management for over twenty years. During that time, he has been involved with the construction of ten different passenger vessels and involved with multiple ERP-related projects.
Wanda Curlee is a Program Management Consultant for a Fortune 500 company, with her primary clients in the U.S. federal government. She has been a consultant in various organizations and industries including telecoms, insurance, and technology. She has a doctorate in organizational leadership from the University of Phoenix and has authored papers on virtual project teams, complexity theory and project management, and virtual project management offices. Wanda Curlee is an adjunct professor at Northcentral University, Kaplan University, and the University of Phoenix.
The Virtual Project Management Office: Best Practices, Proven Methods, by Robert L. Gordon and Wanda Curlee; published by Management Concepts; 2011; 232 pages, soft cover, US$45.00; ISBN: 978-1-56726-
PMForum’s PM GiveAways™ Program is based on periodic DRAWINGS for free educational and professional project management products and services. PM GiveAways™ will include project management courses, books, conference passes, software and other valuable items. Drawings will be held every few weeks, with the products and services to be given away announced in breaking news articles ahead of time and on PM GiveAways™ web pages. PMForum’
About Management Concepts
For more than 38 years, the Management Concepts has successfully unleashed the full potential and productivity of over one million professionals through innovative and highly-effective approaches to individual and organizational achievement. Every major agency in the US federal government, dozens of US state and local government offices, and hundreds of corporations have benefited from the company’s high impact training courses, custom learning and development programs, professional consulting services, and award-winning publications. To learn more, visit http://www.managementconcepts.com. To see their books catalog, visit www.managementconcepts.com/
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PMForum operates www.pmforum.org, the world’s first website devoted to professional project management and still one of the most popular online sources of project management news and information. PMForum also produces the monthly PM World Today eJournal where articles, papers and stories about projects and project management around the world can be found; free subscriptions at www.pmworldtoday.net.
SOURCE: PMForum, Inc. | <urn:uuid:7caf0c84-e9bf-4df8-8110-da97496a9895> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prlog.org/11604237-free-project-management-books-drawing-for-virtual-pmo-book-announced.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928491 | 715 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Every student admitted to the University of Texas at Austin has the opportunity to succeed academically, and nearly every student accepts admission to the university with the full intention of succeeding. However, some students find it difficult to maintain good academic standing for a variety of reason—academic, personal or perhaps a combination of both.
Whether you are a family member or friend of a struggling student, we believe you play an important role in helping this person gain perspective and discover ways to succeed. We encourage you to learn more about this individual's circumstances, which at this point may well involve contending with academic probation or dismissal. It is vital that you be understanding and supportive, while encouraging the student to perform at their full potential.
The initial impulse of many parents or guardians is to contact the university. While advisors and other staff may discuss general policies in such instances, please be mindful that the university can only provide information about a student's academic or disciplinary record if they have given the university written permission as stated in The Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) (20 U.S.C. § 1232g; 34 CFR Part 99). FERPA is a federal law that protects the privacy of student education records. The law applies to all schools that receive funds under an applicable program of the U.S. Department of Education.
While FERPA gives parents certain rights with respect to their children's education records, these rights transfer to the student when the student reaches the age of 18 or attends a school beyond high school. You can learn more about FERPA at the U.S. Department of Education or by writing to Family Policy Compliance Office, U.S. Department of Education, 400 Maryland Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20202-5920.
As a parent, the university recognizes that at times you may feel out of the loop in regard to your student’s education. While it may be difficult to let your student assume full responsibility for their academics, you can be supportive by providing enough assistance to make sure your student gets the job done on their own – ask your student what he/she has done to address the issue(s) which have contributed negatively toward their academic performance.
Many times, you, as a parent, are the last to know when your student is struggling academically. For a number of reasons, students are hesitant to share that they are having academic struggles with their parents. The key to finding out as soon as possible if your student is in academic trouble is by having open, honest communication with your student.
It is extremely important that students on scholastic warning, scholastic probation, and scholastic dismissal meet with their academic advisor on a regular basis. Encourage your student to seek academic advising from a university staff advisor.
As a parent of a student on scholastic probation, or a student who has been placed on scholastic dismissal, you play a valuable role in helping your student decide if they are in a place where they can academically recover and be successful.
In some cases, it is in the student’s best interest to take some time off from school or consider enrolling at a community college. Many students and their families feel that continued enrollment is the best and ONLY way of improving their academic performance. In fact, many times it is not beneficial to the student. It is important to discuss with your student realistic options for improving their academic record at the University of Texas at Austin.
Illinois State University, Office of Enrollment Management and Academic Services. (2008). Information for Parents and Family Members. Retrieved June 24, 2008, from http://www.emas.ilstu.edu/probation/family.shtml | <urn:uuid:8fc8f190-38b3-4316-8da2-7191878fd6f7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utexas.edu/cola/student-affairs/academic-concerns/family-and-friends.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965925 | 761 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Charles François Dumouriez (January 25, 1739 - March 14, 1823) was a French general.
Dumouriez was born in Cambrai. His father served as a commissary of the royal army, and educated his son most carefully and widely. The boy continued his studies at the college of Louis-le-Grand, and in 1757 began his military career as a volunteer in the campaign of Rossbach. He received a commission for good conduct in action, and served in the later German campaigns of the Seven Years' War with distinction; but at the peace he was retired as a captain, with a small pension and the cross of St Louis.
Dumouriez then visited Italy and Corsica, Spain and Portugal, and his memorials to the duc de Choiseul on Corsican affairs led to his re-employment on the staff of the French expeditionary corps sent to the island, for which he gained the rank of lieutenant-colonel. After this he became a member of the Secret du roi, the secret service under Louis XV, where his fertility of diplomatic resource had full scope. In 1770 he undertook a mission into Poland to the Confederation of Bar, where in addition to his political business he organized a Polish militia. The fall of Choiseul (1770) brought about his recall, and somewhat later he found himself imprisoned in the Bastille, where he spent six months, occupying himself with literary pursuits. He was then removed to Caen, where he remained in detention until the accession of Louis XVI in 1774.
Upon his release Dumouriez married his cousin Mademoiselle de Broissy, but he proved neglectful and unfaithful, and in 1789 the pair separated, Madame Dumouriez taking refuge in a convent. Meanwhile Dumouriez had devoted his attention to the internal state of his own country, and amongst the very numerous memorials which he sent in to the government was one on the defence of Normandy and its ports, which procured him in 1778 the post of commandant of Cherbourg, which he administered with much success for ten years. He became maréchal de camp in 1788; but his ambition was not satisfied, and at the outbreak of the Revolution, seeing the opportunity for carving out a career, he went to Paris, where he joined the Jacobin Club. The death of Mirabeau, to whose fortunes he had attached himself, proved a great blow to him; but, promoted to the rank of lieutenant-general and commandant of Nantes, his opportunity came after the flight to Varennes, when he attracted attention by offering to march to the assistance of the Assembly. He now attached himself to the Girondist party, and on 15 March 1792 became minister of foreign affairs. He played a major part in the declaration of war against Austria (April 20), and he planned the invasion of the Low Countries. On the king's dismissal of Roland, Clavière and Servan (13 June 1792), he took Servan’s post of minister of war, but resigned it two days later on account of King Louis's refusal to come to terms with the Assembly, and went to join the army of Marshal Luckner. After the émeute of 10 August 1792 and Lafayette’s flight he gained appointment to the command of the "Army of the Centre", and at the same moment France's enemies assumed the offensive. Dumouriez acted promptly. His subordinate Kellermann repulsed the Prussians at Valmy (20 September 1792), and Dumouriez himself severely defeated the Austrians at Jemappes (6 November 1792).
Returning to Paris, Dumouriez encountered popular ovation; but he gained less sympathy from the revolutionary government; his old-fashioned methodical method of conducting war exposed him to the criticism of the ardent Jacobins, and a defeat would mean the end of his career. Defeat coming to him at Neerwinden in January 1793, he ventured all on a desperate stroke. Arresting the commissaries of the Convention sent to inquire into his conduct, he handed them over to the enemy, and then attempted to persuade his troops to march on Paris and overthrow the revolutionary government. The attempt failed, and Dumouriez, with the duc de Chartres (afterwards King Louis Philippe) and his brother the duc de Montpensier, fled into the Austrian camp.
Dumouriez now wandered from country to country, occupied in ceaseless intrigues with Louis XVIII, or for setting up an Orleanist monarchy, until in 1804 he settled in England, where the government granted him a pension. He became a valuable adviser to the British War Office in the struggle against Napoleon, though the extent of his aid only became public many years later. In 1814 and 1815 he endeavoured to procure from Louis XVIII the baton of a marshal of France, but failed to do so. He died at Turville Park, near Henley-on-Thames, on 4 March 1823.
Dumouriez's memoirs appeared at Hamburg in 1794. An enlarged edition, La Vie et les mémoires du Général Dumouriez, appeared at Paris in 1823. Dumouriez also wrote a large number of political pamphlets.
Reference Please update as needed.
The 1911 Encyclopaedia Britannica, in turn, gives the following references:
- A. von Boguslawski, Das Leben des Generals Dumouriez (Berlin, 1878 - 1879)
- Revue des deux mondes (15th July, 1st and 15th August 1884)
- H. Welschinger, Le Roman de Dumouriez (1890)
- A. Chuquet, La Premiere Invasion, Valmy, La Retraite de Brunswick, Jemappes, La Trahison de Dumouriez (Paris, 1886 - 1891)
- A. Sorel, L'Europe et la Révolution francaise (1885 - 1892)
- J. Holland Rose and A. M. Broadley, Dumouriez and the Defence of England (1908)
- Ernest Daudet, La Conjuration de Pichegru et les complots royalistes du midi et du l'est, 1795 -1797 (Paris, 1901).
Last updated: 06-26-2005 19:40:35 | <urn:uuid:9534e54a-e76e-4a93-aea0-ec2abca82d54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fact-archive.com/encyclopedia/Charles_Fran%E7ois_Dumouriez | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970692 | 1,364 | 2.515625 | 3 |
New Analytics Or New Decisioning?
There is a lot of talk about big data these days: How do you possibly store, manage and derive intelligence from the flood of transient data and sources, online, offline and market level data? Big data is a new way of exposing flaws in how marketers make campaign, program, brand, market and financial decisions.
We are a product of our own success. The industry has masked scale problems and hidden behind terms like “attribution” or “optimization.” The challenge is, we have the same amount of resources we had last year, and while technology has advanced and everyone’s in the cloud (or their heads are), decisions have not gotten easier to make. It’s not about big data, or the cloud, or even analytics, it’s about making decisions faster.
Consumers and businesses are transforming how they consume information, what they expect from brands and a protocol of connectivity to a brand. The marketing and advertising functions need to transform, but true transformation isn’t about solving problems, it’s about redefining the problems.
So, what is the real problem? Velocity!! How do you slow down enough to go fast? The old cliché of “fail faster” is true, but I always presumed that meant you didn’t know what to fail at in the first place. I prefer the phrase. “Be smarter in how you fail.”
Enter the new age: Connecting departments, connecting channels, democratizing decisions and maintaining a culture of rapid decisioning. Is it about tools? YES! Is it about richer analytics? YES. Is it about infusing a new speed and accountability in your partner organizations that provide services to you today (call that the supply chain)? Yes.
I think of the future through several lenses:
Performance marketers live large? You get paid for results, period! In order to do this, you must have several things in place. For one, you must have the ability to track what’s important -- not everything, but what is critical to making decisions. You must be able to control to some extent the consumer experience. If you feel like a victim of another channel, remember point one -- you get paid for results, so negotiate your success. You must have the ability to optimize and streamline things that work, which brings in a new discipline of interpreting insights from a variety of forms. You must be able to reconcile every last action/expense from a financial standpoint. Think eCPM, not CPM, think customer lifetime value, not conversion.
Democratize decisioning! Democratization doesn’t mean everyone gets a decision, it simply means there are levels in the company that own decision rights for different decisions. You must enable similar decisions to be made in similar ways (governed), but with the creativity of an open market. Some marketing organizations are set up better to isolate decisions internally, but at the speed this market is changing, democratization will have to extend to your supply chain (partners, vendors, agencies).
If you believe that transformation comes from redefining the problem, then my response to an article like this is: Your problem is not how to match all the shifting consumer trends and new forms/volumes of data, it is how do I apply decisioning throughout my organization in a coordinated fashion.
I recall a great quote from years ago, “Pray that success will not come any faster than you can endure it” -- Elbert Hubbard. We are at a point where we don’t know where all our money is spent, it takes too much time to get things done, we have too many partners and we have too much information to make sense of. This puts us on the defensive, and the last thing you want in a marketing organization is someone in defense mode. Be a coordinator of decisions! | <urn:uuid:48854728-631c-41c9-9a7b-a4eb6f2c395c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mediapost.com/publications/article/175182/new-analytics-or-new-decisioning.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940923 | 803 | 1.578125 | 2 |
This basically means you set up a subscription of some sort and then follow the news as they come in. Be careful not to bite over more than you can chew, information overload is more than a buzzword. There is also rather more junk out there than is just annoying, it is a real problem these days. Read critically and be prepared to unsubscribe.
There are two distinct medias for getting continuous updates: news and mailing lists, though sometimes news is gatewayed to mail and vice versa. In general news is a larger volume, larger noise source compared to mailing lists. Trying to follow too many newsgroups is like drinking from a fire hose.
Getting access to Usenet News is outside the scope of this HOWTO, there are others that will help you with getting and reading News directly from a Linux system. If you have never used News before you should be careful to read the introductory information thoroughly. In spite of looking like an anarchy it does have its own distinct culture, follow a newsgroup for some time before posting yourself. Most importantly, look out for postings called Frequently Asked Questions or FAQ as they will show you the ropes for the group it is posted to, and most likely give you the answer to what you are looking for. Asking an FAQ will earn you severe negative credibility points as well as a place in many killfiles.
FAQs should be posted regularly but if you cannot find it you can always find it at the main FAQ archive at MIT.
These are also available as web pages.
Still, there is a lot of noise, spam and junk in News and this is where killfiles come in. You will need a news reader with killfile capability and when properly set up it will scan through a newsgroup according to a search key of your own design and mark all flagged postings as already read so you don't have to be bothered by the noise. This improves the signal-to-noise ratio and lets you concentrate on the important parts. Similarly, if you make noise in News others will killfile you so if you later were to ask for help they will never see your post.
Now to business: the following is a list of useful newsgroups:
Many national hierarchies also have Linux groups, such as the Norwegian Linux groups. If you cannot find your national or local group you might be able to use Deja to find the names for you.
Unlike Usenet News a mailing list is centralised, someone sends a mail to the server and the server in return mails everyone that is subscribed to that particular list. These lists are generally low volume but also very low noise. Any breaches of the charter will be looked harshly upon. Equally seriously it will delay the development or the project that the list is dedicated to. When you subscribe you will normally get an introductory mail describing the charter, again you are strongly recommended to read this very carefully.
There are many types of mail servers that can handle a list and you will need some information on how and where you can subscribe.
One of the most common list servers is Majordomo which is what the
list server at
is running. To learn how it works you send a mail message with the word
help in the body. If you send it something it cannot parse you will
get this help message anyway.
If you instead mail it the word
lists you will be returned a list of
all mailing lists it serves, and that can be a considerable number.
Other mailing lists use several addresses, one where you send your requests
unsubscribe, and one where you send your
contributions to the list which is usually also the address from which the
list is also redistributed to you.
Again, sending it the message
help or something it cannot parse will
give you the help information.
An example: you send the word
subscribe to the
and then you get mail from and contribute to the
until you unsubscribe.
A few tips before you start sending in to mailing lists:
subscribeetc. to the list itself, only to the server address, otherwise you will look silly and you will annoy people. There can be several thousand subscribers to a list and if such errors were to pour in the noise would be too much.
As mentioned above, vger.rutgers.edu. is one of the main mailing list servers and here is an abbreviated index of what is available for the Linux community:
There are of course a number of other lists on other server. As this is in a constant state of flux there is little point in naming all but the most important here. Instead you could check out a web page that maintains such a list of lists on various servers of interest to Linux users. It also offers an user friendly interface to subscribe or unsubscribe to the various lists directly.
There is also a web page listing a huge number of lists concerning much more than Linux at Publicly Available Mailing Lists.
Many have been disappointed at the lack of information on Linux in the trade press. This is probably because certain commercial products would not stand up for any comparison and the advertisers would not stand it at all. Fortunately there is one Linux specific journal, called the Linux Journal. More information on subscription etc. can be found at the SSC home page. A table of contents is usually also available online.
Another commercial paper magazine is the Linux Magazine which also offers table of contents and some excerpts online.
Also Unix Review (formerly known as Performance Computing) gives a lot of Linux coverage.
Some popular e-zines are
and probably a few others as new ones seem to pop quite frequently.
Check out LinuxHQ for up to date information on current news services.
New web pages with literally daily news on linux are popping up everywhere, many are quite professional in layout as well as in scope. One of the bigger ones is Freshmeat which serves out news daily.
For those who cannot afford the time to follow the net on an hourly basis yet need the important news quickly there is the Linux Weekly News, which gives you a weekly update of important news, including securities alerts and also announcements of new and updated software.
You can also find directions to IRC online chat lines at Linux.com.
There are also a number of more hardware oriented web sites worth visiting, such as Toms Hardware, Anandtech for general hardware reviews, and Storage review for the latest in disk, tape and other storage technology.. | <urn:uuid:33cc4bd4-c942-48a1-9940-1c64b8c59f1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.redhat.com/mirrors/LDP/HOWTO/Update-3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945895 | 1,325 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Before the Parade Passes By: Gower Champion and the Glorious American Musical
St. Martin's Press
Publication date: November 2005
Digital Book format: ePub (Adobe DRM)
During the Golden Age of the Broadway musical, few director-choreographers could infuse a new musical with dance and movement in quite the way Gower Champion could. From his earliest Broadway success with Bye Bye Birdie to his triumphant and bittersweet valedictory, 42nd Street, musicals directed by Champion filled the proscenium with life. At their best, they touched the heart and stirred the soul with a skillful blend of elegance and American showmanship.
He began his career as one-half of "America's Youngest Dance Team" with Jeanne Tyler and later teamed with his wife, dance partner, and longtime collaborator, Marge Champion. This romantic ballroom duo danced across America in the smartest clubs and onto the television screen, performing story dances that captivated the country. They ultimately took their talent to Hollywood, where they starred in the 1951 remake of Show Boat, Lovely to Look At, and other films. But Broadway always called to Champion, and in 1959 he was tapped to direct Bye Bye Birdie. The rest is history.
In shows like Birdie, Carnival, Hello, Dolly!, I Do! I Do!, Sugar, and 42nd Street, luminaries such as Chita Rivera, Dick Van Dyke, Carol Channing, Mary Martin, Robert Preston, Tony Roberts, Robert Morse, Tammy Grimes, and Jerry Orbach brought Champion's creative vision to life. Working with composers and writers like Jerry Herman, Michael Stewart, Charles Strouse, Lee Adams, and Bob Merrill, he streamlined the musical making it flow effortlessly with song and dance from start to finish.
John Gilvey has spoken with many of the people who worked with Champion, and in Before the Parade Passes By he tells the life story of this most American of Broadway musical director-choreographers from his early days dancing with Marge to his final days spent meticulously honing the visual magic of 42nd Street. Before the Parade Passes By is the life story of one man who personified the glory of the Broadway musical right up until the moment of his untimely death. When the curtain fell to thunderous applause on the opening night of 42nd Street, August 25, 1980, legendary impresario David Merrick came forward, silenced the audience, and announced that Champion had died that morning. As eminent theatre critic Ethan Mordden has firmly put it, "the Golden Age was over."
Though the Golden Age of the Broadway musical is over, John Gilvey brings it to life again by telling the story of Gower Champion, one of its most passionate and creative legends. | <urn:uuid:99162ce9-795b-442e-b1d5-9a326e008908> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ebookmall.com/ebook/before-the-parade-passes-by/john-anthony-gilvey/9780312337766 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958369 | 570 | 1.5625 | 2 |
When talking about chess, you might hear statements such as "I'm a 1600 player," or "we're playing in the under 2000 section." These numbers being thrown around are called chess ratings, and are an important part of the chess community.
What is a Rating?
Ratings are numbers used to represent the playing strength of chess players. Most rating systems are based on the work of Arpad Elo, and are known as Elo rating systems.
The internal workings of chess rating systems can be quite complex, but the basics are simple. Ratings are based on the results of of games between players -- usually, games played in chess tournaments. If a player wins games, his rating will increase; if he loses games, his rating will decrease.
The rating of a player's opponents also effect how that player's rating will change. Defeating a much lower-rated opponent will cause a gain of few (if any) rating points, while defeating a much higher-rated foe will earn a large number of rating points. Losses work the game way, though in the opposite direction; losing to a much stronger player won't effect a player's rating much, but losing to a weaker opponent will cost quite a few points. Draws also effect ratings in a similar manner (drawing a higher-rated player increases ones rating, while drawing a lower-rated player decreases it), though not as dramatically.
Over time, a player's rating should approximate their skill level, allowing players to compare themselves to their peers. As a player improves, their rating will tend to rise.
What do Chess Ratings Mean?
Ratings vary depending on who is issuing them. In terms of United States Chess Federation (or USCF) ratings, a complete beginner who has just learned the rules of chess would likely earn the minimum rating of 100. The average scholastic tournament player has a rating of around 600. A "strong" non-tournament player, or a beginning tournament player that has gained some basic experience might have a rating around 800 or 1000.
The average adult tournament player in the USCF is rated around 1400. Very strong adult tournament competitors -- the top 10% or so of that group -- are rated over 1900.
Prestigious titles are available to the strongest players. These titles are usually award partially or entirely based on ratings. Experts are players with ratings over 2000. Masters are players with ratings over 2200. Earning the International Master or Grandmaster title requires more than just a high rating, but these players are typically rated over 2400 and 2500, respectively. The best players in the world are rated over 2700; the highest rating ever achieved was 2851, by former World Champion Garry Kasparov.
How do Players Earn Ratings?
A chess rating can be earned in a variety of ways. Online chess sites often offer their own ratings, which are useful for finding appropriate opponents while playing online. Some chess clubs also keep their own informal ratings.
When most people speak of chess ratings, however, they are speaking of ratings assigned by a national chess federation (or by FIDE, the International Chess Federation). These ratings are earned by playing in sanctioned tournaments. After each tournament, the results are sent to the federation rating the event, where they are processed and used to update the ratings of the competitors. | <urn:uuid:31b9d034-fcfa-4941-8b40-ad838af96cb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://chess.about.com/od/chesscommunities/qt/Ratings.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979431 | 676 | 2.84375 | 3 |
When the FBI uses a national security letter (NSL) to force the cooperation of an ISP or phone company in the surveillance of a suspect, the agency typically slaps a gag order on the service provider to prevent it from revealing the existence of the NSL. Civil liberties groups have successfully challenged the DOJ on these gag orders in the ongoing Doe v. Holder, and last month the Obama administration decided not to appeal a federal court ruling that the FBI must justify these gag orders by meeting a relatively high First Amendment standard.
The implication of the court's ruling was that the FBI would finally have to justify the gag order that it had placed on the John Doe in the Doe v. Holder case, so that the plaintiff could talk about the NSL. The FBI has now cooperated, and has given the court a justification of the gag order, in secret.
The classified declaration that justifies the gag order can't even be seen by Doe's attorneys at the ACLU. In a statement, the ACLU elaborated on the move: "The government did not even file a redacted version of its secret affidavit or even an unclassified summary of what the secret affidavit says. Basically, the government is asking us just to trust that the gag is justified."
The group further explained that its attorneys "obviously can’t respond meaningfully to arguments that we’re not even allowed to see," so they're trying to get some form of access to the document. This would come in the form of either limited attorney access, or a summary of the filing's contents.
To add insult to injury, it's not even clear that the investigation that sparked the five-year legal battle is still going on. The FBI quit asking Doe for records over two years ago, but it still maintains that revealing the identify of the ISP would result in various harms.
Clearly, the FBI isn't ready to give up its Bush-era secrecy addition just yet. As we reported earlier, the EFF is also on the Bureau's case over fact that the internal guidelines that govern its domestic surveillance practices are also secret.
So in the case of Doe v. Holder, the FBI is carrying out a secret investigation using secret guidelines on what is and is not constitutional, and as part of that investigation they've compelled the secrecy of a service provider and are using a secret justification to argue that nobody's First Amendment rights are being violated. "Just trust us," indeed.
For more information on the Holder case, and on the ACLU's ongoing legal battle against the FBI's, see this page.
Listing image by Flckr user circo de invierno | <urn:uuid:43e9d7aa-5adf-430e-94b2-61b172c9b474> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2009/06/fbi-compounds-mystery-with-secret-justification-of-gag-order/?comments=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961012 | 533 | 1.5 | 2 |
A top U.S. economist is warning that the eurozone debt crisis could erupt again this year if European leaders do not move faster to solve their problems.
Barry Eichengreen says recently calm eurozone financial markets "have swung from undue pessimism to undue optimism."
He warns that the crisis in the 17-country currency group "is going to heat up again in 2013." He spoke at the World Economic Forum in the Swiss Alpine resort of Davos.
Eichengreen, a professor at the University of California, Berkeley, says markets need to see quicker action to set up a banking supervisor at EU level, along with a centralized way to restructure failed banks.
That would keep bad banks from bankrupting governments through bailouts. Leaders are still debating how to implement it.
© Copyright 2013 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:c16fd922-3086-4294-8317-bc41ffad91e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moneynews.com/StreetTalk/Economist-Eichengreen-Euro-Crisis/2013/01/25/id/472918 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924988 | 186 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The Founding of Maryland
After Columbus made his voyage in 1492, further exploration of this New World began. John Cabot, in 1498 sailed down the east coast to Maryland, and in 1524, Giovanni da Verrazano landed on the coast of the Delmarva Peninsula. During this time, explorers who sailed to the New World, upon finding land would claim this land for their king. Cabot claimed the land he found for King Henry VII of England, and Verrazano for the King of France. England claimed Maryland; however, this was disputed, as Spain claimed that the explorer Pedro Menendez Marques, first saw the Chesapeake Bay and as a result Maryland was Spanish territory.
In attempts to colonize the New World, Spain was quite active, but England moved slowly. In 1580, the English settled in Roanoke, Virginia, but getting supplies was difficult due to the war with Spain. After years of trying to obtain supplies, in 1607 the first successful English colony was established at Jamestown, Virginia. Colony life in these early days was very hard, and killings by Indians and death by disease took a heavy toll. Soon, a leader by the name of Captain John Smith, arrived at Jamestown. He had learned to deal with the Indians and organized the colonists, bringing them through the first cold, very difficult winter. John Smith believed that the Chesapeake Bay extended to the Pacific Ocean. Being curious, he explored the Bay, mapping it as he went. These maps were in use for years to come.
Upon returning to England, John Smith spoke with a young man by the name of William Claiborne, and told him of the land area that later would become Maryland. Claiborne first went to Virginia and mapped the entire state, becoming wealthy as a result. In 1628, Claiborne explored and found Palmer's Island and Kent Island. Liking these islands, he bought them from the Indians and set up trading posts. Having great success, Claiborne was granted a license from King Charles I, to trade in all areas of America not previously given to others. This gave Claiborne great power and status, making him similar in authority to a king.
The Ark and the Dove
On June 30, 1632, the charter of Maryland had been confirmed and published. So, on July 12, 1632, the King directed the Governor of Virginia to assist Lord Baltimore who planned to transport many people to Maryland. In October 1633, the Ark and the Dove departed London, England for Maryland, but were recalled to Gravesend on October 19, because the passengers had not been given the "Oath." About two weeks later in late October, the two ships again departed, stopping at Cowes on the Isle of Wright for roughly a month.
The leaders of this expedition were: Leonard Calvert, lieutenant-governor, who traveled on the Ark, who was representing his brother, Cecil Calvert, the second Lord Baltimore. With Leonard was George Calvert, the youngest brother of Leonard and Cecil; Thomas Cornwallis, Esq., and Commissioner; and Jerome Hawley, another Commissioner.
The crew of the Ark, of which there were about forty persons, included Captain Richard Lowe, as Master; John Bowlter, as Purser; and Richard Edwards, a Chirurgeon. The crew of the Dove included: Captain Wintour, its commander; Richard Orchard, its master; Samuel Lawson, the first mate; John Games, its gunner; Richard Kenton, the boatswain; and crew members John Curke, and Nicholas Perrie.
The passengers on the voyage, based on records of Leonard Calvert include the following. Also, in a letter from Leonard Calvert to his brother Cecil, he advised that they had made a stop in Virginia and landed some passengers there, but these are probably from the original passenger list. Furthermore, in a letter from Leonard that described the Christmas celebration aboard the Ark, he mentioned that there were thirty persons who were sick from fever, of whom about twelve died. The passenger list indicated 99 persons, but other records mention maids or household servants, that the passengers brought along, who probably were not counted. The number of passengers varies from the London Searcher report of 128, to about 320 from other sources.
On November 22, 1633, Leonard Calvert set out on the "Ark" and the "Dove" from Cowes Isle, England, on a voyage to Maryland to set up a colony. The Ark, the larger of the two ships had a weight capacity of roughly 350 to 400 tons, while the Dove, being a much smaller ship, had a capacity of only about 50 tons. Historians say that approximately 140 people founded the first Maryland colony, although this number may be between 99 and 140. Many people chosen for this voyage on the Ark and the Dove, such as farmers, carpenters and brick makers, were picked for their particular skills. Equally important to skillful people was having the proper equipment, which had to be transported with them. Both winter and summer clothes had to be taken, also cannons, knives and rifles for protection. Food aboard the ships had to be stored very carefully so as not to spoil. Drinking water and beer were stored in large casks. Great care was taken to also store away plants and seeds needed to grow food in their farms and gardens. Planning this voyage was well-thought-out. They left on the journey in winter, so they would arrive in spring, in time to plant and grow the necessary foods for the forthcoming winter.
As the Ark and Dove started their voyage, they encountered many problems. After leaving Cowes, England, they came upon large masses of rocks at the Isle of Wight and rough breaking waves, making maneuvering difficult. Due to high winds, they entered the harbor at Yarmouth, about ten miles from Cowes. That evening, the wind caused a French Bark to drag its anchor, which struck the Dove, breaking her free from the harbor. Now, due to the high winds, they were forced to set sail for the open sea. The Ark, observing what happened set sail as well, so as not to be separated from the Dove. Now, on the morning of November 23, they were finally underway.
But other problems faced the crews of the two ships. On the voyage, besides bad weather and rough seas, they also had to deal with pirates and raiders who were in the waters in which they had to sail. One ship they encountered at a distance was an Algerian vessel, which they assumed was hostile, but fortunately were not approached by it.
In planning the voyage, they set their course not directly west to Maryland, due to the Atlantic current, but to the southwest, because the winds were more favorable. Once they reached Barbados they would then have only a northern route.
In comparing the two ships, size was the major difference, and as a result the ships' capabilities differed greatly. The Ark, being a much larger ship traveled better through the rough seas, was better armed and equipped, and had more crew members, with which to fend off pirates and raiders. The Dove in comparison, being so much smaller, did not handle well in rough seas, and was not capable of defending itself well. It seemed that the Dove was destined for problems.
Later in the day on November 23, the Ark and Dove came across another ship, the "Dragon," which was a large, well-armed merchant vessel which was traveling their way. The Dragon therefore acted as a leader, a guide of sorts to follow, which pleased both crews of the Ark and Dove. Four days into the voyage, on November 25, a terrible storm began. The winds were so strong, and the waves so rough that the Dragon turned back toward England. The Captains of the Ark and Dove decided to go on. The Captain of the Dove advised the Ark that they would hang a lantern on the ship's mast so that they (the Ark) could keep them in view. The Captain of the Dove also advised that if they hung two lanterns this meant they were in trouble and needed help. As the night went on, the storm grew worse. Through the storm and strong winds, the crew of the Ark observed two lights coming from the Dove. The Ark, however could not reach the Dove to help her, as it was all they could do to keep themselves afloat. During the storm the Ark lost sight of the Dove. Throughout the night they tried in vain to sight her. Finally, as the storm subsided and morning came, they hoped to find her, but there was no trace of the Dove.
On November 26, with the fate of the Dove unknown, the Ark sailed alone for Barbados Island. Meanwhile, after finding refuge, once the weather had cleared, the Dove sighted the Dragon once again, and sailed in their company by way of the Canary Islands to Barbados.
The Ark, after passing the Canary Islands finally arrived in Barbados on January 5, 1634. There the crew rested and repaired their ship, damaged in the storm. One day as they were working in the harbor they looked out and saw something they could not believe. Sailing into the harbor was the Dove. Upon speaking with the crew of the Dove it seemed that because the storm was so great, they turned around and sought the shelter of an English port. After the storm they set sail again, crossed the ocean and by providence, in time to meet the Ark. After taking on supplies, the Ark and the Dove continued on their voyage, arriving at Point Comfort, Virginia on February 27, 1634. Here they dropped of some of the passengers as well as delivered some letters from the King.
In early March 1634, the Ark and Dove reached the Chesapeake Bay, bound for the Potomac River to Maryland. The Ark and Dove arrived at Maryland on March 3, 1634. On March 25, they came ashore to celebrate the Feast of the Annunciation, that today we celebrate as Maryland Day.
For several days the crews lived on the ships, while exploring parties looked for a suitable place to start their town. Searching the areas and rivers off the Potomac, they traveled a river called St. George's, which later became St. Mary's. They found an area inside St. Mary's River for the first settlement. This land was owned by the Yaocamicoe Indians. In this search for a suitable place to live, Governor Calvert used Captain Henry Fleet as a guide, because he knew the language of the Indians and was an experienced trader and interpreter. On March 27, 1634, Governor Calvert bought the land from the Yaocamicoes. Once the land was purchased, they sent word back to the crews of the Ark and Dove for them to move to this new town. As the settlers moved into the new town, a celebration began. Dressed in their finest clothes, the new settlers fired cannons and flags were flown. The new village name changed from Yaocamico to St. Mary's City. This name was given in honor of the Virgin Mary. The Ark eventually returned to England, but the Dove remained in Maryland.
The first black Marylander was Mathias de Sousa. Of African and Portuguese descent, he was one of nine indentured servants brought to Maryland by Jesuit missionaries and was on the Ark when Lord Baltimore's expedition arrived in the St. Mary's River in 1634. His indenture was finished by 1638 and he became a mariner and fur trader. In 1641, he commanded a trading voyage north to the Susquehannock Indians and, in 1642, sailed as master of a ketch belonging to the Provincial Secretary John Lewger. De Sousa departed and returned to the St. Mary's River many times. He anchored here (the location of the Maryland Dove today) and walked to Lewger's Manor House at St. John's. While living there he served in the 1642 legislative assembly of freemen. No record remains of de Sousa's activities after 1642, but his legacy of courage and success is regarded with great pride by all the citizens of St. Mary's County and Maryland. (A plaque dedicated in his honor is located today near the water's edge in the location of the Maryland Dove).
During this time, the Yaocamico and Susquehannock Indians were enemies. The Yaocamicoes, needing help defending themselves, found the settlers a welcome sight and learned many things from them. They received guns, steel knives and axes, which were used not only for protection but also enabled them to cut trees, farm and build homes. Some of the first homes the settlers built were cut wood with shingled roofs, and not log cabins as most believe. Soon thereafter many homes were made of brick. By the late 1670s, St. Mary's City, Maryland's first capital, had some houses and buildings of fine quality.
CopyrightŠ John T. Marck. All Rights Reserved. This article and their accompanying pictures, photographs, and line art, may not be resold, reprinted, or redistributed for compensation of any kind without prior written permission from the author. | <urn:uuid:0675ffaf-ce14-40ea-a9c3-9a046dbd3f43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marylandtheseventhstate.com/article1001.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984728 | 2,722 | 4.125 | 4 |
Spiderman And His Amazing Spider Silk
Every boy growing up watched in amazement as Spiderman was able to shoot webs from his wrists; pulling endangered motorist’s cars off of bridges before they fell hundreds of feet into icy water.
Crooks and bad guys, even those with superhuman strength, were tied up by Spiderman’s webs. Wonderment filled our heads, as we watched all the many possibilities of spider silk.
I remember wishing I could shoot those powerful spider webs at a schoolyard bully or be able to effortlessly swing from my house to a tree branch.
A Century’s Old Question
Apparently I am not the only one who has wanted to unleash the secrets of spider silk.
For decades, scientists have been studying spider silk hoping to unlock its mysteries and apply this knowledge to real world application.
Scientists are now closer than ever to answering the question,
“How does a spider spin a web of silk that is five times stronger, on a weight-to-strength basis, than steel; and how can we manufacture it?”
The Strength Of Spider Silk
Spider silk is five times stronger, on a weight-to-strength basis, than steel with about 1/6th the density.
Here’s a real world example displaying the strength of silk:
An 1881 Tombstone, Arizona gun fight gave us all an idea of just how strong real silk is. George Emery Goodfellow, a doctor of the times in Tombstone, AZ was examining the deceased after a gunfight. One of the men involved had taken a couple bullets to the chest, but the Dr. Goodfellow couldn’t find a single drop of blood on the man. As he removed his clothing he found a silk handkerchief holding two smashed bullets. Although the man has still died because of the force of the bullets, the silk handkerchief stopped the bullets from piercing the man’s chest.
Solving The Mysteries of Spider Silk
Over the last ten years scientists have unlocked a few portions of the spider silk puzzle, and hope to replicate it. We now know the key proteins used by spiders to spin their silk. Unfortunately, scientists have been unable to translate this knowledge into a technique that would enable the industrial-scale manufacturing of synthetic spider silk that is as powerful as the real stuff.
The problem has always been fairly fundamental. While scientists understood the substances or proteins used by these ingenious spiders, they couldn’t figure out the mechanics of how spiders combine those proteins to make spider silk. When they tried it in their labs, they got inferior products… Until now!
It turns out that a key part of the answer to this complex question is really pretty simple. It’s all in the timing… The timing of tiny globular structures.
Tiny Globular Structures
Scientist recently stumbled upon some unusual spider silk features, and a big part of the secret. These features happened to be tiny globular structures called “micelles” which when combined together formed larger and larger gel-like structures. These micelles happened to be the precursors to silk fibers.
Scientists now believe that they can take these micelles, and add some non-silk polymers to it to enlarge them and manufacture spider silk… But there is still one challenge.
The Next Challenge
Spiders control the water content of the gel to prevent the proteins from crystallizing until they are ready to spin the silk fibers. If the proteins crystallized too soon, the process would fail. Scientists are still trying to unlock this last part of the spider silk puzzle and replicate the process that nature has provided.
Real World Applications of Manufactured Spider Silk: Inspired By Spiderman
- Quick urban travel by rapidly firing thin strands of spider silk from building to building
- Biomedical devices like artificial tendons and ligaments
- Artificial skin for burn victims
- Binding captured criminals with a webbing
- Bomb stopping bulletproof vests
- Biodegradable bottles and packaging
- Blindfold an opponent with a thick blob of spider silk
- A super strong spider silk polymer for high performance aircraft or motor vehicles
- Super strong ropes, nets, seat belts, and parachutes
- A massive web cast across a street or alley to snare rapidly-moving persons or vehicles
Spiders are amazing creatures, and so is the silk they spin. Let’s hope scientists can figure out the last few pieces of the spider silk puzzle, so we can all live out our childhood fantasies of becoming Spiderman! | <urn:uuid:89b8402a-5b55-4fd7-a92a-39d8d2a803ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogpestcontrol.com/tag/webs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934792 | 945 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Car seat safety may have just taken a giant step … backwards. According to a new policy from the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), parents are now being advised to keep their toddlers in rear-facing car seats until age 2, or until they reach the maximum height and weight for their seat. Released in the April 2011 issue of the journal Pediatrics, the new AAP guidelines also call for older children to ride in a belt-positioning booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years of age.
The AAP previously advised that it is safest for infants and toddlers to ride rear-facing up to the limits of the car seat, but still cited age 12 months and 20 pounds as a minimum for turning a car seat to front-facing. As a result, most parents (and pediatricians) viewed a child's first birthday as a safe time to turn seats front-facing.
"Parents often look forward to transitioning from one stage to the next, but these transitions should generally be delayed until they're necessary, when the child fully outgrows the limits for his or her current stage," says Dr. Dennis Durbin, lead author of the policy statement and accompanying technical report.
Research has consistently found that children are safer in rear-facing car seats. A 2007 study in the journal Injury Prevention showed that children under age 2 are 75 percent less likely to die or be severely injured in a crash if they are riding rear-facing. According to car seat safety experts, rear-facing child safety seats do a better job of supporting the head, neck and spine of infants and toddlers in a crash, because it distributes the force of the collision over the entire body.
Does all this simply mean an extra year of Baby riding backwards in the car? Not necessarily. An important takeaway for parents from the report is that the "age 2" recommendation is not a deadline, "but rather a guideline to help parents decide when to make the transition," according to Dr. Durbin. "Smaller children will benefit from remaining rear-facing longer, while other children may reach the maximum height or weight before 2 years of age."
And what about older children who max out on a seat height and weight requirements? The AAP recommends transitioning to a booster in order to make sure the vehicle's lap and shoulder belt fit properly. When sitting in a booster seat, parents should make sure the shoulder belt lies across the middle of the child's chest and shoulder, not near the neck or face. The lap belt should fit low and snug on the hips and upper thighs, not across the belly. Most children will need a booster seat until they have reached 4 feet 9 inches tall and are between 8 and 12 years old. | <urn:uuid:8edd2ad4-a5fe-4e1e-889a-4bf85ce3c7e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.babyzone.com/products/registry/car-seat-safety-guidelines_70332 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964857 | 557 | 2.65625 | 3 |
when in doubt use perl -w
, or replace #!/usr/bin/perl
with #!/usr/bin/perl -w
this will give you all kinds of helpful diagnostics
when things don't seem to be happening as you'd expect them to.
use use strict;
just toss that in at the top of your program and it will force you
to declare your variables before you use them. To declare them all you have to do is something like the
my ($count,$max,$min,$avg); #this initializes several scalars at once
This can save you countless hours later if you've mistyped a variable name. You'll know about it. | <urn:uuid:a405cdfb-e5f7-41fd-874a-79ebf921332e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.perlmonks.org/index.pl?node=Some%20things%20that%20will%20make%20your%20life%20easier%20as%20a%20Perl%20coder | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907112 | 149 | 1.585938 | 2 |
WEST HOLLYWOOD, CA - JUNE 17: Tori (L) and Kate Kendall, who already share the same last name, hold their five-month-old baby Zadie while being are joined in wedlock as the era of same-sex marriage begins in California, June 17, 2008 in West Hollywood, California. Conservative and religious groups hope that voters will support their initiative on the November ballot to alter the state constitution to permanently ban gay marriages. Meanwhile, many business owners are looking for a wedding related sales boom. A study released by University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) this month projects that nearly half of the state's 102,600 same-sex couples will marry in the next three years and, along with same-sex couples from other states, will spend more than $683 million on weddings, honeymoons and other marriage-related activities. (Photo by David McNew/Getty Images)
California's initiative process can be messy. And there's no better example than Proposition 8.
It's been three years since California voters approved the measure, which defines marriage as only that between a man and a woman. And the legal battle rages on.
In a significant ruling Thursday, the California Supreme Court said "it is essential to the integrity of the initiative process" to allow the backers of Prop 8 to defend the measure against legal challenges.
The issue arose because both Jerry Brown, when he was attorney-general, and current Attorney-General Kamala Harris, have declined to defend the measure.
In essence, critics said, they refused to do their job.
Although voters approved the ban on same-sex marriage, a federal district judge later ruled that the measure was unconstitutional. That ruling was put on hold by the Ninth Circuit federal court, and that's where it sits today.
The Supreme Court's decision Thursday didn't deal with the substance of whether the same-sex marriage ban is valid.
It did address situations where public officials decline, as Brown and Harris have, to participate in defending a voter-approved measure.
"It would clearly constitute an abuse of discretion for a court to deny the official proponents of an initiative the opportunity to participate as formal parties in the proceedings," said the ruling in a unanimous opinion authored by Chief Justice Tani Cantil-Sakauye.
In other words, the court said, under California's initiative process, voters have the ability to enact a law, even if elected leaders disagree with that law.
That means that lawyers for Protect Marriage, which backed the Prop 8 campaign, can now be participants, and not merely bystanders. It's now up to the Ninth Circuit to decide, as this legal battle moves forward in federal court.
And for voters, whether they support or oppose same-sex marriage, it's a reminder that what happens at the ballot box is often just one step in a long and messy process. | <urn:uuid:fa7e5cf9-bf60-45ec-a498-244452454c6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbclosangeles.com/blogs/prop-zero/Prop-8-California-Supreme-Court-Ruling-Same-Sex-Marriage-134053878.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962878 | 593 | 1.9375 | 2 |
How they work
Our lesson ideas are designed to require little effort to set up and run. They are intended to inspire teachers to deliver the curriculum in thought provoking ways that encourage students of all ages to engage with the concepts of living and working in tomorrow’s world.
Our lesson ideas will help you set out on a learning adventure with your students. We cannot predict what you will discover but we look forward to you joining us on your journey.
All the lesson ideas are flexible and can be adapted by you to suit your needs. They are not intended to act as formal lesson plans.
Make sure you apply for an Eco-Schools award to recognise the achievements of your students and the school.
Can't find what you're looking for? We have developed some more teaching resources based around global citizenship and community cohesion in partnership with the Love Where You Live campaign. Visit the campaigns area to find out more.
All of our lesson ideas have been designed to help with specific curriculum areas. To help illustrate this, we've put together some curriculum grids to show you how these lessons work with the national curriculum and with subject areas.
Curriculum grid age 5-7
Curriculum grid age 7-11
Curriculum grid age 11-14
Curriculum grid age 14+
Linking environmental topics to the curriculum is an integral part of the Eco-Schools award framework. To find out which of the Eco-Schools nine topics the lesson ideas fit in with visit the links below:
Eco-Schools topic grid age 5-7
Eco-Schools topic grid age 7-11
Eco-Schools topic grid age 11-14
Eco-Schools topic grid age 14+ | <urn:uuid:a7d7cffb-98c1-4a9c-a284-544d968d765a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.keepbritaintidy.org/ecoschools/freeresources/howtheywork | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941017 | 356 | 3.140625 | 3 |
The dawning of a new year brings a quiet retirement – grocery stores around the state can put their pricing guns on the shelf.
As of today, a new law went into effect in Massachusetts, eliminating the requirement that each item on grocery store shelves have a price sticker, making Massachusetts the last state in the country to do so.
Supporters say as long as a price is clearly marked on a shelf, it doesn’t matter if there is a price sticker affixed to each item. Opponents say consumers better be on their toes and more aware of the prices of cereal and canned goods they load in their shopping cart.
The law requires clear pricing of items to be placed on shelves, and self-scanners to be in place at a ratio of one for every 5,000 square feet of store space. Stores can purchase a waiver from the state in order to go tagless. There are protections in the pricing law. Checkout prices must be printed on an itemized sales receipt. In the event of incorrect pricing, the consumer gets the item at the lowest price, and if that is under $10, they get it for free.
Stores advocating for the law said eliminating the individual price sticker requirement would save money and time. Among one of the biggest reliefs is that when an item goes on sale, or there is a price change, individual stickers will no longer have to be removed and replaced, simply change the price on the shelf and the computer.
Kevin Bigelow and Rachael Hurley shopped in Wegmans in Northboro yesterday, where the Worcester couple said the change in the law wouldn’t make much of an impact on their trips to the grocery store.
Wegmans already has price scanners strategically placed around the store.
“I usually look for a price on the store shelf,” Mr. Bigelow said. “As long as there are scanners around if you have a question, and if it helps to lower costs, it’s fine.”
Grocery stores are going down the same path that department stores such as Macy’s, Kohl’s and Target have gone before them. It’s not unusual to find a price scanner in a clothing store to double-check or confirm a price tag on a sweater or pair of jeans.
“It’s something you see in lots of places, and you are starting to see it more and more,” said Leigh De Jordy of Boylston. “Hopefully this will be a savings passed on to the consumers.”
Leslie Cocks of Boylston doesn’t rely on individual price stickers. When she is shopping, she looks at the unit price, which is usually found on the shelf price.
Vidhi Misra doesn’t need a price tag. She is a savvy shopper who shops the sales, browsing the circulars or gravitating toward the sale signs highlighting the price.
“I very seldom look at a price sticker,” Ms. Misra said. “I pre-plan and once I put it in my cart, I already know the price.”
There was a split decision, however, in the bakery aisle where Kevin Floria and Doreen McElroy of Worcester shopped.
“I think it is absolutely phenomenal because it will cut our time in half,” Mr. Floria said. Mr. Floria, who works for the Nabisco division of Kraft Foods, said the changes to the pricing law are welcomed by vendors.
But not so much by Ms. McElroy.
“For those of us who want to know what the price is and compare, it’s going to be tough,” Ms. McElroy said. “If they are going to go with no price tags, you may not know what the price is until you get to the register. It really puts more responsibility on the consumer.” | <urn:uuid:2907ab27-ea92-4d1f-aaf6-9247cf3123ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegram.com/article/20130101/NEWS/101019948/0/SPORTS | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955398 | 829 | 1.59375 | 2 |
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Our next stop on the tour is right next to the museum's exhibit building: the original blockhouse from which all of the rockets that used this complex were controlled. In 1984, this site was designated a National Historic Landmark due to its significance as the launch pad for the very first U.S. satellite, Explorer 1.
Copyright 2011, Garrett Wollman. All rights reserved. Photograph taken 2011-02-26. | <urn:uuid:35d25046-9499-4c53-88bf-d268ddee6972> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gallery.bostonradio.org/2011-02/cape-tour/334-3441-med.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967285 | 95 | 2.078125 | 2 |
US v. Hererra-Martinez, No. 07-1363. An undocumented immigrant got low income housing using someone else’s ID card. She was charged with:
- use of another's Social Security number, 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(7)(B)
- knowingly converting public money or property, 18 U.S.C. § 641
- aggravated identity theft, 18 U.S.C. § 1028A
As to 42 U.S.C. § 408(a)(7)(B), the First says people can be convicted of obtaining benefits besides social security.
As to 18 U.S.C. § 641, the First says that there is no “asportation” requirement built into the statue, and the government need not prove actual loss, and HUD dollars are government property. | <urn:uuid:070fbdfc-2b1e-4e77-bd20-5bd15d35ce71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://appellate.typepad.com/appellate/2008/04/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910515 | 182 | 1.539063 | 2 |
June 3, 2011
On June 1st, the blog and community site Canon Filmmakers announced that their site was coming to an end. However, it wasn’t because the owner of the site was retiring or a server catastrophe ate all of the posts and guides, instead, it was a legal threat from Canon itself forcing them to close and turn over their domain (Note: Link to likely to stop working shortly).
This wasn’t the first time Canon used or attempted to use Trademark to shut down a site about them. In 2009, for example, they sent a takedown notice to WordPress.com, which was hosting a site entitled “Fake Chuck Westfall”, which is a parody of the real-life Canon technical adviser Chuck Westfall and commonly lampoons the company. However, in that case, WordPress.com refused to remove the site and it remains online today.
Other sites have reported problems with Canon, especially when they’ve used the trademark in the domain itself, but Canon is far from the only company to have legal spats with their fans. Fan communities, it seems, are plagued by legal problems, both trademark and copyright related, and are among the most legally-risky sites to create.
However, this doesn’t mean you shouldn’t create a fan site, be it a blog or a community, just that you have to be aware of the risks and work to mitigate them. | <urn:uuid:73262232-477a-4f7c-916f-c6609c95ff48> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blogherald.com/tag/fan-site/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971304 | 298 | 1.75 | 2 |
Orion Township, Michigan
|Charter Township of Orion, Michigan|
|— Charter township —|
|• Total||35.9 sq mi (93.1 km2)|
|• Land||33.4 sq mi (86.4 km2)|
|• Water||2.6 sq mi (6.7 km2)|
|Elevation||1,004 ft (306 m)|
|• Density||990/sq mi ( 380/km2)|
|Time zone||Eastern (EST) (UTC-5)|
|• Summer (DST)||EDT (UTC-4)|
|ZIP codes||48359, 48360, 48362|
|Area code(s)||248, 947|
|GNIS feature ID||1626859|
Orion Charter Township (pronounced OR-ee-un) is a charter township of Oakland County in the U.S. state of Michigan. The population was 35,394 at the 2010 census. The official motto of the township and village is "Where living is a vacation". "Lake Orion" is often used to describe both the village and the township. Orion Township (Lake Orion), is located almost exactly between Flint, Michigan and Detroit, Michigan.
- Lake Orion is an incorporated village located within Orion Township.
The Township has three unincoporated communities:
- Eames began as a station on the railroad in 1874. It was given a post office in 1883.
- Lake Orion Heights is located between Lake Orion, Square Lake and Elkhorn Lake( Elevation: 1007 ft./307 m.).
- Gingellville, also Gingleville, is located at Baldwin and Gregory Roads ( Elevation: 1017 ft./310 m.).
- Rudds Mill is located at Kern and Clarkston Roads ( Elevation: 945 ft./288 m.).
Former places include:
- Cole was a station on the Pontiac, Oxford and Northern Railroad. It had a post office from 1884 until 1907.
According to the United States Census Bureau, the township has a total area of 35.9 square miles (93 km2), of which 33.3 square miles (86 km2) is land and 2.6 square miles (6.7 km2), or 7.18%, is water.
As of the census of 2000, there were 33,463 people, 12,246 households, and 8,976 families residing in the township. The population density was 1,003.3 per square mile (387.4/km²). There were 12,837 housing units at an average density of 384.9 per square mile (148.6/km²). The racial makeup of the township was 95.42% White, 1.26% African American, 0.27% Native American, 1.18% Asian, 0.02% Pacific Islander, 0.61% from other races, and 1.23% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.56% of the population.
There were 12,246 households out of which 39.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 63.0% were married couples living together, 6.9% had a female householder with no husband present, and 26.7% were non-families. 20.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 4.0% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.71 and the average family size was 3.19.
In the township the population was spread out with 28.5% under the age of 18, 7.3% from 18 to 24, 36.4% from 25 to 44, 21.7% from 45 to 64, and 6.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 34 years. For every 100 females there were 102.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 100.5 males.
The median income for a household in the township was $71,844, and the median income for a family was $83,514. Males had a median income of $61,562 versus $36,481 for females. The per capita income for the township was $30,299. About 2.0% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.5% of those under age 18 and 4.1% of those age 65 and over.
- "American FactFinder". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved 2008-01-31.
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Orion Township, Michigan
- "Race, Hispanic or Latino, Age, and Housing Occupancy: 2010 Census Redistricting Data (Public Law 94-171) Summary File (QT-PL), Orion charter township, Oakland County, Michigan". U.S. Census Bureau, American FactFinder 2. Retrieved August 22, 2011.
- "Orion Township Home Page". Retrieved 26 November 2011.
- Walter Romig, Michigan Place Names, p. 168
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Lake Orion Heights, Michigan & GNIS in Google Map
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Gingellville, Michigan & GNIS in Google Map
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Rudds Mill, Michigan & GNIS in Google Map
- Walter Romig, Michigan Place Names, p. 125
||Brandon Township||Oxford Township||Addison Township|
|Independence Township||Oakland Township|
|Waterford Township||Auburn Hills||Rochester Hills|
||Perry Lake Heights||Lake Orion| | <urn:uuid:5e6712d7-450b-43cd-b254-cadd1b47d4a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orion,_Michigan | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933499 | 1,213 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Google is rolling out its Google Wallet across all Android-operated Sprint Nexus S 4G phones to allow consumers to pay using their handsets.
Mobile wallets use near field communications (NFC), which allows consumers to tap and pay using a PIN number in the same way as credit cards. The Sprint Nexus S 4G contains an NFC chip to enable this form of payment and the transmission of coupons or loyalty cards.
In May, Google announced that it was testing its Google Wallet app with Citi, MasterCard, Sprint and First Data.
Google Wallet enables customers to pay with a Citi MasterCard credit card and the Google Prepaid Card, which can be funded from other credit cards.
Visa, Discover and American Express have also made available NFC specifications, which could enable their cards to be added to future versions of Google Wallet.
"Our goal is to make it possible for you to add all of your payment cards to Google Wallet, so you can say goodbye to even the biggest traditional wallets," wrote Osama Bedier, vice-president of payments on Google's blog.
Google's pre-paid card will work internationally at launch and can be used at around 300,000 shops and other outlets in the US and internationally that accept MasterCard PayPass.
NFC is expected to grow significantly over the next five years, with deputy government CIO Bill McCluggage having recently told Computer Weekly it is a technology that the government intends to incorporate in its digital by default model to "future proof" services. | <urn:uuid:1249f654-e0df-4db8-b84c-19d791c06f73> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.computerweekly.com/news/2240105642/Google-rolls-out-Mobile-Wallet-across-Sprint-Nexus-S-4G-phones | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958087 | 306 | 1.6875 | 2 |
In the Best of a Century of Cinema, a Foretaste of Heaven
BY Guy Bedouelle OP
December 15-21, 1996 Issue | Posted 12/15/96 at 2:00 AM
WHY IS IT that crowds are so willing to brave the elements and spend hours in line for a chance to visit the major shows of paintings in Paris, London and elsewhere, only to whisper rapturously upon encountering the works, once inside this Holy of Holies? Why is it that during concerts, when you have the misfortune of coughing a bit loudly during the symphony, you meet with so many stares expressing indignation at such sacrilege?
It is because in our era of reversed values, art seems to have replaced the sacred that once filled the churches. These now stand mostly deserted, as secularization has wreaked havoc. Still, whether it's to be fashionable or out of a subconscious search for the supernatural, the public isn't wrong to trace the arts, such as they are, to their sacred origin. Ancient mythology had an intuitive sense about this, as expressed in the nine muses, the daughters of Zeus, the author of Life and Memory, with mythology itself born out of the union of heaven and earth. Theater, dance and music were born with the sacred and for the sacred, while the more recent disciplines, like photography—freezing a moment in a kind of eternity—and the cinema remain true to that origin.
In 1995, the world observed with pomp and circumstance the centenary of the invention of cinema, the celebration driven by the vague notion that film has managed to capture and express the ups and downs of the 20th century. For the Church, the occasion was all the more reason to reflect on the relationship between Christianity and the arts.
We must acknowledge that the Gospels, indeed the entire New Testament, say nothing about art, as if it were a realm left untouched by the Good News. Paradoxically, however, in the history of both Western and Eastern Christendom, no single text has been studied, scrutinized, illustrated, set to music, expressed in sculpture, painting, theatre and film like the Bible. Christianity has never stopped calling on beauty to express itself, its liturgy and its tradition, the efforts of iconoclasts notwithstanding. The Church continues to do so today.
Why is it that the Church finds in art (and not just in works it commissions or which explicitly express its faith) a spiritual dimension, demanding of it a sanctifying function? The sanctification of sound by music; of the body by dance; of space by architecture, sculpture and painting; the sanctification of words, and also of movement—which is the proper meaning of the word “cinema.” Cinematography means the scripting of movement.
Film-making is an unwieldy art; often it's an industry, beholden to commercial interests, rather than a cry hurled into the universe. Often enough, it has difficulty keeping up with the older arts, painting and music, as these soar to spiritual heights. Many films simply stick to amusing the audience, which is fine if the entertainment is honest. Even so, more often than they are given credit for, movies do participate in the spiritual function of art, which, at bottom, can be defined as “the revelation of creation.”
Art reveals the hidden, implied, beauty of ‘creation: It arranges, renews and transcribes the infinite play of sounds, colours and images; it also explores all of humanity's desires and aspirations. Like the mother caring for her children and the worker carrying out his daily tasks, the artist, as co-creator, adds to the world's beauty, order and joy; or brings consolation amidst chaos and sorrow. We are always just witnesses, through suffering endured or shared, through emotion which inspires us to embrace the human condition, and through the search for meaning that characterizes us as the rational and spiritual beings whom God the Creator has generously installed as free stewards of creation.
Hence the Church has to make amends for its deeply-rooted tendency towards kitsch; it is not the job of Churchmen to pronounce on the orthodoxy of this or that work of art—except those that form part of the liturgical space—nor is the Church called to judge artists' aesthetic merit. The Church can, however, based on its experience of grace and its intuitive grasp of the theological virtues, detect the authenticity of love—because there is no true work of art without love.
Filmmakers like Roberto Rossellini, Francois Truffaut or Wim Wenders, who was awarded a doctorate honora causa by the University of Fribourg in recognition of the spiritual value of his work, think of films as dictated by love. Jean-Luc Godard dared to compare the movie screen to the veil of Veronica, who, wiping the disfigured Holy Face, reveals Christ, our Savior, in whom all of creation is reconciled and recapitulated—the visible as well as the invisible world, whose unimaginable beauty we will one day discover, but of which, in art, we already have a presentiment.
Father Bedouelle is based at the University of Fribourg, Switzerland.
Copyright © 2013 EWTN News, Inc. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:6bc4e086-013d-40b7-9972-9fc1e647fe4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncregister.com/site/print_article/13140/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964012 | 1,090 | 1.835938 | 2 |
New Job Skills Required: Unemployed Find Old Jobs Now Require More Skills
WASHINGTON — The jobs crisis has brought an unwelcome discovery for many unemployed Americans: Job openings in their old fields exist. Yet they no longer qualify for them.
They're running into a trend that took root during the recession. Companies became more productive by doing more with fewer workers. Some asked staffers to take on a broader array of duties – duties that used to be spread among multiple jobs. Now, someone who hopes to get those jobs must meet the new requirements.
As a result, some database administrators now have to manage network security.
Accountants must do financial analysis to find ways to cut costs.
Factory assembly workers need to program computers to run machinery.
The broader responsibilities mean it's harder to fill many of the jobs that are open these days. It helps explain why many companies complain they can't find qualified people for certain jobs, even with 4.6 unemployed Americans, on average, competing for each opening. By contrast, only 1.8 people, on average, were vying for each job opening before the recession.
The total number of job openings does remain historically low: 3.2 million, down from 4.4 million before the recession. But the number of openings has surged 37 percent in the past year. And yet the unemployment rate has actually risen during that time. Companies still aren't finding it easy to fill job vacancies.
Take Bayer MaterialScience, a unit of Bayer. When the company sought earlier this year to hire a new health, safety and environment director for one of its plants, it wanted candidates with a wider range of abilities than before. In particular, it needed someone skilled not just in managing health and safety but also in guiding employees to adapt to workplace changes.
Joe Bozada, chief of staff for Bayer's CEO, said the company initially interviewed 30 candidates. Then it did final interviews with seven. But none had the additional experience the company now wanted. Ultimately, Bozada said, the company chose one of its own employees it had already trained.
That shift, across multiple industries, has caught the eye of David Altig, research director at the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. Workers aren't just being asked to increase their output, Altig says. They're being asked to broaden it, too.
A company might have had three back-office jobs before the recession, Altig said. Only one of those jobs might have required computer skills. Now, he said, "one person is doing all three of those jobs – and every job you fill has to have computer skills."
The trend is magnifying the obstacles facing the unemployed. Economists have long worried that millions of people who have lost jobs in depressed areas like construction don't qualify for work in growing sectors like health care. But it turns out that some of the jobless no longer even qualify for their old positions.
Frustrated in their efforts to find qualified applicants among the jobless, employers are turning to those who are already employed.
"They're hiring a known quantity that already has this specific experience on their resume," said Cathy Farley, a managing director at Accenture. "It is slowing some of the re-hiring from the ranks of the unemployed."
Only 49 percent of people laid off from 2007 through 2009 were re-employed by January 2010, according to a Labor Department survey. It's the lowest such proportion since the survey began in 1984.
And more than 40 percent of the nearly 15 million unemployed Americans have been out of work for six months or longer. That's near the record high set during the recession.
Some of the unfortunate ones are information technology workers. One reason is that tech companies are increasingly combining business analyst and systems analyst positions.
Suppose a company wants a new software application. A business analyst would seek the least expensive approach and then propose the technical requirements. Separately, a systems analyst would build the technology.
But now, employers want "those two skill sets in one human being," said Harry Griendling, chief executive of DoubleStar Inc., a staffing firm outside Philadelphia.
The trend reflects the push that companies made during the recession to control costs, squeeze more output from their staffs and become more productive. Productivity measures output per hour worked. Economy-wide, it soared 3.5 percent last year. It was the best performance in six years.
And it means workers are bearing heavier burdens. In manufacturing, employees increasingly must be able to run the computerized machinery that dominates most assembly lines. They also have to carry out additional tasks, such as inspecting finished products, notes Mark Tomlinson, executive director of the Society of Manufacturing Engineers.
Manufacturers advertised nearly 200,000 jobs at the end of August, a jump of about 40 percent from a year ago, according to government data. Yet hiring by manufacturers has risen less than 6 percent over that time – evidence that they are having a hard time finding qualified workers.
"There are jobs available, but the worker just has to have more skills than before," Tomlinson said.
Bob Brown, 49, of Dayton, Ohio, has felt the demand for broader skills firsthand. After working for 30 years in manufacturing, including 20 as a plant supervisor, Brown was laid off in July 2009.
He spent a year looking for a new job. His efforts yielded only three calls from employers in the first four months.
But once things began to pick up, Brown noticed something else: The plant management jobs he used to have, and that he was aiming for again, all required certifications in productivity-boosting management practices.
So Brown paid for courses at a community college to learn a management strategy known as "six sigma." It's an approach to cutting waste and raising efficiency popularized by General Electric. The courses allowed him to obtain his certification. In August, he was hired by an electrical product assembly plant near Williamsport, Penn.
"That's the way the industry's going," Brown said. "Everybody wanted certifications."
Human resource specialists say employers who increasingly need multi-skilled employees aren't willing to settle for less. They'd rather wait and hold jobs vacant.
HR specialists even have a nickname for the highly sought but elusive job candidate whose skills and experiences precisely match an employer's needs: the "purple squirrel."
"There are lots of requests for purple squirrels nowadays," said Joe Yesulaitis, chief executive of Aavalar Consulting, an IT staffing firm. | <urn:uuid:fad26459-a973-4f12-8c73-aed449fde623> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/10/11/new-job-skills-required-u_n_757588.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974467 | 1,332 | 1.914063 | 2 |
My question is regarding the online banking application of a large credit card organisation. The login process for this application works as follows:
- User visits the homepage of the bank.
- User enters their username and clicks login.
- If the username exists they are presented with their unique image and phrase, chosen by the user when they sign up to the online banking application. If the image and phrase are as expected, the user enters their password.
- If correct, the user is authenticated and has full access to their account, including viewing statements, paying bills, increasing/decreasing credit limits, etc.
The problem I find here is that if one knows the username of a user, they can enter this into the first stage and immediately be presented with the image/phrase combination for that account. An attacker could then easily use this information in a phishing attack against that user.
My question is:
Isn't this a large security flaw?
Addition: In response to the first answer I should add that upon providing a username which does not exist, the application responds with a "Please check the username provided" message. | <urn:uuid:d29b94a8-dd30-48a7-9311-df1583a82157> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://security.stackexchange.com/questions/25260/banking-application-login-leaks-information/25287 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951861 | 231 | 1.710938 | 2 |
- By David Cottle
When Standard and Poor’s took the seismic decision last month to strip the U.S. of its gold-standard credit rating for the first time, a conspiracy theory died in the aftershocks.
For it was once widely, if quietly, held that the old guard of triple-A, risk-free economies was treated rather differently from the rest, and that the U.S., especially, would never, could never, lose its crown.
Well, now it has, and so the markets’ vultures have been circling over all debt-sodden triple-A countries, alert for any signs that another might collapse into the dust.
And, so far, their malign gaze has been drawn most obviously by France, whose bonds have underperformed those of both Germany and, significantly, the U.K.
[Read more over the jump]
On one level this is understandable. To be sure, France has all the general symptoms. Its public debt is a vast 85% or so of GDP; its enormous public sector badly needs reform. The place hasn’t managed a budget surplus for nearly four decades. | <urn:uuid:8cbf9a18-0b37-4bb8-b582-5da42eeaf39e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.wsj.com/source/tag/triple-a/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969215 | 243 | 1.640625 | 2 |
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LifeCodexx AG has started operational research and development work on clinically validated diagnostic tests by using Next Generation Sequencing technologies. The work currently focuses on the field of prenatal diagnostics. LifeCodexx will utilize GATC Biotech’s 20 years of experience as well ... | <urn:uuid:9ad6ce90-81dd-4d2d-ad68-1c62800d2fa3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bionity.com/en/news/organisation/gatc-biotech/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912977 | 812 | 1.617188 | 2 |
In the world at this period of time, there are unprecedented levels of immigration, and most of this immigration is into the economically and militarily influential Western countries: the USA, Canada, Australia, and Western Europe.
Nationalism is one of the strongest hindrances to one-world government. It led to the disintegration of the Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman Empires, and was one of the main reasons for the collapse of the Soviet Union.
Destroying the concept of national identity cannot be done within a single lifetime. But the socialist/communist idealists envission a future beyond their lifetimes. This was clear under the Soviet Union, where communism was in some ways like a religion. The actions of the individual in support of the state were to achieve a paradise- not for the individual himself, but for future generations in the world.
If the national identities of the influential Western nations are destroyed, these nations can fall under a single government, and the rest of the world will fall under its influence also. The great irony is that the Russian Federation, formerly the center of the Soviet Union, now stands in opposition to this unification. This is likely one of the reasons that the Russian government is the target of so much criticism from the Western media. Russia is only a shadow of its former power and world dominance, but it is the only nation left of any significant influence capable of standing in opposition. We have seen how much effort the USA has made to form allies with the other former Soviet Republics surrounding Russia. Special trade privilleges are granted, and unusual efforts are made to more closely integrate their economies with that of the USA. Human rights and democracy are apparently only secondary considerations. Most of these former Soviet Republics have much more repressive governments than Russia, yet the Russian Federation itself is the main target of Western criticism. The West aims to weaken the economic influence of Russia, by building oil and natural gas pipelines to bring gas out of the former central asian republics, bypassing the pipelines already in place that go through Russia. The importance of natural gas will soon increase to great importance, much like that of oil today. Already, many vehicles are beginning to run on natural gas. Russia has vast stores of natural gas laying under its Siberian tundra, more than any other nation.
Throughout Europe and North America immigration is under discussion, be it Mexicans crossing the border illegally into the US, immigration 'amnesties' or the fears that Britain and other Western European nations will be flooded with people looking for work from the Eastern European countries about to be absorbed into the European Union and thus allowed free movement across former borders.
The debate, as usual, and by design, has been polarised into a Left-Right slanging match. If you challenge the level of immigration you are branded a racist, for example. But this is not about what is good or otherwise for a country or the immigrants themselves.
This appears to be a long-term plan to destroy the nation state. Whether people support the nation state structure or not is another debate.
The nation state structure, and the history, culture and sense of uniqueness that goes with it, are road blocks to the absorption of nations into a single centralised world state, under the same government, army and economic system.
To break down resistance to this global state, the sense of unique national identity and culture would first need to be destroyed. The concept of 'nation' would eventually be lost throught the creation of 'multicultural' societies. That does not necessarily mean that 'multicultural' societies are wrong - not at all - only that there is an another parallel agenda.
The expansion of the European Union is, in part, designed to do this.
The danger is that a single governing body could potentially be granted dictatorial powers on the pretext of world peace and global equality. This would threaten freedom and personal liberties.Having lived in a communist USSR, I can tell you with confidence that American media is no less controlled by socialist scum then it was controlled there - I recognize this filth, even though they pretend to be anti liberals . | <urn:uuid:64543664-35da-420f-b539-80bf819a7f37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politicalforum.com/global-issues/244828-immigration-being-used-pave-way-one-world-government.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954206 | 838 | 2.484375 | 2 |
38:22 minutes (12.35 MB)
Susan Ettenheim begins this podcast by wondering if bookmarking and databases can go together. This question came from a recent webcast (TTT 165) when Joyce Valenza started an inquiry into a division she is beginning to see in her school. She has noticed that those students who have been introduced to social bookmarking in delicious and diigo are becoming less likely to use the library databases.
Like many of us, these students hesitate to use a source for their research that they are not able to comment on and get responses from members of their personal learning networks. Part of the value or a source comes from the on-line conversations that get attached to that source, and bookmarking sources found in a library or specialized database seems to be impossible. Links are not persistent and the resources remain behind a password. We agree with Joyce that we want students to be able to do both: use the rich material in library databases and learn how much knowledge comes from bookmarking in social networks.
(Joyce Valenza, by the way, will be on The Future of Education with Frandes Jacobson Harris and Howard Rheingold and hour before our show this Wednesday, September 30. Tune in to that show, then join us at EdTechTalk at 9:00pm Eastern / 6:00pm Pacific USA / World Times. Our guests will be Troy Hicks, author of the new Heinemann title, The Digital Writing Workshop, and four teachers as they discuss how they foster student choice and inquiry in their writing classrooms.)
For this podcast, Susan Ettenheim invited Ron Burns, Director of Software Product Management at EBSCO to answer the question of whether or not bookmarking and databases go together. He begins his conversation by pointing out that Diigo is part of their "Bookmark" bar on the EBSCOhost interface, but many more issues arise as Susan is joined by five amazing teachers, tech integrators and media specialists/librarians: Alice Barr, Vicki Davis, Madeline Brownstone, Suzanne Hamilton and Carolyn Stanley
Here are few of the specialized/state databases that are discussed on this podcast:
- http://ebscohost.com/ EBSCO Publishing
- http://novelnewyork.org/ NOVEL NY New York Online Virtual Electronic Library
mainedatabases/ MARVEL, Maine's Virtual Library
welcome/ GALILEO, Georgia's Virtual Library
pa.us/libraries/cwp/view.asp? a=11&Q=37628 Power Library, Pennsylvania
- http://iconn.org Connecticut's Research Engine
Please stay tuned to Teachers Teaching Teachers. On TTT 169 (webcast on 09.23.09, and to be uploaded soon) Joyce Valenza and Chief Diigo Ambassador, Maggie Tsai joined us to further the dialogue. More to come!
Click Read more to see more notes from Ron Burns and a transcript of a chat that was happening during the webcast. | <urn:uuid:9b01c0de-c3fd-4e4d-be77-d8ae601cc058> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.edtechtalk.com/taxonomy/term/2050 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933579 | 621 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Tuesday, July 31, 2012
Cullman County School District hosted it's first annual educational technology conference last week. Derrick Waddell (http://www.derrickwaddell.com/), with the active support of teachers, students and community volunteers provided an outstanding day of learning for the educators of Cullman County Alabama.
Sessions offered spanned a variety of subjects including iPads in the Classroom, MobiViews & Clickers, Open Source, Edmodo, Becoming a Google Search Ninja, Dropbox, and Podcasts.
Derrick Waddell invited me to participate as the keynote speaker and presenter of two sessions: Developing Your PLN with Twitter and a Smackdown session.
Nikki Robertson, Superintendent Billy Coleman, Derrick Waddell
One of the best things about attending this conference was meeting and learning with new friends!
I first met Derrick through Twitter during my first, tepid steps into the vast and extremely rewarding world of developing an online Personal Learning Network (PLN). He has remained to this day an invaluable friend.
Developing my PLN on Twitter has been a transformative experience that I love to share with others. After 20 years as an educator I find myself excited to go to work each day and I owe it to the amazing energy and ideas garnered from my PLN. As I shared with Cullman County Educators, Shelly Terrell and the Teacher ReBoot Camp 30 Goals Challenge (http://teacherbootcamp.edublogs.org/30-goals-2012/) was the main catalyst that launch where I am today.
One thing I wish that I had thought to share with the wonderful educators of Cullman County was how I felt a few months into the effort to build a PLN. As I learned and connected with dynamic educators online I began to realize just how out of touch and in the dark I had been for eighteen years as an educator. I felt overwhelmed and intimidated. I thought I had been a good teacher, but in reality I was just following the same mediocre teaching methods the other teachers in my building had been doing for years. On Twitter I found innovative educators doing the most amazing things in their schools that I had never seen modeled by any educators I had worked with or even heard were possible in professional development sessions offered through the school districts for which I had worked. I began to feel that there was no possible way I could ever even begin to measure up to this "new" standard to which I was now exposed. I literally was in tears one evening as I struggled between quitting the 30 Goals Challenge, sticking my head back in the sand, and pretending not to know I could bring a better educational environment to my school than what currently existed OR I could find a way to move forward, one step at a time. That evening around 10 pm I emailed several members of my PLN for which I had a great deal of respect, pleading for which direction I should take and how I could possibly be successful in what seemed to be an impossible venture. When I woke up the next morning to get ready for work, I checked my email not really expecting any responses in such a short amount of time. Not only had I received a response, I had received a response from EVERY member of my PLN to whom I had sent an email. All of the responses acknowledged my feelings of trepidation but they also offered encouragement and support. From that point forward there was no doubt which direction I would pursue. It is a decision I have never and will never regret.
Building my PLN on Twitter has enhanced my personal and professional life in ways I never even imaged possible. One person who has been a mentor from afar that I must mention is Doug Johnson (http://doug-johnson.squarespace.com/). Anytime I have a technology or library related question I know that I can turn to Doug to provide a solid, rational answer.
I do have one word of caution: When you begin your journey down this path remember that as you grow professionally you will often times make the teachers and administrators who remain in the same old rut they have been in for years feel intimidated. Some will simple stop speaking to you while others will actively work to make your life harder. I experienced this reaction. Instead of giving in to the drama, I choose to walk away from my tenured position that I had held for over 15 years and move to a school district that was supportive of innovative educators. It's not surprising that this school district is among the top 100 schools in the nation.
My advice to those who have yet to embark on this journey is this: | <urn:uuid:13b288ad-00fa-497d-a51a-27400b336ab6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://educationrejuvenation.blogspot.com/2012_07_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980099 | 949 | 1.5 | 2 |
The Open Source Initiative (OSI), the organization responsible for maintaining the definition of open source and evaluating open source licenses, has officially approved the Microsoft Community (Ms-CL) and Permissive (Ms-PL) licenses.
Microsoft submitted its Shared Source licenses shortly after announcing plans to do so at the O'Reilly Open Source Convention earlier this year. OSI president Michael Tiemann responded by pointing out that three of Microsoft's five Shared Source licenses impose restrictions that are clearly inconsistent with the Open Source definition, but acknowledged that the two licenses submitted by Microsoft had merit and would be evaluated.
"The decision to approve was informed by the overwhelming (though not unanimous) consensus from the open-source community that these licenses satisfied the 10 criteria of the Open Source definition, and should therefore be approved," said OSI in a statement. "Microsoft came to the OSI and submitted their licenses according to the published policies and procedures that dozens of other parties have followed over the years. Microsoft didn't ask for special treatment, and didn't receive any. In spite of recent negative interactions between Microsoft and the open-source community, the spirit of the dialog was constructive and we hope that carries forward to a constructive outcome as well."
OSI's decision to approve the Ms-PL and Ms-CL (also known as the Microsoft Reciprocal License) is unsurprising, since the Free Software Foundation's European branch has already voiced support for the licenses, publicly congratulated Microsoft for creating them, and expressed appreciation for the similarities between the Ms-CL and the FSF's own GPL license.
Despite receiving the praise of FSF Europe, Microsoft's open-source licenses have been widely criticized. Critics are concerned that Microsoft is trying to muddy the waters by obfuscating the distinction between its open-source licenses and its more restrictive shared-source licenses. The incompatibility between Microsoft's open source licenses and other prominent open source licenses is also a point of contention, since critics argue that it contributes to needless license proliferation, which contributes to fragmentation of the open-source ecosystem. This last criticism is also applicable to open-source licenses created by many other companies, like Sun's CDDL for instance.
Despite the problematic nature of license proliferation, the open source community would benefit considerably if Microsoft were to release more source code under these licenses. Microsoft has already released the Dynamic Language Runtime (DLR) for .NET under the Ms-PL, which means that it can be included in the open-source Mono .NET runtime and used in Novell's open source Silverlight implementation. It should be noted that the source code Microsoft recently released for the .NET Framework Libraries is distributed under the highly restrictive Microsoft Reference License, which is not an open-source license and doesn't facilitate redistribution. Microsoft will hopefully take this opportunity to demonstrate its willingness to promote open source .NET development by relicensing the .NET Framework Libraries under one of the company's OSI-approved licenses.
Although OSI validation of Microsoft's licenses is a very big win for Microsoft and the open-source software community, this victory is overshadowed by Microsoft's aggressive attitude towards open-source software. Certain vocal factions of the OSS community will express extreme distrust for Microsoft's open-source licenses, which will make it difficult for the company to build a bridge with the broader OSS community. Microsoft's unsubstantiated patent threats and blatantly dishonest studies don't help the situation. | <urn:uuid:24f3fe62-3143-4c19-a428-4a9fc75a234e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arstechnica.com/information-technology/2007/10/microsoft-gets-official-open-source-blessing-from-osi-for-two-of-its-licenses/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951903 | 691 | 1.890625 | 2 |
The Class ranks with the very best films ever made about teaching, and it's unlike any English or American film about teaching ever made.
This film from contemporary master Laurent Cantet (Heading South), about a French grammar instructor teaching a diverse group of 14- and 15-year-olds in a Paris school, depicts a mixture of instinct and process that allows a pedagogue to sustain genuine communication with his students while preserving his own sanity.
Jon Voight's Pat Conroy in the great American film Conrack swept up his students with his outsize personality and his poetic relationship to his subject matter. Francois Marin, played by real-life teacher Francois Begaudeau (the movie is based on his autobiographical book), relies solely on his observational gifts and powers of argument. He awakens his charges' minds and maintains an atmosphere of fairness through constant vigilance and flexible, intelligent response to their behavior and misbehavior.
The movie never leaves school grounds. Yet its multifaceted view of all its characters keeps a viewer hopped up and excited, ready for anything. Francois proves fallible, sometimes shockingly so, as when he calls a couple of taunting, irritating female students "skanks." He reacts immediately yet feebly to his own misstep, arguing that he meant they only acted like skanks. But his essential honesty soon rights him, and he continues to fight for an unrestricted vision of youthful possibilities - even those of the two girls who often act as his enemy.
He sparks the film's greatest tragedy when other teachers at a staff meeting prod him into calling one student "limited." The movie is about Francois' powers of compromise and the limits of compromise, too. He's neither omniscient nor sweepingly empathetic. And he doesn't feel that it's his job to bridge a generation gap. He insists that students meet him halfway.
One unstressed theme is how unknowable some adolescents are to adults. What makes the movie excitingly real, even when the action is excruciating, is director Cantet's grasp of the complex drama beneath the snarky or obstreperous surface of teenagers. The students are full of happy and unhappy surprises.
Made in a documentarylike style, with actual students enacting scenes they helped the filmmakers cook up in workshops, the film plants a half-dozen students and a handful of faculty firmly in your mind, without coercing you into considering them "leading characters." Only afterward do you realize how adeptly Cantet and his co-writers, Begaudeau and Robin Campillo, have developed the many facets of an annoyingly loud, hip schoolgirl who say she's ashamed of being French and hides her intelligence with brashness. Or a shy Chinese boy who feels his classmates should feel more shame. Or a black Muslim boy who can express himself only in photographs, though his mother disapproves of them.
Francois himself appears to have some of the loneliness of a long-distance runner. He's cordial with his peers but more intent on inspecting his lesson plans than on exchanging gossip or sharing a celebratory biscuit over the start of the new year.
You realize how intimate everyone's interchange becomes in this movie when the faculty learns that the Chinese boy's mother lacks proper papers and might be deported. Cantet renders to perfection the individuality of each staff member's reaction. A female teacher has brought a bottle of champagne to toast her own pregnancy. Instead she toasts her hopes for the protection of the mother and her desire that her own baby is as intelligent as the Chinese boy.
The film lives in one enthralling scene after another of Francois using the teaching of French grammar to rouse intelligence and promote understanding among the student population. He tries to turn every interruption and every nonacademic argument over soccer or pop culture and mores into an opportunity for discussion.
Yet because he doesn't delude himself into thinking he's a savior, the movie is bracing and unromantic. Although his approach is Socratic, the girl who is the biggest thorn in his side doesn't see the connection between Francois and the hero of her new favorite book, Plato's Republic. The triumph of The Class is that we do.
(Sony Pictures Classics) Starring Francois Begaudeau. Directed by Laurent Cantet. Rated PG-13 for language. Time 128 minutes. In French with English subtitles. | <urn:uuid:a6bacc81-3e72-40da-ad44-b85205771e9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2009-03-06/news/0903050053_1_laurent-cantet-student-teacher-skanks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97028 | 890 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Being ethnically Chinese, I grew up being taught Chinese traditions and ideas. But growing up in Australia, I’ve learnt that my parents hacked away at some traditions and just made up stuff along the way.
Thus I’ve been always very dubious when something is labelled, an “Ancient Chinese Tradition.” What it usually meant was that Mrs Lee told my mother something over the mahjong table one rainy evening.
Anyway. When I gave birth to both my children, my mother insisted I carry out the Ancient Chinese Tradition of Chinese Confinement.
It involves sticking to weird rules like – stay in the house for 30 days, avoid washing your hair and hands, don’t touch cold water, and drink lots of brandy. Ok I exaggerate. But you can read what I wrote about it here. I didn’t do very well, but at least I tried.
During my research on how to increase chances of selecting gender using natural techniques, I came across the Ancient Chinese Gender Chart.
The legend states that the Chinese Gender Chart is over 700 years old. It was discovered in a royal tomb in Beijing and now resides in the Beijing Institute of Science. Apparently it is 90 – 99% accurate, but it is only for entertainment purposes.
There isn’t much scientific evidence, but some say it has something to do with the phase of the moon and the acidity in the woman’s uterus.
How To Use It :
You can predict your child’s gender by using your LUNAR AGE at the time of conception. (To work out your lunar age, just add 2 years.)
Then find which month you conceived, then you can work out the gender of your baby.
My Analysis :
My biggest problem right now is… for me and my two boys = this chart is 100% accurate.
The chart ALSO tells me that I have to wait until May if I want to conceive a girl.
Click here to see the whole story of Making Baby 3. | <urn:uuid:8f955e75-b568-4406-a934-71784168831b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.karencheng.com.au/2008/01/11/making-baby-3-part-13-the-chinese-gender-chart/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950048 | 419 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Does Your Board Pray?
By Chuck Waggoner
I recently attended a high school basketball game in Texas. To my surprise, a voice over the intercom asked the audience to stand for a brief moment of silent prayer before the school band played “The Star-Spangled Banner.” The gymnasium crowd rose as a single entity, and the brief moment of silence lasted for 30 seconds (I timed it).
Is 30 seconds a brief moment?
The definition of “brief” is beside the point to this obvious breach of the U.S. Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the case of Santa Fe v. Jane Doe. School-sponsored prayer at an athletic event is not acceptable, and the school board and administration should know that they are in violation of the law and should stop the practice. This moment of silent prayer was a manifestation of government policy. The audience was there to support and watch basketball, not to attend a worship service. It does not matter if everyone in that gymnasium was a proponent of prayer; the law was broken.
I don’t know for sure, but I’d guess this particular Texas district also opens its school board meetings with an invocation of some type. From my research as a professor at Eastern New Mexico University, I have found that a significant number of Texas school boards and 25 percent of New Mexico’s school boards open meetings with a verbal or silent prayer.
As a 30-year administrator in Illinois, I know that many school boards in that state, particularly in small, rural communities, open meetings with a prayer as well.
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Subscribers please click here to continue reading. If you are not a subscriber, please click here to purchase this article or to obtain a subscription to ASBJ. | <urn:uuid:a524d360-355b-4f50-8974-0d0cb5100c8c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asbj.com/MainMenuCategory/Archive/2010/July/Does-Your-Board-Pray.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963277 | 383 | 1.960938 | 2 |
The Biggest Peak Project in History
The jury will select the teams who will climb 150 summits around the world in the ultimate Test Event, with the support of professional mountain guides from the Mammut Alpine School. They will also be equipped with the anniversary collection and a visual and audio record will be made of their ascent.
The documented material will be updated regularly on each team's Peak Project web page.
In the team building phase, as team leaders, the selected peak founders need to assemble their teams and plan the details of the tours. Each peak project has its own separate page to introduce the team.
To be part of a team, you need to apply to the team leaders via the Climbers’ Board, a kind of jobs exchange for mountaineers. The complete teams then need to present their projects to an expert jury. This jury will decide whether they should go forward to phase 3 of the ultimate Test Event.
During the recruitment phase, Mammut fans had the chance to apply to become team leaders by creating a virtual mountain. After creating their peak, their next task was to find supporters among their friends and in the Community. Their supporters’ photos were then mapped on the mountains to make them grow to dizzying heights.
At the end of phase 1, the mountain founders with the highest peaks were selected from each country to go forward to the team building phase. | <urn:uuid:8ce0118a-0636-4b2d-a73e-d641e07d21ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mammut.ch/de/peakproject_overview.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967151 | 282 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Passenger Rail Returns to WNC
Norfolk Southern engines and passenger cars
On Wednesday, September 8, 2010 two passenger rail cars with 140 riders departed from Asheville for Marion, North Carolina. This rare event was an initiative of Operation Lifesaver, a nationwidenon-profit public information organization dedicated to promoting train safety and ending collisions, deaths and injuries at places where roadways cross train tracks, and on railroad rights-of-way.
View of switchbacks going down to Old Fort
This educational opportunity was also a chance to experience passenger rail. The Western North Carolina rail corridor, which runs from Asheville to Salisbury, is scheduled by the North Carolina Department of Transportation to return passenger rail. This has been a goal of Amtrak and the NCDOT Rail Division and would bolster economic development in WNC. However, the state’s economy and budget have prevented the quick return of the service.
Passengers riding in style
The excitement of the passengers could be felt as the train pulled out of Biltmore Village and began to make its way toward Black Mountain. Rail can be described as a romantic and nostalgic way to travel. It offers a unique and different perspective of North Carolina as the cars snaked down the switchbacks from Black Mountain to Old Fort. Riders were treated to views of wooded mountains free of the traffic of I-40.
Pulling into station at Old Fort
Many individuals in Western North Carolina have been working to expedite the return of passenger rail. The Asheville Area Chamber of Commerce is a member of the Western North Carolina Passenger Rail Corridor, which is composed of members along the Asheville to Salisbury corridor that meet quarterly to bring passenger rail back to WNC. The group has presented to the North Carolina General Assembly and remains in contact with the NCDOT Rail Division to make sure the corridor remains top of mind.
Boarding the train in Marion
Norfolk Southern partnered with Operation Lifesaver and provided two diesel engines, two passenger cars, and a research car. The ridership included elected officials from across North Carolina, community leaders, law enforcement officials, and individuals that could help spread the word about train safety.
Rep. Ray Rapp talks about trains in Marion
An Operation Lifesaver volunteer said that the most important thing to remember is that trains can appear at any time. This is not only applicable for safety reasons as you traverse tracks on foot and in automobiles but also applies to passenger rail. The Chamber and many in the community are working hard to have this great mode of transportation return to our part of the state, and the passenger trains could appear at any moment.
Beautiful view via rail | <urn:uuid:7dc1ef0e-a35e-4d32-98cb-6d72282cda86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ashevillechamber.org/blog/passenger-rail-returns-wnc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96025 | 538 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Jenny Gold/Kaiser Health News
Lori Duff with her baby, Henry, and other son, Logan, at home in Columbus, Ohio.
Even before the hospital bills started coming, Lori Duff and her family were living paycheck to paycheck. So when the debt collector called the Columbus, Ohio, mother and demanded $1,800 for the prenatal visits she'd had while pregnant with her third son, she panicked.
The collector claimed the local Catholic hospital Duff had gone to could garnish 25 percent of each of her paychecks to pay off the bill. She offered to make a $20 payment — all she could afford at the time — but the collector told her the minimum was $400 down. "I was like, 'I don't have that. You can have everything in my account right now. It's $1.25,'" Duff recalls.
Duff, 27, was likely eligible for free care under the Mount Carmel Health System's financial assistance policy, which offers medical care at no charge for patients earning less than 200 percent of the federal poverty level.
As a manager at an auto parts store, she earns about $25,000 a year. Husband Michael stays home with their three little boys, ages one, four and six. Her children are covered under Ohio's program for low-income kids, but both Duff and her husband are uninsured.
The health overhaul law of 2010 contains a number of provisions governing charity care. The new rules went into effect last year, and they will remain in effect if the Supreme Court upholds all or most of the health law. The rules mean non-profit hospitals are now:
- prohibited from charging uninsured low-income patients higher rates than the lowest amounts billed to individuals with insurance.
- required to have a clearly written financial assistance policy describing who is eligible for free or reduced cost care. The policy must be widely publicized in the community served by the hospital.
- prohibited from enforcing "extraordinary collections actions" against patients before determining whether the patient qualifies for financial assistance.
- required to conduct assessments on the health needs of the community they serve and implement a strategy to meet those needs.
— Jenny Gold
She assumed her prenatal care would be provided free, either through an emergency Medicaid option offered to pregnant women or because of the hospital policy. But then, a few months after Henry was born, she started getting the letters and phone calls from the debt collector.
"When people start harassing you and they start calling on a daily basis or every other day demanding money you don't have, I mean, it's hard." She worried that the hospital might try to seize her paychecks or even take her house.
While Ohio has a law that prevents foreclosures based on medical debt alone, it is legal for hospitals to garnish patient wages, attach bank accounts and get a lien on any future earnings, including from the sale of a house.
Duff is one of nearly 1,600 people Mount Carmel sued in county court between 2009 and 2011. Most of them were patients like Duff who did not pay their medical bills, though not all were poor.
Karen Geisler, vice president of patient financial services at Mount Carmel, says the hospital's actions are appropriate. Mount Carmel processes 5,000-7,000 charity care applications each month, she says, and approves 90 percent of completed applications for some sort of aid from the hospital or state.
Nonprofit hospitals, including Mount Carmel, pay no federal, state or local taxes, giving them a competitive edge over their for-profit counterparts. In return, nonprofits are expected to offer a community benefit, including free and discounted care for low-income patients.
But despite the requirement, a study by the Congressional Budget Office found that on average, not-for-profits provide only slightly more uncompensated care than for-profit hospitals.
The federal health law passed last year attempts to address the situation by setting new rules for how a nonprofit hospital must report its charity care and serve poor patients. The rules have already gone into effect but are not being actively enforced.
Few patients who are sued by hospitals seek legal assistance, according to Kathleen McGarvey, a lawyer at Columbus Legal Aid, which currently represents six patients being sued by Mount Carmel.
She notes says that in these types of cases, the hospital usually wins by default, and the patient is accountable for the entirety of the bill, even if there are errors or duplicate charges. "I think for a nonprofit hospital, whose job it is to provide this community care, that it's obscene that they're going after folks who are at 100 percent of the poverty level," McGarvey charges.
Mount Carmel's mission is to provide care to everyone, regardless of their ability to pay, the system's Geisler says. "In order to provide charity in the community — and we provide a lot and do a lot of good — we have to collect payment from those who can afford to pay us," she says.
For the past decade, Republican Sen. Chuck Grassley of Iowa, has been leading the charge on Capitol Hill to hold nonprofit hospitals more accountable. Their tax exemption carries "certain responsibilities, and one of them is to provide charitable care. I mean, that's why they're set up, right?" Grassley said in an interview.
Under the new rules, crafted by Grassley and Sen. Max Baucus, a Montana Democrat, nonprofit hospitals are required to publicize their financial assistance policies and are prohibited from charging higher rates to uninsured patients or taking extreme collections efforts against patients who may qualify for free care.
"Historically, we haven't had the consistent definitions and agreed-upon standards for reporting," says Rich Umbdenstock, president of the American Hospital Association. "Now we have those at the federal level and we believe that those need to be given a chance to work."
Meanwhile, some states are taking matters into their own hands. In the past year, Illinois has revoked the state tax exemption for three nonprofit hospitals that the state Department of Revenue determined were not doing their share of free care.
Meanwhile, Lori Duff and her husband remain uninsured and vulnerable to future collections actions. "It's crazy," Duff says. "It's a hospital bill. It's a doctor bill. Everybody needs care." | <urn:uuid:09ad5197-58aa-4fa6-a620-aba9c3a7cb9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.npr.org/blogs/health/2012/04/27/151537743/nonprofit-hospitals-faulted-for-stinginess-with-charity-care | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971003 | 1,293 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Who Can Kill a Child?
Narciso Ibañez Serrador’s Who Can Kill a Child? (1976) is arguably the best Spanish horror film ever made. It’s also a classic of 70s horror, but you’re unlikely to find it on many ‘best of’ lists, from either fans or critics. This is mainly due to its half-hearted distribution; saddled with a number of other titles - including Island of the Damned and Death is Child’s Play - and shorn of up to half an hour of footage, Serrador’s film surfaced briefly on the drive-in circuit before slipping into obscurity. It did occasionally appear on television, however, and grey-market VHS copies circulated among fans of cult and horror cinema. Through this limited exposure, the film acquired a growing fan base, although it wouldn’t receive an uncut release in the USA until 2007. Finally, in 2011, Who Can Kill a Child? is being released in the United Kingdom.
Young biologist Tom and his heavily pregnant wife Evelyn (Lewis Fiander and Prunella Ransome) are on holiday in Spain. They decide to visit Almanzora, a small island off the coast. It isn’t necessarily the best place to go - there’s no doctor, no telephone and it takes four hours in a boat to get there - but they want to get away from the tourists. When they arrive, the island appears to be deserted, except for a handful of children. The shops are open, but empty, and it’s obvious no one has been there for several hours. Tom follows a group of giggling children into a building and finds them playing a game in the courtyard, swinging long poles at an object above their heads. But it’s not a piñata hanging from the ceiling - it’s the battered body of an elderly man. As Tom struggles to imagine what has happened on the island, he and Evelyn encounter one of the locals, hidden upstairs in the hotel. He tells them that the previous night the children took to the streets, laughing and playing, going from one house to another. Screams of pain and horror followed, as the children began killing every adult they could find. It’s time for Tom and Evelyn to leave, but will the children let them escape?
Like Village of the Damned (1960) and Children of the Corn (1984), Who Can Kill a Child? pits adults against children, this time working from the template established by George A. Romero’s Night of the Living Dead (1968). Unlike those films, Who Can Kill a Child? doesn’t dilute the horrific premise by making his children aliens or religious maniacs controlled or directed by a supernatural entity. The children of Almanzora were, until the night before, completely normal. Even now they’re behaving much as children should - playing, giggling, running around the town having fun. It’s just the nature of the ‘fun’ that has changed. Following Hitchcock in The Birds (1963) and Romero, Serrador provides no real information that might help to understand or explain the events taking place. Tom and Evelyn have better things to do than speculate about why the children have slaughtered the adults.
Serrador’s only serious misstep occurs almost immediately. As a prologue to his film he attaches 10 minutes of real-life footage depicting various wars and man-made humanitarian disasters, always stressing the number of children who died in each instance. This establishes the continued victimisation of children by adults (accidental or otherwise), opening the door for the children of Almanzora to turn the tables. Unfortunately, footage of concentration camps and African famines makes for an uncomfortable way to begin watching what is essentially a frivolous form of entertainment. Thankfully Serrador avoids such ham-fisted moralising for the rest of the film. When Who Can Kill a Child? gets going, it’s a masterpiece of atmosphere and a deeply unsettling, original experience, and one that deserves to be seen by a much wider audience.
Eureka’s new Region 2 edition carries the same content as the US Dark Sky edition, using the same high quality, uncut print and featuring documentaries about the director and the cinematographer. | <urn:uuid:75594691-731d-4d14-8912-c26a8fc0453c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.electricsheepmagazine.co.uk/reviews/2011/06/03/who-can-kill-a-child/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950416 | 902 | 1.679688 | 2 |
OPINION No. 16/1999 (CHINA)
Communication addressed to the Government on 11 January 1999
Concerning Liu Nianchun
The State is not a party to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
1. The Working Group on Arbitrary Detention was established by resolution 1991/42 of the Commission on Human Rights. The mandate of the Working Group was clarified and extended by resolution 1997/50. Acting in accordance with its methods of work, the Working Group forwarded to the Government the above-mentioned communication.
2. The Working Group conveys its appreciation to the Government for having
forwarded the requisite information in good time.
3. The Working Group regards deprivation of liberty as arbitrary in the following cases:
(i) When it manifestly cannot be justified on any legal basis (such as continued detention after the sentence has been served or despite an applicable amnesty act)
(category I) ;
(ii) When the deprivation of liberty is the result of a judgement or sentence for the exercise of the rights and freedoms proclaimed in articles 7, 13, 14, 18, 19, 20
and 21 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and also, in respect of States parties, by articles 12, 18, 19, 21, 22, 25, 26 and 27 of the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (category II);
(iii) When the complete or partial non-observance of the relevant international standards set forth in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and in the
relevant international instruments accepted by the States concerned relating to the right to a fair trial is of such gravity as to confer on the deprivation of liberty, of
whatever kind, an arbitrary character (category III).
4. In the light of the allegations made, the Working Group welcomes the cooperation of the Government. The Group transmitted the reply of the Government to the source and received its comments. The Group is in a position to render an opinion on the facts and circumstances of the case, in the context of the allegations made and the response of the Government thereto.
5. According to the information brought to the attention of the Working Group, Liu Nianchun, a labour activist and veteran Democracy Wall campaigner, was arrested on 21 May 1995 after signing several petitions. He was apprehended at his home in Beijing, and allegedly held incommunicado for one year without charges and without trial. In July 1996, he was sentenced to three years of re-education through labour.
6. Liu decided to challenge his administrative sentence by suing the Public Security Bureau and the Re-education Through Labour Committee. His case was heard on 17 September 1996. Reportedly, no friends or relatives were able to attend the hearing, and Liu was only allowed to meet his lawyer a few hours before the trial. Two months later, his case was rejected. At the time of submission of the case, Liu Nianchun remained detained at Shuanghe Labour Camp, and his health allegedly was poor. According to the source, his sentence was extended by more than 200 days in May 1997, again without a trial.
7. In its reply, the Government confirms that Liu Nianchun was assigned to three years’ re-education through labour on 14 May 1996, by decision of the Beijing Municipal Re-education Committee.
8. The Government notes that Liu Nianchun objected and on 16 July 1996 requested his wife, Chu Hailan, to submit an administrative appeal to the courts. On 17 September 1996, the Chaoyang District People’s Court in Beijing conducted a public hearing with Chu and the lawyers she had hired. The court determined that the facts in the Re-education Through Labour Committee’s decision were clear, that the evidence was ample, that the law had been correctly applied and the proper legal procedure observed. It therefore upheld the Committee’s decision assigning Liu Nianchun to re-education. Liu objected and appealed to the Beijing No. 2 Higher People’s Court. On 18 March 1997, a collegiate bench constituted by the court conducted a hearing, in which it found that the facts in the decision of the court of first instance were clear, that the law had been correctly applied, and that the trial procedure had been lawful. It accordingly rejected the appeal and upheld the original judgement.
9. Subsequently, considering Liu’s appearance and physical condition in the re-education facility, the Chinese law enforcement authorities decided to allow him to seek medical assistance. Liu and his relatives requested that he be allowed to go to the United States to seek treatment and visit his family, and permission was obtained. He and his family left for the United States on 20 December 1998. According to the Government, his period of re-education was never extended.
10. The Working Group has taken note of the release of Liu Nianchun for health reasons. Having examined all the information submitted to it, and without determining whether the detention of Liu Nianchun was arbitrary or not, the Working Group accordingly decides, and pursuant to paragraph 17 (a) of its working methods, to file the case of Mr. Liu Nianchun.
Adopted on 15 September 1999 | <urn:uuid:e1a2170a-8f90-48c4-9a42-b68877aad5e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www1.umn.edu/humanrts/wgad/16-1999.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972063 | 1,064 | 1.734375 | 2 |
What Happens to the Baby After Delivery?
Neonatal team; Apgar scoringHouston, We Have a Baby!
Shortly after the baby's birth, whether it's a vaginal birth or a c-section, the baby will be evaluated for its ability to adapt and transition normally to life outside the uterus. To aid in this process, the baby is transported to a warming unit with a radiant heat source. The baby (now officially called a neonate) is dried of all moisture, which helps to minimize the loss of its core temperature.
The nose and mouth of the baby are suctioned to clear the baby of all secretions and to aid in its first breathing efforts. The baby should begin crying within the first 30 seconds to one minute of life. To accomplish this, gentle stimulation is usually required and accomplished by rubbing the baby's back or gently stimulating its feet.
Some of you may be familiar with old movies or books that described or depicted the delivering physician as holding up the baby by its feet in mid air and spanking the baby's bottom (translation: bare butt) in order to get the baby to cry. This procedure is no longer done because it isn't necessary. According to Dr. John, it was an accepted practice because doctors simply didn't know any better, and they went overboard a tad. Today's doctors know that aggressive stimulation isn't necessary, and it could potentially harm the baby. For example, the baby could be dropped or hit too hard in a vulnerable spot that might injure it.
The Neonatal Team Takes Over
Usually, when the delivery is approaching, the patient's nurse will call for additional personnel to manage the baby's transition. These individuals are referred to as NRPs (neonatal resuscitative providers). They may be doctors, nurses, or medical assistants, but all of them have special training in the initial evaluation of and resuscitation of newborns.
And the Ranking Is...Enter the Apgar Score
The baby's attendants will begin their initial evaluation at one and five minutes after birth, using the Apgar scoring system. The intent of the Apgar score is to provide a quick evaluation of a newborn and determine if additional measures of resuscitation are necessary.
Apgar scores range from zero to 10. In general, a low Apgar identifies those babies who may require extra attention and care. The five-minute Apgar score is generally used to evaluate how effective any resuscitative efforts were.
The Apgar table is comprised of five areas in which the baby will receive a score. These areas include the baby's heart rate, muscle tone, respiratory effort, reflexive response to stimulation, and the baby's color.
The APGAR Scoring System
|Heart Rate||Absent||< 100 per minute||> 100 per minute|
|Respiratory Effort||Apneic||Weak, Irregular, Gasping||Regular|
|Reflex||No Response||Some Response||Facial Grimace, Sneeze, Cough|
|Muscle Tone||Flaccid||Some Flexion||Good Flexion of Arms and Legs|
|Color||Blue, Pale||Body Pink, Hands and Feet Blue||Pink|
A value of 0, 1, or 2 is assigned to each category, and this gives the baby its overall score out of 10. Generally, Apgar scores in the range of 7-10 suggest that the baby doesn't require additional resuscitative efforts; however, a score between 4-7 is considered an indicator that the baby may be mildly to moderately compromised (needing attention). In those babies with a score less than 4, the rating usually indicates that the baby might need oxygen and additional attention from the medical staff. (According to Dr. John, medical people joke around and say that no babies ever get a perfect 10, unless they are a pediatrician's baby.)
My Perfect "10"
The birth of my third child (and first daughter) was something of a fiasco of my own making. I was at a teaching hospital, but didn't realize what that meant when they asked me if I'd mind having a "few" nurses observe the delivery. When they wheeled me into an amphitheater-type room, it was too late to protest. OK, 15 nurses (some male I'd forgotten there was such a thing as male nurses) gathered round to watch under spotlights. So much for intimate, personal deliveries with the lights dimmed. If I hadn't been so preoccupied having a baby, I would have been mortified.
The only good part was that they clapped when I delivered, and my daughter was a perfect "10" on the Apgar scale at 1 minute and at 5 minutes. (I think it had something to do with the movie "10" being popular several years earlier.) In retrospect, it was the only way for my drama-queen daughter to make her appearance onto the stage of life.
Reproduced from Absolute Beginner's Guide to Pregnancy, by John Adams and Marta Justak, by permission of Pearson Education. Copyright © 2005 by Que Publishing. Please visit Amazon to order your own copy. | <urn:uuid:79bdde74-05d3-4bd6-8fa9-71687e678628> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pregnancy.familyeducation.com/delivery/after-delivery/35966.html?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953472 | 1,060 | 2.71875 | 3 |
What Increases Your Risk
The main risk factors for bladder cancer include:
- Smoking. Smokers are twice as likely to get bladder cancer as nonsmokers.Reference 1
- Chemical exposure. Bladder cancer has been linked to chemicals called aromatic amines. These chemicals are found in many products, including dyes, paints, solvents, inks, and the dust from leather. This risk may also depend on how much and how often a person was exposed to these chemicals.
- Being older. Your risk goes up as you get older. Most people who get bladder cancer are close to their 70s.
- Being a white male. Men are 4 times more likely to get bladder cancer than women. And white men are twice as likely to get it as African-American men.Reference 1
- A diet that is high in nitrates or rich in meat and fatty foods.
- Schistosomiasis, which is an infection caused by a parasite. It's sometimes found in developing countries and rarely occurs in North America.
|By:||Reference Healthwise Staff||Last Revised: Reference October 22, 2012|
|Medical Review:||Reference E. Gregory Thompson, MD - Internal Medicine
Reference Christopher G. Wood, MD, FACS - Urology, Oncology | <urn:uuid:8704dc13-1633-4104-a4c4-d0d18c18eb10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pamf.org/teen/healthinfo/index.cfm?A=C&type=info&hwid=uh1360§ion=uh1365 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951432 | 266 | 3.1875 | 3 |
Traces of pesticides have been found in a wide range of foods, according to a report published yesterday.
The list includes fresh produce such as apples and courgettes, in addition to British butter, sausages and baby food.
A small number had levels regarded as unacceptable yet not high enough to prove a danger to human health.
One sample of lettuce grown in Britain contained a pesticide not approved for use in the country.
The results were published by the independent Pesticides Residues Committee, which oversees the Government's surveillance for pesticides and publishes regular updates. The majority of samples tested, including all the organic items, did not contain any pesticide residues.
Two of the 17 samples of Italian tomatoes tested had levels of pesticides above the threshold acceptable in agriculture. The chemical found was chlormequat, whose affect on humans is not yet known.
Half the lettuces tested had traces of pesticide residues.
Overall, 17 per cent of samples contained traces of pesticides of which one per cent were over the MRL. The rest contained no pesticides. | <urn:uuid:940e42eb-9953-4462-b780-b60f9dd5a2a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/4768824/Pesticide-warning-on-foods.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961971 | 217 | 2.53125 | 3 |
People of Northwest Public Radio
Mon December 26, 2011
The Touchy-Feely Future Of Technology
In 1975, when then-composer and performer Bill Buxton started designing his own digital musical instruments, he had no way of knowing he was helping to spark the next technological revolution. But nine years — and a master's in computer science — later, that all changed.
"I wasn't trying to make a computer interface, I was just trying to make a drum," Buxton tells NPR's Robert Siegel. "Did I envision what was going to happen today, that it would be in everybody's pocket — in their smartphone? Absolutely not. Did we realize that things were going to be different, that you could do things that we never imagined? ... Absolutely."
Today, Buxton is known as a pioneer in human-computer interaction, a field of computer science that has seen a spike in consumer demand thanks to a new, seemingly ubiquitous technology: Touch.
According to the technology, media and telecommunications company IHS iSuppli, global shipments of touch-screen cellphones and tablets have gone from 244 million units to 630 million units in just two years. This year, iPad sales nearly quadrupled compared to 2010.
But if you ask Bill Buxton, the touch explosion has been long in the making. It's part of a theory he calls The Long Nose of Innovation and it says that much of the innovation behind any technological breakthrough actually takes place over a long period of time.
Buxton became part of the long nose of touch technology when, in 1977, he signed up to study computer science at the University of Toronto. Today, Buxton is principle researcher at Microsoft Research, but he says the fact that he started out as a musician and not a technology insider has been invaluable to his work in computer science.
"It's just your imagination that's driving it and you're not trying to be so deliberate," he says. "That usually just makes you get uptight, constrained and it's far better just to find something you love doing, chase it down and the rest will just fall out."
Sci-Fi: Boldly Going Where No Science Has Gone Before
To many, the tablet computer seems new. But NPR's Laura Sydell reports that the idea for a flat, personal computer shaped like a book has actually been around for a long time. Just think of Arthur C. Clarke's 1968 novel 2001: A Space Odyssey in which space travelers follow news on Earth via a "Newspad" that downloads the world's major electronic papers.
Clarke's newspads also show up in Stanley Kubrick's 1968 film by the same name, where the fictional devices look so much like an iPad that today Samsung says it proves their Galaxy Tab isn't a rip off of Apple's iPad. They've even included a link to a YouTube clip from the film in their court documents.
Even before Space Odyssey, tablet computers had already appeared in 1966 on the original Star Trek. The first iteration was called an electronic clipboard and was used to control the ship. Around 1989, it was redesigned to ultimately do a lot of the same things iPads do today; the show's characters used it to read books, look at reports and send messages.
Usability expert Kevin Fox says he's not surprised science fiction writers came up with the tablet before science did.
"I think science fiction is the brainstorming part of science," Fox says. "Look at Jules Verne for example. He's talking about going to the moon; he's talking about submarines, that sort of thing. It's a lot easier to do that than it is to hold your tongue ... until you've actually made a rocket that can go to the moon."
How iPads Are Changing The Classroom
Now that the iPad does exist, people are finding a lot of practical applications for it. Jamestown Elementary School in Arlington County, Va., has a growing cache of iPads, about 100 for 600 students. The school uses its tablets for everything from writing to math to reading graphic novels. But NPR's Larry Abramson reports that in one classroom the iPad has been a real game changer.
Special education assistant Lesley McKeever uses an iPad to get her student, an affectionate autistic boy who can't speak, to learn to connect words with images by touching the right picture on the screen. Touch technology has been so helpful for students with autism that Arlington County provides enough iPads for every student in the special education classroom.
According to Apple, more than 2,300 school districts in the U.S. have iPad programs for students or teachers. But the benefits of having iPads in the classroom don't come free. Teachers say you have to invest time into the technology in order to get something out of it, which means much of the iPad's usefulness will depend on the applications both teachers and publishers discover as adoption grows.
The Jury's Still Out On Tablets In Hospitals
Hospitals are also exploring the usefulness of iPads. At the University of California, San Diego Hospital, physician's assistant Kate Franko uses an iPad 2 to update a patient who just received a brand new kidney on his recovery. She pulls up a graph of blood tests that charts how well his new kidney is working, then a chest X-ray from a few days ago.
It shouldn't come as a surprise that tablets are starting to find their way into hospitals, but Jenny Gold of NPR partner Kaiser Health News reports that their usefulness in the medical profession is still an open question. There are concerns about spotty wireless in hospitals, distracted doctors and the security of patient records.
Jonathan Mack of the West Wireless Health Institute, a nonprofit that works to lower the cost of health care through new technology, says another reason more hospitals aren't using tablets is that they've already invested millions into electronic record systems that aren't compatible with tablets.
"In order to go back around and deploy these on iPads with full functionality," Mack says, "it requires [that hospitals] cough up a lot more money."
And hospitals won't be willing to do that when they aren't even sure that tablets will make things easier. In the meantime, even pioneers like Franko are hedging their bets. In addition to her iPad and two iPhones, she also carries a good old-fashioned pager around — just in case.
Living The Fantasy Of Touch
Hospitals aren't the only ones expressing hesitation about touch. Professor Sherry Turkle, director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self, sees the rise of technology like smartphones as cause for concern. She says touch devices are more than just the latest in a sequence of high-tech distractions.
"I think that the touch pad is a very important moment because the touch pad makes our devices feel more like an extension of ourselves," Turkle tells Robert Siegel. "We feel anxious when we're not in contact [and] we feel a kind of psychic permission."
A psychic permission to, say, text in the middle of a class or even at a funeral. That's because whipping out your touch-screen smartphone is a lot more discreet then whipping out your laptop. And if touch-screen texting isn't subtle enough, Turkle says she knows of people who are trying to perfect the technique of texting without breaking eye-contact.
"This is becoming a new, highly valued social skill," she says.
(In keeping with Bill Buxton's Long Nose theory, so-called blind texting technology has actually been around for a while — since 1984, to be exact. That's the year Casio released the AT-550 watch which allowed users to write character over character on the watch in order to control calculator functions. According to Buxton, "Incredibly subtle texting is there just waiting for somebody to make a product. There's no impediment to that.")
Even without blind texting, there's something almost instinctual about the relationship people are developing with their technology. Turkle says that's because touch-screen devices appeal to a sentiment that pretty much everyone can relate to: the desire to be a kid again.
"[The] fantasy of using your body to control the virtual is a child's fantasy of their body being connected to the world," Turkle says. "That's the child's earliest experience of the world and it kind of gets broken up by the reality that you're separate from the world. And what these phones do is bring back that fantasy in the most primitive way."
And Turkle warns that living in that fantasy world could mean missing out on the real world around you.
Surface: The Next 'Bingo' Moment
Still, it's clear that the fantasy world of touch technology isn't going anywhere. Samsung and Microsoft have just released a new product that's bound to once again change the way many people interact with computers.
It's called the Samsung SUR40, or Microsoft's Surface, and while it looks a lot like a table, it's actually a multi-touch computer. The Surface at the Microsoft facility in Reston, Va., has a screen saver that makes it look like a pool of water. When you wave your hands over it, the water ripples in response. But when your hands approach the screen, a menu turns to face you. If someone across the table moves their hands to the monitor, the menu turns to face them. That's because the Surface can actually see your hand approaching it.
"Not only is it a display that can present graphical information to you, each pixel can be thought of as like a camera element in a digital camera, or scanner," says Bill Buxton, who came up with the idea for Surface.
Buxton explains the way Surface works as being similar to how two paper cups connected by a piece of string can serve as walkie-talkies. In the walkie-talkie scenario, each cup is used as both a microphone to speak into and a speaker to hear what the other person is saying. Somewhere around 1992, Buxton says he started wondering if the same thing could be done with light.
"I asked an engineer who was way smarter than me, 'Could that be done?' and the answer was 'Yes,'" Buxton recalls. "In essence Surface is the first device that really has taken that approach."
Buxton explains that the Surface monitor is made of up pixels that can both display images and read them. So if you hold a piece of paper face-down on the monitor, it can tell you what it says — and that's pretty groundbreaking.
"That opens up a whole new realm of interaction that is something that some of us have been working on for over a decade, and dreamed about maybe 20 years ago," Buxton says. "And bingo, it's starting to be manufactured." | <urn:uuid:65afc4d7-dffe-438f-b589-8fdac0d7057c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nwpr.org/post/touchy-feely-future-technology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970414 | 2,211 | 2.296875 | 2 |
10/25/2011 8:16 PM ET|
6 sites transforming how you shop
It's not always about brand extension. These 6 small websites are pointing consumers to new strategies for buying, selling and trading merchandise.
Over the past 15 years, the Internet has transformed society. It has generated an entire industry, revolutionized commerce and altered the ways people communicate, connect and build relationships.
From a commercial perspective, online shopping has generated a shift in consumer behavior. According to two studies by the Pew Research Center, this shift is far from over. In September 2010, 58% of Americans went online for information about products to buy, up from 49% six years earlier.
The six companies profiled here are building strong momentum in the realm of online shopping. Their technologies can help consumers save time and money, but the websites also do something else: They expose people to new strategies for acquiring, selling or trading consumer goods. Plus, they plug in consumers to the new currents that will inevitably follow as technology continues to transform personal transactions of all kinds.
Based in San Francisco, thredUP is an online clothing swap. Parents can exchange used clothes, as well as books and toys. The website bills itself as a time-saving solution for busy, thrifty parents. You don't have to rummage through garage sales, and the inventory is more abundant than what you'd encounter at the thrift store.
In the real world, clothing swaps are few and far between because they are time-consuming and difficult to organize. ThredUP's marketplace streamlines everything into one browser-friendly interface.
For basic swaps, thredUP customers pay $5 plus $10.95 in shipping fees.
ModCloth.com is a boutique-style online retailer that chooses small lots from a variety of designers, all retro in style. ModCloth features only a few of each item in each individual size, enhancing the uniqueness of its shopping experience.
In the real world, boutiques can be expensive and difficult places to shop because they tend to run out of inventory quickly. As a solution to this problem, ModCloth provides an extensive inventory of department-store alternatives.
Above all, the company engages in strong social-media efforts to engage its customers. Site browsers can vote on items that they'd like ModCloth to buy and sell.
The site transforms shopping by presenting a holistic experience online, an accomplishment that eludes many virtual retailers.
Established in 2005, Etsy has gained a reputation as one of the world's strongest marketplaces for handmade creations. Its network provides people a place to sell their handcrafted clothing, jewelry, furniture, toys and other items.
Anyone with a handmade product can create a store on Etsy, and everyone can shop there. Brooklyn-based Etsy aims to foster a do-it-yourself culture. It periodically brings online users together for real-world social events that have nothing to do with commerce. Participants show up to learn new skills and socialize.
On Lifesta you can buy deals you missed, look for deals that might hold appeal or sell any deal you bought and won't use.
The site offers a way out for shoppers who may have been too eager in snapping up a great deal at Groupon for, say, a morning yoga class. Rather than be stuck with a voucher you'll never redeem, you can offer it on Lifesta at whatever price you choose. Lifesta gets its cut -- 99 cents plus 8% of the sales price -- and you get all or some of your money back.
Rehash is another online community for trading clothes and books. The goal of the site is to provide a space for people to share items that would otherwise cost money or go to waste.
The majority of items in Rehash's database are secondhand, but items are typical of what a shopper would find in a mall. Products found on Rehash include Banana Republic tops, trendy ankle boots and Hollister T-shirts.
Rehash is owned by Orpheux Design, a Florida Web studio and creative agency.
Remember Facebook gifts? They were really fun and thoughtful -- until people realized that they weren't actually real.
Rob Carpenter decided to take Facebook gifts to the next level. In 2008, he established Friendgiftr, a business he has described as the world's first social-media and mobile-based e-commerce 2.0 company. Now, you can send real gift cards from about 150 merchants. Its apps aim to commercialize social networking sites and smartphones.
VIDEO ON MSN MONEY
anyways, think im going to change back to chrome and google.
ive been using msn as my homepage for the last week while i tried out the new version of internet explorerer, and i honestly cannot say that MSN as a website with its multitude of woman based articles, or the new ie browser which is still more clunky than chrome, are doing anything to impress me.
I came here to check it out and im left feeling like this article was written by a woman for other women... which has been the case for the last multiple articles ive tried to read on MSN.
Does anyone who works there realize that men also use the internet?
10 years ago, we had our own stores. Not anymore. We sell a few product lines online and a completely different line of products at the big box stores. We actually design the products for them.
No more people walking in and browsing during their lunches hours and then surfing online to find a cheaper price. That is where Borders made their fatal mistake.
they forgot listia.com in this article... and, quite a few other online boutiques and such that sell or trade items for less.. (in fact listia is completely FREE except for an occasional cheap shipping price)... Then there is freecycle.org... (everything FREE - no hidden charges)... and, i could go on and on..... therefore, i was a little less than impressed... i receive better information on "cheap sites" from my bffs and family members... though, a couple of the places that were listed - i actually hadn't heard about yet... so, thank you for the those...
btw: you can also checkout other boutiques at: LA-laDee.net... adanias.net
You forgot to make mention that the MSN articles were written by women who seem to be very negative Man Haters with a serious depression issue. Every day there is some article that is just off base. " Have you been dumped at the movies?" then try this website or do this.
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[BRIEFING.COM] The S&P 500 ended this week with a bang, roaring to a new all-time high on the back of stronger-than-expected economic data, influential leadership, and an ongoing appreciation for the Fed's monetary policy support.
The bullish bias was evident in premarket action as the S&P futures pointed to a higher start without the benefit of any definitive news catalyst. Stocks indeed benefited from a blast of buying interest at the opening bell on this ... More
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|There’s a problem getting this information right now. Please try again later.| | <urn:uuid:8e2c9725-84dd-4e5d-83df-488ffcdbcbf8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://money.msn.com/investing/offbeat-shopping-goes-online-investopedia.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941711 | 1,618 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Cluster's insight into space turbulence
25 March 2009The four satellites of ESA's Cluster mission have revealed, for the first time, how turbulence develops in space just outside the Earth's magnetic environment. This result improves the understanding of turbulence, a key physical process by which energy throughout the Universe is transported from large scales at which it is input, to small scales where it is dissipated.
Turbulence is a phenomenon familiar to every air traveler, but how many know that turbulence also exists in space? Just as the turbulence experienced by aircraft is caused by high-speed winds, turbulence in space can be caused by the solar wind, an uninterrupted flow of high-speed solar particles. Thanks to the Earth's magnetic field, most of this solar material is deflected around the Earth's magnetosphere (blue region in Figure 1), delimited by the magnetopause.
The solar wind, when it reaches a magnetized planet, is first decelerated from supersonic to subsonic speed by a shock wave (called the bow shock), located in front of the magnetopause. The region between the bow shock and the magnetopause is called the magnetosheath. This region is one of the most turbulent environments of near-Earth space, making it an excellent laboratory in which to study turbulence. Other environments such as the solar atmosphere, or accretion disks around young stars, are likely to exhibit similar behaviour, but the terrestrial magnetosheath is by far the most accessible place to perform in situ measurements. Characterising the properties of the magnetic turbulence in this region is of prime importance to understand its role in fundamental processes such as energy dissipation or the acceleration of particles to high-energies.
A more recent study, published on 23 May 2008 in Physical Review Letters, again made use of data collected by the four Cluster satellites but this time with an inter-spacecraft separation of several thousands of kilometers. This configuration enabled the study of magnetosheath turbulence at large scales. Magnetic field data collected on 16 April 2003 by the four satellites (C1, C2, C3 and C4) are plotted in Figure 3a (offset by 20 nT for clarity) while Figure 3b displays the spacecraft positions with respect to the Earth’s bow shock (thick dashed blue vertical line). At this time the Cluster satellites were widely spread in space, from just behind the bow shock (C3 and C4) to more than 8,000 kilometers away (C1), while C2 was located in between. The paper details a complex data analysis of the 4 minute interval marked in yellow in Figure 3a. One property of the turbulence, the intermittency, was studied in particular and was accurately reproduced with a theoretical model. The intermittency appears in the transfer (or the cascade) of the energy from large scales to small scales as an uneven distribution of the energy between the scales and this was used to examine the evolution of the turbulence in the magnetosheath (see Figure 4).
"For the first time we use multi-spacecraft observations to characterize the evolution of magnetosheath turbulence. The intermittency significantly changes over the distance, being increasingly stronger away from the bow shock", says Dr. Emiliya Yordanova, lead author of this study.
"Magnetic reconnection, turbulence and shocks are three fundamental ingredients of the plasma Universe. The detailed understanding of these key processes and their associated multi-scale physics is a challenge for the future of space physics. One of the lessons learned from the Cluster mission is the need for new space missions equipped with instruments of higher sensitivity and better time resolution along with a larger number of satellites to sample different scale sizes simultaneously. Such a mission concept exists: a fleet of 12 satellites named Cross-Scale. This is a candidate mission within the ESA Cosmic Vision programme", says Matt Taylor, acting ESA Cluster project scientist.
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Images and Videos | <urn:uuid:b74bbebd-8e8f-4d49-8595-a61828bbd6ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sci.esa.int/science-e/www/object/printfriendly.cfm?fobjectid=44480 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930017 | 830 | 3.46875 | 3 |
After summer vacations and fall rallies, many motorhomers rest their vehicles during winter. To keep the motorhome in good working order and protect it from freezing temperatures, preparing it for storage is necessary.
Any motorhome owner can purchase the necessary materials to winterize their vehicle, according to Charles Christy, national service manager for Workhorse Custom Chassis. "If you can clean your kitchen, you can winterize your vehicle,” he said, adding that the entire winterizing process can take less than a day for one person to complete.
As a first step, Christy recommends that motorhome owners review all of their owners manuals — the motorhome manufacturer’s, the chassis manufacturer’s and the appliances manufacturers’ — for vehicle-specific winterizing instructions.
Drain and blow out water lines to prevent damage to the motorhome’s water system. The Recreation Vehicle Industry Association (RVIA) suggests draining the fresh water tank by turning on the hot and cold valves and letting them run. Once the fresh water tank is empty, drain the holding tank(s).
Next, clear the lines with air pressure not exceeding 40 to 50 p.s.i. (open all faucet valves and hold the toilet valve open to allow water to clear from the regulator). Clear the lines by using blow-out plugs, which typically cost $3 to $5, along with small unit air compressors designed for tires and air mattresses. The air compressors at neighborhood service stations also will work.
As a final step, pump non-toxic antifreeze (see owners manual for proper specifications) through the entire water system to keep any remaining water from freezing. (Remember to shut off the hot water tank bypass to prevent antifreeze from filling the tank.) Never use automotive antifreeze.
To pump the antifreeze through the water system: Disconnect the water supply line from the water pump; connect a temporary supply line to the water pump and put the other end of the line in the antifreeze container; start the water pump. Once antifreeze begins to pump through the water system, close all open valves.
It's also a good idea to fill all drain traps with antifreeze. Refer to the coach owner's manual for specific instructions.
In many gas-powered motorhomes, the oil and oil filter should be changed before winter storage. This can prevent acids from accumulating in the oil and corroding the engine bearings.
Surprisingly, batteries can freeze at temperatures as high as 32 degrees Fahrenheit, which can lead to permanent damage, Christy said. To avoid battery problems, the negative battery cable should be disconnected on vehicles that will not be driven within a 30-day period.
Even disconnected batteries can lose their charge, so they should be checked every four months and recharged as necessary. If the green dot on an AC Delco battery is not visible, then it must be recharged. To prevent overload or damage to electrical components, the ignition switch should be in the "off" position when connecting battery cables or a battery charger.
If your motorhome is equipped with an auxiliary generator, read its manual for winter storage guidelines.
Park and pay attention
When parking the motorhome for the winter, be sure the vehicle is not too close to trees, where it could be damaged by tree sap, bird droppings or falling branches. If parking in a rural area, remove high weed growth, which affects paint by attracting insects or causing stains. Park on a level surface or with the front chassis higher than the rear if a level surface is not available.
It's also a good idea to top-off the fuel tank to avoid condensation. Add a fuel stabilizer to keep the fuel from breaking down and leaving deposits. Diesel and gasoline fuel stabilizers are available at most auto-parts stores.
Clean it, close it and cover it
Before covering the motorhome, clean the interior and remove all perishable food from the cabinets and refrigerator. Turn off the refrigerator, making sure the circuits are off, and leave the refrigerator door open. Remove all clothing and bedding to prevent mildew. Close all windows, and pull the shades and close the blinds if desired.
Make sure the regulator on the propane cylinder is covered, and tape the furnace vents. Ensure that the range hood is closed, and clean the rooftop air conditioner filters. If the motorhome is stored outside, it should be covered. Opening the roof vents a little may help to reduce moisture accumulation. If not covered, rinse, wash and wipe horizontal surfaces at least once per week to remove accumulations that settle on the flat surfaces.
Check the tires and keep them inflated to the recommended tire pressure. The sun’s ultraviolet rays can cause tires to dry rot. Tire covers are available from RV supply stores. Or, cut pieces of plywood to fit under the wheel wells and stand them against the side of each tire.
Secure all caps to prevent water, snow and dirt from entering the engine.
Make a list of the winterizing tasks and refer to it so the vehicle can be quickly prepared for the new season when warm temperatures return in the spring. | <urn:uuid:0b028bc2-c8b1-4c67-a9a3-38525be0e314> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fmca.com/motorhome/basics/103-winterizing-and-storing-your-motorhome | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913435 | 1,070 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Creative Bird Photography Essential Tips and Techniques (Paperback)
|Author: Bill Coster|
$10 off $30 on Home, Health & Beauty, Sporting Goods, Bags, Entertainment, Apparel, Jewelry, Toys and Pet Supplies when you use V.me at checkout. Ends 5/26/2013.
|Bill Coster carved out a niche taking photographs of birds in flight and has become one of the U.K.''s top wildlife photographers. In this inspirational guide, Coster shares the secrets of creating memorable images of the birds one meets, going about their often complex and fascinating lives. "Creative Bird Photography" shows how to photograph specific aspects of birds'' lives, such as eating and drinking, courtship and flight. The author gives examples, demonstrating approaches for taking great shots of these daily bird activities as well as taking "mood" photographs at dawn and dusk. Each shot comes with detailed technical data, information about locations, and advice about overcoming challenges to achieve the perfect shot. Coster also shares fascinating anecdotes about his encounters with the birds featured and provides up-to-date sections on bird photography basics, including equipment and storage of digital images.|
Presents an introduction to taking pictures of landscapes and nature ... | <urn:uuid:00afc23b-4a4e-4e57-874d-e3d78670b0ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rakuten.com/prod/creative-bird-photography/212315578.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928901 | 256 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Eleven-year-old Payton Jagger will get her wish of a trip to a Florida theme park in December, but the Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana is allowing her community to be a part of passing it on.
Payton, a daughter of Josh and Sheila (Moog) Jagger of Columbia City, has a condition called Chromosome 13.32.3 depletion. According to Sheila, Payton has trouble with fine motor skills and speech. Prone to urinary tract infections and other medical conditions, she has learned to dislike doctor visits so much that she endures severe pain rather than admit and have to go to the doctor.
Payton’s condition is very rare, only 17 studied cases so far, though there could be many more.
“We didn’t know until she was six,” said Sheila, who works weekends at Sears in Columbia City.
The Columbia City Sears store and its employees are supporting Payton with a “Payton’s Wish Day” from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. Nov. 13 at the store.
Those who wish may make a small donation for a chance to spin the “Wheel of Fortune” and win gifts from local businesses. Anyone wanting to make a donation or donate prizes may contact Tam Meinika at 691-2086 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org.
Payton is a sixth grader at Indian Springs Middle School and her mother thinks she’s “awesome.”
“You can have a really bad day and yell at her and 10 minutes later she loves you,” Sheila said.
In describing how Payton looks at the world — though she can only say “Mama” and use sign language that doesn’t require fine motor skills — her mom says, “You know how (babies) come out and look at the world in a most amazing way? She still does.”
When asked what the future prognosis is for Payton, Sheila’s eyes fill with tears, “As a parent you try not to think ahead,” she said, “you just take one day at a time.”
Prior to this year, Payton attended Mary Raber Elementary School, in a way, as a teacher.
“If my daughter can teach anybody anything, it’s empathy,” Sheila said. And if Payton could talk, her mom thinks she would say, “Just because I’m different, doesn’t mean I’m not awesome.”
Anyone giving to support Payton’s Make-A-Wish is helping the Make-A-Wish Foundation provide wishes for other children. Contact The Make-A-Wish Foundation of Greater Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana at the Indiana office at 7330 Woodland Drive, suite 201, Indianapolis, IN 46278; call (317)636-6060; or visit the website at www.makeawishindiana.org | <urn:uuid:d36aa0c8-00bc-4dc9-87bb-5952feaac267> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thepostandmail.com/content/theme-park-wish-local-girl-be-granted | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936772 | 718 | 1.53125 | 2 |
|A Declaration of Liberation from Our Own Oppression
© 1998 Michele Toomey, PhD
Too often we feel that others have all the power and we are at their mercy. As children, girls tend to be taught to be good, and good means thoughtful, caring, respectful, and generous. Disapproval, rejection, and feelings of being bad are, therefore, strong inhibitors of girls. Girls are not usually taught to develop their physical strength, but instead think of boys as strong and themselves as "pretty." One of the great gifts of women's team sports gaining public attention, is the image of athletic women with strong bodies still looking like attractive, healthy women, and not thin waifs. However physical intimidation is still a potential silencer of women.
We are also taught that we need a man, to protect us, provide for us, and to love us, and that a man needs us to emotionally protect him, provide a home and family for him and to love him. This would be fine except for that twist of opposites that says, when men fulfill their role they gain superiority, and when we perform our role we are inferior. That is a trap for both genders, and as a result, men often end up controlling women and are burdened by them, and women end up looking to men to make everything outside the home happen and then become dependent on them. When we women find ourselves in that position we become victims of our own sexist approach to our power and ourselves.
This manifesto won't fit you in every way, but in whatever ways it does, grab hold and break out of your oppression of yourself. Declare your liberation from yourself and of yourself by yourself. Unlike physical oppression where another oppresses us, psychological oppression is kept in place by the oppressed. If you are not living as a woman of stature and integrity, this manifesto is meant to inspire and challenge you! | <urn:uuid:c6d8e186-22e0-4574-9206-72c4312562e5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mtoomey.com/manifesto.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978333 | 387 | 2.296875 | 2 |
It goes with out saying that the onset of summer is characterized by such hazardous break outs of diseases like cholera, malaria and diphtheria. Individuals are often identified very keen to consult their medical specialists for the finest medicine to cope up this sort of circumstances. But have you ever thought why this sort of diseases really hit you? You are acquiring medicines, fine but have you ever sit down for a couple of minutes and tried to figure out the root result in of this menace? Properly, if you have never ever accomplished so, then right here is an informative piece of literature for you. In the point of truth, this sort of conditions are the result of proliferation of mosquitoes in the communities.
Typically, mosquitoes are considered to be the carriers of a amount of condition triggering organisms such as plasmodium. The plasmodium enters human blood stream as the female anopheles mosquito bites human beings and the end result is merely catastrophic. There would be an instant assault of malaria which may possibly even prove fatal in some situations. For that reason, it is extremely essential to make confident that these mosquitoes do not thrive in your environment. And to control this mosquito proliferation and breeding, it is often advised to make use of the novel services of mosquito control atlanta.
Mosquito control atlanta have a group of specialist entomologists and environmentalists which make a careful evaluation of the situation of mosquitoes breeding grounds. They would utilize a variety of techniques as the use of chemical sprays, liquid poisons and other bio-control methodologies to make confident that the mosquitoes do not see an unchecked development in your place. Once the population of these hazardous creatures has been controlled, there is often a minute chance that somebody in your locality would fall prey of this kind of illnesses like malaria, cholera and other individuals. This is what Mosquito control Atlanta specialize in. | <urn:uuid:04427fad-b544-4798-abaa-345f59a997f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ziki.com/en/wilburn-carroll-4+1077197/post/understand-about-controlling-mosquitoes+14238709 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956451 | 381 | 2.71875 | 3 |
A survey of Self-Managed Enterprises in Canada.
Could a corporation function without any executives at all? Thousands of workers around the world are saying “Why not?” and are willing to bet their livelihoods on it. In this era of hyper-capitalism, as French President Jacques Chirac calls it, companies are bigger than countries. They make decisions that affect everyone on the planet and are themselves detached from most of the consequences. Workers are just cogs in the machine. The shareholder reigns supreme.
Someone forgot to tell 83,000 Canadian workers. They are Canada’s contribution to a rising class of modern workers that has spawned the Self-Managed Enterprise, an entity in which the worker is the most important stakeholder.
Self-Managed Enterprises are organizations that exist first and foremost for their workers. They are not social experiments; they are businesses like any other. They operate in a competitive marketplace, where prices are set by supply and demand; they sell products or offer services; they make profits; they pay dividends and they invest; when they spend more than they make, they fail and go bankrupt; and they fire and hire.
The difference between a Self-Managed Enterprise and a Royal Bank or a Wal-Mart is not in what they do, but for whom they exist. Self-Managed Enterprises are, in two words, economic democracy, a form of organization that meets the highest aspirations of democracy and capitalism.
Self-Managed Enterprises are not new, either. The kibbutz (co-operative farm) is a Self-Managed Enterprise. Self-Managed Enterprises have even been attempted on a nation-wide scale. In terms of producing pure economic growth, Tito’s Yugoslavia from 1945 to 1975 was more successful than the red-hot Chinese economy of the past two decades.
Self-Managed Enterprises put the decision-making powers in the hands of the workers. To some, such radical change would only spell doom for a corporation. It would mean taking power away from those with the “know-how” and allowing those with insufficient skills to tamper with the structure of a thriving corporation.
But to others, such changes to the traditional top-down business model would not only create more productive and profitable enterprises, they could also serve as a major force for social change, ecological sustainability and human rights. The infusion of more democratic principles into the market economy would serve everybody in the long term.
Increasingly, companies in Canada (and around the world) are giving more power to their employees; some are even being founded with ‘worker power’ from the start. For many, the desire for ‘economic democracy’—a more equitable distribution of opportunity, wealth, and, ultimately, power—is the inspiration and the motivation behind Self-Managed Enterprises. There are many forms self-management can take, but the outcome is the same: Those who directly contribute to a company’s financial success have a greater share in ownership and control.
One of the simplest ways a firm can spread financial control to its employees is through employee share ownership. A company where employees own 100 per cent of the stock is said to be “employee-owned.” This business structure is reasonably common in the United States—for example, United Airlines was employee-owned until its stock price crashed following the 9/11 hijacking of their planes. The National Center for Employee Ownership in California estimates that there are more than 11,000 employee-owned firms in the U.S., with assets exceeding $650 billion.
In Canada, the construction giant PCL, which turns 100 years old next year, is a notable example of a Self-Managed Enter-prise. Roughly 80 per cent of its employees own shares, and 100 per cent of the shares are owned by the employees. Marty Janowitz, Vice President of Marketing for international employee-owned geochemical engineering firm Jacques Whitford, explains the benefits of shifting power away from the hands of venture shareholders. “Our founders realized very early on that if they wanted to have a company that was going to grow and be successful, the people who were really central to the company’s success had to directly and personally benefit by that success,” he says. “A large group of our employees participate in this company as owners, and they act like owners and they take responsibility for the actions and the successes of the company like owners. It really has affected the direction of the company because it has given us a longer term perspective.”
Janowitz adds, “We’re looking out for the long-term success of the firm, not just what the firm could produce if you’re looking out for short-term profits for a couple of the oldest people.”
Firms where the employees hold the financial cards tend to be more stable and responsible. According to researchers at the Ohio Centre for Employee Ownership, the Enron scandal would not have occurred if the people who made the financial decisions were the same ones who really understood how the company operated, the employees themselves.
Not every firm with employee share ownership is fully employee-owned. Employees at publicly traded forestry company Tembec Inc., the fourth-largest forestry company in Canada, own less than 10 per cent of the shares, but the company is still well-known for its efforts to address employee concerns and environmental and social issues. And while Tembec is not 100 per cent employee-owned, it does actively encourage its employees to purchase company shares to increase their stake.
Instead of simply giving employees a share of the company’s stock, some Canadian corporations are actively trying to formally incorporate workers into the decision-making process. For example, at water filtration company Zenon Environmental Inc., employees from the shop floor to the COO are elected to sit on a “values committee,” which meets to discuss and resolve company issues such as how to improve the employee benefits plan. “The COO is in the room so there’s not a lot of bureaucracy,” says Mike Saulter of Zenon. “If a decision gets made in that committee it doesn’t have to go through many levels. It’s done right then and there—it’s very efficient.”
A growing number of Canadian businesses, however, are forming themselves around an even more democratic model, the co-operative model. Ten million Canadians belong to at least one of this country’s 10,000 co-op firms, with assets worth $26.1 billion. And this number is before accounting for the credit unions. As of 2002, Canada’s credit unions and caisses populaires reported assets of $140.8 billion. The insurance co-operatives tallied up nearly $19 billion in assets and two trust co-operatives administered over $157.4 billion in assets (Co-operatives in Canada Report, Co-operatives Secretariat, Government of
Misconceptions about the efficiency, productivity and competitiveness of co-ops appear to be widespread. “People often think: Oooh, a co-operative, you know, touchy-huggy-feely, perhaps non-profit, not concerned with the bottom line,” says Kevin Thompson of chocolate producing co-op La Siembra, worth half a million dollars, “and we’re the furthest thing from that. [...] We are very business-oriented, and we just happen to have a structure that is democratic. We are very focused on things like budgets, margins and bottom lines, and yet we do it in a way that is conscious of each and every aspect of our business.”
Yvonne Chiu of the Multicultural Health Broker’s Co-op in Edmonton, which provides integrated health services to immigrants and refugees in over 23 different languages, has also run up against these kinds of stereotypes: “When we first started people literally would say, ‘Are you guys communists?’ ”
Co-ops have a simple structure—all members are owners and make decisions based on a one-member, one-vote system. Co-ops are not publicly traded, and profits are not transferred to private shareholders or even divided among employees. Usually the money is put back into the co-op and used to further the economic growth of the local community to serve the broader needs of the members, such as creating more jobs or donating the money to worthy causes.
Co-ops can take many forms, but most co-operatives generally fall into one of four categories: producer (like a farmer’s co-op), consumer co-ops, worker co-ops, and financial co-ops (such as credit unions). Co-ops, by definition, tend to be locally run, but this doesn’t mean they are necessarily small. The world’s largest producer of maple products, La coopérative de producteurs de sirop d’érable Citadelleis, is co-operatively run, and accounts for one-third of the world’s maple production. Canada’s largest co-op, Mountain Equipment Co-Op, boasts a membership of over two million. Taken together, Canada’s credit unions are comparable in size to one of the big five banks. In its home turf, Vancouver City Savings Credit Union is as big as Scotiabank.
While employees in private enterprises may achieve some degree of control, such as that achieved through unions, in a co-op power unquestionably lies with the members, many of whom are employees. This heightened degree of control has obvious and significant benefits for the employees. This heightened degree of control has obvious and significant benefits for the employees. John Restakis of the BC Co-op Federation says, “Time and time again, studies show that the levels of worker satisfaction, motivation and productivity are higher in co-ops because people understand and know that they have much more control over their work, in terms of decision-making, how they design their work and how they deliver their work—that is enormously important in the operation of any business.”
Ian MacPherson of the BC Institute for Co-operative Studies at the University of Victoria points out that worker co-ops have better staying power than their traditional counterparts, “Worker co-ops have a ten-dency to survive better because the members will shoulder the problems and the losses for longer than if they were strictly employees,” he says. And indeed, in a study by the Quebec government of forestry co-operatives, the co-operatives were found to be twice as likely to succeed as private enterprises.
Beyond simply empowering the employees, however, co-operatives are dedicated to being accountable and responsible to social, economic, democratic and environmental issues in their communities. Most co-ops say they have multiple bottom lines, weighting environmental sustainability, local and international economic development and human rights along with profits.
“If you survey the general public, they’ll tell you they would rather choose a product that has a low impact on the ecology,” says Tom Webb of Saint Mary’s University Master of Management in Co-operatives and Credit Unions in Halifax. “For a co-operative this is simply good business. But in an investor-owned company you are not asked to look a year down the road, you’re being asked, what is your next quarter?”
“The way the current economic system works, there is tremendous pressure to pay low wages to cut wage costs, to cut benefits, to move from full-time to part-time, to produce offshore in China, to pollute,” he continues. “There’s tremendous pressure to cut wherever you can for the short run. And it’s difficult in this climate for business managers, no matter how good they are as people, to do the right thing. On the other hand, in a co-operative, it is a good deal easier. In fact, the expectation is that a co-operative manager will address other bottom lines. But that involves a whole new way of thinking.”
Co-ops are extremely diverse, ranging from the traditional farmer’s and fishery co-ops, housing, funeral services, and a variety of worker’s co-ops: The sex shop Come As You Are in Toronto is co-operatively run.
Co-operatives are starting to appear in the tech sector, having already gained a foothold overseas in companies like Poptel in the UK. Vancouver’s Tech Co-op, founded last year, is staffed with four technical support specialists and is run by 50 clients, or members. “It seems like there’s no trust in the tech industry, but the members in the Tech Co-op can trust us because they’re our bosses essentially,” says Chris Palacek, a serviceman for the Tech Co-op. And because there are no shareholders to pay, the co-op can be more competitive and still pay higher wages. “We charge members $80 an hour—the tech gets $40 and the co-op gets $40,” says Palacek. “At other firms rates may be as high as $100 an hour, with the servicemen only getting $12 an hour.”
Co-operatives achieve a number of indirect effects by empowering parts of society that have traditionally had little economic and political power. Co-operatives are one of the largest employers in northern Canada, second only to government. Women hold 30 per cent of all directorships in Canada’s co-ops, compared with 12 per cent on corporate boards. Several studies indicate that people who work in co-ops devote a much higher percentage of their time as volunteers in the community than do employees of private enterprises. Many fair-trade co-operatives have appeared recently, and a number of them purchase their supplies from co-operatives in the developing world, such as coffee producers (see ‘Three Companies’ on page 34).
One of the biggest contributions of the co-operative sector is supposed to be the expansion of skills among workers, which ultimately leads to a more democratic and egalitarian society. This idea is perhaps most dramatically illustrated in Canada’s north, where a number of people who now lead the government of Nunavut first gained experience in management and decision making as members of the boards of one of the 40 co-ops that belong to the Arctic Cooperative Limited System.
But while co-operatives show great potential as an alternative to shareholder capitalism, Canada’s co-operative sector generally pales in comparison to that in countries such as Italy and Spain (although French- speaking Canada has traditionally had a strong co-op movement).
Most representatives for the BC Co-op Federation, the Canadian Co-operative Association, the Canadian Worker Cooperative Federation, and researchers in government and academia agree that in order to foster the co-operative sector, the government needs to provide more support to co-ops—especially at their inception. Co-ops frequently suffer from a difficulty in raising capital and a lack of sufficient management skills. Accounting can be a significant challenge too, as standard formulas and tools are not adequate to address multiple bottom lines, says Webb.
The co-operative movement, although struggling, is gaining ground. In Argentina workers are taking over operation and ownership of bankrupted factories, a phenomenon that was the subject of the 2004 documentary, The Take. Although the co-op movement in the US has always been very small, and even unacknowledged (the US government for example does not keep proper statistics on American co-ops), American co-op employees took a step forward last May when they founded The US Federation of Worker Cooperatives. Back in Canada, Saint Mary’s University introduced a Master’s program in Management in Co-operatives and Credit Unions, which was formed with an international co-operative of people from the UK, New Zealand, Australia, the United States and Ireland.
Restakis feels that co-ops’ multiple-bottom-line philosophy will make them ultimately more appealing to a public increasingly concerned by social and environmental sustainability. “Because [co-ops] have more than simply an economic bottom line—they also have a social bottom line—and consumers, when they become aware of this, choose to support it ... co-ops seem to be very well placed to present themselves as an alternative to traditional corporate forms,” he says.
It could be that traditional businesses could learn a thing or two from their co-operative cousins to win over public support. “It’s certainly an intriguing area,” says Carol Hunter of the Canadian Co-operative Association in Ottawa, “we’re seeing many co-operatives, as they try to professionalize their image and focus on things like being efficient and profitable, [that] many corporations are shifting from the focus on profitability and productivity to being good corporate citizens. It’s an interesting value shift.” | <urn:uuid:152ed9bc-61e3-4d1d-ac81-bd8205df738c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.corporateknights.com/article/most-important-stakeholder?page=show | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96999 | 3,552 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Embed This Data
- GDP (PPP):
- $2.8 billion
- 2.5% growth
- 2.0% 5-year compound annual growth
- $8,264 per capita
- Inflation (CPI):
- FDI Inflow:
Belize’s economic freedom score is 57.3, making its economy the 102nd freest in the 2013 Index. Its overall score is 4.6 points worse than last year due to score reductions in nearly all of the 10 economic freedoms that make the country’s decline the most broad-based in the 2013 Index. Belize is ranked 20th out of 29 countries in the South and Central America/Caribbean region.
Belize’s efforts at economic reform have been patchy, and economic freedom has not advanced over the past two decades. Economic dynamism is constrained by institutional weaknesses that undermine prospects for long-term broad-based economic development. In particular, the judicial system remains inefficient and vulnerable to political interference. Corruption, perceived as widespread, severely undermines entrepreneurial dynamism.
The overall regulatory framework has been evolving gradually to ease burdens on the private sector and encourage employment growth, and Belize has benefited from a comparatively high degree of trade freedom. However, dynamic economic gains from trade are undercut by the lack of progress in reforming financial services and investment, both of which are critical to sustaining open markets.
Belize is a parliamentary democracy and member of the British Commonwealth. Prime Minister Dean Barrow of the ruling United Democratic Party won re-election for a five-year term in legislative and municipal elections held in March 2012, more than a year earlier than constitutionally mandated. Since taking office in 2008, Barrow’s government has undermined foreign direct investment by expropriating Belize’s commercial “crown jewels” (the leading private telecommunications and electricity companies, owned by U.K. and Canadian investors, as well as the water company) and establishing close relations with Venezuelan President Hugo Chávez. High public-sector debt leaves little fiscal room for the government to maneuver. Tourism and agriculture are the leading economic sectors. Belize is plagued by crime, including money laundering.
The court system, although constitutionally independent, is often influenced by the executive. Expropriation of personal property is relatively rare, but the current government has expropriated major private foreign-owned electricity and telecommunications companies since taking office in 2008 and as of January 2012 had not compensated investors affected by the nationalizations. Corruption is seen as widespread.
The top income and corporate tax rates are 25 percent; petroleum profits are taxed at 40 percent. Other taxes include a goods and services tax and a stamp duty. The overall tax burden amounts to 23.1 percent of total domestic income. Government spending amounts to 30.2 percent of GDP. Public debt has fallen below 80 percent of GDP due to reductions in budget deficits, but falling oil revenues threaten the fiscal outlook.
Launching a business still costs about half the level of average annual income, but there is no minimum capital requirement. Getting all the necessary permits takes more than 70 days. Despite flexible employment regulations, a formal labor market has not fully developed. Inflation has been relatively low and stable. Below-production-cost price controls have been imposed on the electric company since its expropriation by the state.
The trade-weighted average tariff is 6.4 percent, and non-tariff barriers raise the overall cost of trade. The government has moved to expropriate businesses, including Belize Telemedia and Belize Electricity Limited, decreasing the country’s attractiveness to foreign investors. The state influences credit allocation through quasi-government banks. The small financial sector has been largely immune to the global financial turmoil. | <urn:uuid:bfd72d21-049e-437b-8541-fb202b5cc08d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.heritage.org/index/country/belize?src=next | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956178 | 771 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Festival to honor independence
Hispanic Heritage Month will be celebrated with event in Courtyard
September 12, 2005 —
SVSU will celebrate Mexico's independence and Hispanic Heritage Month on Friday from 6 to 10 p.m. in the Courtyard.
Festividad de Libertad: Hispanic Independence Festival will offer a number of different activities, such as authentic Mexican vendors who will be selling food items including nachos, tamales, burritos, rice, beans, tacos, etc.
Sigma Lambda Gamma will be hosting an arts and craft tent for the children. Children's dance group Xochiquetzal will perform a Mexican folkloric ballet. The band Generaciones will be providing live entertainment throughout the night. There will also be vendors selling Mexican trinkets, books, artwork, etc.
SVSU alum Roxanne Chantaca will be the MC for the night.
Immediately following the festival, Sigma Lambda Gamma will be hosting an outdoor dance with live music until 1:30 a.m. free of charge.
There will also be a reading of the Grito de Dolores (Cry of Dolores) Speech. Dr. Carlos Ramet, executive assistant to the President, will provide a brief history of the speech, which was first given by a priest named Miguel Hidalgo to inspire his followers and to call for a rebellion against the Spaniards. The speech will be presented in Spanish.
Contrary to most Americans' beliefs, Sept. 16 is Mexico's Independence Day, not Cinco de Mayo. Cinco de Mayo is the celebration of when the Mexican army defeated the French in 1862, not a celebration of Mexico's independence.
Sept. 15 is also the beginning of Hispanic Heritage Month; this day marks the anniversary of independence for five Hispanic countries - Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
In addition, Chile achieved its independence on Sept. 18.
Spain ruled Mexico as part of the viceroyalty of New Spain for 300 years until Sept. 16, 1810, when the Mexicans first revolted. They won their independence in 1821. | <urn:uuid:f6de3d2f-97b4-4538-813a-ed19f40f6f69> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://orgs.svsu.edu/clubs/vanguard/stories/298 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918005 | 441 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Op-ed: Dental therapists could help people get care needed in Washington state
A new kind of dental provider could introduce flexibility and cost-efficiency to oral health care that nurse practitioners and physician assistants have brought to health care, writes guest columnist Alex Narváez.
Special to The Times
EACH week, children and adults with urgent problems that shouldn’t have happened are admitted to 14 dental clinics I operate. These include very young children with advanced cavities who have already had dental procedures under general anesthesia. We also see working parents who put up with dental pain on the job until they can’t take it anymore.
For far too many people, the current dental system isn’t working. Health insurance that covers dental care is scarce. Even for those who have it, affordable care is hard to find.
We dentists see only 55 percent of the public.That’s a lot of unmet need building up, to be fixed later at great expense after too much unnecessary pain.
A recent report by the American Dental Association indicates that from 1997 to 2009, the number of dental visits per year decreased by 4 percent. The number of people with dental insurance and people willing to pay out-of-pocket for dental services has also been decreasing.
This trend is worse in the elderly, less than a third of whom have dental insurance. As our aging population continues to expand, the need for affordable dental care will only grow.
There is a solution that community leaders and state officials are beginning to embrace. A new type of dental provider can introduce the same flexibility and cost-efficiency to oral health care that nurse practitioners and physician assistants have brought to health care.
A few weeks ago, I saw what I consider the future of dentistry in Alaska, where a new kind of midlevel provider, called a dental therapist, is working in rural Native American communities. Dental therapists in Alaska bring affordable, quality care to patients who need it. They are recruited from the local community for an intensive educational program that gives them expertise in a limited range of common services such as preventive care, simple extractions and fillings.
I watched dental therapists undergo the training necessary to guarantee that they’ll be extremely good at what they do. They can’t do everything a dentist does, but they are professionals, and they can provide many of the services our patients need most.
Washington state legislators set the rules under which health professionals work. If they allowed midlevel dental providers here in Washington, I could expand our clinics’ operating hours. Staying open into the evenings and on weekends would cost us nothing in capital expenditures, but would serve the many patients who can’t afford to take time off from work to see a dentist.
I could also spend more time educating my patients, so that they don’t develop serious, painful problems that force them to miss school or work. I want my patients to lead full, healthy lives — especially the children, whose learning and social development can be hindered by oral disease.
Latino children have the highest cavity rate of nearly any ethnic group. They also have one of the highest dropout rates. I believe that we dentists can help these students succeed academically by reducing the number of cavities they experience.
Midlevel dental providers could see more children and pregnant woman on Medicaid, expanding our service capacity. Our limited number of providers are trying to do everything — providing acute care so that patients don’t wind up in emergency rooms, preventive care to kids and pregnant moms, and regular care for people getting checkups.
But we dentists simply don’t have the capacity to deliver all the services that patients need. With dental therapists on our team, we could serve as the primary managers of oral disease, while the midlevel therapists would provide the most commonly needed services.
As a practicing dentist in Western Washington for 30 years, I have had the honor and privilege of helping tens of thousands of patients maintain healthy mouths. My chairs are full of parents, children and working people from the moment we open until the moment we close.
My staff and I work hard. But all too frequently, the problems we’re fixing could have been prevented if we had a more flexible, affordable oral-health-care system.
This would benefit everyone, not only patients, but dentists too. I don’t want to see another child undergo oral surgery for a disease that’s almost entirely preventable. If I can be a part of ending that, I can look in the mirror and say I made a difference.
Dr. Alex Narváez is dental director of Sea Mar Community Health Centers, which sees more than 54,000 patients annually. | <urn:uuid:9b45fc71-8cc2-426e-9341-020efa5624aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seattletimes.com/html/opinion/2019408435_guestalexnarvaezxml.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962743 | 972 | 1.828125 | 2 |
The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC), a conservative policy group, has helped state lawmakers craft measures aimed at curtailing U.S. EPA air pollution rules, repealing cap and trade and teaching climate skepticism in schools, among many other things.
A future target could be renewable energy mandates, which are on the books in more than half of U.S. states.
"I expect the issue to be discussed at one of our upcoming task force meetings," Todd Wynn of ALEC told InsideClimate News. "Discussions within the task force can, and do, lead to the development of ALEC model bills." Wynn directs the council's Energy, Environment and Agriculture task force.
The Washington-based nonprofit is composed of nearly 2,000 state legislators—most of whom are Republicans—as well as some of the country's most powerful corporations. Among its members are ExxonMobil, the biggest privately controlled U.S. oil and gas company; energy conglomerate Koch Industries, the second-largest private company in the United States; and Peabody Energy, the country's largest coal producer. Companies' annual dues of $7,000 to $25,000, plus their extra cash donations, accounted for most of ALEC's $7 million budget in 2010, according to media reports.
ALEC's main activity is to draft model bills and resolutions to reduce government regulation and bolster business interests.
While ALEC has been quietly working to promote a free-market agenda since the 1970s, it was thrust in the media spotlight last summer, when the Center for Media and Democracy, a liberal watchdog group, published an online archive of more than 800 ALEC measures. Today, ALEC is again under the microscope for pushing controversial "stand your ground" gun laws at the center of the Trayvon Martin shooting case in Florida.
On Monday, Bloomberg broke the news that ALEC may write model measures later this year to strike down state renewable portfolio standards (RPS). The report instantly sparked a flurry of outrage in environmental circles.
Already, ALEC has model legislation to help state legislators block a federal RPS. That resolution "urges the United States Congress not to ... mandate minimum market shares for such technologies in excess of the levels sustainable subject to real market forces."
In an interview with InsideClimate News this week, Wynn said that no decision has been made on drafting text to abolish state RPS measures. He anticipates that it will be discussed at meetings this year, and said that "policies related to renewable energy could be brought up in the next couple of years."
If that happens, Wynn said, it would be to satisfy a growing desire in some states to undo such mandates. "ALEC members are state legislators, and many state legislators are expressing concern about the cost of renewable energy," he said.
Since last fall, lawmakers in nine states have introduced bills to either repeal or weaken their RPS laws. At least three states—Ohio, Michigan and West Virginia—have proposed legislation to revoke their mandatory standards. The three bills are still in committee.
ALEC holds three conferences a year where state legislators discuss topics for draft legislation. The largest conference will be held in late July.
'Need to Take It Seriously'
Renewable energy mandates require electric utilities to get a certain percentage of their electricity from clean energy sources. Twenty-nine states and Washington, D.C., have mandatory standards, while 12 have voluntary goals.
Such laws have been around since the late 1990s, though most states adopted them in the mid-2000s. The mounting opposition is due largely to Republican gains in mid-term elections in late 2010. In 20 states, the GOP now controls both the governorship and the legislature, more than double the number two years ago.
Clean energy advocates say the standards are critical for creating steady market demand for clean power and for building America's clean energy economy.
Environmental advocates in New Jersey, for instance, credit the state's 13-year-old RPS for helping to create more than 3,000 new jobs in its solar industry, the second-largest solar market in the country. And in Texas, a clean power mandate helped to get a local wind industry off the ground that now employs at least 6,000 people, according to figures from the American Wind Energy Association, a trade group.
Richard Caperton, director of clean energy investment for the Center for American Progress (CAP), a liberal policy group, said RPS measures are one of the main reasons why investment in America's renewables sector has soared during the past decade. The United States attracted $48.1 billion in public and private financing for clean energy technologies last year, up 40 percent from 2010, according to a recent report by Pew Charitable Trusts.
Caperton said that if ALEC drafts a model bill for repealing RPS policies, it could pose "a big risk" to the nation's clean energy progress, and "clean energy advocates need to take it seriously."
"They have very active members who use their model legislation effectively," he said of ALEC.
An ALEC membership brochure claims that lawmakers typically introduce more than 1,000 bills each year based on the council's models. Of those, about 17 percent get passed, according to a New York Times report published Saturday.
Wynn of ALEC told InsideClimate News that the council isn't opposed to developing renewable energy, but that it doesn't support "mandates that force ratepayers to purchase politically preferred sources of energy," which he said would require consumers to pay more.
A February report by the Manhattan Institute, a conservative think tank, found that in seven coal-dependent states with RPS mandates, electricity prices rose more than 54 percent between 2001 and 2010, more than double the rate hike in seven other coal states without such laws. In April, CAP released a report that disputed those findings. It found that in 12 states with renewables mandates, price increases slowed after RPS policies were adopted, and in some cases they dropped below the national average. (Paragraph added for clarification 4/27/2012)
ALEC Language in Anti-Climate Bills
ALEC similarly opposes state and federal cap-and-trade schemes, EPA regulations to curb greenhouse gas emissions and other climate initiatives. The group's website says that it is working with state legislators "to urge withdrawal from ... these costly measures that bind businesses and harm economies with no substantial environmental benefit."
ALEC's position on global climate change is that it is "a historical phenomenon" and "inevitable."
Last year, Montana, New Mexico, Oregon and Washington all used ALEC-formulated language in resolutions to withdraw from the Western Climate Initiative. The cap-and-trade program was a pact between seven U.S. states and four Canadian provinces.
Each of those resolutions stated that "the Western Climate Initiative will increase the cost of doing business, push companies to do business with other states or nations and increase consumer costs for electricity, fuel and food." They also said that "a tremendous amount of economic growth would be sacrificed for a reduction in carbon emissions that would have no appreciable impact on global concentrations on carbon dioxide."
Both sentences were crafted by ALEC.
The resolutions were either voted down or never moved out of committee. Today, only California and the Canadian provinces remain in the initiative, after Arizona withdrew and all other states were dropped for not passing laws that would allow them to participate.
In New Hampshire, a 2011 bill to exit the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative, the first cap-and-trade scheme in America, similarly contained ALEC language. The council's text was later removed, however, after Rep. James Garrity, a Republican and chair of the House Science, Technology and Energy Committee, protested its inclusion, explaining that the "committee does not feel that editorials belong in laws," Grist reported last year. Democratic Gov. John Lynch vetoed the bill last July.
Earlier this month, a Media Matters investigation revealed that since 2008 seven states have passed measures or promoted legislation using ALEC text to allow schools to begin teaching "difference perspectives" on "scientific and economic controversies" like evolution and global warming.
Most recently, Tennessee approved a law based on ALEC's "Environmental Literacy Improvement Act." That model bill allows teachers to discuss the "scientific weaknesses" of both scientific subjects.
Meanwhile, ALEC recently adopted model legislation for gas drilling, which is designed to let energy companies keep secret the names of certain chemicals used in fracking operations, the New York Times reported. The bill is based on a Texas law, and has provided the basic text for measures in five other states. Its development was sponsored within ALEC by ExxonMobil, the country's biggest producer of natural gas.
Will ALEC-backed measures similarly further attempts to dismantle renewable power mandates? At this point only time will tell, said Caperton of the Center for American Progress.
Pointing to the increasing media scrutiny of the council, he said that "ALEC is under siege right now, and it's unclear how that is going to play out. That definitely impacts how effective they'll be at this [anti-RPS] effort." | <urn:uuid:a63d8441-9f9c-4d13-920b-ebe24caa06e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://insideclimatenews.org/news/20120426/this-week-clean-economy-american-legislative-exchange-council-alec-renewable-energy-standards-exxonmobil-koch?page=show | 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 | 0.958103 | 1,859 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Guest Post: 30 Facts On The Coming Water Crisis That Will Change Everything
Submitted by Michael Snyder of The Economic Collapse blog,
The world is rapidly running out of clean water. Some of the largest lakes and rivers on the globe are being depleted at a very frightening pace, and many of the most important underground aquifers that we depend on to irrigate our crops will soon be gone. At this point, approximately 40 percent of the entire population of the planet has little or no access to clean water, and it is being projected that by 2025 two-thirds of humanity will live in "water-stressed" areas. But most Americans are not too concerned about all of this because they assume that North America has more fresh water than anyone else does. And actually they would be right about that, but the truth is that even North America is rapidly running out of water and it is going to change all of our lives. Today, the most important underground water source in America, the Ogallala Aquifer, is rapidly running dry. The most important lake in the western United States, Lake Mead, is rapidly running dry. The most important river in the western United States, the Colorado River, is rapidly running dry. Putting our heads in the sand and pretending that we are not on the verge of an absolutely horrific water crisis is not going to make it go away. Without water, you cannot grow crops, you cannot raise livestock and you cannot support modern cities. As this global water crisis gets worse, it is going to affect every single man, woman and child on the planet. I encourage you to keep reading and learn more.
The U.S. intelligence community understands what is happening. According to one shocking government report that was released last year, the global need for water will exceed the global supply of water by 40 percent by the year 2030...
This sobering message emerges from the first U.S. Intelligence Community Assessment of Global Water Security. The document predicts that by 2030 humanity's "annual global water requirements" will exceed "current sustainable water supplies" by forty percent.
Oh, but our scientists will find a solution to our problems long before then, won't they?
But what if they don't?
Most Americans tend to think of a "water crisis" as something that happens in very dry places such as Africa or the Middle East, but the truth is that almost the entire western half of the United States is historically a very dry place. The western U.S. has been hit very hard by drought in recent years, and many communities are on the verge of having to make some very hard decisions. For example, just look at what is happening to Lake Mead. Scientists are projecting that Lake Mead has a 50 percent chance of running dry by the year 2025. If that happens, it will mean the end of Las Vegas as we know it. But the problems will not be limited just to Las Vegas. The truth is that if Lake Mead runs dry, it will be a major disaster for that entire region of the country. This was explained in a recent article by Alex Daley...
Way before people run out of drinking water, something else happens: When Lake Mead falls below 1,050 feet, the Hoover Dam's turbines shut down – less than four years from now, if the current trend holds – and in Vegas the lights start going out.
Ominously, these water woes are not confined to Las Vegas. Under contracts signed by President Obama in December 2011, Nevada gets only 23.37% of the electricity generated by the Hoover Dam. The other top recipients: Metropolitan Water District of Southern California (28.53%); state of Arizona (18.95%); city of Los Angeles (15.42%); and Southern California Edison (5.54%).
You can always build more power plants, but you can't build more rivers, and the mighty Colorado carries the lifeblood of the Southwest. It services the water needs of an area the size of France, in which live 40 million people. In its natural state, the river poured 15.7 million acre-feet of water into the Gulf of California each year. Today, twelve years of drought have reduced the flow to about 12 million acre-feet, and human demand siphons off every bit of it; at its mouth, the riverbed is nothing but dust.
Nor is the decline in the water supply important only to the citizens of Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Los Angeles. It's critical to the whole country. The Colorado is the sole source of water for southeastern California's Imperial Valley, which has been made into one of the most productive agricultural areas in the US despite receiving an average of three inches of rain per year.
Are you starting to get an idea of just how serious this all is?
But it is not just our lakes and our rivers that are going dry.
We are also depleting our groundwater at a very frightening pace as a recent Science Daily article discussed...
Three results of the new study are particularly striking: First, during the most recent drought in California's Central Valley, from 2006 to 2009, farmers in the south depleted enough groundwater to fill the nation's largest human-made reservoir, Lake Mead near Las Vegas -- a level of groundwater depletion that is unsustainable at current recharge rates.
Second, a third of the groundwater depletion in the High Plains occurs in just 4% of the land area. And third, the researchers project that if current trends continue some parts of the southern High Plains that currently support irrigated agriculture, mostly in the Texas Panhandle and western Kansas, will be unable to do so within a few decades.
In the United States we have massive underground aquifers that have allowed our nation to be the breadbasket of the world. But once the water from those aquifers is gone, it is gone for good. That is why what is happening to the Ogallala Aquifer is so alarming. The Ogallala Aquifer is one of the largest sources of fresh water in the world, and U.S. farmers use water from it to irrigate more than 15 million acres of crops each year. The Ogallala Aquifer covers more than 100,000 square miles and it sits underneath the states of Texas, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Colorado, Kansas, Nebraska, Wyoming and South Dakota. Most Americans have never even heard of it, but it is absolutely crucial to our way of life. Sadly, it is being drained at a rate that is almost unimaginable.
The following are some facts about the Ogallala Aquifer and the growing water crisis that we are facing in the United States. A number of these facts were taken from one of my previous articles. I think that you will agree that many of these facts are quite alarming...
1. The Ogallala Aquifer is being drained at a rate of approximately 800 gallons per minute.
2. According to the U.S. Geological Survey, "a volume equivalent to two-thirds of the water in Lake Erie" has been permanently drained from the Ogallala Aquifer since 1940.
3. Decades ago, the Ogallala Aquifer had an average depth of approximately 240 feet, but today the average depth is just 80 feet. In some areas of Texas, the water is gone completely.
4. Scientists are warning that nothing can be done to stop the depletion of the Ogallala Aquifer. The ominous words of David Brauer of the Ogallala Research Service should alarm us all...
"Our goal now is to engineer a soft landing. That's all we can do."
5. According to a recent National Geographic article, the average depletion rate of the Ogallala Aquifer is picking up speed....
Even more worrisome, the draining of the High Plains water account has picked up speed. The average annual depletion rate between 2000 and 2007 was more than twice that during the previous fifty years. The depletion is most severe in the southern portion of the aquifer, especially in Texas, where the water table beneath sizeable areas has dropped 100-150 feet; in smaller pockets, it has dropped more than 150 feet.
6. According to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the U.S. interior west is now the driest that it has been in 500 years.
7. Wildfires have burned millions of acres of vegetation in the central part of the United States in recent years. For example, wildfires burned an astounding 3.6 million acres in the state of Texas alone during 2011. This helps set the stage for huge dust storms in the future.
8. Unfortunately, scientists tell us that it would be normal for extremely dry conditions to persist in parts of western North America for decades. The following is from an article in the Vancouver Sun...
But University of Regina paleoclimatologist Jeannine-Marie St. Jacques says that decade-long drought is nowhere near as bad as it can get.
St. Jacques and her colleagues have been studying tree ring data and, at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in Vancouver over the weekend, she explained the reality of droughts.
"What we're seeing in the climate records is these megadroughts, and they don't last a decade—they last 20 years, 30 years, maybe 60 years, and they'll be semi-continental in expanse," she told the Regina Leader-Post by phone from Vancouver.
"So it's like what we saw in the Dirty Thirties, but imagine the Dirty Thirties going on for 30 years. That's what scares those of us who are in the community studying this data pool."
9. Experts tell us that U.S. water bills are likely to soar in the coming years. It is being projected that repairing and expanding our decaying drinking water infrastructure will cost more than one trillion dollars over the next 25 years, and as a result our water bills will likely approximately triple over that time period.
10. Right now, the United States uses approximately 148 trillion gallons of fresh water a year, and there is no way that is sustainable in the long run.
11. According to a U.S. government report, 36 states are already facing water shortages or will be facing water shortages within the next few years.
12. Lake Mead supplies about 85 percent of the water to Las Vegas, and since 1998 the level of water in Lake Mead has dropped by about 5.6 trillion gallons.
13. It has been estimated that the state of California only has a 20 year supply of fresh water left.
14. It has been estimated that the state of New Mexico only has a 10 year supply of fresh water left.
The 1,450 mile long Colorado River is a good example of what we have done to our precious water supplies. It is probably the most important body of water in the southwestern United States, and it is rapidly dying.
The following is an excerpt from an outstanding article by Jonathan Waterman about how the once mighty Colorado River is rapidly drying up...
Fifty miles from the sea, 1.5 miles south of the Mexican border, I saw a river evaporate into a scum of phosphates and discarded water bottles. This dirty water sent me home with feet so badly infected that I couldn’t walk for a week. And a delta once renowned for its wildlife and wetlands is now all but part of the surrounding and parched Sonoran Desert. According to Mexican scientists whom I met with, the river has not flowed to the sea since 1998. If the Endangered Species Act had any teeth in Mexico, we might have a chance to save the giant sea bass (totoaba), clams, the Sea of Cortez shrimp fishery that depends upon freshwater returns, and dozens of bird species.
So let this stand as an open invitation to the former Secretary of the Interior and all water buffalos who insist upon telling us that there is no scarcity of water here or in the Mexican Delta. Leave the sprinklered green lawns outside the Aspen conferences, come with me, and I’ll show you a Colorado River running dry from its headwaters to the sea. It is polluted and compromised by industry and agriculture. It is overallocated, drought stricken, and soon to suffer greatly from population growth. If other leaders in our administration continue the whitewash, the scarcity of knowledge and lack of conservation measures will cripple a western civilization built upon water.
But of course North America is in far better shape when it comes to fresh water than the rest of the world is.
In fact, in many areas of the world today water has already become the most important issue.
The following are some incredible facts about the global water crisis that is getting even worse with each passing day...
1. Total global water use has quadrupled over the past 100 years, and it is now increasing faster than it ever has been before.
2. Today, there are 1.6 billion people that live in areas of the globe that are considered to be "water-stressed", and it is being projected that two-thirds of the entire population of the globe will be experiencing "water-stressed" conditions by the year 2025.
3. According to USAID, one-third of the people on earth will be facing "severe" or "chronic" water shortages by the year 2025.
4. Once upon a time, the Aral Sea was the 4th largest freshwater lake in the entire world. At this point, it less than 10 percent the size that it used to be, and it is being projected that it will dry up completely by the year 2020.
5. If you can believe it, the flow of water along the Jordan River is down to only 2 percent of its historic rate.
6. It is being projected that the demand for water in China will exceed the supply by 25 percent by the year 2030.
7. According to the United Nations, the world is going to need at least 30 percent more fresh water by the year 2030.
8. Sadly, it is estimated that approximately 40 percent of the children living in Africa and India have had their growth stunted due to unclean water and malnutrition.
9. Of the 60 million people added to the cities of the world each year, the vast majority of them live in deeply impoverished areas that have no sanitation facilities whatsoever.
10. It has been estimated that 75 percent of all surface water in India has been heavily contaminated by human or agricultural waste.
11. Sadly, according to one UN study on sanitation, far more people in India have access to a cell phone than to a toilet.
12. Every 8 seconds, somewhere in the world a child dies from drinking dirty water.
13. Due to a lack of water, Saudi Arabia has given up on trying to grow wheat and will be 100 percent dependent on wheat imports by the year 2016.
14. Each year in northern China, the water table drops by an average of about one meter due to severe drought and overpumping, and the size of the desert increases by an area equivalent to the state of Rhode Island.
15. In China, 80 percent of the major rivers have become so horribly polluted that they do not support any aquatic life at all at this point.
So is there any hope that the coming global water crisis can be averted?
If not, what can we do to prepare?
- advertisements - | <urn:uuid:0971ccc9-3fcb-44f0-bcbc-093a66312742> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zerohedge.com/news/2013-03-06/guest-post-30-facts-coming-water-crisis-will-change-everything | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961853 | 3,158 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Back to School Activity with Wordle. In this activity you can have your students create word clouds about themselves in order to get to know them better. When students finish you can hang them up around your room. It's a great way to decorate your classroom for the beginning of the year and to make your students feel part of your classroom community. I have included a short video tutorial on Wordle in case you are new to the site. If you are new to using technology in your classroom I really recommend this site. It is one of the easiest to use. Enjoy!
Wednesday, August 31, 2011
Welcome back to school! I created two new activities for teachers this year to help them to get to know their students and also incorporate technology into their teaching. The first one is the Back to School with Glogster Activity. There is also a French and Spanish version of this activity. I think your students will really enjoy them! I included a quick 90 second Glogster tutorial in case you are new to the site.
Posted by Lizs Lessons at 3:39 PM
Some of you may be wondering what a student achievement coach is...You have probably heard of a Literacy Coach or an Instructional Coach in the past and it is kind of similar. Here is my official job description in case you are interested.
JOB GOAL: To provide and/or facilitate professional development to raise student achievement; to guide and monitor PLC teams’ work, including development of essential skills, common assessments, data analysis and support for students who are not experiencing success; to monitor implementation of school-wide interventions; and to provide support to teachers in need of assistance. This position is integral to the district’s goal to reduce and eliminate achievement gaps by providing teachers with instructional resources to develop effective teaching practices.
Posted by Lizs Lessons at 2:06 PM
Hello everyone! Welcome to Liz's Lessons! I'm finally getting on board with the other TeachersPayTeachers members with my own Blog. I'm looking forward to sharing my educational products with you as well as the great resources that I come across for teachers in my building on a daily basis as a Student Achievement Coach. I am a former French and Spanish teacher so the majority of my products are for those subject areas. However, as a coach, I now work with all subject areas. Many of my products are designed to help teachers incorporate technology into any subject area. Teaching with technology is one of my passions! In addition, I work with teachers in their PLC's or Professional Learning Communities. We focus on essential learning outcomes, formative and summative assessments, SMART Goals, interventions, and data analysis. As a result I have created many formative assessments for teachers to use. I have so great resources and ideas that I want to share with you that it is going to be difficult to know where to start!
Posted by Lizs Lessons at 2:00 PM | <urn:uuid:0d88fd10-68b7-411e-89f9-0169213337de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lizslessons.blogspot.com/2011_08_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974213 | 599 | 2.5625 | 3 |
UMAPINE - From just yards away the earth looks empty, baking under a punishing sun and landscaped only by tire tracks.
With a gurgle of a nearby irrigation ditch, an ocean metaphor comes unbidden. Shorn hay fields the color of sand dunes roll gently as a sea of green onions laps at its base ... and the now-flattened ground standing in for a mud flat.
Eventually the tableau gains a third dimension. In a wave of dust, people young and old approach the field as one, hoisting buckets and carrying all manner of sacking. Squinting into the searing sky, the Walla Walla Gleaners resemble nothing so much as group of extras from "The Grapes of Wrath."
Far from the despair of the 1940 movie, however, hope is grown as these volunteers gather agricultural leftovers from a valley brimming with food.
Ancient tradition roots here again
The practice of gleaning dates back to Biblical times, as evidenced in the Old Testament. Leviticus 19, 9-10 - "Now when you reap the harvest of your land, you shall not reap to the very corners of your field, nor shall you gather the gleanings of your harvest. Nor shall you glean your vineyard, nor shall you gather the fallen fruit of your vineyard; you shall leave them for the needy and for the stranger ..."
Gleaners wait patiently for a grower's surplus - produce that's insect-damaged, irregularly shaped, spotted or striped by a procedure or harmless blight. In other words, not profitable for farmers to collect from ground, bush or tree.
Turning that into a local blessing for area food pantries began with a casual conversation among friends in 2009. It was an "abundant" growing year, noted Walla Walla Gleaners President Pat Camp. Why not, then, reclaim some of what is left in fields and on trees for those most in need?
And why shouldn't it be their little group to make that happen?
That informal first summer yielded about 10,000 pounds of produce gathered by a few workers from farms, orchards and back-yard gardens.
"Last year a family had six pear trees in their yard and they said we could have one tree," recalled founding member Liz Hair. "We got hundreds of pounds of pears. They went straight to the food banks."
With hundreds of gleaning groups cropping up around the nation, Walla Walla reflects the trend, Camp believes. This year the ranks of local harvesters swelled to 60 or so. Most have joined simply to contribute the community, while others are determined to pay it forward from their own times of hunger.
Members of Walla Walla Gleaners do have the option of
taking some produce as payment for their labor - a tiny fraction of total poundage - while many give all they glean to the greater cause, Camp added.
Gleaners are trained in safety and crop-specific harvest techniques. They sign liability waivers and follow rules emphasizing respect for the food and the people who grew it, she explained. The organization supplies equipment, from ladders to scales.
Relationships with area farmers are building. Gleaning, as old as time, is recently re-rooted here. It will take time to gain understanding of the practice, Camp said. "It's really interesting to ‘sell' the program. Some farmers aren't interested if it is not going to all go strictly to charity. We are happy to offer every pound we pick will go to a food bank."
Farmers have legitimate anxieties, she said. "They need to know you are not reselling it, that you are not undermining their customer base. You do have to work on that and build trust."
In the meantime, numbers suggest local hunger is growing. In 2009, Blue Mountain Action Council Food Bank handed out food to nearly 10,000 families and Christian Aid Center provided 34,200 hot meals.
Winning over growers is not insurmountable. Organic farmers Lori and Gary Middleton founded Fields of Grace in Tri-Cities a few years ago. In that short time, thousands have been educated in the art of gleaning, numerous churches have become involved and farmers have come to welcome them, Lori Middleton said.
Fields of Grace is enjoying a trickle-down effect from local acceptance, she added. "We have farmers who grow additional food and set aside some crops just for us. It's a big blessing."
Those gleanings go to a Tri-Cities food bank, but the benefit does not end there. "People bring their children, and you've got the grandparents out there. It's really an event, it's really wonderful," Middleton said. "And then to take thousands of pounds of fruit and take it to Second Harvest, that's just gratifying."
This summer evening begins with gathering basics. "There will be smashed onions," farm manager Dan McClure cautions the group of two dozen people. "We drive over them when we drop the bins."
The intact produce remaining after picking by machine and man will have imperfections, but those onions are perfectly good, he explains.
With that, the gleaners are off, quickly saturating the cleared acre with intent to harvest whatever possible.
Walking a row with eyes down, Sheril Fetter explains she is here with her 12-year-old son. "I hate to see things go to waste. I like the idea of putting in some labor and getting some produce and helping the food bank," she said. "It's a win-win."
The family parcels out a share of the glean with the neighborhood, Fetter noted. "Quite a few are elderly and there are some widows. They give to us and we give them."
Gail Bobbitt has been gleaning her whole life. "My family always did this. We'd see an apricot tree with the fruit on the ground and we's stop and ask if we could pick them. And if they wanted a little something for it, why, we were happy to pay it," she recalled.
Camp is scooping up the smallest orbs for a nonprofit preschool. If her quest for 70 or so is successful, every child will have a small onion to take home as a show-and-tell about how food grows, she said. "This is Easter-egg hunting in the dirt."
The scale, set up in the skimpy shade of a pickup truck, is quickly in use. Two women run the operation, helping pickers unload their haul into net bags. When the gleaners have finished, McClure will be given a total poundage (which turned out to be 1,480 pounds). It will include how much goes to charity and how much is kept by gleaners.
Simple solutions, greater goals
Walla Walla Gleaners may be practicing patience while waiting for crops and a labor-intensive gathering process. But the organization is just as eager to jump ahead, Camp said. "We'd like to see this program grow in numbers and expand to service groups. And we eventually won't be able to get to everything."
McClure is happy that the group got to his onion field, he said a few days later. The gleaners, true to their mission, did a "very good job. They followed directions and got most everything, which is what I wanted."
He understands some farmers worry that gleaning can hurt business, he said. "But I don't think (gleaners) are. I think they are taking it to places we don't go to. I think it's great."
With awareness of gleaning, the community can learn about food waste and what individuals can do, Camp said. By inviting gleaners in when zucchini plants are in overdrive or "you are buried in tomatoes," those contributions can start decreasing the community's dependence on food ba
nks, she pointed out.
The group's motto states it in more simple terms: "Abundance - gathered and shared."
Sheila Hagar can be reached at email@example.com or 526-8322. Check out her blog at blogs.ublabs.org/fromthestorageroom. | <urn:uuid:81b907a3-ec72-4174-8ef8-eebb49fffe82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://union-bulletin.com/news/2010/jul/24/gleaning-for-a-greater-good/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969191 | 1,720 | 2.921875 | 3 |
What is the Pets’ Trust?
Legislation that will create a dedicated source of funding for targeted, true low-cost spay/neuter surgeries, low cost veterinary care, pet retention programs and education to end the everyday killing of perfectly adoptable, healthy companion animals and to end the crisis of pet overpopulation. Pets’ Trust is modeled after the Children’s trust, which had the support of 86% of our community. There will be two facilities. One in North Dade and one in South Dade.
Where do the funds come from?
The legislation when voted into law would increase the millage rate by .000107864, which would generate 20 million in revenue. The average homeowner in Dade County would pay $20 per year.
How long will the program run?
We are asking voters to approve Pets’ Trust for 7 years, after which we will go back to the voters and ask if they would like to continue supporting the program or end it.
How will money be used?
Our goal is to keep pets in their homes, out of shelters, greatly decrease the intake rate at Animal Services and works towards ending the killing of healthy, adoptable animals. We also intend to strategically approach the issue of free-roaming, feral cat populations and develop a program to stop the increase of these populations through targeted TNR. Additionally, it is the intention of Pets’ Trust to assist the County and the South Florida SPCA by providing funding for large animal victims of neglect, abuse and abandonment. To reach these goals we plan to:
- Open one or two super spay/neuter clinics that can perform up to 50,000 surgeries per year, per clinic.
- Within each clinic will be a low-cost vet clinic and other pet retention programs (tbd).
- Each clinic will have dedicated vans that will go into the community each day to bring in pets whose owners do not have transportation, therefore reaching target areas and low-income pet owners.
- Create a high-volume TNR program to strategically reduce feral and free-roaming cat populations throughout the County (currently over 416,000 free-roaming/feral cats live in Miami).
- Provide sufficient funding for the S.FL SPCA, which is severely underfunded, yet continues to provide shelter, care and adoption services for all large animals that are confiscated or surrendered to the County.
- Develop educational programs for various demographics for adults and children.
- Develop educational campaigns to promote adoption, spay/neuter, life-long pet retention, etc.
How did we assess the number of S/N surgeries needed in our County?
Working with spay/neuter experts and other programs around the country that cannot meet the needs of their communities, we have determined that Miami needs 100,000 true low-cost surgeries (70% being targeted low-income) per year. These numbers are based on a population of 2.5 million persons, with a 17.2% poverty rate and an animal population of approximately 1.8 million. Currently, only 10,000 true low-cost spay/neuter surgeries are available in Miami per year.
Who will run the Pets’ Trust?
Pets’ Trust will be independent of the County and run by a board consisting of: Director of Miami-Dade Animal Services, ED of Humane Society of Greater Miami, Director of S. FL SPCA, President of Veterinary Medical Association, Director of Cat Network, Director of largest animal welfare education organization, Mayoral appointment, Commission appointment. This board will then select four appointments, three of which must include a CPA, an attorney, and a targeted spay/neuter expert. The Director of Animal Services will then select the 13th board member.
The reasons we need the Pets’ Trust
- 34,000-37,000 dogs and cats are abandoned each year at Miami-Dade Animal Services.
- 20,000+ of these animals are killed (euthanized).
- Over 416,000 feral and free-roaming cats inhabit Miami-Dade County. Female cats have up to three litters per year with an average of four kittens per litter. The population is increasing exponentially.
- Only 10,000 true low-cost spay/neuter surgeries are available in Miami-Dade County each year.
- An estimated 756,496 pet cats live in Miami-Dade County.
- An estimated 416,074 pet dogs live in Miami-Dade County.
- Miami has a higher than normal poverty rate of 17.2%, over 3% higher than the state and national average.
- Miami has different cultural and ethnic groups, many of which have different values when it comes to pet ownership, pet retention, spaying and neutering.
- Cities and states that have implemented high-volume, low-cost spay/neuter and/or low-cost veterinary clinics see substantial decreases in public shelter intake and public shelter deaths.
- We believe that our proactive programs combined with educational initiatives will lead Miami to become a community that does not kill healthy, adoptable animals.
How can you help?
The Pets’ Trust legislation will be on the August or November ballot. We will need everyone who supports it to go and vote and encourage everyone they know to do the same. To stay up to date on the Pets’ Trust follow us on Facebook and join our mailing list. | <urn:uuid:6d11c44e-08cd-4fbf-9cab-f6f883e0b8a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.local10.com/thats-life/Pets-Trust-Miami/-/1716786/15175032/-/2k2n7lz/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937094 | 1,134 | 2.109375 | 2 |
In its committee for psychological issues, the Advisory Group for Aerospace Research and Development (AGARD) has recommended a computer supported test battery for the examination of the mental performance: the STRES battery (Standardized Tests for Research with Environmental Stressors). Most of the tasks are based on the CTS (Criterion Task Set) battery, which was developed for the then popular C64 computer.
The individual tasks are offered via PC; the tasks are processed either by use of the keyboard/mouse of the PC or by special input elements. This enables us to log the single reaction time besides the error quota and the total input that is registered by paper-pencil-tasks. The sequence of the induividual questions is usually self-paced, i.e. answering one question directly leads to the next one. The tasks of the test battery try to examine elementary processes of the human performance apparatus; the probationer's answer is usually arranged as single reaction, choice response or tracking. We will now describe individual task types from the test battery:
The individual tasks test different aspects of performance. It is necessary to investigate, which type of task is most appropriate for a sensitive assessment of the different stressors. | <urn:uuid:7bd07dc8-13ae-437f-859d-2271dfc36ce4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dlr.de/me/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-2010/2950_read-4526/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936086 | 243 | 2.71875 | 3 |
[USNews.com] June 7, 2005--"When people talk about Protestantism, it's about evangelicalism and Pentecostalism," says Diana Butler Bass, a senior researcher at the Virginia Theological Seminary. "Most people think mainline Protestant churches are dead." Director of the Project on Congregations of Intentional Practice, a three-year study of 50 churches across the country that's scheduled to end in 2006, Bass set out to find whether the stereotype is true—or whether, as she puts it, there's "a new kind of mainline congregation developing in the United States that's moderate to liberal theologically, taking traditional Christian practices seriously, and is experiencing an unnoticed vitality."
Similar claims we made at the 2003 General Convention on the basis of the early findings of this study. However, the findings were largely antecdotal and reflected the researchers preference for the model which Bass describes as "a new kind of mainline congregation," one committed to the Episcopal Church's new gospel of radical inclusivism. From a research standpoint 50 churches is a very small number of churches for the researchers to base the sweeping conclusions as they make. Questions have also been raised concerning the methodology used in this study | <urn:uuid:185f3ba6-b162-4f7a-85ef-714dc479c994> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://anglicansablaze.blogspot.jp/2005/06/religion-in-america-pumping-life-into.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960708 | 246 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Dome Being Inflated at GC Huston
Friday, June 22, 2012 12:19 PMby
It will be the first monolithic dome outdoor classroom in Canada
Students at GC Huston Public School in Southampton will soon have an outdoor classroom to learn about science and the environment.
The first ever monolithic dome outdoor classroom in Canada will be inflated Friday afternoon at the school.
The dome is being built by the Great Lakes Dome Company, a Southampton-based business.
Owner Sunny Cushnie says his children attend the school, and he decided to get involved when teachers and students started talking about what they wanted at their school.
There is already a community garden and Fairy Lake located on the school grounds that are used for outdoor learning.
Cushnie says the dome can be used for environment and science classes, but it will also be useful for other classes such as reading or physical education.
Cushnie says the inflation of the dome is the first step in what will eventually be a permanent structure.
He says after it's inflated, a concrete will be sprayed over it and when it sets, the fabric will be deflated --- leaving behind a permanent concrete dome.
The dome will be 32 feet in diameter, and just over 800 square feet.
Cushnie says the students have been doing a great deal of fundraising in the school and community.
Students are trying to reach 55 thousand dollars.
There will be another fundraising BBQ tonight at the school from 5:30 PM until 7 PM.
After that, a "Hawk-Stock 2012" concert will take place at the Fairy Lake Bandshell from 7 PM to 9:30 PM.
Admission is by donation. | <urn:uuid:52dee88f-dd2f-4873-89dc-af9a5616f1b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bayshorebroadcasting.ca/news_item.php?NewsID=47843 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962502 | 349 | 1.9375 | 2 |
For those who own phones equipped with it, NFC (near-field communication) has the ability to offer some cool functionality. The most popular example is allowing you to hover your phone over a device at a checkout in order to pay for your order, but other ideas could include swiping the phone to pick up information from a kiosk or another phone, swap data from one phone to another, and so forth.
Like your cellular wireless, WiFi and Bluetooth, NFC is another form of open communication between your device and another, which means just one thing: it could be vulnerable. And well, it is vulnerable, as an event taking place at the EuSecWest Conference in Amsterdam has proven this week.
Researchers have discovered an exploit that allows someone to install a customized version of Android’s assessment framework, Mercury, which then avails them the ability to procure whatever data they please. At the moment, Samsung’s Galaxy S III is the most popular phone out there equipped with NFC, so should owners be worried? No – not unless you manage to lose your phone and someone understanding this attack happens to find it, and it happens to have no security (NFC requires the phone to be active to operate).
In order for code execution to take place, this particular exploit has to be triggered 185 times. This in effect means that in order for someone to overtake your phone, their phone would need to be, at the very least, set directly beside yours. How long 185 triggers takes, I’m not sure, but I am guessing it’s not that quick.
It is mentioned that this same exploit can be conducted via other methods, such as with a malicious website, but it can be assumed that the 185 triggers are required there as well, which means your likelihood of ever becoming compromised is pretty much unfathomable.
At the same event, researchers also found flaws on the iPhone 4S using Safari in either iOS 5 or 6. This exploit could be a bit more serious as it seems to require only visiting a website once. It doesn’t look like the exploit enables root execution, but it does make it possible to steal data.
Malware scanners for mobile devices are starting to seem more reasonable these days. | <urn:uuid:a761a64d-4b93-4421-a12e-9c8dcab79ae1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techgage.com/news/android_compromised_via_nfc_on_samsung_galaxy_s_iii/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959614 | 458 | 2.1875 | 2 |
When you've got errands to run, dinner to make, and a schedule to stick to, grocery-shopping can become a test of patience and a serious time drain. Keep yourself sane and on track with our 10 commandments to efficient food shopping.
- Think ahead. Plan out your meals and food needs for the week. Start with breakfast and work your way mentally through each day. Do you have enough coffee, sugar, cereal, and milk? What will you be packing for lunch? Do you have any new recipes that you know you'll be making? If so, go through them one by one, making sure you have every ingredient. Never assume you have the basics on-hand. Chances are, you've forgotten about the impromptu cookies that depleted the chocolate-chip bag.
- Enlist the family. Keep a list on your fridge that the whole family can add to. (You can veto the Twinkies, Chips Ahoy, and Lucky Charms later.) When you're running low or run out of something, write it down immediately. The list will serve as a constant reminder of what staples you need to stock up on.
- Map it out. Know the layout of your grocery store. Ask the customer service desk if they have an aisle-by-aisle floor plan that you can take with you or photocopy.
- Get organized. When you have a list of everything you need, arrange it by location, grouping items that are in the same aisle together. The advantage to this is twofold: You won't be darting from one end of the store to the other, and you'll be less likely to forget something.
- Do your research. Check the weekly circulars for sales before you head to the store to insure you're getting the best price. This will save you from comparing prices in the middle of a crowded aisle and prevent sticker shock when a particular item is marked way up.
- Cut out coupons. Leave the coupon book at home and take only the coupons you'll need. You don't need to be rifling through the dozens of expired deals, or getting distracted by the ones you've been meaning to use.
- Make friends with your grocers. Familiarize yourself with the store's schedule. Know when the store restocks its produce and perishable items so you can buy the freshest products, and so you'll never get caught staring at an empty bread shelf.
- Take quiet time. If you can, shop during off-peak hours when the store won't be crowded. If you're a night owl, go late at night. If you're a morning lark, go when you wake up, immediately after breakfast. And if you work from home or are a stay-at-home mom, any time during the day should be low volume.
- Go it alone. When in a hurry, food shopping is best done solo, so leave the kids at home. If your husband tags along, make use of him! Split the list in two so that you can divide and conquer.
- Don't go hungry. Go after you've eaten and are pleasantly full. This will keep you focused on what you need to buy, and not on what you might want to eat which, when you're famished, tends to be everything. | <urn:uuid:4b8bb84c-be81-494c-8932-ca728d0ebd23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/recipes/cooking-tips/save-time-grocery-shopping | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953614 | 678 | 1.757813 | 2 |
The question of marriage equality is a great American debate. Many people, some with strong religious faith, believe that marriage can only exist between a man and a woman. Other people, many of whom also have strong religious faith, believe that our country should not limit the commitment of marriage to some, but rather all Americans, gay and straight should be allowed to fully participate in the most basic of family values.
I have come to the conclusion that our government should not limit the right to marry based on who you love. While churches should never be required to conduct marriages outside of their religious beliefs, neither should the government tell people who they have a right to marry.
My views on this subject have changed over time, but as many of my gay and lesbian friends, colleagues and staff embrace long term committed relationships, I find myself unable to look them in the eye without honestly confronting this uncomfortable inequality. Supporting marriage equality for gay and lesbian couples is simply the right thing to do for our country, a country founded on the principals of liberty and equality.
Good people disagree with me. On the other hand, my children have a hard time understanding why this is even controversial. I think history will agree with my children. | <urn:uuid:9d3778ed-0b9a-44cf-b1f4-00bdd92f0e99> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dangerrwhale.tumblr.com/tagged/united-states | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967259 | 244 | 1.976563 | 2 |
VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI declared Pope John Paul II “blessed” today at a Mass attended by an estimated 1 million people. They packed St. Peter’s Square and the major streets radiating out from the Vatican, and cheered when a tapestry depicting the late pope was undraped on the facade of the basilica.
In his homily, Pope Benedict explained why he wanted the beatification cause to move forward with “reasonable haste”:
Dear Brothers and Sisters,
Six years ago we gathered in this Square to celebrate the funeral of Pope John Paul II. Our grief at his loss was deep, but even greater was our sense of an immense grace which embraced Rome and the whole world: a grace which was in some way the fruit of my beloved predecessor’s entire life, and especially of his witness in suffering. Even then we perceived the fragrance of his sanctity, and in any number of ways God’s People showed their veneration for him. For this reason, with all due respect for the Church’s canonical norms, I wanted his cause of beatification to move forward with reasonable haste. And now the longed-for day has come; it came quickly because this is what was pleasing to the Lord: John Paul II is blessed!
Pope Benedict then spoke about Pope John Paul’s “apostolic courage” in the face of modern problems:
For my part, I thank the Eternal Shepherd, who has enabled me to serve this very great cause in the course of all the years of my Pontificate”. And what is this “cause”? It is the same one that John Paul II presented during his first solemn Mass in Saint Peter’s Square in the unforgettable words: “Do not be afraid! Open, open wide the doors to Christ!” What the newly-elected Pope asked of everyone, he was himself the first to do: society, culture, political and economic systems he opened up to Christ, turning back with the strength of a titan – a strength which came to him from God – a tide which appeared irreversible. By his witness of faith, love and apostolic courage, accompanied by great human charisma, this exemplary son of Poland helped believers throughout the world not to be afraid to be called Christian, to belong to the Church, to speak of the Gospel. In a word: he helped us not to fear the truth, because truth is the guarantee of liberty. To put it even more succinctly: he gave us the strength to believe in Christ, because Christ is Redemptor hominis, the Redeemer of man. This was the theme of his first encyclical, and the thread which runs through all the others.
Pope Benedict said his predecessor had personally inspired him:
Finally, on a more personal note, I would like to thank God for the gift of having worked for many years with Blessed Pope John Paul II. I had known him earlier and had esteemed him, but for twenty-three years, beginning in 1982 after he called me to Rome to be Prefect of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, I was at his side and came to revere him all the more. My own service was sustained by his spiritual depth and by the richness of his insights. His example of prayer continually impressed and edified me: he remained deeply united to God even amid the many demands of his ministry. Then too, there was his witness in suffering: the Lord gradually stripped him of everything, yet he remained ever a “rock”, as Christ desired. His profound humility, grounded in close union with Christ, enabled him to continue to lead the Church and to give to the world a message which became all the more eloquent as his physical strength declined. In this way he lived out in an extraordinary way the vocation of every priest and bishop to become completely one with Jesus, whom he daily receives and offers in the Eucharist.
Blessed are you, beloved Pope John Paul II, because you believed! Continue, we implore you, to sustain from heaven the faith of God’s people. Amen. | <urn:uuid:1a31bc34-f3e6-4d6d-92ad-50c6dc138a50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cnsblog.wordpress.com/2011/05/01/john-paul-ii-is-blessed/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983271 | 857 | 1.984375 | 2 |
|Many youth soccer coaches get very nervous when
team concedes a corner.
They know that in a few seconds time the ball will be whizzing across the box and their defenders will either (a) duck
out of the way or (b) swing a foot at the ball and miss it. And no one
will be marking the opposition striker who calmly taps the ball into
the back of the net.
But there is plenty you can do – even with the
players – to reduce your stress levels when the ref points to the
First of all, you need to decide if you want your
to mark the opposition man to man (sorry girls) or defend zonally,
that is, ignore the opposition and put your players into key parts of the
Most teams that use zonal defending split the
area into several areas: the near post, the middle of the six yard box,
the far post and two or three areas between the six yard box and the
edge of the penalty area.
The theory is that these are the areas where most
are scored from following a corner and if you can control these areas
you will stop the opposition from scoring.
This may work with older, confident players but, in
experience, it's not a good method to use with young players. Man-to-man
marking works better and it's a lot easier to explain.
To man mark effectively, your players need to make
they pick up one opposition player each... and stay with them. This
requires good communication between the defending players and the
person in charge – your goalkeeper.
The goalkeeper needs to understand that it's part of
job to organise the outfield players at corners. They should tell them
who to mark, "Lucy, get the number 7, Ami get the number 9", and watch
out for opposition players who try to creep into the box unobserved.
I tell my players they must keep their
facing our goal and they must not take their eyes off the player they are
marking. They need to keep within two feet of their mark at all times
and ALWAYS stay between the striker and our goal. The worst mistake a
defender can make at a corner is to let the player they are marking get
away or get ahead of them.
we put a player on the goalposts?
The purpose of "marking" the goal posts is to make
goal smaller. This is a sensible move when playing 11-a-side as the
goalkeeper can't reach both posts from the middle of the goal. But in
youth football the goals are small and putting players on the posts is a
waste of resources.
In any case, your goalkeeper should be intercepting
ball that comes into the "hot area" just in front of the goal and the
sooner they learn to do that, the better.
A good way to practise this is to use two goals,
a normal position and the second touching the far post and at right
angles to it. The goal should look like the letter 'L'. Now take some
corners. The goalkeeper has to protect both goals and is encouraged to
come off their line to get the ball.
Putting one of your taller players on the line
the goal and the corner flag will often put the player taking the
corner kick off their job completely. They should also be able to block
any low, fast corners that are directed straight at your
forget the short corner!
A short corner – where the ball is passed to a
standing close to the corner flag who either plays it back to the
corner taker or crosses/shoots themselves – is a very effective tactic in
youth soccer and your defenders need to stay alert to the threat posed
If an opposition player runs to receive a
corner, your players need to close them down quickly. This may mean
leaving players unmarked in the box but it's essential that the short
corner is neutralised.
least one player upfield
It's important to have at least one player (and
preferably two) waiting upfield to receive the ball from your
defenders. If you get everyone back to defend the corner,
counter attacking becomes virtually impossible.
stop the "duckers" and the "swing and miss"
It's no use teaching your players how to defend
if they are afraid or unable to deal with the ball when it comes to
Defenders who duck out of the way as a well-taken
comes across the box are a common sight at U9 and U10 level. They are scared that
the ball might hurt them. So you need to show them that the ball ("it's
only a bag of air!") won't hurt... providing they use their heads
So as soon as your players are old enough to strike
corner into the box at head height, they need to learn how to head it | <urn:uuid:a7245f33-75f3-402a-84c0-a3d2cb6c89cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.footy4kids.co.uk/soccer_coaching_tips_for_defending_corners.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968701 | 1,035 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Exfoliate your skin with a home made natural facial scrub
When you look in the mirror and you are faced with a dull and dry flaky skin, it may be time to look at doing some exfoliation to get rid of dead cells clogging up the top layer of skin to bring the hidden more youthful looking skin to the top.
Younger people with skin problems should take care not to over-exfoliate, as we have found that those suffering from skin problems think that daily exfoliating or scrubbing every three or four days, will help to rid their skin from impurities.
That is unfortunately not true, and over-exfoliating or scrubbing can aggravate the problem instead or alleviating it, since the skin is irritated instead of being assisted along to help heal itself.
So - people with a problem skin can exfoliate, but gently and not too often, and if in doubt, please consult your licensed medical practitioner and/or dermatologist.
But for those amongst us that are fighting the aging battle (and for those not yet there) exfoliation of the skin, helps with blood circulation and the removal of the dead skin cells that can cause it to look dull and dry. Exfoliating can be done every 14 days, and in some cases weekly.
Although there are various commercial scrubs on the market, we have found that the following home made scrub is most invigorating to the skin, leaving it rosy and keenly healthy.
Take 2 - 3 teaspoons raw oats (not the pre-cooked type) and crush into smaller bits either by hand or in a grinder. Mix the dry oats with pure honey and 1/4 teaspoon of apple cider vinegar until it forms a smooth mixture. Add more honey as needed. Then add 1 drop of basil oil to the mixture.
For a problem skin, you can replace the basil oil with tea tree oil to help the healing process along.
After washing the face and drying it gently by patting with a towel, apply this sticky mixture in gentle circular movements. Avoid the eye area. Leave the mixture on for about 15 minutes and wash off with lots of tepid water.
Although it is a messy skin treatment to perform, the results are excellent and it costs only pennies to make. | <urn:uuid:c243103b-3540-49c9-a614-ff171b854c1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://essentialoils.co.za/scrub.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956086 | 472 | 1.59375 | 2 |
ELDORADO -- Gold prospectors chasing $1,600-an-ounce flecks in river bottoms east of Charlotte also might be sucking life out of the streams, experts say.
As the price of gold mounts, some weekend prospectors have turned to machines called suction dredges. The devices work like underwater vacuum cleaners, sucking gravel and dirt into sluice boxes that catch any gold and dump other material back into the river. That's a problem for anything living on the bottom, including mussels, fish eggs and aquatic insects, which can be killed by the machines or smothered in stirred-up sediment. California placed a moratorium on the practice in 2009 because of its damage to spawning salmon.
North Carolina requires no permits for recreational prospecting. But increased pressure from enthusiasts has raised concern on the Uwharrie River, which flows through the gold-rich heart of the Piedmont about 50 miles east of Charlotte.
"There's always a couple of people down there on the weekends, suction dredging," said Jason Walser, executive director of LandTrust for Central North Carolina, a Salisbury conservation group that owns 1,300 acres along the Uwharrie. "What we have seen is a steady increase both in the number of people and in the equipment investment and the time they're spending out there."
Last spring, LandTrust posted its property to keep out prospectors, igniting a firestorm of protest, Walser said. The 51,000-acre Uwharrie National Forest banned suction dredging about five years ago.
"If we left it unchecked it would be a big deal, it would cause some serious resource damage," said Uwharrie district ranger Deborah Walker.
Read the complete story at newsobserver.com | <urn:uuid:d0528114-666c-4d53-954b-b98b2e0cd36d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2011/11/01/128916/quest-for-gold-destroying-marine.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938162 | 370 | 2 | 2 |
First, some observations...
1. For three years I stopped fertilizing the garden. Everyone around me had Croton scale; I had none. This year, I threw down a bag of fertilizer, don't ask why. Now, I have Croton scale on dozens of plants.
2. There doesn't seem to be any rhyme or reason to what's attacked. Even the same variety in different parts of the garden. I have Victoria Gold Bells in three different locations, only one has scale. My Ethel Craig is covered with scale, but only one of the eight Crotons next to it are affected.
3. It's fast. Very fast. Within a week, I'll see a healthy plant get covered with scale.
4. Color, leaf-shape and size, lighting conditions, all have nothing in common with whether or not a plant will be hit.
Okay, what's working...
1. Clippers. Yep, I'm hacking plants back to the branches, cutting off every leaf and letting the plant start over.
2. Poison. I'm using a mix of Organicide and Malathion at the recommend dosage and spraying the affected plants until they are drenched. Repeat every week or two. This seems to kill everything but the plant. The plants I clip back are getting drenched after the clipping.
3. Not yet thinking about replacing the Crotons with another plant, not another Croton, but that time will come. | <urn:uuid:0179664c-66ea-42de-b3fd-ed8ea7e9b61b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.palmpedia.net/forum/showthread.php?3103-Croton-Scale-what-s-working&p=35276&viewfull=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955296 | 301 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Basic HIV/AIDS Statistics
December 3, 2003
For a more complete understanding of the current surveillance trends, you may download a PDF file of theHIV/AIDS Surveillance Report or request a free copy of the HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report by calling the CDC National Prevention Information Network at 1-800-458-5231.
The estimated number of diagnoses of AIDS through 2002 in the United States is 886,575. Adult and adolescent AIDS cases total 877,275 with 718,002 cases in males and 159,271 cases in females. Through the same time period, 9,300 AIDS cases were estimated in children under age 13. Estimated number
of deaths of persons with AIDS is 501,669, including 496,354 adults and adolescents, and 5,315 children under age 15.
Of the estimated number of diagnoses of AIDS through December 2002, patients' ages at time of diagnosis were distributed as follows:
Estimated numbers of diagnoses of AIDS through December 2002, by race or ethnicity:
Following is the distribution of the estimated number of diagnoses of AIDS among adults and adolescents by exposure category. A breakdown by sex is provided where appropriate.
* Includes hemophilia, blood transfusion, perinatal, and risk not reported or not identified.
The distribution of the estimated number of diagnoses of AIDS among children** by exposure categories follows:
** The term "children" refers to persons under age 13 at the time of diagnosis.
The 10 leading states or territories reporting the highest number of cumulative AIDS cases among residents as of December 2002 are as follows:
State-by-state information about new and cumulative AIDS cases, AIDS case rates, persons living with AIDS, AIDS deaths, HIV infections, HIV testing statistics and policies, additional AIDS-related state policies, Ryan White funding and funding for HIV prevention, and AIDS Drug Assistance Programs, including budget, client, and expenditure data from the Kaiser Family Foundation.
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS, as of December 2003, the following trends of the worldwide epidemic (or pandemic) of HIV are evident:
For current statistics on the number of reported AIDS cases in North, Central, and South America, please contact the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) which is the regional office for the Americas of the World Health Organization at 525 23rd Street, N.W., Washington, D.C. 20037, telephone: 202-861-4346.
Other international web sites available are the World Health Organization (WHO) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).
This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Visit the CDC's website to find out more about their activities, publications and services. | <urn:uuid:b41c7cf5-7171-404b-b457-d768e08ba27e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebody.com/content/art17007.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923021 | 560 | 3 | 3 |
We are having a thyroid disease epidemic and the experts can’t figure out why.
In the last two years, more people than ever are coming into my clinic and telling me that they, and even their pets, have thyroid disease.
Your thyroid regulates your metabolism so that you don’t get fat for no reason. It uses iodine to manufacture thyroid hor¬mones that your entire body depends on. It cleans your blood. It works with your pituitary gland to regulate blood pressure, fluids, temperature and emotions.
Currently, the guess is that less than half of people with thy¬roid disease are actually diagnosed, but that one in ten Ameri¬cans have a diagnosed thyroid disease.
Women are seven times more likely to have thyroid disease than men. One factor may be that we are hormonally more complicated and tend to carry more body fat.
So what could be causing all this thyroid disease?
Well, the “experts” are throwing their hands up in utter baf¬flement, which means that they are either blithering idiots, or that telling the truth is probably death to their careers.
Radioactive iodine kills thyroids. The first measurement of the earth’s background radiation was about 60 millirem a year. The conservative guess is that it is now up to about 200. This is all over the globe--what you are exposed to just strolling around. Thyroid cancer has more than doubled since the 1970s. Baffling.
As one commenter on a recent article on the subject wrote, “Hmmm, it couldn't POSSIBLY be from 3 Fukushima reactor meltdowns that are ongoing and a spent fuel pool that caught fire and burned and a heavily fallout-laden jet stream that's been blowing over here for 10 months straight now could it be? HOW BAFFLING.”
Between 1950 and 1965, Russia and the US blew up the equivalent of 40,000 Hiroshima nuclear bombs in testing, and a good part of that radiation hangs around for thousands of years. Nuclear reactors leak and melt down, even here in the US. Radioactive iodine will attach to your thyroid and cause cancer. Between 1980 and 2006, newborn thyroid cancer in¬creased by 155 percent, with worse numbers closer to nuclear plants.
Besides radioactive iodine, halogens probably cause most of our thyroid disease, and they are everywhere. These are sub¬stances that basically fit into the receptors in your thyroid just like iodine, so you end up losing the iodine you need and gain¬ing these toxins instead. Chlorine and fluoride are halogens. Bromine is a very aggressive halogen.
You can absorb these through your skin or you can eat them in your toothpaste, drink them in your water, or enjoy them in your crackers.
Up until about 20 years ago, manufacturers used to fortify processed white flour with iodine because when actual humans ran the government, they knew that iodine was a critical ele¬ment for human health and that most of us don’t get enough of it. Then someone took over the FDA who apparently thinks there are way too many of us peasants shuffling about, and re¬moved the iodine requirement, allowing millers to add potas¬sium bromate, allegedly because it improves baking character¬istics. It is also, conveniently, a sedative. Some countries have banned it. Many commercial bakeries use bromated flour, so probably most of your wheat crackers and snack foods contain bromine.
Many soda pops, plastics, medications (Hmmmmm. That must be why they were baffled), hot tub and pool treatments, auto upholstery, personal care products and pesticides also contain bromine. Ironically, Bromine is the gas you use to fu¬migate your house for termites. Isn’t that a hoot! Take that, all you useless eaters!
Thyroid disease symptoms vary widely, but there are com¬mon patterns.
Hypo, or underactive, thyroid, is the most common. The clas¬sic symptoms are feeling cold, chronic fatigue, poor immu¬nity, hair loss, weight gain, dry skin, brittle nails, constipation, morning headaches, poor circulation, hypersensitive to cold, and depression.
Or you can have hyperthyroid, which will take you the other direction--feeling hot, hyperactive, racing heart, weight loss, anxiety, insomnia, excessive sweating, diarrhea, autoimmune diseases and high blood pressure. Don Knotts and Marty Feldman made careers out of their thyroid conditions. Bulging eyes are a symptom of Grave’s Disease, or hyperthyroid.
So what can you do if you have, or think you have, a thy¬roid disease?
Eat the cleanest organic food you can. Do not drink pop. Use the purest personal care products you can find. Crack the win¬dows if you are spending much time in your car. Avoid un¬fer¬mented soy foods. Filter all the water in your home. Avoid fluo¬ride toothpaste. Avoid unnecessary medical x-rays, and if you take an x-ray, insist they provide you with a shield to cover your thyroid. I don’t care about how “harmless” their x-ray ma¬chine is. You are already exposed to cumulatively dangerous radia¬tion levels. Don’t add to it.
Opt out of airport x-rays, too. That low level radiation is the most dangerous type.
If you want a diagnostic test, your doctor can do a thyroid hormone test. The catch is that there are at least three tests for different thyroid hormones, and everybody has their favorite. If you can, get them all. Insist on having your iodine levels tested as well. This may be a more accurate test. You can go the ca¬naryclub.org or any of several other websites and order one yourself if you need to. Study up and learn about your own condition so you can make intelligent decisions.
You can choose from several different thyroid treatments. Your doc will want you to take thyroid hormone pills. There are synthetic hormones, and natural hormones. Check into both. One thing I do know – synthetic thyroid replacement drugs do not work well for many of the patients I see in my office.
The female endocrine (hormone) system is a mysterious and complicated thing. You can take all the tests you want, but there are way too many variables for the tests to be perfectly ac¬curate. I’ve seen lots of patients with thyroid disease who had great test results.
You can also try acupuncture and herbs, homeopathics, sup¬plements, nutrition, meditation, biofeedback, and any of several other, less invasive treatments to balance out your body before you resort to drugs. If your thyroid is malfunctioning, your en¬tire hormone system will be out of balance, and just taking thy¬roid pills might not be enough.
Julie Crist, L. Ac., is a licensed acupuncturist at Acuplanet Acupuncture in the Town Center Building in downtown Colville. | <urn:uuid:c250f534-6c3a-4b26-8aec-326fa2ee27ef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.statesmanexaminer.com/print/2022 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942137 | 1,516 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Barnard professors Deborah Coen and Martin Stute, The New York Times' Andrew Revkin, and General Russel L. Honore, Commander of Joint Task Force Katrina and Global Preparedness Authority, explore how societies cope with natural disasters.
Professor Karla FC Holloway, and a group of Barnard and Columbia professors, will discuss Holloway’s new book Private Bodies, Public Texts: Race Gender, and a Cultural Bioethics, examining the intersections of law, race, gender, and bioethics.
Join us for an interdisciplinary conversation exploring how food shapes culture and politics.
SNEAK PREVIEW: Faculty panelists offer insights from their research.
Economics professor's research highlighted
A kinder, gentler philosophy of success followed by discussion. Can reframing success and taking control of our tendency towards social comparisons alleviate anxiety?
FREE pizza will be served.
When I was 6 years old, I remember defiantly stating that I wanted to grow up to be the first female president of the United States. By the time I graduated from Barnard, I was more inclined toward being the “next” Katie Couric. Today, I’m very happy as a writer, lecturer, and small-business owner.... but I’m wondering what these changed goals say about me and my generation? | <urn:uuid:59e1ec13-1c41-4215-a3cd-15bda0eb47f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://barnard.edu/category/topics-41 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915776 | 279 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Much has been made of Google's moral compass since the "Don't be evil" company started censoring search results at the request of the Chinese government. Then yesterday Google announced that Gmail accounts of Chinese dissidents had been hacked as part of a broad spying operation apparently tied to the Chinese government, and the company decided that it would no longer censor its search results, even if that meant pulling out of the Chinese market altogether.
It's tempting to see Google's move as a moral objection, but to me it seems highly strategic. The truth is, Google's operations in China have been troubled from the start, and the Gmail hacking incident is part of a far greater threat to Google--and, indeed, American technology businesses operating in China in general--and Google needs to push back now, or withdraw altogether.
Google has had operations in China since 2006, but it has never been the dominant search player there--that dubious honor goes to Baidu, a company with close ties to the Chinese government. The hacking incident wasn't narrowly aimed at the dissidents, according to The New York Times, but part of a broader attack on source code at multiple technology companies. This is the great big problem for American tech businesses--it's widely known that Chinese hackers (either at the behest of their government or with its tacit approval; it's never been entirely clear) routinely attempt to steal the intellectual property of American companies. The military has been focused on this problem for some time when it comes to defense contractors, but these potential thefts are equally problematic for tech companies.
Google had previously made the bet that its search engine product could be profitable and socially beneficial even with the restrictions of the Chinese government, but a product such as Gmail loses tremendous value when privacy is compromised. Now the e-mail service will be forever associated in China with surveillance, tainting the product for the foreseeable future.
The standoff will only get more interesting from here. Currently, it is a case of who needs whom more. It seems unlikely that China will loosen its restrictions for the second most popular search engine in the country. But having Google pull out its business may prove too much of an embarrassment and an acknowledgement of systemic repression, two things the Chinese government would like to avoid. Google could end up losing out on a potentially huge market, but if it doesn't stand up for its IP, the Chinese will most certainly take such steps again in the future.
In fact, the tough part is that even if Google, and, for that matter, other tech companies, pull operations out of China, they will still face hacker thefts of IP from afar--Internet larceny knows no boundaries. But China may be taking the bigger risk here. Part of the reason the U.S. has proved so technologically creative is that we have a free and open information economy--and China has, thus far, benefited from advances born here. If U.S. tech companies are forced to take a defensive stance toward China, that country will find itself isolated from the creativity of the West. And try as they might, it's doubtful that China can completely steal its way to technological creativity. China has done a great job of developing its manufacturing base, but that country still lags when it comes to technological innovation. And I'd argue that China won't develop along those lines until it allows for the free exchange of ideas and the protection of intellectual property. Hacking e-mail and driving the greatest information discovery service ever invented out of your country certainly won't help those goals. | <urn:uuid:e677bc5d-3a41-4322-9404-f39408952b35> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/gadgets/news/4342408 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970354 | 713 | 1.890625 | 2 |
States challenging President Barack Obama’s health-care overhaul asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene, saying a federal appeals court didn’t go far enough when it invalidated a portion of the law.
Adding to calls for the high court to determine the fate of the law, the 26 states, led by Florida, said today the entire measure should be invalidated. The Justice Department signaled earlier this week that it will file its own Supreme Court appeal in the case.
The Atlanta-based appeals court gave the states a partial victory in their suit challenging the law, ruling that Congress lacked the constitutional power to require people to either get insurance or pay a penalty. At the same time, the court said it would strike down only the insurance mandate, leaving intact other provisions, including a requirement that insurers accept applicants with pre-existing conditions.
There is “compelling evidence that Congress intended the mandate to function as the act’s essential lynchpin and would never have passed the act without it,” the states argued in a Supreme Court filing.
The states are also asking the high court to review the law’s expansion of Medicaid, the joint federal-state health-care program for the poor. The appeals court upheld that provision, rejecting contentions that it improperly coerces states into spending additional money.
The states asked the high court to move quickly to review the Affordable Care Act, as the law is known. With three appeals now pending -- and a federal government appeal due in mid- November -- the justices could consider the case early next year and rule in June.
“Time is of the essence,” the states said in their filing. “States need to know whether they must adapt their policies to deal with the brave new world ushered in by the ACA.”
The Justice Department is scheduled to file a brief today in a separate Supreme Court case related to the health-care law. In that dispute, a Michigan public interest law firm is seeking review of a different appeals court’s conclusion that the law is constitutional.
A small-business trade group, the National Federation of Independent Business, filed its own appeal earlier today, also asking the high court to invalidate the law.
The states’ case is Florida v. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. | <urn:uuid:4649d895-980d-45c7-a17e-efbde3451f58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.treasuryandrisk.com/2011/09/28/states-appeal-health-law-to-high-court | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959523 | 479 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Working as an Antarctic Medical Practitioner
The Polar Medicine Unit of the Australian Antarctic Division runs one of Australia's most remote, unusual and rewarding medical practices.
Each group of expeditioners, isolated from usual medical facilities by Antarctica's remoteness, requires a medical practitioner. These groups include Australia's continental stations – Casey, Davis and Mawson – the subantarctic station at Macquarie Island, and ship and summer field groups.
Supported by three full-time medical practitioners at the AAD's Kingston headquarters in southern Tasmania, Antarctic medical practitioners (AMPs) provide surgical, medical and dental care to one of the most isolated groups of people on earth.
An AMP at one of the four stations is the sole doctor for around 12 months, providing health care services for a group of expeditioners that can fluctuate from approximately 12 in winter to more than 75 in the shipping season (October – March). Passengers and crew on expedition voyages might call at the station several times during the season for a few days, increasing that number.
Every expeditioner must pass stringent pre-departure medical checks and be declared fit for travel to Antarctica, so health is generally not a significant problem. However, medical, surgical and dental emergencies do still occur and the doctor is responsible for dealing with these.
As well as supporting Antarctic health care, the AAD's Polar Medicine Unit conducts a research program aimed at increasing our knowledge of how humans interact with the Antarctic environment.
The experience of living and working in this remote region is very different from that of most suburban or rural practices, and most AMPs look back on their time in this beautiful, harsh and icy environment as stimulating and rewarding.
The Polar Medicine Unit in the news:
- February 2013: Students get icy start to remote medicine
- July 2012: Antarctic equipment to help restore sight in East Timor
- March 2011: Antarctica - the ultimate in remote practice [PDF]
- July 2010: Dr Ben O'Leary talks about 10 months in Antarctica as a sole medical practitioner
- January 2009: Dr Madeleine Wilcock talks to ABC local radio about working as an AMP at Davis station in Antarctica
- November 2008: Injured expeditioner evacuated from Davis station by US aircraft | <urn:uuid:54e48cb7-f751-45e9-a563-13f36a815964> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.antarctica.gov.au/jobs/antarctic-medical-practitioners | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955134 | 461 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Paintings of Bali have experienced remarkable evolution. Traditionally another means of expressing religious and mythological ideas, paintings of Bali have been subjected to a number of influences, including deep interaction with Western painters who came and lived in Bali.
As with any other artistic expression found in the island, these influences have been uniquely adapted into Bali's personality, creating new nuances and styles of paintings that are distinctly Balinese.
Instead of religious or mythical characters of wayang, contemporary paintings present nature, daily lives of Balinese, or even tourists.
The shades of coal gray that dominate traditional paintings are now accompanied by vibrant play of color capturing Jalak Bali or Gunung Agung in the morning sun. The Raja of Ubud was known for his fondness of arts and paintings, and his openness to foreigners.
Thus Ubud became the center of arts, welcoming into its heart renowned artists such as Bonnet, Spies, Blanco, Snel, et., many of whom came and never could leave Bali. Today's Ubud is only slightly different. You should not be surprised to run into a foreign writer who has spent months living in a homestay facing a rice field terrace while writing his next book.
Fabulous museums of paintings such as the Puri Museum Lukisan, the Neka Museum, and the Rudana Museum have in their permanent collections some of the best paintings ever produced by Balinese or foreigners who found their physical and artistic home in Bali. | <urn:uuid:c0041432-73ad-4293-9cc9-d571de93b115> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ubudpainting.com/bali-painting.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975844 | 308 | 2.34375 | 2 |
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SOURCE: Hixenbaugh Ancient Art
Hixenbaugh Ancient Art is pleased to announce its participation in the 41st annual New York International Numismatic Convention. The fair runs from January 10th through January 13th at New York’s Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
New York, New York (PRWEB) January 04, 2013
Hixenbaugh Ancient Art is pleased to announce its participation in the 41st annual New York International Numismatic Convention. From Thursday January 10th through Sunday January 14th, Hixenbaugh Ancient Art will exhibit its fine quality authentic antiquities and ancient coins on the 18th floor of New York’s historic Waldorf Astoria Hotel.
The New York International Numismatic Convention is the United States’ most prestigious numismatic events. With over 100 participants, the convention offers a wide variety of numismatics from modern coinage through antiquity. The event also includes a full range of educational programs, a special numismatic literature sale and multiple auctions conducted by many leading numismatic auction houses from around the world.
Hixenbaugh Ancient Art will be exhibiting its collection of ancient coins and a representative sample of its desirable ancient objects at this year’s convention. Ancient coins are highly collectible for their direct ties to the past as well as their artistic appeal. Ancient coins were not merely used to facilitate commerce but also to spread propaganda. Much thought was given to the meaning behind the imagery on ancient coinage. As such, the coins were very artfully designed. Much information about ancient cultures can be gleaned from reading and interpreting ancient coins. In addition to ancient coins, several newly acquired ancient Greek helmets, as well as many other fine quality ancient objects, will also be on display.
Hixenbaugh Ancient Art is participating in this fair for its 9th consecutive year and is pleased for the opportunity to exhibit once again. Gallery director, Randall Hixenbaugh stated, “The New York International Numismatic Convention is a great way to start to the new year. Ancient Coins provide us with a unique glimpse into the traditions and beliefs of ancient cultures as interesting miniature works of art that passed through the hands of our ancient ancestors.” Our coins as well as many other important antiquities are on view and available at our New York gallery (Tuesday – Saturday 11am – 6pm) and can be viewed on our web site (http://www.hixenbaugh.net).
ABOUT HIXENBAUGH ANCIENT ART
Hixenbaugh Ancient Art Ltd, located on the Upper East Side of Manhattan, is dedicated to handling fine authentic antiquities (Roman, Egyptian, Near Eastern, Neolithic and Greek Art). All of the pieces we handle are legally acquired, in complete accordance with US and international regulations and laws concerning the import and sale of ancient objects. All objects are guaranteed genuine and as described. Hixenbaugh Ancient Art is a member of the Art and Antique Dealers League of America (AADLA), the Confederation Internationale des Negociants en Oeuvres d'Art (CINOA), the Appraisers Association of America(AAA), and the International Association of Dealers in Ancient Art (IADAA).
# # #
At Hixenbaugh Ancient Art, we believe that responsible collecting of antiquities is not only a pleasurable pursuit and wise investment, but an important responsibility. Today's collectors are custodians of the past, links in a chain, preserving the past for future generations by passing their collections on to their heirs, reselling them to eager collectors, or donating them to museums. In doing so, the collector of ancient art reaps the many benefits of acquiring truly unique and thought provoking objects that have come down to us from the ancients, whose influences pervade every aspect of the modern world.
If you would like more information about this topic contact Robert O’Donnell or Randall Hixenbaugh at (212) 861-9743 or info(at)hixenbaugh(dot)net.
For the original version on PRWeb visit: http://www.prweb.com/releases/prweb2013/1/prweb10290645.htm
All content © Copyright 2000 - 2013 WorldNow and KIII. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:01d9a6fa-d4f8-4352-93c4-806254dfda6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kiiitv.com/story/20502994/hixenbaugh-ancient-art-to-exhibit-at-41st-annual-new-york-international-numismatic-convention | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939066 | 917 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Al Hurra TV, 8 April 2008
Adnan Oktar: In my childhood we were unaware of such a concept. We used to hear accidently that someone was of a Kurdish origin and it was none of our business. This system still holds true. WHETHER KURDISH, LAZ, CIRCASSIAN OR OF ANY OTHER IDENTITY, once these people call themselves “Turkish” and speak Turkish, they are Turkish citizens. THEY ARE FIRST CLASS CITIZENS. THERE IS ABUNDANCE IN BEING UNITED. There is malice in disunion. Disunion is something evil. Separation brings forth weakness, pain and torment.
Adana CRT TV, 30 September 2008
Adnan Oktar: Leftist-rightist, ALAWITE, KURDISH, LAZ, CIRCASSIAN, SUNNI; IT DOES NOT MATTER, WE ARE ALL BROTHERS, WE ARE ALL SERVANTS OF Allah. Allah has shownour paths, we will respect everyone’s ideas but unity and solidarity are essential.Those who love Allah, those who act in the way of Allah will surely make effort for the betterment of this country and they will do so. Turkey will insha'Allah pursue the goal of the Turkish Islamic Union with success.
Kahramanmaras Aksu TV, September 23, 2010
ADNAN OKTAR: While addressing such issues we must also TAKE MEASURES THAT WILL STRENGHTEN THE BONDS OF BROTHERHOOD. There is intensive communist propoganda going on in the Southeast Anatolia. Against this propoganda the state must engage in anti-communist propaganda, GIVE SPEECHES THAT WILL STRENGHTEN THE BONDS OF BROTHERHOOD. KURDISH, LAZ, CIRCASSIAN, WE ARE ALL BROTHERS.” THIS SHOULD BE STRESSED VERY WELL. Let this be stressed very well. This can’t be tested. For instance, what does it mean to say to the Municipality, “You must ensure your own security. You provide your own economic development. You ensure your own education”? This means you are a separate state. Of course our President of the Republic does not mean, this but this is what these people mean. | <urn:uuid:231c1834-0122-463b-9f71-1c760ad0e46a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://evolutiondeceit.com/en/works/38667/Turkish-Prime-Minister-Erdogan-We-will-grow-through-brotherhood | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918827 | 486 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Off-the-book employment and the black economy
On Saturday, May 28th, at the catacombs of San Gennaro in Naples we hosted a round-table discussion on the issue of submerged economy, as an introduction to the Festival of Economics in Trento. Here is a short report.
According to Naples' Federico II University, the total value of the "pizzo" [protection money paid by a business to organized crime, usually coerced and constituting extortion] around the cities of Naples and Caserta amounts to about 1,120 million Euro. This estimates comes from judicial documents drafted by the district attorneys of the two cities from 1990 to 2009. And each year in Sicily the Mafia cashes in about 950 million Euro, according to research by the Istitute Antonino Caponnetto. Franco Roberti, district attorney in the nearby city of Salerno, was one the first officials to carry out an investigation against the Casalesi clan. In his speech, he explained: "What we call camorra today is not just a criminal organization, but a service agency acting as some kind of alternative to public institutions, able to govern people’s destinies, economics, and politics."
One of the pillars of this submerged economy is counterfeiting. For example, a blank DVD costs 30 cents and is sold at 5-6 Euro after being copied: “Not even drugs have such high mark-ups: today, counterfeiting is the core business of mafia-related criminal organizations," underlined Roberto Rossi, general of the custom police and member of the SCICO (Central Service for Organized Crime Investigation). Last year the Italian custom police seized 110 million counterfeit or dangerous products for the sake of people’s health: at least 40% of them were unsafe and probably contained toxic substances. Luciano Brancaccio, researcher at Naples' Federico II University, detailed the direct linkage between the entrepreneurial camorra and the "magliari", an International network managing the illegal trade of clothing. By analyzing the family tree of major clans in the greater Naples area, Brancaccio focused his attention on the Licciardi family: they are among the criminal groups who emerged in the Naples suburbs during the 1970s and are rooted in the magliari practices. Vincenzo Moretti, a sociologist and author of "Bella Napoli", a book about the magliari history, quoted renowned writer Italo Calvino and insisted that che “we must do the right thing, because that is how you do it." Luca Meldolesi, professor of political economy at Federico II University and who, for decades, has been involved in exposing these submerged economic activities, said: “After many years of attempting to work with public institutions, we are now targeting the private sector." In wrapping-up the event, Carlo Borgomeo, president of the Fondazione con il Sud, pointed out: “We must be aware that any social and developmental initiative has an organized hierarchy opposing them." | <urn:uuid:a073b7b1-8cfe-48a5-a0f6-0db09749bb79> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://datablog.ahref.eu/en/ahref-log/ahref-weblog/il-sommerso-e-leconomia-da-svelare | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951665 | 628 | 1.578125 | 2 |
War of 1812
Causes of the War
American shippers took advantage of the hostilities in Europe to absorb the carrying trade between Europe and the French and Spanish islands in the West Indies. By breaking the passage with a stop in a U.S. port, they evaded seizure under the British rule of 1756, which forbade to neutrals in wartime any trade that was not allowed in peacetime. In 1805, however, in the Essex Case, a British court ruled that U.S. ships breaking passage at an American port did not circumvent the prohibitions set out in the rule of 1756. As a result the seizure of American ships by Great Britain increased.
The following year Great Britain instituted a partial blockade of the European coast. The French emperor, Napoleon I, retaliated with a blockade of the British Isles. Napoleon's Continental System, which was intended to exclude British goods or goods cleared through Britain from countries under French control, and the British orders in council (1807), which forbade trade with France except after touching at English ports, threatened the American merchant fleet with confiscation by one side or the other. Although the French subjected American ships to considerable arbitrary treatment, the difficulties with England were more apparent. The impressment of sailors alleged to be British from U.S. vessels was a particularly great source of anti-British feeling, a famous incident of impressment being the Chesapeake affair of 1807.
Despite the infringement of U.S. rights, President Jefferson hoped to achieve a peaceful settlement with the British. Toward this end he supported a total embargo on trade in the hope that economic pressure would force the belligerents to negotiate with the United States. The Nonimportation Act of 1806 was followed by the Embargo Act of 1807. Difficulty of enforcement and economic conditions that rendered England and the Continent more or less independent of America made the embargo ineffective, and in 1809 it gave way to a Nonintercourse Act. This in turn was superseded by Macon's Bill No. 2, which repealed the trade restrictions against Britain and France with the proviso that if one country withdrew its offensive decrees or orders, nonintercourse would be reimposed with the other.
In 1809, after the passage of the Nonintercourse Act, a satisfactory agreement had been reached with the British minister in Washington, David Erskine, who promised repeal of the orders in council. The pact was disavowed by Foreign Secretary George Canning, however, and Erskine was replaced by F. J. Jackson, who soon proved himself persona non grata to the U.S. government. Subsequently, by a dubious commitment, Napoleon tricked James Madison, who had succeeded Jefferson as President, into reimposing (1811) nonintercourse on England. Negotiations with Britain for repeal of the orders in council continued without result; just before the declaration of war, yet too late to prevent it, the orders in council were repealed.
In reality, it was not so much the infringement of neutral rights that occasioned the actual outbreak of hostilities as the desire of the frontiersmen for free land, which could only be obtained at the expense of the Native Americans and the British. Moreover, the West suspected the British, with some justification, of attempting to prevent American expansion and of encouraging and arming the Native Americans. Matters came to a head after the battle of Tippecanoe (1811); the radical Western group believed that the British had supported the Native American confederacy, and they dreamed of expelling the British from Canada. Their militancy was supported by Southerners who wished to obtain West Florida from the Spanish (allies of Great Britain). Among the prominent "war hawks" in the 12th Congress were Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun, Langdon Cheves, Felix Grundy, Peter Porter, and others, who managed to override the opposition of John Randolph and of the moderates.
Sections in this article:
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Rick Reis, Stanford University, Stanford Learning Laboratory
In this excerpt from their 1999 article in Change, the authors argue that there are fundamental, structural problems with the system of graduate education and that any real reform effort will have to go well beyond current strategies such as offering TA orientations, preparing future faculty programs, and better mentoring.
This description of a site outside SERC has not been vetted by SERC staff and may be incomplete or incorrect. If you
have information we can use to flesh out or correct this record let us know. | <urn:uuid:2c170e90-c44a-4113-9061-f381ad5c90b0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nagt.org/resources/23258.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906822 | 111 | 1.5625 | 2 |
ROCKPORT, Maine — An honors and advanced placement biology teacher at Camden Hills Regional High School is one of 97 math and science teachers nationwide to receive a national award.
Ken Vencile received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Mathematics and Science Teaching, according to a news release issued Wednesday by the Maine Department of Education.
Vencile has spent seven years in his current position and taught for the previous seven years at the former Georges Valley High School in Thomaston.
The science teacher was recognized for his efforts to allow students to experience math and science instead of just learn about it in a classroom. For example, Vencile established
a course in tropical marine ecology in which students spend 11 days in the Bahamas during the summer to work with researchers from the Island School at Cape Eleuthera. He said one of the things the students do while there is visit coral reefs.
This summer marks the third year in which the course has been offered to Camden Hills students. Twelve students can enroll in the course, which he said is rigorous.
He also is working with the University of Maine at Machias, where he earned his bachelor’s degree in environmental science, to create an independent studies class in which students would spend time out of the classroom in addition to receiving traditional instruction. This proposal would need to have school board approval.
Students who complete the course would receive three college-level credits from the Machias college.
Vencile said he also is working with Maine Medical Center in Portland for a course next year in which students would be in contact with researchers from the hospital via Skype. He said students can see the direct relation between what they are studying and how it works in real-life situations.
Vencile earned his master’s degree in marine science from the University of Maine.
“I have been lucky to work with dedicated and reflective science instructors, and even more fortunate to share my energy, enthusiasm and knowledge with students who are willing to take risks, be spirited, think critically and dedicate themselves to hard work,” Vencile said in a news release.
Camden Hills is part of Five Town Community School District that includes Camden, Rockport, Hope and Appleton.
The honor is awarded annually to outstanding kindergarten-through-12th-grade science and mathematics teachers from across the country. Winners are selected by a national panel of scientists, mathematicians and educators after an initial selection process done at the state level, the release stated.
“We know that the single most important school-based factor in student achievement is an effective teacher,” Maine Education Commissioner Stephen Bowen said in the news release. “The fact that Ken Vencile has committed himself not only to great teaching, but to the rigorous Presidential Award process, serves his students well.”
Vencile has worked as a science consultant and has written curriculum for the Herring Gut Learning Center in Port Clyde. He also participates on multiple committees, has served as department chair and has mentored several new service teachers. | <urn:uuid:e5366d64-7a00-494f-ac04-adb7816da090> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bangordailynews.com/2012/06/13/news/midcoast/camden-hills-teacher-wins-national-science-honor/?ref=relatedBox | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976713 | 621 | 1.8125 | 2 |