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D Raoult and colleagues (Aug 1, p 353)1
report an outbreak of epidemic typhus in Burundi, and cite the first confirmed case in a nurse returning to Switzerland from Burundi. The diagnosis of epidemic typhus in this patient alerted the international health community to the outbreak in Burundi, which ultimately affected more than 43 000 people. We report the clinical course and laboratory investigation that identified this sentinel case.
The 38-year-old International Red Cross nurse cared for inmates in the N'Gozi prison in northern Burundi. During the last 2 months of her stay, an unexplained increase in mortality was observed among the prisoners.2
3 days after her return to Switzerland, she developed high fever, chills, and myalgias, and was admitted to hospital 5 days later. Other than fever (39°C), physical examination was unremarkable, with no evidence of a rash. Notable laboratory data included severe thrombocytopenia (50×109
/L) and raised D-dimers (4·0 mg/L). Chest radiographs were clear and blood smears were negative for parasites, including Plasmodium
spp. Blood and urine cultures were sterile.
Initially, the patient's condition was stable, apart from fever, and no antibiotics were administered. 3 days after admission, her platelet count dropped (16×109/L). Because of the patient's travel history and worsening coagulopathy, the clinical differential centred on viral haemorrhagic fevers and typhoid fever; ciprofloxacin (500 mg twice daily) was administered. Her condition deteriorated rapidly, with onset of stupor, dyspnoea, shock and multiorgan failure. She died the following day and a necropsy was done.
Histopathological findings include glial nodules in the central nervous system, suggestive of a rickettsial infection. Immunohistochemical staining for typhus group rickettsiae confirmed the diagnosis of typhus (figure
). Subsequently, indirect fluorescence antibody testing of acute-phase serum revealed antibody reactive with Rickettsia prowazekii
at a titre of 1:2048, and PCR analysis of blood amplified a DNA fragment of the 17 kDa rickettsial surface protein gene with 99·6% homology to R prowazekii
Immunostaining of typhus group rickettsial antigens in a glial (typhus) nodule in the cerebral cortex
Original magnification ×158, immunoalkaline phosphatase stain with naphthol/fast red substrate and haematoxylin counterstain.
This sentinel case and the subsequent epidemic in Burundi shows us that epidemic typhus is endemic worldwide, with periodic large-scale emergencies. This patient presented with a non-specific febrile illness, highlighting the potential difficulty in the clinical diagnosis of epidemic typhus. This diagnosis should be suspected in any febrile patients with or without a rash who has returned from an area where R prowazekii
is endemic, or from a region where there is an epidemic of unknown febrile disease. This report shows how health-care workers are at increased risk for this infection,3
particularly in conditions of overcrowding and poor hygiene, even if the exposure is only transient. Laboratory diagnostics for epidemic typhus seldom affects the management of patients; thus, the potentially rapid clinical progression and associated mortality of untreated epidemic typhus requires prompt administration of appropriate antirickettsial therapy. Although cirofloxacin may be effective, therapy for other select rickettsioses, tetracyclines and chloramphenicol are the drugs of choice in the treatment of epidemic typhus. | <urn:uuid:964517b9-3eca-4e99-9f3c-86efd039c902> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(05)61487-0/fulltext | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91218 | 788 | 2.03125 | 2 |
HPPR hosts & contributors
Tue July 17, 2012
Cooking On The Sunny Side: How Solar Chefs Put Food On The Table
Originally published on Tue August 14, 2012 1:51 pm
Heat waves have been the bane of summer for many in the Midwest and Northeast, including the millions left powerless after severe weather earlier this month. As we reported, many people without power had to turn to food pantries and soup kitchens as their own food rotted in their muggy homes.
But for Louise Meyer of Washington, D.C., power blackouts followed by sunny days added up to a perfect storm for solar cooking.
At its simplest, solar cooking is about concentrating sunlight and then converting it into heat. One low-tech way is to trap the sun's heat by stuffing a lidded pot full of food inside a large plastic oven bag. You also need some cardboard and aluminum foil to create reflective panels to surround the pot, as shown in the video below.
There are more elaborate ways to solar cook if you want to invest in, for example, custom-made reflective panels like the ones SHE distributes, an insulated black box with a lid, or a parabolic cooker that resembles a shinier version of a satellite TV dish.
But most importantly, you need sun.
"You don't need a hot day," Meyer says. "You just need good light."
Still, only the parabolic cooker can reach frying temperature — 400 degrees or so — and even then you have reposition it as the sun moves across the sky.
Meyer has made quinoa, ratatouille, chicken, spare ribs, and even cakes — all from sitting her solar cooker out in the sun, no electricity or gas required. Cooking time can vary depending on the amount of direct sunlight available, but Meyer says if she puts her solar cooker out midday, her average meal is usually ready within three hours on clear, sunny days. ("On semi-sunny days, I don't even try to solar cook," she says.)
While solar cooking can be cost-effective, relying on the weather to cook your food can sometimes result in an empty stomach. A successful solar cook needs to have a healthy dose of patience, as well as good time management skills. Meyer says she sometimes has to start cooking her dinner in the early morning hours to take advantage of direct sunlight.
"You start learning to read the sky and become in tune with nature," Meyer says.
During fall and winter months, she relies on her indoor kitchen. But she says solar cooking can come in handy in emergency situations.
Patricia McArdle can also vouch for that.
McArdle lost power at her home in Arlington, Va., for four days during the infamous "Snowpocalypse" that hit the Northeast in 2010. Fortunately, the retired Foreign Service officer had multiple solar cookers in her house from training sessions she had done in Afghanistan and the U.S.
McArdle, a former board member of the Sacramento-based nonprofit Solar Cookers International, remembers making steaming-hot chicken soup with her solar cooker while snowed-in on her block with no power. It was 30 degrees Fahrenheit outside, but inside her sunlit solar cooker, she says the temperature hit 300 degrees within 40 minutes.
"We should all have [a solar cooker] in the emergency kit," she says. | <urn:uuid:94c663fd-cddc-41ca-a586-e17742e7f881> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hppr.org/post/cooking-sunny-side-how-solar-chefs-put-food-table | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9581 | 701 | 2.640625 | 3 |
COOPER CITY - — For three years, Frances and Noel "Butch" Holtz have watched pea-colored chunks floating in their backyard lake.
Fed up and fearing the water at their Pine Lake development may be contaminated, the Holtzes brought a jar of green decaying matter to the City Commission last week.
City and county officials visited the Holtzes' home on Wednesday, but said the substance is just clumps of algae.
Still, the Holtzes want it fixed.
"It's like a carpet of sludge," said Noel Holtz on Wednesday, pointing to the lake.
"The problem we see when we go out there is a filamentous algae," said John Gardner, owner of Aquatic Systems, whose company has been spraying the lake with copper once a month for more than a decade. About 34 residents pay $55 a year to manage the lake.
"The amount of algae they have is a little unusual, to have that much growing on the lake," Gardner said on Wednesday. "But this is nothing we can't take care of."
The algae are not harmful, said Nancy Gassman, water resources manager for the county's Department of Natural Resources. "Over time, as storm water drains into the lake, it brings nutrients, and those nutrients build up in the sediment. And that causes algae blooms."
"The aesthetics is a bigger problem than the actual threat," she said.
Jim Aucamp, district secretary for the Central Broward Water Management District, visited the site on Wednesday and agreed.
"We would have the authority to clean it up, if it's detrimental," Aucamp said. "But someone is going to have to convince me it's harmful."
George Arculeo, who has lived near the lake for 16 years, says he has a possible solution.
"I'd like to approach the [Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission) to stock the lake with carp and catfish. Because they'll eat up the algae," he said.
Gassman suggested two other solutions: aerate the lake, perhaps with a fountain, or plant vegetation that could add oxygen and use some of the excess nutrients.
But whether the problem is algae or not, the Holtzes want it cleaned up.
Said Frances Holtz: "I'll guess I'll have to keep making noise until they listen." | <urn:uuid:532ba979-a7bd-44fb-8467-b308b71821fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/1996-09-19/news/9609190100_1_algae-holtzes-nutrients | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971784 | 487 | 2.140625 | 2 |
David Cameron has set the Downing Street cat among a flock of European pigeons in his challenging speech on the UK's future membership of the EU.
The march towards political and fiscal union in Brussels is at odds with the current mood of many people across Europe for independence and individuality as well as expression of their language and culture.
The debate, which opened in London last week, needs to extend to every part of the UK and to the Republic, as well.
The consequences for Northern Ireland and the Republic need to be fully explored.
Our public representatives - unionist, nationalist, or whatever - should not allow their judgment to be coloured by existing grants from Brussels.
It should be in all our interests that Europe is reformed, that our independence, north and south, culturally, politically and economically, is assured and not compromised and that the bloated, wasteful bureaucracy of Brussels is cleaned up.
The danger is that the real virtue of EU membership, namely free trade and open frontiers between increasingly friendly states and regions, is being jeopardised by some totally impractical idea of European political unity.
Arguably, no part of Europe, on a per-head-of-population basis, has benefitted more from the largesse of Brussels than this island, north and south.
The Republic has proved a model for what membership of the EU can do for a small and relatively poor emerging nation, as was the case in the 1970s and 1980s.
The relative peace which we now enjoy might not have been achieved without the subsidies flowing from Brussels to improve the social fabric of the most deprived corners of our cities and countryside.
From peace and reconciliation funds to grants for infrastructure development and farmers, a lot of people, north and south, have reason to be grateful.
Even today one doesn't have to travel far to see the distinctive blue European flag on display, or a large sign next to some new project, signifying the support of EU funds.
A host of projects across Northern Ireland might never have seen the light of day. Many cross-border and cross-community groups and organisations are in existence principally because they are supported from European funding.
However, the European gravy-train is drying up. Northern Ireland is not the deeply-troubled deserving case that it was in the eyes of the Germans, French, Dutch and Spanish.
The helping hand of Europe is now extended elsewhere.
The funding pipeline is now directed towards other, more deserving corners of countries in eastern and southern Europe. The demands on European financial support are stretched to far-flung, impoverished former communist states.
How will this money be managed in future? Simply because we live on this offshore island of Europe, which has hugely profited from being a net beneficiary in the past four decades, should not stop us sympathising with many of Mr Cameron's critical observations on EU membership.
It is surely in all our interests that he sets out his requirements for membership, not least because the UK puts £9bn into the Brussels pot annually - about the same amount as it takes to run Northern Ireland.
Suspicions run deep as to whether this money is well-spent, or efficiently managed, in Europe. Opinion poll results in the last few days indicate that Mr Cameron has struck a popular chord with many voters in Britain, if not across the Irish Sea.
Here in Northern Ireland, attitudes to Europe are divided as ever along constitutional lines, between enthusiastic nationalists and euro-sceptic unionists.
The enthusiasm should be tempered. Do the people of the Republic really relish Angela Merkel approving their country's annual budget before the Irish parliament does?
Having won hard-fought independence from Britain only 90 years ago, do they really want to dilute their Irish national sovereignty in the interests of European political unity?
Are they truly happy with the extravagance of Brussels bureaucracy and the imposition of workplace rules?
As he goes forward with his demands for reform, David Cameron needs to be mindful that this is the only part of the UK which has a land border with a neighbouring country which is intensely loyal to the EU and nowhere near as driven as he is to change the circumstances of its membership.
However, no matter how good Europe has been for this island, we should turn our attention, as he has done, to the future.
The questions Mr Cameron has raised need to be answered convincingly. Otherwise the dream of a united Europe will remain just that: an impossible dream. | <urn:uuid:60cef093-d222-4d59-bf5b-3bf25bbd1de6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/opinion/columnists/ed-curran/its-right-to-rethink-as-our-eu-gravy-train-runs-dry-29041220.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968296 | 910 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Basel, 23 January 2012
Roche supports cancer care development program in Ethiopia
Roche today announced a grant to the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York City, which will be used for the establishment of a program to improve basic cancer care in Ethiopia. The grant funding comes from the Roche African Research Foundation.
In spite of a population of 80 million people, there are a very limited number of oncologists and only one cancer hospital - Tikur Anbessa, in Ethiopia’s capital city of Addis Ababa, that provides radiation, complex surgery and chemotherapy. Gradually building the capacity for knowledge and awareness of cancer is the first step for tackling the burden of cancer in developing countries, along with other non-communicable diseases, which is expected to increase.
The ultimate goal of the project, which is headed by Dr. Carol Harris, professor of clinical medicine at Einstein, is to increase the capacity for delivering cancer care in Ethiopia by improving patient navigation through the care system, assuring standard protocols and reporting, enhancing public awareness of cancer and developing a pilot site for regional cancer care centers at the Hawassa College of Medicine and Health Sciences. The initiative will also focus on providing a basic cancer care training program for healthcare professionals and surgical training for gynecologists as well as support the annual Ethiopian Oncology National Conference, which represents one of the few possibilities for oncologists within Ethiopia to exchange experiences and knowledge regarding cancer treatment.
The programme will emphasize women’s reproductive cancers since they represent the greatest burden of cancer disease in Ethiopia and the patients are young. While the average life expectancy for women in Ethiopia is over 58 years, approximately 44% of patients with breast cancer are under the age of 40.
Headquartered in Basel, Switzerland, Roche is a leader in research-focused healthcare with combined strengths in pharmaceuticals and diagnostics. Roche is the world’s largest biotech company with truly differentiated medicines in oncology, virology, inflammation, metabolism and CNS. Roche is also the world leader in in-vitro diagnostics, tissue-based cancer diagnostics and a pioneer in diabetes management. Roche’s personalised healthcare strategy aims at providing medicines and diagnostic tools that enable tangible improvements in the health, quality of life and survival of patients. In 2010, Roche had over 80’000 employees worldwide and invested over 9 billion Swiss francs in R&D. The Group posted sales of 47.5 billion Swiss francs. Genentech, United States, is a wholly owned member of the Roche Group. Roche has a majority stake in Chugai Pharmaceutical, Japan. For more information: www.roche.com. | <urn:uuid:fc7944a3-584e-4e5e-9f96-410b1186376c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.roche.com/media/media_releases/med-cor-2012-01-23.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936829 | 551 | 1.804688 | 2 |
The Chicago Cultural Center is known for its many wonderful and diverse exhibits. These exhibits and events include such things as films, music, theater, dance, family events, special events, and art exhibits. One such art exhibit is Lost in Thought, a collection of the works of artist C.M. Fogerty. This exhibit is part of Chicago Cultural Center’s Project Onward. Project Onward is a wonderful program that was instituted which promotes the artworks and growth of various artists with a wide array of mental and developmental disabilities.
C.M. Fogarty is the first artist that will have a one man show in conjunction with Project Onward. Fogarty’s work is full of complex shapes and patterns that are often woven together in inextricable manners. Large swaths of color swirl like the winds of a storm. The art of C.M. Fogarty explores this chaotic, storm-like qualities of life. It was just for some extra pocket money that Fogarty originally began painting and drawing, eventually continuing, in part due to the urgings of her therapist. Her paintings not only explore the chaotic nature of life and the world, but they also reflect the wish to impose order upon it.
These paintings are reflections of the mindset of Fogarty. The complex shapes and overtones of foreboding reflect the inner thoughts, feelings and passions of the artist. Just as they show what she feels and thinks at the time of painting, it is also a way to relieve herself of these burdens and troubles. Fogarty’s art is beautiful as it is frightening, calming as it is nerve racking. This dual nature, the struggle for control and order on a constantly changing world makes for moving and passionate art that directly relates to Fogarty’s viewers. The struggle for order in a constantly changing world is something that everyone must contend with. But it is Fogarty who can so aptly depict this inner struggle and bring it to bright, colorful life. | <urn:uuid:b0be2291-1c03-4657-9632-86fb80cd417c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tomkivisto.com/2012/01/30/c-m-fogertys-lost-thought/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970637 | 405 | 2.328125 | 2 |
2,354 crowdsourcing and crowdfunding sites
Although Crowdsourcing has been around for some time now, the growth of the World Wide Web has quickly boosted it's use to epic proportions. Whether it's being used to help M&Ms decide the next color they will create their candies in, or as a phone app to make users aware of traffic conditions and license checks, crowdsourcing has become a major part of our everyday lives. This tool for bringing the public together on ideas and opinions has even made it's way into college classrooms, expanding into more and more fields everyday.
GrouperEye: Crowdsource Competitions Matching Students & Companies
One very interesting and paid crowdsourcing project which was created by college students is known as GrouperEye. Founder Ted Williams states, “We don't charge any fees or up-sell any products to students. Everything is free. A student's time is the only associated cost. But, we take a student's time very seriously. We understand that the only way we can grow this business is to provide a great value to students. Period. That value means giving cash prizes to the winner of each case and job opportunities. We know the ultimate for any student is to land a job that excites them – and this is exactly what we are going to do, match remarkable students with remarkable companies.”
Basically, GrouperEye works like this; a business will post a case on the site, and leave it open for students to input their ideas on how to solve it. The student who comes up with the best idea, or the one which is implemented by the company, will win a cash prize of one hundred dollars. Students can build powerful portfolios and therefore be noticed by companies which can lead to great job offers. Often the traits such as originality, drive, and imagination which students can show off in this type of project cannot be shown by grade point averages or test scores alone.
This Is Your Brain on the Internet: Students Teaching Students
Another great example of the implementation of crowdsourcing into the classroom was created by Cathy Davidson, a professor at Duke University. The “This is Your Brain on the Internet” course allows college students to crowdsource their ideas and opinions into teaching as well as grading one another's assignments. Through the use of crowdsourcing, students can collaborate different learning methods and review tests. This could very well make vast changes in the way professors, students, and even parents view learning.
Using Davidson's methods, students will have what is called a “contract grading system”. This simply means that there will be specific guidelines which are expected from each assignment a student receives in order for them to earn certain grades. Students would then be able to read one another's blogs and assignments and decide together what other work may be needed and whether the job was satisfactory. Davidson insists that this idea leads to more conscientious work on the part of the student. She explains, "every study of peer review among students shows that students perform at a higher level, and with more care, when they know they are being evaluated by their peers than when they know only the teacher and the TA will be grading."
S.O.S. Classroom Crowdsourcing for K-8th Graders
In addition to the widespread sweep of crowdsourcing which has moved through the college classroom, the phenomenon has crossed into grade schools as well. When the Los Angeles Unified School District closed their summer school classes, “SOS Classroom” (Save Our Summer-school) was created to fill in the gaps. The website consists of "a directory of free online educational resources for K-8 Language Arts and Math" which has been gathered and submitted by students, parents, and educators.
The material is organized and placed on the site by college students in an University of Southern California Advanced Writing Course. Web 2.0 tools are used to collect, organize and post the “free online educational courses” which combine to create a new form of crowdsourced education. Hundreds of volunteers and others have joined together to create this site in order to offer those K-8 students who were left without summer school a quality alternative.
As crowdsourcing grows even larger in popularity, use, and success, we are likely to see it implemented into more and more of our lives. Not only is it changing the way we advertise, and do business, but crowdsourcing is also changing the way we teach and learn. It is a simple concept, which has been around for a long time in one form or another. As they always said, “Two heads are better than one,” so why not hundreds, or even thousands? | <urn:uuid:fe434449-9156-4b43-a1bb-4d9a3dec36c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crowdsourcing.org/editorial/incorporating-crowdsourcing-in-todays-college-classrooms/1888 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97216 | 956 | 2.890625 | 3 |
People living with a brain injury struggle daily to keep up with a fast-paced, stressful world that refuses to slow down or accommodate their impaired memory, thinking and reasoning, said Cherie Phoenix, executive director of the nonprofit organization Life After Brain Injury.
“We help survivors reinvent themselves, and we motivate them to pursue a fuller, more independent life that is neither limited nor defined by brain injury,” said Phoenix, of Thousand Oaks, a member of the California Traumatic Brain Injury advisory board who has been working in the brain injury field as an independent living trainer and advocate for seven years.
“When helping a survivor set goals, solve problems or approach an unmet need, whatever it is, we do it with them, not for them,” Phoenix said. “We don’t want to put a Band-Aid on survivors’ problems; we want them to relearn how to solve problems themselves and become more self-sufficient.”
There are an estimated 36,000 people with brain injury living in Ventura County alone, Phoenix said. “It doesn’t matter how they came by their injury — car accident, stroke, aneurysm, a fall — what matters is where they go from here.”
Life After Brain Injury helps through one-on-one life coaching in which survivors self-assess their abilities, limitations and changes in lifestyle. “We then train each person in strategies that are specific to his or her own impairments, so he or she can be more resilient and adaptive,” Phoenix said. “The process, and the results, give survivors hope for the future where before, they may have felt nothing but frustration and despair.”
Services are free and include information and referral, support group meetings and workshops on subjects such as how to use public transit. The nonprofit also organizes activities designed to get survivors out in the community where they can practice and refine their social skills and simply have a good time.
“Brain injury turns a person’s life upside down,” Phoenix said. “Chances are he or she won’t be able to return to their job or do a great many other things they once took for granted. This affects their perception of their personal identity. For a survivor, just acknowledging that who they were is gone and has been replaced by a whole new person is devastating.”
Oxnard resident Carol Leish, who survived a car accident as an infant, has received individual and group support, as well as motivation toward goals, through Life After Brain Injury.
“I like the philosophy of the organization, since it focuses on emphasizing independent living strategies,” said Leish, 50, who earned an master’s in education from CSU San Bernardino despite her visual, speech and coordination challenges. “Life After Brain Injury has had a positive impact on my life by encouraging me to pursue my goals of continuing public speaking and eventually writing a book. I receive and continue to receive positive feedback and reinforcement, too.”
Survivors want their old lives and their old selves back, Phoenix said. “Of course, there is no going back. Our most important work is to help survivors accept their new selves. Only then are they willing to adopt compensatory strategies that lead to greater independence.”
For more information, visit www.LifeAfterBrainInjury.org, | <urn:uuid:237d979f-7a44-4e60-a916-031be25e44b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vcstar.com/news/2013/mar/05/simi-valley-life-after-brain-injury/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971537 | 706 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Some corn growers saw a payoff from fungicide use during the 2012 drought, but most experts say optimum returns occur in moist, humid conditions.
Evaluate applications in corn that provide a return on investment
Conventional wisdom says fungicide use in corn during a drought makes little to no sense. Some plant health experts and farmers believe otherwise.
Scott Rahn chose to use a fungicide in his corn last summer despite dry conditions on his Minnesota farm.
"We were spraying a fungicide by plane over the corn and the neighbor said, ‘All you’re doing is saving the insurance company some money.’ But no, you have to give that crop a chance; if you plan for failure that’s what you’re going to get. The crop ended up better than we thought and we beat our yield goal," says Rahn, who farms near Bingham Lake, Minn.
Other farmers saw a similar pattern of success with fungicide use in their corn crops this past year, notes Randy Myers, Bayer CropScience fungicide product manager.
"Even as adverse as conditions were in many parts of the country, if the corn pollinated and a small amount of moisture was present, we found that fungicides still protected the crop and improved yields," Myers says.
The payoff in drought conditions occurs because fungicides help keep plant stomata—microscopic pores on plant leaves that allow the exchange of gases and water—from closing, explains Jennifer Holland, BASF technical market specialist. She says when stomata close, corn plants heat up and photosynthesis declines.
"It’s like rolling up the windows in your car on a hot day," she says. "Fungicides roll down the car windows on the plant, so to speak, and help mitigate environmental stresses."
Reasons to spray. Fewer stresses means plants grow more efficiently and longer, which increases yield, she adds.
However, Holland says a fungicide cannot undo plant tissue damage that occurred prior to its application.
Rahn describes fungicide use as an important risk-management tool and yield enhancer. He attributes its use to providing an extra 10 bu. to 20 bu. of corn per acre, on average.
Kiersten Wise, Extension plant pathologist at Purdue University, says fungicides provide a return on investment most often when conditions favor fungal disease development, typically moist, humid conditions, and not dry, hot weather.
She encourages corn growers to weigh the cost of fungicide treatments, often $24 to $35 per acre, against the price of corn to determine whether an application makes sense. Her general rule is that growers need a yield increase of about 6 bu. per acre to recover their investment.
Optimum application timing is also important to consider, adds Mark Jeschke, DuPont Pioneer agronomy research manager. His research shows the ideal application timing in corn is between tasseling (VT) and brown silk (R2). In 475 on-farm comparisons between 2007 and 2011, he says a positive yield response was observed 80% of the time. The average yield response was 7 bu. per acre.
Recently, Jeschke says manufacturers have been promoting early season fungicide applications, at V5 to V7, to provide additional yield potential. Tank mixing with a post-emergence herbicide allows the fungicide to be sprayed then without additional application costs. While that practice can reduce break-even costs, he says farmers need to evaluate whether the yield results justify the expense.
Myers says some of the value farmers can gain from fungicide use is often lost because they take a reactionary approach to applications, which ends up muting benefits. He recommends farmers take a proactive, planned approach to fungicide use.
"If you go out in the field and scout and think you need to spray, you need to spray now," he says. "With fungicides, application timeliness is very important for good performance."
You can e-mail Rhonda Brooks at email@example.com.
- Early Spring 2013 | <urn:uuid:681a94f6-7cbb-4ce3-8085-d10942e3949f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.agweb.com/livestock/beef/article/the_fungicide_factor%C2%A0/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954413 | 843 | 2.75 | 3 |
Attendite. God's great benefits to the people of Israel, notwithstanding their ingratitude.
Understanding for Asaph. Attend, O my people, to my law: incline your ears to the words of my mouth.
I will open my mouth in parables: I will utter propositions from the beginning.
How great things have we heard and known, and our fathers have told us.
They have not been hidden from their children, in another generation. Declaring the praises of the Lord, and his powers, and his wonders which he hath done.
And he set up a testimony in Jacob: and made a law in Israel. How great things he commanded our fathers, that they should make the same known to their children:
Propositions: Deep and mysterious sayings. By this it appears that the historical facts of ancient times, commemorated in this psalm, were deep and mysterious: as being figures of great truths appertaining to the time of the New Testament.
That another generation might know them. The children that should be born and should rise up, and declare them to their children.
That they may put their hope in God and may not forget the works of God: and may seek his commandments.
That they may not become like their fathers, a perverse and exasperating generation. A generation that set not their heart aright: and whose spirit was not faithful to God.
The sons of Ephraim who bend and shoot with the bow: they have turned back in the day of battle.
They kept not the covenant of God: and in his law they would not walk.
And they forgot his benefits, and his wonders that he had shewn them.
Wonderful things did he do in the sight of their fathers, in the land of Egypt, in the field of Tanis.
He divided the sea and brought them through: and he made the waters to stand as in a vessel.
And he conducted them with a cloud by day: and all the night with a light of fire.
He struck the rock in the wilderness: and gave them to drink, as out of the great deep.
He brought forth water out of the rock: and made streams run down as rivers.
And they added yet more sin against him: they provoked the most High to wrath in the place without water.
And they tempted God in their hearts, by asking meat for their desires.
And they spoke ill of God: they said: Can God furnish a table in the wilderness?
Because he struck the rock, and the waters gushed out, and the streams overflowed. Can he also give bread, or provide a table for his people?
Therefore the Lord heard, and was angry: and a fire was kindled against Jacob, and wrath came up against Israel.
Because they believed not in God: and trusted not in his salvation.
And he had commanded the clouds from above, and had opened the doors of heaven.
And had rained down manna upon them to eat, and had given them the bread of heaven.
Man ate the bread of angels: he sent them provisions in abundance.
He removed the south wind from heaven: and by his power brought in the southwest wind.
And he rained upon them flesh as dust: and feathered fowls like as the sand of the sea.
And they fell in the midst of their camp, round about their pavilions.
So they did eat, and were filled exceedingly, and he gave them their desire:
They were not defrauded of that which they craved. As yet their meat was in their mouth:
And the wrath of God came upon them. And he slew the fat ones amongst them, and brought down the chosen men of Israel.
In all these things they sinned still: and they believed not for his wondrous works.
And their days were consumed in vanity, and their years in haste.
When he slew them, then they sought him: and they returned, and came to him early in the morning.
And they remembered that God was their helper: and the most high God their redeemer.
And they loved him with their mouth: and with their tongue they lied unto him:
But their heart was not right with him: nor were they counted faithful in his covenant.
But he is merciful, and will forgive their sins: and will not destroy them. And many a time did he turn away his anger: and did not kindle all his wrath.
And he remembered that they are flesh: a wind that goeth and returneth not.
How often did they provoke him in the desert: and move him to wrath in the place without water?
And they turned back and tempted God: and grieved the holy one of Israel.
They remembered not his hand, in the day that he redeemed them from the hand of him that afflicted them:
How he wrought his signs in Egypt, and his wonders in the field of Tanis.
And he turned their rivers into blood, and their showers that they might, not drink.
He sent amongst them divers sores of flies, which devoured them: and frogs which destroyed them.
And he gave up their fruits to the blast, and their labours to the locust.
And he destroyed their vineyards with hail, and their mulberry trees with hoarfrost.
And he gave up their cattle to the hail, and their stock to the fire.
And he sent upon them the wrath of his indignation: indignation and wrath and trouble, which he sent by evil angels.
He made a way for a path to his anger: he spared not their souls from death, and their cattle he shut up in death.
And he killed all the firstborn in the land of Egypt: the firstfruits of all their labour in the tabernacles of Cham.
And he took away his own people as sheep: and guided them in the wilderness like a flock.
And he brought them out in hope, and they feared not: band the sea overwhelmed their enemies.
And he brought them into the mountain of his sanctuary: the mountain which his right hand had purchased. And he cast out the Gentiles before them: and by lot divided to them their land by a line of distribution.
And he made the tribes of Israel to dwell in their tabernacles.
Yet they tempted, and provoked the most high God: and they kept not his testimonies.
And they turned away, and kept not the covenant: even like their fathers they were turned aside as a crooked bow.
They provoked him to anger on their hills: and moved him to jealousy with their graven things.
God heard, and despised them, and he reduced Israel exceedingly as it were to nothing.
And he put away the tabernacle of Silo, his tabernacle where he dwelt among men.
And he delivered their strength into captivity: and their beauty into the hands of the enemy.
And he shut up his people under the sword: and he despised his inheritance.
Fire consumed their young men: and their maidens were not lamented.
Their priests fell by the sword: and their widows did not mourn.
And the Lord was awaked as one out of sleep, and like a mighty man that hath been surfeited with wine.
And he smote his enemies on the hinder parts: he put them to an everlasting reproach.
And he rejected the tabernacle of Joseph: and chose not the tribe of Ephraim:
But he chose the tribe of Juda, mount Sion which he loved.
And he built his sanctuary as of unicorns, in the land which he founded for ever.
And he chose his servant David, and took him from the flocks of sheep: he brought him from following the ewes great with young,
As of unicorns: That is, firm and strong like the horn of the unicorn. This is one of the chiefest of the propositions of this psalm, foreshewing the firm establishment of the one, true, and everlasting sanctuary of God, in his church.
To feed Jacob his servant, and Israel his inheritance.
And he fed them in the innocence of his heart: and conducted them by the skillfulness of his hands. | <urn:uuid:46c1156d-12fe-41c8-8586-6c7756914483> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://drbo.org/x/d?b=drb&bk=21&ch=77&l=6 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988599 | 1,726 | 2.203125 | 2 |
George Gideon Oliver Osborne, MP - UK Chancellor of the Exchequer
Britain would reject the opportunity to join a banking union in the eurozone should such an arrangement be set up, a senior government official has pledged.
Speculation has mounted in recent times that European Central Bank policymakers may seek to create a union involving financiers across the economic bloc as this would help restore some stability to the region.
However, chancellor George Osborne has categorically ruled out any British participation in such a plan on the grounds that doing so could have a negative impact on the wellbeing of the City of London.
"There is no way that Britain is going to be part of any euro zone banking union. I think Britain will require certain safeguards if there is a full-blown banking union," he noted.
The minister went on to urge the eurozone to use its emergency bailout fund to help recapitalize Spain's banking system sooner rather than later.
By Gary Cooper | <urn:uuid:90835e1f-2a63-4e3c-907d-c6579f949b5e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bobsguide.com/guide/news/2012/Jun/8/osborne-uk-would-not-join-eurozone-banking-union.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95294 | 192 | 1.703125 | 2 |
What is the first year for which there exists a record of it being dated according to the currently used system that starts counting from creation?
3,925 about 5 years after the Seder Haolam was written.
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24 days ago | <urn:uuid:fccb96ac-f287-4638-98ec-8caaef2e7716> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://judaism.stackexchange.com/questions/17396/first-year-counted-from-creation | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929368 | 83 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The oldest (1657) Episcopalian church still utilized for worship in the US. Designated as a state and national historical landmark. One of the great Treasures is the Great Bible, rebound and not totally complete, was printed in London in 1639-40. Considered to tbe the Bible with the longest association with one parish.
By appointment only.
Last Updated: 2/4/2013 11:16 AM | <urn:uuid:75faba0f-7319-4b37-8d70-b91d06814933> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.virginia.org/Listings/HistoricSites/MerchantsHopeChurch/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948781 | 89 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Department of Biology
Early Acceptance Tufts Veterinary Medicine Program
All of the majors offered by the Biology Department prepare students for entry into the finest schools of veterinary medicine. All majors offer a strong general education, but also are flexible enough for students to pursue specialty courses suitable for pre-veterinary students. This is especially true for the Zoology major which was designed to offer the basic science courses plus a high degree of flexibility in choice of advanced courses.
The Tufts University Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine has an agreement with the University of Vermont for our majors to apply for admission in the spring of the student’s Sophomore year. Successful applicants are then offered admission with a guarantee of a slot in the Tuft’s entering class once the student graduates. Tuft’s is one of the finest veterinary schools in the world, and is especially appropriate for students interested in wildlife or zoo medicine.
The agreement allows students a streamlined admission procedure that saves the time and expense that is typical for applying to schools of veterinary medicine, and insures the student by the end of Sophomore year that there is a reserved seat waiting at Tufts.
Requirements and Applying
- Students must be Sophomores pursuing the Bachelors degree in one of our majors
- The student must keep at least a 3.4 GPA throughout the four years here at UVM
- Pre-requisite courses must be completed and a degree awarded from UVM
- Students must have completed a series of science courses to apply; these courses are exactly those required of majors in the Biology Department in the first three semesters of our programs
- By graduation, students must complete a series of courses listed on the Tufts website which also match those required of our Biology, Biological Science, and Zoology majors
- Students apply by March 1 of the Sophomore year. The application materials are available at www.tufts.edu/vet/admissions
- No GRE exam is required; the SAT exam results will be used instead
- Top applicants will visit the Tufts campus for an interview in April, and offers of admission are given by May 1
How to Prepare to Apply
Students should pursue one of the Biology Department majors (especially Zoology and Biological Science), finishing 3 semesters of Biology, 3 semesters of Chemistry, and 2 semesters of Mathematics by the end of the third semester. Experience working with animals, such as in a veterinary clinic, is highly recommended. Students should also become involved in research in the laboratory or field (BIOL 191/192, Research Apprenticeship) to demonstrate hands-on skills. Download the admissions packet from the link above and read it carefully.
Last modified September 21 2011 10:10 AM | <urn:uuid:b73eafcb-3da0-45ff-87c7-e076ca6432ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uvm.edu/~biology/?Page=tufts.html&SM=opportunitiesubmenu.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947503 | 557 | 1.75 | 2 |
Charles Dharapak, ASSOCIATED PRESS
Like President Barack Obama, I am a lawyer. But, he has not approved this message. Like Gov. Mitt Romney, I am a Latter-day Saint (a Mormon) and a lawyer. But, he has not approved this message.
I am grateful to be a lawyer and a Latter-day Saint, in part because I have learned invaluable life lessons in both capacities. These life lessons have been about seeking after the facts and the truth in order to make wise decisions.
While serving as dean of a state law school, I learned that one of our faculty members was teaching our students to "massage the facts." This was disturbing. Great lawyers deal with facts; they do not massage them.
As a Latter-day Saint, while serving as a bishop of a small congregation, I had an interaction with an anti-Mormon. He shared a document with me, "50 points that prove Mormonism to be False." The document disparaged our history and leaders on a very personal level.
I asked him to pick out any three points, and I agreed to respond with the facts. He picked out three. I responded. After having established the inaccuracy of those points, I said, "I assume you will cease using these falsehoods and the other points in your materials."
His response was unforgettable: "When there is cyanide in the birthday cake, the ends justify the means." He could have emphasized theological differences, as many wonderful people of faith do. But, he chose the low road.
This presidential election has been filled with "massaging of facts," on both sides. Worse yet, there have been occasions when character assassinations, with little grounding in fact, have been supported on the ground that the ends of being elected justifies the means.
Obama recently acknowledged that his campaign ads have sometimes been "overbroad," that "there are mistakes that are made" and there are "areas where there's no doubt that somebody could dispute how we are presenting things." Some of Romney's ads have similarly failed the Pinocchio test for the truth.
In another lesson learned in the law, Justice Stewart, who served for over two decades on the United States Supreme Court, said that the best argument he heard before the Court was made by an advocate who began by articulating the other side with great effectiveness, then turned to his side of the argument, which he argued with equal vigor, and concluded that after having given the conflicting arguments months of thought, he believed that his side was right and gave the reasons why he reached that conclusion.
Similarly, as Latter-day Saints, we are taught that in order to make wise decisions we "must study [the facts] out in [our] mind." Then we ask if the decision we are making based on those facts "is right." If it is a wise choice we "shall feel that it is right." That feeling will be accompanied by a sense of peace.
President Obama stated that we need to have a "vigorous debate about a vision for our country, and there's a lot at stake in this election." Romney also emphasized the importance of the "choice" to be made in this election. He added, "To make that choice, you need to know more about me and about where I will lead our country."
Given the importance of this election, these lessons learned in law and my faith are paramount — we must earnestly seek after facts and then we must weigh those facts in our minds thoughtfully or, for some, prayerfully. This is the basis for making wise choices.
Unfortunately, given the barrage of less than credible ads and a media too often driven by a desire to entertain by titillation, which includes more about personal attacks than positions, finding the facts is not easy.
In the final weeks of this campaign, I offer three suggestions for assessing the facts. First, ignore every attack advertisement. Second, ignore how the candidates massage the other candidate's positions. Ignore the negative and listen closely, particularly in the debates, for how each candidate defines his vision or positions on issues.
Third, follow the practice of setting an evening aside each week for family matters. As part of this practice, each Monday evening before the election, we will respectfully lay out each candidate's position on issues — jobs, the economy and deficit, foreign affairs, and social issues — and thoughtfully consider them.
If we follow these three steps, with a sincere and searching heart, seeking after the truth, we feel the peace and can cast a wise vote.
Rodney K. Smith is a Distinguished Professor of Law at Thomas Jefferson School of Law in San Diego
- Doug Robinson: Utah man's new running shoe...
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- Letters: Federal encroachment
- My view: People deserve rights at our borders
- Michael Gerson: Reinvigorating the GOP will...
- Letters: Ending debt
- Snapshot of 2013 in political cartoons | <urn:uuid:c3c2e338-8cf1-45d2-a523-a9d900fcd24f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.deseretnews.com/article/765608879/Lessons-learned-from-law-and-faith-and-this-presidential-election.html | 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 | 0.969941 | 1,042 | 1.789063 | 2 |
People diagnosed with a serious illness such as cancer usually face complex decisions regarding treatment. Visit preparation interventions are designed to help patients get ready to discuss treatment decisions with their providers. Visit preparation interventions range from low-cost prompt sheets and proformas to more intensive preparatory sessions that include coaching. Studies have found visit preparation to have modestly positive effects, such as improving the number and quality of questions asked, especially about sensitive topics such as prognosis [1
]. A systematic review suggests that the early evidence about this new class of interventions consists of 'a series of tantalizing but disconnected and unconfirmed results.' The authors conclude that visit preparation may be worth implementing for other reasons [13
'In terms of practice there are strong justifications unrelated to evidence-based medicine for adopting a collaborative approach to the medical encounter, such as, for example, patient preferences and moral imperatives.'
Another recent systematic review, 'Interventions before consultations for helping patients address their information needs,' concurs about the modest positive effects of visit preparation interventions, and then states:
'Despite these apparent benefits, we know of no routine implementation of strategies to help patients address their information needs' [14
Our team has been associated with a routinely implemented form of visit preparation, an intervention called consultation planning (CP), which has been in use at a university breast cancer center since 1998. One of the authors (JB) developed CP as part of his doctoral research, advised by one of the present co-authors (LE) and assisted by another (KS) [15
]. In CP, a trained facilitator or consultation planner helps newly diagnosed patients brainstorm and write down questions and concerns for their doctor [16
]. The consultation planner uses a prompt sheet or template (see Appendix 1 for the most recent edition) to survey the patient for questions and concerns, and then documents these in a consultation plan, or patient agenda for the upcoming visit. Copies of the consultation plan are printed out for the patient, family members, and physicians to use as a visual aid during the appointment. (See Appendix 2, a real case with all patient identifiers modified or suppressed.) Consultation planners are trained not to provide advice or information, but rather to focus on eliciting and documenting patient questions and concerns.
Based on our studies of CP showing reduced communication barriers and enhanced patient and physician satisfaction [17
], and other studies showing benefits of visit preparation [1
], we integrated CP into routine clinical care at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) Breast Care Center in 1999. Since then, the service has been offered free of charge to newly diagnosed patients thanks to government and foundation grants as well as faculty discretionary funds. We have previously published reports on our UCSF experience [19
In 2000, 2001, and 2002, we responded to ad hoc, word-of-mouth expressions of interest in CP by individuals affiliated with resource centers and clinics in our region. For the purposes of this report, we define our region as the nine counties of the San Francisco Bay Area plus two North Coast Counties (Mendocino and Humboldt), comprising over seven million people and over 14,000 square miles. We define clinics as organizations that provide medical services to patients in exchange for fees or private or public insurance reimbursements. We define resource centers as organizations that provide non-medical supportive services (such as information and emotional support) at no financial cost to patients, financed either by charitable contributions or by budgetary contributions from a parent organization such as a medical center.
We opened our internal workshops, conducted annually to train personnel at our university breast cancer center, to all self-referred individuals who heard about the training through informal networking among regional clinics and resource centers. The trainees' organizations paid for print materials, transportation, meals, and lodging while our institution, UCSF, donated the space and instructor time.
The CP training workshops included lectures, structured role playing, and group discussion sessions. The training handouts included templates, checklists, and reference materials summarizing lecture topics. It is important to note that consultation planners are trained to avoid providing medical advice or information. Rather, they learn how to elicit, paraphrase, summarize, and document patient questions and concerns in accordance with our SCOPED model of decision making [22
The significance of the present report is that while evidence is suggestive about the effectiveness of visit preparation in academic settings, and there are ethical and patient-centered reasons to implement visit preparation, little is known about efforts to disseminate such interventions. We sought to learn whether our training workshops were leading to uptake of CP in our region, and if so, learn more about the implementation experience. | <urn:uuid:f8bec4ca-adca-43b6-80f4-cc84cec41038> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/articles/PMC2270865/?lang=en-ca | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939239 | 946 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Internet could be key to economic development in WNCWritten by Bibeka Shrestha
Western Carolina might never be the next Silicon Valley, but experts say improving Internet access could help kick-start the region’s economy.
David Hubbs, CEO of BalsamWest FiberNET, said with the manufacturing sector mostly on its way out in WNC, it’s time to look to a new kind of model for economic development.
“The days of hoping for a factory to come to town, that’s probably not going to happen in the foreseeable future,” said Hubbs. Nurturing a tech-friendly environment would level the competitive playing field and allow students to stay in the area after they graduate, however.
“We’re helping to create an opportunity for people who grow up here,” Hubbs said.
Robin Kevlin, co-owner of Metrostat Communications, a Sylva-based telecom company, provides services to certain companies that would not have stuck around WNC without access to quality Internet service. The Internet can be an important tool in recruiting new businesses and promoting economic development, Kevlin said.
“Because of the way the land is around here, you’re not going to bring in a Dell Computer,” said Kevlin. “But you can bring in the smaller companies.”
For many companies, the Internet is not a luxury but a real need.
“Internet connectivity is as basic as water, sewage and infrastructure,” said Pam Lewis, senior vice president of entrepreneurial development at AdvantageWest, a regional economic development arm.
Preparing for 2013
Earlier this year, the Nantahala Gorge was named as the site for the 2013 Freestyle World Championships in kayaking.
The Nantahala Outdoor Center is equipped with high-speed Internet from BalsamWest FiberNET, but only at its headquarters. Fiber is not an option at branch offices, where Internet is both expensive and unreliable, according to Kevin Sisson, Chief Information Officer at the Nantahala Outdoor Center.
“If it rains, it’ll go down, or if it’s foggy, it’ll go down,” said Sisson. “It really hampers the ability of these branch offices to connect to our reservation system.”
Sisson and others in the rafting community are worried about the Gorge’s preparedness for the kayaking championships. Lack of widespread Internet access might make it difficult or impossible to upload event photos or videos.
“We’re going to have an international community arrive here,” said Juliet Kastorff, owner of Endless River Adventures. “Journalists, competitors, families that get here and have no high-speed wireless.”
The Internet is a necessity even during the regular tourist season. Kastorff says that about 10 percent of tourists anticipate working during their vacation. They sometimes rule out a travel destination if Internet connections are spotty.
The web is not just useful for browsing endlessly on YouTube or Googling for directions.
With the Internet increasingly being used to educate, children in WNC will need better Internet access at home as well as school.
John Howell, owner of Telecommunications Consulting Associates in Waynesville, said students in other regions are receiving laptops as early as the ninth grade. They complete assignments requiring Internet connections and interact with teachers via email.
“If a kid’s got dial-up, he or she can’t compete with kids from more populous areas of the state,” said Howell.
Data-intensive entities, like hospitals and Internet-based companies, also need the Internet to simply operate. The hospital group, MedWest, processes millions of transactions every month. On top of billing and registration data, hospitals need high-speed capacity for sending X-rays, MRIs and detailed medical records to doctors.
Since the creation of MedWest in January, administrators have also discovered a need for video conferencing to avoid excessive travel.
Kevlin said that the Internet is immensely useful for cutting down on pollution.
“If we’re going to be a greener society, more people are going to be working from home,” said Kevlin. “They need the tools necessary to do that, and broadband Internet is part of that.” | <urn:uuid:f46e1a44-6673-4665-9c89-c19bc07c4760> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smokymountainnews.com/archives/item/1445-internet-could-be-key-to-economic-development-in-wnc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943671 | 917 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Monterey Bay Aquarium Says Goodbye to Another Otter Foster Mom
November 19, 2012
The old school of otter foster-moms at Monterey Bay Aquarium is passing on.
The Aquarium announced today that Mae, an 11-year-old sea otter who's been part of the Sea Otter Research and Conservation team since she was rescued as a pup in 2001, died over the weekend from a seizure disorder.
In 2010, Mae became the first surrogate mother to raise an otter pup on exhibit. That little otter, Kit, became the subject of the Aquarium's "Otter U" education series. Mae went on to raise four more pups.
This has been a year of losses for the SORAC program. In August, 14-year-old "super mom" Joy died of old age after raising 16 otter pups. And 15-year-old Toola died in March after raising 13 foster pups, including Otter 501, the fuzzy subject of a Sea Studios film. | <urn:uuid:54abb464-9c67-4785-8787-50eb7c2ce370> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.montereycountyweekly.com/weblogs/animal-blog/2012/nov/19/monterey-bay-aquarium-says-goodbye-to-another-otte/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973228 | 214 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Mary O'Neil, Amanda Harvey, Jessica Perry, Aaron Hoxworth ACF Abstract FY13
The Project: Renewing Michigan - One Student at a Time
13th Annual Lily Conference of College and University Teaching
In meeting GVSU's goal of supporting service learning, an interdisciplinary team composed of students and faculty, known as The Project, was formed. Utilizing a common passion for civic engagement, the team promotes the development of marketable skill sets for students towards public service. By linking critical thinking with action learning, The Project provides a vehicle whereby students are given the opportunity to design, implement, and sustain endeavors leading to jobs within Michigan.
Page last modified September 18, 2012 | <urn:uuid:0d5b298e-225d-48d7-aade-5a3c166ed6a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gvsu.edu/ours/mary-o-neil-amanda-harvey-jessica-perry-aaron-hoxworth-acf-abstract-fy13-465.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933312 | 142 | 1.859375 | 2 |
OSCE HDIM 2004 - Report by MHRMC and Vinozhito
5-15 October, 2004
The following interview with Edmond Temelko, president of the Macedonian organization “Prespa” in Albania, outlines the precarious position of the Macedonian minority in Albania. It appeared in the Macedonian weekly, “Makedonsko Sonce”, on June 15, 2001.
"The plight of the Macedonians in Albania is already known. Macedonians in Albania are discriminated against and the government continues to unrealistically present their numbers. Albania recognizes that on its territory live only 5,000 Macedonians. But we alone, as Macedonian organizations in Albania number 120,000 Macedonians who are members of our organizations, or if we investigate there are perhaps more then 350,000 Macedonians in Albania."
"According to the Albanian Constitution, the minorities are allowed 60% education in their mother language. But this is not happening. There are Macedonians who live in other parts of Albania who do not have the right to get an education in their own mother language, the Macedonian language. They do not have schools. But even where we have schools, there is very little. For example in the village of Pustets there is elementary education from first to fourth grade in Macedonian and one course in Albanian. What happens between fifth and eight grade? Only three courses are in Macedonian, and the history in taught only in seventh grade and only for one hour. But the worst of all is that although the kids study in Macedonian, the literature is not original. The Macedonian grammar is translated from Albanian grammar. This is one of our complaints. We demand that the children by educated with original Macedonian textbooks."
"The Albanian press has branded us a potential hotspot. After a peaceful protest, they began to treat us as terrorists, although nobody rose a gun to fight in Albania. All we did is sent a call that we are fighting for our rights through the institutions of the system. For example, we publicly proclaim that we do not like the Constitution of Albania. Why? In article 20 it is written that in Albania exist minorities whose cultural identity should be guaranteed and preserved. But which minorities are these? Let it say: Greek, Macedonian, Vlach, or Roma minority. The Albanian government is afraid of this because if this is written, i.e. if a real analysis is conducted, Albania is a multiethnic state. If you enter inner Albania, there live 40-45% of the minorities. There are Greeks, Vlachs, Macedonians, Roma. This is what the Albanian government is afraid of and this is why it conducted such census. This census was regularly conducted in only one village. It is discrimination and because of it Macedonia will have to develop a clear strategy for the plight of the Macedonians in the neighbouring countries."
The four Macedonian organizations in Albania, Mir (Peace), Gora, MED (Macedonian Aegean Society) and Prespa, boycotted the 2001 census in Albania because there was no option for “Macedonian” in the census list. The Albanian government continues to minimize the actual number of Macedonians, and other minorities, in the country and in 2003, the Association of Macedonians in Albania (consisting of the four organizations) will conduct their own census of the number of Macedonians in Albania. It is estimated that this number is between 120,000 and 350,000 while the Albanian state only officially recognizes 5,000. Because of irregularities and intense minority complaints, the Council of Europe has also recommended that Albania conduct a new census.
The Use of Macedonian Names
The Albanian state pressures Macedonians to use Albanian names while forbidding the use of traditional Macedonian names. They frequently impose Albanian names on Macedonian children in their continued attempts to assimilate the Macedonian minority.
Macedonian Church in Pustets
The Macedonians in Pustets, Mala Prespa are building a Macedonian Orthodox Church and have requested that a Macedonian Orthodox priest bless the church. In September 2003, an Albanian priest tried to perform this ceremony but the local Macedonians refused. A few weeks later, the Albanian priest returned with approximately 40 police officers and forcibly entered the church. The Macedonian minority’s wishes must be respected and the Albanian state should cease its discrimination against the Macedonian minority.
Macedonian Media in Albania
Access to public media in Albania for ethnic Macedonians is almost non-existent. There has never been a Macedonian language television program in Albania and there is only one five-minute weekly Macedonian language radio program on Albanian radio. In the economically ravaged village of Pustets, Macedonians opened a private radio station in 2002. It operates from 7:00am to 8:00pm daily provided there is electricity in the area. Financial constraints have threatened the existence of the radio station since it opened.
Macedonian human rights organizations have published various Macedonian language newspapers over the past decade only to see them fold due to financial difficulties. The only one still in existence is a quarterly newspaper published by the Prespa organization.
Arrest of Macedonian Activists and Students
Albanian authorities have intimidated, threatened and pressured ethnic Macedonians to stop their activism and promotion of Macedonian human rights. In August 1995, upon returning to Albania, six ethnic Macedonian students who studied in Skopje, the Republic of Macedonia, were arrested by Albanian secret police. The names are as follows: Hamlet Shebroja, Sokol Cvarku, Sabri Hodja, Balbona Musliu, Blerin (last name unknown), and Evis Halili. The students were interrogated and the secret police demanded to know the reasons why they studied in the Republic of Macedonia, who “convinced” them to go there and study in the Macedonian language, what connections they have with Macedonian leaders in Albania and in particular the president of MIR, Kimet Fetahu, and whether they have contact with Macedonian secret police. They tried to pressure them to become Albanian informants.
In a sweep later the same year, leading Macedonian human rights activists Kimet Fetahu, Spase Masenkovski and Eftim Mitrevski were arrested and interrogated. They were also threatened and pressured to stop their activism. Another Macedonian activist, Vita Koja, was warned by her relatives about the impending police action, went into hiding, and avoided arrest.
Expulsion from Work
In April 1995, all Macedonians were expelled from the police force and armed forces. Not a single ethnic Macedonian is employed by the police or army to this day. Macedonians have been fired from other jobs simply based on their activism and promotion of human rights for the Macedonian minority in Albania.
President, Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada
Address: P.O. Box 44532, 2376 Eglinton Ave. East, Toronto, Canada M1K 5K3
Tel: 416-493-9555 Fax: 416-412-3385
Email: firstname.lastname@example.org; Website: www.mhrmi.org
Rainbow – Organization of the Macedonian Minority in Greece
Address: Stephanou Dragoumi 11, P.O. Box 51, 53100 Florina, Greece
Tel, Fax: ++ 23850 46548
Email: email@example.com; Website: www.vinozito.gr
For more information, please contact the Macedonian Human Rights Movement of Canada or the following organizations of Macedonians in Albania:
President - Kimet Fetahu
Rr. “Prokor Muzeqari”
P. 31/1/1, Tirana, Albania
Association of Macedonians in Albania (consisting of MIR, Prespa, Bratstvo, MED) | <urn:uuid:95402d34-4dd1-40b5-bda0-b02f61776700> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.macedoniansinalbania.org/news/osce_2004_report.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943378 | 1,673 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Buteo buteo buteo
Steppe Buzzard is the same species but the nominate sub-species is the one from the west of Europe. These birds are very variable - much more so than the Steppe - and a little bigger.
The most usual colour is a dark brown and the birds are like Buteo species all round the world. They are very accomplished soaring birds which are often seen to be patrolling their territories. Their calls resemble the mewing of an annoyed kitten. Most feed on mammals and their fortunes in Britain follow that of the rabbit. They have been eliminated from lowland areas by game interests many years ago but are just creeping back. They are beginning to do well in Northern Ireland where they were virtually extinct. There may be as many as 15,000 pairs in Britain and 150 in Ireland.
Western Europe's common Buteo.
Length 540 mm Closed wing 390 mm Weight 840 gms
A Bird On! Sketch by Chris Mead
Copyright © 1996 by Jacobi Jayne & Company and Chris Mead | <urn:uuid:0de2b28a-ba4c-4d36-95f8-4d8b27f6a171> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.birdcare.com/bin/showsketch?buzzard | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966889 | 214 | 2.65625 | 3 |
Use the edge of the pool to strengthen your swimming muscles. Put your hands on the top and push yourself out of the water. When your arms are completely straight, drop back into the water, and then pop out again. Keep your hands on the wall, shoulder-width apart during the drill.
Example set: 400 swim with five Pop-ups after each 50
RELATED – Quick Set Friday: Pop-Ups, Tennessee Tumblers And Sailboats | <urn:uuid:d95de87f-39d5-416c-8f69-14de95692fc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://triathlon.competitor.com/2013/01/training/spice-up-your-swim-drills_69637/3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907294 | 93 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Think Veep….It’s Important
by RUTH KING
July 19, 2012
Rumors are swirling about Governor Romney's pick for a running mate. It's no small matter. An active Vice-President can influence policy, be an effective spokesman for legislation, and if necessary take over the administration and finish an interrupted term. A vice president is also poised to run for election and complete the agenda of a successful predecessor.
The Vice President is first in the line of succession to a President who is removed, resigns, becomes incapacitated or dies. The Vice President as designated by our Constitution, is also the President of the Senate and can break tie votes. That can be crucial in a closely divided Congress.
In the past, electors in the Electoral College, were permitted two votes and the candidate who came in second became the Vice President almost automatically but since 1940 the candidate chooses the potential Vice-President.
The only modern Presidential candidate who did not pick a Veep and had Congress do it for him was Adlai Stevenson, a pompous poseur who lost to Dwight Eisenhower whose Vice President was Richard Nixon.
The qualifications for Vice President are exactly like those for President ....an individual must:
- Be a natural born U.S. citizen
- Be at least 35 years old
- Have resided in the U.S. at least 14 years
Too bad. That leaves Ileana Ros- Lehtinen the doughty Representative from Florida (District 18) out. She is a she, is savvy, great on defense and foreign policy and Hispanic. But, she was born in Cuba.
Although the President is limited to only two terms, a Vice-President has no limit of terms. Thus, Joe Biden can be Vice-President for life as long as a Democrat is President. And Al Gore could do so too.
In fact, Al Gore could have become President if Bill Clinton had been removed from office after the impeachment. He would have had almost two full years to cool America.
What a chilling thought.
The office of Vice President has evolved greatly. At one time it was seen as ceremonial and virtually a sinecure. However, the influence and prestige of the office grew markedly in the last century. Perhaps because a seemingly unprepared and unprepossessing figure like Harry Truman became a worthy successor to Franklin Delano Roosevelt.
President Roosevelt who was ill for much of his time in office actually had two Vice Presidents before Harry Truman. John Nance Gardner, a governor of Texas was the Veep in the first two terms (1933-41). Gardner did not think much of the office. He is quoted as saying "the office is not a bucket of warm piss."
Henry A. Wallace, a Republican progressive served during Roosevelt's third term (1941-1945). Wallace was an apostle for the "New Deal" and an apologist for Russia. Fortunately President Roosevelt dumped him in 1944 and selected Harry Truman. Imagine America if Wallace had become President. He certainly would have attempted a radical transformation and one can only guess at how the war in the Pacific would have ended.
In 1947 when Wallace tried to run for President a writer described his effort as ""the closest the Soviet Union ever came to actually choosing a president of the United States."
Harry S Truman of Missouri was elected Vice President for Roosevelt's fourth term, but served only a few months (Jan-May 1945) before becoming president. The office of the Vice President became vacant when Harry Truman succeeded to the presidency in 1945 and remained so until 1948 when Alben Barkley of Kentucky, was elected.
Barkley was a likeable chap who was seventy years old when he was sworn in as vice president. Age did not crimp his style and he courted and wed a widow half his age while in office. He had a long career in national politics that took him from the House to the Senate to the vice-presidency. However, he took no real part in the tumultuous events of the Truman Presidency and never had an office in or near the White House.
Barkley left no real footprints but the term "Veep" which he coined has lasted and is now being recycled by the media.
Many Veeps subsequently were elected Presidents. Two were outstanding:
John Adams was the First Vice President and the Second President of the United States.(March 4, 1797 - March 4, 1801)
Thomas Jefferson was the second vice president (1797-1801) and the 3rd president (1801-09)
One was acceptable:
Martin Van Buren, elected President in 1836 was both the eighth Vice-President and the 8th President.
One Veep left a muddy legacy:
Aaron Burr was Thomas Jefferson's third Veep (1801-1805). During his term he challenged Alexander Hamilton to a duel and fatally injured him. America lost one of the greatest founding fathers and although Burr was acquitted for Hamilton's death, he was subsequently tried for treason, and again acquitted, but he left tattered legacy.
Some were contentious:
John Caldwell Calhoun served two Presidents in the role of Veep. From 1825 to 1829 he was John Quincy Adams' Vice President, but Adams loathed him for his open support for Andrew Jackson, an Adams antagonist. Jackson triumphed in 1828 and Calhoun was again elected Veep but In 1832, after serious political incompatibility with Jackson, he resigned. He was elected to the Senate where he became a staunch and eloquent supporter of the principles of states' rights.
Some became Presidents when the standing President died :
The 10ths President, John Tyler was the first Veep to become President in 1841 when William Henry Harrison, at 68, the oldest President to take office until Ronald Reagan, was the first to die in office...only 31 days into his administration. It was unclear at that time if the Vice President immediately became the President rather than an "acting president." Tyler challenged congress, insisted that he was the President, served out the term and did not seek re-election. He was called "His Accidency" by his detractors. The campaign slogan "Tippecanoe and Tyler Too" only references the fact that he served under William Harrison who was the hero of the battle of Tippecanoe.
Millard Fillmore, who became the 13th President when President Zachary Taylor died, served only the remaining three years. It is noteworthy that his only education was six years of grade school. He did no real harm.
Some became President when a sitting President was assasinated: One was notorious:
Vice President Andrew Johnson, a known drunkard, replaced the assassinated Abraham Lincoln and served out the term (April 15, 1865 - March 4, 1869) as the 17th President. Johnson was the first President to be impeached on February 24, 1868 for flouting "high crimes and misdemeanors) which really consisted of his violation of a "Tenure of Office Act" when he fired Edwin Stanton, the Secretary of War and replaced him with Ulysses S. Grant. He was acquitted by one vote.
One was really boring:
Vice President Chester Arthur became the 21st President when James Garfield, was assassinated and served out the term (September 19, 1881 - March 4, 1885). The Arthur Administration enacted the first general Federal immigration law. Arthur approved a measure in 1882 excluding paupers, criminals, and lunatics.
Some more modern Veeps became outstanding:
America's 26th President, Theodore Roosevelt became Veep when the stodgy New York Republicans could not wait to get rid of this "compassionate conservative" Governor so they pushed for his nomination. When President William McKinley was killed by an anarchist named Leon Czolgosz in 1901, he became, at 43, America's youngest president. He was elected again to a full term and decided not to seek re-election. (Alas, when he did run again, he lost.) He was an explorer, hunter, historian, soldier, author and charmer. He was a true "progressive reformer" and a real conservationist and a survivor whose safari in the South American jungle rivals that of the famous African explorers. In 1906 he won a Nobel Peace Prize for brokering peace between Russia and Japan.
This is what Theodore Roosevelt said about immigration in 1909, which should be required reading for all candidates:
"In the first place, we should insist that if the immigrant who comes here in good faith, becomes an American and assimilates himself to us, he shall be treated on an exact equality with everyone else for it is an outrage to discriminate against any such man because of creed, or birthplace, or origin. But this is predicated upon the person's becoming in every facet an American, and nothing but an American... There can be no divided allegiance here. Any man who says he is an American, but something else also, isn't an American at all. We have room for but one flag, the American flag... We have room for but one language here, and that is the English language... and we have room for but one sole loyalty and that is a loyalty to the American people."
Dear old under estimated "Silent Cal" Coolidge became the 30th President of the United States on August 3, 1923 when Warren Harding died. He then was re-elected and served with honor and principle as a true fiscal conservative. In fact, he was the favorite of Ronald Reagan. His quips were legendary as was his wit. He once explained to Bernard Baruch why he often sat silently through interviews: "Well, Baruch, many times I say only 'yes' or 'no' to people. Even that is too much. It winds them up for twenty minutes more."
This brings us back to the legendary Harry Truman, who replaced FDR.
He was an unassuming man without the aristocratic demeanor of his predecessor. As president, Truman ushered America through the conclusion and victory of World War II. He rose to every daunting challenge in domestic as well as foreign affairs. America was plagued by shortages and strikes and the threat of the spread of communism as Stalin implemented his despotic rule. Truman understood the necessity to purge government employees with strong pro-Soviet loyalty; to end segregation in our armed forces; to rebuild Europe with the Marshall Plan; create NATO; and to use nuclear force in Japan to end the war. He also defied the entrenched prejudice of the State-Department when he recognized Israel in 1948 in spite of a tantrum by George Marshall. Although he was pelted by the media and had low rankings in his lifetime, many historians consider him one of America's top ten presidents.
One completed the ambitious agenda of his predecessor:
The 38th President Lyndon Johnson, replaced John Kennedy who was assassinated after 1000 days in office. Johnson ushered in the utopian, and disastrous policies of "The Great Society" but has left his stamp on history by enacting the end of segregation in the United States.
One was a most tragic figure.
During the Eisenhower administration, Vice President Richard Nixon, had actually served as President during Eisenhower's "heart ailment" and during surgery while the president was under anesthesia. Perhaps it was a dress rehearsal for his tragic administration. He was elected America's 37th President and served from 1969 -1974 when he had to resign due to the Watergate Scandal. His term was filled with the short lived and rather insipid presidency of Gerald Ford, our 38th President - although we could have had Spiro Agnew, who was removed from the Veepship due to bribery charges. He was worse than insipid.
One could not complete the agenda or compete with the legacy of his predecessor:
President Reagan's Vice President, George Bush Sr. was elected as America's 41st President and was in office when the Berlin Wall was toppled and Eastern Europe was liberated. The credit will always belong to Ronald Reagan. He served only one term.
Some just slipped by in history:
Choosing a Vice -President can have major historic consequences. The choice for Mitt Romney is critical.
The times demand it. The favorite du-jour is Condoleeza Rice, a former Secretary of State with an impressive record of failures. She is no Truman or Coolidge. There are others who would bring real energy and excitement to the ticket.....Stay tuned.
Ruth King is a freelance writer. She has written a book and articles on gardening, and also writes a monthly column in OUTPOST, the publication of Americans for a Safe Israel. | <urn:uuid:351a7fb0-d4f1-45ab-aa9b-581a39986c08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.familysecuritymatters.org/publications/detail/think-veepits-important | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985517 | 2,591 | 2.453125 | 2 |
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Where: Ever noticed the small marble (or larger) sized bump on top of someones shoulder? Roughly in this area is the AC joint (jt)....or where the collarbone meets the shoulder blade. Your ball and socket jt lies underneath this jt. A "separated shoulder" occurs when the ligaments holding the AC jt together get sprained and stretched out. Often times you have an even more pronounced bump on one side vs the other when this occurs.
Why: Why is it important? In general your shoulder functions like a crane on a job site. The shoulder blade is the base of the crane....so you need a strong, stable base. Your collarbone is another strut that stabilizes the shoulder blade. With a separated shoulder it is hard to stabilize the base of your crane and therefore it makes it hard to control your arm.....at least without pain. Thank goodness this is the non-throwing shoulder.
How: How is this problematic? There are 3 main ligaments that hold the AC jt together. Much like a common ankle sprain the "degree" to which you have a sprain corresponds to the structures involved......so a "grade 3 separated shoulder" (or grade 3 ankle sprain) means that all 3 ligaments are injured. Often times the grade 1's and 2's can be rehabilitated.....often 6-8 wks to a full recovery....but if there is added aggravation to the area or if the damage worsens it can either significantly delay healing time or lead to surgery. It is very common that Locker re-aggravated his sh......it is also a possibility that he damaged it further.....leading to possible surgery.
What: What does the future hold? Often times you can use things like bracing, taping, etc to manage it throughout the season. After season rehabilitate it or do the surgery.....worst case senario. This is not a rotator cuff or labral surgery. Usually surgery does very well. Even if this is his throwing shoulder it wouldn't affect his ability to throw at all since it doesn't really involve the ball-and-socket jt. Even if he has to have surgery he'll make a quick, full recovery without issue.
***Disclaimer: Sports teams don't often tell us the whole story. He may have much more going on than just a separated shoulder. I can't account for that at this time***
This post was edited by BlueRaider22 on 10/2/2012 at 10:26 AM
247Sports In partnership with CBS Sports | <urn:uuid:a475da6d-b802-4a32-ad87-6bdca53e3403> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ten.247sports.com/Board/28/What-is-the-separated-shoulder-and-what-Jake-is-looking-at-12752108/1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948012 | 580 | 1.960938 | 2 |
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© The Financial Times Ltd 2013 FT and 'Financial Times' are trademarks of The Financial Times Ltd.
March 28, 2007 12:03 am
Quanta Computer, the world’s largest manufacturer of notebook computers, will start making ultra-low-cost computers that could be sold in developed markets for as little as $200 this year or the next, according to its president.
The Taiwanese contract manufacturer is already producing a laptop developed by Massachusetts Institute of Technology researchers that will be distributed to children in third-world countries – under a non-profit project called One Laptop Per Child – for as little as $150.
But Michael Wang, Quanta’s president, said on Tuesday that the concepts developed through the OLPC project could be applied to create commercially viable machines that are cheaper than anything on the market so far.
“We will definitely at the right time launch a commercialised product similar to the OLPC,” he said in an interview with the Financial Times, adding that several of Quanta’s customers were seeking to launch such a product.
Mr Wang’s remarks follow Dell’s launch last week of a desktop computer in China selling for as little as $336. Other big technology companies have also announced plans to give more people in low-income countries access to computers, including Intel’s low-cost “classmate” PC and computer kiosks supported by Microsoft.
But Mr Wang said the low-cost machines would not remain limited to developing markets. “There are a lot of poor people in developed countries, too,” he said.
Quanta has now created a new business unit for “emerging PCs” with the explicit aim of creating a new market for the low-cost machines.
He said the cheapest models were likely to be sold without hard disks, have small screens and run on open-source software, like the OLPC version.
Alvin Kwock, an analyst at JP Morgan in Taipei, said:
“OLPC has kick-started a debate over the question: What is needed in a PC?” He estimated that the new ultra-low-cost machines could expand the global PC market, which now measures 250m units a year, by as much as 10 per cent.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2013. You may share using our article tools.
Please don't cut articles from FT.com and redistribute by email or post to the web. | <urn:uuid:9f85f483-20c9-432c-86fc-c58166e7adbf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ft.com/cms/s/2/6d086a62-dcb3-11db-a21d-000b5df10621.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952913 | 537 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Gumbrecht's ideas (...of science and humanities fusing for a greater scope of science) are nothing new. Such fusions have been around since the sciences have framed and made possible the global rise of Europe and the West. The Royal Society of England under Isaac Newton would be one example. The Berlin-Brandenburg Acadamy of Sciences and Humanities, created by Friedrich II., would be another. There is also the literary agent John Brockman who gives the thinkers who are in his view the world's brightest minds a question to respond to online in a strictly limited number of characters.
[ Sat. Jan. 7. 2012 ] | <urn:uuid:66f05b77-ef1b-4416-92bd-ef60df743440> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.edge.org/news/why-do-we-need-the-humanities-hans-ulrich-gumbrecht-calls-for-more-team-spirit-and-mind-of-our | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92774 | 130 | 1.984375 | 2 |
The Beginning of National Black History Month - 1976
What first began as Negro History Week in February 1926 expanded into a month-long celebration in 1976. President Gerald R. Ford issued this message recognizing National Black History Month on February 10, 1976.
-from the Ford Library
President Gerald R. Ford Walking away from the Lincoln Sculpture after Laying a Wreath at the Abraham Lincoln Memorial Wreath Laying Ceremony, 02/12/1975
The cornerstone of the Lincoln Memorial was laid on February 12, 1914, Abraham Lincoln’s Birthday. A little more than eight years later it was completed and dedicated on May 30, 1922 with Lincoln’s son, Robert Todd Lincoln attending the ceremony.
Superbowl Sunday Presidential Trivia
Did you know that Gerald R. Ford received offers from two professional football teams, the Detroit Lions and the Green Bay Packers?
He chose instead to take a position as boxing coach and assistant varsity football coach at Yale hoping to attend law school there.
In his youth, Jerry earned “All-City” and “All-State” honors at South High School in Grand Rapids before joining the team at the University of Michigan as a center.
Ford won the Meyer Morton Trophy, awarded to the outstanding freshman player in spring practice, in his first year as a Wolverine. He made the varsity squad the next year and in 1934 he got the starting position.
Although he had high hopes for his senior year since the team won the national championship in both 1932 and 1933, injuries hit the offense and the defense struggled. “We lost seven of our eight ball games,” Ford later reflected on his final season at Michigan. “But what really hurt was that my teammates, after the end of the season, voted me the most valuable player. I didn’t know whether to smile or sue.”
(ARC Identifier 186975)
-from the Ford Library
A Year-Long Celebration of 2013 Presidential Centennials
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the births of two Presidents of the United States: Richard Nixon (January 9, 1913–April 22, 1994) and Gerald Ford (July 14, 1913–December 26, 2006).
Throughout the year, the National Archives will feature programming in celebration of Presidents Richard Nixon and Gerald R. Ford. Learn more about the 2013 Presidential Centennials here.
September 21, 1949 - Mao Zedong announces that The Communist Party of China will lead the new Chinese government.
Twenty-six years later, Mao Zedong would shake hands with U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger during President Ford’s visit to China. This photo was taken on a visit to Chairman Mao’s residence in Peking by the Gerald R. Ford, daughter Susan Ford, and Kissinger. December 2, 1975.
“They should be allowed the opportunity to earn return to their country, their communities, and their families, upon their agreement to a period of alternate service in the national interest, together with an acknowledgement of their allegiance to the country and its Constitution.”
Presidential Proclamation 4313 of September 16, 1974, by President Gerald R. Ford announcing a program for the return of Vietnam era draft evaders and deserters, 09/16/1974
(Not the first controversial pardon issued by President Ford.)
Here’s future president Ford wearing his National Park Ranger uniform, in front of a Yellowstone Park office. 08/1936
Gerald R. Ford, Jr., on the Football Practice Field at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, 1933
Presidents and the Pigskin
When the New England Patriots and New York Giants collide in this year’s Super Bowl, the two teams will be competing for more than just a National Football League championship. The winner will also receive a trip to the White House, a place that many gridiron greats have called home. Read up about football’s rich history at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue at Prologue: Presidents and the Pigskin »
Tie one on for National Necktie Month!
Funny how history can happen - On October 12, 1973, Gerald R. Ford is nominated to be Vice President by Richard Nixon. He is the first Vice President nominated under the 25th amendment to the Constitution. The appointment comes after Spiro Agnew, under investigation for accepting bribes and income tax evasion while Governor of Maryland, resigns as Vice President of the United States.
On December 6, 1973, Ford is sworn in as Vice President. Nine months later, Richard Nixon resigns as President. Ford takes the oath as 38th President of the United States on August 9, 1974.
Here are Ford and Nixon together, a decade before they were presidents, campaigning for Barry Goldwater’s presidential ticket in 1964.
-from the Ford Library
September 8 - Letter to President Gerald Ford from Anthony Ferreira, a Third Grader at Henry B. Milnes School
On September 8, 1974, President Gerald Ford stunned the nation by announcing ”a full, free, and absolute pardon” for former President Richard Nixon.
This letter, from third grader Anthony Ferreira, encapsulated the country’s deep division over Ford’s controversial decision, stating simply: ”I think you are half Right and half wrong.” | <urn:uuid:a57ab23f-560b-44f2-a87f-7f7a8766bcfd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://todaysdocument.tumblr.com/tagged/gerald-ford | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951799 | 1,105 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Metrology, the science of measurement, underpins virtually every aspect of our daily lives, helping to ensure quality and safety, keep us healthy, innovate and grow the economy. In industry, measurements are crucial for manufacturing, process control, communications and transport, to ensure fair trade but also to remain competitive.
The Minister announced the new investment in a speech on Thursday 24 January 2012 at the Policy Exchange think tank in London, where he discussed how the UK could become world leaders in eight future technologies and the role of government in promoting and financially supporting these industries.
In the speech, David Willets said: "I can today announce we are providing an extra £25 million to build a state of the art laboratory for cutting edge measurement research. The creation of advanced facilities at the National Physical Laboratory in Teddington will allow scientists there to undertake leading edge research in key nano and quantum metrology (measurement science) programmes."
This investment in measurement science will extend the UK's capabilities and build upon NPL's world-leading expertise in the areas of high-accuracy optical clocks and graphene characterisation. It will also facilitate interaction between NPL and industry, universities and other collaborators to help support growth in the UK through cutting-edge technological development and application.
The wave-like nature of matter described in quantum physics leads to properties that could be exploited by many new disruptive technologies, for example, quantum information processing and innovative electronic and magnetic materials. Metrology is essential in providing the capabilities to monitor and design these systems and validate results from scientific experiments. It is also essential for taking the results from scientific research and translating them into commercial applications. Indeed, NPL has been at the forefront of commercialising the new 'wonder-material' graphene.
The new facility at NPL will house an estimated 20 laboratories, for around 40 scientists, specially designed for high precision metrology. This unique facility will provide a tightly controlled research environment with stable temperature and humidity levels and minimised interference from vibration (direct and acoustic), and electrical and magnetic fields.
The design will also comply with best practice in sustainability and energy use.
This investment in NPL's work and the further development of the site at Teddington is especially welcome in light of David Willetts' announcement in December 2012 on NPL's future; seeking a strategic partnership between the Department for Business, Innovations and Skills (BIS) and one or more national or international academic partners or applied science organisations to secure NPL's long-term operation. It will also play a pivotal role in the creation of a new postgraduate research institute at NPL.
The returns to the UK economy from government investment in measurement science are proven to be significant. Net benefits from the Advanced Metrology Laboratory are likely to be in excess of £500 million.
AAAS and EurekAlert! are not responsible for the accuracy of news releases posted to EurekAlert! by contributing institutions or for the use of any information through the EurekAlert! system. | <urn:uuid:736d876a-e0ad-41b5-8153-c2ef5775b8b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2013-01/npl-ana012413.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933606 | 613 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Our belief in valuing partnerships with business, government, non-profit organizations, and other foundations is rooted in a single notion: the power of many.
The challenges facing our diverse communities, families and individuals are too large to be solved by the resources of any one player or any one sector acting by itself. When we combine resources, however, we achieve meaningful change.
Together We Can.
And so, the East Bay Community Foundation partners with entities and individuals whose vision, values, and missions are similar to our own.
These collaborations – for grantmaking, change-making initiatives, and advocacy on important matters of public policy – are aimed at:
- Providing support for children to succeed: preparing them at pre-school and school-age levels, focusing on the critical period of birth through third grade; and
- Advancing economic development: enhancing economic opportunities for adults and families, particularly those with significant barriers to achieving employment and financial stability.
We assist business leaders with leveraged, strategic community investment and volunteer opportunities. We engage government leaders to work collaboratively to improve the lives of their constituents. We work with private foundations to partner on opportunities for promoting initiatives and leveraging financial support. We collaborate with non-profit service providers to identify the most effective methods of service delivery and ways to measure impact. Learn More >
For More Information
For more information, contact Director of Public & Private Partnerships, Darien Louie at 510.208.0824 or at firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:d8e34561-f647-4634-9346-18ec8c0a8c7f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eastbaycf.org/public-a-private-partnerships/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929775 | 309 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Frequently Asked Questions
Fiduciary Responsibilities under an Apprenticeship and Training Plan
To meet their responsibilities as plan sponsors, employers need to understand some basic rules, specifically those under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act (ERISA), which governs retirement, health, and welfare plans, including many apprenticeship and training plans (ATPs). ERISA is a Federal law that sets standards of conduct for those who manage an employee benefit plan and its assets (called fiduciaries).
Apprenticeship and training programs that cover private sector workers generally are ERISA-covered plans. Not all private sector employment-based educational programs, however, are ERISA plans. For example, scholarship programs paid from an employer’s general assets, payments of compensation out of the employer’s general assets for time spent in training, and in-house professional development programs financed out of the employer’s general assets are not ERISA plans. Most private sector collectively bargained apprenticeship and training programs are covered by ERISA because the Labor-Management Relations Act requires that the expenses of any joint labor/management apprenticeship committee be defrayed out of monies placed in a separate fund.
The questions and answers below provide an overview of the basic fiduciary responsibilities applicable to ATPs under ERISA. It provides a simplified explanation of the law and regulations. It is not a legal interpretation of ERISA, nor is it intended to be a substitute for professional advice.
What are the essential elements of a plan?
Each plan has certain key elements under ERISA. These include:
- A written plan that provides for at least one official who has authority to control and manage the operation and administration of the plan;
- A trust to hold the plan’s assets; and
- Documents to provide plan information to employees participating in the plan and to the government.
Plan sponsors may hire outside professionals or, if applicable, use an internal administrative committee to manage some or all of a plan’s day-to-day operations. Indeed, there may be one or a number of officials with discretion over the plan. These are the plan’s fiduciaries.
Who is a fiduciary?
Many of the actions involved in operating a plan make the person or entity performing them a fiduciary. Using discretion in administering and managing a plan or controlling the plan’s assets makes that person a fiduciary to the extent of that discretion or control. Thus, fiduciary status is based on the functions performed for the plan, not just a person’s title.
A plan must have at least one fiduciary (a person or entity) named in the written plan, or through a process described in the plan, as having control over the plan’s operation. The named fiduciary can be identified by office or by name. For some plans, it may be an administrative committee.
A plan’s fiduciaries will ordinarily include the trustee, all individuals exercising discretion in the administration of the plan, all members of a plan’s administrative committee (if it has such a committee), and those who select committee officials. Attorneys and accountants generally are not fiduciaries when acting solely in their professional capacities. The key to determining whether an individual or an entity is a fiduciary is whether they are exercising discretion or control over the plan.
What is the significance of being a fiduciary?
Fiduciaries have important responsibilities and are subject to standards of conduct because they act on behalf of participants in a plan and their beneficiaries. These responsibilities include:
- Acting solely in the interest of plan participants and their beneficiaries and with the exclusive purpose of providing benefits to them;
- Carrying out their duties prudently;
- Following the plan documents (unless inconsistent with ERISA); and
- Paying only reasonable plan expenses.
The duty to act prudently is one of a fiduciary’s central responsibilities under ERISA. It requires expertise in a variety of areas. Lacking that expertise, a fiduciary will want to hire someone with that professional knowledge to carry out these functions. Prudence focuses on the process for making fiduciary decisions. Therefore, it is wise to document decisions and the basis for those decisions. For instance, in hiring any plan service provider, a fiduciary may want to survey a number of potential providers, asking for the same information and providing the same requirements. By doing so, a fiduciary can document the process and make a meaningful comparison and selection.
Following the terms of the plan document is also an important responsibility. The document serves as the foundation for plan operations. Fiduciaries will want to be familiar with their plan document, especially when it is drawn up by a third-party service provider, and periodically review the document to make sure it remains current. For example, if a plan official named in the document changes, the plan document must be updated to reflect that change.
How can a fiduciary limit liability?
With these fiduciary responsibilities, there is also potential liability. Fiduciaries who do not follow the basic standards of conduct may be personally liable to restore any losses to the plan, or to restore any profits made through improper use of the plan’s assets resulting from their actions.
However, fiduciaries can limit their liability in certain situations. One way fiduciaries can demonstrate that they have carried out their responsibilities properly is by documenting the processes used to carry out their fiduciary responsibilities.
A fiduciary can also hire a service provider or providers to handle fiduciary functions, setting up the agreement so that the person or entity then assumes liability for those functions selected. However, the appointing fiduciary is required to monitor the service provider periodically to assure that it is handling its responsibilities prudently and in accordance with the appointment.
Moreover, a fiduciary should be aware of others who serve as fiduciaries to the same plan, because all fiduciaries have potential liability for the actions of their co-fiduciaries. For example, if a fiduciary knowingly participates in another fiduciary’s breach of responsibility, conceals the breach, or does not act to correct it, that fiduciary is liable as well.
As an additional protection for plans, those who handle plan funds or other plan property generally must be covered by a fidelity bond. A fidelity bond is a type of insurance that protects the plan against loss resulting from fraudulent or dishonest acts of those covered by the bond.
How do these responsibilities affect the operation of the plan?
Even if plan sponsors hire third-party service providers or use internal administrative committees to manage the plan, there are still certain functions that can make a plan sponsor a fiduciary.
Hiring A Service Provider
Hiring a service provider in and of itself is a fiduciary function. When considering prospective service providers, provide each of them with complete and identical information about the plan and what services you are looking for so that you can make a meaningful comparison.
For a service contract or arrangement to be reasonable, service providers must provide certain information to the hiring plan fiduciary. This information will assist you in understanding the services, assessing the reasonableness of the compensation, direct and indirect, and determining any conflicts of interest that may impact the service provider’s performance.
A plan sponsor should document its selection (and monitoring) process, and, when using an internal administrative committee, educate committee members on their roles and responsibilities.
Fees And Expenses
Fees and expenses are an important factor fiduciaries need to consider in deciding on service providers. Because fees and expenses usually are paid out of plan assets, fiduciaries will want to understand the fees and expenses charged and the services provided. While the law does not specify a permissible level of fees and expenses, it does require that the fees and expenses charged to a plan be "reasonable."
For ATPs, fiduciaries must ensure the reasonableness of plan expenses in light of the educational objectives of the apprenticeship or training program. In every instance, apprenticeship and training plan fiduciaries must be able to justify plan expenses as appropriate means of carrying out the plan's mission of training workers. When fiduciaries use plan assets without determining that the fees and expenses are reasonable and likely to promote legitimate plan objectives, they breach their fiduciary responsibilities under ERISA and are personally liable for the resulting loss of plan assets.
Strong financial controls and written policies and procedures regarding travel, reimbursement, and credit card use are important ways to help the fiduciaries of an ATP meet their responsibilities. The Office of Labor-Management Standards, which may conduct joint investigations with EBSA, has developed resources to help create effective internal financial controls at www.dol.gov/olms/regs/compliance/internal.htm.
For a service contact, after careful evaluation of the contract during the initial selection, the plan's fees and expenses should be monitored to determine whether they continue to be reasonable.
Monitoring A Service Provider
A fiduciary should establish and follow a formal review process at reasonable intervals to decide if it wants to continue using the current service providers or look for replacements. When monitoring service providers, actions to ensure they are performing the agreed-upon services include:
- Considering the service provider’s notice of changes to the information provided to assess the contract and the information provided in advance of the possible extension or renewal of the contract;
- Reviewing the service providers’ performance;
- Reading any reports they provide;
- Checking actual fees charged; and
- Following up on participant complaints.
Are there some transactions that are prohibited? Is there a way to make them permissible if the actions will benefit the plan?
Certain transactions with parties who may be in a position to exercise improper influence over the plan are prohibited under the law. In addition, fiduciaries are prohibited from engaging in self-dealing and must avoid conflicts of interest that could harm the plan.
Who is prohibited from doing business with the plan?
Prohibited parties (called parties in interest) include the employer, the union, plan fiduciaries, service providers, and statutorily defined owners, officers, and relatives of parties in interest.
- A sale, exchange, or lease between the plan and party in interest;
- Lending money or other extension of credit between the plan and party in interest; and
- Furnishing goods, services, or facilities between the plan and party in interest.
Other prohibitions relate solely to fiduciaries who use the plan’s assets in their own interest or who act on both sides of a transaction involving a plan. Fiduciaries cannot receive money or any other consideration for their personal account from any party doing business with the plan related to that business. See, for example, FAQs on Multiemployer Plan Leasing Arrangements, which provide guidance for fiduciaries of multiemployer plans regarding prohibited transactions that may arise in leasing or service provider arrangements.
There are a number of exceptions (exemptions) in the law that provide protections for the plan in conducting necessary transactions that would otherwise be prohibited. The Labor Department may grant additional exemptions.
Exemptions are provided in the law for many dealings that are essential to the ongoing operations of the plan. One exemption in the law allows the plan to hire a service provider as long as the services are necessary to operate the plan and the contract or arrangement under which the services are provided and the compensation paid for those services is reasonable.
The exemptions issued by the Department can involve transactions available to a class of plans or to one specific plan. Both class and individual exemptions are available at www.dol.gov/ebsa under Compliance Assistance. For more information on applying for an exemption, review the procedure on this web page.
How do employees get information about the plan? How are plan sponsors required to report plan activities?
If an ATP plan provides only apprenticeship training benefits, other training benefits, or a combination of both, it is exempt from annual reporting (Form 5500), audits, disclosures (Summary Plan Description, Summary of Material Modifications), and recordkeeping requirements if it files a notice and complies with certain filing requirements. The notice must be filed with the Department of Labor and include the plan’s name, the plan sponsor’s employer identification number (EIN), the plan administrator’s name, and the name and address of someone from whom an employee can get a description of courses offered by the plan, including prerequisites, and a description of the enrollment procedure. The fiduciary also must disclose this information to employees who may be eligible to enroll and make the notice available to these employees upon request.
Can a fiduciary terminate its fiduciary duties?
Yes, but there is one final fiduciary responsibility. Fiduciaries who no longer want to serve in that role cannot simply walk away from their responsibilities, even if the plan has other fiduciaries. They need to follow plan procedures and make sure that another fiduciary is carrying out the responsibilities left behind. It is critical that a plan has fiduciaries in place so that it can continue operations and participants have a way to interact with the plan.
What help is available for correcting mistakes in operating a plan?
The Department of Labor’s Voluntary Fiduciary Correction Program (VFCP) encourages employers and plan fiduciaries to comply with ERISA by voluntarily self-correcting certain violations. Two general transactions may be of particular interest to apprenticeship plans: the sale or purchase of an asset to or by a party in interest and the payment of duplicate, excessive, or unnecessary compensation. The program includes a description of how to apply, as well as acceptable methods for correcting violations. In addition, the Department gives applicants immediate relief from payment of excise taxes under a class exemption.
If the administrator of an ATP fails to file the notice described above, the plan must comply with the reporting and disclosure requirements under the law. Those who have not filed the notice, or who filed too late to avoid incurring other reporting and disclosure obligations may use the Department’s Delinquent Filer Voluntary Compliance Program (DFVCP). By using the DFVCP Program to file the ATP notice, an ATP administrator will be considered as having elected compliance with the exemption.
For an overview of both programs, consult EBSA's Web site.
Tips For Apprenticeship And Training Plans
Understanding fiduciary responsibilities is important for the security of an ATP and compliance with the law. The following questions may be a helpful starting point:
Have you identified your plan fiduciaries, and are they clear about the extent of their fiduciary responsibilities?
If you are hiring third-party service providers, have you looked at a number of providers, given each potential provider the same information, and considered whether the fees are reasonable for the services provided? Have you documented the hiring process?
Are you prepared to monitor your plan’s service providers?
Have you reviewed your plan document in light of current plan operations and made necessary updates?
Have you identified parties in interest to the plan and taken steps to monitor transactions with them?
Are you aware of the major exemptions under ERISA that permit transactions with parties in interest, especially those key for plan operations (such as hiring service providers)?
If the reporting and disclosure exemption has been elected, have all the conditions been satisfied including whether the required notice been filed timely with the Department? | <urn:uuid:509e654d-fc08-4e93-afa1-ca8767d450dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dol.gov/ebsa/faqs/faq-ATP.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938569 | 3,208 | 1.835938 | 2 |
With the album Wake Up!, nine-time Grammy winner John Legend and hip hop / neo soul band The Roots collaborate to produce an invigorating reworking of socially conscious music from the 1960s and 70s. Covers on the album include among others “Wholy Holy” by Marvin Gaye, “Little Ghetto Boy” by Donny Hathaway, “Hard Times” by Baby Huey & the Babysitters, “Compared to What” by Eugene McDaniels, and “Hang On In There” by Mike James Kirkland.
The collaborative effort was inspired by the 2008 U.S. presidential election, which simultaneously aroused hope and optimism and exposed deeply ingrained frustration and resentment within America. In an interview with The Guardian, Legend said, “It’s still very contested what it means to be American, and who gets to stake a claim to being American. All these things are real civil rights issues that are being contested right now.”
Though some believed the election of an African American president signified a “post-racial” period, it many cases it revealed the discrimination that still lingers in America. In the same interview, Ahmir “?uestlove” Thompson of The Roots recounts:
I was doing grassroots campaigning for Obama, and I would phone Democrats to make sure they’re registered. I would use another name, so they didn’t know what race or color I was; some of them were completely honest about how they felt, thinking that it was a white guy calling. You’d ask who they were gonna vote for, and sometimes you’d get an answer like, ‘I would never vote for him, because I think he’s a Muslim and he’s gonna destroy the country.’
The music may date back forty years, but the content reveals a striking parallel to the issues facing the country today. The songs speak of a people painfully frustrated with the war, poverty, and discrimination confronting them. One of the songs covered, “I Can’t Write Left-Handed” by Bill Withers, offers a portrait of a wounded soldier coming back from Vietnam. At the beginning of the track, Legend narrates, “Bill Withers recorded this song at the end of the Vietnam War. As I record this now, America, the land of peace and prosperity, is in the middle of two wars. No matter what the politicians in Washington say we’re fighting for, they make the decisions, and our young men and women, they go and fight. And some pay the ultimate sacrifice. War is hell. It always has been. It always will be.”
The album includes one original composition, “Shine,” written by Legend, which advocates education reform in the United States. Legend said in an interview with The Independent, “I see Wake Up! as a pro-peace record. A pro-love record, a pro-engagement record. A pro-let’s-get-our-shit-together record.” In the album’s single “Wake Up Everybody!” featuring Common and Melanie Fiona, Legend urges people to wake up and take action to change the world we live in.
Wake Up! injects refreshing insight and passion into the current environment of commercially-geared music, skillfully reigniting the flame of protest from the 60s and 70s that has dwindled in recent decades. | <urn:uuid:f7a8fcb4-185c-4473-be52-857166da0b2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.protestmusic.org/john-legend-and-the-roots-wake-up/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955464 | 736 | 2.09375 | 2 |
History of Friends of the Deep Valley Libraries
The Friends of the Library was founded in 1977. It began as an outgrowth of the Maud Hart Lovelace Ad hoc Committee. This committee was formed to raise money for the mural in the Maud Hart Lovelace Wing at the Blue Earth County Library (which is located in Mankato). The group then became the Friends of the Deep Valley Libraries. This group supports libraries in Blue Earth County and North Mankato Taylor Library.
The name, “The Friends of the Deep Valley Library”, was chosen to honor the famous Mankato-born author of children’s books Maud Hart Lovelace. The mission of the Friends of the Deep Valley Library is:
- To enhance reading and learning opportunities in the communities of the Deep Valley Libraries.
- To enhance the reading and learning opportunities provided by the Deep Valley Libraries.
- To support the functions of the Deep Valley Libraries so they may offer enhanced reading and learning opportunities.
Programs of Friends of the Deep Valley Libraries
Pages Past Bookstore ~ Located inside the Mankato Library, the bookstore offers a variety of reading material, including Maud Hart Lovelace’s Betsy-Tacy books. Often, rare and collectible books are available as well as plenty of gently used fiction, nonfiction, cookbooks, self-help, educational, seasonal, historical (including local and state-wide history by Minnesota authors), and so much more! Since the community generously donates to the bookstore, the stock varies on a regular basis. Please click on the link to the left under “Programs/Pages Past Bookstore” to learn more.
Project Bookshelf ~ This program is a long-standing partnership with Mankato’s Santa Anonymous program which provides books to less-fortunate children during the holiday season. Friends is grateful for the opportunity to fill a void for so many of our local families, and encourage any assistance members or community members may be willing to offer. Please see the link to the left to find out more about the program or how to get involved.
Events ~ The Friends are often part of great events at the libraries, such as book sales numerous times per year. To keep up on what events may be taking place, please visit the Events link regularly. If you have suggestions for an event, please contact us with your ideas!
Features of Friends Website
· Program Information ~ Find out more about all of the wonderful Friends programs.
· Membership & Donations ~ Includes contact information and guidelines to join or donate materials, as well as how to volunteer if interested.
· Collectibles Page ~ Check out the some of the books we have for sale. If you're a Minnesota history buff, we have lots of books on topics of local interest.
Simply follow the links in the upper left to maneuver around the website. If you have any questions, comments, or suggestions about the website, please don't hesitate to let us know.
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The lightness of being light skinned*
May 6, 2011 § 23 Comments
*originally appeared in the Cape Times in 2010
This is an age-old discussion that has gone on in the black community for some time now. Light-skinned people are automatically considered beautiful simply because they are lighter skinned speaks volumes about the insecurities that we have as a community. When I still lived in Cape Town I was surprised to find that these insecurities were deeply and even more profoundly present in the coloured (mixed race) community. In many respects, its manifestations were worse. If one was lighter, or, if one wishes, looked white, then they were held in higher esteem even within the same family. And this is well after the ending of apartheid too.
I found myself getting angry just hearing that as a coloured friend told me about these nuances within the community. He had been the darker child; his sister was lighter. She got better treatment at home when they were growing up. Often, comments would be made about his darkness, and they were never said in the positive light. He even told me about how most people in the coloured community would always reference their European ancestry, and never, ever touch on their African one. It as if they miraculously became coloured.
“Everybody we rolling. We rolling with some light skinned girls and some Kelly Rowlands.” That’s a line from Kanye West’s Power, in his latest album, My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy. Those who do not know who Kelly Rowlands is, she was the darker one in Destiny’s Child, Beyonce was the light skinned one. It has to be said that the line is kinda funny because well, there’s this perception in some sections of the black community that a light skinned black person is somehow more attractive than a darker skinned one. Sadly.
Maybe we should start saying, “beauty is in the skin of the lighter skinned.” Funny enough, while black people are trying to be lighter, white people are tanning to get a couple of shades darker. Of course, this must not be confused with white people wanting to be black. That would be the day. Unless of course they were hoping for a tender.
What does this say? Is this a legacy of the past? I guess when William Faulkner wrote, “The past is never buried. It’s not even past,” he knew what he meant. The past it seems is still light skinned, even amongst black folk. I got nothing against light-skinned folk. I mean, depending on the weather, I too become a couple of shades lighter.
Our communities still have a distorted view of what is beautiful. The views are still shackled to the past. One would think that with freedom, and better-educated youth, these views would have shifted to a more educated and wiser expression of beauty. But alas, even with the new generation, we still feed each other with insecure ignorance.
There is this horrible phrase I keep hearing, “Yellow Bone.” It is reference to a light-skinned black person. And 90% of the time, the expression is used to automatically exclaim that the “Yellow boned” black person is somewhat extremely attractive by the virtue of their yellow-boness.
I think we have gone past the era of blaming the past for the way we view ourselves. It is time we learned how to accept different kinds of beauty in our different communities. Beauty is not yet free it seems. Black is beautiful. And so is white. I would know, I’ve dated across the colour lines. And across shades of blackness.
There is a problem with viewing light skin as being the pinnacle of black beauty. Holding those kinds of views says a lot about the black and coloured people who think light skin is superior. It’s an inferiority complex they are unaware they have.
The one thing that must be learnt is that none is superior to another. Light and dark are equally beautiful. Some day perhaps, we will see the end of the terms, “Yellow Bone.” And accept beauty for beauty and nothing else. Black is beautiful, no matter what shade of black. | <urn:uuid:c7171dd6-d3ec-4cbd-9c0b-5bdf29f6a5b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://khayadlanga.com/2011/05/06/the-lightness-of-being-light-skinned/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982412 | 884 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Thre is nothing Postmodern in what Ted Davies says, but only an
acknowledgement of the various factors which influence how scientists make
their interpretations. What is indoctrinating to say that htis is the case
as it simply makes us look more closely at the way scientists work. E.g. we
understand Darwin better if you recognsie his religious views , the
political milieu etc. Of course if you follow Jim Moore we can go too far as
he does, but no scientist is a machine for grinding out science, he brings
all the baggage of his culture.
When it comes to the interpretation of the resurrection some are also
cluttered by their cultural baggage, e.g. John spong who will let his wooly
liberal episcopalean perspective colour everything. The classic are the
German criitcs of the 19th century.
Yes scientists (and theologians)are supposed to "interpret data with both
> honesty" but their own worldview can get in the way.
Yes I am inflamed as Ted Davies has been misunderstood and he is not
teaching Postmodernism but simply pointing out the total contexts scientists
work in. I am sorry Gordon
but you have missed the point and have a very simplistic view of how science
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gordon Simons" <firstname.lastname@example.org>
To: "Ted Davis" <email@example.com>
Sent: Tuesday, January 01, 2002 2:21 PM
Subject: Re: Pasteur and nature of science
> Ted Davis writes:
> >>I tell my students that scientific knowledge is determined not by
> observations and experiments, but by the outcome of debates about how to
> interpret observations and experiments, and that such debates can be
> influenced by a variety of factors (incl. politics, religion, personality,
> various background beliefs, aesthetic commitments, etc).<<
> Do the parents of your students know that you are indoctrinating their
> children with a post-modern perspective on science?
> If so, do they approve? Or don't they care?
> Are they forewarned, before they send their children to Messiah College,
> that this is what they are purchasing?
> What would you tell a student in your class who then espouses a similar
> view concerning the biblical data surrounding the resurrection of Jesus
> If I ever came to believe what you say about the relationship between
> "observations and experiments" and "scientific knowledge," I would abandon
> my career. I have been taught and believe that data (observations) are
> the life-blood of science, and that I have a moral responsibility to
> handle, report, and, where possible, interpret data with both care and
> (Please don't view this as a flame. Despite my sharply critical response,
> it is a serious posting.)
> Gordon Simons
This archive was generated by hypermail 2b29 : Tue Jan 01 2002 - 16:55:50 EST | <urn:uuid:65d36c9e-6104-4f30-8398-05a44bd572e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www2.asa3.org/archive/asa/200201/0006.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938853 | 647 | 1.882813 | 2 |
In 2008 Presidential Candidate Barack Obama stated that parents have to step up. Parents have to turn off the television and make sure the home work is done. He challenged African American parents to value education for their children. He has done little to if anything to create policy that would move parents in this direction.
Below is a plan to do just what President Obama called for, create involved parents.
Individual College Account Plans (ICAs) will treat all families the same regardless of zip codes. It rewards those who achieve by helping pay for college. It treats all families equally, but those who most need funding for college benefit the most. ICAs return taxpayer money to taxpayers and benefit all of society.
Here is how ICAs work. When a child is born, $5000 is placed one time into an Individual College Account (ICA) in the child’s name. The ICA matures as a 401K or 403 B would. When the child enters first grade, assuming the child is reading ready, the parents receive $2000. If the child is not reading ready, the $2000 goes right to the district the child is enrolled in to help pay for the extra costs associated with enabling this child to be at grade level reading by grade 3.
The remaining money in the account continues to mature until the child enters college or technical training school. At that time, a percentage of the matured funds based on grades, behavior, and parental involvement, are sent to the college or trade school the child will be attending.
ICAs reward taxpayers. According to national statistics, a high school graduate earns $392,000 more than a non-high school graduate. Children who read at grade level are more likely than those who do not read at grade level to finish high school. Assuming a 40 year working career at a conservative 20% income tax rate, the high school graduate will pay more than $75,000 in taxes to the federal government than a non-high school graduate. The payback to society from this investment in our public well-being is huge.
The difference in earnings between a college graduate and a non-college graduate nationwide is approximately $1.1 million. Assuming the same conservative tax rate a college grad pays more than $135,000 in taxes over the course of a career than a non-college grad.
Clearly ICAs pay for themselves!
And with a high school drop rate in many cities approaching 50% and greater, the returns from the ICA program between a college graduate and a high school graduate are even greater. This is just looking at the numbers without counting the reduction in crime and the increase in family stability which strongly correlate to high quality early education.
This program is win win for all involved. At the beginning levels of education incentives are offered to improve the raw materials. Parents are rewarded for doing their job as parents, and college becomes more affordable as the matured amount of money available is likely to be between 10 and $15,000.
Schools will be serving their clients: families and students, the people for whom school exists. Families and children will be rewarded according to their own success. Employers will have a greater selection of qualified employees. Neighborhoods will benefit from reduced crime. The family unit will be cherished, encouraged, and promoted.
Recently, Kalamazoo Mi. introduced a program similar to ICAs. An anonymous donor made a contribution promising all students who qualify a free college education. What happened after just two years is so promising the Governor of Michigan is trying to spread the program statewide.
In two years enrollment in Kalamazoo Public Schools increased by 900 students. Property values rose by 7% and 10% increasing city revenues.
No doubt these were already interested, concerned, effective parents taking advantage of an opportunity. A similar program years back in an inner city school in Philadelphia known as the Belmont 112 did not produce similar results. The challenge in education is to create interested, effective parents. It takes more than money: It takes educating parents as to how to educate their
ICAs require no experimental or expensive charter schools. ICAs eliminate the controversy involved with unproven, indeterminable concepts such as merit pay for teachers.
While standardized tests can be part of determining the percentage of the ICA sent to the college or trade school of the child’s choice, grades, behavior, and effort can be taken into account to obtain a more accurate and complete picture of the child. The ICA is all carrot and no stick. It eliminates the fraud so prevalent in Charter Schools, Voucher Programs, Merit Pay for Teachers, and with Educational Management Organizations.
We can create parental involvement with policies that demonstrate government can be effective in solving complex problems. Individual College Accounts nurture families, something politicians of both parties can stand behind. Let’s hope it gets done. | <urn:uuid:ccc61158-5d56-4a93-8db9-2a9efdf8b3f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://teacherscount.wordpress.com/tag/no-child-left-behind/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963138 | 984 | 2.703125 | 3 |
I have seen questions on tunnelling SSH through multiple machines but I want to tunnel a SOCKS connection.
Normally I would use something like
ssh -C2qTnN -D 8080 username@remote_machine to make the local port 8080 a SOCKS tunnel through the remote machine. I would like to open a socks connect from my laptop on machine2, that can only be reached via SSH from machine1.
So rather than tunnelling SSH connections in the normal sense, I suppose I wish to run that command on machine1 so the local port 8080 is redirected to machine2 and somehow pipe 8080 on machine1 back to a local port on laptop. | <urn:uuid:e6ad0a76-79e8-4520-9832-8d034f6adc7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://unix.stackexchange.com/questions/48926/tunneling-ssh-through-multiple-machines-for-socks | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913185 | 143 | 1.742188 | 2 |
By Echelle, Pure Matters
I can’t say enough how important it is to work on your core muscles.
This includes your abdomen, back, hips, and I like to include the glutes because they too are engaged in many core exercises and many of the back muscles attach at the glutes.
Not only is strengthening your core important for good posture, but by having a strong core, you’re ensuring that you have less of that ‘belly fat’ -- which is the dangerous (visceral) fat. Visceral fat is bad because it surrounds the internal organs impeding their ability to function in their proper an intended manner.
To help your good fight towards a strong core and against the bad fat, here are my top 5 exercise picks:
PLANK (a.k.a.The Hover)
This exercise is great. I love how it kind of sneaks up on you to bring the pain. It forces you to really engage your core in order to maintain good form -- which is essential in any exercise. Once you’re about 15 seconds into to ‘holding’ this position, you’ll start to feel it burn as your engaged muscles are working to maintain the pose. You’re not moving, but you’re working hard. Those core muscles are engaged: they’re working, they’re getting stronger. You’re getting stronger:
- Begin in the plank position with your forearms and toes on the floor
- Keep your torso straight and rigid and your body in a straight line from ears to toes with no sagging or bending
- Keep your head relaxed (neck in neutral) and look at the floor
- Hold this position for 10 seconds to start
- Over time, work up to 30, 45 or 60 seconds
SUPERMAN (a.k.a. Tantrum)
I love doing the Superman because it makes me laugh. I allow clients to let loose with this one when they are in the full Superman position and tell them that they can yell and scream if they want -- like a child having a Tantrum. They love it!
This exercise is fun, and you don’t really feel it until you’re well into it because you’re having so much fun doing it:
- Lie face down on a mat with your arms stretched above your head (like superman)
- Raise your right arm and left leg about 5-6 inches off the ground (or as far as you comfortably can)
- Hold for 3 seconds and relax
- Repeat with the opposite arm and leg
- Now that you’ve got the gist of it, pick up the tempo (double time), and if you want, start yelling and screaming! | <urn:uuid:d370e107-d008-4b8f-929c-2a3a2de9a0fa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ksbw.com/6-exercises-for-your-core/-/1824/18173244/-/yre2q8z/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94891 | 578 | 1.515625 | 2 |
It’s easy to see why diamond is the world’s most popular gem: it combines dazzling brilliance with prismatic fire. Earth’s hardest substance, diamond embodies “forever.” Most couples around the world choose a diamond engagement ring.
The ancient Greeks called diamond “adamas,” meaning invincible, theorizing that something so beautiful must be the crystallized teardrops of the gods. The Romans thought diamonds must be fallen stars. Wearing diamond is said to attract good fortune too.
Those who are fortunate enough to wear diamonds know how versatile they are: so perfect an accent with every outfit that many never take them off.
As anyone who’s shopped for diamonds knows, their value varies dramatically with quality. White gems with the least amount of color and the fewest imperfections are the most rare and valuable. The bigger the diamond, the higher its carat weight and the more it costs per carat. Cut is arguably the most important value factor because the quality of a diamond’s cut gives it its life and sparkle. Higher quality diamonds tend to hold value better than inexpensive gems, so most experts advise buying a better, smaller stone rather than a larger lower quality version.
In addition to being the birthstone for April and the gem of the 10th and 60th anniversary, diamonds today are a wardrobe essential. Diamond stud earrings are a wear-everywhere basic that can take you from the grocery store to Oscar’s red carpet. Diamond drop earrings make every day an occasion. And most women today, married or single, wear a fashionable diamond ring on their right hand, as essential to being well-dressed as the right handbag or shoes.
With the great selection of fashionable diamond jewelry today, you don’t have to be born in April to make a little luck of your own. | <urn:uuid:c8060eba-bead-40e2-a7a4-d3d6bcbae124> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.gemvara.com/2010/04/02/diamond-let-there-be-light/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943856 | 388 | 2.234375 | 2 |
ARCHDIOCESE OF CHICAGO OBSERVES NATIONAL CHILD ABUSE PREVENTION MONTH
Children Matter Network Website Provides Liturgy Link and Resources
Chicago, IL (April 6, 2009) – The Archdiocese of Chicago and the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth have joined with other organizations concerned with child welfare, in observing April as National Child Abuse Prevention Month. The Archdiocesan Office for the Protection of Children and Youth’s stated mission is to protect the dignity of children and assist those who have been affected by abuse.
The Children Matter Network website, www.childrenmatternetwork.org, is currently focused on materials and resources for parishes and schools to use in pastoral, parental or educational ministries with children during Child Abuse Prevention Month. A Liturgy Link has been placed on this website with the intention that prayers for those who are victims of child abuse, as well as those who are at risk, be included in masses, prayer services and personal reflections.
Other materials for use in connection with the April Prevent Child Abuse Campaign are provided on the Children Matter Network website through a link to the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops website at www.usccb.org/ocyp.
The Archdiocese of Chicago is also partnering with Prevent Child Abuse Illinois, a chapter of Prevent Child Abuse America. Prevent Child Abuse Illinois’ mission is to prevent child abuse and neglect across the state, while working to protect children and strengthen families through public awareness, education, advocacy and community assistance. The Children Matter Network website provides a direct link for schools and parishes to the Prevent Child Abuse Illinois’ Child Abuse Prevention Month Community Packet with materials including Facts About Child Abuse, Warning Signs of Abuse, What to Do in Your Community, Community Prevention Campaigns, What to Do if You See Child Abuse in a Public Place, information about the Blue Ribbon symbol of Prevent Child Abuse Awareness.
The Archdiocese has been proactive in establishing policies and procedures to address child sexual abuse by church personnel since 1992. Since establishing the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth in 2003, over 75,000 lay employees, volunteers who work with children and clergy have attended Virtus/Protecting God's Children training and completed a background check. Additionally, 220,000 young people have participated in safe environment education programs in Catholic schools and religious education classes.
Three agencies operate out of the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth: the Safe Environment Office provides ongoing training for children and adults on prevention and reporting of abuse, and checks the backgrounds of all clergy and staff and all volunteers who work with children; the Office for Assistance Ministry provides outreach to victims of clerical sexual abuse; the Office for Child Abuse Investigations and Review receives and reviews allegations of sexual abuse of children by clergy, employees or volunteers of the Archdiocese of Chicago. For information about the Office for the Protection of Children and Youth visit www.archchicago.org. | <urn:uuid:a557b2b1-e80b-4052-98f0-1b8574da5891> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archchicago.org/news_releases/news_2009/news_040609.shtm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939216 | 604 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Yep and strangely enough…
Animals are continually confronted with disease and infection, but luckily the natural world is a veritable pharmacy. The study of what animals do when they are sick – called zoopharmacognosy – began in 1978.
“Self-medication can take many forms and occurs widely across the entire animal kingdom,” says primatologist Michael Huffman from Kyoto University in Japan. “But we still have a lot to learn in this area.”
Take prenatal drugs
Huffman and his team saw pregnant sifakas (Propithecus verreauxi), a species of lemur in Madagascar, eating the leaves and bark of fig and tamarind trees in the weeks before giving birth. Small doses of these tannins stimulate milk production and kill gut parasites, and the group that ate the tannins had fewer failed pregnancies than a group of sifakas that didn’t.
Like something out of a horror movie, flies crawl inside the woolly bear caterpillar (Grammia geneura) and lay eggs. The caterpillar becomes paralysed and when the fly larvae hatch, they eat the caterpillar alive. But it has some defence.
In 2005, entomologists Elizabeth Bernays and Michael Singer from the University of Arizona reported that infected woolly bears seek non-nutritive leaves from threadleaf groundsel (Senecio longilobus). These leaves contain a toxic compound, pyrrolizidine alkaloids, which can kill parasitic fly larvae.
Just as we have our coffee in the morning, Chacma baboons (Papio Ursinus) in South Africa are known to occasionally consume a small quantity of leaves from Euphorbiaceae plants. These plants are not part of their regular diet. Researchers from the University of California, Davis classify them as ‘euphorics’ as baboons consumed them consistently but only in minute quantities. Euphorbiaceae plants are known for their stimulant properties, however, studies into the plant’s full pharmacological benefits are ongoing.
Use insect repellent
Wedge-capped capuchin monkeys (Cebus olivaceus) that live in the tropical rainforests of Venezuela protect themselves from mosquitoes by using insect repellent. Instead of a bottle of spray, however, capuchins reach for a millipede (Orthoporus dorsovittatus) to rub over its body. Millipedes secrete benzoquinones, a potent insect repellent.
Irrigate their colon
Researchers from Kyoto University observed sick chimpanzees (Pan troglodytes) in the forests of Tanzania folding Aspilia leaves and swallowing them whole. The physical irritation produced by the bristly leaves on an empty stomach increases gut motility and secretion resulting in diarrhoea. This sheds the body of parasitic worms, a major cause of illness in chimps.
Fumigate their nests
Dusky-footed wood rats (Neotoma fuscipes ) that occupy forested areas in California engage in nest fumigation behaviour to control fleas, ticks and mites. Animals that rest in nests or burrows are particularly susceptible to nest-borne parasites that carry disease.
In 2002, researchers from Vassar College in New York showed that dusky-footed wood rats place bay leaves in their sleeping nests and regularly make tears in them to release fumigating vapours, significantly reducing parasite survival. [Click here to read FULL list]
The fact that man has SO much he can learn from Mother Nature if he just opens himself to the FACT that MN knows best- Who would have seen THIS one coming, eh?
*waves hand madly in the air* “Me, me, me!”
*whispers harshly* “You don’t count.”
I’m so strict, yeah? Jeez.
*rubs arm, pouting* | <urn:uuid:99ddf0e3-8d1d-4118-9685-ec1c05362a43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://anguishedrepose.com/tag/chacma-baboons/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919347 | 824 | 3.0625 | 3 |
I always thought the naming of military operations was something of a minor art form. Once upon a time, names were made up on the spot by a commander or one of his staff officers.
- "Overlord" — the D-Day invasion of France. The all-time classic name.
- "Torch" — the invasion of North Africa in 1943 (during which many Vichy French soldiers surrendered or assumed room temperature) which ultimately helped defeat Rommel's vaunted Afrika Korps.
- "Market-Garden" — the airborne invasion of Holland depicted in the film A Bridge Too Far.
- "Urgent Fury" — the invasion of Grenada.
- "Tidal Wave" — the bombing of oil refineries in and around Ploesti, Romania in August of 1943.
["Tidal Wave" is my all-time favorite-to-study combat mission in all of history. 178 B-24 "Liberator" heavy bombers flew at tree-top level, right into the muzzles of the flak cannons, in an attempt to destroy a portion of Germany's oil-refining capability. Such courage is hard to fathom. 30% of the aircraft were lost, and the aircrews suffered 55% casualties. Five Medals of Honor were awarded for the mission, three posthumously. And I'll bet a dollar that you never even heard of it before now.]
Later, names were made by pulling two random words from a sort of operation name generator book. Now I suppose they're generated by a computer.
The point of an operation name wasn't to have something catchy for the press release. OPSEC — Operations Security — was not something to be taken lightly. The name of an operation was thus supposed to be a reference term that would not give away the objective of the operation. A hypothetical German agent in 1944 London overhearing the phrase "Operation Overlord" would have had no idea to what it referred.
Then came the era of Pentagon press awareness. Suddenly, the name of an operation was not a trivia item to be memorized by bored high school history students 30 years later, it became the chapter name for textbooks yet to be written.
- "Just Cause" — Panama.
- "Desert Shield / Desert Storm" — duh.
- "Iraqi Freedom" — biggest duh of them all.
The Pentagon really needs to fire the staffer who came up with "Operation Iraqi Freedom." "Operation Sleepy Weasel" would have been a more OPSEC-conscious name.
And today begins "Phantom Fury," the taking of Fallujah. Sanity appears to have returned to the Operations staff, as far as naming operations goes. It sure beats "Operation Urban Brawl" or "Operation Take Fallujah." And three or four months ago, when planning for Phantom Fury began, the name would have given no indication of intent to any possible eavesdroppers.
As a side note: a number of years ago the Pentagon decided that frivolous or non-serious names were inappropriate. Indeed. Good men were and are killed on these operations. No one wants to hear that their son has died in action, and it would be an outrage to tell parents that their son had died in "Operation Fluffy Bunny."
Late, late update – 12Aug2005: John at Castle Argghhh! goes into much greater detail on the topic. Definitely recommended reading.
Posted by Russ at 12:30 PM, November 8, 2004 in Nat'l Security | <urn:uuid:a166c952-2929-44d4-bbfa-41367bfac5b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emersons.net/mt/archives/000723.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971452 | 724 | 2.125 | 2 |
The Shakespeare Conference: SHK 17.0618 Tuesday, 4 July 2006
From: Nabie Swaray <
Date: Monday, 3 Jul 2006 09:18:22 -0700 (PDT)
Subject: 17.0588 Shakespeare and Islam
Comment: Re: SHK 17.0588 Shakespeare and Islam
The Ottoman Empire as a major player in European conquest, as a
formidable foe that threatens Europe's expansionist ambition, and of
course, of her military might are factors that must have led to the
spread of Islam and a passionate interest in Islamic teachings.
Shakespeare refers to the Ottomans, now Turkey, as " The barbarous
Turks" who poses a threat to Cyprus, a Christian establishment.
Eventually, this immediate threat leads to the employment of Othello as
General to tame the " barbarous Turks." Today, the "September 11"
incident that led to the bombing of the Twin Towers in New York, The
Pentagon and other tragic incidents linked to Alqaeda have ignited a
love-hate interest in Islam. Some American Universities are not only
recommending courses in Islam but that student must read the 'Quran
itself as the source to understand the enemy. The entire world is
gripped in this dilemma, and the media continues to bombard us with
images and news about Islamic atrocities. The parallels are similar. If
the method of conquest and conversion employed by the " barbarous Turks"
are as frightening and threatening to the safety of the rest of the
world and her citizens, this and other factors must have fueled a
passionate interest in Islam. How can one fight a treacherous and
barbaric enemy if you failed to understand the source that motivates
him/her. This must have been the dilemma Shakespeare and even other
writers such as the Elizabethan and Jacobean dramatists had to face. If
Islam was becoming a threat and an overwhelming force at Shakespeare's
time, the audience, with an awe-inspiring attitude, thirst for knowledge
about Islam and the "Turks." As a result, Shakespeare must have found
Islam an interesting topic to write about. Today, we are gripped with
important and dominating subjects such as "Islamic Terrorists", HIV/AIDS
and other great issues. During the cold war, the spy novel thrived and
dominated the world of fiction. John Updike has a new novel, titled:
"Terrorists." Why did he choose to write a novel based on the subject?
The answer is, Terrorism is now the most popular subject and it has
dominated our lives since the "911" incident. Therefore, Islam, which
is linked with the rise and dominance of the Ottoman Empire at that
period must have sparked a global interest, especially when that part
of the world remained threatened by this unfamiliar enemy. I hope my
answer has shed some light on this question: Why Islam in Shakespeare's
three plays: Othello, Titus Andronicus and The Merchant of Venice.
Thanks, Cary DiPietro for bringing up this subject. I am very interested
in writing about Islam in Africa. There are other African authors who
have already treated this subject in some of their works. Here, I will
name a few: "Ambiguous Adventure" by Sheik Hamid Kane; "Bound To
Violence" by Ologuem; " The Dark Child" by Camara Laye; in film: the
most notorious is the Senegalese Filmmaker, Osman Sembene, in films such
as: "Cedo," "Mandabe" or "The Money Order" and " Xala." My play: " Worl'
Do For Fraid" published by Three Continents Press also addresses this
question-not the violence that is connected with radical Islam but Islam
as taught by the Sunii Muslims. My great grandfather was the first to
build an Islamic college in one of the Anglo-phone sub-Saharan West
Africa-Sierra Leone. This college inspired early British colonialists,
and the late Blyden the First in his writings discussed the spread of
Islam in my home town, Kambia. Islam became such a powerful force in
early colonial Sierra Leone that Governor Rowe was forced to practice a
policy of tolerance and compromise if Britain was to hold on to this
principality. But when Islam of the sword practiced by a tragic-figure
from Mauritania, Hyedara "Konthorfilli" came to Sierra Leone to spread a
radical form of Islam that involved the same violent methods practiced
today by Osama Bin Laden and Alqaeda, his rebellious group provoked the
British colonial government, it ended in tragedy. Records at the British
Museum are available that showed the savgery, brutality and terrorists
activities employed by Hyedara in spreading Islam from Franco-phone
countries to Anglo-phone countries in Sub-Saharan West Africa. The
climax of this conflict resulted in the death of a British District
Officer, a young Oxford educated in charge of Kambia District, a region
in the Northern Province of Sierra Leone. Hyedara's methods have
terrorized the African natives and conquered many territories. He was
bent on expanding his Islamic Empire that would infringe upon British
Rule and principalities. Hyedara's ambition to drive the British from
Sierra Leone resulted in his death. He and his men were poised to
unleash a reign of terror in order to subdue the rest of Sierra Leone.
On a very fateful day, he began his Islamic conquest to gain more
territories in Sierra Leone. The British Colonial Government was by now
greatly determined to stop his movement. The young district officer set
out to meet him at the Kambia Barracks. His method was to persuade him
not continue his conquest. Just when the young officer stepped forward
to ask him and his men to turn back, Hyedara drew his sword, cut off his
head and killed him. Although there were rumors about Hyedara's
invincibility and supernatural powers, the soldiers protecting the young
British officer, also slaughtered him. This ended the spread of radical
Islam in many West African countries. Although the British succeeded in
this, the spread of radical Islam is spreading like wild fire today in
the African continent. I have given you this account to show you that
Islam, not just as a religious force but also as a political force had
and continue to play a part in the conflict between the Islamic world
and Western World. Writers influenced by such events are bound to write
about it. This was the situation with Shakespeare.
Have a nice Fourth of July holiday.
Nabie Y. Swaray.
PS. My play about radical Islam I am working on is called: "The Day
Allah Died in My Father's House." The novel and Film I plan to write
about Radical Islam is: "Hyedara: The Prophet and the Sword of Allah. A
play like "Tamborine" also discusses Islam.
S H A K S P E R: The Global Shakespeare Discussion List
Hardy M. Cook,
The S H A K S P E R Web Site <http://www.shaksper.net>
DISCLAIMER: Although SHAKSPER is a moderated discussion list, the
opinions expressed on it are the sole property of the poster, and the
editor assumes no responsibility for them. | <urn:uuid:175b190d-db8b-4efc-8f40-99edd4812990> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shaksper.net/archive/2006/245-july/24703-shakespeare-and-islam | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950722 | 1,583 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Climate protesters blockade government offices
Pat Eatock, 71, from the Aboriginal Rights Coalition at the climate change protests.
Photo: Sahlan Hayes
Student, environment and community organisations joined green groups in blockading government offices across the nation's major cities this morning in anger at Prime Minister Kevin Rudd's 5 per cent emissions cuts target.
Wielding banners calling for "Policy change, not Climate change", protesters in Sydney voiced their outrage at emissions cuts they saw as "half measures" at rallies outside the Federal Government offices in Phillip Street and Labor MP Tanya Plibersek's door in Surry Hills.
Led by NSW Greens MP John Kaye, community members outside the Federal Government offices called for a "climate leader, not a climate follower" in the face of emission targets they labelled a joke.
"It's not a white paper, it's a white flag of surrender," Mr Kaye said.
"Australia needs real targets that not only bring down our greenhouse gas emissions but also drive the change in our economy to create real jobs.
"It's a kick in the guts to climate and a kick in the guts to renewable energy," he said.
Mr Kaye spoke alongside Nature Conservation Council of NSW chief executive officer Cate Faehrmann and Australian Student Environment Network spokeswoman Nicky Ison.
He called the emissions target "a free kick to the coal industry" that neglected to support the Australian economy and workforce against recession through proper investment in renewable energy.
"Stiffer targets would give Australia a boost to the economy - that will see us come out of the current recession with a strong economy based on exporting renewable energy," Mr Kaye said.
"Working families are being deserted on the job front."
Woollahra resident, Linda Wilhelm, 62, who attended the 10am rally, said Mr Rudd's lack of ambitious leadership in cutting emissions made her "embarrassed to be an Australian".
"I'm just so depressed, so disappointed in the Labor Government. There was such a strong promise to do what the previous government failed to do and then we come up with 5 per cent. There may as well be no per cent," Mrs Wilhelm said.
Her distress at Mr Rudd's failure to deliver on Professor Ross Garnaut's target of 25-40 per cent by 2020 was echoed by the community's youth.
"Five per cent is a joke," said student Rachael Chick, 20. "I voted for Kevin Rudd in the last election pretty much because of his stance on climate change. Now I think he's just being a fence sitter."
Ms Ison and Ms Faehrmann said Mr Rudd's target made it clear he had turned his back on the voting Australian population who want decisive action on climate change.
Similar concerns were voiced outside Ms Plibersek's office, as members of Climate Action Balmain-Rozelle surrounded the entrance. They were dressed in flippers and goggles in reference to rising sea levels caused by global warming.
The group's organiser, Jenny Curtis, said the community was frustrated its position on climate change was not being heard by elected leaders.
"What does Kevin Rudd say to all those thousands of people who have Walked against Warming, who have turned their lights out in Earth Hour? If he's looking for a mandate from the people to go for strong targets then what do we have to do?" she said.
Ms Faehrmann said the Government would now see a spike in more drastic measures to get the message across.
"When it comes to the planet and a safe climate we need to step it up. They haven't listened to us when we've politely asked, so I think there will be a rise in non-violent, direct action [such as] occupying Parliament and sit-ins in offices," Ms Faehrmann said.
Ms Chick said community climate action groups around the country were already preparing to confront the Government at Parliament House next year, in the lead-up to the United Nations Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen.
An Australian Climate Action Summit arranged for February 3 will unite thousands of community members in a human circle around Parliament on its first sitting day, in a bid to sway the Rudd Government to raise its emissions targets to 40 per cent by 2020.
send photos, videos & tip-offs to 0424 SMS SMH (+61 424 767 764), or us. | <urn:uuid:bd8a2d36-cf5c-4b6e-aee6-e9ba2359cd07> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/global-warming/climate-protesters-blockade-government-offices/2008/12/16/1229189607018.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967803 | 901 | 1.828125 | 2 |
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Cataracts are the leading cause of blindness in the world. Cataracts affect 20.5 million Americans age 40 and older.
Fortunately, in the U.S., cataract surgery is safer and simpler than ever with results that cannot only improve your vision but can potentially do so and eliminate your need or dependency on glasses.
Usually, cataracts develop slowly with little effect on vision. But as the cataract grows, vision becomes blurred, like looking through a cloudy lens or an impressionist painting. | <urn:uuid:90dcdec0-40d6-4008-bd68-ffc746b4dbf1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.laruecountyherald.com/section/opinion?page=14&mini=calendar-date%2F2013-01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934777 | 106 | 2.765625 | 3 |
Are you from an African Commonwealth country, between 18-30 years old and engaged in youth parliaments, non-governmental organizations or youth dealing with environment or climate change?
Apply to join as part of a selected group the Youth Parliament – Climate Change special session from September 7-9, 2011 in London, England.
Application deadline: 5 August 2011. Please see application details below.
The goal of the conference is to empower youth parliamentary groups and help them to engage Members of Parliament (MPs) more effectively in issues around climate change.
The World Bank Institute (WBI) announces this call for applications jointly with the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association (CPA).
Climate change is one of the major challenges facing the world. Many countries, especially developing nations, have already been impacted by climate change. This has affected their development as a result of adverse impacts on sectors such as agriculture, food security, human health and tourism and further exacerbated by ongoing pressures such as land degradation, water scarcity and underdevelopment.
Governments have an important role to play, providing information, incentives, and an economic environment to foster adaptation and mitigation actions, engaging in new opportunities such as those stemming from climate finance and green technologies. Parliaments have major responsibilities in the climate change and sustainable development agenda through their key role in developing and passing legislation and holding governments accountable to climate change related commitments and objectives.
By participating in this conference youth leaders will:
- deepen their knowledge and understanding of climate change;
- develop a strategy on how youth can engage their national and/or constituency MPs on climate change issues;
- develop a work plan on how the strategy can be operationalized and mainstreamed into national climate change development agendas;
- be empowerd to become actively involved in climate change issues and encourage effective networking across regions for knowledge exchange and sharing of best practices.
Selection and Eligibility Criteria
Submit a completed two page application in English (see annex for the template) which summarizes:
- Current involvement and a proven track record as a member of a Youth Parliament either at the local, national or international level for at least one year prior to the application;
- A proven track record of involvement or affiliation with a registered organization or NGO, at least one year prior to the application, working on environment and/or climate change related issues;
- Experience or knowledge in either sustainable development or youth leadership, development activities and/or climate change;
- Effective communication and excellent written and oratory skills;
- Citizenship from a Commonwealth African country and within the age group 18-30 years.
- Have an interest in the Commonwealth and political affairs
Selected candidates will be expected to write a 15 page report during the conference session on how youth can better engage MPs to enhance transparency on climate change issues. Other items may be expected and will be communicated to participants.
Air travel cost at economy level, accommodation, and meals will be covered by WBI and CPA.
The outcome of this conference will be a report that will be incorporated into a future CPA / WBI publication on parliaments and climate change.
Submission deadline and further information:
Application Form
The applications must be submitted by midnight (24:00 hours) US Eastern Standard Time on 5 August, 2011 to Program team representative Iretomiwa Olatunji through email: firstname.lastname@example.org . Successful applicants will be notified by 8 August, 2011. Further information or clarification can also be directed to Iretomiwa Olatunji by email or Tel: +1-202-473-8243. | <urn:uuid:77a99391-8452-4717-a827-3e5175e4b819> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://climatechange.worldbank.org/print/6549 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928018 | 740 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Pay-to-participate reaches Somerset County
Conemaugh Township and Windber softball players will pay a fee this year if they want to participate in athletics. Both school districts voted to initiate pay-to-participate policies for the new school year. (Daily American file photo)
The number of students participating in high school sports increased for the 21st consecutive year, according to High School Today magazine’s May edition. There were more than 7.6 million participants during the 2009-10 school year. The article also stated that about 11 million students across the country will participate in activities such as speech, music and theatre along with sports.
A survey of National Federation of High School-member state associations in the September 2009 issue of High School Today indicated that participation fees were being used by schools in 33 states. The NFSHSA now believes all 50 states may have high schools initiating pay-to-participate policies.
Bruce Whitehead, executive director of the National Interscholastic Athletic Administrators Association, said there seems to be a greater need to do this in metropolitan and suburban areas than in rural areas. He added the fees charged are quite varied in amount — ranging from $25 to $500.
Conemaugh Township Area
Conemaugh Township school board members voted on a $30 fee for students enrolled in extracurricular activities when they finalized their 2011-12 budget in May. Families with more than one child involved will be charged $20 for each student beyond the first.
Mike Kelly, father of twin sons in the school district, said he isn’t a fan of the pay-to-participate policy but will pay it because it is their senior year.
“I’m going to sell football tickets and pay the money for them to play,” he said. “It comes down to what the kids want — as long as it’s not damaging to them. It helps build leadership, and it makes them better people to be a part of a team.”
Kelly said he has already turned in the money the twins raised from fundraising but hasn’t been notified when the pay-to-participate money is due.
“I think most parents will pony up the money,” he added. “I also think the people whose kids don’t get any playing time will complain more because their kids sit the bench and they are still paying for them to be there.”
Windber Area School District also voted in May in favor of a one-time $25 participation fee for all activities.
Chris Schreyer said the school sent home a letter with all children before the end of the school year.
“It said we were responsible for physicals, the $25 fee that covered the entire year and we had to have our own insurance,” the mother of a senior and twin freshmen in the district said. “There used to be a school-based insurance you could get. I am not sure how many used it, but I would think there will be a few less students playing sports in these tough economic times.”
Schreyer said the district has asked the parents and boosters to fund more and more over the years. While uniforms are standard issue, shoes, socks, rain gear, batting helmets and more are not.
“Between my three kids, they play five different sports at the varsity level,” she said. “I will do whatever it takes for them to participate. I’m constantly fundraising. As a member of multiple booster organizations, I can tell you we do a lot of strategy on how we are going to fundraise so people don’t get tired of us asking for money.”
Rockwood Area School District parents, boosters and community members came up with dinners, a community auction, hoagie sales and more when they were faced with the pay-to-participate policy in 2008.
Financial problems forced the district to cut $600,000 from its budget, including $130,000 for 13 athletic and extracurricular activities such as band and forensics.
Each child was required to submit a $50 deposit if they were going to participate in any activity.
Fundraisers along with the district reallocating funds and cutting a teaching position provided enough money to pay for all of the activities and refund the original $50 deposit.
“The kids were to pay a few hundred dollars originally,” parent and booster Fran Brancato said. “I am not sure a specific number was ever really thrown out because of how many times the amount needed changed. Boosters were really concerned we would lose participants because of it. I was more than willing to pay the first time and if we ever have to do it again I will.”
Brancato said the boosters are now helping cooperative school Turkeyfoot Valley remain involved with Rockwood athletics, like Turkeyfoot has been since 2007.
Turkeyfoot Valley school board members voted in May to cut transportation for the athletes, cheerleaders and band members who participate in activities at Rockwood.
“We talked about several scenarios,” business manager Jill Regan said. “We didn’t want to cut the co-op entirely, so we decided on just cutting the transportation, which is about half the cost of what we were paying.”
Regan said the district pays $300 to Rockwood for each of its students to participate in athletics and cheerleading. They are also paying $150 per band member for the first time this year. They had between 25 and 30 students participate in the co-op last year in either soccer, volleyball, cheerleading, golf, band or football at a cost of more than $7,500 for the district.
Brancato said that he has heard a number of concerns from Turkeyfoot parents now that they will have to provide their own transportation.
“Some don’t mind driving up here, but others aren’t able to,” he said. “I know from talking to their boosters that they are trying to figure out a way to get the kids up here. Some may not be able to play. I coach football and know we are lean with those kids. It will be stretching us extremely thin without them.
“We are more than willing to help them out in any way we can. The co-op has greatly helped both schools. Their kids are treated as 100 percent equals.”
Regan, who has a daughter in the band, concurred.
“The first year we had cheerleaders go up there, one was named captain of the squad,” she said. “My daughter has been in the band for five years and was offered a chance to try out for drum major this year. Our kids feel like they are 100 percent welcome and have made many new friends.” | <urn:uuid:f70b03ae-dc89-4949-b031-4a3c8ca7568d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailyamerican.com/news/somerset/da-ot-paytoparticipate-reaches-somerset-county-20110807,0,5352900,full.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982091 | 1,435 | 1.507813 | 2 |
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KRWG.ORG-The Region's Home Page
Wed May 23, 2012
Primary Protests: 4 In 10 Say No To Obama; 3 In 10 Say No To Romney
Though there's no doubt about the nominees, presidential primaries are still being held.
And in both Democratic and Republican contests, some voters continue to register their unhappiness with the choices before them.
Tuesday, President Obama picked up about 6 in 10 of the votes in both the Arkansas and Kentucky Democratic primaries — meaning that about 4 in 10 of the voters chose to express their discontent with an incumbent who faces no serious challenge for his party's nomination. In Arkansas the other votes went to little-known Tennessee attorney John Wolfe. In Kentucky, they went to "uncommitted."
The results were similar to the West Virginia Democratic primary earlier this month, when a prison inmate grabbed about 4 in 10 votes.
On the Republican side Tuesday, the now basically unopposed Mitt Romney continued his march to the party's nomination. He received about 7 in 10 of the votes in both Arkansas and Kentucky. But that means, obviously, that in each state about 3 in 10 primary voters chose to cast their ballots for someone else.
As Politico says, "Obama continued to have trouble ... in Democratic primaries in traditionally conservative states." And as for Romney, "even the presumptive GOP nominee, who has had trouble exciting the conservative wing of his base, didn't turn in a stellar performance."
With neither nomination in doubt, of course, there wasn't as much incentive for supporters of Obama and Romney to get out and vote for their guys. There did, though, seem to be an incentive for some of the candidates' critics to get out and vote against them. | <urn:uuid:ae0e63f5-5c33-4ab5-bc46-bd73184f3946> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.krwg.org/post/primary-protests-4-10-say-no-obama-3-10-say-no-romney | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973893 | 357 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Social networking giant Facebook plans to engage in a new type of mobile advertising based on the apps used by consumers, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday on its Web site.
The social network, which has 900 million users, would use its Facebook Connect feature — which lets millions log into applications using their Facebook ID and password — to track consumers’ apps and tailor ads accordingly, it said.
Facebook — which is based in Menlo Park, California — may also attempt to track how people use the apps, but a final decision has not been made, the newspaper said, quoting unnamed sources familiar with the company’s plans.
The plan is likely to stoke privacy fears, as the initiative would go further than current mobile ad networks, which track ads viewed by consumers on their mobile phone’s Web browser, the report said.
One of the biggest challenges Facebook must confront is its difficulties in generating revenues from smartphones, with an increasing proportion of users accessing the social networks from mobile devices.
That factor led analysts to downgrade their forecasts for the group before its stock market debut in May, which ended up being less than a success.
Doubts about the social networking company’s revenue potential have weighed on Facebook’s stock, which has remained well below its IPO price of US$38. The stock gained US$0.26, or nearly 1 percent, to close on Friday at US$31.73. | <urn:uuid:e791b7a1-4402-4a6c-b812-cca8952b892f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.taipeitimes.com/News/biz/archives/2012/07/09/2003537282 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967621 | 293 | 1.6875 | 2 |
The universe thinks and acts through you. You are not the result of physical forces that have driven all of creation, with human intelligence being a late-stage byproduct. Rather, a universal intelligence is experience itself through countless forms. You are one form of this intelligence, and yet you are also the whole. Just as a cell in the body is expressing the body’s wholeness, you are expressing the wholeness of creation at this very minute.
Ordinary perception cannot see the whole, which is why Jesus spoke so much about making the blind to see. He asked his followers to develop what has been called “second attention,” or divine sight, the ability to know yourself as pure Being, beyond boundaries.
To be the light of the world, you must understand that the world itself is light—that is, pure awareness manifesting in physical form.
To develop second attention, you must attune yourself to it. First attention focuses on the material word; it dwells on appearance rather than essence. The light that Jesus referred to is invisible to the eye but apparent to the soul. When you think, say, or do anything, you are manipulating consciousness, or to put it another way, you are using the stuff of awareness to create something. Just as jet fuel disappears in order to make a plane fly, consciousness disappears when it is used. Its potential turns into some sensation, thought, object, or event. As you read that last sentence you were transforming consciousness without being aware that it is flowing through you.
Jesus asks us to see through this disappearing act. Through second attention, you can perceive yourself as awareness itself, not as one of its products and creations. There are many ways to catch such glimpses.
Whenever you have a flash of love, inspiration, awe, wonder, or joy, remind yourself: This is the real me. Don’t let such moments simply pass you by. Stop and appreciate them, and ask that you receive more in the future. In this way you open a feedback loop between first and second attention. Light starts to enter the world, until the world is eventually seen as made of light and nothing else.
Adapted from The Third Jesus by Deepak Chopra (Harmony Books, 2007).
Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may
not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers. | <urn:uuid:fbe394b5-ae73-4a87-bae4-c9c113fd0636> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.care2.com/greenliving/you-are-the-light-of-the-world.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968319 | 497 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Questions about the use of Design & Construction Support should be directed to CDOT's Standards and Specifications Unit:
Working with Local Government
Governor Hickenlooper has issued an Executive Order directing state agencies to take specific steps to enhance relations with local government. Here is how CDOT is complying with the Executive Order.
When promulgating rules, CDOT routinely utilizes a software system developed by the Department of Local Affairs in coordination with the Governor's Office to notify local elected officials of rule making and request input on the rules.
In accordance with House Bill 11-1002, CDOT has created an online database for the Colorado Department of Transportation's Financial Information | <urn:uuid:a39ee9c2-6a05-4c00-85ab-a08fd75ebcab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.coloradodot.info/business/designsupport/bulletins_manuals/cdot-design-build-manual-2006 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931192 | 133 | 1.515625 | 2 |
In the last few lessons we've been working on rockabilly rhythm. (See Rockabilly Rhythm Basics
and Advanced Rockabilly Rhythm
). This month we will learn how to bookend rockabilly tunes by learning some very popular intros and outros. There's no better way to announce the beginning or ending of a tune than with solid hook. Once you learn the basic licks you'll be better equipped to transcribe the variations or make some up yourself.
Let's start with this classic Cliff Gallop intro in E major. It's a double picked descending major scale that goes into octaves. This one seemed to be the “go to” lick for a lot of rockabilly tunes, especially the Blue Caps material. It sounds like it could have come about by a guitarist imitating a walking upright bass. I've even heard this major scale walked down into minor key tunes. Check out “Race With The Devil” and “Lonesome Train.” Download Audio Example 1...
Here's an intro in the key of A. This double-stop lick is a real attention grabber. I use almost all down strokes for this one. It keeps it sounding more aggressive. Download Audio Example 2...
Can't see your drummer? Not sure how to end that bar fight-inducing jam? This little walkup is built to pull you right to the end with no guesswork. This one is in A major.
Download Audio Example 3...
This is just a great swinging outro lick in F major that ends with a classic 6/9 chord.
Download Audio Example 4...
Jason Loughlin has performed with Amos Lee, Rachael Yamagata, James Burton, Mike Viola, Nellie Mckay, Phil Roy, Marshall Crenshaw, Sara Bareillies, Lesley Gore, Ben Arnold and John Francis to name a few. Jason lives in Williamsburg, Brooklyn performing and teaching. Look out for his new record, Peach Crate, due out in February. For other info be sure to check his website jasonloughlin.com | <urn:uuid:a4829f54-bd1b-4e68-9e7b-3cecc4c4934e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.premierguitar.com/Magazine/Issue/2011/Jan/Twang_101_Rockabilly_Intros_and_Outros.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913211 | 436 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Obama in Israel says he is in ‘historic homeland of the Jewish people’
JERUSALEM — Presenting a contrast to his Cairo speech four years ago—during which he said that Israel was born from the Holocaust—U.S. President Barack Obama in Israel on Wednesday emphasized the historic link of the Jewish people to the Holy Land.
Obama in Israel opened his third visit there, but his first as president, by stressing the “rebirth” of Israel as the historic Jewish homeland.
“We stand together because peace must come to the Holy Land,” Obama said on the tarmac of Ben-Gurion International Airport, Israel Hayom reported.
“I know that in stepping foot on this land, I walk with you on the historic homeland of the Jewish people,” he said.
Obama said, “More than 3,000 years ago, the Jewish people lived here, tended the land here, prayed to God here. And after centuries of exile and persecution, unparalleled in the history of man, the founding of the Jewish state of Israel, was a rebirth, a redemption, unlike any in history. Today, the sons of Abraham and the daughters of Sarah are fulfilling the dream of the ages: to be masters of their own fate in their own sovereign state. Just as we have for these past 65 years, the United States is proud to stand with you as your strongest ally and your greatest friend.”
The U.S. “stands with Israel because it is in our fundamental security interest,” Obama said, citing that as the reason why America “was the very first nation” to recognize Israel 65 years ago.
Naftali Bennett, Israel’s new economy and trade minister, said Obama’s speech was “important because it recognizes the deep historical connection between the people of Israel and the land of Israel.”
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called the occasion of Obama in Israel a “historic moment.”
“I come here today with a simple message. Thank you,” Netanyahu told Obama, adding, “The people of Israel are honored to have you visit.”
Netanyahu said he hoped that Obama in Israel would “get to see a different side of this tiny land.”
“I look forward to working with you over the next four years,” said Netanyahu, whose relationship with Obama has reportedly been tense at times due to disagreements over issues such as the setting of a “red line” for the Iranian nuclear threat and Israeli construction beyond the 1967 Green Line. | <urn:uuid:7658b372-41b0-4131-8aa4-f00a90875257> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cjnews.com/canada/winnipeg-cja-drive-nears-its-556m-goal?q=node/104153 | 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 | 0.963986 | 542 | 1.71875 | 2 |
In California, on the San Joaquim Valley's west side near Los Banos, something strange is happening this summer in the San Joaquin River -- water.
The river has continued to flow to the Pacific Ocean throughout the first summer after an ambitious restoration effort began, sending a powerful signal about the project's potential for success.
This end of the river has been dry in summer since Friant Dam was finished in the late 1940s.
By the end of 2012, officials are supposed to re-establish salmon runs, which perished after the dam was built. But officials need to learn a lot more about the river, 60 miles of which has not been wet year-round in decades.
Read the complete story at fresnobee.com | <urn:uuid:19841c13-08c8-42ed-8ecc-7ae4d8ed3405> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/08/20/99434/california-rivers-restoration.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976268 | 152 | 2.71875 | 3 |
SOUTH BEND Â? Because of the spreading flu epidemic, eight University of Notre Dame students studying in Mexico this semester will return to the United States by the end of this week.
The Notre Dame students were attending Universidad de las Américas in Puebla, Mexico, and the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey (the Tec) in Monterrey, Mexico, the university announced today.
Because of the swine flu epidemic, the Mexican government canceled classes in all schools and universities until May 6, which was to be the last day of classes, so the cancellation effectively ended the semester.
Other Michiana area colleges also are taking precautions related to the spread of the flu.
Continue to check this Web site and read ThursdayÂ?s South Bend Tribune for updates on this story. | <urn:uuid:686969fe-1c64-4785-944a-3011a8ba83c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.southbendtribune.com/2009-04-29/news/26744926_1_flu-epidemic-flu-outbreak-notre-dame-students | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908339 | 183 | 1.609375 | 2 |
He placed his right hand on me and said: “Do not be afraid. I am the First and the Last. I am the Living One; I was dead, and now look, I am alive for ever and ever! And I hold the keys of death and Hades.” Rev. 1:17-18
Dear Lord Jesus, it’s timely, stunning, and encouraging to realize that the most repeated command throughout the whole Bible is “Do not be afraid—do not fear.” The angels spoke these words to startled shepherds at your birth, and you repeated the command to a devastated Mary on the morning of your resurrection. Now you speak these liberating words into our hearts unnerving stories: “Do not be afraid!”
Because you are the First and the Last, Jesus, we don’t have to be afraid of anything between Alpha and Omega. You are God, and we are not. You’ll never have to say “Oops” about anything in world history, or in our stories. You never “try” to do anything. You never have to scratch your head in confusion. You never have to resort to plan B. You are perfectly executing your sovereign will, from naming the stars to numbering our hairs. Glory!
Because you are the Living One, who was dead and who is now alive forever, we don’t have to be afraid of Judgment Day or this day; for your death on the cross was our Judgment Day, and your resurrection is our assurance of being eternally and fully accepted by God. Now the refrain that’s constantly sung over us by the whole Trinity is, “There is now and forevermore no condemnation for those who are in Christ!” Not only is there no condemnation, there is only full delight! What wondrous love is this, indeed!
Lord Jesus, because you hold the keys of death and Hades, and to everything else, we don’t have to be afraid to die or to live. You’ve robbed the grave of its victory, you have removed the sting of death, and you have defeated the devil and all the powers of darkness! We don’t have to be afraid of people and their opinions.
We don’t have to be afraid of world powers and terror. We don’t have to be afraid of failure and its consequences. We don’t have to be afraid of not being enough or having enough. We don’t have to be afraid of getting older or being forgotten. Yes, yes, YES!
You will never leave or forsake us, Jesus. We’re secure and held compassionately, in the palm of your hand. The saints in heaven are joyful than we are, but not more loved. Free us more fully from our fears that we might live more fully to your glory. So very Amen we pray, in your loving and powerful name. | <urn:uuid:3fcb11f7-2d01-430c-84d0-bec3d60c2463> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thegospelcoalition.org/blogs/scottysmith/2012/07/26/a-prayer-about-jesus-and-our-fears/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957503 | 613 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Louise Dresser was the daughter of William S. Kerlin of Evansville, Indiana. Louise Kerlin, (Mrs. Jack Norworth) was 'adopted' by song writer Paul Dresser during an interview. Beginning in 1899, Louise was promoted as Paul's kid sister to appear in Vaudeville singing many of his popular songs. With success Louise chose 'Dresser' as her own name.
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Jesse Jackson makes impression with Cheyney grads
THORNBURY — The applause was fierce as the commencement speaker for Cheyney University of Pennsylvania was announced, but it was counteracted by the punctuated echoing chants between the Rev. Jesse Jackson and the graduates sitting before him.
“I can do anything in the world,” he said as his voice boomed from the podium, to which the graduates replied in kind.
“If my heart can believe it,” Jackson continued.
“Stop the violence, save the children,” he said.
And, “Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive. Keep hope alive,” Jackson said.
Jackson, a legendary civil rights leader who worked with the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. and the Southern Christian Leadership Conference, was honored for his groundbreaking work in the United States and abroad.
After launching two presidential bids in the 1980s, he intervened a multitude of times internationally, from securing the release of captured Navy Lt. Robert Goodman from Syria in 1984 to negotiating for the release of European citizens being held by Saddam Hussein in 1990.
In 2000, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation’s highest civilian honor.
In the audience sat Kaydian McFarlane, a 2011 Cheyney alum, supporting her boyfriend, Anthony Walker, who was receiving his criminal justice degree. Continued...
“He has three other brothers, and he’s the only one to complete college,” McFarlane said.
She recalled what commencement means. “It’s exciting,” she said. “It’s so fulfilling. You think of all the classes you went to, you think of all the people you’ve met.”
Actor Terrence Howard also received a Presidential Award for Distinguished Service at the ceremony. Howard was nominated for an Oscar for his role as a pimp desperate to change his life through music in the movie, “Hustle & Flow.”
“How you deal with change will determine how well you will succeed,” he told the graduates. “Let the petals that fall to the ground, fall to the ground. Make room for new. You can’t go back in time. Keep moving forward.”
Philadelphia residents Latoya Riley and Fala Murray shared their thoughts as they prepared to walk in the processional.
“We’re so excited,” said Riley, a psychology major. “It’s been a long road. It’s just great. I’m overwhelmed with excitement.”
During the ceremony, Jackson advised the 235 graduates that their work was not complete with commencement.
“Too much violence, too much war, too much poverty,” he said. “No one has the right to kill anyone. Color must not be partisan … to the protection of the law.”
He said that Mother’s Day was founded by abolitionist and feminist Julia Ward Howe, who wanted to protest war and set apart a day for celebrating peace and motherhood in 1870, not make it a compulsory, compulsive national holiday.
“Mother’s Day was to be a working holiday, a holy day,” Jackson said. “Could you imagine the end of war and the beginning of peace?” Continued...
Jackson said the degrees issued Saturday were a symbol that the graduates now have the equipment and the preparation to engage in the fight.
“Graduation is a milestone, it’s not an end zone,” Jackson said. “Heal the land.”
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Kent Davidson covers local politics, events, and goings-on in the borough of Media, PA. | <urn:uuid:3d3daf37-18eb-4bb0-92d5-8200620026ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.delcotimes.com/articles/2012/05/13/news/doc4faf2cbd85ea9451473275.txt?viewmode=fullstory | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948364 | 1,267 | 1.734375 | 2 |
State health officials have announced the state’s first death this year due to West Nile virus. While seven human cases total have been reported so far in 2012, this is the first death this year, emphasizing the fact that this mosquito-borne virus isn’t just a risk for those spending time in wooded areas, fishing, or camping. The majority of people who become infected commonly do so while spending time around the outside of the home, working in the garden, mowing the lawn, or simply sitting on the porch.
State Health Commissioner Gregory Larkin says that because the virus is carried and transmitted by mosquitoes, everyone is susceptible to it. He says the tragic death serves as a reminder of just how important it is to take steps to protect ourselves from mosquitoes by using screens on doors and windows, wearing insect repellent, covering up with long jeans and shirts, and by eliminating areas the bugs may use as breeding grounds.
Cases of the virus have been confirmed in Fulton, Hamilton, Jackson, Monroe, Marion, and Venderburgh counties.
West Nile virus usually causes West Nile fever, a milder form of the illness, which can include fever, headache, body aches, swollen lymph glands or a rash. Some individuals will develop a more severe form of the disease with encephalitis or meningitis and other severe syndromes, including flaccid muscle paralysis.
To reduce potential mosquito breeding grounds, discard old tires, tin cans, ceramic pots or other containers that can hold water; repair failed septic systems; drill holes in the bottom of recycling containers left outdoors; keep grass cut short and shrubbery trimmed; and frequently replace water in birdbaths and other containers that hold standing water.
There is no vaccine and no cure for West Nile virus, Saint Louis encephalitis or Eastern equine encephalitis for humans. Individuals who think they may have West Nile virus should see their healthcare provider. | <urn:uuid:d2b265a4-1b12-44e0-985f-173bc00106b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wkvi.com/local/first-west-nile-virus-death-confirmed-in-indiana/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936759 | 396 | 3.296875 | 3 |
There is a lot of talk in the Europe and even some here DownUnder about the issues of global warming right now. Then there is Iraq and the never-ending bloodshed and debate. And of course these and many other issues are really important and need to be addressed, but I am just wondering what will actually happen to Sudan. It seems to be slipping off politicians screens again a bit. Somehow it feels, like the west choses not to get involved too much, because there is soo much to be lost. 1) if you go in there with military power – suddenly you might find yourself regarded as an invading armee. 2) if you go against the government to much, religious islamic tension is getting higher and some wild “freedom fighters” might join forces to attack the constant enemy. 3) you are really risking soldiers or peacekeepers lifes if 1 & 2 come to pass. … “Sudan has rejected a UN force on the grounds that it would be like an invasion. It also warned that Darfur could become a new battlefield for jihadists, as Osama bin Laden had stated that any UN intervention should be resisted.” Thats why we don’t see any military pressure on Khartum (except words) Now I am not a big fan of war anyway, so I think that’s not too too bad really. Sure we have the attempts of 7000 AU forces to “keep the peace” but that is more of a symbolic move than anything. They are clearly strechted with the task. UN troops aren’t not good either, they are ineffective and don’t mostly have any mandate (like the AU) but to watch and so are quite useless, as we saw in Burundi. … “Their mandate is to protect civilians in immediate danger where possible. In practice there have only been a few occasions where the AU has proactively gone out to defend civilians in threat of attack.”
Then there is political pressure which could be used, but a government who doesn’t really care, who has enough ties to other government in the region and Asia to back them up and keep finances flowing, is hard to pressure. And of course there is the Oil as a great income generator with rising demands. There are certain UN Council states who could inforce the sanctions imposed by the UN against Sudan, but unfortunately more interest in oil export and weapon import – so nothing is happening.
So how can the “world community” deal with this problem? It is really diffcult. It isn’t enough that the US calls it the “worst human rights abuse“. That gives the problem a title, but not a solution. The UN still doesn’t quite publicly agree and doesn’t want to call it a genocide, which in effects totally undermines their position calling for increased sanctions. And meanwhile Khartoum is blocking aid and relief workers from getting to people, using aid-helpers as a weapon. Likewise any transition from AU to UN peacekeepers are both blocked by Khartoun and not enforced by the UN (via their members). What else needs to happen, do we need to see 2.000.000 refugees dying from neglect and starved to death, before any decisive action is taken? We clearly can’t quite wait that long. That would be World War level death numbers. Solutions anyone? My approach would somehow go towards “grassroot movements”, pressure from within the islamic community as well as from oppressed Sudanese to change their government. If there just were ways to to that. But how do you motivate people that are starving, persecuted and oppressed like that, to stand up? Or, how do you get Muslims leaders to addresss the issues of violence and injustice in their country? That could be a breakthrough. But I guess as long as the suffering doesn’t reach Khartoum and it’s people, this is very unlikely to happen. Maybe a Ghandi figure is needed, but I wonder if even Ghandi had succeeded in Sudan, or would he have not just simply been shot? And I wonder how all of this would look like if Garang would still be around. ————– Here are the links again. 2007.03.07 – Sudan ‘paralysing’ aid to Darfur 2007.03.06 – Dafur worst Humanitarian Crisis 2006 2006.12.12 – Peacekeeping Forces 2006.10.23 – Western Pressure Fails 2006.09.21 – Dying in Dafur 2006.05.10 – Interlocking Wars 2005.08.03 – African Media on Garang’s Death | <urn:uuid:c76a0df2-17ed-45bf-a0ea-5d1e0ec3be3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.czed.com/blog/tag/garang/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966354 | 967 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Paget's Disease of Bone (cont.)
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Paget's disease cannot be prevented. But you may prevent complications of Paget's disease, such as osteoarthritis, by taking medicine, staying at a healthy weight, and regularly doing gentle exercise that does not cause stress to your bone.
Self-care-such as learning about the disease, avoiding undue stress on your bones, and getting regular exercise-may help you if you have Paget's disease. For example:
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- including 24 hour, pharmacies | <urn:uuid:5691f99d-5d10-42f4-982e-e7e9d898c3ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emedicinehealth.com/pagets_disease_of_bone-health/page7_em.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912726 | 193 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Employers are the folks who pay for 100 percent of unemployment insurance costs, and most agree that when someone loses a job, through no fault of his or her own, there should be a safety net.
While providing that safety net is a covenant that employers make with employees, there is also a covenant made by people who get those unemployment benefits. Those people should be ready and available for work when it is offered. Someone who is on drugs is neither ready nor available.
The vast majority of employers in America require a drug test before hiring someone (57 percent, according to a September 2011 study by the Society for Human Resource Management).
If you cannot pass a drug test, you are saying to an employer, “you can’t hire me.” People who fail a drug test simply aren’t keeping up their end of the bargain to be ready and available for work.
It’s unfair to employers to be asked to subsidize someone’s drug habit, which is exactly what they are doing by paying for someone’s unemployment benefits, and then the recipient is turning around and using those benefits to buy illegal drugs.
The federal government should give the state the power to require drug testing as a prerequisite for receiving unemployment benefits.
I’m not talking about forcing those already unemployed to pay for those tests, nor am I talking about the State of Texas paying for them. We can use a small portion of the unemployment fund, paid for by employers, to finance the testing.
Not only would that eliminate the people who aren’t ready and available for work, it also will tell employers that those who pass the test are ready immediately and are drug-free.
When a person goes to apply for a new job, he or she could provide a card for the prospective employer that they have passed a drug test to be eligible for unemployment benefits.
In many cases that would move the prospective employee to the top of the list. It would greatly increase the chance that they will be hired. To say people receiving unemployment benefits shouldn’t be drug tested is missing the point. Chances are they will be drug tested when they are offered a job anyway.
It would mean an employer wouldn’t need to go through the process of extending an offer, having that offer accepted and then administering a drug test, which is the way the law works today.
It has been argued that people like me, who support drug testing to qualify for unemployment benefits, are somehow trying to diminish public support for the system as a whole. That couldn’t be further from the truth. I think the system will gain public support if people know the folks receiving benefits are actually employable.
This might also make it possible for people to find jobs more quickly, especially as the economy continues to recover.
That would financially strengthen the unemployment system as a whole.
Drug abuse is a very real problem for employers today, certainly one of the most critical problems facing the work force. Abuse of drugs, both illegal drugs and legal prescription drugs, cause hours of lost productivity and high absenteeism.
Every effort the federal and state government can make to reduce the abuse of drugs is one that will greatly benefit all employers as well as the state and country as a whole.
Bill Hammond is president and CEO of the Texas Association of Business. He is a former state representative from Dallas. | <urn:uuid:071cad08-fe51-48a1-9e00-2ac9a56d2ee9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://amarillo.com/opinion/opinion-columnist/guest-columnist/2012-02-18/drug-testing-should-precede-benefits | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973407 | 694 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Passenger Trains Leaving Oklahoma
For twenty years from 1979 to 1999 Oklahoma had no passenger rail service. At its peak Oklahoma had more than 70 passenger trains each day making stops in the Sooner State. That was during world War Two, but by the late 1960s airlines were taking most of the passenger business away from the railroads and that meant big changes ahead for the traveling public. That's our story on Oklahoma Journeys from the Oklahoma History Center.
From the Oklahoma History Center, this is Oklahoma Journeys. I'm Michael Dean.
Following the Civil War, the westward expansion began in earnest. In 1871 the Missouri, Kansas and Texas Railroad, or Katy for short, built a line into the territory to connect trains from Kansas City to Dallas. Later in the 1870s the Frisco entered the territory, though it took until 1898 before its lines were extended from Oklahoma City to Lawton. In 1888 the Atchison, Topeka, and Santa Fe built a line from Arkansas City, Kansas, to Gainesville, Texas, running through what was then called Oklahoma Station. A year later in 1889, many of the people making the land run into the central part of the state arrived from both the north and the south on the Santa Fe Railroad. Also in 1888 the Rock Island followed the old Chisholm Trail running tracks to Pond Creek, El Reno and Minco, and by 1893 from Minco to Dallas. Those railroads played an extremely important part in the growth of Oklahoma. Our central location made it possible to take a train from Oklahoma to almost every major city in America.
By the 1940s Oklahoma had more than 70 daily passenger trains passing through the state. Not only did those trains carry passengers, but they also carried the U.S. mail. Following the war, a number of changes began taking place. Airlines began competing with the railroads for passenger service, and by the late 1950s and early '60s more people were flying than were riding the rails. The post office began shipping more and more mail on airplanes.
In 1968 there were just five passenger trains serving Oklahoma. The Kansas Citian that ran through Oklahoma City to Fort Worth and back; the Santa Fe's Chicagoan which left Oklahoma City every morning at 3:25 for Chicago; the Santa Fe's Texas Chief making a daily run from Kansas City to Dallas and back; and a Kansas City Southern train that ran through Sallisaw on its run from Kansas City to Shreveport then to New Orleans.
In 1971 the federal government created Amtrak and took over passenger service across the nation. By that time only the Santa Fe Texas Chief ran passenger service in Oklahoma, and in 1979, that train was discontinued. But in the fall of 1999, AMTRAK created the Heartland Flyer that makes a daily run from Oklahoma City to Fort Worth and back, with stops in Norman, Purcell, Pauls Valley, Ardmore and Gainsville, Texas. The Heartland Flyer has been very successful and many hope that that service will eventually be extended to Tulsa and eventually north to Kansas City.
You can learn more about transportation in Oklahoma by visiting the transportation gallery in the Oklahoma History Center, NE 23rd Street just east of the state capitol in Oklahoma City. Oklahoma Journeys is a production of the Oklahoma History Center, dedicated to the collection, preservation, and sharing our state's past. I'm Michael Dean. | <urn:uuid:c017b3e4-1a40-403a-9dbd-a029ccd05449> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.okhistory.org/about/transcript.php?episodedate=2011-03-12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966937 | 700 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Uncommon Descent Contest 18 Ancient reptile brain explains human psychology? - winner announced
Here's the contest.
The question arose from my longstanding puzzlement over claims that reptile behaviour could be sharply demarcated from bird or mammal behaviour, according to a tri-partite brain organization. The evidence did not seem to support that. For example, if we use a crude, obvious measure like looking after young, well, many crocodilians (including the Mississippi alligator) are pretty good at it.
Perhaps most reptiles are not. I do not myself plan to conduct a household census among snapping turtles and vipers. But if any species of reptile can do it, the simple three-part claim about the brain seems suspect.
"Aidan" at 3 is the winner, and needs to be in touch with me at email@example.com, to receive his prize.
My only comment is this: If I were a member of a jury that had to decide whether to convict someone of a criminal offence, I would be on my guard immediately when I heard anything about the "reptile brain." So far as I know, if a reptile did it, the reptile's keeper could get a fine for keeping a dangerous animal. That is way less serious than what happens if you are considered morally responsible, instead of unfit to plead, stupid, or something similar.
Meanwhile, I appreciated Collin's comments at 1 and : 2. Re 1: I fear the boy probably did lose his hand/arm or else the use of it, and my purpose in linking to the video was to disadvise foolish stunts with crocodilians. This is unrelated to claims about the "reptile brain" - I would say the same about bears, tigers, or chimpanzees, all of which have inflicted unexpected injuries for no apparent reason. Why risk serious disability to find out that an animal can be unpredictable?
Re 2, it sounds like Collin's in-law is a wise man.
Now here is Aidan's post, a couple of comments interspersed:
The “triune brain” theory (MacLean, 1970) presents the brain in terms of three successive layers:(*Note: As a child, I sometimes wandered through swampy areas. One would sometimes be assailed by a male red-winged blackbird- for no apparent reason. Later, it became clear that he was protecting a nest.)
1) the proto-reptilian system of spinal cord, brain stem, diencephalon and basal ganglia, which controls all genetically-programmed survival behaviours and a range of basic physiological functions such as heartbeat, breathing, digestion, et cetera;
2) the paleo-mammalian ‘limbic’ system, comprised of amygdala, hypothalamus and hippocampus, which generates self-awareness and attendant emotional responses; and
3) the neo-mammalian cerebral cortex, responsible for foresight, insight, reason, speech, et cetera.
MacLean’s model was an attempt to show that the evolutionary inheritance of modern human beings could be directly discerned in the structure of our brains. On the face of it, this seems a reasonable enough approach since, if we are indeed the transitory outcome of an on-going evolutionary process, the evidence ought to be visible within our physiology. As with every evolutionary artefact, however, the theory does not appear to have held up over time and is now outmoded, at least from a neurobiological standpoint. Against the predictions of Maclean’s theory, ‘mammalian’ social and parental behaviours show up in a wide range of non-mammalian vertebrates. Indeed, birds are demonstrably in possession of their own ‘limbic’ structures and reptiles appear to be, too.
[Which is why I would not recommend anyone to interfere with egg-laying vertebrates protecting their eggs, on the theory that those creatures can't - on principle - care - d.*]
The notion of evolution to which the triune theory adheres is ‘pre-synthesis’ – it postulates the addition of novel structure upon novel structure in a linear fashion. The ground of ‘orthogenesis’, however, which presented evolution as steadily progressive, has long since been lost. In the post-synthetic world, those sticking determinedly to evolutionary explanations for the origin and development of life see the process as proceeding mainly through adaptation of pre-existing structures. Three big slabs of systemic independence loosely knitted together would be a crude violation of this, and of the organic interrelatedness of all parts of the brain.
[My own view is that life forms use the brain capacity they have to do their jobs. - d.]
Clinical and ‘pop’ psychologists together and, of course, the lay media, are among those who like the three-brained idea. The concept of mental triplicity does appear to be useful to many people in practice, not as an accurate description of the material organisation of the brain but of the dynamic architecture of the mind as encountered from within. The notion that humans exist upon three ‘planes’ – material, psychic and spiritual – can be found in many traditions and also corresponds to Plato’s tripartite view of the soul. An idea so enduring may well be reflective of something essentially and immutably true.
[Maybe. I don't know. In my experience, "pop" psychologists are looking for "Get out of jail free" cards. "Reptile brain" is as good as the next excuse. We are only beginning the search for real answers.]
Labels: Uncommon Descent contest | <urn:uuid:efdfb145-6c0f-4738-b367-91792375cdd1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.post-darwinist.blogspot.com/2010_01_03_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953426 | 1,192 | 2.515625 | 3 |
My first few posts were devoted to the proposition that bottom-up systems work better than people think. I argued that people systematically underestimate bottom-up systems like evolution, wikipedia, free software, the blogosphere, and the market process. Obviously, the other side of this coin is that people over-estimate the efficacy of top-down systems. I’ve hinted at this conclusion in my posts about cell phone “app stores,” but it’s a general problem that extends far beyond the iTunes store: Large bureaucracies are wasteful. Indeed, I think hardly anyone appreciates just how inefficient they really are.At some level, everyone knows that large bureaucracies are inefficient. We’ve all dealt with the DMV or our cable or insurance companies. We know that large, bureaucratic organizations tend to be slow-moving and unresponsive to customers. Many of us also have friends who work for the government or large companies, and we’ve heard stories of the kind of waste that goes on the inside of these organizations. But while I’ve always known in the abstract how inefficient large companies were, it’s only recently that I appreciated how large this effect is. And the writer who most influenced my thinking on the subject is Paul Graham.
Graham is an interesting guy. During the mid-1990s, he founded one of the first web startups, a company called Viaweb that helped people make online stores. Before the end of the decade, while he was still in his 30s, he sold Viaweb to Yahoo! and walked away with a large enough fortune to finance a comfortable retirement. Since then, he’s branched out into a variety of eclectic pursuits. The two that are relevant for our purposes are: he started writing essays, and he founded a company called Y Combinator.
Silicon Valley is widely known as the leading center of innovation in America and maybe the world. Indeed, it’s a cliche (one I’ve employed myself) to suggest that we’d be better off if the rest of America worked more like Silicon Valley. But of course like any large community, the Valley isn’t monolithic. There’s a lot of innovation going on there, but there’s also a lot of variation. Some parts of the Valley are a lot more innovative than other parts.
Graham has written a number of essays highlighting just how much variation there is in the efficiency of Silicon Valley firms, and just how important size is to this variation. Two kinds of Silicon Valley entities are particular targets of Graham’s ire: large companies and venture capital firms. Graham has an interesting vantage point because his firm, Y Combinator, funds extremely early-stage startups. I think people outside the technology industry tend to use the term “venture capitalist” as a catch-all term for people who fund startups, but it actually has a more specific meaning. Venture capitalists occupy the high end of the startup-funding spectrum. They tend to be investing other peoples’ money, and they prefer to do relatively large deals. Google, for example, raised $25 million from a venture capital firm in 1999. Graham’s firm is at the extreme other end: he finds 20-somethings who often haven’t even started a company and writes them their first checks, typically on the order of $20,000. In between YC and the VCs are “angel investors.” These tend to be successful entrepreneurs investing their own money, and they often make much smaller bets than VCs. Andy Bechtolsheim was an angel investor who famously wrote the Larry Page and Sergei Brin a check for $100,000 when they were just starting Google in 1998.
Graham’s hostility to VCs flows from two factors: because they’re investing other peoples’ money, they’re extremely risk-averse, which creates a variety of problems. They tend to be unduly impressed with long resumes, since investing in someone with credentials is easier to justify if the investment fails. They’re prone to herd behavior, because, again, investing in the same way as their competitors gives them cover if their investments go sour. And they have a tendency to drag negotiations out as long as possible, in hopes of waiting until you either succeed or fail before committing their money.
The other problem with VCs is that, because their profitability tends to be proportional to the size of their fund, they push startups to take a lot more money than they need. Having too much money might not sound like a problem, but getting too much seed money too early can actually be deadly for a startup. First, once a firm has money, investors are going to expect it to “put the money to work,” which typically means hiring a bunch of people who may or may not be essential to the company’s success. And second, it dramatically raises the bar for the company’s success. Selling a company for $20 million is a great success if the founders started out with $100,000 of their own money. It’s not so great if the firm recently closed a $10 million venture capital round. So taking VC money means investors don’t have the option of cashing out quickly, they’re often forced to shoot for that billion-dollar IPO whether they want to or not.
In short, founders find angel investors easier to work with than VCs for two reasons: they’re investing their own money and they’re willing to write smaller checks. The moral of the story is that even at this small scale—companies with a handful of employees, investors putting in a few million dollars—firms experience dramatic diseconomies of scale. The larger the investment, and the greater the distance between entrepreneur and investor, the less efficiently the marginal dollar will be put to use. As we’ll see in my next post, things get even worse with big, publicly-traded companies. | <urn:uuid:499ecb10-fcbe-477d-af88-5fe77eae0a06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://timothyblee.com/2009/11/05/paul-graham-bottom-up-thinker/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966016 | 1,247 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Anemia Drug Side Effects: Procrit, Epogen, Aranesp
UPDATE (5/21/2007): The lawyers at Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. are no longer reviewing or considering lawsuits on behalf of users who suffered from anemia drug side effects. >>READ WHY
Injections administered for treatment of anemia could carry serious risks, especially when they are used aggressively at higher doses.
Anemia injection side effects have been linked to the use of Aranesp, Epogen and Procrit. Problems include an increased risk of:
- Blood clots
- Heart attacks
- Faster tumor growth
ANEMIA INJECTION RISKS
The anemia therapy is often given to cancer patients and kidney dialysis patients to raise red blood cell counts and avoid the need for a blood transfusion. However, as a result of aggressive marketing and advertisements, which failed to disclose the full extent of problems with the treatment, anemia injections have been widely overused at doses which may problems.
Some of the anemia therapy problems which have been confirmed with recent studies include:
- Increased risk of death, blood clots, strokes and heart attacks in patients with chronic kidney failure when given at high doses.
- Increased rate of tumor growth for patients with head cancer, neck cancer and breast cancer when the anemia injection is given following chemotherapy.
- Increased risk of death at all dose levels for cancer patients who are not receiving chemotherapy at the same time the anemia injection is prescribed. In addition, for these cancer patients, the injection demonstrated no benefits in reducing the need for a blood transfusion.
- Increased risk of blood clots or deep vein thrombosis (DVT) for patients receiving the anemia therapy following orthopedic surgery.
ERYTHROPOIESIS STIMULATING AGENT (ESA) SIDE EFFECTS
The anemia therapy problems apply to Aranesp injections, Epogen injections and Procrit injections. All three medications are in a class of drugs known as erythorpoiesis stimulating agents (ESA), which are approved to treat anemia in individuals with chronic kidney failure and those with cancer where anemia is caused by chemotherapy. Since all ESA injections work the same way, the side effects can be found in all of the anemia therapy drugs in this class.
Symptoms of anemia injection problems could include:
- Pain or swelling in the legs
- Increased shortness of breath
- Higher blood pressure
- Increased fatigue
As of March 2007, Erythropoietins were the fifth leading class of prescription medications sold in the United States. In 2006, nearly one million Americans received one of the anemia drugs and the combined annual sales were approximately $10 billion. Although the drugs have been on the market for several years, the manufacturers failed to adequately warn of the potential anemia therapy side effects. In March 2007, the FDA required that a black box warning be added to the label and lawsuits are being reviewed for individuals who have experienced problems.
UPDATE (5/21/2007): Anemia treatment lawsuits are no longer being reviewed by Saiontz & Kirk, P.A. for injuries associated with Epogen, Procrit and Aranesp. >>READ WHY | <urn:uuid:84ea6071-a3a5-4d20-bbe6-838dfd4575cb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.youhavealawyer.com/anemia/side-effects-procrit-epogen-aranesp/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945409 | 670 | 1.921875 | 2 |
New User-Friendly Reportable Food Registry Now Part of FDA-NIH Safety Reporting Portal
May 24, 2010
New web site provides entry to three key FDA safety reporting systems
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) today launched a new Web site for industry to report food safety problems or adverse events involving FDA-regulated foods and animal feeds, pet foods and pet treats, animal drugs, and human gene transfer research. The new site, called the Safety Reporting Portal (SRP), is the next step in FDA’s effort to expand online reporting options.
“The portal will be a key detection tool in improving the country’s nationwide surveillance system and will strengthen our ability to protect the Nation’s health,” said Margaret A. Hamburg, Commissioner of Food and Drugs. “We will now be able to analyze human and animal safety-related events more quickly and identify those measures needed to protect the public.”
The SRP, which opened today at www.safetyreporting.hhs.gov, includes:
- Reportable Food reports for food industry facilities and public health officials when they have determined that there is a reasonable probability that an article of food or animal feed will cause serious adverse health consequences or death to humans or animals;
- A Pet Food report where consumers and veterinary personnel can report adverse events or product problems with pet foods and pet treats;
- An Animal Drug Adverse Event report where animal drug makers and distributors can rapidly report to FDA about issues that may affect animal safety; and,
- An Adverse Event report for biomedical researchers involved in human gene transfer clinical trials.
The SRP provides new more user-friendly conveniences that reporters to the RFR did not have with the former RFR portal: if submitters establish a free account, they will be able to save draft, partially completed, or submitted reports; have new reports pre-populated with their contact information and amended reports pre-populated with all the information from their original submission; and view any previous submissions they have made to the Safety Reporting Portal. These changes respond to concerns industry has raised since the original RFR opened last September. | <urn:uuid:b8536256-7983-4d91-b21f-753c11a74763> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fda.gov/Food/NewsEvents/ConstituentUpdates/ucm213116.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936676 | 457 | 2.140625 | 2 |
Imagine you were bitten by a snake. Upon being bitten, your lungs tighten up and it gets hard to breathe. Your vocal cords start swelling, which produces a measurable drop in the pitch of your voice. Your nose starts running, your eyes start burning, and your body goes into overdrive with mucus production, leaving you coughing and choking. Now imagine that you knew that every bite that you got increases the chances that your next reaction could go from unpleasant to life threatening.
Now, imagine you were bitten by that same snake frequently. You're walking across campus, and get bit by the snake. Sitting in your apartment, and one sneaks into your house and bites you. You walk into a party, you get bitten.
Finally, imagine that every time you get bitten, moments before, you hear the same hissing from the snake. Can you imagine how, after enough exposures, the sound itself would become the sound of fear?
Oddly enough, I'm allergic to marijuana. Every one of the symptoms I described above as coming from a hypothetical snake bite, I get when exposed to marijuana smoke, even in the kinds of moderate doses that seep in from a neighbor's apartment, or from walking past somebody smoking up on campus. Continued exposure has lead to worsening symptoms, leading my allergist to prescribe me an Epipen in case a reaction threatens my life. Unfortunately, even if I can get away, these symptoms can persist for days after a heavy exposure, making me lose my voice partway through lectures, affecting my livelihood.
Because of this allergy and years of exposure, each time I smell pot, I react. Just like if you saw a snake or heard the hissing, I go into fight-or-flight mode, even if just for a moment. An odor that many people just tolerate, and that smokers usually don't notice, to me, is the smell of fear, and I'm not alone in this.
Studies have been done which document the existence, severity, as well as the relative frequency of marijuana allergy. Most allergists, police departments, and even some landlords, are aware of people with this condition, and acknowledge it to be relatively common (though seldom as strong as mine). Unfortunately, although many people know about it, nobody really knows how to deal with it. But really, dealing with it is easy.
Amendment 64 is almost certainly an improvement to our drug laws, but unfortunately, marijuana is now "OK" before our society has a chance to figure out how to handle yet another smoked drug responsibly (as we're still trying to work out the best public health approach to smoked tobacco).
Smoked or vaporized marijuana is an area-of-effect drug. Somebody could drink in one corner of the room and affect nobody but themselves, but a person cannot smoke marijuana without exposing everybody else in the area to it. For most people, it's just an annoying smell, but for people with allergies or respiratory issues, it's dangerous. This area-of-effect is something that legislators and landlords need to think about, but most critically, this is something that you, if you decide to use marijuana, need to consider.
You, of course, have the freedom to do whatever you'd like with your body and your home. But in Boulder, it's quite easy to find a way to get THC that doesn't require smoking, that you can use privately and considerately. If you're gonna bring pot to a party, go to a dispensary for a bag of cookies or bring a box of THC truffles. Be creative and bake your grandma's special brownies extra special.
If you absolutely need to smoke or use a vaporizer in a shared building, use a sealed garage rather than the living room. And cannabis clubs are popping up where you know you'll be among friends, and where people like me dare not approach. You have the freedom to smoke in your apartment, but don't forget, your neighbors have a right to breathe safely in theirs.
All I ask is that you be considerate when you're thinking about smoking marijuana in public, at a concert, or in a shared-wall apartment building. It's not that people like me have moral objections, hate your freedom, or want to be "narcs." It's simply that when you smoke in public or in a shared space, no matter your intentions, you're putting me in danger, and filling my life with the smell of fear. And nobody deserves that.
Will Styler is a graduate student at the University of Colorado Boulder. | <urn:uuid:f9078686-5a64-4026-9be4-53ef687c49a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailycamera.com/guest-opinions/ci_22379956/guest-commentary-other-second-hand-smoke?source=most_viewed | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968812 | 932 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Most people simply cannot contemplate the idea of the world running out of water. The earth has 1,360,000,000 km3 of water - that’s a lot of water. Our failure to distinguish between the “existence” and “availability” is at the heart of the global water crisis. Close to half the world’s population has no immediate access to safe water and that number is estimated to grow by 30% over the next 20 years.
While climate change is a legitimate threat to existing water supplies, the root of the current water crisis is entirely man-made. In the United States 36 states currently face a serious water shortage. A similar trend is seen immerging in the other states as well as Canada. The problem is a concept called water mining, “extracting water from natural sources faster than the hydrologic cycle can replenish”. Groundwaters, rivers, lakes and natural springs are being exploited to the extent the hydrologic cycle is irreversibly compromised.
Who is mining this water? Bottled water companies, agro-businesses, and large manufacturing companies. The privatization of our water supplies could challenge our notion that water in North America is a limitless resource. Extracting water from one natural source and shipping it to far distant areas destroys the hydrologic cycle and inevitably its availability for future use. The Great lakes is a vast reserve of fresh water, which is being mined at a rate of 4 trillion litres every day, which is far greater than Nature’s ability to replenish.
Failure to take action now will dramatically alter our way of life in North America within the next 10 years including the cost of living. I strongly urge you to watch the video below, which helps explain the water crisis and more importantly how you can help protect this precious resource. | <urn:uuid:3c1d4f01-335f-4dc8-9564-7759402d3089> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ascentahealth.com/blog/entry/environment-global-water-crisis | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947202 | 376 | 2.9375 | 3 |
The proposed Placer County Conservation Plan, a regional strategy that could help fast-growing Placer County preserve more than 50,000 acres of open space and strike a balance between long-term growth and conservation, will now include sections of Supervisorial District 5 following actions by the Board of Supervisors on Tuesday.
The conservation plan would provide a comprehensive framework for protecting vernal pools, endangered wildlife, their habitats, and other natural resources. The county’s goal is to develop a plan that will comply with the federal and state Endangered Species Acts, as well as the federal Clean Water Act’s rules for preserving wetlands.
Tuesday’s decision will allow county staff and consultants to complete the preparation of a conservation strategy. Once it is complete the conservation strategy document will be discussed with the other partner agencies, then submitted to the state and federal wildlife agencies for review.
If ultimately approved, the plan will apply to land in West Placer that is unincorporated or in the buildout area of the Lincoln General Plan. Placer County’s partners on the conservation plan are the city of Lincoln, Placer County Water Agency and Placer County Transportation Planning Agency.
An ad hoc committee with two representatives from the Board of Supervisors and two from the Lincoln City Council was created in 2007 to negotiate many of the issues raised during development of the conservation plan. Supervisors Robert M. Weygandt and Kirk Uhler represent the county board on the committee.
About two years ago, District 5 was removed from the plan at the request of then-Supervisor Bruce Kranz. After being approached by residents who desired to have their District 5 land included in the boundaries of the PCCP, current 5th District Supervisor Jennifer Montgomery approached the Board about putting the western part of the district back into the plan. The full board agreed with her request for staff to study the issue. In addition to Tuesday’s board hearing, a public meeting was held for Fifth District landowners during the Dec. 8 meeting of the North Auburn Municipal Advisory Council, where property owners voiced support for the proposed changes to the map.
While District 5 stretches from North Auburn to North Lake Tahoe, the portions proposed for inclusion in the plan are rural residential parcels in and around the Hidden Falls Regional Park including properties already set aside for conservation.
“These District 5 lands provide a tremendous addition to our conservation strategy and makes a lot of sense in terms of watershed management,” noted Supervisor Robert M. Weygandt. “While we hope to submit this plan to the regulatory agencies soon, there will still be plenty of time for public involvement, and I encourage residents to stay involved.”
On Nov. 3, Board members also approved a map that will serve as the foundation for the PCCP’s conservation strategy.
The map identifies:
- Areas that are expected to accommodate growth between now and 2060;
- Lands that are already protected from development;
- A reserve area containing properties potentially suitable for protection; and
- Areas within incorporated communities not participating in the plan: Roseville, Rocklin, Loomis and Auburn.
Under the proposal, property owners in the reserve area would retain their current property rights, as well as land use and zoning designations. They would have the option of selling or donating land or conservation easements under the PCCP, but would not be required to do so. Property owners in the reserve area would still be able to develop their property consistent with underlying zoning and land use designations.
Likewise, property owners in the “future development area” would retain their existing rights; current land uses and zoning would not change.
However if a PCCP is adopted, landowners in either zone will benefit from streamlined permitting from the county and city of Lincoln rather than from one or several state or federal agencies.
Currently, property owners must get permits from as many as six federal and state regulatory agencies if proposed land-use changes could impact endangered species, wetlands and streams.
Under the PCCP, development still would be subject to federal, state and local regulatory requirements, but a streamlined, one-stop permitting process would be created that would reduce costs and the uncertainty facing developers.
“I am convinced the conservation plan will enhance opportunities for property owners in the Auburn area, not take anything away,” declared Board Chairman Kirk Uhler, who represents District 4.
Most of the costs incurred implementing the PCCP would be borne by developers, not taxpayers. On the other hand, developers will continue to incur costs complying with federal and state environmental regulations whether the PCCP is in place or not.
The plan would aid the PCTPA in its planning for Placer Parkway, a road that will link Highway 65 with Highways 99 and 70 in Sutter County, and would assist the PCWA with plans for diverting Sacramento River water to help serve West Placer’s needs.
Director Michael J. Johnson of the county’s Community Development Resource Agency says in a report to the board that most of the 5th District property that will be added back into the PCCP is in the Bear River and Coon Creek watersheds.
Johnson said the 5th District properties will be a valuable addition to the PCCP’s reserve system, but generally will face a limited regulatory burden.
“Growth within the identified area is mostly in the form of rural residential development and impacts on endangered species and important habitat types are expected to be minimal,” he says in his report to the board.
“In terms of conservation, it turns out that this westernmost portion of District 5 makes a significant contribution to the blue oak woodland conservation needs of the PCCP.”
Johnson also reports that some large landowners in the 5th District already have expressed interest in having their properties considered as part of the reserve area under the PCCP.
After state and federal regulatory agencies comment on the plan, Placer County will prepare an environmental analysis and finance plan for public review. | <urn:uuid:d670a9c6-b811-4b86-bbe3-283806f0848c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.placer.ca.gov/News/2010/January/PCCP2.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950263 | 1,247 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Outpost of the Atlantic Maritimes thrives in Louisville
In a nondescript business park in South Louisville, among loading docks and plain-faced offices, a Nova Scotia company is busy handling a treasure among ocean seafood — live, hard-shelled lobster harvested from the cold Atlantic waters of Canada’s maritime provinces.
Clearwater Seafood, set up operations here when UPS established its air freight operations in 1999. The company built huge, custom holding tanks that replicate ocean conditions and unobserved, and unknown to most passing motorists, ship more than half a million pounds each year of the spiny creatures across North America.
When the doors swing open to unload the weekly tractor trailer delivering ten to twenty thousand pounds, the distinct salty smell of a northern harbor wharf comes rolling out. If you closed your eyes, you could picture seaweed covered pilings at low tide and gulls circling overhead to observe the action.
As the fork lift starts to unload large plastic crates marked with abbreviations of the port of origin and a number showing the minimum weight of each treasured crustacean inside — 1 1/2, 3, 6, 9. Clearwater Operations Manager Paul Valdez pulls open the clam shell top of a crate marked “9” and inside are some of the darkest, biggest lobsters you have ever seen with claws larger than an outspread hand.
“Yeah, the claws are as large as a steak,” Valdez says as he hoists the strange looking creature out. “This is about a 13-pounder.”
It spread eagle length stretches the length of his torso from arm pits to waist.
“It takes about seven years for them to grow to a pound and then they continue growing about a pound a year,” Valdez said. “After a while their bodies don’t get any larger but their claws keep getting bigger.”
By Valdez’s estimate, the grand lobster has lived nearly 20 years, crawling the ocean bottoms off Canada’s Maritime Provinces — Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prince Edward Island. And it seems unperturbed when returned to the bin with his mates.
Today, that lobster will fetch $14 or more per pound at retail, as much as a fine cut of beef. At high end restaurants it will be a seafood lovers delight, with white, sweetish meat that is only one percent fat before sauces, baked or broiled toppings or melted butter and lemon are added.
From ignorance to bliss
What today is considered a delicacy of fine dining was to early European colonists only fit as food for poor people and prisoners or use as a farm fertilizer. Lobster was held in general disrepute because of the mistaken belief that it was a bottom-feeding scavenger. So low was the opinion of its fitness as a proper food, that laws were passed to limit how many times a week it could be served to prisoners, less they be subjected to cruel and unusual punishment.
Tastes changed over time and by the mid-1800’s the poor man’s dish had become a pleasure of the rich and, thanks to railroads and ice, was available in most urban centers. Canning expanded demand and distribution reached around the world at a time when specimens below four pounds were not considered worth bothering with.
As a luxury food, lobster was not rationed during the war and remained in demand as an important source of protein. While demand slacked after WWII, it rebounded and ultimately fisheries were put under pressure and over-harvesting led to falling production before more stringent management practices targeting a sustainable yield were adopted.
Clearwater got its start in the turbulent economy of the mid-1970’s when OPEC price increases and inflation pressured many small businesses. Amid distress, Clearwater found opportunity and a mantra: “Premium, Wild, Sustainable”
“With a pick-up truck and an optimistic vision, brothers-in-law Colin MacDonald and John Risley saw an opportunity and focused on becoming lobster distributors after they opened a small retail shop in Bedford,” said Catherine Boyd, Clearwater’s director of sustainability and public relations. “They started to integrate all aspects of the business ‘from trap to table’, acquiring fishing quotas, vessels and processing and distribution facilities. They wanted to ensure sustainability and the highest quality, and constant innovation to achieve these goals has been a hallmark of Clearwater’s history.”
As smart entrepreneurs, Risley and MacDonald (who is still chairman of the company) succeeded at their goal of vertical integration and are the largest fisheries quota holder in Canada. They also implemented modern technologies like bottom mapping and GPS technology to reduce fuel costs and are engaged in a 10-year joint research project with the Canadian Department of Fisheries and Oceans on sustainability issues.
As a testament to its focus is the fact that Clearwater has become the first harvester and distributor in the world to qualify for Marine Stewardship Council (MSC) certification — an independent organization considered the gold standard for fisheries sustainability — on all of its core species: sea scallops, lobster, shrimp, Arctic surf clam and Canadian snow crab.
One half of the facility Paul Valdez manages consists of two huge tanks, roughly 30’ x 60’ each holding about 70,000 gallons, across which ropes stretch holding large, trunk-like bins full of the weight-graded crustaceans. Near the loading dock there is also a nearly twenty foot tall row of four-foot square rectangular towers that have a shower of water falling onto them. In a corner there is large tank, like a mash tun at a distillery, where 4,500 gallons of salt water can be mixed at a time for this one-of-a-kind marine facility. The constant sound of running water, aeration bubbling out of the tanks, and the hum of biofilters, skimmers, and chilling equipment fills the air.
“The rectangular towers are Clearwater’s innovation, the “Dryland Pound,” Valdez said. “They are stacked storage trays, like large parts bins you’d see at Lowe’s, designed to keep individual lobsters separated and mimic the space and structure of an underwater rocky crevice.”
“We monitor the water pouring through them for temperature, oxygen content, pH and salinity, all of it replicating winter conditions on the bottom of the Atlantic,” Valdez continued.” By keeping them at 38 degrees from harvest to delivery, they’re slowed down and stay healthy and fresh, maintaining the best meat condition.”
The other side of the space is dedicated to packing and shipping where small mountains of foam containers and cartons get marshaled to single packing line before being shipped to fine restaurants and individuals all over the States.
Operations Manger, Paul Valdez, wrangles lobsters
“When we set this up in 1999, we thought it would be just to service Internet orders,” Valdez said. “But restaurant sales just took off and now account for seventy-five percent of our business. We also supply distributors and retail outlets and do a surprising walk-in retail business. “
And that is perhaps the most surprising news of all — that so many locals have discovered the unprepossessing, all-but-invisible source of super-fresh, attractively-priced lobsters here in the middle of the country. Louisville’s air cargo hub makes it a crossroads of supremely fresh and sometimes exotic foodstuffs, and that’s why Clearwater built its transshipment facility here. It’s nice to know that Clearwater will let you search it out and buy its treasures at near wholesale prices (9.99/lb. for select, 6.99 for culls)—if you can find it.
TIP: Now that you know where to score top-notch lobster, want to know how to cook them? Check out the Spring 2013 Easy Entertaining column for great lobster recipes and cooking tips.
3904 Produce Rd. #103
Louisville, KY 40218 | <urn:uuid:393e75bc-53be-4675-8368-ee38723891a0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://foodanddine.com/2013/02/01/clearwater-seafood/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951912 | 1,707 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Tune of the Day: Larghetto by Handel
Today's work is George Frideric Handel's Sonata in F major for Recorder and Basso continuo, composed around 1725. The sonata opens with a stately Larghetto in which the recorder's phrases begin on the offbeats. The melody is simple and slow-paced, and lends itself well to ornamentation.
Thanks to Zaq for suggesting this piece! | <urn:uuid:600985dc-08d8-4db3-a412-18135a7406e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.flutetunes.com/tunes.php?id=717 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944028 | 94 | 1.84375 | 2 |
The President of Bolivia and a political leader in Russia have launched a campaign to revoke Obama’s 2009 peace prize honor after the U.S. attack on Libya.
Liberal Democratic Party of Russia leader and Vice-Chairman of the State Duma Vladimir Zhirinovsky released a statement today calling for the Nobel Prize Committee to take back the honor bestowed on President Barack Obama in 2009.
Zhirinovsky said the attacks were “another outrageous act of aggression by NATO forces and, in particular, the United States,” and that the attacks demonstrated a “colonial policy” with “one goal: to establish control over Libyan oil and the Libyan regime.” He said the prize was now hypocritical as a result.
Bolivian President Evo Morales echoed the call: “How is it possible that a Nobel Peace Prize winner leads a gang to attack and invade? This is not a defence of human rights or self-determination.” Morales won the Gaddafi International Prize for Human Rights in 2006.
Obama is also administering wars in two other nations, Iraq and Afghanistan. In his most recent attack on a foreign nation — Libya — he failed to present his plan to the United States Congress. | <urn:uuid:8db79dce-7ae9-4276-b3ba-d53d4481ecf7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rlc.org/nobel-prize/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961187 | 249 | 1.8125 | 2 |
BUSADMIN 3400 Personal Financial Planning
|Course Number:||BUSADMIN 3400|
|Course Name:||Personal Financial Planning|
|Course Description: ||A study of the major financial decisions encountered by individuals. The course explores a variety of consumer problems found in a modern, complex economy. Subjects covered include the financial planning process, money management, consumer borrowing, insurance planning, budgeting, investments, and retirement and estate planning.|
- Spring 2013: NO
- Summer 2013: NO
- Fall 2013: YES
- Spring 2014: NO
- Summer 2014: NO
- Fall 2014: YES
|Registration Instructions|| |
After successful completion of this course you should be able to:
- Develop a personal financial plan and identify the factors that influence personal financial planning decisions.
- Develop a system of financial records and use them to determine your financial position and control expenditures.
- Identify the sources, terms and costs of consumer credit. Describe the elements of a credit score and how credit scores can be improved.
- Develop realistic investment goals that are consistent with your financial plan and risk tolerance.
- Distinguish between the different types of investment vehicles available (stocks, bonds, mutual funds), describe their major characteristics, and identify potential information sources for evaluating potential investments.
- Prepare a basic retirement plan and estate plan.
- Identify the biggest financial mistakes households can make and how they can be avoided.
Unit 1: Financial Planning
Personal Financial Planning involves creating and implementing a plan based on your goals given your unique circumstances. One size does not fit everyone and the goal is to accumulate wealth so that we can do the things that are important to us. To accomplish this task, we will need to learn basic time value of money concepts. This unit serves as a basis for subsequent units.
Unit 2: Managing Your Money
Every time we purchase a discretionary item we make a decision to forego saving or investing that money to achieve our future goals. We do not tend to think of it in those terms, but in reality that is the tradeoff. The focus of this unit is to make smart purchasing decisions and smart credit decisions.
Unit 3: Protecting Yourself with Insurance
Protecting your assets with insurance is a key component in personal financial planning. There are many categories of insurance: health care, disability, long-term care, life, automobile and homeowner's. The focus of this unit is to make smart insurance decisions: which policies are important for our situation and the type of coverage we need.
Unit 4: Managing Your Investments
For most students, investing is the most interesting part of personal financial planning. The focus of this unit is to learn about how markets function and the different investment choices: stocks, bonds and mutual funds.
Unit 5: Life Cycle Issues
The final unit will discuss retirement and estate planning.
Number of Exams
There are 13 quizzes for this course.
Number of Assignments
There are 3 individual assignments and 13 discussion sessions for this course.
Number of Projects
There is 1 group project for this course.
Your final grade is based on the total points earned, as follows:
13 lesson quizzes @ 10 points each = 130 points
13 discussion answers @ 5 points each = 65 points
3 individual assignments @ 10 points each = 30 points
1 group project @ 20 points = 20 points
A = 90-100% of total points
B = 80-89% of total points
C =70-79% of total points
D = 60-69% of total points
F = Below 60% of total points OR less than 60% average on unit quizzes
The quizzes will be open for several days. Please let me know in advance if you will be unable to take the quiz during its scheduled time frame. I am willing to accommodate your schedule as long as it is not a reoccurring request. I do not give partial credit for late posts. Points will be deducted for short or poorly written discussion answers. No points will be given for posts that are a summarization of another student's work. "Group" means all group members contribute to the project. Peer evaluations will be incorporated into your group case grade. | <urn:uuid:5f97a6cd-dcd9-4a68-9aef-a54b574c64fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uwplatt.edu/disted/courses/BUSADMIN3400.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906361 | 868 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Tuesday, February 5, 2013
Still In Motion
Record a time-lapse sequence on your next photo shoot
|This Article Features Photo Zoom|
Once you have the gear needed, it's time to shoot your time-lapse sequence. Start simple; don't go for the three-hour, sunset-to-stars sequence over El Capitan on your first attempt. Better to try a midday shot of passing cumulus clouds over your house.
The first consideration is which camera mode to use. It makes sense to use an automatic mode like aperture priority to adjust for any differences in exposure during the time-lapse. But this can cause a lot of headaches when you seam all the frames together after the shot. Flicker is a common problem in time-lapse movies, and is often caused by different exposures during the sequence.
A better choice is to use manual mode. When I shoot a time-lapse, I go manual on everything with my camera. First, I determine my exposure using manual mode so my exposure stays consistent for every shot. The ambient light in the scene may change during the sequence, but today's cameras have great dynamic range and can handle slight exposure shifts.
Next, I focus on my subject and then turn off my autofocus. If your camera is autofocusing for each shot, it may miss frames as the camera focuses back and forth. I shoot on a tripod to keep each frame identical in composition, critical when you make your final movie. I also turn off my vibration reduction since the camera is stable on my tripod. I also set my white balance to a fixed value. Don't use auto white balance and risk a color shift between exposures.
Try this formula with simple daylight scenes like passing clouds or flowing water. Set your shooting delay for five seconds between frames and an overall time of 25 minutes. You'll capture 300 frames in 25 minutes, which will produce a 24 fps movie clip approximately 12 seconds long.
For rotating stars at night, try using ISO 3200, a 20-second exposure at ƒ/4 and a delay between shots of five seconds. Focusing at night can be difficult. Try setting your camera to infinity focus or using live view to help focus on stars. Make sure you have a fresh battery in your camera.
These shooting formulas are only the beginning. Experiment with your time between shots depending on the speed of your subject. Busy street scenes with people walking and cars driving past can be shot with a quick interval like one or two seconds. Slow-moving subjects will require a longer interval between shots.
Page 2 of 5 | <urn:uuid:7ff612df-1504-4275-a086-5f458d333431> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dpmag.com/how-to/shooting/still-in-motion.html?start=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932319 | 534 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Activist Post | January 16 2013
How effective are flu vaccines? Well, long story short—not very! What? you probably are lamenting, in view of the present push to vaccinate everyone six months and older against the present seasonal influenza outbreak in the USA. That is the consensus of a report published in theBritish Medical Journal (BMJ) November 19, 2012 wherein flu vaccine efficacy claims have been exaggerated significantly.
Those conclusions came out of a report generated by the University of Minnesota’s Center for Infectious Disease Research and Policy analyzing data from 1967 to 2012 that was based upon the review of the prestigious Cochrane Library studies.
In 2011 this author co-edited the monograph Vaccines & Vaccinations: The Need for Congressional Investigation wherein we cited the Cochrane Library’s work regarding influenza vaccines effectiveness in children, adults, and the elderly.
The Cochrane Library published the article “Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy children” January 25, 2006 wherein the authors’ conclusion in the Abstract stated:
Influenza vaccines are efficacious in children older than two but little evidence is available for children under two. There was a marked difference between vaccine efficacy and effectiveness. No safety comparisons could be carried out, emphasizing the need for standardization of methods and presentation of vaccine safety data in future studies. …If immunisation [sic] in children is to be recommended as a public health policy, large-scale studies assessing important outcomes and directly comparing vaccine types are urgently required.
In Issue 7 (2010) of the Cochrane Library, the article “Vaccines for preventing influenza in healthy adults” concluded that:
Influenza vaccines have a modest effect in reducing influenza symptoms and working days lost. There is no evidence that they affect complications, such as pneumonia, or transmission.
Furthermore, there was this WARNING:
This review includes 15 out of 36 trials funded by industry (four had no funding declaration). An earlier systematic review of 274 influenza vaccine studies published up to 2007 found industry funded studies were published in more prestigious journals and cited more than other studies independently from methodological quality and size. Studies funded from public sources were significantly less likely to report conclusions favorable to vaccines. The review showed that reliable evidence on influenza vaccines is thin but there is evidence of widespread manipulation of conclusions and spurious notoriety of the studies. The content and conclusions of this review should be interpreted in light of this finding.
And in the elderly, Cochrane published in Issue 2 (2010) the article “Vaccines for preventing influenza in the elderly” with the following conclusion:
The available evidence is of poor quality and provides no guidance regarding the safety, efficacy or effectiveness of influenza vaccines for people aged 65 years or older. To resolve the uncertainty, an adequately powered publicly-funded randomised [sic], placebo-controlled trial run over several seasons should be undertaken.
A plain language summary of the above, Vaccines for preventing seasonal influenza and its complications in people aged 65 or older is:
Influenza vaccination of elderly individuals is recommended worldwide as people aged 65 and older are at a higher risk of complications, hospitalizations and deaths from influenza. This review looked at evidence from experimental and non-experimental studies carried out over 40 years of influenza vaccination. We included 75 studies. These were grouped first according to study design and then the setting (community or long-term care facilities). The results are mostly based on non-experimental (observational) studies, which are at greater risk of bias, as not many good quality trials were available. Trivalent inactivated vaccines are the most commonly used influenza vaccines. Due to the poor quality of the available evidence, any conclusions regarding the effects of influenza vaccines for people aged 65 years or older cannot be drawn. The public health safety profile of the vaccines appears to be acceptable.
It seems according to the BMJ article that, “consistent high-level protection is elusive,” including that there is “evidence for protection in adults 65 years of age or older [who represent over 90% of deaths from flu]…is lacking.” Which reminds this author of an email she received recently from a person in Ohio saying that, that person’s friend worked in a ‘rest home’ where the elderly were given flu shots, which often led to their getting very sick and dying. My question is this: What role did the flu shot play in either their contracting the flu or in their deaths?
Personally, this author can attest that the only time she ever contracted the flu was in 1957 after she was taken by folks where she worked, who paid for the shot. I contracted the flu not once, but twice; almost died; the doctor came to the house every day; my mother slept with me at night; and I missed almost a month at work!
The MD told me never to get another flu shot, as it probably would do me in. I have listened to his advice, and to this day, have had no annual flu vaccinations and never had a bout of influenza. Go figure! However, I have maintained an extremely healthful lifestyle (Mediterranean diet with no: junk food, smoking, alcohol, or sodas) and took vitamin A religiously, which promotes the anti-viral messenger, Interferon, produced by macrophages of the innate immune system.
Furthermore, when I was in practice as a natural nutritionist, my clients always would call at the first sign of the sniffles and ask what to do. My nutritional advice was to take three (3) 10,000 IUs of vitamin A (retinol/retinal) with the juice of half a lemon in 4 ounces of water, each day for three days in a row. Always, and without fail, clients would ask, “What kind of magic is that?” It’s really not magic; it’s knowing how human immunology works and supplementing it as Nature likes and cooperates with.
Vaccines and vaccinations play around with—and apparently interfere with—Nature’s intended immunology playbook called innate immunity. Vaccines reprogram human biology to produce antigen-specific responses, which ‘last’ for only a short while, if at all, therefore the need for all the mandated booster shots with neurotoxins and other hazardous chemicals. That probably is the apparent reason why infectious diseases today are being contracted by those (children, in particular) who have been fully vaccinated.
They have not acquired life-long immunity either from their mothers at birth and during lactation, since young mothers may not be able to convey innate immunity themselves because theirs was interrupted by vaccine mandates as kids.
The other way to get life-long immunity is by contracting the disease, which generations have done over the ages without Big Pharma’s money-making vaccines being around, while humans still lived and reproduced. However, U.S. children apparently are sicker than ever with chronic diseases at even earlier ages than ever, or experience adverse events to vaccines as verified by CDC/FDA’s Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) or on an international basis, vaccine damage that recently happened in the African country of Chad http://vactruth.com/2013/01/13/children-paralyzed-by-vaccine/ , which apparently is being kept out of U.S. news reports. Go figure!
BMJ 2012;345:e7856
Frompovich, Catherine J & Laraine C Abbey-Katzev. 2011 Monograph: Vaccines & Vaccinations: The Need for Congressional Investigation, p. 31.
Ibid, p.31.
Ibid, pp.31-32.
Summary Health Statistics for U.S. Children: National Health Interview Survey, 2011, pp. 25-34.
Catherine J Frompovich is a retired natural nutritionist who earned advanced degrees in Nutrition and Holistic Health Sciences, Certification in Orthomolecular Theory and Practice plus Paralegal Studies.
Her work has been published in national and airline magazines since the early 1980s. Catherine authored numerous books on health issues along with co-authoring papers and monographs with physicians, nurses, and holistic healthcare professionals. She has been a consumer healthcare researcher 35 years and counting. | <urn:uuid:2abccd49-1bd9-4fff-9354-f39eb3cd2280> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shiftfrequency.com/catherine-j-frompovich-say-it-isnt-so-about-vaccines/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962528 | 1,716 | 2.6875 | 3 |
The Hanoitimes - The Prime Minister has approved a VND 3 trillion project to train and develop human resources for the atomic energy field from now until 2020.
The project aims to provide a sufficient, high-quality workforce for the atomic power sector and meet demands for the safe and secure application of atomic energy in socio-economic fields as well as science and technology.
From until 2015, Vietnam will plan and upgrade tertiary education centres that provide training for the atomic power sector, with an initial focus on six schools: the Science Colleges under Hanoi and Ho Chi Minh City National Universities, Hanoi Polytechnic, Da Lat University, the Electricity Power College, and the Nuclear Training Centre under the Vietnam Atomic Energy Institute.
In addition, the country will reform the curricula, course books and policies for teaching nuclear science. A target has been set to recruit at least 250 undergraduates each year for this major.
Under the project, by 2020, Vietnam will have sufficient human resources to manage and apply atomic energy safely and securely. The country will then be able to receive nuclear technology transfers and operate and maintain nuclear power plants.
By the time Vietnam will have trained 2,400 nuclear engineers, and 350 masters and PhDs for operating nuclear power plants, with 200 engineers, 150 masters and doctors being trained abroad. In terms of research, application and safety in this industry, the country will have trained a total of 650 engineers, and 250 masters and PhDs. Vietnam will also train another 100 masters and PhDs to teach nuclear energy at educational institutions.
A National Steering Committee will be set up to implement this project, led by a Deputy Prime Minister with the Minister of Education and Training as its permanent Vice Head. | <urn:uuid:4ce70f84-e76a-4ca9-b11f-77b4b8d272ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.baomoi.com/Info/VND-3-trillion-project-for-nuclear-power-gets-a-goahead/3/56934.epi | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937696 | 352 | 1.804688 | 2 |
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Today's Top News
Senate Dems May Back Murkowski Plan to Block EPA Climate Rules
WASHINGTON - Sen. Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) said Monday that he “could very well” vote for Sen. Lisa Murkowski’s (R-Alaska) plan to block any Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) climate change rules even though it goes much further than his competing measure.
The Senate is slated to vote Thursday on Murkowski’s resolution, which cannot be amended or filibustered but nonetheless faces a tough road to winning 51 votes.
“It is a message about EPA,” Rockefeller told reporters in the Capitol on Monday evening. “I think it will send a message regardless of how many votes it gets.” That message, he added, “would be with respect to EPA’s closing in on coal.”
Rockefeller — a proponent of his home state’s coal industry — has floated a separate bill that would require a two-year pause before EPA can implement rules limiting emissions from stationary industrial sources like power plants.
Murkowski’s plan is more sweeping.
It would overturn EPA’s “endangerment finding” last year that greenhouse gases threaten humans. The finding is the legal precursor to rules that will require facilities including oil refineries and power plants to minimize emissions.
Murkowski believes EPA regulations will harm the economy and eventually reach small businesses, despite an agency plan to shield small emitters.
But the endangerment finding also enables EPA rules to limit vehicle emissions, which Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) noted in attacking Murkowski’s plan on the Senate floor Monday.
“This week, we will debate a resolution of disapproval that will prevent the Department of Transportation and the Environmental Protection Agency from working together to slow the pollution from heavy-duty vehicles,” Reid said on the Senate floor. “The result of this resolution, if passed, would be to waste at least 450 million more barrels of oil than we need to. That is wrong.”
EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson bashed Murkowski’s effort Monday in a Huffington Post op-ed.
Murkowski has thus far attracted three Democratic co-sponsors: Blanche Lincoln (Ark.), Mary Landrieu (La.) and Ben Nelson (Neb.).
But Murkowski’s Alaska colleague, Sen. Mark Begich (D), said he’s leaning against her plan for several reasons. Among them: Blocking EPA’s looming requirements would remove pressure on Congress to act on a comprehensive energy and climate bill.
“We need a comprehensive energy plan, and if this keeps the fire under these guys to get something major done, I'm all for it,” Begich told reporters Monday.
A liberal advocacy group that's opposing Murkowski’s plan is fearful that Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine), one of the GOP’s centrists, may vote for it. Americans United for Change has launched a new TV ad running in Portland, Maine, that urges Collins to oppose it.“Tell Sen. Collins to keep Maine’s skies clear. Vote no on the Murkowski Big Oil bailout,” the ad states.
For further reading, see this report at SolveClimate. | <urn:uuid:881e3d1c-aba8-4f29-9925-7cc534a837ba> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.commondreams.org/headline/2010/06/08-5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910234 | 783 | 1.640625 | 2 |
by Derek, aka Word Buff (Brisbane, Qld, Australia)
Scripps National Spelling Bee is the largest educational competition in the English-speaking world.
The National Spelling Bee, as it is usually called, has been held every year since 1925, with the exception of three war years, 1943-45. The National Bee has consistently increased in popularity since its inception, with more than 10 million spellers now competing each year!
The Bee has also steadily increased in difficulty. To see this, you only need to glance through the list of winning words — the final word in the inaugural 1925 Bee was GLADIOLUS, while the winner in 2009 had to negotiate the treacherous LAODICEAN.
As you can imagine, with more than 10 million competitors, there is a rather long and tortuous lead-up to the event, with all but a handful of contenders knocked out well before the finals. The finalists do battle in the splendor of the Grand Hyatt hotel, Washington D.C., in the week following Memorial Day weekend (i.e. late May or early June).
To compete in the event, you'll need to be 14 or younger on September 1 of the previous bee year, and have not yet completed eighth grade. You'll also need to belong to a school that has enrolled in the competition through a local Scripps sponsor. If you're not sure whether your school has registered, just hassle your teacher ;-)
And by the way, if you get a buzz out of spelling obscure words, you don't have to compete in Scripps National Spelling Bee to enjoy the event. Every year the most exciting, later rounds of the event are televised on ESPN and ABC. (See the Comments area at the bottom of this article for updates on the next national bee!)
So, what's it actually like to compete in the Nationals? Here's a snippet from the 2007 finals that will either whet your appetite or scare you, depending on whether you intend watching or spelling...
If you decide to enter, make sure you visit Word-Buff's Spelling Bee Guide for a few tips and resources recommended by spelling bee experts.
I'll use the Comments area below to post National Spelling Bee updates. Feel free to post any of your own thoughts or anecdotes here too by just clicking on the comments link below... | <urn:uuid:029b37a0-948f-4ab4-bb21-a9d7ff788c75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.word-buff.com/scripps-national-spelling-bee1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956984 | 485 | 2.328125 | 2 |
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, FORT WORTH
FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, FORT WORTH. The earliest congregation of the Baptist Church in Fort Worth was organized in 1867 by W. W. Mitchell, missionary of the West Fork Baptist Association (established 1855) and A. Fitzgerald, who became its first pastor and served from 1868 to 1871. Its succeeding pastors, Meredith D. Neal (1871), D. Dennis Swindall (1872), and T. F. Lockett (1873), witnessed periods of growth, struggle, and the eventual demise of the congregation.
On September 12, 1873, two Baptist ministers, J. R. Masters and W. M. Gough, organized a new church with twenty-seven charter members. They took the name First Baptist Church, Fort Worth. Masters served as pastor from October 1873 to October 1874, during which time the congregation met in the Masonic Hall. Under Gough the church held services in the Tarrant County Courthouse until it burned in the spring of 1876. Later that year the church built a new brick meetinghouse on Jennings Avenue. John Smith Gillespie came in January 1878 as pastor of the seventy-five-member congregation, located just one block from the infamous "Hell's Half Acreqv." By the end of his five-year pastorate the church had added 199 members. In 1882 a portion of this congregation broke away to form the Southside Baptist Church (now Broadway Baptist Church). John Decatur Murphy pastored the congregation in 1883–84, and Walter E. Tynes served from 1884 until 1886. Under the leadership of J. Morgan Wells, 1886–96, the church grew to 541 members, built a new 1,100-seat building on Taylor and Third streets, and hosted the Tarrant County Baptist Association organizational meeting on October 14, 1886, and the national Southern Baptist Convention in May 1890. After Wells died in 1896, the church was led by pastors A. W. McGaha (1897–99), Luther Little (1900–04), and Charles Daniel (1905–08).
A new, long chapter in the church's history began when it called as pastor John Franklyn Norris, owner-editor of the Baptist Standard from 1907 to 1909. Norris accepted the pastorate in 1909 and remained at First Baptist for the rest of his life. The church lost at least 600 members in 1911 after a division, and the following year lost its building and pastor's home by fire. Though Norris was indicted for arson, he was acquitted after a month-long trial. During his long tenure, the church's personality became inseparably entwined with that of its pastor. It aligned with the prohibition movement, sponsored an interdenominational Bible school, and became the leader of the World's Christian Fundamentals Conference in 1919. That year the church built a 5,000-seat auditorium, and four years later it helped to form the Baptist Bible Union of America. Because of Norris's continued open criticism of the Southern Baptist Convention, his decision to discard SBC literature, his attacks on SBC schools (particularly Baylor University, which he charged with teaching "evolution and infidelity"), and his spirit of noncooperation, the Tarrant County Baptist Association withdrew fellowship from the church in 1922. The Baptist General Convention of Texas refused Norris a seat at the state convention in 1923 and permanently excluded him in 1924.
On July 18, 1926, Norris shot and killed a Fort Worth lumberman, Dexter Elliot Chipps, in the church office. He was charged with murder but was acquitted on a ruling of self-defense at his trial in Austin. Two years later the church and parsonage were burned again. By 1931 the church reported 12,000 members, with 6,000 attending Sunday school, and property valued at $1.5 million. Throughout the next two decades Norris and the First Baptist Church stood solidly against Modernism, Communism, liberalism, evolution, ecclesiasticism, and organized crime. The growing congregation gained notoriety for extreme independence, a controversial and pugilistic attitude, and a flare for sensationalism.
In July 1931 the First Baptist Church established the Premillennium Baptist Missionary Fellowship, which in subsequent years splintered into the World, Bible, Southwide, and Independent Baptist Fellowship groups, each of which acts as an independent organization. Norris's church papers, The Searchlight and The Fundamentalist, provided platforms for his views. An institute (1931, 1939), renamed the Bible Baptist Seminary in 1946, was begun under his leadership as well. In 1935 Norris accepted a second pastorate in addition to his Fort Worth church-the Temple Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan-thus broadening his influence. Discord and internal rivalry surfaced in 1945, when Norris's son George became pastor of a dissenting party that split from the First Baptist Church. Norris's health began to fail in 1948, and the Premillennium Fellowship fractured in May 1950, the same month Norris was dismissed by the church in Detroit.
Norris died on August 20, 1952, and the First Baptist Church called Homer Ritchie as pastor four days later. Ritchie served in that capacity until October 11, 1981, much of that time with his twin brother Omer serving as his co-pastor. The church underwent numerous upheavals in these decades, with attendance dwindling as the older congregation gave way to an emphasis on children and youth. During the mid-1960s the church moved its location to Fifth and Pennsylvania streets and built a 2,000-seat auditorium. In 1974 this facility was sold to Calvary Temple, and the First Baptist Church met in the Tandy School building. In 1981 the First Baptist Church, Fort Worth, and the Rolling Hills Baptist Church merged and moved to Haltom City. The new church retained the name First Baptist Church, Fort Worth. When the merger occurred, Homer and Omer Ritchie resigned as pastors, and Johnny Ramsey became pastor.
Bill Ramsey succeeded his father as pastor in 1984 and still served in that role in 1992. Following his mediating leadership, the First Baptist Church petitioned the Tarrant Baptist Association for membership on October 8, 1990, and was received under a "Watchcare" program for one year. Under this provision, the church was encouraged to participate in all association activities and responsibilities, and special efforts were made to help the congregation better understand the work of the Southern Baptist Convention. After almost seventy years, on October 14, 1991, the First Baptist Church, Fort Worth, was fully readmitted into the Tarrant Baptist Association as a member in good standing with the Baptist General Convention of Texas. In 1993 the First Baptist Church had 2,500 members.
James E. Carter, Cowboys, Cowtown and Crosses: A Centennial History of the Tarrant Baptist Association (Fort Worth: Tarrant Baptist Association, 1986). Roy Emerson Falls, A Biography of J. Frank Norris, 1877–1952 (Euless, Texas, 1975). James Leo Garrett, Living Stones: The Centennial History of Broadway Baptist Church, Fort Worth, Texas, 1882–1982 (2 vols., Fort Worth: Broadway Baptist Church, 1984). J. Frank Norris, Inside History of First Baptist Church, Fort Worth, and Temple Baptist Church, Detroit (Fort Worth, 1938). C. Allyn Russell, "J. Frank Norris: Violent Fundamentalist," Southwestern Historical Quarterly 75 (January 1972).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Karen O'Dell Bullock, "FIRST BAPTIST CHURCH, FORT WORTH," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ibf01), accessed June 19, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:875c026f-83bc-4c23-b278-5f5bdcd3434a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/ibf01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972021 | 1,636 | 2.296875 | 2 |
The Dantzig headstock design came fairly quickly. I'd been reading about the history of New England at the time, and was struck by some headstone carvings described in the book. I blogged about it here.
This is the entry in The Crow's journal—you can see the idea taking shape.
With The Crow guitar, I wanted the monogram "D" at the tip of the head to be inlaid mother of pearl. I have some nice chunks that are about .070" in thickness, and large enough to do the circle in one piece. The thickness will help avoid breakage when cutting the piece which is very delicate.
The first step was to clean up my sketch and commit it to a paper template. Then I could glue the template to the pearl and begin my cut with saw. Most times, I use a powered jigsaw, but this piece is so complicated I decided to use the hand saw. I'm using an extra-fine blade (.009") so patience is imperative. The work is backed up on a .125" thick piece of maple with a slot cut in it for clearance. The inner cuts are made by using a micro-drill to put a starter hole in the pearl; then inserting the saw blade through and into the handle.
Once the cuts are made, I can use a set of miniature files to smooth out the edges. The finished monogram looks good. It needs to be clean because the headplate is unpainted ebony; so there is no way to hide the edges.
The monogram has also been repeated on the headplate. Here it is on the overhead router. There is a matching template to follow, and by using a .020" micro-mill bit, I can get very close to final fit—the last adjustments being done by hand with an air powered mini tool that is similar to a dentist's drill.
Here's the headstock with the pearl inserted and some of the binding in place. I like how the white ivoroid purfling stripes terminate in a blend to the top of the monogram's circle. The rest of the treatment will be my signature in the center of the headstock. After all, it is a "signature" guitar. | <urn:uuid:55129a4c-2d26-4699-bf72-62e4d189c46f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://guitarguru.typepad.com/my_weblog/2011/03/headstock-monogram-inlay.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958753 | 463 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Published On:Tuesday, January 8, 2013
Posted by Sri Lanka Guardian
How AFRICOM and African governments can effectively counter terrorism and Boko Haram insurgency in Nigeria and the whole of Africa
| by Osita Ebiem
( January 8, 2013, New York City, Sri Lanka Guardian) In an article two years ago that appeared in various online magazines titled; “Nigeria as the New Center of World Terrorism” this writer tried to call the attention of policy makers around the world to the danger terrorist activities in the Nigerian state poses to the world community. Today that warning remains valid. Islamic terrorism finds conducive atmosphere in Nigeria for some reasons as we shall explain.
............. Summery : Play the Video .................
United States Africa Command (AFRICOM) headed by General Carter Ham is based out of Germany. AFRICOM is a US military outfit designed primarily to respond in African situations that pose danger to American interests anywhere. It is based in Stuttgart, Germany because it is alleged that no African country would grant it a base in Africa. The contention being that African countries feared that allowing such bases in their territories would open them up to a new kind of foreign imperial domination and manipulation. So right from the onset it appears that opposition has trailed the organization and its intentions in Africa. Some who are strongly opposed to it have called for the dismantling of AFRICOM altogether saying that it will only work against the overall interests of Africans. These people argue that what Africa needs is economic investment and not military or any other form of aids.
It is in recognition of this opposition that the US government tries to use any available opportunity to explain its real intentions about AFRICOM to any African audience. One of those opportunities presented itself during the just concluded Chinua Achebe’s Colloquium at Brown University in Providence, Rohde Island in the United States. Ham addressed a plenary session on the second day of the two day event. The colloquium took place between 7 and 8 of December, 2012. In the audience were many international scholars and members of the diplomatic corps. In his address Ham explained AFRICOM’s mission in Africa to the audience. This writer was in the audience and heard him tell of how it is the intention of American government, through AFRICOM to work as partner with governments in Africa to tackle the various domestic security issues of the African states especially in the area of rapidly rising incidents of Islamic insurgencies.
Of course the ultimate concern of United States as Ham clearly stated is the danger that these terrorist activities might and do pose to US citizens and business interests anywhere within the African continent. Only recently Islamic insurgents attacked, burned US Consulate and killed four Americans in Benghazi, Libya. Because the Libyan attack took place on September 11, 2012 some people have speculated that the terrorists were reenacting the 2001 September 11 attack on the World Trade Center in New York City. The Benghazi attack killed the US ambassador to Libya, Chris Stevens and three other Americans. Without trying to overstretch the issue Islamic insurgents’ activities in the various African countries pose real danger to not just Americans and their interests within Africa and beyond, other Westerners too are increasingly being targeted. This can be better understood in the light of the name of one of the radical organizations. We refer to the Nigerian Boko Haram. A literal translation of the group’s name is “book is forbidden”. In this instance, Western books and ideas that in Islam are considered to be negatively influencing and corrupting pure Islamic knowledge and sharia.
In the just concluded year of 2012 there were various incidents of kidnapping and killing of many Westerners in Nigeria and around the Continent. A British and an Italian, construction workers were kidnapped in Kebbi State and murdered in Sokoto in March 2012 by Islamic extremists in Northern Nigeria. The two Europeans Chris McManus, 28, a British citizen, and Italian Franco Lamolinara 27, were murdered by their captors after being held for nearly one year. Then there was the German Edgar Raupach killed by the jihadists in May of the same year in Kano Northern Nigeria. The group that killed the German is said to have kidnapped him to use and bargain for the release of the wife of an al Qaeda operative in Germany. Both husband and wife had been jailed in Germany for violent Islamic jihad activities in that country. Al Qaeda affiliates in Nigeria abducted the German engineer with the intention of freeing him in exchange for the jailed woman but killed him when an attempt to free him by security forces failed. The 2009 Nigerian Underwear Bomber Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab who attempted blowing up Northwest Airlines Flight 253 over the Detroit airspace in the United States also claimed to be working for and under inspiration from al Qaeda network.
The most recent incident is the kidnapping of the 63 year old French national in Katsina State Northern Nigeria in what the French President François Hollande said is probably linked to the North Africa’s branch of al Qaeda network, AQIM. A radical Islamist group known as Ansaru has since claimed responsibility for the kidnapping of the French engineer Francis Colump this last December of 2012. Ansaru is said to have links with Boko Haram and the international al Qaeda network as well as the dreadful al Shabab of Somalia. The group claims it is holding Colump and other four French nationals who were kidnapped in Nigeria’s neighboring country of Niger Republic because of the role French government is playing in trying to dislodge the Islamists from Northern Mali. They also said that they are protesting the "law (in France) outlawing the use of Islamic veil by Muslim women, which is an infringement on (the women’s) religious rights." In a statement a few weeks ago British government described Ansaru as a "Nigeria-based terrorist organization which is aligned with al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, AQIM”. Boko Haram and many of the other extremist groups operating in Nigeria are also said to be connected with the Somali al Shabab and al Qaeda in the Maghreb in North Africa. A new offshoot of the Boko Haram group has recently emerged and it is just as deadly. It goes by the name Jama’atu Ansarul Muslimina fi Biladis Sudan, JAMBS. The name roughly translates; Vanguards for the Aid of Muslims in Black Africa (VAMBA).
On August 1, 2012 the spokesperson for Boko Haram Abu Qaqa restated the aim of the group. His declaration also represents those of the other active groups operating within the country:
“We want to stress that in our struggle, we only kill Nigerian government functionaries, security agents, Christians, and anyone who pretends to be a Muslim but engages in assisting security agents to arrest us. We are responsible for the attacks in Bauchi and at the residence of Namadi Sambo in Zaria as well as the one in Damaturu where we bombed a patrol vehicle. We wish to extend our profound gratitude to Almighty Allah for giving us the opportunity to fulfill the promise we made on launching spontaneous attacks in Sokoto. We have reasons for all our activities and we only kill those who wronged us. We attacked Sokoto because many of our brethren have been incarcerated there.”
Clearly, from the afore mentioned and many other incidents, there is every reason for United States and Europeans to be concerned about the security of their citizens and business interests in Nigeria and other parts of Africa. Undoubtedly it is in attempt to do something about these threats that informed the recent move by the US AFRICOM. A news report has it that AFRICOM is preparing to send military personnel and equipment to as many as 35 African countries (including Nigeria) to help train and equip the countries’ military. It is aimed at increasing the capacities of these countries to respond effectively to the scourge of Islamic terrorism originating from their localities. By any standard, this is an elaborate project that seems to be misdirected for several reasons. It is bound to exert a lot of pressure on both the African states and the United States from different quarters. Citizens of the African countries are going to ask questions and express concerns. There will be a considerable financial cost may be some wastes, on the United States treasury. Many critics will use this as evidence in arguing the point on why they believe that the US is only out to exploit the Continent to her benefit.
To effectively counter and eventually defeat the jihadists’ problem in Nigeria and all over the Continent it will be more appropriate to take time and understand its origin and correctly assess the challenges. The jihadists engage in it as a struggle that has, for them ideological or cultural and physical aspects. “. . . in our struggle, we only kill Nigerian government functionaries, security agents, Christians, and anyone who pretends to be a Muslim but engages in assisting security agents to arrest us.” Islam is basically political as well as religious. In its religious aspect it strives to control and dictate the religious and cultural standards for its adherents. And to do it effectively it must struggle to create and control a space that is exclusively for Muslims where they can practice their religion. When trying to counter such a phenomenon, it becomes harder to win when the focus is solely on military equipment and tactics. Here is one reason why; “Despite a heavy military and police presence, the sect's adherents have continued to launch frequent attacks.” That is how the Associated Press recently reported on one incident of the numerous intransigencies of Islamic terrorism in Nigeria.
We want to believe that AFRICOM efforts are not simply to impress the Africans with the military might of the United States. So, let’s take for granted that there is genuine intention to solve the menace of Islamic terrorists in Nigeria and throughout Africa. Using Nigeria as the model we know that the cause of the religious tension and most of the other problems there is the direct effect of the colonial state structure of the country. The same is applicable to the other parts of the Continent. Nigeria’s Boko Haram and the rest insurgents’ problems in African can be solved through the use of dialog. Talking of dialog, no one is suggesting negotiating with terrorists. The kind of negotiation that will work here is to dialog to renegotiate the issue of the colonial state boundaries in Nigeria and the other parts of Africa. Majority of Nigeria’s terrorist problems have their root in the structural defects of the Nigerian state.
Though on several occasions some commentators, including the United States State Department have cited some other issues such as poverty and political corruption as being the reasons for the problem, but those are mere effects of the underlying problem. Islamic insurgences in Nigeria and the other parts of Africa compare to a hydra headed monster. We can succeed through military force to cut off a few heads like Boko Haram, Ansaru or any other group. But that will just be a temporary victory in which so much human and material resources would have been wasted to achieve very little result that would not last. The monster will regrow those militarily wounded heads. When it heals enough it will tend to be more vicious and devastating. Terrorist monster of Northern Nigeria and the entire continent will not die by merely cutting off some of its heads. That had been done before. What is needed is to apply a lasting solution to the problem. Nigeria’s terrorist problem can be solved if we decide to go after it at the root rather than the reactionary approach as is the case right now.
One important observation that policy makers in this matter should not overlook is the fact that the killings are actually one sided. The killers are killing only the people whom they consider to be the impediment on their way to establishing their ideal Islamic state: “We only kill Nigerian government functionaries, security agents, Christians, and anyone who pretends to be a Muslim but engages in assisting security agents to arrest us.” In Nigeria it’s neither a religious nor an ethnic fight in the conventional sense of it. The other parties getting killed, apart from the government are not engaging their attackers. The intention of the killers as they have stated many times, is to ethnically/religiously cleanse that part of the country of the people and structures that impede their desire to establish an Islamic state in Northern Nigeria. The truth is that the North of the country which is largely Islamic wants to be left alone. They want a state of their own free of Christians and believer of other religions. Nigeria’s unity is forced on the various parts of the country by the British colonial rulers and ever since has created the endemic clash of non-compatible peoples and cultures. For anyone who has followed the pattern of events and killings, it’s not difficult to observe that the attackers have been consistent. They attack and eliminate those targets they consider to be representative of or aid the obstacles to their goal. They target Igbo people and Western nationals because they consider them as local representatives and foreign assistants respectively of the Islam polluting agent: Christianity.
It is suggested that AFRICOM and other Western interest groups should approach the problem bearing in mind the terrible effect of the defective colonial state structure in Nigeria and all over the Continent. They should instead aid Nigeria and other African countries in adopting a multi-state solution to solve the seemingly endemic problem. With this approach, Africans and their political leadership will not need to be afraid of any imperialistic threat from the United States or any other Western power. And with that as the case, the only real foreign domination and manipulation that should concern Africans and their political leaders is clearly the dysfunctional effect of the extant foreign-imposed state boundaries on their sociopolitical existence. This has created so much unnecessary tensions that have depleted and dissipated any creative energy that Africans need to create conducive environment that enables growth, security, stability and prosperity. Once this problem is solved through the 2011 Sudan solution then the problem of bad governance, poverty, youth unemployment, corruption, dearth of functional social utilities and infrastructures, lack of accepting responsibilities for matters of personal and collective concerns and most of all Islamic religious intolerances and extreme jihadist insurgencies will cease or reduce to manageable proportions. Religious extremism of the kind going on in Nigeria and other parts of Africa thrives better in a chaotic or dysfunctional state than it does in a poverty stricken society. It is chaos that creates such monster and not poverty. Poverty might help it to grow after but chaos and indoctrination are the initiators.
United States or any other government does not need to expend any of the resources as are being budgeted to train and equip African national armies. In a multi-state solution the governments can achieve very positive short and long term results at a very minimal cost and record time. Because in the heart of the religious insurgences in Nigeria and other parts of Africa are the incongruent colonial state boundaries, it will make more sense if AFRICOM and Africans can redraw the African political map rather than retrain and reequip African Armies. | <urn:uuid:e37e37b8-4ffe-4f72-8c15-4d311b4a5d96> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.srilankaguardian.org/2013/01/africa-boko-haram-insurgency.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964796 | 3,065 | 1.53125 | 2 |
EC students come from all corners of the globe and for this reason we cannot think of a better way to learn about other cultures than through a course that uses Comparative Culture and Communication as a platform and real-life context for English language learning!
This syllabus focuses on activating language learned in the core classes and students will have ample opportunity for discussion and research.
Comparative Culture and Communication aims to develop skills such as paraphrasing, summarizing, scanning, making predictions and drawing conclusions, note-taking, comparing, contrasting and much more
Students can look forward to organising an International Student Day where students share their country’s food and traditions, setting up a class blog and many more engaging and interactive activities.
Level: Low Intermediate
Cycle: 4 weeks –> thereafter Academic Year students can choose another elective (where possible) and General English students will be moved to an elective of their level based on availability | <urn:uuid:36c002c3-4615-4e57-85d4-6e442b8fb490> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ecenglish.com/blogs/Cape-Town/?p=3246 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940137 | 189 | 2.421875 | 2 |
PECAN GAP, TX
PECAN GAP, TEXAS. Pecan Gap is at the junction of Farm roads 64 and 128, on the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway in extreme northwestern Delta County. The area, originally part of the Curtis Jernigan survey, was settled as early as 1884, when the Pecan Gap Baptist Church, named for a nearby grove, was organized under the leadership of a Pastor Ridling. The following year John R. and Charlotte Clem arrived from Arkansas; other early settlers included Bill Pickard, a Mr. Holcomb, the Hardy and Norton families, and "Grandmother" Garner. In 1888 the Gulf, Colorado and Santa Fe Railway extended its tracks through the Clems' property and built the Pecan Gap depot. The town soon developed as a thriving cotton and trade center. George W. Merrill opened a post office, but John Clem, who had started a lumber mill and become the Baptist pastor, soon succeeded him as postmaster. That year he reported 500 residents in the community. Major businesses included the Birthright and Company gin, Carson Lumber Company, a drugstore, two groceries, two general stores, a hotel, a livery, and a saloon. Citizens also had access to the services of two doctors, a barber, two blacksmiths, and a telegraph office. Mrs. M. E. Miller taught music to local children, and Pecan Gap School, which offered both elementary and secondary classes, had been established by W. L. Mayo. The municipal government consisted of W. T. Edwards, justice of the peace, and W. P. Duvall, constable.
By 1890 mail arrived daily, and two new general stores and another grocery had opened. In 1892 postmaster G. D. Wood reported that he had become proprietor of a new general store. Other new businesses included Cockerell, Edwards and Company Drugs and Saloon and L. A. Campbell's saloon. Records for 1905 identified two schools, one for 134 white students and three teachers, the other for eighteen black students and one teacher. By 1910 the population was 600 and the local lumber and cotton industries were successful. In 1929 the population was 500. Although the town had twenty-one businesses in 1933, the area had already been hard hit by the Great Depression, and many of the sawmills had closed. In 1936 Pecan Gap had 409 residents. In 1941 it still had twenty-one businesses. With the advent of World War II, many residents and businesses moved to more lucrative centers. In 1945 seventeen businesses remained, but by 1958 the number had declined to eleven. Maps for 1964 identified three businesses, two churches, and seventy dwellings; the population was 250. By 1970 the Fannindel Independent School District in Fannin County had absorbed the Pecan Gap system, and a community center had been completed. The town had 296 inhabitants and five businesses in 1989. In 1990 the population was 245. The population dropped to 214 in 2000.
John J. Germann and Myron Janzen, Texas Post Offices by County (1986). Paul Garland Hervey, A History of Education in Delta County, Texas (Ph.D. dissertation, University of Texas, 1951). Fred I. Massengill, Texas Towns: Origin of Name and Location of Each of the 2,148 Post Offices in Texas (Terrell, Texas, 1936). Wilma Ross and Billie Phillips, Photos and Tales of Delta County (1976).
The following, adapted from the Chicago Manual of Style, 15th edition, is the preferred citation for this article.Vista K. McCroskey, "PECAN GAP, TX," Handbook of Texas Online (http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlp15), accessed May 19, 2013. Published by the Texas State Historical Association. | <urn:uuid:6b4ae213-5cff-4960-8337-d411e265fe6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tshaonline.org/handbook/online/articles/hlp15 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966315 | 813 | 2.96875 | 3 |
“The works…have an air of fragility, they are temporal but at the same time question something bigger than the here and now” – Michelina Docimo
~~ Delighted to share the art review in CULTURE CATCH on my series Stop Holding Your Breath - “small threaded text based works on paper, is my exploration on slowing down in our culture of speed and often chaos, to connect and communicate, responding vs. reacting… ” http://culturecatch.com/art/ula-einstein
“Drawing Revealed” Exhibition at the Garrison Art Center, which includes the film “Artists in Conversation” – White Hall Productions
“Opening a Window on the Creative Mind”—Benjamin Genocchio
“Ula Einsteindraws with thread, fire, and fine wire, weaving delicate, minimal patterns of her own devising onto sheets of drawing paper.”
…Closer inspection reveals a greater formal diversity, with the practice of drawing explored from many points of view…
The modern enthusiasm for drawing is not entirely new, for in the 16th century there was a lively trade in drawings, not only among artists, who collected drawings by other artists, but also among wealthy patrons. Drawings by Leonardo da Vinci and Michelangelo sold for tremendous sums — those of the Sistine Chapel were especially prized…
We tend to value drawings for their immediacy and freshness, perceiving them to be a more authentic, unadulterated impression of the artist’s original creative vision. In them, we believe we can discern the purest manifestation of the mysteries of artistic inspiration and apprehend a creative idea in its essential traits.
I met the vibrant Italian women ( producer, and photographer) in NYC, from labiennale tv in 2010 where they first saw my work at an exhibition in NYC.
Returning to NYC in 2011, they called to feature my work in their documentation about culture in NYC. | <urn:uuid:a53a01c4-3641-4e95-8d3c-ce6acb8d39ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ulaeinstein.com/category/press/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935312 | 413 | 1.515625 | 2 |
I found this picture to be a shocker.... well not really as we have known about women's exploitation through books etc.... but knowing something and seeing something are two different things.
This is not a photograph of some movie of the times of Nawabs... this is the real picture clicked in a photo studio of Raja Deen Dayal, the photographer.... This is the picture of power.
I wrote about the pic of a nautch girl in this post... and promised to post something which will make you sit up and think.
The presence of girls (understandably nautch girls or prostitutes) and the bottle of some hard liquor makes a statement, when it's clicked in a photo studio. It's a statement of power. And why I say so, is because of the helpless expressions the girls have on their face. The attire, the sherwani, the head gear (pagdi) and the mustache of the men surrounding the girls, one of them holding one girl, gazing at her as if he is looking at an object of desire says it all....
This was a shocker for me.... I stood still for some time.... feeling the helplessness of the girls sitting there.
Pic courtesy here. (Raja Deen Dayal Photo exhibition : IGNCA) | <urn:uuid:2873fa5c-5ace-4492-a532-a9eaed479e5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://myworldmyperception.blogspot.com/2011/03/of-power-women-and-booze.html?showComment=1299815240852 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961713 | 267 | 1.523438 | 2 |
A Costly Conversion
After a student meeting in Los Angeles a few years ago, I was approached by a student from the University of Southern California who was from the Middle East.
The young man had come to a meeting where I was speaking on "the uniqueness of Jesus." He said, "I was tremendously moved by what you said about Jesus tonight. My father is a religious leader in Pakistan. In my country when a person becomes a Christian he is often killed."
The student related how a medical doctor and his wife had given him a New Testament when he arrived in America. He had been reading it, and decided that Jesus was the one for whom he had looked all his life.
"I found no realities in my religion," he said. "I need Christ in my life, but I know if I receive Him, I must write my father and tell him what I have done. And he will disown me. My father is a very wealthy, influential man," he said. "If I receive Christ, he will cut off my allowance, and I will have no source of income. I will lose my student visa, and I will have to return to Pakistan in disgrace."
And he added very soberly, "I will probably be killed, quite likely by my own family."
I didn't press him, but waited prayerfully as he sat quietly, his head bowed. Finally after about 30 minutes, largely of silence, he said, "I am ready."
I wept when I heard those words. We knelt and prayed, and this brilliant young student received Christ into his life.
Immediately, He began to experience unusual persecution. He wrote his father, who did disown him. All of his personal belongings were stolen. I later learned that he had gone for many days without food. Then he lost his student visa and was forced to return to his country. I have had no contact with him since. I believe he was martyred for his faith
Before he left, I asked him, "Are you sorry you received Christ?"
I shall never forget the expression on his face as he replied, "No, I am not sorry."
When I think of that experience I realize how fortunate I am. For the most part Christians in the free world are applauded when we receive Christ. But this young man made his decision knowing the cost.
Yours for fulfilling the Great Commission each year until our Lord returns,
The late Dr. Bill Bright was Founder and President/Chairman Emeritus of Campus Crusade for Christ, an organization which began as a campus ministry in 1951 and now has more than 27,000 full-time staff and up to 500,000 trained volunteer staff in 196 countries in areas representing 99.6 percent of the world's population. In the past 50 years, Campus Crusade for Christ has seen approximately 6 billion exposures to the gospel worldwide. The film, "JESUS," which Bright conceived and funded through Campus Crusade for Christ, is the most widely translated and viewed film of any type ever produced. Since its use began in 1980, the film has been translated into 839 languages and viewed or listened to by over 5.7 billion people in 228 countries. Dr. Bright was also the author of more than fifty books. Visit campuscrusade.com for more details
Copyright (c) 2003, Bill Bright. All rights reserved. However, readers may copy and distribute this message as desired, without restrictions in number, as long as the content is not altered. Forwarding this e-mail to friends is encouraged. For many evangelistic and spiritual growth materials, visit the Campus Crusade for Christ Web site at ccci.org. See campuscrusade.com for Bill Bright's own materials. | <urn:uuid:c2514745-f7d1-47a0-9083-30049cad0fab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crosswalk.com/devotionals/insights-from-bill-bright/a-costly-conversion-feb-7.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99034 | 767 | 1.6875 | 2 |
I really dont have much understanding of the drip feeding process. I do undertand that my BobCad has a post processor for a machine that I have and was considering updating to late model steppers and Mach 3, but why? If I can communicate and it performs all the operations, so be it (the machine is in pristine condition, just older). Anyway after a lot of reading and trying to put the bits together. I downloaded the post processor for the Dyna 2400 and loaded an existing drawing and recomputed the tool path. An entire different language was outputted (conversational). Then upon a little more research there might be the ability to feed it via RS232 (I just have to make a cable for which I have the pinouts and loops, I think). Do some com port configuration as my guide says and it should be able to be transferred. Could this be true? I see a few people on different forums who gut these machines right away. I have done this on my first machine, a light machines. It works well now, I dont. then a Dyna 3000 that I gutted and am moving to a gecko g540. However it was in great condition upon purchase but i could find very little of people who successfully adapted to the existing circuitry. Now after a few thousand hours of late night reading it turns out there are a few people around who do understand how it can be tied together. I might convert this machine over at a later date but speed is not my issue, accuracy would be nice. But really understanding how they interface and the different languages would be fun too. With that being said, Is BC or Predator the sw resposible for the actual transfer? Any tips for the process and what to watch for in the set up would be nice. Thanks
Last edited by Fastest1; 08-17-2010 at 10:45 AM. | <urn:uuid:a4e5a8dd-a5c5-4073-845b-32cda9e0f9da> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cnczone.com/forums/machine_problems_solutions_wireless_dnc_serial_port/110267-dyna_dm2400_drip_feed.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966029 | 384 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Posted on Feb 04, 2010 | Comments 0
There are several ways to build a house and still take care of your finance while building it and using it for a long period of time.
Most constructors do not choose the most energy effective materials when building a house because the products cost a little more than the standard ones and this cuts of their profit.
For the new owner it is worth it to spend a little more while building and a lot less afterwards in the many years the house will be used as a personal home.
This is how the standard heating is usually the largest consumer in the house. Choosing a more effective form of energy for starters is a very good idea and picking out the suitable energy plan for the specific area the house is build can contribute to saving a considerable amount of money.
Also programmable thermostats are very helpful, so the owner’s agenda will be free of the part reminding to reduce the temperature before going to work.
The water heating energy is a large consumer. The natural gas is the most efficient heating source for water so the right boiler can add to saving energy.
Door and windows can be very helpful in storing heat but for that the greatest attention must go to the moment when they are installed.
When choosing house hold apparatus it is better to look after the energy star label because it is identifying those gadgets with the lowest energy consumption.
Filed Under: Tips & Ideas | <urn:uuid:fda433cc-40cd-4dbc-8c1b-b9d075e094ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thenewecologist.com/2010/02/helpful-tips-for-a-smartly-planned-house-energy-consumption/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928202 | 292 | 2.421875 | 2 |
|Vol. 1. No. 3
Rhythm and Role Play
Carolyn Graham, with cartoons by Sergio Aragones (1991)
Rhythm and Role Play was published thirteen years after Jazz Chants (Graham, 1978) was first published. In this later publication, Carolyn Graham has teamed up with cartoonist Sergio Aragones and editor Joan Ashkenas. Thirteen chapters or topics portray various character roles as in a play, with choral responses. The cartoons are very clever and the role plays are humorous. "The Traffic Ticket" in Unit Ten might not ring true for some EFL classes, but it does here in the Czech Republic, where the alleged speeder, if not under any substance influence, must pay a fine on the spot. If the offender doesn't have enough money, the policeman writes out the equivalent of an IOU from the trespasser to the town Police Department!
Studio City, CA: JAG Publications
Pp. 95, with audiocassette.
ISBN 0-943327-08-3 (paper); 0-943327-09-1 (cassette)
US $10.95 text; $14.95 cassette
There is a cassette tape that accompanies the paperback book, with rhythmic exercises for each unit. The cassette tape is helpful, but not necessary, since the class can chant, clap, rap, and finger-snap rhythms they desire.
One difference between Jazz Chants and Rhythm and Role Play is the inclusion of exercises in the latter, which include pair work ("Ask Your Partner"), word puzzles and some crossword puzzles. Although not exhaustive, they provide models for teachers and students to create their own rhythms and activities. The materials are appropriate for intermediate and advanced levels.
Graham, C. (1978). Jazz Chants. New York: Oxford University Press.
Lloyd V. Rogers
South Bohemia University
© Copyright rests with authors. Please cite TESL-EJ appropriately.
Editor's Note: Dashed numbers in square brackets indicate the end of each page in the paginated ASCII version of this article, which is the definitive edition. Please use these page numbers when citing this work. | <urn:uuid:95e0517b-7afd-4a89-a7c1-09d1cefe9ca3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tesl-ej.org/ej03/r1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908864 | 454 | 2.078125 | 2 |
|900 Volunteers "Monitor" Santa in Colorado Springs|
|Written by Sherry|
|Monday, 24 December 2007 20:57|
This is obviously not a Christian tradition but a strong local tradition in Colorado Springs on Christmas Eve.
NORAD (headquartered in Colorado Springs) has been "tracking" Santa Claus every Christmas Eve since 1955. This year 900 local volunteers will be answering phone calls and e-mails from children (as of this moment, they say that 46,000 children have contacted this this evening) and offering "updates" as to Santa's location.
Here are tonight's updates - if you or someone in your family just has to know. Word is that Santa Claus is over Caribou, Maine at this every moment. There are many "videos" of Santa over the Great Wall of China, India, Iraq, etc.
See Here where Santa meets up with the International Space Station.
Which raises the obvious question - how do we proclaim Christ when this charming, deeply embedded tradition is so dominant for so many? | <urn:uuid:cbccf607-3f14-4153-81d3-bdfaa2447f72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.siena.org/December-2007/900-volunteers-qmonitorq-santa-in-colorado-springs/Print | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932784 | 214 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Well, it is nice when your project to group and it mean not only more money, but more server resources. And if you didn't start to receive money it will be normal if you will start to search for options without increasing monthly payments.
With version 1.4, GPix have "Advaced settings" which provide you control over advanced features. You can leave them as is and GPix will work, but you can research them and choose to change for your special case.
Do you like and use SimpleXML? it is nice library for development common tasks, but have one BIG limitation - SimpleXML extension requires PHP 5. And what you will do if client have PHP4? it will be big success if client can upgrade php to version 5, but if not? There are a lot php custom solution which require PHP4 and clients don't want to spent money for upgrades or just prefer to to leave it as it, because it work.
When peoples work with Outlook long years. And it is normal for peoples to use this data in another application. In many cases when peoples choose program they can not images which requirement they will have in the feature. As result it is possible to have data in "unique" format. And when you need to change mail server you need to configure. But why man need to open dialog boxes and make mistake when hosting company are able to provide ready to use configuration file? or take outlook configuration file to fetch data from another mail server?
Main goal for GPix versions 1.4.x is integration with third party systems. GPix 1.4.0 was release with integration API. Now, this API is improved and new integration modules added.
So, if you use vBulletin, Drupal, Mambo or Joomla. GPix can handle user authentication for this systems. As result you existing user don't need separate registration for GPix. More all existing users will be handled automatically.
memcached is service which provide memory cache storage. It can provide access to cached object via network and it is extrimly fast!
memcashed pecl module is a way which can be used to access cache storage. How it work? It more complicated instead Cache_Lite, but it is fastest. This fact can be explain: Cache_Lite use file system to store cache objects.
One way to speed up web application is to lower database usage. Databases designed to provide very fast manipulation with data in files. Often developer use databases for everything and store session data, user files. This action make tables big and database server work slowly...
Why cache need to be part of optimization? - if you know what you do and how it is very fast way to lower server load. So, after load is lowered you will have time to think about logical optimization ;)
What we can cache?
logical results(which isn't design as separate functions) | <urn:uuid:15589d28-1677-4408-b90d-fc754a40eec9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kalexandr.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922154 | 599 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Benefits of iversity
iversity offers a modular one-step solution for academic research, coursework and practice. This simultaneously reduces the organizational effort for individual students and professors while lowering the university’s expenses. Conventional e-learning solutions are closed systems, unable to link their users to the rest of the wider academic community. Users remain insulated within their institutions. In contrast, an iversity user can share their work and research with peers, announce events, and collaborate on projects, either within a password-protected private community or by publishing contents online. The result is a stimulating academic community that creates valuable connections and can help publicize a user's work both within the university and outside of it.
Benefits for Research Groups
Scholars’ everyday activity is to find, collect, exchange and publish information. But they also need professional networking within the academic community. iversity consolidates all of these activities into one easy-to-use platform.
Online communication within research groups often relies on cumbersome email exchange. Instead, exchanging data with iversity allows effortless compiling and archiving of information by topics, dates and keywords.
Single contributions and announcements - like publication dates or calls for papers - can be published directly from inside a group’s private domain. Currently, such publications have to be imported to a project’s homepage by system administrators. With iversity, each collaborator on a research project can update the group‘s public site. This gives each team member the chance to easily contribute to the success of the whole group.
Conventional tools for online collaboration are usually isolated solutions implemented by single universities or research projects. In contrast, research.iversity embraces the possibilities of the web and adapts them to academia’s specific needs and high security demands. As a result, iversity provides the first comprehensive, easy-to-use scientific infrastructure for academic collaboration, allowing scientists to overcome institutional and disciplinary boundaries: researchers can share a common platform with colleagues from other universities and disciplines to communicate, collaborate and publish within a wider academic network.
Benefits for CourseworkParticipatory Learning
iversity provides a feedback channel for students to actively contribute to course discussions and projects. It has been shown that a student-centred approach based on active participatory learning is more productive than lecture-style teaching. In courses primarily based on lectures – especially with 40 participants or more – there is little opportunity for students to discuss the content of the curriculum. Organisational problems often keep teachers from pursuing a proactive learning approach. iversity fills this gap by providing the infrastructure that helps individual teachers and students to communicate effectively and openly. At iversity, students can open forums for various course-related discussions; in smaller work groups, participants can prepare upcoming courses or evaluate and discuss past sessions.
For example, in the media studies course "Medienkunstmomente / Moments in Art and Media" (http://un.iversity.org/courses/144/), students contributed more than 350 entries in different discussion forums, 170 links, and 90 images. The professor of the course stated that the iversity's interactive learning concept "motivated independent research and stimulated intellectually demanding discussions beyond the classroom. This develops skills which students often lack but whose importance – especially because of the complexity of new media – can not be overestimated: the competence to acquire new competences." Improved Networking Among Students
Students can employ iversity to build networks with each other and with teachers and can collaborate in work- or study groups. A major function of networks based on web 2.0 technology is exchanging experiences and seeking advice from peers – e.g. on study programs, study grants, internships, employers, applications, computer software etc. A network like this enables students to form teams and organise projects like research groups, student newspapers, sports teams, or business start-ups. It has been shown that online networking activity does not diminish 'real-life' contacts. In fact, such networks enable, stimulate and stabilize contacts and friendships that would otherwise be neglected.
The students' integration into a social community from the beginning of their studies encourages team spirit and a close connection to their faculty, which in turn lowers the dropout rate. Eventually, an alumni network will evolve from the student community on iversity, which is a potentially valuable resource for both the alumni and the university.Possibilities for Publication
Unlike existing e-learning platforms, iversity allows students to immediately publish their papers and presentations for their courses, which provides practical exercise in presenting work to a broader academic community. This user-generated content turns iversity into a valuable public relations tool for universities, attracting web traffic and enhancing public image. Furthermore, such user-generated content is inexpensive and up-to-date compared to editorial web pages. The publication of course material is a new concept, practised only by a few US universities, such as MIT (http://ocw.mit.edu).
While it is offering options for online publication, iversity also facilitates learning processes in password-protected spaces. There, group discussions can evolve freely and securely. The privacy settings for individual groups and contributions are flexible and easy to control.Practice and E-Portfolio
Currently, no academic web site exists that embraces the variety or quality of student projects. iversity's practice site (un.iversity.org/projects) offers an opportunity to present students' achievements. Depending on the study program or faculty, these include cultural, social or business oriented projects.
iversity also establishes an interface between the job market and graduates: practical skills and experiences are acquired during extracurricular activities in most academic disciplines. iversity relates and integrates both the academic and the practical sphere into one single e-portfolio. As a result, each student’s e-portfolio presents important aspects of both fields, adding up to a multifaceted curriculum vitae.
Lower Student Dropout Rate Through Community and Online Assessment
The student dropout rate at universities is about 30%. According to a current study, the high dropout rate results in costs of 2.2 billion Euros in Germany alone. Since 2008, the German federal and state governments apportion these costs to individual universities so that a high drop out rate leads to budget cuts in the millions.
iversity has developed a three-step concept to assist universities' efforts to avoid such costs. It matches applicants well with the curricular content and therefore sustainably increases the retention rate by integrating students into the social community during their studies.
Universities can involve prospective students in the online community, accompanied by the benefits of online assessment. This form of recruitment is contemporary, inexpensive and draws the attention of prospective academics on a national and international scale. In the process, a better match between students’ skills and interests and their academic program is achieved. To meet the specific requirements of individual universities or institutes, we develop and customize the online assessment tools in close collaboration with our clients. If you are interested in an adapted online assessment solution please contact us directly.
- cf. Jochen Leffers: Staat setzt jährlich 2,2 Milliarden Euro in den Sand.
In: Spiegel-Online. http://www.spiegel.de/unispiegel/studium/0,1518,508930,00.html (Seen 1.12.2009.) | <urn:uuid:4704906b-0118-44a8-a4f6-dd39657dfd3d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://un.iversity.org/pages/benefits | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919632 | 1,504 | 2.078125 | 2 |
09/12/2011 - 12/09/2011
Tuesday 06:00 PM - 08:30 PM
Public Affairs Center 422
This course introduces students to the Constitution of the United States, as interpreted and understood by the Supreme Court of the United States. It begins with a simple premise: Understanding the Constitution is an integral part of a liberal arts education and a responsibility of citizenship. Our purpose is not so much to learn constitutional law, however, as it is to develop an understanding of what the Constitution is, what assumptions it makes about state, society, and human nature, and how we give it meaning.
Our textual materials consist primarily of decisions by the Supreme Court of the United States. Each week we will concentrate on a single decision. In the second week, for example, we will discuss Marbury v. Madison. In the ninth week, we will explore Dred Scott, and in the tenth week the flag salute cases. In addition to the case or cases accented every week, we will read and discuss additional cases and secondary materials.
My choice of cases is informed in part by their importance and complexity, and in part by their centrality to questions I consider essential to understanding the fundamentals of the Constitution. I make no claim that these twelve cases are the single most important cases in American constitutional law or essential for a complete doctrinal understanding of the Constitution. Consequently, I have not thought it necessary to cover every substantive area of constitutional law.
Enrollment is limited to 18 students.
This course is open to auditors.
The deadline to withdraw and receive a tuition refund for this course is Friday, September 16 at 5:00 pm. Please visit our website for a complete list of registration and withdrawal dates for this session.
A syllabus for this course is available at:
John Finn (B.A. Nasson College; J.D. Georgetown University; M.A., Ph.D Princeton University; Grande Diplome, French Culinary Institute) is professor of government. He is coauthor, with Kommers and Jacobsohn, of American Constitutional Law: Essays, Cases and Comparative Notes (Rowman, 2004); co-author with Donald P. Kommers of American Constitutional Law: Essays, Cases, and Comparative Notes (West/Wadsworth 1998), and is author of Constitutions in Crisis: Political Violence and the Rule of Law (Oxford University Press, 1991). Click here for more information about John Finn.
Consent of Instructor Required: No
|Level: GLSP||Credits: 3||Enrollment Limit: 18|
Texts to purchase for this course:
INSTRUCTOR HAS NOT YET ORDERED ANY TEXTS FOR THIS COURSE.
|Register for Courses|
Contact firstname.lastname@example.org to submit comments or suggestions.
Copyright Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut, 06459 | <urn:uuid:ac701035-9da4-4328-be64-3beccfd83fa9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wesleyan.edu/templates/dept/glsp/courses/skeleton_courses.htt?function=f1&cid=SOCS%20612&term=1119 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904268 | 601 | 2.5 | 2 |
U.S. authorities should reorganize the country's largest banks to protect against the risk of institutions that are "too big to fail" and that would saddle ordinary Americans with the cost of a bailout the next time they get in trouble, a senior Federal Reserve official said on Wednesday.
"We recommend that TBTF (too-big-to-fail) financial institutions be restructured into multiple business entities," Richard Fisher, president of the Dallas Federal Reserve Bank, told an audience at the National Press Club in Washington.
He declined to answer questions directly on monetary policy during a question-and-answer session after the speech with reporters, but acknowledged that he believed the impact of massive Fed bond purchases on monetary policy was fading.
Lawmakers passed sweeping changes to financial regulation in the aftermath of the 2008-2009 financial crisis in legislation led by Senator Chris Dodd and Representative Barney Frank.
Critics say Dodd-Frank did not go far enough, including several Fed officials who, like Fisher, want the biggest banks reined in.
Fed Governor Daniel Tarullo in October suggested capping the size of banks according to their proportion of U.S. gross domestic product and said that would require Congress to write new laws. But Fisher did not think dictating how big banks could grow was the right course.
"I'm a little reluctant just given my philosophical bent to artificially engineer size," he said, arguing that markets would do a better job of making that judgment.
The outspoken Texan policymaker, blaming such "behemoth" firms for massive bad bets on the U.S. housing market at the root of the crisis and subsequent taxpayer bank bailout, said the Fed should protect their core commercial lending operations -- and nothing else.
He identified 12 "megabanks" with assets of over $250 billion as too big to fail.
"Only the resulting downsized commercial banking operations, and not shadow banking affiliates or the parent company, would benefit from the safety net of federal deposit insurance and access to the Federal Reserve's discount window," Fisher said.
The discount window is an emergency source of liquidity for qualifying banks unwilling or unable to borrow in the open market. They pay a higher rate of interest for the privilege.
The remaining parts of a bank's business would be excluded from government support, and anyone doing business with them should have to sign an official disclaimer, Fisher said.
Such a health warning would acknowledge that no federal deposit insurance or other public money would come to the rescue if their counterparty hit the rocks.
Copyright 2013 Thomson Reuters. Click For Restrictions | <urn:uuid:3e88f83c-9a8e-4566-ac6c-e0ef9a4cfdaa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.banktech.com/regulation-compliance/reorganize-banks-that-are-too-big-to-fai/240146504?pgno=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960882 | 522 | 1.601563 | 2 |
About one in eight women in the U.S. will develop breast cancer in their lifetime. But the collateral damage of this disease clearly does not stop there.
Breast cancer is more than just a woman's issue. While not as physically severe, it also has great impact on spouses and other family members.
While medical science has made tremendous breakthroughs in the diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer, the common wisdom of compassionate care has simultaneously elevated us to a much higher level of consciousness: to treat the whole patient (including their families), and not just the disease.
In our society, the males are not usually thought of as the typical family caregiver. Providers? Yes. Inherently and stereotypically wired to avoid open discussion of fear or pain? Perhaps. Caregivers and nurturers? You may be surprised how one can be transformed when faced with a life changing event like breast cancer.
While our society has evolved far from the "Ozzie and Harriet Americana" of the 1950s, the dynamics and gender assignment of most traditional families still places the task of caregiver into the hands of the female. But what happens when men find themselves cast into this non-traditional role?
Taking care of their spouse, partner or family member as they begin the process of cancer diagnosis, treatment and survivorship can certainly cause a sense of unbalance, even instability. "Normal" is gone forever, and an ardent search for the family's "new normal" begins.
This past Thursday evening, St. Joseph's/Candler and the Savannah Morning News sponsored a live webcast discussion entitled "Real Men Wear Pink." I had the pleasure of participating in the discussion which featured five men discussing how breast cancer has affected their personal relationships, how they demonstrate their support for their loved ones, and how each of them has found - and continue to strive for - their own personal "new normal."
This frank discussion clearly showed that open communication is a key component in the survivorship process. Communication between physicians, patients, spouses or other family members, patient navigators and other medical personnel is paramount in a successful transition to the family's ultimate survivorship. In fact, a key component of our participation in the National Community Cancer Centers Program (NCCCP) is creating and sustaining a successful survivorship strategy for each family.
While the patients usually have the necessary support to sustain their immediate medical and physiological needs, it is the emotional and psychological support that is often more desperately needed. The loss of "normal," and the uncertainty of finding that elusive new balance can be overwhelming.
At the same time, the dynamics of each patient is also unique, and therefore, so are their needs. While some consider formalized "support" unnecessary, others may cling to it. There is no exact formula. Support is severely personal. The exact components can only be determined by the patient themselves, their spouses, their family members or an appropriate combination of all parties involved. While many find needed support and assistance from extended family members and friends, others find solace from their personal faith, church groups, the comfort of pets, fellow co-workers, cancer support groups, and other survivor strategies.
No matter what form it takes, support is critical in any cancer care. It does not matter what your gender or what untraditional role you may play in support of your spouse or loved one. My experience Thursday evening as I listened to these personal stories and their unique milestones of survivorship, proved once again, something that I already knew: that real men truly wear pink - literally and figuratively.
The most notable common thread throughout the evening's discussion was the fact each of these men had a deep and abiding love for, and a strong relationship with, their spouses and/or family members - relationships that grew stronger through the entire process. The close-ranked loyalty and the strength that one earns in fighting a common enemy brought many of these men even closer to their loved ones.
Honesty was another common denominator. One participant admitted empathy was not a factor in his story. Rather, he felt it would be arrogant and inaccurate on his part to remotely think that he could know what it physically felt like to have gone through what his wife experienced. Another participant mentioned how he focused on the beauty of his wife's eyes, rather than the fact she had lost her hair through extensive chemo treatments.
Apparently, wisdom is a positive side effect of the battle and a major component of the "new normal."
Dr. Zaren is medical director at Nancy N. & J. C. Lewis Cancer and Research Pavilion at St. Joseph's/Candler. | <urn:uuid:c2776c46-1769-4a05-88f8-44d87ccbaa61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://savannahnow.com/column/2010-10-09/zaren-real-men-wear-pink | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972537 | 943 | 2 | 2 |
Excellence for each student.
The Oregon School for the Deaf is a community that fosters lifelong learning, encouraging individuals to become self-fulfilled, productive citizens.
All students enrolled at the Oregon School for the Deaf are entitled to the best education that our resources can provide. Each student is valued as a unique individual, to be treated with dignity, in an atmosphere where individual differences are accepted. We believe that each student can learn, and accept the challenge of providing a nurturing environment which allows each student to fulfill his/her potential. We endeavor to instill in all students the intrinsic value of learning.
Guiding Beliefs of Philosophy Statement
- We set high standards for student achievement and work to provide the best education possible for each individual.
- We foster a creative, motivating, barrier-free communication environment that recognizes and honors Deaf Culture, American Sign Language, and Deaf role models.
- We provide instruction, model values, and demonstrate ethical behavior that will develop character and motivate our students to become enriched, empowered and involved citizens within their communities.
- We cultivate a campus-wide respect for individual values and cultures. We cultivate a positive, safe environment for each student for learning, living, working and belonging and we recognize everyone who works at OSD as an educator.
- We believe mutual support and involvement, and open and direct communication among staff, parents and students are critical elements to success.
- We maintain campus-wide, fair and consistent discipline, thereby teaching our students responsibility.
- We provide instruction, model values, and demonstrate ethical behavior that will develop character and motivate our students to become enriched, empowered and involved citizens within their communities. We are a safe community in which students feel a sense of belonging.
- Our staff recognizes and promotes the importance of developing self-respect and our staff and students respect individual values and cultures.
- We promote and support academic excellence and actualization of potential for staff and students.
- We facilitate learning through communication; students have access to communication throughout campus. (ASL, speech, written and printed English) and provide opportunities for students to interact with deaf adults and peers. | <urn:uuid:40dcd73d-2503-4aba-bba4-c5ceb77f1589> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://osd.k12.or.us/content/about-us | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935118 | 440 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Public Works Maintenance1820 Roosevelt Blvd.Eugene, OR 97402 Ph: 541-682-4800 Fx: 541-682-4882 Email
Recycle Leaves at Home
Leaves can be used as mulch or compost material. They offer an economical alternative to costly commercial mulches, fertilizers, soil amendments and herbicides. In fact, leaves are such a valuable natural resource that many residents request that Public Works deliver leaves in the fall by. Leaves can be requested online.
Gardening With Leaves
Spread leaves several inches thick over your garden site will keep out weeds during the winter. Then till them into the garden in the spring before planting. Keep an extra pile of leaves to use as mulch during the summer growing season. You may want to turn this pile once or twice during the winter. In summer, mulch also helps to conserve irrigation water, which can reduce your watering costs.
Using Leaves as Mulch
Use leaves as an alternative to bark or other commercially available mulches in your landscape beds. Typically, leaves will break down faster than coarser materials, but the result is a more fertile soil for your landscape plants. You can stockpile additional leaves to renew your mulch throughout the year. If your leaves are too large or coarse, you might try collecting them with a bagging lawn mower. You may need to adjust the height setting upward to accomplish this. The mower blade will partially shred the leaves, and bagging them aids in handling.
You can even top-dress your lawn with shredded or composted leaves. It is best to do this following core aeration. Special equipment, available from local rental yards, may be required for best results.
For more information about the City's compost education program, call 541-682-5542. Detailed information on using leaves around the yard and garden is also available by calling the Lane County OSU Extension Master Gardener program at 541-344-0265, or download a factsheet with more information on composing with leaves.
Commercial Recycling Is Another Option
If you have more leaves than you or your neighbors can use, drop them off at a commercial recycling site. Commercial resource recyclers accept leaves and other green materials, such as tree limbs and shrub prunings, for a fee. Resource recyclers turn these materials into compost. An advantage to using a commercial recycler is that you do not have to separate leaves from other green material.
Commercial recyclers do not accept leaves or green material contaminated with garbage, metal, rocks, or stumps. Plastic garbage bags are not accepted. A pickup can hold two or three cubic yards of dry, compacted leaves.
Currently, there are two recyclers who accept leaves in the Eugene area: | <urn:uuid:ba647fa4-d687-40a2-a6d8-32a96eb3fa54> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eugene-or.gov/index.aspx?NID=318 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937625 | 573 | 2.546875 | 3 |
- About CMS
- Supporting CMS
CMS Lunchbox Challenge!
The members of the Wellness Committee are very excited to introduce the first CMS community-wide BOKS Bits challenge! If you are not familiar with BOKS, we meet every morning before school for 50 minutes of kid-friendly physical activity. Each meeting of BOKS includes a BOKS Bit--nutrition talks offering information to increase nutritional knowledge and promote confidence in creating life-long healthy habits.
Our first BOKs Bits community challenge starts off with a “My Lunchbox” contest. CMS children will be encouraged to make their own creative, healthy school lunches. Of course, parents are welcome to help younger children! Participants are encouraged to take a photograph of their lunch creations and email the pictures, including a description of the lunch, to Liz LaRocque (firstname.lastname@example.org). You may enter as many My Lunchbox photos and descriptions as you like. Our My Lunchbox photo album will be posted to the CMS website beginning Wednesday, January 30, 2013.
Criteria used to choose the top healthy My Lunchboxes include: healthy options, creativity and diversity of contents, deliciousness, and ease of preparation.
The contest runs from Wednesday, January 30 through Wednesday, March 20. Winners will be announced (and prizes will be available!) at the end of school on Thursday, March 21.
There will be three grand prize-winners; one for the participant with the most submissions; one for creativity and diversity of contents, and one for ease of preparation. Grand prizes will include a bento box (free of phthalates, BPA, lead and PVC), a Camelbak hydration pack, and a healthy-lunch cookbook for kids. Each participant will receive a prize as well.
If you have questions or concerns, please email Nurse Liz (email@example.com), or check in with Liz, Deb Race or Alex Tzelnic when you see us in the halls!
Here’s to six school weeks of healthy, creative lunches!
To see submissions click here! | <urn:uuid:5e3a8af3-f5d2-46c3-9141-93b4fde04d2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cambridgemontessori.org/news/2013/02/cms-lunchbox-challenge | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919135 | 450 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Muhammad, Haseena Bashir (2012)
Ph.D. thesis, University of Birmingham.
In this thesis, the design, fabrication and characterisation of a bio-inspired microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) based tactile sensor array is presented. A vast amount of research has been carried out in the area of tactile sensing and various transduction methods have been explored. However, currently no device exists with a performance comparable to that of the biological tactile sensors of the human fingertip in terms of robustness, sensitivity, spatial resolution and dynamic performance. The sensors developed in this work employ the principles of electrical capacitance and are fabricated from commercially available siliconon- oxide wafers using simple process steps. Each sensor is formed from two plates of highly conductive silicon separated by an air-gap formed from sacrificial etching of the oxide layer. Deflection of the 2 \(\mu\)m thick upper plate of the sensor as a result of applied mechanical stimulus, causes a change in capacitance which is the output of the sensor. Within the array, the individual sensors are spaced 150 \(\mu\)m apart (centre-centre pitch of 570 \(\mu\)m) and therefore offer the potential for high spatial resolution. To protect the sensor array from mechanical shock and provide skin like compliance, the use of suitable packaging materials was explored. The use of poly dimethyl siloxane (PDMS) as a suitable skin-like material was demonstrated. Modification of the surface topography of the packaging layer to include ’fingerprint’ like features was explored and its benefits highlighted. Sensor characterisation experiments revealed that the sensing device was sufficiently sensitive to allow the discrimination of different textures (with feature spacing down to 0.2 mm) through tests conducted using gratings varying in spatial periodicity and fabrics. Based on the results, the sensors can be used as an analogue of the slowly adapting tactile receptors (Merkel disks) for robotic finger applications.
|Type of Work:||Ph.D. thesis.|
|Supervisor(s):||Ward, Michael C. L.|
|School/Faculty:||Colleges (2008 onwards) > College of Engineering & Physical Sciences|
|Department:||School of Mechanical Engineering|
QM Human anatomy
T Technology (General)
TJ Mechanical engineering and machinery
|Institution:||University of Birmingham|
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