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The Morbid Age
Britain & the Crisis of Civilization 1919-1939
Date of publication: May 2010
British intellectual life between the wars stood at the heart of modernity. The Morbid Age opens a window on to this creative but anxious era, the golden age of the public intellectual and scientist: Arnold Toynbee, Aldous and Julian Huxley, H. G. Wells, Marie Stopes and a host of others. Yet, as Richard Overy argues, a striking characteristic of so many of the ideas that emerged from this new age - from eugenics to Freud's unconscious, to modern ideas of pacifism and world government - was the fear that the West was facing a possibly terminal crisis of civilization. Ultimately, Overy shows, the coming of war was almost welcomed as a way to resolve the contradictions and anxieties of this period, a war in which it was believed civilization would be either saved or utterly destroyed. | <urn:uuid:d54796da-8302-49fb-8fcb-881d0922ef8f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/BOOKSHOP/details.aspx?titleId=1483 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934256 | 191 | 2.578125 | 3 |
I wish all Americans could travel to the streets of Copenhagen and the halls of Bella Center to hear the excitement about President Obama and the hope that he brings. Many people from around the world – I’ve spoken with people from Nmibia, Kiribati, Denmark, Copenhagen, Australia, Dominican Republic, etc. – think Obama can help seal some kind of deal.
I envy this optimism. I struggle to find it on this chilly, wintry morning. Yesterday the hope buoyed protesters and concerned citizens to demand entrance to the Bella Center (a limited number of observer organizations were allowed inside, and even fewer today), but inside where heads of state and negotiators sat it was relatively calm. As the High-Level Segment (HLS) began, the first of 130 heads of state spoke the will of their country at three minute intervals. Only a handful of leaders spoke on Wednesday, but the divide that was prominent earlier in the week remains. Developing countries want a two-track process, and demanded Annex I countries under the Kyoto Protocol reduce their emissions by 40% or more by 2020, in addition to providing billions of dollars of funding annually for developing countries to adapt and transfer to renewable energies. Developed countries reiterated the desire to limit warming to 2 degrees C (above preindustrial levels) but that a new inclusive agreement that forces commitments from the U.S. and China were necessary to reach that goal. Connie Hedegaard stepped down as President of the COP in order to continue with one on one negotiations in order to help reach an agreement by tomorrow. The Prime Minister of Denmark now resides over the HLS proceedings. There is still no specific deal to seal.
So what can Obama say or do, in his allotted three minutes, that will bring this conference to a close? His hands are tied by a Congress that was unable to pass a climate and energy bill prior to Copenhagen, and he can’t commit to greenhouse gas emissions more than what is in the current draft of the climate bill (17% reducations below 2005 levels by 2020, corresponding to a 3% reduction below 1990 levels). He has, however, in the last week sent members of his cabinet and leaders in his administration to Copenhagen to show that the US is committed to change and has other means of reducing greenhouse gas emissions. Commerce Secretary Gary Locke, EPA Administrator Lisa Jackson, NOAA Administrator Jane Lubchenco and Interior Secretary Ken Salazar spoke to audiences in Copenhagen to discuss energy and climate policies. The US EPA announced last week that greenhouse gases are a danger to human health and could therefore be regulated, sending a message to Copenhagen that the Obama administration has the power to address emissions without new legislation from Congress. Obama is clearly showing his dedication to combating climate change by using current laws and administrative powers to do so, as he waits for Congress to send him a bill to sign.
On November 19th, 1863, in less than three minutes, Abraham Lincoln gave the Gettysburg address to a warring nation. His remarks helped to end the civil war by reminding those fighting of the original, unifying intent of the creation of the United States – a government of the people, by the people and for the people. Perhaps Obama can use his three minutes to unite and inspire the fractioned parties to the conference, reminding them of the original, unifying goal of the United Framework Convention on Climate Change – the stabilization of greenhouse gas concentrations in the atmosphere at a level that would prevent dangerous anthropogenic interference with the climate system. In other words – limiting climate change to a level that will provide a healthy planet for future generations.
“Hope in the face of difficulty. Hope in the face of uncertainty. The audacity of hope” – President Barack Obama.
- posted by Adina Abeles | <urn:uuid:9e76da79-f94f-4f7a-9355-68a03bc3a251> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://centerforoceansolutions.org/climate/2009/12/the-audacity-of-hope/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961246 | 766 | 1.898438 | 2 |
India approaches 2017 clean energy goal with three year boost driven by wind
- 26 February 2013
NEW DELHI: India increased its clean energy capacity by 12.4 gigawatts over the past three years, which has edged it towards its goal of 30 gigawatts of clean energy power by 2017.
The Ministry of New and Renewable Energy announced the progress on a statement on its website, which includes the following details:
- The Indian state of Tamil Nadu installed the most clean energy capacity at 3.1 gigawatts, followed by Gujarat, a member of The Climate Group, at 2.4 gigawatts, then Maharashtra and Karnataka.
- Of the new clean energy that was generated over the past three years, wind power accounted for the most at 8.3 gigawatts.
- Other leading sources of energy were 1.8 gigawatts of biomass, 1.2 gigawatts of solar and 1.1 gigawatts of hydropower.
Aditi Dass, Director of Technology Programs, The Climate Group says: “Here is tangible proof that India is pushing hard to deliver on its clean energy targets. Last year the government announced a goal to reach 53,000 megawatts of generated clean power, more than doubling its capacity by 2017; this news shows we’re getting there.
"It is clear that both India’s government and businesses are aware of the huge clean revolution opportunity and are working together to charge ahead and keep the nation’s growth low carbon, to offer a better future for all.” | <urn:uuid:0dadec81-2e27-4de9-a773-5a46fa34fd32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thecleanrevolution.org/news-and-events/news/india-approaches-2017-clean-energy-goal-with-three-year-boost/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962816 | 314 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Would quality time with the family make Jack more productive at work? A study has found that Hong Kong employees, known for their work ethics, may be working a little too hard. They are getting home too tired to enjoy their loved ones, and feel they would work far better if they could have a little more fun at home.
The survey of 1,002 full-time employees aged 18 and above was conducted by telephone in November 2010 and the results were released in March 2011. Respondents were married, single, or divorced, Hong Kong residents holding administrative or professional positions, clerical jobs, or worker jobs. They were questioned on the total number of hours spent at work and at home in the past seven days.
According to the survey, not everyone was working long hours; 59.2 per cent of respondents worked 10 or fewer hours, 32.5 per cent worked between 10 and 13 hours, while 7.4 per cent worked 14 or more hours. Respondents holding administrative and professional jobs worked the longest hours, and respondents in the worker group worked the shortest," says Ms Lau Yuk-king, Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies (HKIAPS) researcher, and assistant professor at the Department of Social Work of the Chinese University of Hong Kong.
Nevertheless, work pressure seemed to have gotten to them. Questions probing the impact of their work role on their family role revealed that work was dampening family time. A good 57.7 per cent of respondents said they came home from work too tired to do some of the things they would like to do. When asked whether work took up time they would like to spend with family, 50.5 per cent agreed.
The incidence of work conflicting with family was more serious for employees with low family incomes, than for those with high family incomes.
The former also felt it was less likely that a positive work role would smoothen their family role. Further studies are needed to determine the reasons for the difference, says Lau.
Women who were married or had children experienced more work-family conflicts than their male counterparts. Their mental health was also less satisfactory than that of their male counterparts, although their family roles remained similar to that of men.
Despite the increased participation of women in the labour force, they continue to shoulder the major responsibility for taking care of the family and doing housework, Lau says.
The study found that feeling good at work benefits the family. Sixty-five percent of respondents agreed that returning home from work in a good mood had a positive impact on their family role.
And quality time at home lightened up the mood at work, with 61.9 per cent agreeing that spending quality time with family improved their attitude towards work, and 67.8 per cent affirming that good times at home translated to arriving at work in good spirits, which in turn had a positive impact on workers.
The concerns raised by the HKIAPS survey confirmed that of a 2008 Hong Kong University study of 1,027 Hong Kong employees. It revealed a general improvement in work-life balance in Hong Kong since 2004, when the economy was in a crunch and employees worked a lot harder and longer.
The survey showed that employees were working five hours less a week in 2008 than in 2004, and there had been a significant reduction in regular overtime and late work. But despite the shorter working hours, most respondents felt they had too much work to do, which detracted from their personal time. Although more respondents were happy with their jobs, many were unhappy about the amount of time left over to spend with family and friends.
Family-friendly work policies should be formulated to minimize work-family conflict and create an environment conducive to growth, Lau says.
A good 57.7 per cent of respondents said they came home from work too tired to do the things they would like to do.
The incidence of work conflicting with family was more serious for employees with low family incomes
Women who were married or had children experienced more work-family conflicts than their male counterparts
Women continue to shoulder the major responsibility for taking care of the family | <urn:uuid:b5043352-86f5-4f04-a846-d9f77c89e35c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.classifiedpost.com/career-centre/news-insights/feature/too-much-work-too-little-time | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987974 | 830 | 2.3125 | 2 |
March 30th, 2011
By: Melissa Keith
Last year Health Canada released Fluoride in Drinking Water, a document for public inspection and comment, prepared by the Federal-Provincial-Territorial Committee on Drinking Water.
A panel of six experts, four of them dentists, investigated fluoride exposure data with the intent of “revising the current drinking-water guideline” for Canada, while explicitly stating that their objective was not to dictate municipal fluoridation practices.
Fluoridated water is a tough mouthful to swallow for the increasing number of Canadians questioning its impact on their bodies and the environment. Critics have questioned the lengthy report on multiple fronts, including failure to rigorously assess the role of fluoride in a globally pervasive health condition—thyroid disease.
The Health Canada study did not seriously consider thyroid health when it put forward a maximum acceptable concentration (MAC) level of 1.5 mg of fluoride per litre of tap water, according to a response from Carole Clinch, research coordinator with People for Safe Drinking Water.
Why focus on thyroid function?
For starters, the thyroid gland is a repository where fluoride accumulates throughout one’s lifetime.
Fluoride is a very small, chemically reactive particle that tends to displace other minerals in certain storage sites within the body. For this reason, it has been used in osteoporosis treatment—fluoride reinforces bone where calcium has been depleted—and dentistry to replace minerals lost from the teeth.
It should be remembered that the World Health Organization (WHO) treats fluoride more like a drug than an essential nutrient. Fluoridation of a municipal water supply is, in effect, administration of a substance that can create “chemical hazards with clearly defined health effects” for all users of that water, according to WHO.
Unless reverse osmosis, distillation, or activated alumina systems are used, you are not able to remove the fluoride. As Paul Connett, PhD, professor emeritus of environmental chemistry at St. Lawrence University in Canton, New York, declares in his critique of Health Canada’s proposed MAC level for fluoride, “Once fluoride has been added to the water it is no longer possible to control the dose that people get. There will be literally millions of people who will get a higher dose of fluoride drinking water at 0.8 ppm [parts per million] than people would get drinking water at 1.5 ppm.”
How fluoride affects the thyroid
Evidence that fluoride accumulates in the thyroid dates back to the early 1900s, where its presence in the glandular tissue first came to light because of obvious goitres (swollen, enlarged thyroid glands).
In the thyroid gland, fluoride can prevent iodine from playing its proper role in synthesizing two hormones critical for normal metabolic activity throughout the body—T3 (triiodothyronine) and T4 (thyroxine).
The names of these hormones allude to the number of iodide particles the thyroid needs to build them. When fluoride—a more reactive substance from the same chemical family as iodine (the halides)—enters the picture, it can interfere with the T3 and T4 manufacture by blocking iodide receptors. | <urn:uuid:07db960a-a38f-4365-aae4-4b8879a83566> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ktradionetwork.com/tag/repository/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924996 | 663 | 2.75 | 3 |
Paddy Moran started playing hockey at age 15 with Sarsfield, a Quebec City juvenile team. He was educated at St. Patricks School but the school was one of the few local institutions not to have a hockey team in the city. He was 17 when he moved to the Dominions, a junior club, and the team narrowly missed out on the junior title after a one-goal defeat to the Junior Crescents squad. By the age of 19, Moran was tending goal for the Crescent Intermediates and used his stand up style to help the team win an Intermediate Championship.
Moran made his big-league debut with the Quebec Bulldogs of the Eastern Canada Amateur Hockey Association in 1905-06 and stayed with a Quebec-based team for all but one year of his career. He led the National Hockey Association in games won with ten in the 1911-12 season and followed up with a league leading 16 wins in 1912-13. The Bulldogs won the Stanley Cup in both of those seasons and Moran was picked to play for the NHA All-Stars in a 1912 exhibition series.
His Quebec teams, however, tended to lose more games than they won early on and Moran would attempt to keep the puck out of the net in any way possible. Moran played in the days prior to a goal crease being painted in front of the net and guarded his area like a stray dog with a bone. His quick stick was used for more than just deflecting shots and opposition players soon developed a healthy respect for Paddy's self-created "crease." He was a clutch goalie and in the big games was hard to beat.
Moran was particularly proud of the fact that he built his house entirely from his hockey earnings at a cost of about $4,000. He was honoured with induction to the Quebec Hockey Hall of Fame and was a faithful follower of the Quebec Aces Hockey Club in his later years.
Paddy Moran was inducted into the Hockey Hall of Fame in 1958. | <urn:uuid:095faf23-6245-4271-ae69-56d4ccedbccf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.legendsofhockey.net/LegendsOfHockey/jsp/LegendsMember.jsp?mem=p195815&type=Player&page=bio&list=ByName | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.99021 | 406 | 1.726563 | 2 |
in the red
Meaning: If a person or a company is in the red, their debts are greater than their assets.
- Even if we make a profit this year, we owe so much money that we'll probably still be in the red.
- I don't like being in the red, so I don't borrow money.
If someone is in the red they | <urn:uuid:4349b3b7-4a2f-47d2-b30e-e9f456180d1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.englishclub.com/ref/esl/Idioms/Quizzes/Colours_1/in_the_red_11.htm | 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 | 0.973009 | 78 | 2.1875 | 2 |
HIV/AIDS Trends Among U.S. Men Who Have Sex With Men (MSM*)
The AIDS rate for men who have sex with men (MSM) continues to rise, but more slowly than earlier in the epidemic. Due to behavior changes which began in the 1980s, there has been a slowing in the overall rate of new AIDS cases among MSM and declines in new HIV infections have occurred in many areas. Although the overall numbers of AIDS cases among MSM have leveled, cases have steadily risen in some populations of MSM. Racial/ ethnic minority MSM have had large increases in AIDS rates, whereas AIDS rates have decreased slightly for white MSM. AIDS rates also have continued to rise among MSM in small cities and rural areas.
The statistics and trends analyzed in this fact sheet pertain to men whose primary risk factor for acquiring HIV infection was sex with other men. Therefore, this analysis does not include MSM who inject drugs.
This fact sheet is presented in a question-and-answer format that includes current statistics and trends and addresses the changing face of HIV/AIDS among MSM.
How many reported AIDS cases in the United States have been among MSM?
From June 1982 through December 1996, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) received reports of 581,429 cases of AIDS in the United States. Of these cases, 287,576, or 49%, were among MSM. The same 287,576 cases accounted for 59% of all reported AIDS cases among adolescent/adult men.
Through December 1996, the breakdown of AIDS cases reported among MSM by race/ ethnicity shows:
The breakdown by age for all reported AIDS cases among MSM shows:
What was the reported number of new AIDS cases among MSM in 1996?
In 1996, there were 27,316 new cases of AIDS reported among MSM. This represented 40% of all reported AIDS cases in 1996. The same 27,316 represented 50% of reported AIDS cases among adolescent/adult males in 1996. The breakdown in new reported AIDS cases in 1996 among MSM by race/ethnicity is shown in the chart below.
How has the racial/ ethnic distribution of AIDS cases among MSM changed between 1990 and 1996?
The proportion of African-American and Hispanic MSM among new AIDS cases has increased. In 1990, African-American and Hispanic MSM accounted for 19% and 11%, respectively, of new AIDS cases among MSM. In 1996 the proportions grew to 24% for African-American MSM and 15% for Hispanic MSM. In contrast, the proportion for MSM with AIDS who were Asian/Pacific Islander or American Indian/Alaska Native did not differ substantially between 1990 and 1996, and the proportion who were white decreased from 69% to 59%.
What is the AIDS prevalence among MSM?
Prevalence refers to the number of people living with a particular disease. In June of 1996, MSM accounted for the largest number of persons living with AIDS (approximately 98,000), and from July 1995 to June 1996, MSM accounted for the largest absolute increase (5,100) in the number of persons living with AIDS.
What were the trends in AIDS OI among MSM in the 1990s?
By Geographic Region
Among All MSM
Among Young MSM
AIDS-OI Rates + Among MSM in 1990 and 1995, by Region
What were the trends in AIDS incidence rates among MSM from 1990 through 1995?
By Metropolitan Area
What are the trends in AIDS mortality among MSM?
The estimated number of deaths among MSM reported with AIDS rose steadily in the 1980s and early 1990s, and then leveled at approximately 25,000 deaths in 1994 and 1995. In the first 6 months of 1996, overall AIDS deaths declined for the first time. Compared with the first half of 1995, AIDS deaths among MSM fell 19% in the first half of 1996. While AIDS deaths among MSM have shown a decline, AIDS remains the leading cause of death among all men ages 25-44.
Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report 1996;8(2):1-39.
CDC. Update: Trends in AIDS incidence, deaths, and prevalence -- United States, 1996. MMWR 1997;46(8):165-172.
Denning PH, Jones JL, Ward JW. Recent trends in the HIV epidemic among adolescent and young adult gay and bisexual men. J Acquir Immune Defic Syndr. In press.
Sullivan PS, Chu SY, Fleming PL, Ward JW. Changes in AIDS incidence for men who have sex with men, United States, 1990 through 1995. AIDS. In press.
* The term MSM is meant to identify men whose primary reported risk category for HIV infection is unprotected sex with other men. The MSM term is not intended to imply that all sex between men is inherently risky, but that unprotected sex between men of discordant or unknown serostatus may pose a risk for HIV transmission. Also, the term MSM includes all men who have had unprotected sex with men, whether they identify themselves as gay, bisexual, heterosexual, or other.
** To more accurately analyze trends, CDC uses estimates based on when people will develop opportunistic infections (OIs). Most HIV-infected people become severely immunosuppressed before the onset of one of the numerous illnesses indicative of AIDS. The estimates of when these AIDS-related opportunistic illnesses (AIDS-OIs) will occur are used to determine the annual AIDS incidence (or the number of people diagnosed each year with AIDS.) The use of this technique adjusts for reporting delays and changes in the reporting system over time.
For further analysis of surveillance and trends in HIV/AIDS, consult the HIV/AIDS Surveillance Report. The most recent issue of the report, as well as many other resources, can be obtained from the sources shown below.
For more information. . .
CDC National AIDS
This article was provided by U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Visit the CDC's website to find out more about their activities, publications and services. | <urn:uuid:f9253527-bf7e-48ef-9d17-054caba7d4dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebody.com/content/art17143.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958 | 1,229 | 2.203125 | 2 |
The first issue was scheduled for release in the fall of 2012,, but was pushed to April 2013, and then to May 1st.
From television to the comic panel, Ape Entertainment will portray the characters that millions of parents and children have come to know and love in a comic series that will be produced in full color and available in stores this fall in standard comic sized printed editions for $3.99 and digest sized hardcover comic book editions for $7.99. They will also be available as a digital comic book that will be available through Apple’s App Store for iPad, iPhone and iPod touch.
The first issue was released on May 1, 2013. There are six different covers (illustrated by Amy Mebberson), five of which interlock and become a larger image.
Sunny Day! Chase the clouds away as Sesame Street comes to comics for the FIRST TIME! Join Elmo, Big Bird, Grover, Cookie Monster and all of your favorites in this fantastic first issue! Featured this issue, Elmo decides to become a superhero, but he doesn’t have any powers! It will be up to the always lovable Super Grover to teach Elmo that he can have any superpowers he wants, because he already has the GREATEST superpower ...imagination!
"How To Read a Comic, Part 1": Elmo, Murray and Big Bird explain how the comics should be read.
"The Anatomy of a Hero": Super Grover shows Elmo the everyday heros.
"Little Castle Built By Prairie": Snuffy storms Prairie's castle.
"Smog Day Afternoon": Prairie and Oscar imagine where a horrible stench is coming from.
"A Dip in the Galaxy": Cookie visits the Moon.
"The Count Counts": The Count counts auto parts.
"Imagination Run Wild": Ernie imagines different situations for him and Bert to play in.
In October 2011, Ape Entertainment announced that they were in negotiations with Sesame Workshop to produce and publish Sesame Street comics - both as full-color print editions and as digital editions available through iTunes.
We are incredibly excited about our current negotiations with Sesame Workshop and the possibility of being able to bring their expertise in educating and entertaining children to comics. I love the idea of creating educational comics that will both teach and entertain children. And the possibility of getting to work with Elmo, Big Bird, Cookie Monster and Grover, well...that’s just a dream come true.
— Brent Erwin, Ape Entertainment COO
Amy Mebberson created sample artwork for the first comic book. Aside from the street sign, the entire sample cover was watercolor; Mebberson is hoping to do the entire publication that way, like many of the classic Sesame Street books. Early solicitation covers showed Elmo hanging from the Sesame Street lamppost, however the covered was changed due to concerns over negative imitatable behavior.
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Right now, thousands of almost-freshmen are preparing to attend college. While it is is tempting to buy a bunch of decor and try to spruce things up in your dorm room or apartment, it might not be the best idea. As you get ready to head out to college, here are 7 helpful tips to get you through — and keep you from going broke:
Your portable computing device can help you in so many ways. And you don’t need an expensive one, either. Figure out your needs, and get a laptop or tablet that matches them. Your portable device is great for taking notes, and it can double as a private screen for movies and TV shows. Most dorms have common areas with TVs, and many apartments are similar. Great for the social experience of viewing parties, and there is no real need for a TV in your room.
You don’t need a smartphone, either. Thanks to Skype, you can make all the calls you want for cheap. Forget about the expensive voice/text/data plan that comes with a smartphone, and make use of a laptop or tablet hooked in, usually as part of your student benefits, to the school’s network.
Seriously, get a job. An on-campus job is the best choice if you have the option. Hopefully, when you filled out your FAFSA, you included work-study as an option. If you qualify for work-study, they pretty much have to give you preference for some on-campus jobs. Even if you aren’t using work-study, you can get an on-campus job.
This will help you earn money, and avoid as much college debt. A job is a good idea for many reasons. You can start setting aside money for retirement, and you can even pay for fun things. You don’t have to work full-time, either. A part-time job can help take some of the edge off, without ruining your grades.
Part of college is the experience. Don’t forget to get involved. Whether you join a club, an honor society, or participate in student government, there are a number of ways to get involved — and you should. Not only can being involved help you make the most of college, but it can also help you in the future.
Your club involvement, student government position, or internship looks great on a resume. Get involved, get some leadership experience, and hone your networking skills. Your future self will thank you.
This cannot be underscored enough. In some cases it is unavoidable, since there are those who order “special editions” or professors who require you to buy their textbook, or specially prepared excerpt collections, from the bookstore. However, whenever possible, get used textbooks. You can save money by buying them on Amazon.com (and sending them back for credit at the end of the semester). It’s also possible to rent textbooks. You can save a ton of money by being careful about where you buy your textbooks.
We all have to take generals. And while generals like math and English are widely dreaded, generals also provide you a chance to do a little exploring. When I first went to college, I had a completely different major in mind. However, I took a Communications class, and it was more interesting and fun than I thought it would be. I changed my major, and started down the path that has led to a home business as a writer.
Also, consider taking something “fun”. It doesn’t have to be all dedication to your major. Go off the beaten path a little, and branch out. You might be surprised at what you discover about yourself.
I ambitiously tried to take 18 credits my first semester. By the time the drop date rolled around, I was down to 14. It’s tempting to cram in the credits, since you get more bang for your buck the more classes you take. However, it’s probably an unsustainable pace for most people. On top of that, it’s hard to hold a part-time job and earn a little extra money if you are taking a ton of credits. Besides, part of college is having some fun, and meeting people. You can’t do that if you never make it out of the classroom or your dorm room.
One of the things that I don’t feel bad about spending extra on at college was the private dorm room. My parents paid for my housing, but expected me to pay the difference between the shared room and the private room. It was totally worth it to have the privacy and the space. Sometimes, you just need to be able to retreat and get things done.
I also lived on campus, except for one year. I liked living on campus, where everything I needed was close, and I could walk. Saved money on transportation costs. Living on campus as a freshman is great because you can really get involved with campus life and meet people.
What are your best tips for college freshmen?
Photo from Wikimedia Commons.
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I'm just an average mom, trying to live a frugal life and get out of debt. I write about things that have (and haven't) worked to improve my family's financial situation. What works for me may or may not work for you, and you should always consult a financial advisor before making important financial decisions.
In accordance with FTC guidelines, I state that I have a financial relationship with companies mentioned in this website. This may include receiving access to free products and services for product and service reviews and giveaways.
Any references to third party products, rates, or websites are subject to change without notice. I do my best to maintain current information, but due to the rapidly changing environment, some information may have changed since it was published. Please do the appropriate research before participating in any third party offers. | <urn:uuid:07e1e125-2d96-49bc-9282-7560970c9760> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beingfrugal.net/7-helpful-tips-for-college-freshman/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969483 | 1,231 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Global Corner Shop
I recently gave a talk on Social Media to the Kildare branch of Network Ireland. Network Ireland provides a forum where women in business, the professionals, and the Arts can exchange ideas and increase their business contacts.
I think it’s fair to say that while within the group there was a realisation as to the need to be actively using social media; there was also trepidation around where to start, how much time to spend and the technical knowledge that was required.
Some people felt that there was a generational barrier, that somehow social media was a young person’s game. As with many things in life & business, there was a general fear of the unknown.
While attempting to reassure that social media are merely a set of tools that allows people to communicate, much like pen & paper or e-mail, one analogy used for social media that particularly struck me was that of an old corner shop.
Driving home, I began to think about this simple but inspired description as to how social media could work for any small business and be used by any small business owner. If you think about it, the corner shop and the old school shopkeeper were so much more than the products that were sold; it was a place where a community came to engage.
This was because the old style shopkeeper provided a service to that community that was far more than the act of selling goods.
The shopkeeper played a vital role in maintaining and supporting their community. His or her personality & interaction played the key part in ensuing that customers enjoying the overall shoping experience.
The old style shopkeeper took the time to listen, to give advice & answer any questions you might have and as a result the corner shop became a focal point within the community.
It was very often a place where introductions were made, somewhere to meet friends, where conversations could take place, ideas exchanged & problems shared.
As I thought about it, I realised how successfully one can utilise social media has much more to do with your skills as an old style shopkeeper and much less to do with your skills around technology.
The difference of course is that the community is now a global one and that people don’t even need to leave the comfort of their home to partake.
As a small business owner, if you engage & listen much like the way in which the old school shopkeeper did. If you endeavour to create a shop where the shopping experience, resembles that of the old corner shop. Social media will deliver massive and endless opportunities for your business.
Can you think of any other analogies to explain social media?
Thank you for reading | <urn:uuid:766d7e4d-a07b-4af0-9d3c-b13fc9d0f993> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tweakyourbiz.com/technology/2010/05/26/global-corner-shop/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982863 | 544 | 1.664063 | 2 |
The purpose of this study was investigate the dose proportionality of a novel, once-daily, controlled-release formulation of hydromorphone that utilizes the OROS® Push-Pull™ osmotic pump technology.
In an open-label, four-way, crossover study, 32 healthy volunteers were randomized to receive a single dose of OROS® hydromorphone 8, 16, 32, and 64 mg, with a 7-day washout period between treatments. Opioid antagonism was provided by three or four doses of naltrexone 50 mg, given at 12-hour intervals pre- and post-OROS® hydromorphone dosing. Plasma samples for pharmacokinetic analysis were collected pre-dose and at regular intervals up to 48 hours post-dose (72 hours for the 64-mg dose), and were assayed for hydromorphone concentration to determine peak plasma concentration (Cmax), time at which peak plasma concentration was observed (Tmax), terminal half-life (t1/2), and area under the concentration-time curve for zero to time t (AUC0-t) and zero to infinity (AUC0–∞). An analysis of variance (ANOVA) model on untransformed and dose-normalized data for AUC0-t, AUC0–∞, and Cmax was used to establish dose linearity and proportionality.
The study was completed by 31 of 32 subjects. Median Tmax (12.0–16.0 hours) and mean t1/2 (10.6–11.0 hours) were found to be independent of dose. Regression analyses of Cmax, AUC0–48, and AUC0–∞ by dose indicated that the relationship was linear (slope, P ≤ 0.05) and that the intercept did not differ significantly from zero (P > 0.05). Similar analyses with dose-normalized parameters also indicated that the slope did not differ significantly from zero (P > 0.05).
The pharmacokinetics of OROS® hydromorphone are linear and dose proportional for the 8, 16, 32, and 64 mg doses.
Clinical Trials.gov NCT00398957 | <urn:uuid:78cf6f6e-1cc9-4515-a30b-8309187f46b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pubmedcentralcanada.ca/pmcc/solr/mlt?mltid=2097855&idtype=acc&term=author%3A(%22Roberts%2C+J.S.%22)&pageSize=25 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930225 | 462 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Submitted by JordanButler on Fri, 27/04/2012 - 16:44
We've all met people who shine. The sort of people who tell you about their day and literally burst with excitement about what they're doing. Usually we don't share their enthusiasm for the field they are in, but we can't help but get sucked up in their positivity. Well, it works both ways.
Your bad mood puts people in a bad mood
When the person behind the counter has a sour face, is impolite or is evidently bored, it makes our day a little worse. It's like getting cut off on the freeway by someone with an obnoxious number-plate and a cheap spoiler. | <urn:uuid:ac5549f5-a5a8-4f31-a9ce-671758228180> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jbwritingsolutions.com/blog | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974306 | 144 | 1.625 | 2 |
Pentagon Land Once Used to Grow Hemp
The U.S. Department of Agriculture once used the land in Virginia where the Pentagon now stands to grow hemp, a close cousin of the cannabis sativa plant that produces marijuana, the Washington Post reported May 13.
Recently discovered documents show that botanist Lyster H. Dewey used government land known as Arlington Farms to grow exotic varieties of hemp in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. A group called the Hemp Industries Association is using Dewey’s diaries — found at a yard sale near Buffalo, N.Y. — to support their campaign to legalize industrial use of hemp, which was banned along with marijuana in the 1930s.
The history of Dewey’s hemp farm is particularly poignant for David Bronner, an entrepreneur who developed a successful line of hemp-based soaps and has battled the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) over its ban on hemp-based foods. Last October, Bronner was arrested for planting hemp seeds on the lawn at DEA headquarters, and he payed $4,000 to buy Dewey’s diaries on behalf of the hemp association.
“It’s kind of ironic that we dug up DEA’s lawn to plant hemp seeds and highlight the absurdity of the drug war, but you take it back 50 years and that’s what the government itself was doing,” said Bronner. | <urn:uuid:1934334f-4f19-43d6-8ec2-fb8097c6eafd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drugfree.org/join-together/addiction/pentagon-land-once-used-to | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948351 | 295 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Cats can be notoriously picky eaters, and this finickiness can become even more pronounced when they are sick. For owners trying to feed this type of cat, getting enough food into their pet can be a frustrating battle, as no matter what is offered (wet food, kibble, treats) the cat will often turn its head away. Unfortunately though, a cat that is not eating is not something that can be ignored, or treated as a “wait and see” type of situation.
Most Recent Cat Articles
There are many different skin disorders that can affect cats and the reasons for them are numerous. This article hopes to briefly outline the top 3 skin disorders that affect cats and these conditions are;
Feline Alopecia: “Alopecia” is simply the technical name for bald spots. A cat suffering form this is itchy, may bite at its hair, and often has behavioural changes too. The cause of alopecia can be anything from a hypersensitivity reaction (such as an ‘allergy’ to fleas, for example), parasites (such as lice or mites), ringworm (which is a fungus) or even psychogenic, where they have a behavioural/psychological disorder and are ripping out their own hair.
Depending on what the cause is, the affected cat will show different symptoms, and thus need different treatments. One great way of finding out what is going on is by doing a skin scraping. To do this, a vet will use a blunt blade that is gently scraped against the skin, while the cat is under sedation.
In cats, the term “in heat” is the more common way of referring to the estrous cycle, or the period of time when your cat is fertile and able to become pregnant. Note that this can only occur in intact …
Most Recent Cat Tips
One of the decisions that you’ll have to make when you get a new cat or kitten is where will it sleep? If you want your new kitten to sleep with you in your own bed then it should be no problem at all. Most kittens love sleeping with their owners and they will often press their bodies into yours for that warm cuddly feeling. If you’ve adopted an adult cat, it may take a little longer before the cat becomes comfortable enough to sleep in your bed. It may choose to sleep in another area of your bedroom, or it may choose to sleep in another room altogether. The trick is simple patience. If you are a kind and loving pet owner and interact and pet your cat, then eventually the cat will come around and likely jump on your bed to sleep when you least expect it.
If you don’t want your cat to sleep in your bed because of shedding, restlessness or other issues, then you have a few choices.
When we bring a kitten home for the first time to adopt it as a pet, it should be between nine and twelve weeks old. This is so the kitten has a chance to spend time with its mother and so that the kitten becomes socialized with its littermates and learns proper kitten behaviour. But what happens before the kitten comes home? This article will outline some of the important milestones in kittenhood in an effort to familiarize you with some of the stages of kitten development.
Kittens are born blind and deaf and they remain that way for around the first fourteen days of their lives. They use their sense of smell to find their way toward their mothers for nourishment and heat. They really need to stay close to their mothers for these first few weeks as they are unable to regulate their own body temperature. The umbilical cord typically falls off after the first few days of life.
Permethrin is a synthetic insecticide that is used in agriculture, forestry, home pest control, and in the treatment of head lice in humans. Permethrin is a neurotoxin, meaning it attacks the nervous system of insects causing over-excitation and death. It is found in a wide range of topical flea and tick products that can be purchased in the grocery store, pet store, and large retailers. Although these products are safe when used on dogs they are toxic to cats and cause feline permethrin toxicosis.
This cat encyclopedia is written by veterinarians in everyday language. It focuses on cats and covers health care topics ranging from diseases to behavioral problems.Browse the Cat Encyclopedia
Cat Breed Profiles
Our cat breed page profiles different shorthaired and longhaired cat breeds.Browse Cat Breed Profiles | <urn:uuid:f6a0bab5-f80d-4ea4-83a3-ff8a50cf7d7a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pets.ca/cats/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960364 | 941 | 2.578125 | 3 |
Ashi Sheth, director of IT, explains how American University of Sharjah is taking learning outside the classroom
Like any organisation with a large and growing number of users, AUS has faced the challenge of server sprawl. From around 60 servers when he joined, the number in the data centre increased rapidly to around 140 and was growing at around 15 machines a year.
Around three years ago, therefore, Sheth and his team embarked on a server virtualisation project that has helped dramatically reduce the number of systems in the data centre.
“Today, we have over 200 virtualised production servers running across a 15 node environment, with replication and availability back-ended by storage,” the director of IT explains. “We’re expanding it within the next two months to a 20 node VMware environment supporting 250-275 production instances. Our data centre size is in the neighbourhood of 50 devices and the majority of those are appliances, such as e-mail scanners.”
The university’s database servers have not yet been virtualised because of the way the databases are licensed. “The way some vendors license their database is total number of CPUs… and when you drop them into a virtualised environment, it’s total number of potential CPUs,” Sheth explains. “What that means is even though I’m only dedicating one or two CPUs to this database, if it can run across 35 of them I have to license all 35.” Software vendors, he believes are aware of the problem and will start change their licensing models within a year to promote virtualisation.
In addition to beefing up its data centre, virtualisation technology is allowing AUS to experiment with virtual desktops and virtual applications. Once rolled out, the services will further its ‘AUS Anywhere’ strategy, which envisions students being able to interact with educational software whenever and wherever they want.
As Sheth explains, much of the educational software that students use is located in learning laboratories or libraries on campus. When those labs and libraries close, access to the specialised learning software is lost.
Thanks to technology from Citrix, AUD students will soon be able to fire up a Windows 7 virtual desktop on their personal devices (be they iPads, Android tablets or PCs) and begin using the learning software that they’ve left behind in the library.
“Half our students don’t live on campus and the half that do still need access all the time,” Sheth explains. “Most of our internet traffic pops up at 1.00-4.00am. That’s when our students are back in their dorm rooms. If they had the opportunity to continue working, I think they would.”
With virtual desktops, not only would students be able to keep working, AUS could also control their access to the software. “You always have a working system that has the applications you need, when you need them,” explains Sheth. | <urn:uuid:1dbd2b4e-3742-4193-9b59-a1140b09da75> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.itp.net/589080-education-everywhere?tab=article&page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947347 | 622 | 1.953125 | 2 |
People who eat predominantly traditional fats like butter and coconut oil usually have nice skin. It's smoother, rosier and it ages more gracefully than the skin of a person who eats industrial fats like soy and corn oil. Coconut is the predominant fat in the traditional Thai diet. Coconut fat is about 87% saturated, far more than any animal fat*. Coconut oil and butter are very low in omega-6 linoleic acid, while industrial vegetable oils and margarine contain a lot of it.
I saw a great movie last week called "The Betrayal", about a family of Lao refugees that immigrated to the U.S. in the late 1970s. The director followed the family for 23 years as they tried to carve out a life for themselves in Brooklyn. The main fats in the traditional Lao diet are lard and coconut milk. The mother of the family was a nice looking woman when she left Laos. She was thin and had great skin and teeth, despite having delivered half a dozen children at that point. After 23 years in the U.S., she was overweight and her skin was colorless and pasty. At the end of the movie, they return to Laos to visit their family there. The woman's mother was still alive. She was nearly 100 years old and looked younger than her daughter.
Well that's a pretty story, but let's hit the science. There's a mouse model of skin cancer called the Skh:HR-1 hairless mouse. When exposed to UV rays and/or topical carcinogens, these mice develop skin cancer just like humans (especially fair-skinned humans). Researchers have been studying the factors that determine their susceptibility to skin cancer, and fat is a dominant one. Specifically, their susceptibility to skin cancer is determined by the amount of linoleic acid in the diet.
In 1994, Drs. Cope and Reeve published a study using hairless mice in which they put groups of mice on two different diets (Cope, R. B. & Reeve, V. E. (1994) Photochem. Photobiol. 59: 24 S). The first diet contained 20% margarine; the second was identical but contained 20% butter. Mice eating margarine developed significantly more skin tumors when they were exposed to UV light or a combination of UV and a topical carcinogen. Researchers have known this for a long time. Here's a quote from a review published in 1987:
Nearly 50 years ago the first reports appeared that cast suspicion on lipids, or peroxidative products thereof, as being involved in the expression of actinically induced cancer. Whereas numerous studies have implicated lipids as potentiators of specific chemical-induced carcinogenesis, only recently has the involvement of these dietary constituents in photocarcinogenesis been substantiated. It has now been demonstrated that both level of dietary lipid intake and degree of lipid saturation have pronounced effects on photoinduced skin cancer, with increasing levels of unsaturated fat intake enhancing cancer expression. The level of intake of these lipids is also manifested in the level of epidermal lipid peroxidation.Here's a quote from a study conducted in 1996:
A series of semi-purified diets containing 20% fat by weight, of increasing proportions (0, 5%, 10%, 15% or 20%) of polyunsaturated sunflower oil mixed with hydrogenated saturated cottonseed oil, was fed to groups of Skh:HR-1 hairless mice during induction and promotion of photocarcinogenesis. The photocarcinogenic response was of increasing severity as the polyunsaturated content of the mixed dietary fat was increased, whether measured as tumour incidence, tumour multiplicity, progression of benign tumours to squamous cell carcinoma, or reduced survival... These results suggest that the enhancement of photocarcinogenesis by the dietary polyunsaturated fat component is mediated by an induced predisposition to persistent immunosuppression caused by the chronic UV irradiation, and supports the evidence for an immunological role in dietary fat modulation of photocarcinogenesis in mice.In other words, UV-induced cancer increased in proportion to the linoleic acid content of the diet, because linoleic acid suppresses the immune system's cancer-fighting ability!
It doesn't end at skin cancer. In animal models, a number of cancers are highly sensitive to the amount of linoleic acid in the diet, including breast cancer. Once again, butter beats margarine and vegetable oils. Spontaneous breast tumors develop only half as frequently in rats fed butter than in rats fed margarine or safflower oil (Yanagi, S. et al. (1989) Comparative effects of butter, margarine, safflower oil and dextrin on mammary tumorigenesis in mice and rats. In: The Pharmacological Effects of Lipids.). The development of breast tumors in rats fed carcinogens is highly dependent on the linoleic acid content of the diet. The effect plateaus around 4.4% of calories, after which additional linoleic acid has no further effect.
Conversely, omega-3 fish oil protects against skin cancer in the hairless mouse, even in large amounts. In another study, not only did fish oil protect against skin cancer, it doubled the amount of time researchers had to expose the mice to UV light to cause sunburn!
Thus, the amount of linoleic acid in the diet as well as the balance between omega-6 and omega-3 determine the susceptibility of the skin to damage from UV rays. This is a very straightforward explanation for the beautiful skin of people eating traditional fats like butter and coconut oil. It's also a straightforward explanation for the poor skin and sharply rising melanoma incidence of Western nations (source). Melanoma is the most deadly form of skin cancer. If you're dark-skinned, you're off the hook:
I believe the other factor contributing to rising melanoma incidence is sunscreen. Most sunscreens block sunburn-causing UVB rays but not melanoma-causing UVA rays. The fact that they allow you to remain in the sun for longer without burning means they increase your exposure to UVA. I've written about this before. Sunscreen also blocks vitamin D formation in the skin, a process that some researchers believe also promotes cancer. I'll end with a couple more graphs that are self-explanatory (source). "PUFA" stands for polyunsaturated faty acids, and primarily represents linoleic acid:
*Not only do Thais have clear skin, they also have clear arteries. Autopsies performed in the 1960s showed that residents of Bangkok had a low prevalence of atherosclerosis and a rate of heart attack (myocardial infarction) about 1/10 that of Americans living in Los Angeles. | <urn:uuid:f5e009fc-289c-4c51-ad13-e9190e49dfeb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/03/skin-texture-cancer-and-dietary-fat.html?showComment=1238126520000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957019 | 1,398 | 2.703125 | 3 |
|iStockphoto / Ugur Evirgen|
I don’t normally read science fiction, but Michael Crichton is an entirely different story. I fell in love with his work even before he gained a greater degree of fame with Jurassic Park and its sequels. Right from Andromeda Strain to the Sphere, I’ve enjoyed the way he combines a little bit of fact and a whole lot of fiction to spin a believable yarn about worlds of both the future and the past.
Another author who qualifies for such bouquets in my book is Dan Brown, not for The Da Vinci Code, the famous (notorious) bestseller that caused a ton of controversy, but for its sequel, Angels and Demons, which in book, was a better book than the Code. I particularly took a great deal of interest in the Large Hadron Collider and the way antimatter was explained and used to cause great mayhem and potential destruction. And when I saw the fine print that said that this fact was indeed fact and that fiction had been woven around it, I looked up the project on the Internet and read all I could about it. I admit I was a bit smug when I could tell all my friends that I knew all about this project more than a year ago, and even though they initially thought that I had turned into some kind of science junkie (which I definitely am not), they were surprised to learn that good fiction can have fact as its basis.
Science is a subject that not everyone understands easily; but when it is couched in fiction, when a compelling yarn is woven using the slightest thread of truth, it’s then that people want to learn more and discover more. That’s the best part of books, the fictional kind, because they teach you more than their subject-specific counterparts ever will. Just ask any aficionado of medical and legal mysteries – they’re bound to be familiar with a whole lot of facts, processes and procedures that relate to hospitals and the courtrooms respectively.
And that’s because they don’t consider the process as one of learning, but one of enjoyment. Reading these books are leisure activities for them, while slogging over textbooks is drab, routine work that must be done to achieve good grades. There’s a vast difference in the results achieved when a task is done just for the sake of it and when it’s really enjoyed wholeheartedly. And this delineating line is where fact meets fiction!
This post was contributed by Kelly Kilpatrick, who writes on the subject of web learning versus class learning. She invites your feedback at kellykilpatrick24 at gmail dot com | <urn:uuid:b74f2bc9-337d-448a-a7c7-ace56a236c10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nesteduniverse.net/science/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968428 | 549 | 1.75 | 2 |
What Other Kids Are Reading
Let's say you're sick of being bullied by another kid in your school — and who wouldn't be?
Maybe the problem is that you're about to go to middle school and you're nervous about it because you're struggling in math.
Perhaps you just found out that your parents are getting divorced, or your dog just died, and you're so upset that you can't concentrate on doing your homework. You feel like you need to talk to someone about everything that's going on. A great person to share your thoughts and feelings with is your school counselor.
Counselors Help You Cope
Add school counselors to the list of people you can turn to when you need help. They know how to listen and can help kids with life's challenges. Counselors have special training in how to help kids solve problems, make decisions, and stand up for themselves.
That doesn't mean your counselor will wave a magic wand and the problem will go away. But it does mean he or she will help you cope with it. Coping is an important word to know. Sometimes, kids and grown-ups have difficult problems. Coping means that someone is trying to handle these problems and make things better.
Your school counselor is available for you and wants to make your school experience the best it can be. The counselor's job is to take your problem seriously and help you find a solution. The counselor also wants to help you learn as much as you can in class, be a contributing member of the school community, and be a positive influence on your environment.
If someone was bullying you, for instance, the counselor would talk to you about it and could give you some ideas and strategies on how to deal with the bully. The counselor may also talk to the bully and maybe even to kids who saw what happened. The counselor might talk with your teacher and your parents about the problem as well. Though this may feel a little uncomfortable, facing the problem and trying to correct it is better than living with a bad situation. Having a counselor's help means you don't have to face difficult school problems alone.
What Do I Do If I Need the Counselor?
Your school counselor might visit your class or talk at a school assembly to let you know that he or she is available. Some schools use their website to explain what the counselor does and how to get a counseling appointment. It's a good idea to know about the school counselor, even if you don't need any help right now.
If you're unsure how to contact the counselor, ask your teacher, your parent, or one of the people who work in the school office. If your school has more than one counselor, you might be assigned to a counselor based on what grade you're in or the first letter of your last name.
Generally, counselors meet students in:
- a private meeting
- group meetings with kids who are dealing with the same problem, such as divorce
- classrooms, where the counselor teaches a class on a subject that affects everyone, such as study skills
What Will the Appointment Be Like?
The most common setting to meet with a counselor is in a private meeting. The meeting could be just you alone, or other students, your teacher, or your parent could be there. Counselors typically have offices where you can sit down and talk.
Don't worry that you need to know exactly what's bothering you when you talk with the school counselor. You may just be feeling bad or not doing as well in school as you know you can — and that's OK. The counselor will try to help you figure out what's going on. When you do, he or she will have ideas for how to make things better. Sometimes that means finding other people (tutors, learning specialists, or therapists) who can provide the help you need.
Will the Counselor Keep a Secret?
It's important to know that if you meet with a guidance counselor, your conversation will be confidential. The counselor isn't going to go blabbing your personal business around the school.
However, there are some cases when a counselor can't keep it confidential — if the counselor thinks that you or someone else is at risk of being harmed. But even then, the counselor would share that information only with people who need to know.
Won't Kids Think I'm in Trouble?
Your appointment with the counselor could happen during the day when classmates might notice you're gone. What you choose to say about it is your decision. You can just say you had an appointment and leave it at that. You also can say that visiting the counselor doesn't mean you're in trouble.
If you're worried about what to say, tell your counselor. He or she can help you practice what you would say if someone asked about it. If you'd prefer not to miss class time, ask the counselor if you can talk before school, at recess, during lunch, study hall, or after school.
Sometimes a counselor might call someone in because they did something like calling a person a name or deliberating breaking something. But it's different when you ask to see the counselor because you want help with a problem. You're not in trouble just because you need some help.
What Else Do Counselors Do?
In addition to helping kids with problems, guidance counselors help kids learn about:
- study skills
- the dangers of substance abuse
- diversity and respect for others
Counselors at some schools also offer programs for parents and kids or just parents alone. The topic could be helping you graduate to middle school or helping you stay away from drugs and alcohol.
A school counselor's job is different from what it was 50 years ago, when a counselor was chiefly concerned with getting students the classes they needed. Today, counselors are called upon to help students in a broader way. They help students handle almost any problem that could get in the way of learning, guide them to productive futures, and try to create a positive environment for everyone at school. So if you need a counselor's advice, just ask!
Reviewed by: Chris Cortellessa, M.Ed, NCC
Date reviewed: January 2012
Note: All information on KidsHealth® is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice, diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
© 1995- The Nemours Foundation. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:6173146b-9201-4272-8e16-b1120ccedfc7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kidshealth.org/kid/feeling/school/school_counselors.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977716 | 1,308 | 3.203125 | 3 |
McCutcheon High School sophomore Gabrielle Gary's no-look 3-point shot gets national attention
Gary was trying to put ball back in play
Last Updated: 137 days ago
LAFAYETTE, Ind. - A central Indiana high school basketball player is getting national attention for a lucky no-look 3-point shot.
Gabrielle Gary, a sophomore at McCutcheon High School in Lafayette, was attempting to save the ball from going out of bounds during a Wednesday matchup against Lafayette Jefferson, the Journal Courier reported.
But when she hurled the ball back over her shoulder, it hit the backboard and fell right through the hoop.
Watch video below:
The video on the MTC Sports Network has been replayed across the country, and now ESPN wants permission to show the video on its plays of the week segment on "SportsCenter."
McCutcheon went on to beat Lafayette Jefferson 56-36, with Gary sinking seven of her nine shots from three-point range.
Gary said her shooting record at the game was a nice change of pace.
"I haven't shot well the past couple games, so Wednesday's game was really... I just felt really good about the shot," she said.
Gary is the daughter of Purdue assistant men's basketball coach Greg Gary.
That night Purdue was at home facing Illinois. As Coach Gary was coming out of the tunnel, an usher told him about his daughter going seven for nine from the three-point line and about that amazing shot.
The high schooler told the newspaper that the shot was all luck.
"I don't know any statistics, but if I had to say, it is probably one in a million that this thing went in," she said. "I tried it at practice this morning and it wasn’t even within 10 feet of the rim."
The team's head coach, Jeff Knoy, said the whole team tried to recreate the shot at practice, but couldn't get it in.
"We laughed and joked about it the next day at practice and everybody tried the shot and we all tried to see if we could hit it and nobody could," Knoy said.
Copyright 2013 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:b7deb695-88d8-49bb-bf52-757d3c3be7a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theindychannel.com/sports/mccutcheon-high-school-sophomore-gabrielle-garys-no-look-3-point-shot-gets-national-attention | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979811 | 474 | 1.578125 | 2 |
These paintings explore a classic subject matter – landscape and more specifically how I interpret my local environment. I have also painted three pieces about my three boys, using the environment, colour and texture to interpret them.
For me layers of gouache and shellac are the best way to present my work.
I paint to challenge my creativity, to create something that interprets what I see/enjoy and to produce something that didn’t exist yesterday.
My art is about emotional painting – the process of painting is what excites me.
I have been heavily influenced and encouraged over many years by artist and supporter Jiri Tibor Novak. The noted Czech artist Jan Zrzavy’s work inspired me as has Ian Fairweather.
The work of Peter Steven is a key part of our upcoming Works on Paper exhibition.
Peter Steven The Networker nos 2 Gouache & shellac on paper 2011
Peter Steven Ceres Trees in Paddock Gouache & shellac on paper 2011
Peter Steven Ceres Trees Gouache & shellac on paper 2011 | <urn:uuid:1f0c22c3-63b0-4923-941d-1e04f847e7c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boomgallery.com.au/2012/08/08/peter-steven-works-on-paper/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929302 | 215 | 1.5 | 2 |
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GREENSBORO, N.C. (AP) — School systems in North Carolina and South Carolina are among 15 nationwide where students will be able to eat breakfast at school for free this year.
The Breakfast in the Classroom program uses a $5 million grant from the Walmart Foundation to feed students. The program began last year in five school districts and is adding 10 this year, including Guilford County schools in Greensboro and Charleston County schools in South Carolina.
Several groups collaborate on the program, which provides a free breakfast to all students. The meal is provided in the classroom, not the cafeteria.
Officials say many students eligible for the federally funded school breakfast program don't participate for several reasons, including that they don't want to be labeled as low-income, bus schedules and arriving late to school. | <urn:uuid:11de9042-654a-436f-a300-56481f576785> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessweek.com/ap/2012-08-23/nc-sc-students-to-get-free-breakfast-in-class | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962574 | 182 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Anyone remember the days before central air was commonplace in our homes? As a small child, I remember the thrill of having our meals in the cool basement because it was too hot in our kitchen. This seemed like a great adventure at the time – almost like picnicking or camping out. Going back to yesteryear and adopting some simple, natural ways to cool your home may not seem very adventuresome, but it can save you some green and it’s also a greener way to live. Here are five ways to help cool those kilowatts:
Lighten the Load
- Did your parents always remind you to turn off the lights when you left a room? Turns out they were right - incandescent lighting gives off a ton of heat. Now is a good time to update to LEDs
if you have not already. Also unplug your electronics when you’re not using them.
Be a fan of fans
- Using stationary, ceiling and whole-house fans
is one of the greenest ways to keep your cool in the summer. They use less energy than central air and window units, are less expensive to install and best of all, can dramatically lower utility bills by reducing the need to rely on air conditioning. I have a whole house fan in my home and ceiling fans in all the bedrooms and using them efficiently is an amazing energy saver.
Dial up Your Thermostat
- According to the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy, for each degree you raise your thermostat, you’ll save 3 to 5 percent in cooling costs. If you do not have a programmable thermostat
already, remember to turn up the dial a few degrees when you leave your home for an extended period of time. Replacing the air filter on your HVAC unit monthly is an inexpensive way to save a few dollars too.
Visit the Library. It’s air conditioned and you can check out all of the summer activities happening at AHML.
Read more about keeping your cool here.
Do you have some good suggestions for staying cool during the dog days of summer? Share them with us here or on our Facebook page. | <urn:uuid:246afc6b-ab59-4db9-bdbe-d64c39429baa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ahml.info/print/blogpost/five-ways-keep-your-cool-and-your-green | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938356 | 448 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Living with sickle cell
Awele Nwosu-Akeh, 17, was diagnosed with sickle cell anaemia when she was ten. She has been in hospital many times because of her condition but is determined not to let it affect her life, despite the obvious challenges.
"Being a teenager with sickle cell can be difficult. I sat my GCSE exams in hospital but I couldn’t write myself so someone wrote for me. It was hard but I am glad I did the exams as I earned the grades I needed to study BTEC Media at college."
Awele hopes to finish her college course next summer so she can go to university. As she receives regular blood transfusions, and could potentially spend longer in hospital if she becomes unwell, her tutors have allowed her extra time to finish the course should she find that she needs it.
"I have a blood transfusion every four weeks to keep my haemoglobin levels healthy. I am very grateful to all the people who give up their time to donate the blood I need to survive." | <urn:uuid:aa4e90d0-1540-4b15-850e-585862df224e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blood.co.uk/giving-blood/amazing-stories/awele/ | 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 | 0.98645 | 224 | 2.328125 | 2 |
VISCONTI, vis-kon'te or ves-kon'te, an old Milanese family, celebrated for its political consequence and its patronage of science. His tory makes mention of the Visconti in the Ilth century; but they disappear from the time of the destruction of Milan by Frederick Bar barossa, when, with some otfier noble families, they were obliged to yield to the superior power of the opposite party, the Torriani or family Della Torre. The first of the Visconti who laid the foundation of their greatness was Orrotvt: b. 1208; d. 1295, created archbishop of Milan in L263, and perpetual lord of Milan in 1277, who gamed the ascendency over his enemies, and bequeathed his power to his nephew, MATTEo: b. 1250; d. 1322. The latter was, however, driven into banishment by the Torriani, but after living in exile seven years had the address to obtain the title of imperial vicar 1294, which he soon exchanged for that of lord-general of Milan (1311). Matteo trans mitted the supreme power to his eldest son, GALEAZZO : b. 1277; d. 6 Aug. 1328, who was overpowered by his enemies and thrown into prison by Louis of Bavaria in 1327, but was soon afterward released. His son Azzo: b. 1302; d. 14 Aug. 1329, who succeeded him and in creased the extent of his dominions, acquiring nearly all of Lombardy, was not less distin guished for his pacific virtues than for his mil itary talents. His uncle LUCCHINO : b. about 1287; d. 2A Jan. 1349, succeeded him. The latter extended the dominions of the family, and was the first of the name who was distinguished as a patron of science and art. tie corresponded with Petrarch. After his death in 1349 his brother, GIOVANNI : b. 1290; d. 5 Oct 1354, arch bishop of Milan, assumed the reins of govern ment He was a zealous patron of letters. He appointed a commission of six learned men to compose a commentary on Dante, fostered the University of Bologna and received Petrarch on his arrival at Milan with the highest marks of distinction. Giovanni was succeeded by his
nephew, MArreo II, d. 1355; BARNABO, d. 138.5; and GALF.AZZO d. 1378. Matteo's two brothers, who shared their estates on his death, though eminent for their warlike talents, ren dred themselves obnoxious by their cruelty and other vices. Galeazzo, however, continued to treat Petrarch with the same respect that his predecessors had shown him, and employed him in several negotiations. He was succeeded in 1378 by his son, Garr GALPAZZO : b. about 1347; d. 3 Sept. 1402, who imprisoned his uncle Barnabo in the castle of Trezzo, and took upon himself the sole government (1385). In him the Visconti family reached the summit of its grandeur and splendor. In 1395 he received from the Emperor Wenceslas the ducal dignity; and his territories were more extensive than those of any of his predecessors. Pisa, Siena, Perugia, Padua and Bologna were subject to his sceptre; and he had already shown a disposition to assume the title of king ot Italy, when his ambitious projects were cut short by his death of the plague. He fostered science and art, collected the most distinguished scholars at his court, restored the University of Piacenza and connected that of Pavia with it, and founded a large library. He built the c,eiebrated bridge over the Ticino at Pavia, and began the magnificent cathedral at Milan. Gian Galeazzo left three sons, GIAMMARIA : d. 16 May 1412; FIUPPO MARIA : d. 13 Aug. 1447, and an illegitimate child, GABRIEL : d. September 1408. Giammaria succeeded to the dukedom, and was assassinated, after which Filippo Maria reigned alone till his death. His natural daughter, Bianca, had been married to Francesco Sforza, who was named Dulce of Milan in 1450. Consult Sismondi, (Histoire des Republiques Italiennes' (1826-33) ; Symonds, (The Age of the Despots' (1875). | <urn:uuid:3e25133b-8d18-4d37-b157-a117d31a3004> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gluedideas.com/content-collection/encyclopedia-americana-28/Visconti.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980478 | 980 | 2.8125 | 3 |
Some people with high blood say, there are side effects on the high blood drugs they take, One is the lose of appetite for sex. They said that drugs for high blood makes there blood in calm and normal condition so its also affects there sex urges.It may affect sex by having a lower sex drive. It depends on how high that your blood pressure is, because it may be unsafe. Make sure to ask your doctor on this one because the Dr. can put you on low blood pressure drugs. But studies shows that high blood drugs only affects minimal possibilities in sexual urges. You can ask your doctor on what drugs are good for you and the right dosage.
There own blood pressure is the main reason for this sexual disorder. People with high blood pressure are aware on there own blood pressure, they always know if they feel excitement that can affect there blood pressure, because too much excitement can lead to no good for a person with high blood. Once they feel this kind of excitement they also feel fear, fear that they might got heart attack, that's why there appetite for sex slow down. This is a psychological effect that affect our sex urges.
Related Article: Stroke and high blood pressure | <urn:uuid:e404e91e-f0e9-4429-865d-071ccad634f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://healthassistant.blogspot.com/2008/08/high-blood-drugs-and-sex.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945127 | 241 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Fasting for 25 hours on Yom Kippur is undeniably difficult. But there is one thing that can make everything easier:
Most people think the challenge of fasting is feeling “hungry.” In truth, avoiding thirst is much more important. The average person can survive for a month without food – but only three days without water.
With proper hydration, not only do you avoid the discomfort of thirst, but you also swallow more frequently, so your stomach does not feel as empty.
Fasting is easier if you prepare your body in advance. Here are Seven Simple Steps to maximize your hydration on Yom Kippur – leaving you with more strength and energy to do the truly important spiritual work of the day.
1) Start early.
The nausea and headaches that many people experience during a fast are often the result of caffeine withdrawal. Prepare yourself by reducing caffeine intake in the days leading up to Yom Kippur – and then stop caffeine altogether 24 hours before the fast. One trick is to brew mixtures of regular and decaffeinated coffee, increasing the proportion of decaf as you progress.
2) Pace yourself.
The morning before Yom Kippur, start with a large breakfast – based on cereals, breads and fruits. It will provide good energy during the day, yet these high-fiber foods will be far downstream by the time of the pre-fast meal when you’ll want a hearty appetite.
A large breakfast is also helpful because it stretches the stomach, preparing to receive more food and water later.
Eat a moderate lunch, early enough so that you will have an appetite for the final meal before the fast.
Start the final meal at least an hour before the fast begins, so there is no rush to eat quickly.
3) Avoid thirst-inducing foods.
One important way to remain well-hydrated is to avoid anything that will cause your body to get rid of water. Chocolate, tea, cola and coffee should be avoided, since caffeine is a diuretic. Alcohol is also a no-no, as it requires extra water to process through the system.
The other problematic food – salt – is well-known for causing thirst. Avoid salty foods such as pickles, cold cuts, cheese, canned fish, smoked fish and the Jewish comfort foods: chicken soup and brisket. Fresh fish and boiled chicken are good alternatives.
4) Carbs over protein.
Plan the menu of the final meal so that it emphasizes carbohydrates and low salt foods like pasta, potatoes, rice and bread (preferably brown rice and whole-wheat bread). These carbohydrates bond with water which your body can "drink" when it needs to during the fast.
Salads and other high-fiber foods should be minimized, since they travel quickly through the digestive system and provides little long-term satiation.
The final meal should include only small amounts of protein, which actually attracts and leaches water from your tissues. (Most of the dramatic weight loss that people experience on high-protein diets is lost water that protein molecules cannot hold onto or bring into your system – water that you want around during a fast.)
5) “Camel up.”
The key to an easy fast is to super-hydrate. Starting 24 hours before the fast, drink one cup of water every hour. (Set your PDA to remind you.)
Throughout the day, consume a lot of beverages. This will not fill you up, since liquids are absorbed quickly. Yet it will ensure that you’ve absorbed enough fluids during the day to start the pre-fast meal well hydrated.
Don’t drink syrupy beverages, which provide empty calories. Best bet: Pure H2O. Second best: diluted fruit juice.
Fruit, despite its high fiber content, is worthwhile since it carries a lot of water in a “time-release” form. Throughout the day, you can munch on water-rich foods like watermelon, melon and grapes.
At the final meal, drink a few glasses, because many foods need extra water to be digested properly. For dessert, substitute sweets with watermelon or other water-retaining fresh fruit. Finally, drink a cup of warm water to put a smooth finish on your pre-fast prep.
6) Mental discipline.
A large part of successful fasting is in the mind.
Talking about your hunger will only focus your attention on food and make things more difficult. When you think about food, your body prepares itself metabolically to receive the food, causing the sensation of hunger.
The key here is to distract your mind from food. Fortunately, Yom Kippur provides plenty of opportunity to be involved in the important task of teshuva – spiritual self-improvement. The more you immerse yourself in prayer, the less you'll think about food.
One “kosher” way to “consume” during Yom Kippur is to smell spices. Cinnamon and cloves are a quick pick-me-up if you’re feeling weak, and can actually create a brain sensation of satisfaction.
Before smelling the spices, say the following blessing:
Saying a blessing over the spices also helps one to fulfill the special mitzvah to say 100 brachot each day.
7) Break the fast wisely.
Even those who have prepared well for the fast will be hungry afterward. Be sure not to eat too quickly at the post-fast meal. Begin with fruit or a glass of juice. These put sugar into the bloodstream and occupy space in the stomach, discouraging you from eating too rapidly.
Avoid pastries and sugary drinks, whose heavy glucose can shock the digestive system.
To prevent overeating, eat one portion and then take a break of a half-hour. Otherwise, the break-fast may turn into a weight-gain event (and a stomachache). Since the body protects itself from starvation when you are not eating by slowing down the rate at which it burns food, the calories you take on right after a fast will stay with you a lot longer than those acquired when your metabolism is functioning at full speed.
Have an easy and meaningful fast! | <urn:uuid:4af8020b-5f1c-43d3-a4c5-b4cf63d4bf4d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aish.com/h/hh/yom-kippur/guide/Seven_Steps_to_an_Easy_Fast.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947587 | 1,297 | 2.03125 | 2 |
A Remedy for Transit Troubles Backfires in Chile, Leading Commuters to Sue
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
SANTIAGO, Chile -- Hardly anyone argued with the overall goal: relieve the transit woes of another growing Latin American city by remodeling the local bus system to complement a recently expanded subway system.
But months after this city's transportation redesign was unveiled, many people here cannot even mention its name -- Transantiago -- without rolling their eyes and mumbling in disgust. It has become the focus of the country's largest class-action lawsuit. A congressional inquiry is trying to figure out exactly how things went so wrong.
"Bad, bad, bad, bad," said Rosana Ramirez, 32, offering a passionate appraisal while waiting for a city bus. "I used to wait five minutes for a bus, now it's 20 or 30. I'd take the subway, but it's so crowded now because no one wants to take the bus. I feel like a sardine on it."
Before Transantiago, South America had become a beacon to many urban planners responding to a vexing international trend: The cities growing fastest around the world are in developing countries that often cannot afford major infrastructural overhauls to relieve congestion.
The Brazilian city of Curitiba was among the first to offer a possible solution, revamping its transit system by focusing on relatively cheap, easy-to-use buses that operate in dedicated lanes. Bogota, the capital of Colombia, eventually followed with a system based on Curitiba's, and the results were increased public transportation usage, fewer automobiles on the roads and less pollution. Planners from Quito to Beijing were soon flocking to those cities to study what they had done right, and they copied the concepts when they returned home.
"A lot of people assume that the expensive ideas are the most effective ones, but that is simply not true," said Jaime Lerner, former mayor of Curitiba, who is now a well-traveled international urbanization consultant. "What we proved is that sometimes the simplest solutions are the best ones."
Enter Santiago. About five years ago, planners knew that a transportation upgrade was needed. The privately run buses that traversed this city filled the streets with traffic, noise and pollution. So officials made the requisite exploratory journey to Colombia and soon announced plans for Transantiago, billed as a Chilean version of Bogota's TransMilenio system.
But instead of focusing on buses, the plan envisioned the subway as the project's spine. The government had separately spent about $1.3 billion to double the subway system's size, an expansion regularly cited as a symbol of Chile's prosperity under former president Ricardo Lagos. The bus system, according to the plan, would feed the subway routes and greatly improve overall efficiency.
But before the new system was implemented, a World Bank report warned that users might not be as enamored with the changes as planners were.
"There are very high expectations of a radical change in the system," the report stated. "However visually or superficially, the change may not be as profound as anticipated."
That proved an understatement. Although the new system has undeniably upgraded the quality of the buses that operate in the city, it reduced the total number of routes. And despite the strengths of Santiago's subway system -- it is modern, fast and clean -- the new integrated transportation system ignored key elements of the Bogota and Curitiba systems that have proved essential to their success: dedicated bus lanes and easy ways to buy tickets before boarding buses and entering train stations.
Moreover, Transantiago had more complexity of routes, requiring more transfers to reach destinations. Problems with fare cards and contracts plagued the system from the start. | <urn:uuid:0223bd8b-f92f-4142-b686-8b919f2ef794> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/11/12/AR2007111201780.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965329 | 770 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Sixth Grade Books: Challenging Reading
Provided are books appropriate for sixth grade students who are reading at an advanced level.
Reading Level: Grade 7 (Interest Level: Grade 6)
*Blos, Joan W. A Gathering of Days. Aladdin, 1979, 144 pp. Thirteen-year-old Catherine Cabot Hall, keeps a journal recounting a crucial year in her life. It was the year she turned 14. It was also the year her father remarried, she helped a runaway slave, and her best friend died. Based on careful research, A Gathering of Days captures the flavor of life on a New England farm in the 1830s. In addition to providing insight into the joys and difficulties a young girl faces as she grows up, it also explores, from the point of view of a young person, some of the critical issues of the times, especially the question of slavery. Provides history tie-in: life in the 1830s; slavery.
Burnford, Sheila. The Incredible Journey. Bantam, 1961, 145 pp. Left on their own, an elderly bull terrier, a Labrador retriever, and a Siamese cat begin a long journey home. Along the way they fight off wild animals and endure hunger, illness, and the rugged wilderness. Somehow, with the help of kindly humans and by looking after each other, they complete their incredible journey. An excellent read-aloud.
Cooper, Susan. The Boggart. Simon & Schuster, 1995, 196 pp. After visiting a castle in Scotland that her family has inherited, 12-year-old Emily finds that strange things begin happening. Food disappears and objects seem to move on their own. Emily learns that she has somehow brought home a boggart, a mischievous but benevolent spirit that enjoys playing tricks on people and pets.
*Konigsburg, E.L. The View from Saturday. Atheneum, 1996, 163 pp. Returning to teaching after having been paralyzed in an automobile accident, sixth-grade teacher Mrs. Glinski is made whole again by the four members of her Academic Bowl team who have been tested by life and made important discoveries about themselves. Part of the fun of reading the book is trying to answer the questions posed in the Academic Bowl contests. For mature, sophisticated readers.
Lowry, Lois. The Giver. Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1993, 180 pp. Living in a controlled world where there is no suffering or war, but there is no individual choice, Jason awaits his twelfth birthday for that is the day when he will be told what his life's work will be. Chosen to be a giver, Jason's job is to hold onto the community's memories. When he experiences both joy and sorrow, Jason decides to escape to a richer, fuller life.
*Sperry, Armstrong. Call It Courage. Macmillan, 1940, 95 pp. Afraid of the sea after being nearly drowned and losing his mother, Mafatu is taunted by the other boys on the island and is a disappointment to his father. Determined to conquer his fear, Mafatu sets out to sea, but ends up on a deserted island. In the ensuing weeks, he kills a shark, a giant octopus, a wild boar, and escapes from cannibals aboard a craft that he built himself.
Wiggin, Kate Douglas. Rebecca of Sunny brook Farm. Bantam Doubleday Dell, 1903, 252 pp. After her father's death, Rebecca is sent to Sunnybrook Farm to live with two elderly aunts, one who is very kindly and one who is very difficult and is known for her sharp tongue. Lively and imaginative, Rebecca learns to love both aunts as she copes with school, friends, boys, and growing up in general.
© ______ 2000, Allyn & Bacon, an imprint of Pearson Education Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved. The reproduction, duplication, or distribution of this material by any means including but not limited to email and blogs is strictly prohibited without the explicit permission of the publisher.
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- First Grade Sight Words List | <urn:uuid:50a0a3be-c0ad-4ee3-bd38-544efa1fe6f1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.education.com/reference/article/sixth-grade-books-challenging-reading/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942564 | 1,020 | 3.1875 | 3 |
WPCNR THE POWER NEWS. NOVEMBER 2:
As a result of impacts caused by Hurricane Sandy, today Secretary of Homeland Security Janet Napolitano issued a temporary, blanket waiver of the Jones Act to immediately allow additional oil tankers coming from the Gulf of Mexico to enter Northeastern ports, to provide additional fuel resources to the region.
“The Administration's highest priority is ensuring the health and safety of those impacted by Hurricane Sandy and this waiver will remove a potential obstacle to bringing additional fuel to the storm damaged region,” said Secretary Napolitano.
Secretary Napolitano's action immediately allows additional ships, that would otherwise be barred, to begin shipping petroleum products from the Gulf of Mexico to Northeastern ports, increasing the access to fuel in the storm damaged region. The waiver is operative through November 13th.
The Administration is continuing to monitor the situation and is prepared to take additional actions as necessary to ensure that the energy needs of the region affected by Hurricane Sandy are met.
For more information, visit www.dhs.gov. | <urn:uuid:1c4e78be-209c-4572-95de-78b215e53ec5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whiteplainscnr.com/article9330.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947821 | 216 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Photographer Chris Jordan
describes the photos in his series “Intolerable Beauty: Portraits of American Mass Consumption” as his “first foray into being an engaged artist.”
Cell phones #2, Atlanta, 2005
"The idea [behind this series] was to capture the scale of [our] mass consumption. It was the first time I stood in front of piles of the detritus of our mass consumption." "Cell phones #2, Atlanta, 2005"
Cell phone chargers, Atlanta, 2004
"Initially, I thought I was seeing the scale [but] in the end, I realized this was the tiny tip of the iceberg." "Cell phone chargers, Atlanta, 2004"
e-Bank, Tacoma, 2004
"It was interesting to see the limitations of this series and the photos. [Mass consumption is an] invisible phenomenon-- there's no one place I can go to capture it all." "e-Bank, Tacoma, 2004"
Crushed cars #2, Tacoma, 2004
"There's a hierarchy of activism.... What my work is about to feel these issues myself.... A large part of change is acknowledging feelings we have and connecting with these issues." "Crushed cars #2, Tacoma, 2004"
Oil Filters, Seattle, 2003
"[All this waste] is something that's sort of kept hidden." "Oil Filters, Seattle, 2003"
Spent bullet casings, 2005
"I almost felt like a spy. I felt like this was something people needed to see." "Spent bullet casings, 2005"
Circuit boards #2, New Orleans, 2005
"80% [of the photos in this series] were 'straight' photos. As I ran up against these limitations of photography...I started arranging the subject." "Circuit boards #2, New Orleans, 2005"
Circuit boards, Atlanta, 2004
"I also felt like I aged about five years during this series. Virtually all the photos...required that I trespass. I'd go ask [for permission to photograph these piles of waste] but I'd get all these vague excuses: Homeland Security, insurance regulations.... I think it was really a weird fear about photography and exposure [even though] I offered veto [power], showed them my previous work, and explained I didn't name individuals or companies. This was about [documenting] a nationwide, cultural phenomenon." Circuit boards, Atlanta, 2004" | <urn:uuid:141db069-ee58-4a85-83b0-3ff9940f889a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://matadornetwork.com/change/intolerable-beauty-chris-jordan-photographs-american-mass-consumption/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95974 | 509 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Biowaste to ethanol could soon power cars.
Converting a vehicle to run primarily on ethanol costs just a couple of hundred dollars. But ethanol won’t make much of a dent in gas use as long as the source of ethanol in the United States remains corn grain, which requires a lot of energy and land in order to grow. A much better alternative is cellulosic materials such as wood chips and switchgrass, which are both cheap to grow and require fewer natural resources. (See “Biomass: Hope and Hype.”) In an effort to reduce the processing costs of these materials, researchers are genetically engineering organisms that can devour grasses and waste biomass, digest the complex sugars, and then transform the resulting simple sugars into alcohol. (See “Better Biofuels” and “Redesigning Life to Make Ethanol.”) Already, advances in parts of this process have led to planned cellulosic-ethanol plants. (See “Making Ethanol from Wood Chips.”)
The plug-in hybrid-vehicle era begins.
For years, hobbyists and a few companies have been adding bigger battery packs to hybrid vehicles, which have both battery power and an internal combustion engine, and plugging them into electrical outlets. This allows the cars, which typically rely on the electric power only for short bursts or to assist the onboard gasoline engine, to run on electricity alone for short trips. The idea of the “plug-in hybrid” has now caught the attention of government officials and researchers, who note that gas consumption would plummet if drivers could rely almost exclusively on electricity for average daily driving of about 33 miles. The gasoline engine would be available to boost performance and make it possible to use the car for long trips. Now the major car companies are taking notice and are finally developing plug-in hybrids. (See “GM’s Plug-In Hybrid.”) Meanwhile, researchers are beginning to anticipate benefits from plug-ins beyond gasoline conservation: millions of plug-in vehicles could serve as massive energy storage to stabilize the electric grid and make renewable energy sources more feasible. (See “How Plug-In Hybrids Will Save the Grid.”) Battery costs still need to drop before such cars will approach the price of conventional hybrids or gas-only vehicles. But better batteries are already becoming available.
Massive recalls spark interest in better batteries.
The safety-related recall of millions of lithium-ion laptop and cell-phone batteries made by Sony and Sharp put batteries in the spotlight this year. Just in time, a new type of lithium-ion battery that uses materials inherently much safer than those involved in the battery recall started appearing in professional power tools. In addition to being safer, the new batteries are more powerful, have longer useful lifetimes, and are potentially less expensive than those utilized in laptops and cell phones today. All of this could make them attractive for use in mass-produced plug-in hybrids. (See “More Powerful Hybrid Batteries.”) Meanwhile, a number of materials-science advances promise to as much as double the storage capacity of batteries and make them more long-lived. (See “3M’s Higher-Capacity Lithium-Ion Batteries” and “Making Electric Vehicles Practical.”) | <urn:uuid:404a4999-f68b-4a2a-960f-84a9154546aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.technologyreview.com/news/407043/the-year-in-energy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951998 | 692 | 3.578125 | 4 |
There are many free data sources: In a previous post, I published a list a free market data sources. Now, I would like to point you to an interesting project: WIKIPOSIT. This project aggregates many data sources such that you can access market data and other statistics with a simple API. Or, you can export […]
Category archives for MS Excel
Before using specialized tools for back-testing I propose that one tries the MS Excel Pivot Table first. The pivot table tool is great for inspection, filtering and analyzing large data sets. In this article, I will present how to create a simple timing-based strategy and how to compute its historical performance.
Sell in May and go away is an old wisdom which is interesting to analyze. And the continuation “Remember to come back in September” completes this wisdom to a real trading strategy. This strategy is quite old. Many sources say that the original saying comes from traders in the City of London and was “Sell in May […]
Often people ask me where they can find historical data of stock prices, commodities, interest-rates, bonds, fx rates … . In previous posts, we already looked at live data feeds for Matlab, and Excel. Then, we looked at how to load historical data. Now, we want to focus on where to get the data itself.
Monte-Carlo simulation is a very import tool for assessing all kinds of risks and chances. It it widely used in project management, option pricing and business valuation. Often, the input data and the reporting should be placed in MS Excel. This article presents the different options available for combining Monte-Carlo simulation and MS Excel.
Theta Proxy XL is a new product from my company Thetaris. It promises speed-ups of several orders of magnitude. Here, I present some benchmark results. These will help you to decide when to apply Theta Proxy XL and when to stay with plain MS Excel. Test Case 1: European Option VBA Monte-Carlo Code (2 free […]
A good library design requires a separation of the functionality into modules with an appropriate API. The size of the modules is determined by the application. While for a simple trading application a good API might contain everything from fitting the stochastic processes to pricing an option under a single function, this is completely insufficient for assessing model […]
There are many reasons, why your Excel sheet is slow and there are many things what you can do about a slow Excel sheet. Your sheet is slow because you use a large data set, you use slow built-in functions, you implemented a slow user-defined function (UDF) or you access a slow external library. So, what […]
A brilliant website is the perfect example for user friendly interactive data visualization: Gapminder. This website presents statistical data about the countries of the world and how it changes in time. A user-friendly AJAX user interface allows you to get gain new insights exploring this data. They have done a great job. Google bought this […]
It is possible to connect Java and MS Excel using various technologies. Some of theses technologies include COM and DCOM wrappers like Groovy Scriptom, or J-Interop. Or other direct addin solutions like XLLoop. In this article, we want to follow a different paths: Webservices with SOAP. This connection type is designed for the internet with […]
In many businesses, the risk management grows from a very simple spread sheet into a complex cash flow model. If this complex cash-flow model stays in Excel, then you get an explosive combination. A conference on risk management with spreadsheet models now focuses on this combination: | <urn:uuid:b13afb11-7954-4c3b-ac1b-c16000c15a11> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://computeraidedfinance.com/category/ms-excel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908696 | 755 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Thu November 15, 2012
Lincoln: A theatrical tribute to an important figure in U.S. history
In case you think Congressional gridlock is some sort of 21st century invention, director Steven Spielberg’s Lincoln should convince you otherwise. The recent battles over health care and debt ceilings are not all that different than the sort of storms President Abraham Lincoln faced in 1865 when he was trying to drum up support for the 13th amendment to the Constitution, which formally abolished slavery.
Lincoln was an ambitious Republican whose ideas rubbed many of his rivals the wrong way. Democrats tried to brand him a dictator, when they weren’t warning that his agenda would destroy the country. Meanwhile, First Lady Mary Todd Lincoln bristled at the personal attacks she and her family had had to weather, such as being called “prairie primitives” by the Capitol’s snobbish socialites.
One of the most intriguing insights in Tony Kushner’s screenplay turns out to be the simple observation that if you flip the party affiliations and change the names the Washington of nearly 150 years ago seems hauntingly familiar. Thankfully, it’s also a lot more entertaining.
Lincoln is loaded with superb performances, beginning – naturally – with Daniel Day Lewis, who gives the legendary leader both the necessary aura of power and willfulness but also finds Lincoln’s earthier, more charming side. His stern decrees and political maneuvering mark him as a tough customer, yet he is equally capable of stepping down from his soapbox to share a homespun fable or a bit of folksy humor.
It’s also impossible not to be impressed by Sally Field, who lends a razor-sharp edginess and a heart-gripping desperation to Mary Todd Lincoln, who is haunted by the death of her son and increasingly unhappy with her role as what she calls her husband’s “soothsayer.”
Tommy Lee Jones is equally striking as Thaddeus Stevens, an activist who tries to tame his temper to help advance the Amendment. Jones provides many of the film’s lighter moments as he fights verbal duels with his opponents and pronounces the word “politics” with so much distaste it sounds as if he’s spitting out a porcupine.
Lincoln is a very theatrical sort of film, which should probably not surprise anyone familiar with Kushner’s background as a playwright. Aside from a few short sequences on the battlefield that bookend the picture, most of the drama unfolds indoors.
At first, this can seem a little stuffy and constricted, but the actors bring enough fire and conviction to the script that Lincoln turns out to be anything but a starchy stage play on film. In fact, it ranks as one of the strongest and least sentimental films Spielberg has ever made, a terrific tribute to one of our greatest figures. | <urn:uuid:9c3fcdc9-7731-4af3-9929-27d51b990d22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wmuk.org/post/lincoln-theatrical-tribute-important-figure-us-history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963948 | 600 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Can You Count 400 Billion Stars In This Mind-Blowing Panorama?
Astronomers estimate that there are 200 to 400 billion stars in our galactic neighbourhood, the Milky Way. I guess that someone tried to count them in this fully-zoomable, ultra-high-definition 800,000-image mosaic and got tired around 296,351,284,702.
The 800,000-image mosaic was assembled by NASA last year from Spitzer Space Telescope photographs. But looking at a 37m image is hard unless you are in front of a printed copy. That’s why someone has put them all together into a fully-zoomable panorama that you can enjoy here. [Thanks Joe!] | <urn:uuid:7b7969b3-d719-4f51-9912-9c181debc757> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gizmodo.com.au/2010/06/can-you-count-400-billion-stars-in-this-mind-blowing-panorama/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947492 | 146 | 2.890625 | 3 |
At ThreatsWatch.org, Steve Schippert and Clyde Middleton have dug up the bizarre and unsettling issuance of an executive order recently signed by President Barack Obama. Executive Order — Amending Executive Order 12425, signed December 16 and released a day later, grants the International Criminal Police Organization (INTERPOL) rights on American soil that place it beyond the reach of our own law enforcement agencies, such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI).
Schippert and Middleton note that Obama’s order removes protections placed upon INTERPOL by President Reagan in 1983. Obama’s order gives the group the authority to avoid Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requests — which means this foreign law enforcement organization can operate free of an important safeguard against governmental abuse. “Property and assets,” including the organization’s records, cannot be searched or seized. Their physical locations and records are now immune from U.S. legal or investigative authorities.
***This international police force (whose U.S. headquarters is in the Justice Department in Washington) will be unrestrained by the U.S. Constitution and American law while it operates in the United States and affects both Americans and American interests outside the United States.
Some bloggers covering this story are noting that the law enforcement agency to which Obama has extended such extraordinary powers to has had a dismal past.
INTERPOL’s senior leadership was flush with Nazis from the late 1930s all the way into the 1970s. That fact allowed, going Godwin isn’t necessarily relevant to today’s organization. Khoo Boon Hui of Singapore is the current president of the organization, and the current secretary general is American Ronald Noble. Noble is perhaps best known in America for overseeing the Treasury Department’s review of the disastrous 1993 raid and siege of a Branch Davidian compound in Waco, Texas, that left nearly 80 people dead. Noble had cautioned against the initial raid plan as being too dangerous, but the lack of any significant ramifications for federal officials that approved of the raid and allegations of a cover-up have inspired conspiracy theorists to derisively dub Noble “the Enforcer.”
But INTERPOL’s past isn’t what concerns us at this moment. Its current actions and the actions of our president are those that we question.***
With the flourish of a pen and no warning at all, Barack Obama surrendered American sovereignty to an international force with a checkered past. To what end?
The consensus opinion among those commenting on this development is that the most radical president in American history seems to be intent on submitting American citizens to the whims of the International Criminal Court (ICC). Previous administrations have been very leery of signing onto agreements that would make citizens susceptible to the ICC, due to the possibility that U.S. servicemen could be dragged into show war crimes trials. Such events are obviously heavily politicized, and demands for war crimes arrests can come from any government, even those that sponsor terrorism or genocide themselves.
No finer point can be made about the endemic problems of the INTERPOL/ICC than that made by a recent diplomatic incident that erupted in Great Britain, where an Israeli government official had to cancel travel plans to England because of an arrest warrant issued by an English judge — because of Iranian charges of Israeli war crimes in Gaza. The brief but intense conflict was one Iran helped instigate, as the Persians supplied the terrorists in Gaza with the rockets they used against Israeli civilians, triggering an inevitable Israeli response.If President Obama and his radical allies in the Democratic leadership have their way, American soldiers could presumably be brought up on charges as war criminals by enemy nations and marked for arrest and deportation by an international police force on American soil. They would face charges in a foreign land without the constitutional protections they fought and bled to protect. The White House seems to be on the bewildering path of giving al-Qaeda terrorists who murder innocent women and children more legal protection than the very soldiers that risk their lives trying to bring terrorists to justice. The asinine court-martial charges being brought against three Navy SEALs based upon the word of a terrorist they captured suddenly make a sickening kind of sense.
It also stands to reason that Obama’s seeming willingness to put American soldiers’ lives in the hands of a corrupt international community could also be brought to bear against his political enemies. Foreign investigators of dubious intent, and our own left-wing extremists, have long branded officials of the previous administration “war criminals” for actions they’d taken in the war on terror. It is entirely conceivable — perhaps even likely — that these same organizations and enemy governments that went after 25 Israeli government officials through INTERPOL and the ICC would quickly move to indict a wish list of current and former U.S. government officials for alleged “war crimes.” Former President George W. Bush and Vice President Dick Cheney would obviously be at the top of such a list of politically motivated suspects, but such a list could just as easily include General David Petraeus, Defense Secretary Robert Gates, congressmen, and senators.
As the Iranian gambit has shown, Obama’s bizarre assault on U.S. sovereignty could have disastrous repercussions. We can only hope that his fetish for weakening this nation can be stopped before American politicians and servicemen are made pawns by our enemies. | <urn:uuid:c84b85db-da4b-4ae2-93ea-50d9adb723fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seniorcitizenspublicsquare.com/2012/10/17/obama-intent-on-submitting-american-citizens-to-the-whims-of-the-international-criminal-court-icc/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964787 | 1,101 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Table of Contents:
- An Introduction to the Bipolar Series
- Who Gets Bipolar Disorder?
- Causes of Bipolar Disorder
- Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
- Treatment of Bipolar Disorder
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Further Information
The cause of bipolar disorder is not entirely known. Genetic, neurochemical and environmental factors probably interact at many levels to play a role in the onset and progression of bipolar disorder. The current thinking is that this is a predominantly biological disorder that occurs in a specific part of the brain and is due to a malfunction of the neurotransmitters (chemical messengers in the brain). As a biological disorder, it may lie dormant and be activated spontaneously or it may be triggered by stressors in life.
Although, no one is quite sure about the exact causes of bipolar disorder, researchers have found these important clues:
Genetic factors in Bipolar Disorder
- Bipolar disorder tends to be familial, meaning that it “runs in families.” About half the people with bipolar disorder have a family member with a mood disorder, such as depression.
- A person who has one parent with bipolar disorder has a 15 to 25 percent chance of having the condition.
- A person who has a non-identical twin with the illness has a 25 percent chance of illness, the same risk as if both parents have bipolar disorder.
- A person who has an identical twin (having exactly the same genetic material) with bipolar disorder has an even greater risk of developing the illness about an eightfold greater risk than a nonidentical twin.
- Studies of adopted twins (where a child whose biological parent had the illness is raised in an adoptive family untouched by the illness) has helped researchers learn more about the genetic causes vs. environmental and life events causes.
Neurochemical Factors in Bipolar Disorder
Bipolar disorder is primarily a biological disorder that occurs in a specific area of the brain and is due to the dysfunction of certain neurotransmitters, or chemical messengers, in the brain. These chemicals may involve neurotransmitters like norepinephrine, serotonin and probably many others. As a biological disorder, it may lie dormant and be activated on its own or it may be triggered by external factors such as psychological stress and social circumstances.
Environmental Factors in Bipolar Disorder
- A life event may trigger a mood episode in a person with a genetic disposition for bipolar disorder.
- Even without clear genetic factors, altered health habits, alcohol or drug abuse, or hormonal problems can trigger an episode.
- Among those at risk for the illness, bipolar disorder is appearing at increasingly early ages. This apparent increase in earlier occurrences may be due to underdiagnosis of the disorder in the past. This change in the age of onset may be a result of social and environmental factors that are not yet understood.
- Although substance abuse is not considered a cause of bipolar disorder, it can worsen the illness by interfering with recovery. Use of alcohol or tranquilizers may induce a more severe depressive phase.
What is Medication-triggered Mania?
Medications such as antidepressants can trigger a manic episode in people who are susceptible to bipolar disorder. Therefore, a depressive episode must be treated carefully in those people who have had manic episodes. Because a depressive episode can turn into a manic episode when an antidepressant medication is taken, an antimanic drug is also recommended to prevent a manic episode. The antimanic drug creates a “ceiling,” partially protecting the person from antidepressant-induced mania.
Certain other medications can produce a “high” that resembles mania. Appetite suppressants, for example, may trigger increased energy, decreased need for sleep and increased talkativeness. After stopping the medication, however, the person returns to his normal mood.
Substances that can cause a manic-like episode include:
- Illicit drugs such as cocaine, “designer drugs” such as Ecstasy and amphetamines.
- Excessive doses of certain over-the-counter drugs, including appetite suppressants and cold preparations.
- Nonpsychiatric medications, such as medicine for thyroid problems and corticosteroids like prednisone.
- Excessive caffeine (moderate amounts of caffeine are fine).
If a person is vulnerable to bipolar disorder, stress, frequent use of stimulants or alcohol, and lack of sleep may prompt onset of the disorder. Certain medications also may set off a depressive or manic episode. If you have a family history of bipolar disorder, notify your physician so as to help avoid the risk of a medication-induced manic episode.
Symptoms of Bipolar Disorder
Bressert, S. (2007). The Causes of Bipolar Disorder (Manic Depression). Psych Central. Retrieved on May 24, 2013, from http://psychcentral.com/lib/2007/the-causes-of-bipolar-disorder-manic-depression/
Last reviewed: By John M. Grohol, Psy.D. on 30 Jan 2013
Published on PsychCentral.com. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:08fa161c-da63-4b48-9882-e1f7e382bac4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://psychcentral.com/lib/2007/the-causes-of-bipolar-disorder-manic-depression/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927526 | 1,045 | 3.4375 | 3 |
THE incident was the latest mishap for the unfortunate submarine which grounded off Skye in 2010 and was the scene of a fatal shooting last year.
ROYAL Navy officials have played down concerns after it emerged that their multi-billion pound submarine HMS Astute was forced to resurface after it let in water during testing last year.
Aswell as flooding issues, electrical switchboards were also found to be fitted incorrectly, while concerns were aired about the accuracy of nuclear reactor monitoring instruments.
Despite the initial problems, defence officials said the issues had been rectified and that it was "normal for first of class trials to identify areas where modifications are required".
Referring to the flooding incident, which was caused after a metal cap, believed to be on a cooling pipe, corroded, a Ministry of Defence (MoD) spokesman said: "During trials last year HMS Astute experienced a leak which was immediately isolated and the submarine returned safely to the surface.
"An investigation found one small part which had not been made of the correct material had corroded.
"A replacement was fitted at sea and the submarine continued with her programme.
"BAE Systems has carried out a full assessment which concluded all similar parts were fitted correctly."
The spokesman added that electrical switchboards on board Astute, which ran aground near Skye off the west coast of Scotland in 2010, had not been fitted to Naval Engineering Standards and have since been reinstalled.
Concerns that nuclear reactor monitoring instruments were giving inaccurate readings because the wrong type of lead used in certain components were also raised during the trials.
The MoD said a full assessment concluded the material had no effect on the accuracy of any readings and no impact on the submarine's operation.
Responding to corrosion problems, which were identified on Astute and the second Astute class submarine HMS Ambush, the spokesman added: "All Royal Navy submarines are subject to a continuous, thorough assessment of their components to minimise the risk of corrosion."
Officials would not comment on reports that Astute also suffered also suffered from speed and propulsion issues during the trials.
The MoD added: "HMS Astute's sea trials were designed to rigorously test all aspects of the submarine to meet the exacting standards required for operations.
"It is normal for first of class trials to identify areas where modifications are required and these are then incorporated into later vessels of the class.
"These will be the most technologically advanced submarines ever to serve with the Royal Navy and will provide an outstanding capability for decades to come."
The Astute Class of attack submarines are the most technologically advanced in the Royal Navy and will progressively replace the Trafalgar Class currently in service.
HMS Astute which was built by BAE systems, is yet to start formal service. | <urn:uuid:10697a89-5610-4afa-a450-16118c758bb8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailyrecord.co.uk/news/uk-world-news/hms-astute-flooded-during-sea-1439080 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982175 | 572 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Download Lessons Application
The Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons are unique among Paramahansa Yogananda’s published writings in that they give his step-by-step instructions in the yoga techniques of meditation, concentration, and energization that he taught, including Kriya Yoga.
The goal of these simple yet highly effective yoga techniques is to teach you to deal directly with energy and consciousness enabling you to recharge your body with energy, to awaken the mind's unlimited power, and to experience a deepening awareness of the Divine in your life.
The Lessons were compiled under Paramahansa Yogananda’s direction from his writings and the many classes and lectures he gave. In addition to his comprehensive instructions in meditation, the Lessons offer practical guidance for every aspect of spiritual living — how to live joyfully and successfully amidst the unceasing challenges and opportunities in this world of change.
Each lesson is 6–8 pages in length, and is meant to be studied for one week. The entire course of Lessons lasts about 3½ years.
- The scientific techniques of yoga meditation
- How to weave God into your daily life
- Friendship — the art of getting along with others
- Creating harmony in marriage and family life
- How to develop creative intuition
- Finding your true vocation, and balanced success and prosperity
- Yoga methods of diet, healing, relaxation, and rejuvenation
- Living without stress and fear
- The dynamic power of will — how to create at will what you need
- Life after death
- Karma and reincarnation
Meditation Techniques Offered to Followers of All Religions
Since Yoga is based on practice and experience rather than on adherence to a particular set of beliefs, followers of all religions can benefit from the spiritual teachings in the Lessons and the three basic techniques. When practiced regularly, these methods lead unfailingly to deeper levels of spiritual awareness and perception.
After a preliminary period of study and practice of the basic techniques, students are eligible to apply for initiation in Kriya Yoga. At this time they formally establish the sacred guru-disciple relationship with Paramahansa Yogananda and his lineage of gurus.
The technique of Kriya Yoga is given in person at special initiation ceremonies, as well as sent to each initiate in a special series of printed lessons that cover every aspect of the Kriya science.
Personal Guidance and Other Services to Students
Lessons students can also receive personal guidance in their practice at any time, free of charge, from experienced meditation counselors of the Self-Realization Fellowship Monastic Order, by contacting the international headquarters.
In addition, students can attend classes on the techniques of meditation conducted periodically by SRF monastics all over the world. (These classes are open only to Lessons students.)
Students also receive special letters of inspiration and encouragement from the SRF president throughout the year, as well as newsletters and other publications from Self-Realization Fellowship.
Cost and Timing
The Lessons are divided into six steps of thirty lessons each, and two lessons are mailed every other week. It takes about 3½ years to receive all of them. All of the basic meditation techniques that are preparatory to Kriya Yoga are mailed during the first 6 months.
It was Paramahansa Yogananda's wish that the Self-Realization Fellowship Lessons be easily available to all who sincerely desire to know God. To this end, the Lessons have always been offered for only a nominal fee to help cover printing and postage costs — currently about 70 cents per lesson. Full details and subscription/mailing plans are outlined on the Lessons application form, available here.
Please allow 4–6 weeks for your first lessons to reach you.
Lessons by e-mail are not available at this time.
“After practicing your Lessons for six months, I have found all you have taught me to be true. You have proven the existence of God to me, something I once thought impossible.”
— C. C., Vienna, Virginia. | <urn:uuid:9a7605fb-096f-4073-a8c8-5ea2d8aa04a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yogananda-srf.org/PY_SRF_Lessons_for_Home_Study.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945424 | 830 | 1.859375 | 2 |
- Prayer and Worship
- Beliefs and Teachings
- Issues and Action
- Catholic Giving
- About USCCB
1Call now! Will anyone respond to you?
To which of the holy ones* will you turn?
2Surely impatience kills the fool
and indignation slays the simpleton.
3I have seen a fool spreading his roots,a
but I cursed his household suddenly:
4May his children be far from safety;
may they be crushed at the gate* without a rescuer.
5What they have reaped may the hungry eat up,
or God take away by blight,
or the thirsty swallow their substance.
6For not from dust does mischief come,
nor from the soil does trouble sprout.
7Human beings beget mischief
as sparks* fly upward.
8In your place, I would appeal to God,
and to God I would state my plea.
9* He does things great and unsearchable,
things marvelous and innumerable.
10He gives rain upon the earth
and sends water upon the fields;
11b He sets up the lowly on high,
and those who mourn are raised to safety.
12He frustrates the plans of the cunning,
so that their hands achieve no success;
13He catches the wise in their own ruses,c
and the designs of the crafty are routed.
14They meet with darkness in the daytime,
at noonday they grope as though it were night.
15But he saves the poor from the sword of their mouth,*
from the hand of the mighty.
16Thus the needy have hope,
and iniquity closes its mouth.
17Happy the one whom God reproves!
The Almighty’s* discipline do not reject.
18For he wounds, but he binds up;d
he strikes, but his hands give healing.
19Out of six troubles he will deliver you,
and at the seventh* no evil shall touch you.
20In famine he will deliver you from death,
and in war from the power of the sword;
21From the scourge of the tongue you shall be hidden,
and you shall not fear approaching ruin.
22At ruin and want you shall laugh;
the beasts of the earth, do not fear.
23With the stones of the field shall your covenant be,
and the wild beasts shall be at peace with you.
24And you shall know that your tent is secure;
taking stock of your household, you shall miss nothing.
25You shall know that your descendants are many,
and your offspring like the grass of the earth.
26You shall approach the grave in full vigor,
as a shock of grain comes in at its season.
27See, this we have searched out; so it is!
This we have heard, and you should know.
* [5:4] At the gate: of the city, where justice was administered.
* [5:15] From the sword of their mouth: the Hebrew is obscure.
* [5:17] Almighty: standard translation of Heb. Shaddai.
By accepting this message, you will be leaving the website of the
United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. This link is provided
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nor does it necessarily endorse, the website, its content, or | <urn:uuid:017d6880-3339-485b-a783-13760148cc80> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://usccb.org/bible/scripture.cfm?bcv=22005001 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933917 | 737 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Back Country (back-coun·try) noun: skiing or riding in unmarked or unpatrolled area, usually in pursuit of fresh fallen powder snow. Slack Country or Side Country (sahyd coun.try) skiing or snowboarding just outside a ski area boundary. Unlike back country skiing or snowboarding, where you hike in for access, slack or ide country is accessed from the lifts of a ski resort. The allure of backcountry skiing and riding has increased over the last few years and many resorts, as well as manufacturers, are filling this demand with innovative products and services.
Regardless if just starting out or an experienced slack country enthusiast, when travelling outside of the ski area boundary, into slack country terrain, guests are responsible for their own safety and the safety of the group. At the minimum every member of the group needs to be wearing a transceiver (and know how to use it), carry an avalanche probe, and a shovel. When you’ve got the basics covered, the additional equipment list gets a little fun. | <urn:uuid:ea10aa51-ef6c-4d53-8b4d-002cb9634a6c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.whistlerblackcomb.com/the-mountain/backcountry/index.aspx?t=extremely-canadian-backcountry-clinics1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935224 | 212 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Kyoto Fall's Down
So David Suzuki says that "emissions should be cut 25 per cent below 1990 levels by 2020, and 80 per cent below 1990 levels by 2050" (More on Suzuki here.)
Eighty per cent? What are the plants going to breathe - you know plants need to CO2 to live, eh?
And this is based on the pretty weak science that CO2 has any affect on the global climate.
I'm with Alberta on this one, go slow until the science actually develops strong results. You know the scientific method of creating hypotheses, testing them, releasing the findings in an unbiased manner.
Bonus Link: Now these guys are serious.
"We can't be breeding right now," says Les Knight. "It's obvious that the intentional creation of another [human being] by anyone anywhere can't be justified today."
Knight is the founder of the Voluntary Human Extinction Movement, an informal network of people dedicated to phasing out the human race in the interest of the health of the Earth. Knight, whose convictions led him to get a vasectomy in the 1970s, when he was 25, believes that the human race is inherently dangerous to the planet and inevitably creates an unsustainable situation. | <urn:uuid:b4b5d001-3f0e-494c-849f-bd86252f3411> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lunchpale.blogspot.com/2005/11/kyoto-falls-down.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963589 | 251 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Francis Bacon, 1st Viscount Saint Alban, KC (22 January 1561 – 9 April 1626) was an English philosopher, statesman, scientist, lawyer, jurist, author and pioneer of the scientific method. He served both as Attorney General and Lord Chancellor of England. Although his political career ended in disgrace, he remained extremely influential through his works, especially as philosophical advocate and practitioner of the scientific method during the scientific revolution.
Bacon has been called the father of empiricism. His works established and popularized inductive methodologies for scientific inquiry, often called the Baconian method, or simply the scientific method. His demand for a planned procedure of investigating all things natural marked a new turn in the rhetorical and theoretical framework for science, much of which still surrounds conceptions of proper methodology today. His dedication probably led to his death, bringing him into a rare historical group of scientists who were killed by their own experiments.
Bacon was knighted in 1603, and created both the Baron Verulam in 1618, and the Viscount St Alban in 1621; as he died without heirs both peerages became extinct upon his death. He famously died of pneumonia contracted while studying the effects of freezing on the preservation of meat. | <urn:uuid:a9c51be4-5162-44a3-af72-74e5c86fdb2d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.upi.com/topic/Francis_Bacon/wiki/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987326 | 254 | 3.828125 | 4 |
Clark Pest Control has grown to be the West's largest pest management company with branch offices throughout California and in the Reno, Nevada area.
On September 1st 2009 the County of San Diego released its finding in an official news release. A mouse was trapped in San Luis Rey River area near Bonsall has been confirmed, the mouse tested positive for hantavirus. This is the fourth mouse found with the hantavirus this year.
Hantavirus is carried by wild rodents, primarily deer mice. The virus is found in rodent droppings and urine and can be inhaled by humans when it becomes airborne. The airborne virus can cause Hantavirus Pulmonary Syndrome (HPS), which can begin with symptoms similar to the flu, but in rare cases, can lead to severe breathing difficulties and even death. There is no vaccine or specific treatment for hantavirus.
Several precautions should be taken to avoid exposure:
Please read the following news release issued by the county, they offer lots of information on this subject.
If you find that you do have a rodent infestation contact your local pest professional. Clark Pest Control's San Diego branch does handle rodent control, to find out if you are in their area of coverage please visit the Clark San Diego Pest Control's Branch page at http://www.clarkpest.com/branch_office_san_diego.html.
© 2013 www.clarkpest.com | <urn:uuid:72658f0b-f869-462d-87e6-451dd3a6b5d7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clarkpest.com/blog/bid/21985/WILD-MOUSE-TESTS-POSITIVE-FOR-HANTAVIRUS | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942559 | 302 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Galleries and Studios
The Art Center: at the Old Library
1006 Penn Avenue
In November of 1911, a petition with 160 signatures attached was presented to the LaGrande City Council requesting the establishment of a city library. A resolution was passed, and in December of 1911 the council set aside and dedicated Lot 1, Block 66, Chaplin’s Addition, where the present art center now stands, for future use as the Public Library.
On February 10th, 1913, the Carnegie Corporation informed the library board it would make a donation of $12,500 for the construction of a library building. An ordinance was then passed accepting the gift from the Carnegie Corporation. The library moved out in 2006, and the art center took over soon thereafter.
The mission of the Union County Art & Culture Center [a.k.a. Art Center: at the Old Library] is to establish a self supporting facility for Union County that enriches and celebrates cultural diversity, heritage and the arts. With over 225 ft of wall space featuring year round exhibitions of local and regional artists, 1000 sq ft dance floor, ceramics studio with pottery wheels and a new electric kiln (Courtesy of Community Bank), drawing and painting studio, an ever growing list of kids and adult art classes, special events including: Annual Grande Gala, Retro Prom Dance, and Holiday Bazaar….the Art Center always has something going on.
The corner of 6th St. and L Ave.
Home of the Eastern Oregon Regional Arts Council, ArtsEast is located in La Grande, Oregon. We have a history of service to eastern Oregon artists, arts organizations, and communities.
Since our inception in 1977 as a non-profit organization, ArtsEast has delivered arts education/outreach programs to regional schools and communities and hosted visual arts exhibitions and performance series. ArtsEast has also been the hub of arts information and a resource for fostering the development of rural arts and cultural organizations. Our service region includes the 10 most eastern counties in Eastern Oregon: Baker, Gilliam, Grant, Harney, Malheur, Morrow, Umatilla, Union, Wallowa, and Wheeler.
Blue Turtle Gallery
1124 Adams Avenue
Blue Turtle Gallery is an art gallery and store that features artwork and gift items made by local artists.
1414 Adams Avenue
Local artists and art fans have long relied on Mitre’s Touch for a wide selection of framing materials and mats. They also have a gallery space featuring local artists.
Mt. Emily Ale House
1202 Adams Avenue
The Ale House’s walls are regularly graced by the works of local artists. The building at 1202 Adams Avenue was built in 1900 and originally housed the U.S. National Bank. The original vault is even still intact in the basement! Since then, the building has housed two jewelry stores, a clothing store, and a lending corporation. The building was remodeled in 2008 and converted into a brewpub. The opening of Mt. Emily Ale House in February 2009 was the culmination of years of dreaming and months of planning. Jerry Grant has been home brewing since 1992 and graduated from the UC Davis Master Brewers Program in 2007. | <urn:uuid:68652eb6-dcc2-403a-9d7c-18409313b56b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lagrandelife.com/art/galleries-and-studios/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948258 | 654 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Sam Travis Ewen is the CEO and founder of Interference Incorporated, a non-traditional marketing agency, and is co-founder of Supertou.ch an immersive technology company focused on bringing human computer interaction (HCI) to real-world environments.
If you've read Daniel Suarez’s techno thriller Daemon or William Gibson’s Spook Country, then you've encountered a world where there is no dividing line between physical and virtual realities. This vision is also advanced in the films Blade Runner, Minority Report or Children of Men which feature floating screens and active surfaces that come alive at a gesture or command. While this may seem like fantasy, those in business and marketing need to start paying attention to how real this all becoming.
The fields of augmented reality, projection mapping and Kinect hacking are where some of the most exciting work is happening. The changes are occurring so rapidly and in such variety that it is hard to keep up. But what many startups, hackers, corporations and tech artists are creating — a hybrid between computer interactivity, data, social media and how those relate to our physical world — is not only mind-blowing, but it is also a teaser for what media and communication experiences will look like in the near future.
Here is a taste of what's going on.
Remember when AR was all about little black-and-white codes that made pretty little animations play on your webcam? It seemed like a fun trick back then, and a few brands (Lego, best of all, and maybe Ray-Ban for an honorable mention) used it to create new ways to digest their products or play simple games.
Actually, there was very little ‘reality’ being augmented with those. But now that the concept has matured, we're starting to see a very different AR come to life. With your phone’s camera becoming the input device, apps are popping up that let you view a building in your city and find out if there is available office space for rent in it, make newspapers, magazines and outdoor imagery come to life, get translation on the fly or see a person’s social profile as they pass you on the street.
As our desire to check in and share location-related media grows, we're going to see the ability to overlay those actions on real space through these tools and new ones coming.
Where to start:
Rofo on junaio: AR Real Estate application for cities (above)
Aurasma from Autonomy: Activating still visuals
Lego Retail AR: See how the product will look when built
TAT Augmented ID: Social profiling via AR
Projection mapping has been around for a few years now, but it is starting to come into its own with some high profile stunts. Projection mapping software looks at the shape of an object and creates a 3D map of it, allowing an artist to overlay imagery — usually on a large surface or structure.
Why is this interesting? Because it provides the ability to change the experience of a physical object creatively, so at one point the object was one thing, and then right in front of your eyes it appears to be another. Ralph Lauren made a recent splash with this tech at a high profile event, projecting a 3D spectacle on the facades of flagship stores in New York and London.
Infiniti and Toyota have used the technique effectively to make their cars defy the laws of nature at private events. Others have used it to augment architecture and living spaces in such dramatic ways that you would have to touch them to see if the change was real or simply a visual trick. If all the structures around us were a canvas, imagine what we could do with them.
Where to start:
Ralph Lauren: "4D Experience"
Mr. Beam: "Living Room"
Infiniti: "Journey of Inspiration"
Toyota Auris: "Get Your Energy Back"
On November 4, 2010, Microsoft took a major step toward reasserting itself as a leader in future tech. The release of the Kinect for its Xbox system, — and how the Kinect was adopted by the creative/hacker community — has ushered in a new era for augmented reality.
Why is the Kinect so innovative? It's not really breaking new ground, technology-wise. But it's the way in which it combines existing tech — a multi-array microphone, an RGB camera, an infrared depth sensor — that makes it smarter and cheaper than preceding attempts. Perhaps more importantly, it's hackable. And recognizing the innovation that could come of this, Microsoft is due to release an SDK that will allow the curious and the research-minded alike to tinker with ease.
In just a few short months, developers have used the Kinect to create everything from optical camouflage to body-controlled light shows. Beyond the novelty, the practical implications of tying gestures to computer control are abundant.
Here are a few impressive examples of Kinect hacks in action:
Phil Reyneri: Kinect Light/Laser Control
blabblabLab: Be Your Own Souvenir
These technologies (and a variety of others) are radically changing the way the physical and digital worlds interface. Because media and marketing are moving ever closer to the technologies that feature (and often reward) user engagement and user creation, these innovative types of input/output mechanisms will directly lead us into a new era of active and reactive brand communication and experience.
Image courtesy of Flickr, Jason McDermott. | <urn:uuid:79edc344-ae63-4f7b-bc9c-2000f4e4fcc6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mashable.com/2011/06/08/augmented-reality-marketing-2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946595 | 1,128 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Denny answers:Jesus gave the Lord's Prayer as a model of how to pray.
The disciples wanted to know how God wanted them to pray, so Jesus gave them a good example. Today, we call that prayer the Lord's Prayer, because the Lord Jesus prayed it. The Lord's Prayer shows us how to pray, but we don't have to recite its exact words. We can use our own words, remembering the different parts that Jesus wants us to include. Let's read the Lord's Prayer to find the different parts.
"So when you pray, you should pray like this:
'Our Father in heaven,
may your name always be kept holy.
May your kingdom come
and what you want be done,
here on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us the food we need for each day.
Forgive us for our sins,
just as we have forgiven those who sinned against us.
And do not cause us to be tempted,
but save us from the Evil One' "
(Matthew 6:9-13, NCV).
The Lord's Prayer reminds us that we should focus on praising and respecting God for His perfection (holiness). Our choices and attitudes should tell people, "I love and honor the one, great God." We should ask for God's rule over us and for His plans to happen. The next part of the prayer asks, "Give us the food we need for each day." God provides for our needs, like food and clothes, as we rely on Him every day.
We should forgive people who have hurt us because God offers forgiveness of our sins through Jesus. Jesus died on the cross to take the punishment for all who trust Him. The last part of the Lord's Prayer tells us to pray for God to give us strength to obey, even when tempted to sin. By following this model prayer in our own words, we will learn to honor God in our prayers.
Go back to:
- Jesus said, "I will do whatever you ask in my name, so that the Son may bring glory to the Father. You may ask me for anything in my name, and I will do it" (John 14:13-14).
- "Brothers and sisters, I beg you to help me in my work by praying to God for me. Do this because of our Lord Jesus and the love that the Holy Spirit gives us" (Romans 15:30, NCV).
- "Also, the Spirit helps us with our weakness. We do not know how to pray as we should. But the Spirit himself speaks to God for us, even begs God for us with deep feelings that words cannot explain" (Romans 8:26, NCV). | <urn:uuid:a29a5399-3513-4337-8ce0-0c40d4af9ec4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gqkidz.org/Lords-prayer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953545 | 566 | 2.53125 | 3 |
By Kara Warner
Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg's closing set at Coachella this past Sunday night went above and beyond expectations. In addition to guest appearances from Eminem and 50 Cent, deceased West Coast rapper Tupac Shakur appeared on stage in the form of a hologram to perform. Now, it seems that Tupac might be headed out on the road.
According to a Wall Street Journal interview with Ed Ulbrich of Digital Domain Media Group Inc., the visual-effects house responsible for making the rapper's image (as well as the virtual versions of Brad Pitt in "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"), there are plans to take the 2-D image on tour. (Although 'Pac's ghostly figure has been widely reported as a hologram, Ulbrich told the Journal that its technical description is a 2-D image and not a hologram, which is 3-D.)
Moving forward with discussions of a tour are representatives for Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg who, according to a source close to the project, will be meeting to discuss the logistics involved in scheduling a string of performances with the virtual Tupac. The report cites one option would be to tour in stadiums and involve other hip-hop stars like Eminem, 50 Cent and Wiz Khalifa. Another option is a limited tour that would only feature Dre, Snoop Dogg and the virtual Tupac in smaller arenas.
"We worked with Dr. Dre on this, and it was Dre's vision to bring this back to life," Nick Smith — president of AV Concepts, the San Diego company that projected and staged the image — exclusively told MTV News on Monday (April 16). "It was his idea from the very beginning and we worked with him and his camp to utilize the technology to make it come to life. ... You can take their likenesses and voice and ... take people that haven't done concerts before or perform music they haven't sung and digitally re-create it."
"This is not found footage. This is not archival footage. This is an illusion [and] this is just the beginning," Ulbrich told the Journal. "Dre has a massive vision for this." | <urn:uuid:b5ff687b-fce4-45ba-a6b2-e67b869f1ffe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rapfix.mtv.com/2012/04/16/tupac-hologram-heading-out-on-tour/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970981 | 447 | 1.507813 | 2 |
In Peter Von Brackel's excellent Paperweights Historicism Art Nouveau Art deco 1842 to Present, a very nice "basket" weight is shown on page 25. It has millefiori, two torsades and a handle made from the same coloured twist cane. The millefiori canes are "Silesian / Bohemian" and the base is star cut. It is said to be a "rare motif from this area" - whether that applies just to the basket form or also to the use of a torsade (or "staves") I'm not sure.
I think the "extended air bubble" above the torsade in Roy's weight is pretty much as Leni said. Probably the result of not marvering in the torsade therefore leaving a clear recess at the top edge (and probably also underneath, to some extent) which, in taking the next gather of glass has trapped air in a neat ring around the weight. Deliberate by design? Or just a pleasing effect? | <urn:uuid:99fc2e05-9ad6-40de-9a8f-8593363d24a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.glassmessages.com/index.php/topic,13206.msg86405.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94511 | 220 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Daily entries from the 17th century London diary
SIR SAMUEL TUKE. English author (1610 - 1673). Plays poetry;Amongst others "A character of Charles the Second" The Adventures of five hours", Two letters from Rotterdam" and Two unfortunate lovers[google happy]
SIR SAMUEL TUKE.
"In a Character of Charles II written to coincided with the Restoration, he refered to the fact that his face (Charles), which had been "very lovely" until he was twenty, had now become grave and even servere in repose, although much softened when he spoke."
(Also) "...and his speech sober, a detail confirmed by Samuel Tuke, who remarked how the King never swore."
(Antonia Fraser...King Charles II)
Warrington has this: "Sir George Tuke of Cressing Temple in Essex, John Evelyn's cousin. The play was taken from the original of the Spanish poet Calderon. Evelyn saw it on the same occasion."
Sir Samuel Tuke (c.1615, Essex – 26 January 1674, Somerset House, London), first baronet was an English officer in the Royalist army during the English Civil War and a notable playwright. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Samuel_Tuke_%28pla...
Log in to post an annotation.
If you don't have an account, then register here. | <urn:uuid:6d5621c6-b667-4a8f-acb2-ffa792056caf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pepysdiary.com/encyclopedia/5803/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965478 | 302 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Pregnancy Toxemia in Guinea Pigs
Once a guinea pig has begun to show signs of pregnancy toxemia, the outcome is usually not good. Treatment does not usually help, but your options may include giving your guinea pig the medications propylene glycol, calcium glutamate, or steroids.
Living and Management
If your guinea pig has made it through an attack of ketosis and is recovering, you will need to take steps to ensure that it is able to rest in a calm and clean environment. Consult your veterinarian about any special dietary requirements your guinea pig may have during the recovery period, as well as any other recommendations that may be helpful in helping your guinea pig to recover quickly from the pregnancy toxemia.
To prevent ketosis, make sure your guinea pig eats a high quality food throughout pregnancy, while limiting the amount in order to prevent obesity. A measured amount of food that has been specifically recommended for pregnant and nursing guinea pigs, given at regularly scheduled times of the day, will help to prevent complications such as ketone body buildup in the blood. Avoiding exposure to stress in the last few weeks of pregnancy may also help to prevent the development of pregnancy toxemia in pregnant guinea pigs.
A condition of the blood in which the blood is poisoned due to the absorption of poisons
An in-depth examination of the properties of urine; used to determine the presence or absence of illness
The hollow bodily organ that holds the embryo and fetus and provides nourishment; only found in female animals.
The organ of mammals that comes while a female is pregnant; may also be referred to as afterbirth
The group of processes that involve the use of nutrients by the body
The product of metabolism of fat; may also be referred to as bodies of ketone or ketone bodies
A disease of the blood and tissues involving an excessive buildup of ketone.
A hormone created by the pancreas that helps to regulate the flow of glucose
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Difficulty Giving Birth in Guinea pigs
Dystocia is a clinical condition in which the process of giving birth is slowed or...
Pregnancy Loss (Miscarriage) in Chinchillas
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Total votes: 191 | <urn:uuid:ab690eda-f939-4fac-8bbd-1207d6a25187> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.petmd.com/exotic/conditions/reproductive/c_ex_gp_pregnancy_toxemia?page=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931206 | 518 | 2.484375 | 2 |
HPPR hosts & contributors
Tue February 12, 2013
Esquire Story On Bin Laden 'Shooter' Sparks Debate About Veterans' Benefits
With an excerpt of a 15,000 word story on the SEAL who allegedly killed Osama bin Laden, Esquire magazine has sparked a whole lot of debate on the kinds of benefits afforded to military veterans.
As we reported, yesterday, Esquire said the highly trained, elite service member the magazine says killed bin Laden would get "nothing" in benefits. In fact, the headline on its website was even more to the point. It read: "The Man Who Killed Bin Laden ... Is Screwed."
A few Two-Way readers took issue with that characterization. (It's an illuminating comment thread, if you're interested in digging in.) Ryan Lowry sums up many of the arguments:
"This article is very misleading. Getting out of the Navy is not the same thing as retiring. Retirement eligibility is usually contingent upon at least twenty years of service. It's unfortunate that this individual will not have health care or a pension, but the fact of the matter is that no one who left the service after 16 years would be eligible for such benefits."
Stars and Stripes, the newspaper that covers the military, took issue as well.
It explains that "no service member who does less than 20 years gets a pension, unless he has to medically retire." However, every veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars is "automatically eligible for five years of free healthcare through the Department of Veterans Affairs."
Stars and Stripes took that to Esquire, which responded:
"The writer, Phil Bronstein, who heads up the Center for Investigative Reporting, stands by the story. He said the assertion that the government gave the SEAL 'nothing' in terms of health care is both fair and accurate, because the SEAL didn't know the VA benefits existed.
"'No one ever told him that this is available,' Bronstein said.
This morning, Esquire responded with a note from the editors. It said that the online blurb did not include the kind of background that the print version of the story contained. It argues that the story does give a nod to the VA benefits.
"The story's argument, however, remains the same," the magazine writes. That five-year care from the VA, Esquire writes, is inappropriate and only 40 percent of eligible veterans take advantage of it. The shooter "remains responsible for his own healthcare and that of his family."
The editors continue:
"So if there are people out there, journalists included, who think that the status quo is hunky dory, the government's approach to these extraordinary veterans is just right or even adequate, and who are too quick to incorrectly call another journalist's work "wrong" rather than doing their own work on the profound problems of returning veterans, then, as the cover of the magazine says, the man who killed Osama bin Laden truly is screwed." | <urn:uuid:2bb40ac7-f716-46d2-871d-eb22465dcf88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hppr.org/post/esquire-story-bin-laden-shooter-sparks-debate-about-veterans-benefits | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972602 | 608 | 1.617188 | 2 |
I talk a lot about the way to work with your Disquiet is to listen to its messages. Easier said than done! What’s the difference between your gut instincts or intuition and the old voices in your head telling you what you should and shouldn’t do?
When you are trying to figure out a course of action, it sometimes gets challenging to sort out all the messages swirling around in your head. How do I know I am not mistaking wisdom for laziness or plain old fear? How can I tell the difference between impulses and good judgment? How do I not mistake a message of making a change because I just don’t like something or is it the smart thing to do?
One way is to ask the different voices!
Yeah, tune into each message, give it a voice and listen to what it says. Let me give you an example.
I was working with a client around his Disquiet. He was contemplating going in a whole new direction with his life. This included a new job offer and he was struggling to determine if it was a good move professionally and personally. There were a lot of good reasons to take it and a lot of reasons not too. Using just logic, it was a stalemate.
We tried another way. He had related to me all these different voices in his head saying different reasons to take the job or stay put. Together we tried to sort them out by giving them names to each voice based on the message and the feelings that came with them. Once we did that we asked each voice more questions to learn “their” viewpoints.
Sounds a little schizophrenic doesn’t it? But if you ever really pay attention to all the different messages you are getting, you can hear different voices. Some of them are you and some of them are other people who are easy to recognize. How many of you hear you mom? Raise you hands. See?
So back to my client. There were a lot of messages, but we came up with several different voices that said things like, “you should take the job-it’s more money and prestige. It’s about time you get recognized for what you do. Never mind the negatives, take it!” Or, “Stay where you are don’t put yourself at risk no matter how good it looks”.
I then asked him where he felt the feelings and energy from these different messages in his body. That is when it got interesting.
A lot of the messages were loud and had lots of energy. He pointed to his head saying they swarmed around there and in his throat area. After we did an exercise to help him focus and hear more, he discovered there was a softer, quieter voice that came from more his belly. It’s message was almost hard to hear over the cacophony of the others. He could only hear it when he was quiet and focusing on his gut.
That voice included some of the concerns from the other voices, but it also spoke of how even if the job didn’t fulfill everything he wanted, he could change in 2 years. In the meantime there were specific things he could do that to improve his learning and doing more from his values. It had some other things to add that really sounded solid to my client.
He then took stock of all the messages and mined them for value. He found this last voice, the quiet one in the belly was his deeper wisdom. He now knew what he wanted to do. He was off and running.
Tune into your Disquiet. When mapping out what direction you need to go, listen to the different and even conflicting voices. Sort them out based on where they are in your body – meaning where do you feel them? That will help you zoom in for the gold. It’s like finding the right radio frequency for that quiet wise voice that gets drowned out in all the noise.
In the summer edition of my newsletter that is about to go out, we will take this into more detail and I will show you what you can do. If you haven’t signed up, you can at the “Get My Free Report” box on the side. You can then receive the quarterly newsletter which comes with the free report on my study of the Disquiet, or you can click here.
Time to tune into your Disquiet!
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How We Present
Maharishi conceptualizes Natural Law based administration
by Surendra Panwar
Age of Enlightenment News Service Translate This Article
New Delhi, India
23 July 2004
On 23 July 2004 Age of Enlightenment News Service reported:
The government of the galactic universe is the most logical and natural system of administration applicable to all nations and societies. Maharishi, in his latest press conferences for the Indian media, linked this with the concept of Global Raam Raj.
It is a joy for Global Good News service to feature this news, which indicates the success of the life-supporting programmes Maharishi has designed to bring
fulfilment to the field of government.
Maharishi said that the Global Country of World Peace would soon try to establish this novel system of governance in every part of the world. In Raam Raj, everyone and everything would be measured by birth and the four classes of the society, namely Brahmin, Kshatriya, Vaisya, and Shudra and their 'specialised values' would play a vital part in the functioning of the democracy, he added.
Maharishi, who is the greatest Scientist of Consciousness, said that this is the most natural criterion and the designed path of life. 'The system of four classes is valid and the repeated attempts by vested interests to destroy this has only resulted in anarchy everywhere.' He said that nurturing the specialized values of the four classes is like applying different fertilizers to different crops.
Maharishi observed that the biggest drawback of modern democracy is that it provides same education to everyone. In Raam Raj the four classes would get different education so that their specialized values could be fully utilized. 'This is the Vedic system, which we will lay open to all. But what we are witnessing is that everything is being messed up in the name of equality. This is 'Varnashanker', society which has no logic.'
Maharishi said that each galaxy has its own system of air, water, and vegetation. They are different in every galaxy. 'Then why should we have the same system of education for everyone?' he asked. Maharishi called upon all governments not to give the poison of segmented education to the children and announced that he was going to open specialized schools for the different classes. It is not necessary for every country to have one system of governance, he added.
The founder of the worldwide Transcendental Meditation (TM) Movement said that it is wrong to put every society in the same bracket. 'We are not dead followers. We damn the democracy. We are embedded in Sanatan Dharma and Puran, and the Ramayan is the textbook of every Indian family.' He said that Indian administration based on Vedic Science should be the guiding light for every nation.
Maharishi also castigated the the modern legal system saying that its judgement varies from court to court. In Raam Raj the justice would be guided by Natural Laws, which are eternal.
In response to a question, Maharishi said that the source of life is Atma, and that it could only be experienced again through Atma. India is not a country of hard work, but of soft thinking inspired by the Vedic Wisdom. In India the person is not important, the concept is.
Every day Global Good News documents the rise of a better quality of life dawning in the world and highlights the need for introducing Natural Law based—Total
Knowledge based—programmes to bring the support of Nature to every individual, raise the quality of life of every society, and create a lasting state of world peace.
Translation software is not perfect; however if you would like to try it, you can translate this page using: | <urn:uuid:629f142a-a4b5-433b-99a7-91c58ae81031> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://globalgoodnews.com/government-news-a.html?art=10905804781850357 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955082 | 761 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Poverty and educational failure have been greatly examined and researched in recent years. While sociologists and researchers may have had different approaches, they all came to the same conclusion: for the huge majority of children, those born into poverty have the least chance of educational success and therefore the greatest chance of educational failure. As a result of this failure, their chances of success as an adult were more limited while the probability of moving into crime was higher.
In May 1998, the Labour government planned to set up 25 Education Action Zones within 5 years. The zones would cover on average 20 schools, only 2-3 being secondary schools and the rest being primary schools and nurseries. They would be run by a combination of the school leaders, governors and parents, including the local education authority and also local and national businesses.
Why have educational priority areas?
In the late 1960s, the Labour government designated schools in deprived areas as "Educational Priority Areas" and promised to give them extra money for school-building projects. It had also been proposed by the Plowden Committee, whose idea it was that teachers should receive a special allowance for working in difficult schools. The education priority areas were gradually absorbed into more general aid programmes for deprived areas. They failed to make radical changes to the nature of schooling. Hence the introduction of EAZ’s, which was all part of Tony Blair’s promise to concentrate government policy on “education, education, education”.
In January 2001, the first inspection of an education action zone reported that the initiative was beginning to raise standards. An inspector from the Office of Standards in Education (OFSTED) reported that 15 primary schools had improved at a faster rate than anywhere else in the local authority. Test results also improved in the area and truancy had fallen. There were fewer exclusions and schools were leaving special measures rapidly. Among the strengths that helped in the improvement of the schools in the EAZ, was the involvement of parents. Within the EAZ reported on by OFSTED, 450 parents received accreditation in a training scheme for classroom helpers. Parents were given theory lessons in areas of school life such as literacy strategy and tackling bullying and were given practical lessons in preparing materials and assisting teachers. Although a lot of success was seen among primary schools in the EAZ, the same was not repeated in the three secondary schools in the action zone. The action zones director was quoted as saying “Schools have had to be in competition for so long that it has damaged the natural partnerships between them. But they face common issues. They could be more daring and trying to find solutions.”
In December 2008, ability test scores were taken from children in the UK and US and showed the poorer the family, the less well prepared the children were for school. The US study found that poor parenting and the home environment were major factors in a child’s failure at school. The US study suggested early years “compensatory education programmes” could help to kick-start a child’s education. The study was led by Professor Jane Waldfogel of Columbia University. She wanted to find what ability gaps occurred between income groups and how large they were and what factors explained them.
Waldfogel found that four year olds from the poorest families scored 34 points out of 80 in literacy tests compared with 69 points out of 80 for the richest families. A similar test in the UK found three year olds from the poorest families scored 32 points out of 80 in school readiness tests, compared with 63 points for those from the richest homes. In England the differences between the social classes persist all the way up the educational ladder. A study said “the environments of low-income children differ in many dimensions from those of more affluent children. For example access to toys, books, computers and learning related activities may be directly affected by lack of income”.
Professor Waldfogel said her findings were “very concerning because with children starting out at school so unequal, it’s very difficult to imagine they will end school on an equal footing.” She said what surprised her in her study the most was the extent to which the way children were parented and how they were influenced by their home learning environment had an impact on their ability to learn once they reached school. Qualities which affected the child’s ability seemed to be how sensitive and responsive a parent was to their child’s needs when they were young.
Professor Waldfogel went on to say there were some useful “compensatory education” programmes which could help bring children from poorer backgrounds forward. In England where all three and four year olds are entitled to free part time and pre-school day care, she suggested ministers might consider improving parenting help for poor families when their children are young. She cited a scheme herself called Nurse Family Partnerships.
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No matter what blogging platform you use … even if you’re just building a straight HTML website … there are relatively few fonts that are safe to use. You can’t just find a “pretty” font on your computer and use it on your website. You have to do your research first. Hopefully, this article will help you narrow down the choices in your quest to make your website bulletproof.
In basic CSS format, you define a font for a website like so:
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, Sans-Serif;
There’s really not much in the way of explanation here. You define a global font style in the “body” style section of your CSS. And if you want define a different font style for a different element, you can do that just as easily by following the same format as above.
You might have noticed the degrading failsafe I put in as a way to buy a little “insurance” in case your first choice isn’t available. If the user’s computer doesn’t have the Arial font (although the chances of that are slim), then it goes on to the second font in the list. If that’s not there, then it goes to the third. You get the idea.
OK, for those who don’t know, let’s just say that you defined “Trajan Pro” (one of my favorite fonts, although not as a web font) as your default font in your stylesheet. The nature of the web is not like print. Just because you define a font as the default doesn’t mean that the user is going to see it that way. If the user doesn’t have that font installed on his or her computer, then they won’t see the font you’ve chosen for your website. If you haven’t defined a secondary font, then the browser will just revert to the default font … usually a common Serif font like Times New Roman.
So what font’s are safe to use?
I’m by no means saying this is a definitive list or anything, but here are some font’s I’ve picked up in my experience as “safe”.
- Arial – A basic Sans-Serif font. Most websites use this font because of it’s simplicity.
- Helvetica – A font very similar to Arial.
- Times New Roman – Yep, the default in Microsoft Word :-)
- Georgia – Like TNR, but with a little more character.
A couple more that I think are safe:
- Trebuchet MS – Pretty cool looking font. Good for headers. I use it for my headers here on this blog.
- Verdana – Doesn’t look great in anything above 11px font size.
That’s where my list ends, but for a few more options, check out this good page for a deeper explanation of everything, and a slightly longer list of safe fonts.
Sorry to burst your bubble if I did. I know there are lots of people who wish web design was as easy as print, but unfortunately your choice of fonts is limited. But that doesn’t mean you can’t still do great web designs. Make it work … make it fit. If you apply some good color choices and a good grid, font ends up not mattering all that much.
To be honest, I’m glad web fonts are limited. Have you ever seen a flier on a telephone pole that someone did in a word processor? I rest my case :-) | <urn:uuid:89c4a216-d8f4-4708-bd3b-17eaf9b6379f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nathanrice.net/blog/web-safe-fonts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900537 | 768 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Estate attorney Douglas C. Sinski. (Courtesy Photo: Sinski)
- What is a short sale - simply stated, a short sale is a situation whereby a lender, (mortgagee), agrees to accept less than the full amount of the outstanding loan balance due on the sale of the property. (The borrower is the mortgagor).
Given that many mortgages today are "underwater," (the borrower owes more than the house is worth), and the borrower may also be behind in mortgage payments, lenders are making a business decision to cut their losses and accept less than the amount due, rather than go through a time-consuming and costly foreclosure process.
I recently spoke with two real estate agents who have been involved in short sales: Elizabeth Capozzoli
, who is with Town & Country Real Estate, and Cornelia Dodge
, an agent with Devlin McNiff.
I also spoke with real estate attorney, Douglas C. Sinski
, Managing General Partner of the law firm, Schwartz & Sinski, P.C. Coincidentally, Doug was the attorney in a deal in which Cornelia participated.
Doug, are there any federal or state laws that specifically relate to short sales?
Devlin McNiff Real Estate Associate Broker Cornelia Dodge. (Courtesy Photo: Dodge)
"The Home Equity Prevention Act" went into effect on February 1, 2007 in New York State. Basically, it was intended to protect homeowners of one to four family residences from 'home equity theft,' especially by what are known as 'equity purchasers.' It also applies to 'covered contracts.' The basic intent of the law is to protect the home owner and to prevent fraud."
Doug, what about the real estate broker's fees, attorney's fees, etc.?
"All fees must be paid out of the proceeds of the sale and disclosed on a HUD-1 Form. The seller is not permitted to walk away from the the closing with any money from the sale."
Is the amount of the difference between what was owed and what is accepted by the lender taxable income to the seller, Doug?
"It depends on other factors, but yes, the lender may issue a 1099. Also, the borrower may still be held responsible for the difference between the accepted amount and the amount due."
Could that result in a deficiency judgment against the seller?
"Yes, it could."
I don't intend for this to sound like a commercial, Doug, but it is obvious to me that these transactions require special legal expertise. Whom do you typically represent, the seller or the buyer with respect to short sales?
"It breaks down just about 50-50."
And when do you typically become involved in the transaction?
"Usually I'm contacted by the seller, buyer, or the real estate broker after there is an offer and acceptance."
Elizabeth Capozzoli with Town & Country Real Estate. (Courtesy Photo: Capozzoli)
It would seem to me, considering the complexity of these transactions, the sooner the better, even before the property goes on the market.
"Yes. Absolutely. It's better to determine if you are a candidate for a short-sale and what issues related to the property, such as other liens could affect the transaction. Not only does the holder of the first mortgage have to consent to the short sale but so does the holder of any second mortgage. Tax liens and 'mechanics liens' also enter into the picture. Whether I represent the seller or buyer, these are important issues that must be addressed."
How long, in your experience, do short sales typically take to complete, Doug?
"Six to nine months. And the lender may walk away from the deal before it closes if they are not satisfied."
Liz, how many short sales have you been involved in, whom have you represented, buyer or seller, and how many deals have closed?
"I have been involved in 30 transactions, 25 on the seller-side, five on the buyer-side - 15 have closed. I was on the seller-side in all of those."
In what geographical areas have you been involved?
"Hampton Bays to Springs in East Hampton. These are the areas where the median incomes are lower than in other areas of the Hamptons."
Based on your experience, Liz, what are the most common reasons that home owners find themselves in the position whereby a short sale might be the answer for them?
"Hardship, whether it's due to a death, illness, divorce, lost wages, loss of rental income. You must be able to demonstrate hardship in order for a lender to consider a short sale."
If you are contacted by a seller who is considering a short sale, what are the most important issues that you would consider, Liz?"
"Can they meet the bank's hardship tests? There is no point in going the short sale route if you can't provide the bank with the documentation they require. When I first started doing short sales, they could take 11 months. Now lenders have set up departments to handle them, and if the necessary documentation is provided, it can be done in 90 days."
"It's very important that the house be priced right. The banks require a Broker Price Opinion, which is really a Comparative Market Analysis. Sellers and buyers who are not realistic about price are not good candidates for a short sale."
How much of your business has been short sales, Liz"
"About 50 percent."
Cornelia, you were involved in one short sale, and I didn't know it when we first spoke about it, but Doug was the attorney representing the seller.
"Yes, that's true. I was also representing the seller."
What was your experience?
"Given the amount of time and effort that I had to put into it, it wasn't profitable when compared to other ways I could have spent that time. The property was over-improved, which made the seller's price expectations unrealistic. It also had certificates of occupancy issues as well as issues with the pool."
"We had to go through a series of price adjustments, low-ball offers by buyers, and when we finally did get signed contracts, the bank sold the loan to another bank before we closed, so we had to start the process all over again. "
"I had to show the property until closing."
"The final blow was that we had to reduce our commission by a third. It just wasn't worth it, all things considered."
Elizabeth, Claudia, Doug. Thank you for your time and sharing your knowledge.
: John will be teaching a 22.5 hours Real Estate Continuing Education class at Long Island University in Riverhead on August 15, August 17, and August 19. For information and registration contact Rosemary Malone at 631-287-8334 or by email at firstname.lastname@example.org.
John is a St. John's University graduate, licensed Real Estate broker, lecturer, teaches real estate license classes at LIU and NYU, and acts as a consultant to the real estate industry. | <urn:uuid:e99fc1be-0115-42d9-9262-4735c5fb0e9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hamptons.com/Real-Estate/Main-Articles/15222/What-Is-A-Short-Sale.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970023 | 1,474 | 1.96875 | 2 |
All of that data flying at you by e-mail, instant message, cell phone, voice mail and BlackBerry--it could actually be making you dumber.
Dr. Edward Hallowell, a psychiatrist who's studied attention deficit disorder for more than a decade, has identified a related disorder he calls attention deficit trait, and he says it's reaching epidemic proportions in the corporate world. Unlike attention deficit disorder, or ADD, people aren't born with ADT. It's the result, he contends, of the modern workplace, where the constant and relentless chatter coming from our computers, phones and other high-tech devices is diluting our mental powers.
Hallowell, formerly a Harvard Medical School faculty member, recently sat down with CNET News.com to talk about ADT as well as when the right times to log off, hang up or take a time-out might be. We paid attention.
Q: What is ADT?
Hallowell: It's sort of like the normal version of attention deficit disorder. But it's a condition induced by modern life, in which you've become so busy attending to so many inputs and outputs that you become increasingly distracted, irritable, impulsive, restless and, over the long term, underachieving. In other words, it costs you efficiency because you're doing so much or trying to do so much, it's as if you're juggling one more ball than you possibly can.
What are some of the symptoms?
Hallowell: When people find that they're not working to their full potential; when they know that they could be producing more but in fact they're producing less; when they know they're smarter than their output shows; when they start answering questions in ways that are more superficial, more hurried than they usually would; when their reservoir of new ideas starts to run dry; when they find themselves working ever-longer hours and sleeping less, exercising less, spending free time with friends less and in general putting in more hours but getting less production overall.
When did you start to notice ADT as a disorder distinct from ADD?
Hallowell: So many people would come to me looking for a diagnosis of ADD, and I noticed some of them didn't really have the condition because it went away completely when they went on vacation, or it went away completely when they went off to a relaxed setting.
In ADD--the true ADD--it doesn't go away, wherever you go. So I realized that these people were having it induced by their work world. When they got to work, then symptoms would start to occur. So that meant that something was going on at work. That something is this overload.
Haven't people always had distractions at work? Is this really anything new?
Hallowell: It's new because never before have we been so able to overload the brain circuitry. We've been able to overload manual labor. But never before have we so routinely been able to overload brain labor.
Hallowell: Aside from underachievement, you don't ever get the fulfillment of seeing yourself coming up with the ideas you ought to come up with. You don't get the fulfillment that comes from creative activity. You live at a much more surface level.
I imagine it takes a toll on the organization as well.
Hallowell: Absolutely. Organizations are sacrificing their most valuable asset, namely the imagination and creativity of the brains they employ, by allowing ADT to infest the organization. It's not that hard to deal with, once you identify it. You need to set limits and preserve time to think. Warren Buffett sits in a little office in the middle of nowhere and spends a lot of his time just thinking. And we are not giving ourselves that opportunity.
You say this condition is reaching epidemic proportions. What percentage of the working population suffers from ADT, in your estimation?
Hallowell: I'm guessing now, because I haven't done surveys. But I've done informal surveys at seminars I give. If we're talking about the working population as sort of managers and
25 commentsJoin the conversation! Add your comment | <urn:uuid:379fc71c-2a53-4865-a98b-4b1014a410dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/Why-cant-you-pay-attention-anymore/2008-1022_3-5637632.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972781 | 847 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Vacationing with Grandkids
America's foremost expert on family vacations explores the (usually) pricey intergenerational trip
More vigorous in their 60s and 70s than any generation before them, many of today's American grandparents increasingly want to vacation with their grandchildren. And because vast distances often separate families--the young, child-raising couple sent to corporate outposts hundreds of miles away (which was less often the case in previous generations)--such a vacation is sometimes the grandparents' only chance for a good chunk of quality time with their grandchildren.
And let's face it: grandparents also like it because it gives them a chance to play a role in their grandkids' upbringing, impart values, give them a sense of family and cherished memories of happy family times--all powerful motivators for an intergenerational trip. In 1999, one in ten family vacations--more than six million trips--were taken by grandparents with their grandchildren, according to a recent Better Homes and Gardens look at family vacations.
But--and this is a major condition--many of today's grandparents want to make those trips on a budget. Though a handful of elitist tour operators charge two, three, and even four thousand dollars per person to design an intergenerational trip (and get enormous publicity when they do), the bulk of grandparent-grandchildren holidays are modestly priced and often overlooked. Without further ado, here are ten economical options for "grand-travel."
To the surprise of many families, America's great travel institution for seniors provides scores of summer programs that are planned so that the kids have as much fun exploring new subjects and places as grandma and grandpa do. Elderhostel, which sends 200,000 seniors on inexpensive educational travel adventures around the world, now offers nearly 300 learning vacations designed for grandparents and grandkids. They can explore colonial life hands-on in Jamestown and Williamsburg, tour the Grand Canyon, or study the history of painting or sculpture at the Art Institute of Chicago. Weeklong programs in the U.S. and Canada average $500 for adults, less for children, including room, board, and activities-but not the cost of transportation to the site. Call 877/426-8056 or access elderhostel.org.
Cornell University's "Adult University" in the pleasant little city of Ithaca, New York, draws a multigenerational mix to its bucolic campus for adult classes and special youth programs in summer for children as young as three. Older kids will be busy learning about animal biology, writing poetry, or horseback riding while grandma is sketching and grandpa is taking a history course. Fees include courses, lodging, most meals, and use of Cornell's facilities. Rates start at $960 per adult per week and $500 for the preschoolers, $760 for older children. If two children are registered, the younger one's fees will be cut in half. Phone 607/255-6260 or click on cau.cornell.edu.
The national parks
Because seniors 62 and older get a lifetime pass to all national parks for $10 (see the National Park Service web site at nps.gov for details), these federal treasures are top inexpensive bets for outdoor-loving grandparents and grandkids, guaranteeing lifelong memories. For both seniors and children, there are easy walks on paved trails, plenty of ranger-led programs, special activities for kids and families (like a "Yellowstone Buddies" environmental program for kids in the summer at Yellowstone National Park), and reasonable room rates at lodges within the park. Thus you can get lodging and breakfast for the whole gang for $73 a night in low season at Zion National Park. For lodges, beautiful-places-on-earth.com.
Fun in the sun
Beach resorts are popular "grand-travel" choices because, like cruise ships, they offer many organized activities for the small ones as well as the grown-ups. And you can save extra by traveling during shoulder seasons.
With rates starting as low as $85 a night, Holiday Inn SunSpree Resorts have kids' activities, meals, and great beaches in 25 Sunbelt and island locales from Clearwater, Florida, to Scottsdale, Arizona. On the Bahamas' Paradise Island, all-inclusive rates (drinks, meals, activities, even airport transfers) start at $269 per person, and ages 12 and under stay and eat free. Find out more at 800/HOLIDAY or holiday-inn.com.
Then there's Club Med (800/WEBCLUB, clubmed.com), the French-flavored resort chain now marketing not just to swinging singles but also heavily to families and seniors. Choose the week but let Club Med pick the family village you'll visit, and an all-inclusive week in the Caribbean or Mexico is yours for $899 per person, including airfare from many U.S. cities. And at certain Club Meds, kids stay for half-off.
Budget Travel Real Deals
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- From $728 | <urn:uuid:1d001fdc-552d-4118-a94a-0138d10b1c88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.budgettravel.com/feature/050608_grandkidsvac,3054/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930132 | 1,091 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Earl LloydBorn: April 28, 1928
Birthplace: Alexandria, Va.
On Oct. 30, 1950, Earl Lloyd became the first African-American to play in a National Basketball Association game. As a member of the Washington Capitols, he was one of three black players to enter the NBA that season—Charles Cooper of the Boston Celtics and Nat Clifton of the N.Y. Knicks were the other two. After Washington he spent six years with the Syracuse Nationals and then went on to the Detroit Pistons until his retirement in 1960. Over his career he averaged 8.4 points per game and 6.4 rebounds per game. In 1968–70 he became a Pistons assistant coach and chalked up another African-American first. The 1970–71 season saw him as Detroit's head coach (the second black head coach in the NBA) posting a 45–37 record. He then spent five years as a scout. Lloyd was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2003.
Fact Monster/Information Please® Database, © 2007 Pearson Education, Inc. All rights reserved.
More on Earl Lloyd from Fact Monster: | <urn:uuid:6cc22afb-91af-4b8e-b8eb-f0125319f11f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.factmonster.com/ipka/A0932884.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97533 | 232 | 2.40625 | 2 |
By encouraging diversity and contemporary creation, UNESCO endeavours to ensure that all cultures – with due respect for their equal dignity -- benefit from the development opportunities opened up by creative industries through strengthening local markets and providing better access to international markets, particularly by means of North-South and South-South cooperation.
In the field of creative industries such as crafts, design, publishing, cinema and music, expert support is provided to collaboration between public and private actors, to training activities and to fairs, festivals and shows with a regional and sub-regional scope in the countries of the South. Support is also provided to reinforce the cooperation within the international Creative Cities Network and to promote linguistic diversity, particularly through translation, as well as copyright issues as regards authors and creators. Finally the promotion of Arts Education, which leads to a new World Conference in 2010, is also at the heart of these activities.
To deal effectively with governmental authorities and members of civil society alike, the Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions was adopted in 2005, and partnerships are established in the framework of the Global Alliance for Cultural Diversity. | <urn:uuid:2d2fb655-0db5-4e70-af0e-964510420a89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://portal.unesco.org/culture/en/ev.php-URL_ID=34326&URL_DO=DO_TOPIC&URL_SECTION=201.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959995 | 226 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Alex123 wrote:Those conditions that Dave has outlined are very important. Suttas were aimed at an audience that had a certain cultural things that we do not have today. They may have been able to understand what the Buddha has said much better than us, who do not know pali and do not know idiomatic expressions, and manner of speech.
Certainly, but language barrier is nothing new, and from a textual basis is there from the start, it may not be the same degree of barrier but it is still a barrier. and this barrier can be bridged still.
Furthermore, there may have been a very deep non-verbal communication. I am sure that seeing and hearing the Buddha may have been 99% of sutta's effectiveness. Certain things you can't put in writing.
what is said is only a small part of any communication, however in all likelihood those hearing the words (particularly monastics) would of used them as meditative instruction to follow as they were being given. and as memorising the discourses is found in the canon, it is probably to use as instruction also.
People where much tougher during those times than today. They didn't have all the luxuries that we have today. They also didn't have as many available entertainments (distractions) as we have today.
being used to a particular comfort level does not show toughness. people don't die with any less amount of injury than then, as far as I know.
they certainly had distractions, and concerns to deal with. they may not of had all the exact same concerns, or work but a personal life didn't start recently and they would of distracted themselves in various ways.
one reason why dana is prevalent in Asia maybe as a distraction, doing something in the hope that it will bring ease and this before modern luxury and entertainment. it is quite likely meditating lay-people were quite common among the disciples when you consider the references to anatapindika... and the disciple who had followers and only got ordained and stove for enlightenment due to his followers copying and ending up being on a par with him (AN I think??)
I have spend quite a while in a situation I am glad I am not in now, sleeping on nothing but a carpeted floor and a gym mat each for a few months, under nothing but a tree, under a bridge and in a cave for a couple of nights. none of that means I am tougher than another because of it. what I am willing to accept as a comfort level it lower than some peoples.
These are very important differences in conditions.
not really. like I said initially "I personally see no difference on the practical level and the level of the teaching, sure externally we have different means of distracting, pleasuring, & harming ourselves and others, but on the level of practice it is the same from my perspective."
nothing has changed or given rise to a re-evaluation of this. | <urn:uuid:469ab799-8265-4830-b379-26c679a892e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dhammawheel.com/viewtopic.php?p=208981 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987853 | 604 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Video capture card
Video capture cards are used to get the picture from the cable, aerial, or satellite television source into the PC.
They decode and capture the video signal from the channel you want to view or record. Often video capture cards will include a tuner to capture an specific TV signal, and are therefore known as 'tuner cards'. (Video capture devices without tuners do exist; usually used in conjunction with an external tuner, such as HD-DVR capture devices recording content from cable or satellite STB which tunes the channel). Sometimes people mistake video capture cards with video display cards which provide the output to the (tv)screen.
These cards (also called frame grabbers and software encoders) are usually based on a chipset like the Bt848/878 or Conexant cx2388x, and decode broadcast NTSC, PAL, or Secam television. These cards deliver an unencrypted data stream to MythTV, which then encodes to MPEG-4 or RTjpeg using software encoders. Advantages of this type of card are:
- Low cost
- High flexibility -- you can choose your encoding method and employ filters prior to encoding
- If you have the CPU power, MPEG-4 produces better quality with smaller file sizes than the MPEG-2 used with most hardware encoding cards
The main disadvantage of this type of card is the high CPU requirements. Depending on your encoding settings, you may need close to 1GHz of CPU speed to handle a single encoding stream, and more if you have multiple cards or want to play back while recording. MPEG-4 is particularly demanding; for systems with weaker CPUs, RTjpeg consumes less CPU time at the cost of larger file sizes and more digital video artifacts.
These cards, currently the Hauppauge PVR cards, the AVerMedia M179 and any other card which supports the V4L2 MPEG Encoder API, have a video processor on-board which compresses the tuned video signal into an RTjpeg, MPEG-2, or MPEG-4 program stream before sending it into the computer. The advantages of these cards are:
- Greatly reduced load on the entire machine (with certain technical caveats). This is particularly important for machines with weak CPUs or when using multiple tuners in one system.
- The reduced load means that your video stream is less likely to suffer from encoding "hiccups" if a process causes the system to become momentarily too busy to process the video.
- Most hardware-encoding cards output an MPEG-2 stream, which can simplify backing up to DVD.
The main drawback of this type of card is that you're limited to the video format and encoding options supported by the manufacturer (usually MPEG-2). You can transcode to MPEG-4 after recording to save space, if desired, but this requires post-record processing and will degrade quality slightly.
Most cards of this type are designed to encode standard definition analog (NTSC, PAL, or SECAM) video signals. At least one product, though, the Hauppauge HD PVR, encodes analog HD output, as produced by cable or satellite TV boxes. Such a product is currently the only way to record HD content from providers that encrypt their digital data streams. (Some cable boxes have FireWire outputs, but cable operators often encrypt the IEEE-1394 output for some of the channels tuned by these boxes.)
Digital Capture Cards
There are currently several HDMI capture cards and devices available on the market, but these will not work for capturing video. Nearly any device you may wish to record HDMI from will also be using HDCP to encrypt the stream, and as such cannot be used.
Digital broadcasting for DVB, CableCARD/QAM, and ATSC is in the form of an MPEG-2 transport stream, so unlike analog capture cards, there is no need for any kind of on-board encoding engine. The required program stream is extracted and handed directly to the computer for viewing or saving. Some cards have a hardware Program ID filter (hardware pid) which means the card can extract the required program stream from the transport stream itself. In either case, the computer power required to save a MPEG-2 transport stream (but not view it) is very small, being only what is required to shift data from the PCI/USB bus and save it to disk.
Confusingly, many useful tools for working with MPEG-2 transport streams have "dvb" in their names, even though they work just as well with MPEG-2 transport streams derived from "ATSC" broadcasts.
Some digital capture cards also support analog (NTSC or PAL) transmissions, usually via a frame grabber. If your digital capture card lacks such hardware and you want to record both digital and analog transmissions, you'll need to buy a separate analog capture card - either a frame grabber or a hardware-encoding card. If your card does support multiple different modes, it will often be a hybrid tuner, rather than a full dual tuner. If that is the case, you will have to set up both inputs in the same Input Group to tell MythTV that they cannot be used at the same time.
Some cable and satellite TV boxes include FireWire ports. You can use these ports, along with a FireWire port on your MythTV box, to record both analog and digital channels from the cable box. Essentially, the FireWire card and cable box function like a digital hardware MPEG card, although configuration details and capabilities differ. Depending on your cable operator, the channels tunable via the cable box may be the same as those that are tunable via a standard digital tuner card, or you may be able to record some or all of the cable system's encrypted channels, as well.
With the world moving towards digital broadcast standards, this type of card is likely to become dominant in the next few years. | <urn:uuid:8cc529a2-4e31-4ee0-8c42-e2ce2c4c7a98> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mythtv.org/wiki/Capture_Card_Matrix | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929494 | 1,224 | 3 | 3 |
In the final Patch Tuesday of 2011 Microsoft released 13 security bulletins, three of them classified as critical, to fix 19 vulnerabilities affecting desktop versions
The three critical bulletins, which Microsoft officials advise should be applied immediately, involve remote code execution vulnerabilities in Windows desktop. One of the updates resolves a privately reported vulnerability that could allow remote execution if a user were to view “a specifically crafted Web page that employs binary behavior in Internet Explorer,” according to company officials.
Those users who have been granted fewer rights on the system are likely to be less impacted than those with administrative rights. This update also contains kill bits for four different third-party Active X controls, officials said.
Another security bulletin that addresses a privately reported vulnerability allows remote control execution if users open a file containing a “specifically crafted” OLE object. Hackers successfully exploiting this flaw can gain the same rights as the local user. This vulnerability, rated as “important” however, does not affect Windows Server 2008, Windows Server 2008 R2, Windows 7 and Windows Vista, according to Microsoft.
A third privately reported vulnerability, also classified as “important, allows hackers to remotely execute code in Active Directory, Active Directory Application Mode (ADAM) and Active Directory Lightweight Directory Service.” In order to exploit this flaw attackers must acquire credentials to log on to an Active Directory domain.
Microsoft did address the vulnerability that could be exploited by the Duqu intelligence-gathering Trojan. The company had put out an advisory about this flaw in November after it was discovered what some industry observers called a “possible precursor to the next Stuxnet,” a sophisticated worm that served to sabotage Iran’s nuclear program in 2010.
In addition to the security bulletins, Microsoft also released an enhanced version of its Windows Malicious Software Removal Tool available on Windows Update, Windows Server Update Services and the company’s Download Center.
For more technical information about December’s security bulletins, users can visit Microsoft’s Security Techcenter. | <urn:uuid:78df0997-101b-49ee-a4ab-f79df22bde9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://searchwindowsserver.techtarget.com/news/2240112604/Microsoft-releases-critical-fixes-for-Windows-and-Windows-Server | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935563 | 420 | 1.867188 | 2 |
1 At that time the disciples came to Jesus and asked, "Who, then, is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven?"
2 He called a little child, whom he placed among them. 3 And he said: "Truly I tell you, unless you change and become like little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven. 4 Therefore, whoever takes a humble place—becoming like this child—is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven. 5 And whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me.
6 Causing to Stumble
6 "If anyone causes one of these little ones—those who believe in me—to stumble, it would be better for them if a large millstone were hung around their neck and they were drowned in the depths of the sea. 7 Woe to the world because of the things that cause people to stumble! Such things must come, but woe to the person through whom they come! 8 If your hand or your foot causes you to stumble, cut it off and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life maimed or crippled than to have two hands or two feet and be thrown into eternal fire. 9 And if your eye causes you to stumble, gouge it out and throw it away. It is better for you to enter life with one eye than to have two eyes and be thrown into the fire of hell.
10-11 "See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.
12 "What do you think? If a man owns a hundred sheep, and one of them wanders away, will he not leave the ninety-nine on the hills and go to look for the one that wandered off ? 13 And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he is happier about that one sheep than about the ninety-nine that did not wander off. 14 In the same way your Father in heaven is not willing that any of these little ones should perish.
15 Dealing With Sin in the Church
15 "If a brother or sister sins,[a] go and point out the fault, just between the two of you. If they listen to you, you have won them over. 16 But if they will not listen, take one or two others along, so that 'every matter may be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses.'[b] 17 If they still refuse to listen, tell it to the church; and if they refuse to listen even to the church, treat them as you would a pagan or a tax collector.
19 "Again, truly I tell you that if two of you on earth agree about anything you ask for, it will be done for you by my Father in heaven. 20 For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them."
21 The Parable of the Unmerciful Servant
21 Then Peter came to Jesus and asked, "Lord, how many times shall I forgive someone who sins against me? Up to seven times?"
23 "Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. 24 As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold[f] was brought to him. 25 Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.
29 "His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, 'Be patient with me, and I will pay you back.'
30 "But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. 31 When the other servants saw what had happened, they were greatly distressed and went and told their master everything that had happened.
32 "Then the master called the servant in. 'You wicked servant,' he said, 'I canceled all that debt of yours because you begged me to. 33 Shouldn't you have had mercy on your fellow servant just as I had on you?' 34 In anger his master handed him over to the jailers to be tortured, until he should pay back all he owed.
35 "This is how my heavenly Father will treat each of you unless you forgive a brother or sister from your heart."
Top 10 sermons on Matthew 18
- The Standard of Grace
- My Chains Fell Off
- Lesson 1 (Prayer Partners): Prayer Partners
- I Will Be A Forgiving Person
- Overcoming unForgiveness | <urn:uuid:a9cc0fa2-692f-46c0-abb5-5ce194f97157> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sermoncentral.com/bible/TNIV/Matthew-18.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977775 | 944 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Virginia Governor Bob McDonnell says that the Virginia Marine Resources Commission has voted unanimously to approve proposed construction of a 479-foot-tall, five-megawatt wind turbine generator prototype in the lower Chesapeake Bay, three miles off the Eastern Shore town of Cape Charles.
The construction of the prototype turbine is scheduled to be completed in late 2013, which would be before other offshore wind energy projects are slated to be built in other parts of the country. The expected design life of the prototype turbine is expected to be 20 years or more. The submarine cable system is expected to last more than 100 years.This prototype is a significant step forward in Governor Bob McDonnell's goal to pursue an "all of the above" energy approach including wind, coal, nuclear, oil, and renewable energy projects. The project now requires approval from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and review by the U.S. Coast Guard.
The proposal was submitted by Gamesa Energy USA, which is partnering with Huntingon Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding, to develop and test new offshore wind technologies that will reduce the cost of wind power.
"This is an important next step in developing all of Virginia's domestic energy resources to help power our nation's economy and puts Virginia at the forefront of clean energy technology development,' said Governor McDonnell. "This step forward holds tremendous potential for jobs and for economic development here in the future. Virginia's unique and efficient permitting process adopted for small energy projects like this one was a critical factor in Gamesa's choice of Virginia as the location for this U.S. wind energy operation, and today we see the fruit of these proactive policies."
The purpose of the project is to advance the demonstration of Gamesa Energy USA, LLC's new offshore WTG technology, the G11X, specifically designed for deployment in offshore wind environments worldwide.
The information collected by the construction and operation of this prototype will help to perfect this new technology for worldwide commercial market deployment by 2015, through testing and validation to ensure optimal performance characteristics and reliability are met.
Although the project is just one single wind turbine generator and is not principally intended as major energy supply source, an added benefit of the prototype will be the production of up to five megawatts of clean, renewable wind power to the local Virginia transmission grid for public use.
The project includes the installation of a steel monopile foundation and tower with a maximum blade tip height of 479 feet above mean sea level, stone riprap scour protection around the foundation base, and the installation of 15,219 linear feet of submerged power cable buried a minimum of six feet below the seabed. The cable will connect the wind turbine to the Cape Charles electrical grid through the Bay Coastal Railroad property in Cape Charles Harbor.
The wind turbine will be located at N 37º14'37.4", W 76º03'47.3" in approximately 53 feet of water.
VMRC's public interest review of the project concluded that it will not impact commercial or recreational marine activities. Rather, the project may enhance recreational fishing on the Eastern Shore because the structure likely will attract fish looking for shade and shelter. The fish, in turn, will attract anglers.
The agency received no objections from the public.
"This wind turbine prototype will bring jobs, jobs and more jobs, and it positions Virginia to be a leader in clean energy technology," said Doug Domenech, Virginia's Secretary of Natural Resources.
VMRC's approval of the proposal came with several stipulations, which Gamesa agreed to, including:
Post a bond or letter of credit of at least $2.1 million to pay for removing the structure if it is decommissioned
Payment of a one-time royalty of $52,667 for use of the state-owned water bottom
A comprehensive scientific study of the turbine's underwater acoustical potential impact on marine life under a variety of wind and weather conditions
The Virginia Institute of Marine Science suggested the study, but does not anticipate the noise emanating from a wind turbine will have any significant negative environmental impacts on a section of the bay that routinely is subject to extensive small boat usage as well as numerous transient cargo ships. But because this project is a prototype, the Commission felt it was beneficial to have detailed scientific marine acoustical impact information in the event the technology is deployed elsewhere.
"This is an exciting project," said VMRC Acting Commissioner Jack Travelstead. "This will bring jobs, energy, important new scientific information, and enhanced fishing opportunities for recreational anglers."
Gamesa is a world leader in the design, manufacture, installation and maintenance of wind turbines, with more than 20,000 MW installed in 30 countries on four continents. The Eastern Shore prototype will be constructed as part of a joint partnership with Huntingon Ingalls Newport News Shipbuilding.
May 27, 2012 | <urn:uuid:95113d79-d23a-4438-8c9f-1c8900be36bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://marinelog.com/index.php?option=com_content&;view=article&id=2186:virginia-approves-plan-for-prototype-offshore-wind-turbine-installation&catid=79:alternative&Itemid=187 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932106 | 986 | 2.40625 | 2 |
February 17, 2012
| by Lisa Montgomery
I’ve always wondered about theater seating: What makes it so different from regular everyday seating? How are they built? What types of materials are used? During a recent visit to Southern California, I stopped by Fortress Seating in Rancho Cucamonga for a behind the scenes look at the art and craftsmanship that’s involved in designing, constructing and customizing specialty theater seats.
Every seat a the 25,000-square-foot Fortress warehouse is built completely from scratch. Custom electronics (CE) integrators send their specs to Fortress. From this information, the Fortress team, which includes professional designers, carpenters and upholsterers, creates special, one-of-a-kind seating. As I learned from Gabi Wolper, vice president of sales, who kindly walked me through the entire chair-building process, there’s a lot that can affect the quality of a theater seat. For example, Fortress uses solid wood and metal-to-metal connections, which makes the seats extremely durable. This tougher-than-nails approach is part of the company’s lineage. In the 1930s Fortress built only metal desks and filing cabinets. It wasn’t until 1970 that it office furniture to its lineup, and later seats for health care industry. “In these environments, the seats were being used 8-12 hours a day,” says Wolper. “So they had to be extremely durable, and in the when used by dialysis and chemotherapy patients, very comfortable as well.” Fortress applied many of these same construction techniques to its theater seats, which it branched into in the 1990s, “however, we softened up them up considerably to look and feel more luxurious in a home setting,” says Wolper. Today, theater seating is Fortress’ main focus. The filing cabinet business has long been disbanded, and only occasionally will the company fill an order for office furnishings.
The styles and designs of the theater line run the gamut, from single rows of brightly upholstered seats, each with integrated armrests that flip up to convert the seating into one big couch, to contemporary leather seats with a hidden, motorized compartments that reveal a touchpanel (installed later) to operate a home theater system. “Whatever custom touches the client wants, we can make,” says Wolper.
Currently, Fortress offers 25 unique styles of seats and a huge assortment of upholstery. Wolper says it typically takes 10 hours to build one chair, and a typical order includes eight to 10 chairs.
Check out the slideshow for a tour of Fortress Seating.
Lisa Montgomery has been writing about home technology for 15 years, with a focus on the impact of electronics on a modern lifestyle. | <urn:uuid:5b1223ec-098d-4cd9-a17e-ad4484498af9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.electronichouse.com/article/behind_the_scenes_look_at_home_theater_seats/P7/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964828 | 586 | 1.617188 | 2 |
This month Parents magazine has made a go of it, trying to print what I’m sure in their mind is a oh-so-very-progressive article with 8 Positive Ways to Address Children’s Gender Identity Issues. Perhaps that’s what’s so disturbing about it. An attempt to bring the issue of gender identity to a mainstream public is actually laden with homophobia and transphobia. The gist of the article is that if your child is displaying gender variant behavior (like your son wearing high heels), you probably have no need to “worry.” My favorite line is from Dr. Ken Corbett at NYU (I expected better) who claims that if your daughter wants to play firefighter she probably really wants a dalmatian! What? It’s better to have a girl want a dog than be a firefighter?!! The article continually returns to the premise that most likely your child is “normal.” (ie not gay and certainly not transgender). The article’s eight suggestions on dealing with gender identity issues are all about assuaging parent’s anxiety rather than addressing the fundamental homophobia or transphobia in this country that makes parents “worried” in the first place. Wouldn’t it be great if there were an article like this that instead of telling parents that their children are just going through some developmental norm by exploring gender differences and gender play instead took the perspective of “hey, if your child does turn out to be gay or transgender that is something to be celebrated and embraced.” So go out and buy that princess dress for your son and tell him how wonderful he is and that you love him exactly as he comes! | <urn:uuid:0ab2eb7f-85ef-453d-8700-bb5e2ac319de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://queeringthemind.com/2012/01/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963191 | 354 | 2.171875 | 2 |
The RAID BIOS typically is entered after POST. You do not need to enter the computer BIOS.
However, in order for the RAID controller to activate, you do have to enable RAID mode in the computer BIOS. Since you're getting in there already, make sure that you have RAID mode enabled for your SATA devices, instead of AHCI or IDE mode (AHCI is typically the default).
After you set it to RAID, exit the BIOS, and once you reboot and the computer completes POST, before the OS loading step, you'll see a screen where it initializes the RAID controller. It will typically then display a message stating "Press Ctrl+I to enter RAID setup..." or a similar message.
Keep in mind that if you have anything on your hard disk before switching to RAID mode, you will have to back it up. Changing to RAID will require the disk to be reformatted, and for you to reinstall the operating system. This is because the OS installs with drivers that tell it how to communicate with the disk. There are separate drivers for IDE mode and RAID mode. If you change modes, it can't use the IDE drivers and will fail to load.
Unless you want to try using a backup/restore system like Acronis TrueImage's Universal Restore feature, a complete operating system reinstall is required. During the installation step you will have to point to the RAID drivers on a USB drive or CD or something, so make sure you have them handy.
NOTE Since you do have an Intel setup, it is likely that you will not have to reinstall the operating system, and that the Intel Rapid Storage Utility will let you set the RAID arrays up, even within the OS for you without losing data. Of course, there's always a risk to lost data, regardless, so make sure you have your data backed up. But this should make the process a bit more easy. | <urn:uuid:f970fb6c-08ee-45cc-938c-769e3f347d42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://superuser.com/questions/413182/unable-to-enter-raid-bios-on-x79-chipset/413187 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928845 | 390 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Cathleen M. LaCross, Dennis J. Murphy
Pennsylvania State University
Farming is filled with respiratory hazards: pesticide vapors, dusty fields, dangerous hydrogen sulfide accumulations in manure pits and pump sumps, nitrogen dioxide in conventional silos, and many others. Farmer's Lung and Organic Dust Toxicity Syndrome (ODTS) are allergic reactions to dust from moldy hay or grain and may result in costly medical treatment, permanent lung damage or death.
In many cases, a five- to twenty-five-dollar respirator could have prevented farmers from acquiring nagging, permanent lung damage caused by longterm exposure to dusts, mists, gases, and vapors. But choosing a respirator can be very confusing -- there are so many different kinds on the market today.
PINPOINT THE HAZARD
The first step to choosing a respirator is determining what kind of hazard you'll be facing (see Table 1). There are three basic categories of respiratory hazards on the farm. The first category, particulate contaminants, includes dusts, mists, and fumes. Dusts are usually the largest particles, but not all dusts can be seen with the naked eye. Mold spores, for example, are microscopic. They're released when moldy hay, silage, or grain is disturbed. Mists are suspended liquid droplets an are usually found near mixing, spraying, and cleaning operations. Fumes are solid particles of evaporated metal. They're microscopic as well and are formed during activities such as welding.
|Table 1. Required Protection for Respiratory Hazards|
|Respiratory Hazard||Required Protection|
|Pesticide dusts, mists, vapors, and gasses||A NIOSH-approved chemical cartridge respirator or gas mask with added pro-filter. For extremely high gases concentrations, where the oxygen level may be low, wear a supplied-air respirator. Refer to pesticide container label for additional requirements.|
|Mold dust, grain dust, manure dust, dust from poultry operations, road or field dust, and untreated sawdust||A NIOSH-approved mechanical filter respirator or dust/mist mask approved for use with toxic dusts.|
|Ammonia||A NIOSH-approved chemical cartridge respirator or gas mask approved for use with ammonia.|
|Hydrogen sulfide (manure gas)||Supplied-air respirator approved by NIOSH.|
|Nitrogen dioxide (silo gas)||Supplied-air respirator approved by NIOSH.|
|Welding fumes||A NIOSH-approved mechanical filter respirator approved for use with fumes.|
|Spray paint mists||A NIOSH-approved mechanical filter respirator approved for use with spray paints or organic vapor cartridge with paint prefilter on chemical cartridge respirator.|
|Carbon monoxide (gas-powered vehicle or machinery exhaust)||A NIOSH-approved gas mask or supplied-air respirator.|
|Fumigants||CAUTION: Fumigants are highly penetrating and some can penetrate the rubber and plastic parts on respirators. In addition, some are colorless and odorless and give no warning of exposure. Many respirators approved for pesticides are NOT approved for protection against fumigants. For the best protection, completely avoid fumigants and treated areas yourself and leave entry into treated areas to trained professionals.|
The second category of hazards is gases and vapors. Vapors evaporate from liquids, such as pesticides, paints, adhesives, and lacquer thinner. Gases are chemicals that are gaseous at room temperature. Examples include hydrogen sulfide, the deadly manure pit gas; nitrogen dioxide, which can be found in conventional silos; and carbon monoxide from running internal combustion engines.
The third category of hazards is oxygen-deficient atmospheres. Examples of oxygen-deficient atmospheres include manure storage's, oxygen-limiting (sealed) silos and controlled atmospheres (CA) storages for fruits and vegetables. In such structures, the oxygen content of breathable air, normally about 21 %, is reduced to levels as low as 5%. The reduction in oxygen may occur deliberately, such as with CA storages, or is displaced by other gases as in manure storage's and conventional silos.
Once you've pinpointed the hazard (or hazards), and before resorting to a respirator, try to reduce or eliminate the source of the problem. For example, maybe you could use different management practices when harvesting and storing crops to reduce dust and mold. Perhaps you need better ventilation in your barn. Can you work outdoors instead of in an enclosed building? Or maybe you could be using a non-toxic, less toxic, or less volatile pesticide. After you've tried to reduce or eliminate the hazard, if you're still at risk, use a respirator.
TWO CATEGORIES OF RESPIRATORS
There is no such thing as an all-purpose respirator. There are specific respirators for specific contaminants, so choose your respirator carefully. But no matter what kind or brand of respirator you choose, it should be approved by the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) or the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA). If the respirator or filter has a number preceded by the prefix "TC," you can be assured that it is approved.
Air-Purifying Respirators There are two categories of respirators, airpurifying and supplied air. The first, AIRPURIFYING RESPIRATORS, are equipped with filters through which the wearer breathes. IMPORTANT: These respirators do not supply oxygen. Therefore, they should not be worn in areas considered immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH), such as oxygen-deficient areas (oxygen-limiting silos, for example) or highly toxic atmospheres, like those sometimes found in manure storage pits. Air-purifying respirators are good in areas such as barn lofts with moldy hay, fields during tilling or pesticide application, or construction sites where fiberglass or wood dusts are likely to be found.
Because the wearer must pull air through the filter, all air-purifying respirators put added stress on you. For this reason, if you suffer or suspect that you suffer from respiratory problems such as asthma, lung or cardiovascular disease, check with a doctor to make sure you're able to wear one. There are several types of air-purifying respirators.
Mechanical Filter Respirators Mechanical filter respirators protect you from particulate contaminants: dusts, mists, or metal fumes. The filters are made of a fibrous material that traps particles as you inhale. These respirators are useful during operations such as haying, harvesting, tilling dusty fields, applying fertilizer and lime, grinding feed, and sweeping. Both disposable and reusable masks are available. Disposable masks are more convenient-you simply throw them away when they're saturated. Reusable masks, o the other hand, may save you money in the long run and create less waste. Usually a single respirator offers protection only against dusts and mists but a few will protect against dusts, mists and fumes.
Filters and disposable masks should be replaced when breathing becomes too labored, when the mask loses its shape and no longer seals well to your face, or if you taste or smell the substance. In general, the common dust mask found in hardware stores, often labeled as a "nuisance dust mask," is not considered a respirator and will not provide suitable protection from particulates. Nuisance dust masks are most easily distinguished by their single elastic strap. NIOSH has approved a few dust asks for use with some toxic dusts and mists, such as dry fertilizer and molds. They will not, however, provide adequate protection from pesticide dusts and mists. Approved models have two elastic straps in back for a better seal. Look for a "TC" number to be sure yours is approved. Mechanical filter respirators should not be worn in areas considered IDLH.
Chemical Cartridge Respirators Chemical cartridge respirators filter out low concentrations of toxic gases and vapors. An absorbent material such as activated charcoal absorbs contaminants from inhaled air. These masks can also be equipped with particulate filters, so if you'll be exposed to gases or vapors and dusts or mists, this is the kind of respirator you should wear. There are half-mask models and full-face models; the latter provides eye and face protection as well. The half masks are also available in disposable or reusable models.
The filtering cartridges for these respirators screw onto the front of the mask. There are specific cartridges for specific contaminants, so make sure you have the right cartridge for the hazard you're facing. For example, there are cartridges specifically made for use with pesticides; others contain different absorbents to filter out ammonia. The cartridges are changeable, so if you have a reusable mask you can use it for any gas or vapor contaminant, provided you have the right cartridge
Cartridges should be replaced after eight hours use or when "breakthrough" occurs -- that is, when you begin to smell or taste the contaminant or when dizziness or irritation occurs. Make sure the cartridge brand matches the respirator brand. Manufacturers use different threads which prevents mismatched brands (respirators and cartridges) from sealing properly. Chemical cartridge respirators should not be worn in areas considered immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH).
Gas Masks Gas masks, or chemical canister respirators, are very similar to chemical cartridge respirators except they can be used in areas where gases are extremely toxic or highly concentrated. The canisters hold more chemical sorbent than cartridges, so they have a greater filtering capacity and last longer. Canisters can be mounted on a belt, worn on the back or chest, or they can be screwed onto the mask beneath the chin. They're connected to the facepiece by an air hose.
Gas masks are only available with a full facepiece. The canister should be replaced after eight hours use or when "breakthrough" occurs. Gas masks should not be worn in areas considered IDLK.
Powered Air-Purifying Respirators (PAPRS)A PAPR is simply an air-purifying respirator with a motorized blower that forces air through the filtering device. It makes breathing easier for the wearer, so this type of respirator may be recommended by a doctor for someone with a minor respiratory or cardiovascular ailment. They tend to be cooler, too, because there is a constant stream of air over the wearer's face and head. Many PAPRs have a hard helmet and rigid visor under which the air is blown. There are also half-mask and full-face models and models with nonrigid helmets available.
PAPRs can be used for dusts, mists, gases, and vapors, provided you have the right filters. The blower is powered by a battery pack strapped onto the wearer's waist or back. Rechargeable or disposable D-cell batteries can be used -- most batteries last 6-8 hours. Or you can use a 12V or 24V DC adapter, which will run the blower from a vehicle battery. Powered air-purifying respirators should not be worn in areas considered immediately dangerous to life or health (IDLH).
Supplied-Air Respirators The other category of respirators, SUPPLIED-AIR RESPIRATORS, are the only kind to be used in areas considered IDLH. These respirators can be used in manure pits, sealed silos, or fumigated bins containing high-moisture grain. They supply the wearer with fresh, clean air from an outside source. There are two types of supplied-air respirators. The first, air line respirators, provide clean air through a hose that is connected to a stationary air pump or tank. The second, a self-contained breathing apparatus, or SCBA, has a portable air tank that is carried on the back like those worn by scuba divers and firefighters.
Supplied-air respirators are undeniably very expensive to buy and maintain, and instruction and practice are necessary to use one correctly. Farmers should understand, however, that every time they enter a sealed silo or manure pit without one, they're risking their lives. Many farmers underestimate the danger associated with such areas. Dangerous gases can build up in IDLH areas, creating a lethal, oxygen-deficient atmosphere that can kill you, literally, in seconds -- faster than anyone can attempt a rescue. Unless you are wearing a supplied-air respirator or have the atmosphere inside the area monitored for dangerous gases, you can never be sure. Don't become a statistic. Just because you successfully entered the pit the last time doesn't mean you will this time. Contact an industrial hygienist or your local fire department -- perhaps they have a supplied-air respirator you can borrow if you feel you must enter an IDLH area. The hazards of manure pits and silo gases are more fully described in the Agricultural Engineering Fact Sheets Safety-16, "Silo Gases-The Hidden Danger," and Safety-28, "Manure Storage Hazards."
TESTING AND CARING FOR YOUR RESPIRATOR
Once you have decided what kind of respirator you need, visit your local farm supply store, ag chemical supplier, hardware store, or industrial safety equipment company. Try on several brands and styles of respirators to see which is the most comfortable for you. They come in all shapes and sizes, so it's smart to try before you buy.
Also, if possible before you buy, contact an industrial hygienist to find out where you can get a fit test. If not possible before buying, be sure to do this after the purchase but realize you may not get a good fit with the one you now have. A fit test is administered by a trained person to make sure your respirator has a good seal. It should be done before wearing any new respirator and once a year in subsequent years. During the test, you will be asked to put on your respirator, adjust t, and move your head around and talk while an irritating smoke or strong odor is waved around your head. If you can't detect any irritation or odor, your mask has a good seal.
Every time you put on an air-purifying respirator, conduct a fit check. This is something you can do yourself. Place your palms over the exhale port on approved respirators, and exhale. The respirator should slightly push out from your face. Next cover the inhale ports, or filters, and inhale for 10 seconds. The respirator should suck back onto your face and maintain good suction for the entire 10 seconds. If you do not get a good seal, readjust straps or reposition the respirator and re o the check. When wearing a respirator, if at any time the seal breaks and you begin to smell or taste a contaminant or if you experience dizziness, nausea, or irritation, get out of the contaminated area and into fresh air immediately.
Periodically inspect your respirator for damage and dirt. Look for excessive dirt around the facepiece, detergent residue, missing valve covers, a cracked facepiece, breaks or tears in the headstraps, or loss of elasticity in the headstraps. NEVER attempt to repair a damaged respirator beyond replacing replaceable parts, such as filter's and headstraps. Call the manufacturer to see if they supply parts for your particular respirator. Don't try to substitute parts from other respirators that might prevent a total seal.
Glasses, gum or tobacco chewing, facial hair, or even stubble can prevent your respirator from sealing properly also. A human hair is an average of 10 microns in diameter-, contaminants can be anywhere from 0.2 to 16 microns in diameter. You should be clean-shaven if you want the utmost protection. If you wear prescription glasses, adapters are available for securing prescription lenses inside the facepiece of a full-face respirator. Don't wear contacts with respirators; in any contaminate environment contaminants can stick to contacts and cause damage to your eyes.
Clean your respirator often in warm, soapy water. (Remember to remove all cartridges and filters first!) After it is thoroughly dry, store it in a sealed plastic bag. If you leave the respirator out in the open with the cartridges and filter attached, cartridges can adsorb vapors and filters can collect dust from the air and become saturated. Duct tape may be placed over the face of the cartridge or filter to prevent further exposure to dusts or vapors in the environment.
Respirators can prevent many respiratory ailments associated with farming -- but only if you wear one! Make sure you choose the right type of respirator for the hazard or hazards you'll be facing (see Table 1). Before long, wearing it will become habit. If you maintain it and clean it regularly, the small investment a respirator costs you now might save you and your family the expense of large medical bills later in life. For more information on respiratory hazards and protection, contact county extension offices, industrial hygienists, safety and health professionals, or respiratory protection manufacturers.
This document was published in 1993 as a Pennsylvania State University Fact Sheet Safety Pennsylvania Cooperative Extension Service. For more information, contact Pennsylvania State University College of Agricultural Sciences, Agricultural Engineering Department, 246 Agricultural Engineering Building, University Park, PA 16802. Dennis J. Murphy, professor; Cathleen M. LaCross, technical writer; Agricultural Engineering Department, Cooperative Extension Service, Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA 16802.
Publication #: 36
Disclaimer and Reproduction Information: Information in NASD does not represent NIOSH policy. Information included in NASD appears by permission of the author and/or copyright holder. More
Reviewed for NASD: 04/2002 | <urn:uuid:2f8da50c-a0cd-4fbb-942b-6daa7854191c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nasdonline.org/document/1175/d001011/farm-respiratory-protection.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 | 0.918554 | 3,751 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Clinton avoids Armenian Genocide reference, plays up Armenia-Turkey, Karabakh talks
Published: Wednesday April 22, 2009
Washington - Despite strong indications that talks between Armenia and Turkey have ground to a halt, and few signs of movement in the Karabakh peace process, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on April 22 expressed optimism about both issues today.
Speaking just 48 hours before Armenian Genocide Commemoration Day in a hearing held by the House Foreign Affairs Committee, Mrs. Clinton did not refer to and was not asked about the Genocide. Like her predecessor Condoleezza Rice before her, Mrs. Clinton only alluded to the Genocide as a "shared tragic history" that needs to be addressed by Armenians and Turks.
The subject was brought up by Turkey Caucus co-chair Rep. Robert Wexler (D.-Fla.), who asked about "possible extraordinary breakthroughs" between Armenia and Turkey. Turkish officials and their Washington lobbyists have been playing up such a "breakthrough" for weeks, while simultaneously warning U.S. leaders not to refer to the Genocide, as that might prevent the would-be "breakthroughs."
Mrs. Clinton responded that she has "been very encouraged by the bold steps that have recently been taken by Turkish and Armenian leaders to reconcile their countries with each other and with their shared and painful past." She did not specify the "bold steps," adding that the United States has been asked to and was supporting Armenia-Turkey "reconciliation" efforts.
[Also on April 22, the foreign ministries of Armenia and Turkey issued a joint statement announcing agreement on a "road-map" for an "on-going process" of normalizing relations. But the Turkish prime minister just three days earlier effectively ruled out the normalization of relations with Armenia in the foreseeable future, saying "Turkey will not open its border gate" before the resolution of the Karabakh conflict.]
Mr. Wexler also asked about the Karabakh conflict. In response, Mrs. Clinton said the United States has "assured the government of Azerbaijan that we will intensify our efforts to resolve the conflict over Nagorno-Karabakh and other outstanding issues between Azerbaijan and Armenia."
She promised that the United States would continue to be "deeply engaged" through the OSCE Minsk Group, adding that she hoped that "there will be some resolution in the next month."
Asked about that latter comment, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State Matt Bryza declined to comment on the secretary's stated timeframe, but said that he, along with the French and Russian envoys for Karabakh talks "welcome continuing progress in efforts with Armenia and Azerbaijan to resolve the final differences in the Basic Principles for a Nagorno Karabakh settlement."
In a comment to the Armenian Reporter, Mr. Bryza added, "The presidents of Armenia and Azerbaijan are demonstrating mutual respect for each other, as they engage in give-and-take discussions that are gaining momentum."
Also at the hearing, committee member Rep. Brad Sherman (D.-Calif.) suggested that the United States should increase aid to Armenia and either "eliminate or at least maintain parity" in military aid to Azerbaijan; the secretary of state was expected to respond to that issue in writing. | <urn:uuid:2783a37f-4e14-4c23-af41-5b4ab41c2ebd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reporter.am/index.cfm?furl=/go/article/2009-04-22-clinton-avoids-armenian-genocide-reference-plays-up-armenia-turkey-karabakh-talks&view=displaypageArticlePrint | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969109 | 662 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Mind upgrade required for human consciousness. It's really, really needed!! Because right now this is where we're stuck at. The highway to hell. http://questioneverything.typepad.com/q ... -this.html
What Does It Mean to Be Smart?
All of the above problems might have solutions if we can just invent the right technologies and apply them in time to avoid pain and suffering. We should be able to do this because we are smart apes, right?
This is precisely where the argument turns. We are smart. Smart enough to create technologies like agriculture and machinery that seem to solve certain immediate problems. We seek more certainty in our food supply so we plant and tend crops. We have to settle down in one place to do this but that, at first, seems a side benefit. We want to get places fast, and do harder work faster so we invent machine-based tools that require external sources of energy to run. We solve a problem, the problem of increasing demand for the products, by making those products more rapidly. At every turn, the smart ape has solved a problem of immediacy and done so with extraordinary results.
What this ape has also done is ignore a meta-problem. Every problem solution carries with it the seeds of another problem of greater scope. Dilworth sees the pattern clearly. It turns out that the entropy version of the Second Law of Thermodynamics explains this situation. In the process of humans inventing ways to do what is to them useful work (and solve problems) they are effectively decreasing the local entropy in their vicinity. That is, they are increasing the order (e.g. building functional structures and equipment) for themselves. But the Second Law tells us that every gain in order in a system can come only at the expense of an even greater increase in disorder (entropy) of the larger, embedding system — the environment. So even as humans increased the “value” of their human-built world, they did so at the greater expense of the environment. Order and organization on the Earth have decreased overall (think, for example, about biodiversity - a measure of organization/complexity), as the Second Law demands, but at a rate accelerated by the activities of humanity. The Earth system had been operating close to a dynamic equilibrium (Dilworth's first chapter provides insights into the meaning of this) prior to the evolution of humans. This is because the solar influx of energy had stabilized and even though the Earth was experiencing cycles (e.g. the ice ages) of ups and downs, on the whole, the biosphere was adaptively able to maintain its activities precisely because the rate of fluctuation was matched by the rate of evolutionary change in species. After humans got started, that dynamic state was forever disrupted, with greater energy dissipation and rejiggering of many of the large scale, long time geochemical cycles such as the carbon and hydrological cycles. All of this is now witnessed at a global scale. And it is very much the proximal cause of all of our other problems.
So here is the crux of the matter. We are smart enough to have created this situation by virtue of our capacity to increase the rate of entropy increase for the whole Earth system. But we are not smart enough to fix it. That is because of a simple fact. Smartness is for invention and solving local problems. Intelligence and creativity are great for finding new ways to increase entropy. In a perverse twist, this is exactly what biological evolution was all about! And we smart humans were simply fulfilling our biological mandates. Unfortunately, from my own perspective, that also means the greatest natural check of all, a negative feedback control, whereby humans destroy the very life support systems they need to exist, will correct the situation. Any time any system gets out of control it breaks apart. Why should the human-built system be any different?
The Vicious Circle Principle
Thus we come to Dilworth's vicious circle principle (VCP). Man gets smart enough to become inventive. He invents things that allow him to survive and through increased fitness produce more offspring. But as often as not he creates something like a surplus and nature abhors both vacuums and concentrations, so man begets more men to work off the surplus. Or he invents some variation on a need fulfilling tool that produces something men might want, even though it isn't strictly speaking in support of survival. After a while, those wants being fulfilled, man gets used to having whatever it is and it effectively becomes a new need. But then population overshoot reduces the availability of the whatever and a new problem exists. So back to the drawing board, invent something else that will fulfill the new need. And around we go again. I have not done justice to Dilworth's explication here. I only wanted to give the reader a sense of the direction the author is taking. Of course you should read his work to fill in the details. And there are many more details that he covers superbly.
This VCP, according to Dilworth's thesis, is the penultimate root cause of all problems that we are experiencing. It is the process where intervention would be needed to stop and reverse the predicament. But therein lay the greatest problem of all. The VCP exists because of our human nature and nothing short of changing that is going to allow an intervention that could halt the vicious circle dynamic. | <urn:uuid:d54b9b14-106b-4da6-a0e9-4629a7005de3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.my-big-toe.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=6935 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958567 | 1,108 | 1.96875 | 2 |
ANKARA, Turkey -- A top Iraqi Kurdish official said Wednesday that Arab radicals linked to al-Qaida were experimenting with chemical weapons for terror attacks in a laboratory in a remote part of Iraqi Kurdish territory.
Barham Salih, a top leader of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan or PUK, spoke a few days after meeting with Vice President Dick Cheney and Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld in Washington to talk about possible U.S. plans for military action against Iraq.
PUK intelligence "confirms the existence of a facility experimenting with poison and chemical agents to be used in terrorist acts," Salih said in a telephone interview from Washington.
He refused to give any details of what evidence the PUK had that the chemical weapons were to be used in terror attacks.
Salih said that PUK forces were about 30 miles from the area of the laboratory, which he said was run by the radical group Ansar al-Islam, allegedly linked to al-Qaida.
The radical group is based in several villages near the Iranian border.
U.S. officials in Washington have said they have been monitoring the site, where they said chemical or biological weapons experiments were conducted on farm animals and at least one person, a man who died. But officials said Tuesday they had decided the site was not a serious enough threat to justify a military strike.
Still, Ansar al-Islam is of growing concern to the United States, the officials said. The group has sheltered al-Qaida fighters fleeing the U.S.-led war in Afghanistan, they said.
Ansar has some 500 members, about 120 of whom trained in Afghanistan, Salih said.
The group operates well outside the sphere of influence of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein. Some U.S. officials say the group also opposes Saddam's government, though others believe he tacitly or directly supports it to make trouble for his Kurdish opponents.
PUK fighters have clashed repeatedly with militants from Ansar. In July, nine PUK fighters were killed and 50 injured in a firefight with Ansar militants. Salih refused to say if the PUK was planning further military action.
The PUK has said that an assassination attempt against Salih in April in the PUK's main city of Sulaymaniyah was carried out by Ansar militants. Salih escaped unharmed. Visiting State Department officials led by Ryan Crocker, a deputy assistant secretary of state, were meeting with Kurdish officials when the attack took place and many were close enough to have heard the gunshots.
Some experts have said that Ansar al-Islam receives weapons from Iran in an attempt to pressure the PUK not to build closer ties with the United States, but Salih said there was no evidence of Iranian involvement. "The Iranians are emphatic that this group is a threat to their own security," he said.
The PUK and a rival group in the autonomous Kurdish region can mobilize some 70,000 fighters and are considered crucial to a possible U.S. attack on Iraq.
Salih said that while U.S. officials often visit the Kurdish region, there are currently no American soldiers in the PUK-controlled areas. | <urn:uuid:9901b13e-e1de-4faf-9544-9008f10121d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.semissourian.com/story/85900.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976345 | 649 | 1.679688 | 2 |
|Resource inventory | Physical resources | Marketing resources | Management and labor resources | By-product resources | Financial resources | Evaluating the resource inventory | Idea evaluation chart | Summary
Ag-Alternatives is a series of factsheets designed to help you evaluate the feasibility of a new agricultural or rural based business. Worksheets in each factsheet help you personalize the information.
Now that you and your family have identified criteria to sort good enterprise ideas from poor ones, you need to brainstorm some enterprise ideas. As you complete the resources inventory worksheets and the idea evaluation chart in this section, you will begin to identify suitable enterprise ideas. Look at the limitations and opportunities of your farm or land. What enterprise ideas would make the best use of your situation?
By the end of this section, you will have ranked six specific enterprise ideas in the order in which they fulfil your family goals and objectives. You can then pick one of the enterprise ideas to use in performing the marketing, production, profitability and financial feasibility evaluations.
You need to evaluate your resource base before settling on a specific enterprise idea. The resource inventory shows both the limitations and opportunities of your current situation. As a general rule, successful businesses take advantage of resources that are underutilized. A good inventory also helps you complete the marketing and production evaluations.
The complete farm inventory includes five worksheets: Physical Resources, Marketing Resources, Management and Labor Resources, By-Product Resources, and Financial Resources. You should also prepare a map showing the layout of buildings, fields, water resources, soil types and other resources.
If you have completed a farm inventory in the past, use it now, but don't skip this section. You will be asked to inventory resources that you might not have included on a previous farm inventory.
If this is your first resource inventory, plan on spending more than a single rainy Sunday afternoon working with it. To do a thorough job, you may have to visit a few municipal offices, test your soil, and get out a measuring tape.
Describe your physical resources in a general way in the Physical Resources inventory on Worksheet 1.
(Note: the worksheets may appear very small with newer versions of Internet Explorer. To enlarge, place the cursor over the text and then click on the screen enlargement icon that appears on the screen.) "Quality" for items such as land should include pH, general fertility and soil type. The pH and fertility can be determined by a soil test. Private testing labs can be contacted for fertility tests. Soil type can be determined from soil maps or surveys available from your municipal office. Through aerial photos or drawn maps, these documents describe the type, slope and other features of soils found on your land.
"Quality" for items such as pasture can be evaluated with the help of Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development Specialists.
Water quality can be determined by tests for minerals and bacteria. If contamination is suspected, further testing can be conducted. Well capacity can be described in a general way, although if gallons per minute can be determined, the evaluation will be stronger. Surface water quality should be evaluated for its turbidity (murkiness), dissolved oxygen content, the presence of weedy aquatic species (cattails, algae, rushes, sedges) and seasonal variation.
"Limitations" of physical resources such as land include: low or high pH (below 6.0 or above 7.2), unsuitable soil textures, dominance of weedy species, inaccessibility, and steep or rough terrain. Limitations of machinery include: extreme age, deteriorated or unsafe condition, small size, and obsolete or unusual design. Limitations of water include: poor quality, low well capacity, tendency to dry during certain times of the year or inaccessibility.
To complete the "Underutilized?" column, ask yourself whether the resource is already being used fully. If you can use a resource more completely, fill in the "Underutilized" column with a "yes", or with more detailed information about when and how the resource is underutilized.
An enterprise idea without a market is doomed. If you have a lot of time and money, you may be able to create your own market. Most people take advantage of existing markets. Worksheet 2: Market Resources is the start of your market research for the new enterprise. The following ideas will help you complete the worksheet.
For example, to learn more about meat processing facilities, contact the plants in your area. Ask slaughterhouses about the number of animals they handle, which types of animals they handle frequently and which types they handle infrequently. Ask if they perform any other services, such as sausage making, custom cuts, saving special parts (tails, heads), wrapping and pick-up or delivery. Understand the difference between provincial health inspection and federal inspection meat of processing establishments.
Other processing plants include freezing, canning, drying, milling and tanning facilities. Ask these processors whether they have a minimum acreage or volume for sellers and whether they use contracts. Some may require you to follow certain production practices.
Under "Wholesalers", include terminal markets for produce, brokers, distributors, supermarket warehouse, and marketing cooperatives. Under "Direct Markets", include farmers' markets, (where you do your own retailing), roadside stands (your own or others'), restaurants, grocers, supermarkets and other parties who may buy directly from you.
What are the possibilities for on-farm markets? Do you already operate a roadside stand? How suitable is your road frontage? Parking space? Access to pick-your-own areas? Does your municipality allow roadside stands?
To plan for direct marketing, estimate the population within a 50 kilometre radius of your own farm. This information should be available from the city or municipal planning offices in your area.
Other marketing channels may be available to you, including campgrounds, institutions, industrial plants, special export opportunities or nearby businesses. Don't forget to note special events or attractions in your area that can be used to your marketing advantage through co-operative advertising or targeting of tourism markets.
Farmers' markets can be a simple way to test market a new product on a small scale. When investigating farmers' markets in your region, find out how many days per year they are open, the range of products they offer and the number of growers involved. Also, ask if there are any rules regarding eligibility. Many farmers' markets require that your farm be in a certain district and that a certain percentage of the products offered be grown on your farm. The theme of the Alberta Farmers' Market Association is "Make It, Bake It or Grow It." Check the Alberta Agriculture website for a list of the farmers' markets in Alberta.
Management and Labor Resources
Continue with Worksheet 3: Management and Labor Resources. Include the people who make decisions and supervise people in the management section. Include all the people who do manual labor, equipment operation, bookkeeping or other defined tasks, but who don't decide which tasks need to done, in the on-farm labor section.
If a person has several roles, divide his or her hours on your copy of Worksheet 3.
When listing the skills of managers and laborers, go beyond traditional skills. If your spouse has superior cooking skills, write it down as food processing may be a possibility. If a family member teaches or lectures, note it on the worksheet. These skills are important in a service, sales or educational venture.
Labor is split into two sections on the worksheet: on-farm and potential labor pool. On-farm labor includes those people currently working on the farm who will be included in the new enterprise. The potential labor pool should include all the people in your area who are available and willing to work. Examples are local agricultural workers, migrant labor, college and high school students, or homemakers. Enter all the benefits you can provide to employees on the worksheet, such as meals, housing, produce, garden space and firewood.
Pay special attention to seasonality in tallying your labor and management resources. List when your labor crunches happen and when you have slack periods that could be put to use in the new enterprise. When you select a new enterprise it's important to find out where the labor and management needs complement your existing time commitments.
Recruiting, managing and keeping good employees is a challenge that is increasing in importance for farm managers. In many areas, farmers are finding it difficult to compete with other employers for a limited pool of available workers. Be sure you understand the availability and limitations of labor in your area, and be prepared to offer competitive wages and benefits to attract and keep the qualified employees you need.
Sometimes the most innovative and low-cost alternative is to process your own or another business's by-products so they are marketable. In many areas, composting of municipal wastes, such as leaves and grass clipping, has become a high priority. Some farmers are finding that a leaf/grass/manure compost that is bagged and tagged sells for a decent price. Woodlot by-products, such as sawdust, bark, and wood chips, may be composted or sold "as-is" for landscaping. Sometimes, all an operation needs is a better way to process its culls and seconds. Do not leave out any waste item just because it seems worthless. Fill in the information on your copy of Worksheet 4: By-product Resources.
Starting a new enterprise often requires investment for a new building, breeding stock, equipment or land. Depending on the type and stage of the enterprise the investment may be substantial. On your copy of Worksheet 5: Financial Resources list the financial resources available to start a new enterprise.
As a family, decide on the maximum amount of cash, savings, and credit you are willing to spend on the new enterprise. Set upper limits based on your tolerance for risk, so you aren't tempted to risk more than is comfortable for your family.
Evaluating the Resource Inventory
When you complete all five worksheets, you will have a good inventory of the resources available to start up a new enterprise.
Green light - Go
If you have underutilized physical or by-product resources, untapped management and labor resources, promising market opportunities and significant financial resources, you are in an excellent position to start a new enterprise.
Yellow light - Caution
If you have more limited than underutilized resources there may still be some promising opportunities. You need to be as imaginative as possible and take care to make the very best use of your limited resources.
Red light - Stop
If the inventory shows your resources are used to capacity and no financial resources are available, then you should question whether starting a new enterprise is realistic. A better strategy may be to reduce costs and improve income from your present farm business or job.
Generating new enterprise ideas
The next step is to list six new enterprises ideas. Mix and match your resources with the potential markets you list. You can probably come up with more than six ideas, but if the ideas aren't flowing, try these exercises:
Idea Evaluation Chart
- Scan the worksheets and mark in red: underutilized physical, labor, and management resources; all potential markets; and, all potential uses for by-products.
- Consider the competition. What can you do different, better, or in co-operation with established businesses. Take the inventory sheets or a summary sheet and show it to farm and non-farm friends, agriculture specialists, lenders and co-workers. Seek a rural and urban perspective.
- Talk to your current buyers. Do they have any unfulfilled demands?
- Search the fanciest grocery stores and retail gift shops in your area for new ideas.
- Search out new stores and places you wouldn't normally shop.
- Ask friends to donate one copy of each direct mail catalog they receive. Read agricultural magazines, food magazines, and trade journals. Become a regular reader of the food section of your daily paper. These are ways to find out what people are buying and why.
- Ask your farm and non-farm neighbors what kinds of services they currently use and what they would like to see available.
- Talk to other farmers, especially to those who go to meetings and conferences. Have they heard about things other farmers are doing that you could do, too?
- If you have a chance to travel, keep your eyes and ears open for new ideas that you can take back home.
- As you study market trends and your competion, you should beaware of a move toward value chains in the agri-food industry. A value chain, in it's simplest form, is away of responding to the demands of the customer. It's giving customers what they are asking for through the collaboration of agri-food producers, processors and retailers.
Pick six promising ideas and list them in the top blank row on Worksheet 6: Idea Evaluation Chart. Rate each idea on a scale of 1 to 10 for it's ability to fulfill the goals and objectives listed in the left column. Total the rating points for each enterprises at the bottom of the chart. Select an enterprise idea with a high rating for further study.
Remember, you need the right idea, not a new idea. To work well, the idea must suit your needs and your land, create a profit and pay the bills.
Alan and Pauline spent about two weeks to complete the resources inventory worksheets. They listed a five acre piece of hay land and a concrete block shed used to store bicycles and patio furniture as underutilized physical resources. Their main underutilized marketing resource is the city of Red Deer which is 56 km away. It has a trading population of about 270,000. The family also has good road frontage along a fairly well-travelled highway. Jim will provide year-round management and labor resources. High school students would be available in the summer.
Jim offered to research and develop an idea list. He had long discussions with family members. He also spoke to some former professors and classmates, a farming neighbor he felt comfortable with and an Alberta Agriculture specialist. He spent time looking through back issues of horticultural magazines and spent an entire day walking through Red Deer visiting nurseries, the downtown area and malls.
Jim presented six ideas to the family. They used Worksheet 6: Idea Evaluation Chart to rate them. Their highest-ranked enterprise was tree seedlings, which could be marketed at roadside stands or to nurseries in and around Red Deer.
A good enterprise idea combines underutilized resources and market opportunities. Underutilized resources may include physical, management and labor, by-product and financial resources.
Ideas for enterprise opportunities may come from friends and family, agricultural educators, other farmers, media, and informal research. Rank the ideas according to the way they fulfill family goals and objectives, make use of underutilized resources and satisfy or create a potential market.
The Ag-Alternatives factsheets have been adapted with permission from: Farming Alternatives - A Guide to Evaluating the Feasibility of new Farm-Based Enterprises (NRAES-32, October 1988, ISBN 0-935817-14-X). This publication was a project of the Farming Alternatives Program, Cornell University, Warren Hall, Ithaca, NY 14853 (607) 255-9832; and Natural Resource, Agriculture and Engineering Service (NRAES), Cornell University, 152 Riley-Robb Hall, Ithaca, New York (607) 255-7654.
For More Information
Personal and Family Considerations: Where do You Want to Be?( Agdex 1834-10)
Identifying Alternatives: What are the Possibilities? (Agdex 811-2) (current document)
Marketing: Will it Sell? (Agdex 848-5)
Production Requirements: Do You Have the Resources? (Agdex 811-4)
Financial Feasibility: Can You Afford to Do It? (Agdex 811-3)
Profitability: Will it Make Money? (Agdex 811-6)
Decision Making: Will You Start a New Enterprise? (Agdex 811-5)
For these factsheets and other publications, call Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development's Publications Office at 1-800-292-5697.
Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development has a series of publications, Ag-Venture Business Profiles, that provide "Industry at a Glance" information on agriculture opportunities. Request your free copy from Alberta Agriculture at 1-800-292-5697, or check the website at http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca
Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development's website at http://www.agric.gov.ab.ca
Diversification information at http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/bdv11347
To access specialists, information and services within Alberta Agriculture, Food and Rural Development, contact the Alberta Ag-Info Centre at 1-866-882-7677.
Source: Agdex 811-2. Revised April 2003. | <urn:uuid:0ab1ea74-c879-4533-a325-f43078f54f95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www1.agric.gov.ab.ca/$department/deptdocs.nsf/all/agdex1366?opendocument | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924527 | 3,568 | 2.421875 | 2 |
What happens when you try and fit the triomino pieces into these
Can you cover the camel with these pieces?
Use the clues to colour each square.
Take a rectangle of paper and fold it in half, and half again, to
make four smaller rectangles. How many different ways can you fold
How many different rhythms can you make by putting two drums on the
What is the best way to shunt these carriages so that each train
can continue its journey?
Can you put the 25 coloured tiles into the 5 x 5 square so that no
column, no row and no diagonal line have tiles of the same colour
Can you find all the different ways of lining up these Cuisenaire
Hover your mouse over the counters to see which ones will be
removed. Click to remover them. The winner is the last one to
remove a counter. How you can make sure you win?
Can you work out how to balance this equaliser? You can put more
than one weight on a hook.
10 space travellers are waiting to board their spaceships. There
are two rows of seats in the waiting room. Using the rules, where
are they all sitting? Can you find all the possible ways?
Cut four triangles from a square as shown in the picture. How many
different shapes can you make by fitting the four triangles back
A tetromino is made up of four squares joined edge to edge. Can
this tetromino, together with 15 copies of itself, be used to cover
an eight by eight chessboard?
If you split the square into these two pieces, it is possible to fit the pieces together again to make a new shape. How many new shapes can you make?
There are nine teddies in Teddy Town - three red, three blue and three yellow. There are also nine houses, three of each colour. Can you put them on the map of Teddy Town according to the rules?
Use the interactivity to help get a feel for this problem and to find out all the possible ways the balls could land.
Is it possible to place 2 counters on the 3 by 3 grid so that there
is an even number of counters in every row and every column? How
about if you have 3 counters or 4 counters or....?
You have 4 red and 5 blue counters. How many ways can they be
placed on a 3 by 3 grid so that all the rows columns and diagonals
have an even number of red counters?
Can you put the numbers from 1 to 15 on the circles so that no
consecutive numbers lie anywhere along a continuous straight line?
Can you shunt the trucks so that the Cattle truck and the Sheep
truck change places and the Engine is back on the main line?
This problem focuses on Dienes' Logiblocs. What is the same and
what is different about these pairs of shapes? Can you describe the
shapes in the picture?
Ben and his mum are planting garlic. Use the interactivity to help
you find out how many cloves of garlic they might have had.
Here are some rods that are different colours. How could I make a dark green rod using yellow and white rods?
Place the numbers 1 to 6 in the circles so that each number is the
difference between the two numbers just below it.
Place the numbers 1 to 10 in the circles so that each number is the
difference between the two numbers just below it.
How many different ways can you find to join three equilateral
triangles together? Can you convince us that you have found them
My cousin was 24 years old on Friday April 5th in 1974. On what day
of the week was she born?
The idea of this game is to add or subtract the two numbers on the
dice and cover the result on the grid, trying to get a line of
three. Are there some numbers that are good to aim for?
What is the smallest cuboid that you can put in this box so that
you cannot fit another that's the same into it?
Use the interactivity to find all the different right-angled
triangles you can make by just moving one corner of the starting
Find your way through the grid starting at 2 and following these
operations. What number do you end on?
In this town, houses are built with one room for each person. There
are some families of seven people living in the town. In how many
different ways can they build their houses?
Investigate the smallest number of moves it takes to turn these
mats upside-down if you can only turn exactly three at a time.
Swap the stars with the moons, using only knights' moves (as on a
chess board). What is the smallest number of moves possible?
What is the greatest number of counters you can place on the grid
below without four of them lying at the corners of a square?
How many different triangles can you make on a circular pegboard
that has nine pegs?
Try out the lottery that is played in a far-away land. What is the
chance of winning?
Take 5 cubes of one colour and 2 of another colour. How many
different ways can you join them if the 5 must touch the table and
the 2 must not touch the table?
How many different ways can you find of fitting five hexagons
together? How will you know you have found all the ways?
How many DIFFERENT quadrilaterals can be made by joining the dots
on the 8-point circle?
Building up a simple Celtic knot. Try the interactivity or download
the cards or have a go on squared paper.
Can you put the numbers 1 to 8 into the circles so that the four
calculations are correct?
Kate has eight multilink cubes. She has two red ones, two yellow, two green and two blue.
She wants to fit them together to make a cube so that each colour shows on each face just once.
Let's say you can only use two different lengths - 2 units and 4
units. Using just these 2 lengths as the edges how many different
cuboids can you make?
Only one side of a two-slice toaster is working. What is the
quickest way to toast both sides of three slices of bread?
On a digital 24 hour clock, at certain times, all the digits are
consecutive. How many times like this are there between midnight
and 7 a.m.?
Arrange 9 red cubes, 9 blue cubes and 9 yellow cubes into a large 3 by 3 cube. No row or column of cubes must contain two cubes of the same colour.
How many different triangles can you draw on the dotty grid which each have one dot in the middle?
How many ways can you find to do up all four buttons on my coat?
How about if I had five buttons? Six ...?
A game for 2 people. Take turns placing a counter on the star. You
win when you have completed a line of 3 in your colour. | <urn:uuid:cd04bd42-6977-4389-8f01-62eb8547215c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nrich.maths.org/public/leg.php?code=-99&cl=1&cldcmpid=6071 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945666 | 1,491 | 2.375 | 2 |
FY 09/10 Quarter 1 - Demographics
CHOICES predominantly services the Adult population.
There is usually a fairly even split between the number of male and female consumers in the program. There are currently two transgender individuals enrolled in the CHOICES program.
While the population is mainly composed of the Caucasian population, CHOICES posses the ability to service many different ethnicities and to cater to their individual needs, including but not limited to the Spanish speaking community, as well as the Vietnamese speaking community. In addition, we continue to practice culturally competent services by engaging and learning from consumers themselves, as well as attending related trainings and continuing education.
The Personal Service Coordinators work in collaboration with the Housing Specialist to find appropriate housing situations for the consumers. We strive to assist consumers with obtaining the best housing situation possible in accordance with their stage of recovery and need. Ideally, the staff work with consumers to reduce emergency housing such as motels and to place them in more stable housing and/or provide options that will eventually lead to independent housing such as room and boards, sober livings or their own apartments when ready. The staff attempt to provide as many options as possible and encourage choice and self-determination when placing consumers in housing. The "Other" category in the graph represents consumers who were incarcerated in hospitals, homeless, or whose whereabouts were unknown.
Of the three consumers who spent time incarcerated, none of them experienced more than one episode in jail. Of the five consumers who spent time in a psychiatric hospital, only one experienced a repeat episode.
CHOICES employs a Vocational Specialist who works in collaboration with the Personal Service Coordinators to assist consumers who wish to advance their education level. The Vocational Specialist assists the consumers in researching schools or other educational programs, based on the consumer's needs and goals. The team seeks to provide as much assistance as necessary for the consumer to return to their desired form of education as they believe it would improve their quality of life. Many of the consumers have no formal education past high school when entering CHOICES.
The Vocational Specialist works in collaboration with the Personal Service Coordinators to provide assistance for the participants in acquiring employment. This assistance comes in the form of assisting consumers in searching for employment, applying for employment, preparing for interviews, and preparing for employment through teaching them useful job skills. CHOICES also utilizes an In-House Employment program, supervised by the Vocational Specialist. The goal of this program is to provide employment training and history for consumers who may not have worked in many years. This allows the consumers to build up current marketable skills which they can then take with them to prospective employers within their community.
Upon entering the program, consumers are scheduled an appointment with the psychiatrist. The psychiatrist completes an intake assessment with the consumer and schedules subsequent visits. After a thorough evaluation, the psychiatrist is able to give the consumer a mental health diagnosis, pending the consumer is appropriate for one. The primary graph represents the breakdown of our population based on the diagnosis given by our psychiatrist.
This graph represents the breakdown of our population into two categories. The first category is for consumers who have a mental illness (Bipolar I, Schizoaffective Disorder, Major Depressive Disorder, etc.). The second category is for those who have a dual diagnosis, which consists of a mental illness as a primary diagnosis with a secondary diagnosis of substance abuse (alcohol, methamphetamines, cocaine, etc.). | <urn:uuid:bc6b34aa-b379-4fbf-b304-08ce74915f83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ochealthinfo.com/bhs/about/pi/mhsa/fsp/children/yow/2010 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965705 | 692 | 2.296875 | 2 |
HUGUENOT -- George Washington and Benjamin Franklin were hanging out on the South Shore last week, grilling up burgers and reading the Declaration of Independence.
You heard that right.
The Huguenot branch of the New York Public Library sponsored a special two-day Red, White and Blue Patriotic Festival on its side lawn in order to commemorate the first public reading of the Declaration in New York.
"What many people don't know, is that that reading took place right here on Staten Island," said site manager Steven Horvath. "One of our information assistants, Caroline Cutroneo, was reading through one of our books and found a passage that explained how the declaration [was received] on the Island."
That rendition wasn't so patriotic, however.
According to Phillip Papas' "That Ever Loyal Island: Staten Island and the American Revolution," British General William Howe was drinking with fellow soldiers and other loyalists at the Rose and Crown Tavern, formerly located at the corner of Richmond Road and New Dorp Lane.
Picking up a copy of the Declaration that had appeared in that day's newspaper on July 8, 1776, Gen. Howe had a subordinate read the manifesto to all present.
"Those are certainly determined men," he said after the conclusion, according to Papas.
The rest, as they say, is history.
In the spirit of the occasion, branch information assistant Mo Beciri of Huguenot and clerk Steve Herman of Great Kills suited up as the Gen. Washington and Mr. Franklin, respectively, much to the delight of the youngsters in attendance.
"They have really cool costumes," said Shannon Richardson, a 9-year-old from Prince's Bay. She had been locked into a discussion with friends over whether or not the branch employees were, in fact, the historical figures they were portraying.
Ms. Richardson was also first in line, along with Huguenot resident Patricia Torricelli, to read portions of the Declaration, while Beciri and Herman handed out copies of the text, miniature flags and other give-aways to the 40-or-so attentive youngsters in attendance.
Afterwards, the costumed duo and Horvath sliced up pieces of King Kullen-donated birthday cake, decorated with patriotic-colored frosting, while staffers Michael Tavani of Eltingville and Diane Campione of Huguenot handed out the remaining barbecued goodies.
The event wasn't just a library one, though. It was a community affair.
Holtermann's Bakery donated a crumb cake, Huguenot Pharmacy gave balloons, the Hungerford School baked for a fundraising bake sale, Costco provided a gift card and Rossville residents John and Liz O'Connor lent the gas grill.
"The library here is really becoming a place for the community, especially families, to come and really enjoy the experience," said Horvath. | <urn:uuid:dfd34673-e1d2-4a93-a873-fed95b743d8d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.silive.com/southshore/index.ssf/2009/07/a_reading_in_the_spirit_of_the.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966464 | 603 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Algeria (English i/ælˈdʒɪəriə/ Arabic: الجزائر, /al-jaza-ir/, Berber: ⴷⵣⴰⵢⴻⵔ, /ed-dzayer/), officially The People's Democratic Republic of Algeria, is a country in North Africa on the Mediterranean coast. Its capital and most populous city is Algiers. Algeria is a semi presidential republic, it consists of 48 provinces and 1541 communes. With a population exceeding 37 million, it is the 34th most populated country on Earth. With an economy based on oil resources, manufacturing has suffered from what is called Dutch disease. Sonatrach, the national oil company, is the largest company in Africa. Algeria has the second largest army with the largest defense budget in Africa. Algeria had a peaceful Nuclear Program by the 1990s. | <urn:uuid:18d5a7ff-7322-443e-8cbd-13e5e2b8fdf7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fotopedia.com/albums/384b6f11-5433-492f-b583-b602e44c0e7a/entries/-b-i_O8DEqc | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932647 | 197 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Not happy with the fluorescent glow emanating from the bank of lights over your cubicle?
RTI International says it may have a solution. The Research Triangle Park think tank announced Monday that it has developed new lighting based on nanoscale technologies that produce purer light and do so more efficiently than the common incandescent bulb.
RTI's technology was funded with a $1.5 million grant from the Department of Energy's Solid-State Lighting Program. RTI and other investors contributed another $300,000 to the program.
RTI is pursuing commercialization of the product and hopes it will occur within three to five years. | <urn:uuid:44c9d999-6a5b-40d5-80db-88edcb86ae67> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/02/09/328668/rti-says-its-new-lighting-is-better.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955808 | 129 | 2 | 2 |
Big Data In Space and Around The World
Big Data brings us back in time and into the future with the world's largest radio telescope.
July 09 , 2012
Before the stars lit up the sky, there was nothing but gas and dark energy. Since the beginning of time, the composition of the early universe has been a great mystery. However, thanks to big data and the governments of Australia, New Zealand, and South Africa, astronomers will be able to see back in time before the first galaxies came into existence. This will all be made possible through the mammoth, global science and engineering project, the Square Kilometer Array (SKA), the world's largest and most sensitive radio telescope.
With a radio collecting area of one million square meters, the SKA is designed to investigate magnetic fields in space and search for gravitational waves that warp space and time. Beyond initial discoveries, the telescope's creators are pondering the possibility of the instrument detecting life beyond Earth.
"One thing that astronomers expect of a telescope with the capabilities of the SKA is that it will discover things that they hadn't even thought of and couldn't have predicted," said Jo Bowler, SKA Interim Outreach Officer.
However, there are predetermined factors that the SKA creators have thought of with regard to the challenges that will come with handling the vast quantities of data produced by the telescope. The project is going to require high performance supercomputers with processing power equivalent to that of approximately 100 million PCs. While the task is tremendous, Bowler says the breakthroughs and benefits that may surface as a result of running such large-scale supercomputers will be well worth the grind. Because supercomputers are power hungry, reducing power consumption while maintaining processing power is an area that will be addressed, as well as keeping the systems cool.
"Computers and cooling systems, and any other electrical equipment, produce radio frequency interference (RFI) which interferes with the very faint radio signals that the SKA will receive from space," said Bowler. "Shielding all RFI producing equipment is another important challenge for the SKA. We need to ensure that the information that the telescope receives from outer space is not swamped with radio noise produced closer to home."
Beyond radio astronomy, how can world's largest radio telescope advance social and technical areas in the tech industry?
In addition to computation discoveries, the SKA project has potential to inspire the next generation of scientists and engineers. Intended to live for 50 plus years, the telescope has been designed to expand our knowledge of the universe, as well as push forward high tech development for social impact. Bowler says spin-off applications including low-power supercomputing, rapid facial recognition analysis, and market monitoring may all come to fruition after the SKA is put to use.
But in the meantime, there are five scientific drivers for the SKA. They are:
- Cradle of life – this project will explore whether there are Earth-like planets around other stars, and whether they host intelligent life, thus helping to answer the eternal question of whether there is life elsewhere in the universe;
- Probing the Dark Ages – this will explore the first black holes and stars, and help to answer the question of what happened after the big bang and before the first stars and galaxies formed;
- The origin and evolution of cosmic magnetism - this will explore how magnetism affects the formation of stars and galaxies, and what maintains the present-day magnetic fields of galaxies, stars and planets;
- Strong field tests of gravity using pulsars and black holes - this will help to test whether Einstein's theory of general relativity is the last word on gravity, for example, whether its predictions for black holes are correct, and whether the cosmos is filled with a gravitational wave background;
- Galaxy evolution, cosmology, and dark matter - this will explore how galaxies are born and how they evolve, and seek a better understanding of the "dark energy" that fills the majority of the universe.
Phase one of the SKA's full science operations are expected to be completed by 2020, and phase two should be finished by 2024.
The contents or opinions in this feature are independent and do not necessarily represent the views of Cisco. They are offered in an effort to encourage continuing conversations on a broad range of innovative technology subjects. We welcome your comments and engagement.
We welcome the re-use, republication, and distribution of "The Network" content. Please credit us with the following information: Used with the permission of http://thenetwork.cisco.com/.
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Senior Executives Say Cloud-Based Collaboration Leads to Higher Business Performance | <urn:uuid:0c8b0543-f48f-49e2-9eba-2b3d191599c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newsroom.cisco.com/feature/928783/authorbio-detail?articleId=996343 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93102 | 997 | 3.6875 | 4 |
The Homeowners' Defense Act of 2007 (H.R.3355) was a bill in the 110th Congress "to ensure the availability and affordability of homeowners' insurance coverage for catastrophic events.” (Official title)
Establishes the National Catastrophe Risk Consortium to work with states to create an inventory of catastrophe risk obligations held by state reinsurance funds and issue securities linked to the catastrophe risk insured in capital markets (Secs. 101, 102).
States that the Consortium will be a nonprofit entity and that its earnings will not benefit any members, founders, contributors, or individuals with the Consortium (Sec. 104).
Authorizes $20.00 million to be appropriated each year from fiscal year 2008 through fiscal year 2013 to fund the Consortium (Sec. 108).
Allows the Secretary of the Treasury to create a program to make liquidity loans and catastrophic loans to qualified reinsurance programs to ensure the programs' solvency and improve the availability and affordability of homeowners' insurance (Sec. 201).
Requires that a catastrophic loan can only be issued to a state if the insured losses with a qualified reinsurance program are more than 150 percent of the amount of direct premiums for property and casualty insurance for risks located in that state over the preceding calendar year, and sets the loan's interest rate at .20 percentage points higher than other loans issued by the Department of Treasury with maturity terms of less than 10 years (Sec. 202).
Allows the Secretary of the Treasury to make contracts for reinsurance coverage available for purchase by qualified reinsurance programs (Sec. 301).
Limits the total potential liability for payment of claims under contracts made by the Secretary of the Treasury to $200.00 billion a year (Sec. 304).
Establishes the Federal Natural Catastrophe Reinsurance Fund to cover contract payments for losses which will be composed of amounts received from contract sales, amounts earned on Fund investments, and other amounts appropriated each year (Sec. 305).
To ensure the availability and affordability of homeowners' insurance coverage for catastrophic events.
Sponsor:Ron KleinCommittees:House Financial Services - Housing and Community Opportunity, House Financial Services - Capital Markets, Insurance and Government Sponsored Enterprises, House Financial Services, Senate Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs
Vote to pass a bill that establishes a National Catastrophic Risk Consortium to inventory catastrophic risk and a National Homeowner's Insurance Stabilization Program to provide loans to qualifying state reinsurance programs.
House Record Vote (1074)
November 08, 2007
On Passage: H R 3355 Homeowners’ Defense Act of 2007 On Passage | <urn:uuid:242c5218-9682-4e73-bc2a-394f392445b3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opencongress.org/wiki/Homeowners'_Defense_Act_of_2007 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921936 | 530 | 1.703125 | 2 |
In its quantitative form, politics is about vote counts and polling data. In its qualitiative form, politics is about the state and the relative power of the many kinds of people in it. Today’s conservative problem is the diminishing power of its most likely voters compared to the less-likely, but more numerous, liberal voters. At New York Magazine, Jonathan Chait describes the Republican Party’s “last stand” as the party of white, suburban voters in 2012, offering this summary of the Southern Strategy:
Whatever its abstract intellectual roots, conservatism has since at least the sixties drawn its political strength by appealing to heartland identity politics. In 1985, Stanley Greenberg, then a political scientist, immersed himself in Macomb County, a blue-collar Detroit suburb where whites had abandoned the Democratic Party in droves. He found that the Reagan Democrats there understood politics almost entirely in racial terms, translating any Democratic appeal to economic justice as taking their money to subsidize the black underclass. And it didn’t end with the Reagan era. Piles of recent studies have found that voters often conflate “social” and “economic” issues. What social scientists delicately call “ethnocentrism” and “racial resentment” and “ingroup solidarity” are defining attributes of conservative voting behavior, and help organize a familiar if not necessarily rational coalition of ideological interests. Doctrines like neoconservative foreign policy, supply-side economics, and climate skepticism may bear little connection to each other at the level of abstract thought. But boiled down to political sound bites and served up to the voters, they blend into an indistinguishable stew of racial, religious, cultural, and nationalistic identity. (Emphasis mine)
Culture is a human adaptation built around identity — beginning with gods, which is why Rick Santorum has earned the approval of “real” conservatives who’ve been waiting for a “real” conservative to lead them. If that sounds messianic, remember that faith-based politics rule the Republican Party.
Readers may remember a discussion last year about whether conservatism had become a cult (root of the word “culture”) or a religion (every religion being built around a cult). At the time, I posited that today’s conservatism is in fact a product brand — a cultic belief system built around a material object, such as a political party.
“We” is the foundation of any culture. There is a “we” in the conservative mind, and it is much better-defined than the “we” of the liberal mind, but the conservative “we” has been growing narrower every year even as the term “conservative” has gained in popularity. Most people who say it don’t even define it in political terms, but cultural ones.
Any culture exists to solve specific environmental and social problems. Whenever external change makes cultural adaptation necessary, the cultural belief system must either adapt or die. The Southern Strategy has always been about asserting a cultural identity to the benefit of one political party; the manifold issues absorbed into the cognitive culture have been about the party’s needs, just as conservative culture has embedded its values in the party.
Thus conservatism today is an enormous mess of rationalized cognitive dissonance and outright denial: to call one’s self “conservative” is to say you don’t believe in climate change, for example, when the historical record is littered with cultures that failed to adapt to climate change. Chait again:
(T)he psychology of decline does not always operate in a straightforward, rational way. A strategy of managing slow decay is unpleasant, and history is replete with instances of leaders who persuaded themselves of the opposite of the obvious conclusion. Rather than adjust themselves to their slowly weakening position, they chose instead to stage a decisive confrontation. If the terms of the fight grow more unfavorable with every passing year, well, all the more reason to have the fight sooner.
That “decisive confrontation” is the last stand, and it is psychologically easier than adaptation to change. Evolution requires reflection and alteration of the self, whereas fighting only requires militancy. Because America is becoming less white, the GOP prefers to fight change rather than be changed.
It is easy to oversimplify this story as being simply about race. In fact, conservative culture finds it easy to incorporate people of color who speak their language (witness the Herman Cain candidacy). Racist memes about lazy, shiftless people of color are not simply about skin tone, but culture. When self-described conservatives assert that “anyone can be a nigger” because the word means more than just race, they are (awkwardly) speaking about sublimated class tension.
And class is very much at issue these days. “We are the 99%” is a statement about the imbalance of political power between a tiny minority and the rest of us, but in the conservative mind “we” includes that tiny, wealthy slice as well as everyone who “produces” rather than “mooches.” The economic culture war is in fact the defining conflict of the conservative movement because it assumes all the other conflicts.
This language of producers and moochers comes from the novel Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand, which presents a dystopian future of civilization in collapse. Readers will recall the Glenn Beck doom bunker, which endorsed gold and seed packages as “disaster supplies.” Conservative propaganda is rife with this kind of paranoia, yet as Chait argues, the disaster that Republicans really fear is an electoral one brought by changes to the larger American culture.
A culture resisting change will often seem most successful even as it fails: Inca power over subject tribes had reached a zenith when Spaniards arrived and found the locals simmering in discontent. Chait recounts how Republicans seized power in Congress and statehouses two years ago, bet everything on a confrontation with President Obama, and stand to lose it all this year. If they do, it will be a disaster of their own making — because they saw it coming, but it was easier to fight a losing battle than admit they were the problem. | <urn:uuid:5f0a48eb-aca8-4256-8ffc-5ccbfa4a846f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osborneink.com/2012/02/the-psychology-of-conservatism-in-decline.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951676 | 1,295 | 1.890625 | 2 |
July 15, 1986 |
Truong Chinh, a party founder, a key figure in five wars and the man regarded as Vietnam's strictest ideologue, was named Monday as leader of the ruling Communist Party in Vietnam. The 79-year-old Chinh succeeds Le Duan, who died last week, as the all-powerful party secretary general.
July 9, 1985 |
The six-member Assn. of Southeast Asian Nations today urged a normalization of relations between the United States and Vietnam, saying the move is crucial in settling the Cambodian conflict. The appeal by foreign ministers of ASEAN--made up of Malaysia, Indonesia, Thailand, Brunei, Singapore and the Philippines--came a day after the group proposed indirect peace talks between Hanoi and an alliance of three major resistance groups led by former Cambodian monarch Prince Norodom Sihanouk.
November 5, 1991
Vietnamese Communist Party General Secretary Do Muoi and Premier Vo Van Kiet arrive in Beijing today on a five-day visit aimed at formal normalization of ties. China had close relations with Vietnam's Communists from 1949 until the late 1970s, when Hanoi sent troops into Cambodia and Beijing responded by launching a brief border war. Throughout the 1980s, the two sides backed opposing factions in Cambodia. Sino-Viet relations have improved in recent years.
CALIFORNIA | LOCAL
February 16, 1986 |
Vietnamese officials told Rep. Robert K. Dornan (R-Garden Grove) and a congressional delegation Saturday that some Americans may still be living in remote sections of Vietnam that are not under government control. The Americans also were told that Vietnam soon will hand over the remains of 14 U.S. soldiers who were killed during the war and will provide information on an additional 70 listed as missing in action.
January 8, 1986 |
Assistant Secretary of Defense Richard L. Armitage denied Tuesday that the U.S. government has covered up reports that Americans are still being held prisoner in Indochina. Such allegations, he told a news conference, harm official efforts to determine the fate of about 2,400 Americans still listed as missing in action in the Vietnam War. Armitage headed a U.S. delegation to Hanoi that concluded talks Tuesday with Vietnamese officials on the American MIAs.
April 20, 1993 |
An emissary from President Clinton said Monday that two days of talks with the Vietnamese government have raised new doubts about the authenticity of a report discovered in Moscow that appears to show that Hanoi lied about the number of American prisoners it held at the end of the war. John W. Vessey Jr.
November 21, 1992 |
American senators who visited two prisons and a remote mountain area on Friday found no evidence of American POWs but came away impressed by Vietnam's new spirit of cooperation. The senators also returned with an appreciation of how hard it is to track down the missing in a land of jungles, hills and tropical rice paddies, a quarter-century after they disappeared. Two of them, Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) and Sen. Hank Brown (R-Colo. | <urn:uuid:e69e9200-7f06-4bc5-a90f-57e6dbc5dea4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/keyword/hanoi/featured/4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957027 | 656 | 1.859375 | 2 |
ED on employee benefits discount rate
Aug 21, 2009
The International Accounting Standards Board has published for public comment proposals to amend the discount rate for measuring employee benefits.
IAS 19 Employee Benefits requires an entity to determine the rate used to discount employee benefits with reference to market yields on high quality corporate bonds. However, when there is no deep market in corporate bonds, an entity is required to use market yields on government bonds instead.
The global financial crisis has led to a widening of the spread between yields on corporate bonds and yields on government bonds. As a result, entities with similar employee benefit obligations may report them at very different amounts.
To address the issue expeditiously, the IASB proposes to eliminate the requirement to use yields on government bonds. Instead, entities would estimate the yield on high quality corporate bonds. If adopted, the amendments would ensure that the comparability of financial statements is maintained across jurisdictions, regardless of whether there is a deep market for high quality corporate bonds.
In view of the urgency of the issue and the limited scope of the proposals the IASB has set a shortened period for comments on the exposure draft -- comments are due by 30 September 2009. The IASB intends to permit entities to adopt the amendments that arise from this exposure draft in their December 2009 financial statements.
Click for Press Release (PDF 99k). | <urn:uuid:2cdc974a-7637-47ca-a65e-dfcb0df48b92> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iasplus.com/en/news/2009/August/news4659 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939839 | 274 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Utah is the latest Rocky Mountain state to consider this sticky question: Should it be legal for cyclists to run red lights — after, of course, they’ve slowed and looked for cars?
It’s legal in Idaho for cyclists to do exactly that at stop signs and has been since 1982. And, it was on its way in Utah as well. Until the liability problem came up.
House Bill 91 failed on a tie vote in a House committee yesterday, with those lawmakers voting against it noting the liability problem. Rep. Tim Cosgrove says in today’s Salt Lake Tribune: “All things being equal, the burden of proof is on the motor vehicle operator because they’re required to carry liability insurance. So if something happens and someone’s hurt, they’re covered. Under this, bicyclists aren’t required to carry insurance.”
The bill would have, as it puts it, allowed cyclists to “after slowing to a reasonable speed and yielding the right-of-way if required, may cautiously make a turn or proceed through the intersection without stopping;”
The idea is to make it safer for cyclists to go through an intersection, considering that dismounting and stopping can seriously cut into the speed a cyclist needs to build to keep up in traffic in a city. Studies have shown in Idaho the law has helped cut down on bicycle injuries (see this piece in the Oregonian). In fact, the year after it was passed in Idaho, injuries dropped by 14.5 percent.
Oregon considered a similar law last year but it stalled in the legislature and Montana looked a “rolling-stop” bill in 2009 (see Bill Schneider’s piece on that bill here) but just like the Utah bill, it too died in committee.
The bill’s sponsor in Utah, Rep. Carol Spackman Moss of Salt Lake City, said this about the idea:
“It really comes down to common sense, I think, the fact that this would make it legal to do what many cyclists do already, and the public would then be educated,” Moss said. “As much as they say they should behave and they’re the same as cars, they’re not. A car is not the same as a bike. That’s why we have bicycle lanes.”
But, that question, about whether a bike is a car or a bike is a bike, is where a majority of the hand-wringing comes in in these issues. Even in 1982, when Idaho was first considering its rolling-stop law, that was at the crux. (See this great blog, by Bob Mionske on bicycle law, in which he details the history of the now historic 1982 Idaho law.)
So for now, Idaho remains the only state to allow that now-called “Idaho stop” at red lights for bicycles. | <urn:uuid:22bd44dc-cb42-4f9d-889b-a31b36d7ab33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newwest.net/topic/article/utah_lawmakers_kill_bill_that_would_allow_cyclists_to_run_red_lights/C41/L41/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970011 | 608 | 2.015625 | 2 |
By Cris Carl, Networx
Geothermal heating and cooling systems are a blend of the old and the new. Blending basic earth science with systems that don’t look much different than you are accustomed to seeing, geothermal heating and cooling systems provide a wide range of benefits.
It doesn’t matter what type of building, where it is located, how old it is, or what the building is made of, geothermal heating and cooling can be installed.
An excellent example is the retrofitting of a Mason’s Lodge in Turners Falls, Mass. (Harmony Lodge). The fact that it was built in 1873 and had three previous heating systems was not even a minor deterrent for Rich Baker, owner of GeoSun Design in Amherst, Mass.
According to Mason member Nick Prokowitch, when their previous system began to fail (an oil boiler), they had a hard time finding anyone who could repair the boiler properly. “It was difficult to maintain due to the age,” said Prokowitch of the boiler, which was installed in the 1970’s. He added that besides problems with properly maintaining the boiler’s water levels, sometimes it would blow off steam into the lodge’s basement. “It was wet down there all the time and it would set off smoke alarms,” he said.
Prokowitch was given the task to find a new system for the lodge. After Prokowitch got various bids for electric, oil, and gas, he decided to go a step further and check out the possibility of a geothermal system and was sold immediately. “Realistically, oil prices aren’t going to come down. The (Mason) members were 100 percent for this system,” he said. “And everybody liked the idea of consistent heat at 72 degrees 24/7. Before, we would keep the thermostat 50 degrees if the rooms were empty,” said Prokowitch. “We would just put the heat on if someone where there.” He added that the members are “especially happy that they can now have air conditioning as well as heat.”
Baker explained that once the size and scope of a project is determined, as well as the heat load needed for each room in the building, water solution-filled pipes are placed at specific spacing just below the earth. Ground temperatures remain constant at 45 to 70 degrees F. year-round.
The water absorbs the temperature of the earth, and then runs into a heat exchanger, which gives off the heat to a gas (eco-friendly) refrigerant. The gas is brought up to temperature and goes through a compressor, which also raises the temperature. The gas goes back through a second heat exchange unit giving off heat to air which then circulates through your ducts. “It’s all math,” said Baker.
Baker said that an important part of his design process is to make sure that the pipes are placed so that the energy taken from the earth is easily replenished. If pipes are not placed correctly, the system cannot function properly (i.e. for example the land area can’t replenish the temperature quickly enough). In summer the process is reversed. The system extracts heat from the interior air and transfers it to the ground by way of the ground loop piping.
Baker said there are a lot of different systems on the market and that he uses about a dozen different company’s products. “I’m not married to any one of them. It really depends on the project,” he said. Systems can be horizontal or vertical depending on the area the system is being placed. | <urn:uuid:823391b6-f143-4941-8ece-dbb38d26c6d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wptz.com/Geothermal-heating-and-cooling/-/8870596/16934290/-/n2htn7z/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974974 | 777 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Lifestyle and Nutrition Counseling
The more you understand your body and how it functions, the better equipped you'll be at taking care of yourself to achieve optimal health. Our team of chiropractic professionals empower patients to take charge of your own health and future, educating you about your condition to decrease your need for future care. We've included the Patient Education section on our website to provide you with valuable, practical wellness information which you can incorporate into your lifestyle to improve the quality of your life. We hope you will turn to these pages whenever you have a question about health related issues and urge you to contact our practice at any time to make an appointment with one of our chiropractors.
Chiropractors believe that when your body is in a state of homeostasis, or balance, all of its varied systems function properly to repair or reverse injury or disease.
It is a holistic approach to patient care, one that focuses on a patient's total wellness, or well being, instead of specific diseases, or ailments. This intricate physiological and biochemical interrelationship among various parts of your body—including its spinal, musculoskeletal, neurological, and vascular systems—is what chiropractors dedicate themselves to exploring and treating, with special attention to nutrition, exercise, and healthy emotional and environmental relationships. When one or more of these systems is impaired, your body ceases to function normally and your resistance to disease is compromised.
Lifestyle counseling is a critical part of what chiropractic care involves—from providing advice on lifting techniques, sleep, posture, exercise, and nutrition and diet, to ergonomic work environments and sports and recreational injury prevention.
Exercise and other kinds of physical activity can go far in keeping your body strong and healthy, able to fight disease and ward off injuries from pulling, pushing, and lifting. A healthy and fit body also generally recovers faster from injury and pain. Like exercise, proper nutrition provides a wealth of benefits—both physical and emotional—that contribute to your body's strength and its ability to ward off disease and disability. A healthy diet translates into a healthy body; the proper mix of vitamins, minerals, and other nutrients are the best recipe for ensuring your skeletal, muscular, nervous, and circulatory systems function smoothly. | <urn:uuid:3bcd56c4-3d85-425e-bfbf-ec6edd1292c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.portjeffersonchiropractic.com/library/3930/LifestyleandNutritionCounseling.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933239 | 460 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Jim Guldin, research ecologist with the FS Southern Research Station (SRS) and project leader of the SRS Upland Forest Ecosystems unit in Monticello, AR, recently announced the results of a pilot study started this summer to quantify the extent of the outbreak. Designed to provide more information about the distribution of the insect, the plot-based study is funded by the Forest Service, with the research conducted by scientists from SRS, the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville, and other agencies.
The red oak borer, an inch-long beetle native to forests in the eastern United States, causes most of its damage while in the larval stage of a two-year life cycle. The larva burrows through the bark of the oak, carving out galleries in the cambium and the heartwood of the tree. The adults emerge from the oval holes they chew in the bark in odd-numbered years. The red oak borer is usually an insignificant pest that oaks can easily fend off, but since 1999, when unusual levels of infestation were found by the Forest Service near Clarksville, AR, the density of red oak borer populations has steadily increased.
"What we found in our preliminary results confirms an explosion of oak borer infestations," said Guldin. "Outbreaks once consisted of five to 10 borers a tree: now we are seeing 1500 a tree. At this level of attack, the insects literally girdle the tree: tens of thousands of trees have died so far."
During the summer of 2002, researchers installed a pilot study on 44 plots, primarily on National Forest land in Arkansas and Oklahoma."Traditional plots established by the Forest Service for forest health monitoring cannot capture the extent of the problem because the plots are too dispersed and not visi
Contact: Jim Guldin
870-367-3464 x 13
Southern Research Station - USDA Forest Service | <urn:uuid:8f932a52-2330-4768-8caa-13f1799d4924> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bio-medicine.org/biology-news-2/Outbreak-of-native-oak-borers-threatens-Ozark-forests-6235-1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939011 | 394 | 3 | 3 |
Every year, my school district releases a list of school supplies that children need for each grade. According to my friend the fourth-grade teacher, the total cost of that list is not supposed to exceed $50.
Apparently I am shopping at the wrong stores, because I have yet to purchase said supplies for less than $150. And that’s not even counting the band fees.
Here are a few ways to save a few bucks as you get the kids ready for the new school year:
1. Bring it with you when you’re running errands.
Get your children’s school supply lists as soon as possible, and carry the list with you so you can stock up whenever you see a deal. Buy in volume whenever you see a sale on a particular item to save.
2. Try the dollar and office supply stores first.
While you may have to make a special trip to buy a backpack or that special binder, a lot of the basics–pens, pencils, markers, rulers–can be picked up at the dollar store, at considerable savings.
According to my mommy network, office supply stores also offer great deals on many school supplies this time of year: one-cent pencils and notebook paper, and 25-cent crayons that are regularly $2.
3. Shop end-of-season sales.
In Texas, it’s warm enough to wear summer clothes well into fall. So I have finally learned to snap up discounted clothes at larger sizes during seasonal sales and store them in the guest closet until the season changes. And if you have a kid who’s growing like a weed, don’t even think about buying pants until October. If your school allows then, shorts will do just fine for a few weeks. Buy jeans too early, and you’ll find yourself facing a closetful of high-waters come November.
4. Avoid the prepackaged school supply kit.
According to another teacher friend of mine that I trust implicitly, you can save money by buying the individual items separately instead of purchasing the back-to-school supply kit that many schools offer. You’ll save yourself another potential headache, too: last year, one school in our district got shortchanged by its vendor, and dozens of parents had to go out and buy items that were missing from their kits that were supposed to include all of the essentials.
5. Swap with others.
Consider holding a children’s clothing swap with your friends and neighbors. We scored some uniforms and several almost-new pairs of athletic shoes this way in the past, which really helps when your child announces every three months, “I need new soccer shoes.”
6. Check out secondhand stores.
Plato’s Closet, Kid to Kid, and Goodwill and thrift stores carry an incredible assortment of used kid’s clothing, most of it in excellent shape. We’ve even scored designer duds like Abercrombie and Hollister t-shirts with the tags still on.
7. Use what you have.
A number of the same items appear on the school supply list every year. So before you buy another highlighter, ruler, or pencil box, check around the house and take inventory of what you already have. You might be surprised at what you find.
8. Ask for price matches.
Many office supply stores offer competitive sales on school items as fall approaches. The problem is that one store may have the best deal on construction paper, while another has a better deal on notebook paper. Don’t waste time and money driving to every store. Take the sale flyer with you and ask a manager if they’ll match the price of the items that are cheaper somewhere else.
9. Buy more underwear and socks–and fewer shirts.
Maybe it’s just our family, but it seems like someone is always stressing because we can’t find a white sock for volleyball or a long black sock for a band performance. The black hole that lives in our house eats about three pair of socks a week. So this year, I’m resisting the urge to buy more t-shirts and instead stocking up on socks. I’m hoping it makes the back-to-school routine a little easier to get into this year. | <urn:uuid:74897b54-c8cb-4f82-8939-028f3654db89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://livingwellblog.dallasnews.com/2012/08/save-on-back-to-school-stuff.html/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960574 | 904 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Continuing our reflections on Westminster Seminary’s annual conference on the topic of Christ, Kingdom, and Culture, the third lecture, titled “Christ and the State,” was given by David VanDrunen.
VanDrunen made a great point about how that we must be careful not to equate the civil kingdom with the state and thereby collapse into the state all other civil endeavors or concerns. States can be oppressive and tyrannical, he argued, and there needs to be a sufficient decentralization of power in order to guarantee some sovereignty to things like education and the arts.
One point that VanDrunen was careful to make was that the state, though a post-fall phenomenon, is nonetheless a legitimate institution and sword-wielder. Quoting Calvin, he insisted that “tyranny is better than anarchy.” (Just a quibble, but I am not convinced of how helpful this point is, since the term “anarchism,” when used today, inevitably evokes the idea of chaos while ignoring its political and economic definition, which is basically synonymous with “libertarianism” or “socialism,” properly understood.)
The issue of civil disobedience also came up. VanDrunen argues that it is never proper for a believer to seek to fight against religious persecution by means of the carnal weaponry of the state or its courts. If memory serves, he believes the same rules apply in the civil realm as well, meaning that it any form of civil disobedience to lawfully ordained magistrates is wrong, unless they compel us to disobey God’s law.
To tip my hat to the just-deceased Howard Zinn, I would respectfully disagree here. While I do think a Christian should never resist religious persecution but rather endure it as an example of Christ-like cross-bearing, I do think it’s legitimate for the believer to fight against injustices that arise for non-religious reasons (such as during the civil rights movement), as long as such resistance (1) is non-violent, and (2) doesn’t violate the Westminster Confession and invoke our spiritual liberty as a reason to resist civil oppression (I wrote about this topic here, here, and here).
OK, discuss away.... | <urn:uuid:5efd2e07-6152-474c-b430-e901f8b024b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://deregnisduobus.blogspot.com/2010/01/christ-kingdom-and-culture-part-3.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963481 | 474 | 1.882813 | 2 |
History and Method or Criticism of Religion
Religion and Philosophy in Germany (1834), quoted in Eric Metaxas, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy (2010: Thomas Nelson), p. 115.
Christianity — and that is its greatest merit — has somewhat mitigated that brutal German love of war, but it could not destroy it. Should that subduing talisman, the cross, be shattered, the frenzied madness of the ancient warriors, that insane Berserk rage of which Nordic bards have spoken and sung so often, will once more burst into flame. This talisman is fragile, and the day will come when it will collapse miserably. Then the ancient stony gods will rise from the forgotten debris and rub the dust of a thousand years from their eyes, and finally Thor with his giant hammer will jump up and smash the Gothic cathedrals. ... Thought precedes action as lightning precedes thunder. German thunder ... comes rolling somewhat slowly, but .. its crash ... will be unlike anything before in the history of the world. [W]hen you hear a crashing such as never before has been heard in the world's history, then you know that the German thunderbolt has fallen at last. At that uproar the eagles of the air will drop dead, and lions in the remotest deserts of Africa will hide in their royal dens. A play will be performed in Germany which will make the French Revolution look like an innocent idyll.
"An American Myth" in The Democracy of the Constitution: And Other Addresses and Essays (C. Scribner: 1915), pp. 208-9.
Every one who has studied history is familiar with the myths which crowd its pages. I do not mean by this the frankly mythical tales which tell of gods and goddesses, of the divine founders of nations, tribes, and families, or those in which the Middle Ages delighted and which were replete with angels and devils, with witches and sorcerers, with magic and miracles. The myths to which I refer are those which masquerade as history, which are moden as well as ancient, which make no pretence to the supernatural, but which, being either pure invention or a huge growth from some little seed of fact, possess all the characteristics of their great namesakes which have rejoiced the world for centuries, awakened almost every emotion of which the human heart is capable, and from which the historian and the man of science have been able to learn innumerable lessons as to the toughs and beliefs, the hopes and fears, of primitive man. These historical myths grow up silently. Some of them reign for centuries. Modern research has exposed many of ancient lineage and long acceptance, has torn away the mask and revealed them in their true character. Yet the historical myth rarely dies. No exposure seems able to kill it. Expelled from every book of authority, from every dictionary and encyclopedia, it will still live on among the great mass of humanity. The reason for this tenacity of life is not far to seek. The myth, or the tradition, as it is sometimes called, has necessarily a touch of the imagination, and imagination is almost always more fascinating than truth. The historical myth, indeed, would not exist at all if it did not profess to tell something which people for one reason or another, like to believe, and which appeals strongly to some emotion or passion, and so to human nature.
Reflections on the Revolution in France (J. Dodsley: 1790) pp. 11-12.
All circumstances taken together, the French revolution is the most astonishing that has hitherto happened in the world. The most wonderful things are brought about in many instances by means the most absurd and ridiculous; in the most ridiculous modes; and apparently, by the most contemptible instruments. Every thing seems out of nature in this strange chaos of levity and ferocity, and of all sorts of crimes jumbled together with all sorts of follies. In viewing this monstrous tragi-comic scene, the most opposite passions necessarily succeed, and sometimes mix with each other in the mind; alternate contempt and indignation; alternate laughter and tears; alternate scorn and horror. ¶ It cannot however be denied, that to some this strange scene appeared in quite another point of view. Into them it inspired no other sentiments than those of exultation and rapture. They saw nothing in what has been done in France, but a firm and temperate exertion of freedom; so consistent, on the whole, with morals and with piety, as to make it deserving not only of the secular applause of dashing Machiavelian politicians, but to render it a fit theme for all the devout effusions of sacred eloquence.
In The Early Life, Correspondence, and Writings of Edmund Burke, ed. Arthur Purefoy Irwin Samuels (Cambridge University Press), p. 176. Originally in the Reformer (April 7th, 1748).
The two greatest enemies of religion are infidelity and blind zeal, the former attacks it like an open enemy, and the latter like an indiscreet friend, does it more harm than good. The first gives rise to the free thinkers, the latter to our sectaries. A truly religious life has the same efficacy to the prevention of both.
How We Believe: Science, Skepticism, and the Search for God (Macmillan: 2003), pp. 71-2.
From the Crusades' numerous attempts to cleanse the Holy Land of infidels (anyone who was not a proper Christian), to the Inquisition's efforts to purge society of heretics (anyone who dissented from Christian dogma), to the Counter Reformation's push to extirpate reforming Protestants from Catholic lands, to the Holy Wars of the late twentieth century that continue to produce death rolls in the millions, all have been done in the name of God and One True Religion. However, for every one of these grand tragedies there are ten thousand acts of personal kindness and social good that go largely unreported in the history books or on the evening news. Religion, like all social institutions of such historical depth and cultural impact, cannot be reduced to an unambiguous good or evil; shades of gray complexity abound in all such societal structures, and religion should not be treated any differently than, say, political organizations. One could easily build a case that state-sponsored terrorism, revolutions, and wars make even these horrific religion sponsored catastrophes appear mild by comparison. If God is a meme, so is King and President; and if religion is a virus, politics is a full-blown epidemic replete with copy-me memes such as nationalism, jingoism, and outright racism. Yet no memeticist would propose that we do away with the state. Why? Because the state is a complex social entity with countless nuanced beneficent effects that go along with the pernicious.
"Is Religion Evil?" in God Is Great, God Is Good, eds. William Lane Craig and Chad Meister (IVP Books: 2009), pp. 128-9.
When a society rejects the idea of God, it tends to transcendentalize alternatives — such as the ideals of liberty or equality. These now become quasi-divine authorities, which none are permitted to challenge. ¶ Perhaps the most familiar example of this dates from the French Revolution, at a time when traditional notions of God were discarded as obsolete and replaced by transcendentalized human values. In 1792 Madame Rolande was brought to the guillotine to face execution on trumped-up charges. As she prepared to die, she bowed mockingly toward the statue of liberty in the Place de la Révolution and uttered the words for which she is now remembered: "Liberty, what crimes are committed in your name." Her point is simple, and I believe it to be irrefutable. All ideals — divine, transcendent, human or invented — are capable of being abused. That's just the way human nature is. And knowing this, rather than lashing out uncritically at religion, we need to work out what to do about it. The problem lies in human nature.
The Case for Civility: And Why Our Future Depends On It (HarperCollins: 2008), pp. 1-2.
It would be a safe but sad bet that someone, somewhere in the world, is killing someone else at this very moment in the name of religion or ideology. ¶ Currently, the world's newspapers give us each day our daily read of the Sunni Muslims ferociously slaughtering Shia Muslims in Baghdad, and of Shia Muslims ferociously slaughtering Sunni Muslims in revenge. Elsewhere it might be Muslims and Hindus killing each other in Kashmir, or Buddhists and Hindus in Sri Lanka, or Muslims and animists in Sudan. Earlier it would have been Protestants and Catholics in Ulster, and Muslims, Orthodox, and Catholics in the Balkans. ... But before anyone drifts off into the well-rehearsed litany of blaming it all on religion, we should remember that modern "terror" began in France in 1789 in the name of secular Reason, killing several million in its wars and committing a near genocide in the Vendée on its first outing. Nearer our own time, close to a hundred million people were slaughtered in the twentieth century by secularist ideologies — far more than the deaths from all the religious persecutions and repression in Western history combined.
The True Intellectual System of the Universe, Vol II (Gould & Newman, 1838), pp. 554-7.
Christ came not into the world to fill our heads with mere speculations, to kindle a fire of wrangling and contentious dispute amongst us, and to warm our spirits against one another with nothing but angry and peevish debates; whilst in the mean time our hearts remain all ice within towards God, and have not the least spark of true heavenly fire to melt and thaw them. Christ came not to possess our brains only with some cold opinions, that send down nothing but a freezing and benumbing influence upon our hearts. Christ was vitae magister, not scholae: and he is the best Christian, whose heart beats with the purest pulse towards heaven; not he, whose head spinneth out the finest cobwebs. ¶ He that endeavors really to mortify his lusts, and to comply with that truth in his life, which his conscience is convinced of, is nearer a Christian, though he never heard of Christ, than he, that believes all the vulgar articles of the Christian faith, and plainly denieth Christ in his life.
Morality Without God? (Oxford University Press: 2009), 192 pages.
Atheists often claim that religion fuels aggressive wars, both because it exacerbates antagonisms between opponents and also because it gives aggressors confidence by making them feel as if they have God on their side. Lots of wars certainly looks as if they are motivated by religion. Just think about conflicts in Northern Ireland, the Middle East, the Balkans, the Asian subcontinent, Indonesia, and various parts of Africa. However, none of these wars is exclusively religious. They always involve political, economic, and ethnic disputes as well. That makes it hard to specify how much role, if any, religion itself had in causing any particular war. Defenders of religion argue that religious language is misused to justify what warmongers wanted to do independently of religion. This hypothesis might seem implausible to some, but it is hard to refute, partly because we do not have enough data points, and there is so much variation among wars. In any case, the high number of apparently religious wars at least suggests that secular societies are unlikely to be more prone to murder in war.
Atheist Delusions (Yale University Press: 2009), pp. 33-34.
Hence modernity’s first great attempt to define itself: an 'age of reason' emerging from and overthrowing an 'age of faith'. Behind this definition lay a simple but thoroughly enchanting tale. Once upon a time, it went, Western humanity was the cosseted and incurious ward of Mother Church; during this, the age of faith, culture stagnated, science languished, wars of religion were routinely waged, witches were burned by inquisitors, and Western humanity labored in brutish subjugation to dogma. All was darkness. ¶ Then, in the wake of the ‘wars of religion’ that had torn Christendom apart, came the full flowing of the Enlightenment and with it the reign of reason and progress. The secular nation-state arose, reduced religion to an establishment of the state and thereby rescued Western humanity from the blood-steeped intolerance of religion. ¶ This is, as I say, a simple and enchanting tale, easily followed and utterly captivating in its explanatory tidiness; its sole defect is that it happens to be false in every identifiable detail. This tale of the birth of the modern world has largely disappeared from respectable academic literature and survives now principally at the level of folklore, 'intellectual journalism,' and vulgar legend. | <urn:uuid:84da2e03-f7b1-4604-9db6-f4447ad3bb63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://afterall.net/quotes/c146-151/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95188 | 2,697 | 2.515625 | 3 |
The EU must be prepared to play a more active role in conflict resolution issues in its neighborhood, including through participation in peacekeeping operations, a new strategic paper unveiled by the European Commission on December 4 says.
The document, under the name ‘Strengthening the European Neighbourhood Policy,’ may be significant for Georgia, which has long been calling for an increased EU role in resolving the Abkhaz and South Ossetian conflicts.
The paper, which is an upgrade of the EU’s Neighborhood Policy (ENP), was developed by External Relations Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner and offers a number of favorable conditions for the EU’s southern and eastern neighbors, including: deep trade and economic integration with the EU; substantially improved visa procedures for certain types of visitors; a strengthened regional approach in the east based on existing Black Sea co-operation; and strengthened political cooperation with more systematic association of ENP partners with EU initiatives.
Georgia has been part of the EU Neighborhood Policy (ENP) since 2004. Georgia and the EU signed an Action Plan in the frames of ENP in Brussels on November 14, 2006.
“Frozen conflicts” are not only the problems of the European Union’s neighbors, and if it cannot contribute to addressing conflicts in the region the EU will fail in one of its key purposes, the document says.
According to the paper these conflicts remind the EU that the conditions for peaceful coexistence remain to be established, “both between some of our neighbours and with other key countries.”
“They risk producing major spillovers for the EU, such as illegal immigration, unreliable energy supplies, environmental degradation and terrorism… Such conflicts can threaten the Union’s own security, whether through the risk of escalation or of an exodus of refugees, or by interrupting energy supplies or cutting trade and transport links, or through the spread of terrorism and organised crime including trafficking in human beings, drugs and arms,” the document says.
It also assumes that there is a need, in the interest of all concerned, “to engage Russia in closer cooperation in preventing conflicts and enhancing stability across Eastern Europe and the Southern Caucasus.”
“The ENP can never substitute for the regional or multilateral efforts underway to address these issues. But the EU must be prepared to play a more active role here, whether through full participation in such efforts, or indeed through case-by-case participation in civil or military monitoring or peacekeeping operations. Border-management operations also have an important part to play here,” the document reads.
“Black Sea Synergy”
A strengthened regional approach will become “an essential part” of the ENP after the Black Sea becomes an EU border following Bulgaria and Romania’s accession to the Union in January 2007, the document says.
“Enhanced cooperation in the Black Sea region – a 'Black Sea Synergy' – can also help to prepare the ground for overcoming long-standing regional conflicts,” according to the paper.
It describes the Black Sea Economic Cooperation Organization (BSEC) as “a useful platform” for EU’s dialogue with the region.
The European Commission is currently examining the possibility of establishing closer contacts with BSEC, including observer status, and will offer to establish a regular dialogue with BSEC at the Foreign Minister level, “which would help implement and develop further the Union’s Black Sea regional policy.”
The European Commission also plans to address the issue of strengthened Black Sea dialogue in a separate document in 2007.
The proposed paper will be discussed both by the EU Council and Parliament and also will become a subject of dialogue with EU partner countries. The European Commission intends to organize a high-level conference dedicated to the issue in 2007.
The ‘Strengthening the European Neighbourhood Policy,’ document is expected to become a part of EU policy during the incoming German Presidency in the first half of 2007. | <urn:uuid:0083ea60-4b0e-4752-a441-1ddf21a2c81d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=14240 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93893 | 825 | 1.976563 | 2 |
Asakiyume writes that an old friend visited her and brought along an unusual harp. Asakiyume explains that the nyckelharpa is “a Swedish musical instrument that’s both keyed and bowed.”
That sounds harder than walking and chewing gum. Even the hurdy-gurdy that I hear in the subway doesn’t look as hard as that sounds, and the hurdy-gurdy involves keying and cranking.
“It’s older than the violin,” Asakiyume says of the nyckelharpa, adding, “my friend tells me there are old tapestries and paintings showing the angels playing these nyckelharpa in heaven.”
(Readers of this blog will note that I can seldom resist tidbits about Sweden. Egypt is another favorite. Both for family reasons.)
Here is Asakiyume’s friend playing the nyckelharpa. | <urn:uuid:8a65b86e-6f38-4f80-a02f-7a33bd03b658> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://suzannesmomsblog.com/2012/07/07/swedish-harp/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940893 | 212 | 1.921875 | 2 |
LED Light Boxes - Periodic Table Element - Recycled Vintage Tin Drawers
LED Light Box - Re-purposed Vintage Metal Mini-Drawer - Periodic Table Elements - Nitrogen (N), Hydrogen (H), Zinc (Zn), Krypton (Kr), Silver (Ag), Gold (Au), Potassium (K), Ruthenium (Ru)...
Almost sold out... be quick!
These cool little periodic table light boxes are lovingly made from a set of re-purposed vintage metal drawers. They used to hold collections of small screws, nuts, bolts... shed stuff! The top face of the drawers are a 'hammered' blue colour.
- Artwork: Original illustrations by Melbourne artist Jane Crappsley View Jane's website.
- Size: Small - (H) 16.5 cm x (W) 10 cm x (D) 5.5 cm. Measurements are approximate.
- Materials: The artwork is digitally printed onto premium Australian made recyclable polymer (UV stable = won't fade).
- Light source: LEDs (warm white = very nice) with 40,000 hours + lifetime. That equates to around 27 years if you have it on 4 hours a day, 365 days a year!
- Power: 12VDC with 2.1mm jack (included - plug into any standard Australian power point)
- Warranty = With love. Anytime replacement on LEDs & power plug. Because we want you to enjoy this product forever!
- Note: This light box is made from a recycled, re-claimed, or vintage item. It has been fitted and finished by hand. The box is a unique vintage and/or recycled item with lots of character and will show natural signs of wear and use. This is a normal part of the products' uniqueness and character. We design and make our printed cells specifically for each box. All artworks are original creations by local artists who are paid a commission from every sale. Feel warm & happy your purchase is supporting them! | <urn:uuid:3a825025-f321-468a-b712-473e3a691f6d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.twolayersofcells.com/product/periodic-table-element-led-light-boxes-recycled-vintage-tin-drawers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.901082 | 425 | 1.5 | 2 |
Intelligent Technology Drives Limitless Possibilities
Intel’s innovation goes beyond the speed of our latest chip. We bring the building blocks of technology to the world. Our innovations reach industries far beyond computing. We are transforming transportation, education, energy, healthcare, and retail. We reinvent the familiar, creating new experiences and enabling fresh solutions.
Due to our ever-increasing performance and capabilities, people are connecting in new ways. Patients are reimagining what it means to see a doctor. Shoppers have new ways to find and buy the products they seek. Explorers are rethinking how they take their journeys.
We foster innovation as diverse as the world that benefits from it.
From new digital signage solutions to comprehensive virtual catalogs, Intel is creating technologies that will help consumers find the things they want, and help retailers tailor their sales messages toward their target audiences.
With new In-Vehicle Infotainment (IVI) features, as well as technology that detects and adjusts to road conditions, Intel is making the trip from A to B more productive and much safer.
Intel has trained over 10 million teachers around the world to use technology to teach critical thinking and problem-solving skills, rather than simply teaching technology. Our continued goal is to help educators give future generations the tools and skills they need to succeed.
Intel researchers throughout the world are constantly working to create technologies that will improve a range of industries, from agriculture to manufacturing, microbiology, space exploration, and beyond.
To help transform the energy sector and create a brighter future, Intel is contributing to new and efficient energy management systems, as well as new ways of harvesting alternative energy sources.
Discover more energy innovations
Diagnostic tools that send data directly to physicians. Devices that let doctors virtually see patients remotely. Pill bottles that know whether medicine was taken. These are just a few ways Intel is changing healthcare through technology.
The visionary front man for The Black Eyed Peas joins Intel as Director of Creative Innovation. This multi-year creative collaboration is already bringing an exciting new brand of creativity to our team of innovators. | <urn:uuid:dc8361c6-da12-4d1c-a844-da47a012e91a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intel.co.uk/content/www/uk/en/intel-innovation/overview.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937692 | 430 | 1.828125 | 2 |
More States Sign Safeguards Agreements and Additional Protocols
Resident Representative of Malaysia to the IAEA, Ms. Rajmah Hussein, with IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei at the signing ceremony of an Additional Protocol. (Photo Credit: J. Perez-Vargas/IAEA)
Belarus and Malaysia recently signed what is known as an additional protocol to their safeguards agreements with the IAEA, which will eventually allow for more effective and efficient nuclear inspections in their countries. They are the latest of 16 States that have signed additional protocols this year. Overall, the number of additional protocol signatories grew by 20% in 2005 reaching the 100 mark in July.
In addition, eight countries in 2005 signed safeguards agreements with the IAEA pursuant to the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
"On the whole, 2005 has been a good year in terms of States concluding comprehensive safeguards agreements and additional protocols," IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei said in the Board this week. "However, it is important that we continue and accelerate this trend." The additional protocol must become the universal standard for verifying nuclear non-proliferation commitments, Dr. ElBaradei recently reaffirmed, noting that the expanded access provided by the additional protocol "had proven its worth".
All told, 106 States have signed additional protocols as of 25 November 2005. However, additional protocols are in force with only 69 countries. Protocols are also implemented with Iran and Libya pending formal entry into force.
The Model Additional Protocol was agreed upon in 1997 to strengthen the IAEA safeguards system, based on the wake-up call caused by the discovery of Iraq´s pre-1991 nuclear weapons programme. Once in force, such protocols provide IAEA inspectors with better tools to ensure that States have no undeclared nuclear material or activities that should have been reported to the Agency. | <urn:uuid:8f4c313a-4f46-4d62-9f7b-e308c8dce134> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iaea.org/newscenter/news/2005/safeguardsrights.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954519 | 395 | 1.890625 | 2 |
The governor's plan to increase the gas tax to help replenish the state's dwindling transportation fund cleared its first hurdle Monday night as the House Ways and Means Committee passed the bill with some changes.
The governor's plan and the House committee's amended version both promise to raise about $3 billion over the next five to six years for what lawmakers agree is much-needed cash for transportation projects to help ease congestion and expand mass transit.
The difference between the two bills, however, is spelled out in when prices at the pump would go up and by how much.
The House Ways and Means Committee worked through the weekend to arrive at its version, which would raise the price at the pump 3.8 cents a gallon this July but then only factors in inflation in 2014 for an additional half-cent increase.
"It phases in more gradually so people can get used to it," said Delegate Kumar Barve, a Democrat on the committee. "My view is when you have to accomplish a big goal, you should do it in the most straight-forward and gradual way possible, and I believe that this does that."
On the other hand, the governor's plan starts off at 2 cents more per gallon this summer but then quickly accelerates to 7 more cents per gallon in 2014.
In later years, the two plans use different funding formulas of inflation, wholesale gas taxes, and potential Internet sales taxes to arrive at about the same funding destination, 11 News reporter George Lettis said.
Either way, neither bill has softened the stance of many legislators -- mostly Republicans -- who said the state should reprioritize where money is currently being spent in the budget and not charge motorists more money.
"It's a regressive tax. So, if I'm a person making minimum wage and I've got to drive to work, every time we raise (the tax) by a penny or 3 pennies, that's a tax on that person, and it makes it that much harder for them to pay their bills," said Delegate Andrew Serafini, a Republican on the Ways and Means Committee.
The full House will begin debating the Ways and Means Committee's version this week, with a full House vote expected by Friday. | <urn:uuid:cf2dc15e-2319-4456-82b2-87151e560d1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wbaltv.com/news/politics/House-committee-passes-amended-gas-tax-bill/-/9379266/19373812/-/33qnkh/-/index.html?absolute=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968982 | 454 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Setting Up ODBC for MySQL on a Mac
October 15, 2008
I just spent about an hour getting ODBC working for MySQL on Mac OS 10.5.5 and thought I'd share. I first attempted to set up a DSN using ODBC Administrator, which comes installed with Leopard in the Utilities folder. Unfortunately, ODBC Amdinsitrator is the buggiest piece of software I have ever used. After about 5 crashes, I threw it in the trash and moved onto the internet in search of an "under the hood" solution.
I wasn't sure if I had the latest MySQL ODBC drivers installed, so I went to the MySQL site to download the MySQL Connector for Mac OS X 10.4 (x86). Once the disk image was downloaded, I launched the installer and ran it without altering any of the options. (Note that even through I am running 10.5.5, the 10.4 installer worked fine.)
Once I had the drivers installed, I moved on to configuring the DSN for my database. This basically amounts to providing the following information:
- A display name for the connection
- The host address (e.g. "localhost", or "188.8.131.52")
- The name of the database on the specified host
- A valid username for the specified database
- The password for the specified user
IMHO, the easiest way to specify this information is to edit the odbc.ini file directly. On my laptop, that file is located here:
/Library/ODBC/odbc.ini Here is the syntax: [ODBC] Trace = 0 TraceAutoStop = 0 TraceFile = TraceLibrary = [ODBC Data Sources] FEC = MySQL ODBC 5.1 Driver myodbc = MySQL ODBC 5.1 Driver [FEC] Driver = /usr/local/lib/libmyodbc5.so DATABASE = customer_db PWD = m4rg0t SERVER = localhost PORT = 3306 UID = esmith [myodbc] Driver = /usr/local/lib/libmyodbc5.so SERVER = localhost PORT = 3306
Hopefully this helps someone.
After a few weeks of smooth sailing with the MySQL ODBC 5.1 Driver, I started working with a large FileMaker file (2.6GB) and began having constant crashing issues. After a day of frustration, I finally started to consider the driver itself. To test, I bought a copy of the Open Source ODBC driver from Actual Technology, and eureka! the crashing disappeared. What's more, it looks like I was too hasty dissing ODBC Administrator because it worked perfectly with the Actual Technology driver. | <urn:uuid:645d9f41-73c6-431c-89ad-6329a78d23ed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jonathanstark.com/blog/setting-up-odbc-for-mysql-on-a-mac?filename=2008/10/15/setting-up-odbc-for-mysql-on-a-mac/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912152 | 575 | 1.953125 | 2 |
UPDATE: Santa has completed his journey. He delivered 7,060,919,100 gifts this year, according to the NORAD Santa Tracker 2012. What did he bring you?
While you're sipping hot cider today, Santa Claus is busy trying to meet a tight time frame. Luckily, you can follow the fat man's journey with the NORAD Santa Tracker 2012.
The website, available by clicking here, tracks Santa during his international travels.
It relies on radar, satellites, Santa Cams and fighter jets.
The site notes, "The moment that radar indicates Santa has lifted off, we use our second detection system. Satellites positioned in geo-synchronous orbit at 22,300 miles from the Earths surface are equipped with infrared sensors, which enable them to detect heat. Amazingly, Rudolph's bright red nose gives off an infrared signature, which allows our satellites to detect Rudolph and Santa."
If online tracking isn't good enough for you, call 1-877-HI-NORAD. A NORAD staff member will tell you Santa's exact location. Operators are available from now until 3 a.m. Dec. 25.
Back to the website: You'll also see how many gifts Santa has delivered. Before 7 a.m. today in Columbus, Ga., that number had already hit nine digits.
In addition to tracking Santa, the site doubles as a geography lesson, letting users view Wikipedia entries for Santa's destinations. Earlier this morning, he seemed to have an especially productive time in New Zealand.
At 4:45 p.m. Columbus time, he was in South Africa.
It will be quite some time before Santa makes it to the U.S., so you might want to perform a few good deeds if you're not sure about your status on the "nice" list. Also, this should go without saying, but travel likely still increases Santa's appetite. Don't skimp on the milk and cookies.
Check the project's Twitter page for additional updates. | <urn:uuid:56ac2720-9d71-4010-b7a2-c57a483d0fc2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ledger-enquirer.com/2012/12/24/2322756/norad-santa-tracker-2012-official.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942884 | 415 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Teaching Beginning Writers
- Grades: PreK–K
Teaching writing to young children is a daunting task, one that takes a lot of preparation and patience. It’s important to help your students strike a balance between risk taking, confidence and pride when writing. In fact, there are a number of things you can do to foster successful writers in your classroom.
I like to start my school year by assessing the print that’s visible on the walls. I try to be “print rich” without posting too much as it can be visually distracting for students. One of the standards that I always have hanging is a large illustrated alphabet poster depicting upper and lower case letters. This poster hangs in the meeting area so it can be referred to throughout the day.
On the opposite wall is the alphabet arranged in a line. For this I used alphabet cards from our handwriting program, Handwriting Without Tears. To each letter I attached the same illustrations that are featured in the poster. While the poster is still visible from the writing area, I want to optimize the chance that my students will make use of these aides.
I provide further assistance by placing alphabet cards on the tables. I place them back-to-back in plastic stands so students need only look up to find the letters they need. These work more efficiently then alphabet strips that students need to pick up or uncover during their writing.
Another chart that often makes its way to various walls, depending on where students are working, is a name chart. It features small color photographs of students along with their names. The students are listed in alphabetical order. This chart allows easy reference for students to identify beginning sounds, as well as small words and word chunks.
In general my students use invented spelling, but as the year progresses I hang sight words under the corresponding letters of the alphabet on the alphabet line. This provides one more convenient reference for students. I stick to the top 25 and add any that seem to be popular in class. I also add “__ing” after teaching a lesson on it being a piece of a word and not a word in itself. This is often difficult for children to understand so I draw a line in front of it to remind them of the root word.
Keeping in mind I teach kindergarten, my students use blank paper for their writing. There is usually a line or fold to distinguish where the writing and drawing will take place. For the drawing they use colored pencils. I find students have a fair amount of control over them and there is no ink to bleed through the paper.
For the actual writing, I supply golf pencils. Smaller pencils like these help to promote the proper pencil grip. Cups are provided for dull pencils to be placed in. That allows me to sharpen them later and not disturb students with a noisy sharpener.
One last helpful aide is a “spaceman,” a tongue depressor that has a spaceman drawn upon it. Students place the spaceman after the word they’ve written, creating a space before they continue with the next word. These come in quite handy for children who have trouble judging the space needed or simply remembering to include a space.
With all of these tools in place, my students are able to find success as they set out on new writing adventures. And because the classroom is organized to promote writing, I’m better able to teach and meet with students on an individual basis. | <urn:uuid:e217ebe6-ae7f-41b4-8633-39ac5eb77b09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scholastic.com/teachers/lesson-plan/teaching-beginning-writers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955079 | 711 | 3.9375 | 4 |