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Giving Aid an X-Ray
As evidenced by its extremely low GDP per capita and high poverty rate, Rwanda is a poor nation. The country has hence received a substantial amount of foreign aid from a variety of sources. Though still impoverished, Rwanda has actually managed these resources quite well, somewhat recovering from a devastating civil war that only ended about 15 years ago. On the surface, Rwanda looks like a success story and a model for other underdeveloped nations to follow. If looked at closely, however, it is immediately apparent that things could be much better.
Though Rwanda has a decent infrastructure of receiving and disbursing aid, the information that the country collects varies greatly, depending on the agency receiving it. Numerous government agencies are involved in the aid process, and at least six of them receive different sets of data. Additionally, the different information is rarely shared between groups. This wild variance of facts and statistics often leads to differing plans of actions from the agencies, and the lack of transparency and commonality between the data causes confusion and frustration.
A high level of aid transparency can play a large part in alleviating these problems. If information is uniform, available, and accessible, accountability is strengthened, better data is collected, and mutual cooperation is more frequent and fruitful. While attempts to improve transparency can raise administration costs, the benefits far outweigh the costs in most cases. Regrettably, Rwanda is not the exception in regards to aid transparency; the level of openness and accessibility tends to be strikingly low across the board.
According to the recently published Pilot Aid Transparency Index, none of the 58 governments and organizations reviewed by the study received a “good” rating, while more than half received a “poor” or “very poor” grade. Fortunately, help is on the way.
The International Aid Transparency Inititative (IATI) is working to tackle this admittedly difficult issue. Launched in 2008 during the Accra High Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness, IATI aims to help organizations and governments meet transparency objectives agreed upon at the conference. The initiative is an effort to create a uniform standard on what information donors should divulge and share. While IATI has only signed on 28 donor groups, the recent US pledge to join is expected to lead to a jump in participation.
IATI works to encourage donors to disclose regular, timely, and detailed information on the volume, allocation, and results of the aid that they give. While IATI is not attempting to create its own database, it is trying to create common standards and a standardized format that will make aid information easier to understand and share between partners. The initiative also hopes that these uniform standards will help recipient countries in managing their aid finances and developing more accurate monetary predictions for the future.
A large number of other campaigns and groups are supporting IATI, and are working to expand its usefulness and scope. For example, AidData has created a searchable database of over 1 million data sets relating to aid, and also has compiled extensive set of reports and research on aid development. It has also introduced interactive maps that show precise locations of where aid is occurring; this “geocoding” is an attempt to more easily show where aid overlaps as well as to point out areas that are underrepresented. Another campaign that furthers IATI’s aims is Publish What You Fund, a global movement that tracks the progress of various donors’ aid transparency. Their goal is to keep aid donors accountable and to improve the effectiveness of information accessibility as a whole.
Though essentially still in its infancy, the potential of IATI and the benefits it can bring is already apparent. The IATI has already offered concrete recommendations to the Democratic Republic of Congo, advising the country to implement an automatic data exchange that will make cooperation more feasible and lead to better predictions for the future. Returning to the earlier-discussed Rwandan situation, the initiative started a pilot program just this month that aims to improve data collection and centralize information into one common network. By combining IATI’s common standards with the expansion of its goals by outside groups, transparency in aid is hopefully transitioning from a dream to a reality. | <urn:uuid:377474cc-85d3-4f8e-9873-2176a8d79af9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://globalprosperity.wordpress.com/2012/01/30/giving-aid-an-x-ray/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957576 | 857 | 2.90625 | 3 |
NASHVILLE, Tenn. - You may not realize it, but thieves could be to blame if you think you're paying too much for car insurance.
Insurance experts said a big percentage of your premium pays for retrieving or replacing stolen vehicles.
The older your car is, the more likely it is get stolen.
Etching the Viehicle Identification Number or VIN into the windows of your car is one way to prevent auto theft.
Allstate State Insurance Company and Metro police teamed up to help people like Tim Watson avoid being a victim.
"It could happen, and you can't be too -- you're better safe than sorry," he said.
Allstate provided the etching service while police offered advice to protect your car.
Police in East Nashville have seen a small increase in the theft of older vehicles -- cars and trucks over 10 years old.
Police believe the thieves are trying to make money by stripping it and selling the parts.
"If someone was going to steal this car and sell it by parting it the door would go for a certain price, the front door, the back door, the hood all would go for a certain price," said Metro detective Reggie Miller.
The auto theft detective said that's why etching the VIN on every window is a good idea.
Most chop shops won't buy a part stamped or etched with a VIN.
Auto theft is the top property crime in the country.
The insurance industry said it is costing us all.
"Many people are surprised to find out that $200-$300 of your policy goes to cover the cost of auto theft," said Allison Hatcher, senior communication consultant for Allstate.
Older cars are especially vulnerable because they're easier to steal.
Many of them don't have alarms, and a lot of them have manual locks.
"Plus the parts on a lot of the older cars are interchangeable, so they're familiar with that, so they'll steal older cars," Miller said.
It's something to be aware of this holiday shopping season, because it's easy to be distracted.
"We're all busy. We're shopping. We're getting ready for the holidays, but thieves are busy, too," said WOMAN.
Other ways to protect yourself -- always lock your car. Park in a well-lit area, hide your valuables and don't leave your keys in the car.
Police said half of the cars stolen in Nashville have keys left in them.
If you'd like more information about VIN etching, contact your car insurance company. Many of them provide the service free of charge. | <urn:uuid:aef7c0d8-7b1a-4803-8acc-400087948258> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newschannel5.com/story/9395954/auto-theft-is-nations-top-property-crime | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966948 | 541 | 1.710938 | 2 |
Question: What is benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and how is BPH treated?
Answer: BHP, or benign prostatic hyperplasia, is an enlargement, or an increase in the number of the glandular cells in the prostate.
The prostate has glandular cells that secrete fluid, similar to the cells that line your colon or the cells that line your breast -- which, consequentially, are also the cells that develop prostate cancer -- and stromal cells, which are sort of tissue cells that are interspaced in between the glands.
With BPH, you get an increase in number of the glandular cells and the stromal cells. And it is that increase in size of the prostate that then causes obstructive, or irritative symptoms. You can have similar symptoms with prostate cancer, but it's usually in more advanced stages.
BPH is a diffuse, overall enlargement of the gland and that's what most men have when they develop symptoms of weak stream, hesitancy, as well as irritative symptoms of urgency, frequency and nocturia. | <urn:uuid:aa78b9a5-320d-4b64-a55b-aba489225af6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnews.go.com/Health/ProstateCancerOverview/story?id=6555855 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956613 | 228 | 2.1875 | 2 |
The ciliary body of muscles and ligaments secretes aqueous humor, the fluid that feeds the
cornea, iris and lens of the eye, and removes the waste products of metabolism. This fluid
normally drains away just as fast as it is created.
If the filter covering the eye’s drain pipe, doesn’t perform properly, aqueous humor builds up between the iris and the cornea, increasing the intraocular eye pressure. As this intraocular eye pressure continues to build, the optic nerve is damaged. This damage is permanent and irreversible.
The first step of treatment is to lower the elevated intraocular eye pressure and this must be followed by surgery to open up the drainpipe. Measurement of the intraocular eye pressure is
not that straight forward as techniques used usually involve indirect methods.
During surgery, it is possible to implant a wireless MEMS pressure sensor in a protected zone of the eye and perform direct pressure measurements. Such device is currently under development at MEMSCAP under contract manufacturing services.
The goal of the artificial heart is to provide an answer to the worldwide health challenge which is the treatment of advanced heart failure.
The CARMAT patented artificial heart prototype respects the biocompatibility criteria enabling its implantation in the human body. Its features are similar to a biological heart, both on the physiological and the anatomy levels.
The system, composed from an implantable part, a portable part as well as external devices
supplying power and assuring its control and monitoring, integrates MEMSCAP sensors to automatically regulate cardiac output and frequency in function of the patient physiological needs, such as physical effort. | <urn:uuid:2cf14470-2eff-4b25-b65a-f4f19fc2384d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.memscap.com/applications-and-market-segments/medical-and-biomedical/glaucoma-pressure-monitoring | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.925773 | 340 | 3.046875 | 3 |
A huge tornado tears through the Oklahoma City suburb of Moore, killing dozens. Slideshow
Why more Sherlocks? That's elementary, my dear Watson
LOS ANGELES |
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - How many times can Sherlock Holmes be reinvented?
At least once more, judging by the latest TV incarnation of the British detective created by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle more than 120 years ago.
"Elementary," which debuts on CBS on Thursday, puts a modern twist on the classic tale by casting British actor Jonny Lee Miller as a recovering drug addict living in New York, and Lucy Liu as his rare - but far from first - female sidekick, Dr. Joan Watson.
The part-crime, part character-driven U.S. show follows hundreds of movies, TV series and books about, or inspired by, the eccentric amateur London detective with superb logical skills and his long-suffering friend.
In just the last few years, Holmes has spawned two hit movies with Robert Downey Jr. as a cheeky 19th-century action hero, and the BBC's award-winning modern day miniseries "Sherlock," starring Benedict Cumberbatch.
Holmes also inspired the character of brilliant but cantankerous diagnostician Dr. Gregory House (Hugh Laurie) in the TV medical series "House."
According to Guinness World Records, Sherlock Holmes is the most portrayed character in movie history, with his first screen appearance dating back to 1900.
"This guy has got about as identifiable a brand as you could ever ask for. Everyone knows immediately what he means, and what he stands for. It's like Superman, you could keep on remaking this for every new age," said Robert Thompson, professor of popular culture at Syracuse University.
"Many of the Sherlocks we have seen are far separated from the one Conan Doyle created. But you can still use that general skeletal framework, and then every five years or so you dress him up in a new set of clothes," Thompson told Reuters.
ADDICTED TO DRUGS AND PUZZLES
Rob Doherty, the creator of "Elementary" and a longtime fan of Conan Doyle, says he sees the fingerprints of Sherlock Holmes on almost every modern TV crime show.
Doherty's version focuses on Holmes as an addict - not just to the cocaine mentioned in the original books, but also to puzzle solving in general.
"I think in many senses, he has an addictive personality ... . The original Sherlock dabbled with cocaine, dabbled with opiates," Doherty told television journalists last month.
"Our Sherlock had those same problems but I think one of the big differences is that our Sherlock hit a serious wall," he said. "He has emerged with just a tiny kernel of self-doubt where one previously never existed."
Liu, who previously starred in the two movie versions of "Charlie's Angels," is hired to be the "sober companion" of Holmes and plays Watson as a disgraced former surgeon with her own flaws and mystery.
"She's just as unstable (as Holmes) but just not as obvious because she is trying to distract her own problems with his problems," Liu told reporters in August.
The actress is not the first woman to inhabit Watson. Margaret Colin, Debrah Farentino and Jenny O'Hara have played the Watson role in three separate TV movies since the 1970s.
"Elementary" is getting strong early reviews and popping up on lists of the best shows debuting on U.S. television in the next few weeks.
Tim Goodman with The Hollywood Reporter called it "one of the most promising dramas this fall season," while Washington Post TV critic Hank Stuever said it "exhibits enough stylish wit in its mood and look to quickly distinguish itself from the latest British 'Sherlock' series."
While strong brand identity can be an advantage, it can also work the other way.
"You already have more than a century of promotion of this name. Everyone knows you are talking about a great detective," said Thompson.
"But, as a 50-something male, when I hear Sherlock Holmes, I think of black-and-white movies and a guy in this British, crazy outfit, and it doesn't immediately make me want to go and see the new movie or the new TV show. It seems kind of fusty."
(Editing by Xavier Briand)
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- Digg this | <urn:uuid:11ca9c97-d80e-4ccd-b8ce-4b7721786632> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/09/27/entertainment-us-sherlockholmes-idUSBRE88Q0I520120927?feedType=RSS&feedName=entertainmentNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+reuters%2Fentertainment+%28News+%2F+US+%2F+Entertainment%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967518 | 924 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Oddly enough, the crime for which Tom DeLay was finally convicted last week, money laundering and conspiracy to launder money, well, that’s no longer a crime thanks to the SCOTUS ruling on Citizens United. Frank Rich on NYT:
It’s an industry that can buy politicians as easily as it does dwarfs, which is why government has tilted the playing field ever more in its direction for three decades. Now corporations of all kinds can buy more of Washington than before, thanks to the Supreme Court’s Citizens United decision and to the rise of outside “nonprofit groups” that can legally front for those who prefer to donate anonymously. The money laundering at the base of Tom DeLay’s conviction by a Texas jury last week — his circumventing of the state’s post-Gilded Age law forbidding corporate campaign contributions directly to candidates — is now easily and legally doable at the national level. | <urn:uuid:5ebc9214-ded1-4269-9614-2228be82c42f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politicalruminations.com/roberts-court/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970091 | 195 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Both Bowden and Port Morant were busy harbours during the heyday of sugar and bananas. Most of St. Thomas’ large coconut plantations and sugar estates are no longer in operation, however, the sole surviving sugar factory in the parish is the Duckenfield Sugar Factory.
The United Fruit Company once had many flourishing banana plantations in the parish, but was forced to close due to the damaging effects of the Panama Disease. The Company pulled out, and the banana stations closed. Coconut and banana trees in St. Thomas were virtually wiped out by the hurricane of 1944 and many of those left standing were finally blown down in 1951 by Hurricane Charlie.
St. Thomas remains an important agricultural parish. The Plantain Garden and Morant River valleys remain the domain of large estates where sugar and bananas are grown for export. Cocoa is a popular small farmer crop and there has been a revival of coffee production in the more elevated areas of the Blue Mountains.
Coconuts used to be grown for copra that was made into coconut oil and animal feed. Now a small but thriving industry has emerged for the bottling of coconut water for the domestic beverage market. The harvesting of the “green” coconuts for the bottling industry has come at the expense of the older copra industry.
Small-scale near-shore fishing activities continue around the coasts of the parish. The oyster project at Bowden has collapsed but the growing of artemia at the Yallahs ponds is thriving.
Today, a few large areas are used for the cultivation of coconuts, sugarcane and bananas, but small farming is now the main agricultural practice in the parish. Despite changing weather patterns and occasional periods of drought, most crops do very well.
St. Thomas has been the incubator of some interesting agricultural developments. One such is the production of oysters at Bowden. These oysters are shipped to markets in Kingston and the North Coast tourism market. Another development is the production of artemia based at Yallahs Pond. The artemia are used as fish food, saving the country valuable foreign exchange.
Yallahs River 36.9 km (22.9 miles)
Plantain Garden River 34.9 km (21.7 miles)
Morant River 25.9 km (16.1 miles)
Blue Mountain 2256 m
Yallahs Hill 730 m (2,394 feet)
A small amount of marble is currently being mined from quarries in the Bath area of St. Thomas. Jamaica marbles come in various colours – pinkish-grey, grey-green and maroon. Some 100 tons are produced here annually primarily for use in the tile industry. In terms of capacity for polish, colour patterns and richness of colour, Jamaican marble compares favourably with those on the international market.
Talc and asbestos occur in the Hornblende schists of the area surrounding Bath.
Government Forest Reserves 13,158 hectares (32, 514 acres)
Private Woodland 74,138.4 hectares (183,200 acres)
*Cow Bay Swamp | <urn:uuid:56c633d8-8fea-4466-98df-6273e91c8f44> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jis.gov.jm/ja50/v2/st-thomas/st-thomas-agriculture-industry/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948645 | 635 | 2.734375 | 3 |
MCCC, Mercer County Community College, Roger Hane
Fans of the "Mad Men" era of advertising will be delighted to see the work of the late Roger Hane, the renowned illustrator, in "Roger Hane and The Big Idea" coming to Mercer County Community College's Gallery Wednesday, Sept. 5 through Thursday, Oct. 4. The Gallery is located on the second floor of the college's Communication Building on the West Windsor campus, 1200 Old Trenton Road. All events are free and open to the public.
An opening reception and walk-through with Hane biographer Robert C. Hunsicker is set for Saturday, Sept. 15, from 12:30 - 3 p.m. He will share insights and behind-the-scenes stories about Hane's work. Hunsicker will return to The Gallery to present a slide lecture on Sept. 24 at 7 p.m. A personal friend of Hane, Hunsicker is the author of the monograph "Roger Hane: Art, Times & Tragedy," which will be available for sale.
Today Hane is best known for his surrealism-injected cover illustrations for the "Chronicles of Narnia" and Carlos Castaneda's "The Teachings of Don Juan" and "A Separate Reality." In his brief career from 1963-74, Hane published more than 300 editorial and commercial illustrations. As an artist, he was instrumental in helping to revive the use of fantasy and surrealism in American illustration, and helped usher in a period when illustration became as important as text in interpreting an idea.
While attending the Philadelphia Museum School of Art (now University of the Arts), Hane was recognized as having a totally unique visual voice and the artistic craftsmanship and drawing skills necessary to realize his ideas. Spending the last decade of his life working in New York City's illustration market, the artist's life and career ended tragically with his senseless murder over a bicycle. Just two weeks before his death, Hain he had been named Artist of the Year by the New York Artists Guild.
Open hours for the exhibit will be Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m., and Wednesday evening from 6 - 8 p.m. For further information, call the Gallery at 609-570-3589 or e-mail firstname.lastname@example.org. The website is www.mccc.edu/gallery.
Pictured: "Rock Stars" Thought to be Eric Clapton with his painted guitar and friends. Watercolor, pen and ink, ca. 1968, by Roger Hane. | <urn:uuid:8c10cbc9-e0aa-4181-966f-df93e8f78180> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://art.broadwayworld.com/article/New-Jerseys-MCCC-Gallery-Exhibit-Features-Illustrator-Roger-Hane-95-104-20120831 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961079 | 541 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Ontario to roll back air quality protections
When Premier McGuintyʼs government first introduced new air quality regulations in 2005, the province described them as “the cornerstone” of the governmentʼs efforts to protect local air quality. This week, the McGuinty government appears poised to undo many of the rules that protect Ontarians from industrial air pollution.
On Tuesday, September 8, 2009, Lake Ontario Waterkeeper filed a written objection to the Ministry of the Environmentʼs proposed rollbacks. The new regulations could exempt entire industries that cannot comply with Ontarioʼs environmental rules, replacing air quality targets with technology requirements. Compliance would be linked to the technology that is used rather than the quality of the air. The new rules could apply to industries such as forestry, foundries and metal mining.
“It is outrageous. The new systems penalizes good corporate citizens and rewards polluters,” says Mark Mattson, President and Waterkeeper with Lake Ontario Waterkeeper.
Lake Ontario Waterkeeper has voiced a number of concerns:
- The new system changes the rules for entire industries, without local consultation or scrutiny
- The systemwide rollbacks may not be able to consider the unique needs and concerns of different communities
- By focusing on the technology used rather than the quality of the air, the new rules lose focus on the ultimate goal: clean air
The Ministry of the Environment cites reducing “regulatory burden” as one of the main benefits of the rollbacks.
“Concerns that regulation has become a burden on the Ministry of the Environment are besides the point,” says Mattson. “It is a burden to live with smog days, lung disease, or asthma. It is a burden to rely on contaminated fish and water for our survival. Environmental protection is not a burden: it is a duty.” | <urn:uuid:90e98e62-c3d8-48a9-be79-a86b77197d86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/ontario-roll-back-air-quality-protections | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942956 | 401 | 2.734375 | 3 |
¶ If there arise a matter too hard for thee in judgment, between blood and blood, between plea and plea, and between stroke and stroke, being matters of controversy within thy gates: then shalt thou arise, and get thee up into the place which the LORD thy God shall choose;
according to the sentence of the law which they shall teach thee, and according to the judgment which they shall tell thee, thou shalt do: thou shalt not decline from the sentence which they shall show thee, to the right hand, nor to the left.
And the man that will do presumptuously, and will not hearken unto the priest that standeth to minister there before the LORD thy God, or unto the judge, even that man shall die: and thou shalt put away the evil from Israel.
¶ When thou art come unto the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee, and shalt possess it, and shalt dwell therein, and shalt say, I will set a king over me, like as all the nations that are about me; 1 Sam. 8.5
thou shalt in any wise set him king over thee, whom the LORD thy God shall choose: one from among thy brethren shalt thou set king over thee: thou mayest not set a stranger over thee, which is not thy brother.
But he shall not multiply horses to himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt, to the end that he should multiply horses: 1 Kgs. 10.28 · 2 Chr. 1.16 ; 9.28 forasmuch as the LORD hath said unto you, Ye shall henceforth return no more that way.
that his heart be not lifted up above his brethren, and that he turn not aside from the commandment, to the right hand, or to the left: to the end that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he, and his children, in the midst of Israel. | <urn:uuid:f8beaadd-a896-420a-8f89-0a45fa5f9b15> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bartelby.net/108/05/17.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947266 | 392 | 1.507813 | 2 |
Records of Service
The Museum holds the following indexes on the following;
- Police officers in the Essex County Constabulary from the 1880s to present day
- Police officers who served in the Colchester Borough Police and transferred to the Essex County Constabulary in 1947
- Police officers serving in Southend Borough Police 1914 - 1969
- Police War Reserves - World War II
- Women Police Auxiliaries - World War II
These indexes will provide basic details concerning an individual, such as date/place of birth, dates of service, commendations, misconducts, sickness, training, pay, reason for leaving and rank held.
Search the Essex County Constabulary database
Has one of your relatives worked in the Essex Police Constabulary? | <urn:uuid:9ec25afe-1023-41c9-8fab-039fe6311f4c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.essex.police.uk/museum/records_of_service.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932015 | 153 | 1.554688 | 2 |
When European financial commentators talk about "contagion," what they mean is the domino effect of a Greek default spreading to encompass big banks and other nations like Portugal and Ireland.
But the real contagion will be madness demonstrated by ordinary citizens who refuse to grapple with the loss of their government benefits and, more fundamentally, the realization that the free lunch is over. It is nothing less than a loss of faith in social democracy.
The Greek parliament is set to vote on a property tax increase that will make middle class living a distant memory for many. People in their thousands are demonstrating against it. Except, if the measure fails to pass, the Greek's debt holders and the IMF will not release another $11 billion increment in the bailout scheme agreed to last July. This will result in a "hard default" where those bondholders are likely to get little or nothing on what's owed them and the government won't be able to meet its payroll obligations (one in five Greeks works for the government).
"The decisions of July 21 are like an institutional Bible to us," Finance Minister Evangelos Venizelos said, underling his commitment to meet the targets of a new bailout deal agreed this summer. "They are the framework within which we move."
But ordinary Greeks are exasperated at more austerity misery. Bus drivers and metro workers launched a strike to protest against the measures on Tuesday with tax collectors and some Finance Ministry officials starting a 48-hour stoppage.
A column of garbage trucks and city workers on motorcycles drove slowly in front of parliament honking horns in the ancient capital's Syntagma Square, where about 100 people were injured in bloody clashes between protesters and police in June.
At the other end of the square, hundreds of activists waving banners saying "No New Cuts!" and chanting "Take Your Bailout and Go Away!" marched on the Finance Ministry, which was cordoned off by riot police, where Venizelos was speaking.
Having grown increasingly impatient at the slow pace of reforms, a "troika" team from the IMF, EU and European Central Bank abruptly quit Greece this month threatening to cut off funds, prompting Athens to unveil an intensified strategy.
After Venizelos held talks with officials at a weekend IMF meeting in Washington, sources close to the troika said the team would return on Wednesday and resume the work of scrutinizing Greece's fiscal books to approve the latest aid tranche.
Like the dinosaurs seeing the comet hit but not understanding its significance, the Greek people - and soon, the people of other countries from Portugal to perhaps even Italy - know they're in trouble but fail to see why, or how much their lives will change as a result of living beyond their means for decades.
Take note. Yes it can happen here - and probably will. | <urn:uuid:6705cab3-73a3-459d-90ab-71567502e2c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2011/09/madness_is_the_real_contagion_in_europe.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958921 | 572 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Statistics and facts about passenger airlines
In 2011, global air passenger traffic generated nearly 470 billion U.S. dollars worth of revenue
. According to a forecast by IATA and ICAO, sales are expected to continue rising steadily until 2013. The German airline Lufthansa achieved the world's highest turnover with regards to airline passengers
in 2011. Other airlines that enjoyed high numbers of passengers for that year include Delta, Air France-KLM and International Airlines Group.
The most profitable airlines in 2011
came from Asia. Japan Airlines, Air China and China Southern were the three leaders in the global market and Delta Airlines came in at fourth place. The net profit of Delta was 854 million U.S. dollars that year.
The airline with the highest brand value in 2011
was again the German airline Lufthansa, closely followed by Singapore Airlines and Emirates. The brand value of Emirates was estimated to be around 3.8 billion U.S. dollars.
Photo: sxc.hu / kolobsek | <urn:uuid:1370b066-ff31-4f66-a477-83beddad260a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.statista.com/topics/1151/passenger-airlines/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926801 | 215 | 2.203125 | 2 |
When is DTV Not DTV?
In explaining the move, CEA president and CEO Gary Shapiro explains that "now that DTV is a market reality and consumers have access to a broad array of digital television products, we realize that the original definitions must be extended to address the full range of new products available to consumers. Our goal is to simplify the different levels of DTV products and provide manufacturers and consumers with uniform terminology to ensure that consumers can make informed DTV purchasing decisions."
CEA states that this latest effort, part of an ongoing process that began in June 1999, follows a Video Board vote in October 1999 reaffirming the definitions for digital television products originally issued in January 1998. Last week, the Video Board says, it agreed, in a resolution unanimously adopted by its members, that NTSC-only products (scanning frequency of 15.75kHz) should not be marketed as "having any particular DTV capability or attributes," allowing consumers to distinguish between analog and digital television products. The Board also embraced a new definition for audio products compatible with DTV (DTV-audio-ready).
The Board reports that it is developing additional definitions to describe the various performance levels of DTV and the component nature of products available. For example, HDTV will now apply only to sets that can deliver 1080i to a 16:9 screen. A technical working group has been appointed to make recommendations to assist the Video Division Board in developing these definitions. The industry expects to introduce additional terminology addressing these product offerings in 2000, and as other new DTV products are introduced into the marketplace.
Shapiro concludes, "as the industry develops, it is important for manufacturers and retailers to clearly communicate to consumers the features and benefits of new products. The additional definitions under development, along with a commitment from manufacturers to clearly label NTSC-only products, will provide consumers with terminology that makes sense and allows them to make smart purchasing decisions." | <urn:uuid:8e909992-b012-40d1-bf42-d364f0db11bd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hometheater.com/content/when-dtv-not-dtv | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952199 | 392 | 1.796875 | 2 |
This Month in Physics History
November 11, 1930: Patent granted for Einstein-Szilard Refrigerator
Szilard was born in Budapest, Hungary in 1898, the son of a civil engineer, and served in the Austro-Hungarian Army during World War I. After the war, he returned to university, studying physics under Einstein and Max Planck, among others. His dissertation was in thermodynamics, and in 1929 he published a seminal paper, “On the Lessening of Entropy in a Thermodynamic System by Interference of an Intelligent Being”–part of an ongoing attempt by physicists to better understand the “Maxwell’s Demon” thought experiment first proposed by James Clerk Maxwell in the 19th century.
Szilard had a knack for invention, applying for patents for an x-ray sensitive cell and improvements to mercury vapor lamps while still a young scientist. He also filed patents for an electron microscope, as well as the linear accelerator and the cyclotron, all of which have helped revolutionize physics research. Szilard’s most important contribution to 20th century physics was the neutron chain reaction, first conceived in 1933. In 1955, he and Enrico Fermi received a joint patent on the first nuclear reactor.
Einstein wasn’t a stranger to the patent process, either, having worked as a patent clerk in Bern as a young man. He later received a patent with a German engineer named Rudolf Goldschmidt in 1934 for a working prototype of a hearing aid. A singer of Einstein’s acquaintance who suffered hearing loss provided the inspiration for the invention.
When they met, Einstein was already a world-famous physicist, thanks to his work on relativity, while Szilard was just starting out, as a graduate assistant at the University of Berlin. The impetus for the two men’s collaboration on a refrigerator occurred in 1926, when newspapers reported the tragic death of an entire family in Berlin, due to toxic gas fumes that leaked throughout the house while they slept, the result of a broken refrigerator seal. Such leaks were occurring with alarming frequency as more people replaced traditional ice boxes with modern mechanical refrigerators which relied on poisonous gases like methyl chloride, ammonia, and sulfur dioxide as refrigerants.
Einstein was deeply affected by the tragedy, and told Szilard that there must be a better design than the mechanical compressors and toxic gases used in the modern refrigerator. Together they set out to find one. They focused their attention on absorption refrigerators, in which a heat source–in that time, a natural gas flame–is used to drive the absorption process and release coolant from a chemical solution. An earlier version of this technology had been introduced in 1922 by Swiss inventors, and Szilard found a way to improve on their design, drawing on his expertise in thermodynamics. His heat source drove a combination of gases and liquids through three interconnected circuits.
One of the components they designed for their refrigerator was the Einstein-Szilard electromagnetic pump, which had no moving parts, relying instead on generating an electromagnetic field by running alternating current through coils. The field moved a liquid metal, and the metal, in turn, served as a piston and compressed a refrigerant. The rest of the process worked much like today’s conventional refrigerators.
Einstein and Szilard needed an engineer to help them design a working prototype, and they found one in Albert Korodi, who first met Szilard when both were engineering students at the Budapest Technical University, and were neighbors and good friends when both later moved to Berlin.
The German company A.E.G. agreed to develop the pump technology, and hired Korodi as a full-time engineer. But the device was noisy due to cavitation as the liquid metal passed through the pump. One contemporary researcher said it “howled like a jackal,” although Korodi claimed it sounded more like rushing water. Korodi reduced the noise significantly by varying the voltage and increasing the number of coils in the pump. Another challenge was the choice of liquid metal. Mercury wasn’t sufficiently conductive, so the pump used a potassium-sodium alloy instead, which required a special sealed system because it is so chemically reactive.
Despite filing more than 45 patent applications in six different countries, none of Einstein and Szilard’s alternative designs for refrigerators ever became a consumer product, although several were licensed, thereby providing a tidy bit of extra income for the scientists over the years. And the Einstein/Szilard pump proved useful for cooling breeder reactors. The prototypes were not energy efficient, and the Great Depression hit many potential manufacturers hard. But it was the introduction of a new non-toxic refrigerant, freon, in 1930 that spelled doom for the Einstein/Szilard refrigerator.
Interest in their designs has revived in recent years, fueled by environmental concerns over climate change and the impact of freon and other chlorofluorocarbons on the ozone layer, as well as the need to find alternative energy sources. In 2008, a team at Oxford University built a prototype as part of a project to develop more robust appliances, and a former graduate student at Georgia Tech, Andy Delano, also built a prototype of one of Einstein and Szilard’s designs. Yet another team at Cambridge University is experimenting with cooling via magnetic fields. Perhaps this invention won’t revolutionize the world, but in its own small way, it might help spare the planet–more than 70 years after Einstein and Szilard first conceived of it.
Dannen, Gene. “The Einstein-Szilard Refrigerators,” Scientific American, January 1997.
This Month in Physics History
APS News Archives
Historic Sites Initiative
Locations and details of historic physics events | <urn:uuid:ea1d872d-8e5f-474e-a175-9a1e09bc1882> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aps.org/publications/apsnews/201011/physicshistory.cfm?renderforprint=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958872 | 1,208 | 3.484375 | 3 |
The disease of Alzheimer's is the most common form of dementia. People affected by this disease will first appear to be forgetful but as the time passes it will become much more serious making it difficult for victims to understand language, recognize family members, and even remembering their own identity. Other symptoms include hallucinations, change in sleeping patterns, loss of ability to recognize danger, becoming easily agitated, and even withdrawing from social contact. After much research on Alzheimer's disease, the causes of this tragic disease that affects 1 in every 85 people still remains unknown. There are various complex hypotheses attempting to explain why so many people are affected by Alzheimer's but the only certainty is that the disease is associated with plaques and tangles in the brain. There is no cure for Alzheimer's but there is treatment in order to manage the symptoms. Treatment includes: drugs, which attempt to reduce the rate at which symptoms worsen, supplements such as vitamin B12 and vitamin E, which are said to slow down or prevent Alzheimer's if used early enough, and changing of the home environment in order to make daily activities much easier to perform. There is no proven way to prevent Alzheimer's but some suggestions to incorporate into a daily routine if your family has a history of the disease include maintaining a normal blood pressure, consuming a low-fat diet, and keeping an active social and mental lifestyle.
The Mystery of Alzheimer's Disease
TrackBack URL: http://blog.lib.umn.edu/cgi-bin/mt-tb.cgi/180563 | <urn:uuid:855af1ab-9be4-47d1-b6e4-04d8b036695a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.lib.umn.edu/hutch213/myblog/2012/03/the-mystery-of-alzheimers-disease.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961148 | 308 | 3.5 | 4 |
A repost from last Christmas – let’s think about how things once were and how much they change and may change again – and never underestimate the power of words and images.
MassMoments reminds us today that the Puritans of Massachusetts led by minister Increase Mather thought the celebration of Christmas a vulgar, pagan-like and “profane and superstitious custom.” Over those early years the custom was never totally stamped-out. In the early 19th century when the revelry – especially drinking and merry-making that some associated with Christmas – was claimed to pose a threat to public order, middle- and upper-class Americans moved to re-make Christmas as a family holiday. The appearance of the poem – “A Visit From Saint Nicholas” by Clement Moore -presented an idealized, child-center Christmas. Santa Claus became the image of Christmas.
An 1856 Massachusetts law accorded legal holiday status to Christmas, Washington’s Birthday, and July 4 th. The success of including Christmas in this measure was due to the growing number of Irish Catholics in the electorate. To this day, Christmas Day is one day when public offices, government and most business shuts down.
On this day
…in 1659, a law was passed by the General Court of Massachusetts Bay Colony requiring a five-shilling fine from anyone caught “observing any such day as Christmas or the like, either by forbearing of labor, feasting, or any other way.” Christmas Day was deemed by the Puritans to be a time of seasonal excess with no Biblical authority. The law was repealed in 1681 along with several other laws, under pressure from the government in London. It was not until 1856 that Christmas Day became a state holiday in Massachusetts. For two centuries preceding that date, the observance of Christmas — or lack thereof — represented a cultural tug of war between Puritan ideals and British tradition.
Read the full article here at MassMoments.com.
Happy Christmas to All! | <urn:uuid:e2cef442-97e8-44b2-a9b3-e74a901fae6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.richardhowe.com/2012/12/25/chistmas-was-once-banned-in-massachusetts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964554 | 416 | 3.421875 | 3 |
Any card is selected from the deck and remembered. Then the spec places it on top and the deck is cut to lose it in the middle. After doing so, the magician or the spectator spreads the deck out on the table. There is one face up card but, oh, is it their card? All is not lost though, as the magician explains that it is a spot card. So he takes all the cards to the right of it and sets them aside. Then he pushes the 5 aside and counts 1 - 2 - 3 - 4 cards off and turns over the 5th card to the left. It is their card! Not only that but when the magician turns over the 4 cards between the two face up cards, they are the 4 aces!
This trick is suitable for intermediates. | <urn:uuid:d0c02158-0712-4fcd-81ae-b460732bbb78> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pubtricks.com/video-pub-fan5-trick.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968536 | 162 | 1.820313 | 2 |
By: Nick Davis
June 15, 2011: Accra, Ghana
You hear a lot of talk these days in both business and nonprofit circles about tracking “multiple bottom-lines”. This trend comes from a growing recognition that net profit – the proverbial “bottom line” – is by itself an insufficient measure of the true value an enterprise has to all its stakeholders, and that a business’s stakeholder group includes more than just its shareholders and employees. Therefore, “good” business – as opposed to both “bad” business and “evil” business – needs to be conscious of the impact that it has on the lives and the livelihoods of all the people its activities touch upon so as to maximize both its economic and social bottom-lines.
The potential business whose feasibility we have come to evaluate is envisioned by our clients to become a social enterprise – i.e., a business that is aware of its economic and social impact on the broader community in which it operates. This requires careful, circumspect business planning and an awareness of the issues facing the businesses potential stakeholders. One of these issues – which has recently surfaced as a common buzzword in international development circles – is that of food security.
The link between biofuels – like this gel ethanol we’re working with – and food security in developing countries – like this place we’re working in – is one that has been widely studied and commented on. With so much of the world living in poverty and so many people going to bed hungry every night, does it really make sense to take what could be turned into a nice meal and use it to fuel your car? The sharp rise in food prices in recent years has been widely blamed on the biofuel boom: food prices suddenly had to compete with fuel prices in order to attract the attention of farmers. In poor households, where food constitutes a much larger percentage of the weekly budget, the price spike was an especially painful one. In terms of our project, then, what’s the point of lighting up a stove if it’s fueled by the very food you otherwise would have cooked on it?
In order to ensure the maximum social value of this potential ethanol business, we of course need to be asking ourselves how this project, if implemented, might impact food security in Ghana. A definitive answer to this question is beyond the scope of our assignment, but it is an important one to keep in mind as we formulate the final recommendations to our client. Our client has of course already considered this question at least to some extent. For example, cassava, a starchy tuber, is a staple crop throughout West Africa and is apparently a very viable feedstock for ethanol production. It is, however, also a key ingredient in Ghanaian cuisine, used to make banku, fufu and gari, and is therefore not a source of feedstock that our client is particularly keen to consider.
So what feedstock would provide the greatest social benefit? Even other crops, such as sugarcane, which are not staple foods, may still use up farmland that would otherwise be put to use producing more essential food crops, like rice. The pros of creating a market for farmers who might supply an ethanol plant with its feedstock must be weighed against the cons of repurposing land and labor that might have gone to other, perhaps more productive or essential uses. Alternatively, instead of producing new crops for the sole purpose of generating ethanol feedstock, we could look to piggy-back off of industries that create useful byproducts: Ghana’s thriving cocoa, cashew and fruit juice industries all produce waste that could theoretically be fermented and distilled to create ethanol. But each of these options comes with a number of other drawbacks: low yield, seasonality, or the risk of depending upon other businesses’ performance. Perhaps, in the end, some mixture of all of the above will prove the most viable.
Now keep in mind that food security is only one of the ways this kind of enterprise might affect its stakeholders. When you start looking at things like deforestation, climate change, education, health, i.e., all of the other potential social impacts a business can have, it becomes clear that while setting up a basic, profit-driven business can be pretty complicated, setting up a social enterprise is exponentially more so. | <urn:uuid:d520c352-5387-4ecd-943a-2c3e135b5fc5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://knowledgenetwork.thunderbird.edu/tem-ghana-globalresolve-5_11/2011/06/14/distillation-of-ideas/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962329 | 892 | 1.929688 | 2 |
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How can I attract butterflies with natives? What's the best way to control invasive species? What’s an easy-to-grow native flower? Plant Girl can help you turn your garden into a native plant showplace.
Incorporating conservation practices into your life often brings questions...lots of questions. We are here to help. From general to specific, we'll tackle what you give us, reach out to experts, and post the questions and answers on this page so others can benefit.
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Email Ed today. | <urn:uuid:fca7fc10-2361-4900-8a8e-d023a79c8769> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iconservepa.org/askanexpert/index.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928265 | 167 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Basic starting salaries for air cabin crew are around £12,000. Additional allowances may be received on top of this, which could take the salary to around £14,500.
Air cabin crew with experience can expect to earn £15,000-£18,000 a year.
Starting salaries at senior cabin crew level (which can be reached after a few years of experience) are around £20,000.
The majority of airlines offer free flights to cabin crew on domestic flights and some offer free or heavily discounted international flights. There is also usually a policy for discounted travel for immediate family and spouses.
Cabin crew work shifts that usually involve irregular and unsocial hours. It can include working early mornings, through the night and at weekends and on public holidays. Short-haul flights may provide more regular hours than long haul.
Part-time opportunities are available but this still involves unsocial hours.
Airlines catering for the package holiday market tend to recruit air cabin crew on a seasonal basis.
Some airlines require staff to live within a certain radius/easy travelling distance of the airport. (Flexibility is vital as staff may need to be on stand-by for work at short notice.) Some air cabin crew may be based in locations abroad.
The work can be demanding as cabin crew have to deal with and often work through tiredness and jet lag if crossing over different time zones.
The airline provides air cabin crew with a uniform and they are expected to be smartly dressed at all times and well groomed. Many airlines do not allow visible tattoos or piercings.
Air cabin crew often work in confined spaces and have to spend a lot of time on their feet. The work is physically demanding, particularly on long-haul flights. Dealing with difficult passengers in an enclosed space may be stressful.
The amount of time spent away from home varies depending on the airline and whether you are working on short or long-haul flights. Spending nights away from home is especially common with long-haul work.
Salary data from Go Skills. Figures are intended as a guide only.
This website is best viewed in an up-to-date web browser with CSS enabled. While you will be able to view the content of this page in your current browser, you will not be able to get the full visual experience. Please consider upgrading your browser software or enabling style sheets if you are able to do so. | <urn:uuid:293123c1-4417-4420-8fed-cde41d853edd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.prospects.ac.uk/air_cabin_crew_salary.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951714 | 496 | 1.5625 | 2 |
| History | Directories |
A settlement known as Wyke had existed on the banks of the River Hull for hundreds of years prior to King Edward I acquiring lands in the area and creating his “Kingstown upon the River Hull” in 1293. Until this time the small settlement could only be reached by water and no roads led to or from Hull until the early years of the next century. It was at this time that the king ordered roads to be built to link his new town with the neighbouring towns and hamlets of Beverley, Hessle, Southcoates and the Viking settlement of Anlaby - “Anlaf’s Town”. For many years prior to the King creating the medieval new-town the only access overland was via the dangerous, and often impassable route, along the banks of the River Humber.
The town lay in a flood plain and these early roads were often prone to inundations from the River Humber; in an effort to improve the situation, and alleviate the floods, the road to “Anlaby” was raised by six feet in 1316. The new roads were initially 60 feet wide but by 1376 the Anlaby Road had been reduced to a width of 40 feet making it easier to maintain. The constant flooding over the following centuries made the road dangerous for travellers and required it to have constant, and often expensive, repairs. Consequently, in 1695 King William III ordered the area to be drained and the towns of Hessle and Anlaby were threatened with fines if the road was not found to be in better condition by the following winter.
Heavy usage led to constant expensive repairs, which became an unsustainable drain on the towns finances, and was the major factor which resulted in the road to Anlaby and Kirkella being “Turnpiked”. The turnpike route from the old town of Hull through Anlaby was not initially a direct one; the act of parliament which led to the creation of the turn-pike road in 1745 stated: -
From the point where the new road passed the town’s waterworks it became known as Carr Lane. “Carr” is an ancient word meaning marsh and Carr Lane may have been the earliest name for what became known as the Anlaby Road, and the small length now remaining commemorates this. The name Carr Lane illustrates that it led to the marsh lands to the west of Hull; Wold Carr was then a hamlet west of the town between what is now Spring Bank West and the Anlaby Road.
Although some Victorian historians suggested that Anlaby Road began at the junction with Park Street (see Travis Cook page 177), or Ocean Place, which was numbered beginning No.1 Anlaby Road, following the 1897 re-numbering of Anlaby Road, it is generally accepted that Anlaby Road as we know it begins at the west end of Carr Lane at its junction with Anne Street, and the much older South Street.
The turnpikes were an early form of road tax, requiring those who travelled on them to pay a toll to contribute to the repair and maintenance of the roads and to lessen the effect on the local rate payers. The tolls were collected at toll-bars, usually a gate or bar (the pike) with an accompanying cottage or house where the toll collector lived. Following the payment of a set charge, dependent on the vehicle or form of transport, the pike was turned and the traveller allowed to continue on his way. The gate on the Anlaby Road was known as the Wold Carr Toll Bar and was situated at a point that marked the municipal boundary, near the corner of what is now Walton Street. The turnpikes often served only to add to the problems faced by the road users; in February 1847 a waggoner driving along the Anlaby Road, passed the Eagle Tavern, near the corner of Coltman Street when his horse was startled by the rattle of a milk churn in a donkey cart, taking his wagon into the ditch that ran along the side of the road resulting in the waggoner and his horse being drowned.
Most turnpikes had been wound-up by the 1850s, following the arrival of the railways, and under the Highways Act of 1862 the cost of road maintenance was passed back to the local parishes. The Anlaby Road “turnpike gates” were still recorded in-situ as late as 1872 but were becoming a constant source of irritation, as with many other turnpiked roads, the toll-bars were found to hinder traffic and free movement as the town expanded westwards into the suburbs. More and more property was erected alongside the roads and the toll gates were becoming a source of constant complaints.
Hull’s population grew incredibly during the second half of the nineteenth century; in 1851 the population of the parliamentary borough of Hull was 84,690 and just 50 years later, in 1901, it had risen to 239,517. Property developers and businessmen were quick to capitalise on the boom. Farmland and open fields were sold along the outskirts of the town, and vast areas of new housing were developed to cope with the influx of new workers into the area. Industry had grown exponentially in Hull and land was also snapped-up for factories, mills, brickyards and any number of other businesses whose workers found homes in the new streets.
The Anlaby Road continued to be Hull’s main thoroughfare westwards (the Hessle Road was constructed much later, c.1826) and public transport began to show huge developments. Horse tramways were first used in Hull from 1872, and the Anlaby Road, then at the peak of its development, had acquired its first tram route following a trial run on 25 May 1877. The Hull Street Tramway Company had been formed in 1875 for the purpose of serving this part of the town with a reliable transport facility, and it was they who instituted the service, although drainage works delayed the opening of the route.
The first route ran from St Mathew’s Church, Boulevard to the Monument Bridge via the Anlaby Road, Midland Street, Osborne Street, Waterhouse Lane and St John Street. By 1881 travellers could ride from the pier to Walton Street for a penny, and further west as far as Wheeler Street, for another penny. The popularity of the service was such that traffic was increased on the Anlaby Road to a level of service that enabled a passenger travelling into the town to board a tram to the pier every ten minutes. Electrification replaced the horse powered vehicles in Hull from 1897 and the electric trams on the Anlaby Road were operational by 1899; the conversion had been hurried through in time for the Royal Agricultural Show, which was to take place on the Anlaby Road in that year. From 1902 the familiar “A” boards were fitted to the trams and were a familiar sight until being gradually replaced by numbered trolley buses between 1936 and 1945. | <urn:uuid:9b5c4ee4-79cc-4a84-bcbd-5d1d0c372f1b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.anlabyroad.com/history/anlaby-road-history-01.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988262 | 1,458 | 3.359375 | 3 |
SAP is on a mission to harness what it calls the "transformative power of in-memory computing" with its release of SAP High-Performance Analytic Appliance (SAP HANA) software. This first version of SAP HANA sits alongside a joint announcement that sees the company also introduce SAP BusinessObjects Strategic Workforce Planning, an in-memory application based on SAP HANA.
With these new products, SAP is clearly hedging its bets on the traditionally understood "powerhouse" elements of in-memory data processing —i.e. the ability to leverage advances in main memory, tapping into the latest processor technology and speed advancements and the latest application intelligence. Combining these factors to bring analytics into a new category of applications, SAP is aiming to produce apps capable of processing large quantities of data with a calculation engine that enables application processing to be performed directly in-memory.
"SAP HANA and the first applications built on it are already showing customers the speed of in-memory computing, as well as the latency they have in the layers of their current IT systems," said Vishal Sikka, executive board member for the technology and innovation platform area at SAP AG. "SAP HANA provides a foundation on which a new generation of applications can be built, enabling customers to analyze large quantities of data from virtually any source in real time. With the integrative approach of SAP HANA and the supporting programming paradigm, SAP is simplifying existing computing layers and allowing applications to directly benefit from hardware improvements for the first time."
SAP claims that its latest releases for in-memory computing allows coding managers to simulate scenarios in real time, analyze complex relationships quickly and see how proposed organizational changes will impact the business. Managers and human resources executives could (for example) simulate how their workforce would need to grow and change using predictive modeling. This allows them to make intelligent, data-based decisions about allocating or adjusting staff, for example, as a result of an acquisition or to enter a new market. | <urn:uuid:84285225-6331-4c6c-b2b4-f1b3f1db2c50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.drdobbs.com/tools/saps-business-apps-harness-in-memory-com/228500072 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935988 | 409 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Bronchodilators are medications commonly used by people with
asthma. They relax the muscles that surround the airways and allow
the airways (the tubes that carry air into and out of the lungs) to
open up. Some bronchodilators act quickly to stop asthma symptoms
(such as wheezing, coughing, or shortness of breath) that are often
caused by narrowed airways. Known as rescue, quick-relief, or
fast-acting medications, these bronchodilators are meant to be used
when a person first notices symptoms, but their effect doesn't
last long. Other bronchodilators, known as controller medications,
are longer acting and are used to control, or prevent, asthma
Note: All information is for educational purposes only. For specific medical advice,
diagnoses, and treatment, consult your doctor.
© 1995-2009 The Nemours Foundation/KidsHealth. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:fcc6dbb7-c0e8-4602-85c3-0b897baee4f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seattlechildrens.org/kids-health/page.aspx?id=61739 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942576 | 203 | 3.21875 | 3 |
According to the best available data, in 1979 the average after-tax income of the top 1% of American households was approximately $340,000. By 2006, at a similar point in the business cycle, it had risen to $1,200,000 . The average for the bottom 60% of households rose much more modestly, from $29,000 in 1979 to $35,000 in 2006. Over this period the share of total income going to the top 1% of households jumped from 7% to 16%, while the share for the bottom three quintiles fell from 36% to 28%. This is a substantial rise in income inequality. Very few social scientists deny its existence. The debate among them focuses on its characteristics, timing, magnitude, and causes.
But there is far less consensus about whether, and if so to what extent, we should worry about this development. Inequality skeptics have offered a number of reasons for downplaying its significance: inequality is the product of free choices, what really matters is equality of opportunity, measures of income inequality ignore upward mobility, higher inequality boosts economic growth, focusing on a single country fetishizes national borders, and others.
Will Wilkinson emphasizes the distinction between income and consumption:
As far as I can tell, when most people are worried about economic inequality, they’re usually worried about inequalities in real standards of living — in the real material conditions of life… An individual’s or household’s standard of living is determined rather more directly by the level of consumption than by the level of income… Different datasets and analytical methods produce somewhat different results, but most stories of consumption inequality are stories of stability or a relatively mild rise.
Wilkinson makes other arguments in his piece, and additional ones in his earlier Cato essay. But I want to focus on this point. I don’t find it compelling.
One reason is that existing analyses of consumption inequality suffer from a problem similar to that which, until recently, hindered the study of income inequality: limited data on those at the top. Consumption data come from the Consumer Expenditure Survey (CEX). Like its income counterpart, the Current Population Survey (CPS), the CEX is not designed to effectively capture developments at the top end of the distribution. Since this is where a good bit of the rise in income inequality is centered, researchers may have underestimated the degree to which consumption inequality has increased.
Suppose, though, that the very rich have been consuming relatively little of their additional income. Should we then conclude that the economic inequality we care about hasn’t risen much? No. The fact that income isn’t spent doesn’t render it irrelevant. If my income were to balloon to more than a million dollars, my household might not increase its consumption by much. But it’s not as though the additional income would thereby disappear. I could cut back on teaching and devote more of my time to research, or take an unpaid sabbatical. My wife could quit her job and spend more time with our children or do more volunteer work. Or we could invest the money, which might produce considerable additional income in future years. This could help ensure that, among other things, we’d be able to afford to send our kids to expensive private colleges. Or we could retire early. Or simply accumulate assets and pass them on when we die. None of these uses would show up as consumption in the survey data (except the college payments, though that would come some years down the road). But they surely would enhance our well-being.
The point is that income adds value even if it is not spent right away. Consider, as a potentially helpful analogy, political freedom. On virtually every scoring or classification of political liberties, the United States receives the highest possible score. Yet many Americans make little use of these liberties. Only about half of those eligible actually vote in presidential elections, and the share is much smaller for off-year national elections and smaller still for local elections. Many who do vote have limited knowledge of key issues, and they tend to be heavily myopic in their thinking. Few Americans participate in politics in other ways, such as active involvement in a party or other political organization, campaigning for a candidate, engaging in organized political discussions, or giving money to a political party or candidate. Only a small portion of Americans, in other words, make much use of the political freedoms they enjoy. If we care about political liberty only insofar as people make use of it, perhaps we should judge our country to have far less political freedom than is commonly thought.
I don’t think that’s the right interpretation, though. It matters a great deal that Americans have the right to vote, to assemble, to join a political organization, and to demonstrate, even if many don’t exercise these liberties. Similarly, it matters if the incomes of those at the top triple or quadruple, even if they use only a limited part of the additional income to boost their consumption.
There also is the issue of how increased consumption among households at the low end and in the middle has been financed. Consumption smoothing over the life course — borrowing when young, repaying later when income is greater — is one thing. But if growth in consumption inequality among the bottom 99% has been suppressed by poor and middle-income Americans borrowing too heavily, this ought to be of concern.
I am not suggesting we shouldn’t care about the distinction between income and consumption. It matters that huge income increases at the top helped propel a housing bubble that raised the price of expensive homes, especially in and around the cities where a disproportionate share of the top 1% live. It matters that Wal-Mart and imports from China have reduced the prices of many consumer goods for low-income Americans. It matters that many people now have access to communication via e-mail and cell phones, information via the Internet, and entertainment via cable TV and iPods. And it helps when government services enhance material well-being — by reducing violent crime or expanding access to health insurance, for instance. Here’s how I put this latter point in a recent comment:
Imagine an America in which high-quality public services raise the consumption floor to a high level: most citizens can put their kids in high-quality child care followed by good public schooling and affordable access to a good college; they have access to good health care throughout life; they can get to or near work on clean and efficient public transportation or roads with limited congestion; they enjoy clean and safe neighborhoods, parks, roads, museums, libraries, and other public spaces; they have low-cost access to information, communication, and entertainment via reliable high-speed broadband; they have four weeks of paid vacation each year, an additional week or so of paid sickness leave, and a year of paid family leave to care for a child or other needy relative. Even if the degree of income inequality were no less than today and we still had CEOs, financiers, and entertainers raking in tens or hundreds of millions of dollars in a single year, that society would be markedly less unequal than our current one.
I agree that we should pay attention to consumption in assessing changes in economic inequality. But we need better data on consumption at the top. And even if consumption inequality has increased only modestly, that by no means renders the large rise in income inequality moot .
These figures are in 2006 dollars. The top 1% includes about 1.1 million households.
These data are from the Congressional Budget Office. They are estimates created by merging IRS tax records with Current Population Survey data on incomes. 2006 is the most recent year for which these data are available. For additional discussion, a much longer time series on incomes at the top, and cross-country comparison, see the recent paper by Anthony Atkinson, Thomas Piketty, and Emmanuel Saez (free version here).
Wilkinson mentions a recent paper by Robert Gordon as questioning this conclusion. But as is clear from the passage Wilkinson cites, while Gordon raises questions about the timing and nature of the rise in inequality among the bottom 99% of households, he does not challenge the consensus view that with the top 1% included income inequality has risen sharply.
This is a key part of the reason why the distribution of wealth is much more unequal than the distribution of income.
See, among others, the Freedom House scores.
See Larry Bartels’ Unequal Democracy. | <urn:uuid:b7e15639-2c8b-4188-a60a-3e69b10651d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cato-unbound.org/2009/10/14/lane-kenworthy/consumption-grail-inequality-skeptics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963028 | 1,728 | 2.453125 | 2 |
By Dorcas Coleman|
A figure appears ahead of you on the edge of a clearing. It is of a man, bearded, ragged and gaunt. As he draws nearer, you can see that his cheeks are sunken and eyes hollowed, giving the impression they might rattle around in his head like marbles in a box. His clothes – what's left of them – appear to be homespun, of wool, too heavy to be the type normally worn on a warm late summer day. He wears boots, dusty, the leather cracked, and his gait is loose, as if he has been walking for a long time. A canteen is slung across his shoulder. A belt that would normally sit at the waist hangs precariously from sharply angled hips. You find yourself staring and expect to make eye contact as he passes, but he continues to look straight ahead, seemingly oblivious to your presence. As he passes, you catch a whiff of a musty, humus-like scent intermingled with gunpowder.
Though unfriendly, you are impressed by the accuracy and intensity of what you assume to be a historical reenactor. A few steps later, you turn to take another look but he's gone… vanished. You stop and listen but there is no sound, other than the twittering of birds in the trees and your own breath. There is no one there. You feel the blood rush out of your head and your heart starts to race. You think you may have seen a ghost...
If you're in Point Lookout State Park, chances are you have.
Whether you believe in ghosts, apparitions and poltergeists or not, the fact that Maryland's public lands have experienced more than their fair share of tragedy and unexplained phenomena is undisputable. And Point Lookout State Park, located at the southernmost tip of Maryland's western shore, undoubtedly has the most grisly history of any of the state's parks.
Spectacularly lovely, Point Lookout sits on a peninsula at the confluence of the Potomac River and the Chesapeake Bay. Today its completely serene panorama consists of lovely stretches of beach and dense stands of loblolly pine. But this was not always the case. While it seems hard to believe today, Point Lookout State Park was once the site of the Civil War's largest prison camp.
The tolls of war
Point Lookout began as part of St. Michael's Manor, one of three manors owned by Leonard Calvert, the first Governor of the Maryland colony. In the 200 years leading up to the Civil War, it became a popular summer resort, complete with beach cottages, a large wharf and a lighthouse. With the advent of the war, people's attentions turned away from recreation and the area's summer resort owners began to suffer financially.
The U.S. Government, needing a hospital to house casualties of the Northern armies, leased the Point Lookout resort; Hammond General Hospital was built and received its first Union Army patients on August 17, 1862. Early in 1863, the authorities ordered a small number of Confederate prisoners confined to the hospital grounds, most being Southern Marylanders accused of helping the Confederacy. Not long after the Battle of Gettysburg, the federal government expanded the hospital's grounds and built a prison camp for Confederate soldiers. Point Lookout was close to the battlefields yet isolated enough to make escape difficult. The site became officially known as Camp Hoffman, a rebel camp capable of holding 10,000 prisoners of war. Three forts were erected to protect the prison, one of which -- Fort Lincoln -- still remains.
As the war progressed, additional prisoners were assigned to Camp Hoffman: In September 1863, 4,000 Confederates were being held at the camp; by December, the number had more than doubled to 9,000. By the following June, less than one year after the camp, more than 20,000 prisoners crowded the camp.
Point Lookout was used mainly for enlisted men; most officers were sent to Fort Delaware. During the prison's operation, filth prevailed and wells became contaminated. Men literally froze to death in Sibley tents -- rudimentary structures offering little protection from the elements -- with but one blanket apiece and very little wood. With money scarce and boredom plentiful, the prisoners learned to occupy themselves making trinkets and many other useful articles out of various materials that were subsequently used for bartering purposes.
At the end of the Civil War in April 1865, federal officials began transferring the Confederates south; by late June the last prisoners were gone. In just under two years, out of 52,264 Confederates imprisoned at Point Lookout, between 3,000 and 8,000 men died.
Today, two monuments honor the memory of the prisoners who died there. The first was built by the State of Maryland and dedicated in 1876. The U.S. Government followed suit, erecting the second monument in the early 1900s. In 1965, 100 years following the end of the Civil War, the Maryland State Forest & Park Service began development of Point Lookout State Park. Today the park comprises 1,064 acres.
Let there be light
One of the most well known and reputedly haunted sites at the park, the Point Lookout Lighthouse, still stands. No longer in use, the lighthouse first came into existence in 1830 as a one-and-a-half story wooden and masonry building. In 1883 another story was added to house two keepers and their families, allowing the arduous duties involved in lighthouse keeping to be shared.
Keepers of previous generations did not enjoy the advantages of automatic alarm systems to alert them if the light went out, or mechanical means for ringing the fog bells. If weather was foggy for a week, the bell had to sound constantly, so the whole family had to take turns ringing.
Point Lookout's lighthouse was active for more than 135 years until the Navy purchased it in 1965, after which an automated light was placed offshore. It remained tenanted until 1981.
Who goes there?
Over the decades, there have been numerous reports of paranormal experiences within Point Lookout State Park, but none more so than in the lighthouse itself. These reports eventually reached the ears of the internationally-renowned parapsychologist, Dr. Hans Holzer, along with his team of paranormal psychologists, was the first to investigate the lighthouse some 20 years ago. To this day it remains the only Chesapeake Bay lighthouse to have earned such esteemed scrutiny.
Holzer's team successfully recorded 24 different voices in the building, both male and female voices singing and talking, often using quite colorful language. One comment, "Fire if they get too close to you," was thought to reference the great number of Confederate soldiers imprisoned nearby. A female voice, recorded on the tower staircase and believed to be that of Ann Davis, wife of the first keeper, spoke of "my home." Yet another voice said, "Let us not take objection to what they are doing."
Lighthouse visitors, including Dr. Holzer's team, have experienced very chilly air in parts of the building, along with a rotten smell emanating from one particular room. Oddly, as soon as Dr. Holzer made public his belief that the smell was from the tormented spirits of people held there against their will -- those falsely accused of spying or having Confederate sympathies -- the smell disappeared.
In addition to unusual sounds and smells, many spectral visions have also been reported, such as that of Ann Davis, standing at the top of the stairs in a white blouse and long blue skirt.
Several unexplained images have appeared in photographs, the most well known being that of "The Ghost of Point Lookout," taken during a séance in the lighthouse in the late 70s. In the photograph, Laura Berg, a former lighthouse resident, stands in the center holding a candle. To her left, the foggy form of a man in soldier garb - weapon, sash, one leg casually crossed over the other - appears to be leaning into the wall. Interestingly, this image was not noticed by those attending the séance; it was seen only later, in the photo.
An eyewitness reports
Need more evidence? Consider the following tales related by Ranger Donnie Hammett, longtime manager of Point Lookout State Park, as he personally experienced them.
An initial encounter
The incident I am about to relate occurred on an unseasonably warm day in early March of 1977. I had been a park ranger at Point Lookout for only two months. Although mine was a new job, Point Lookout was not new to me; I had lived my lifetime of 25 years in the Point Lookout area.
I was working the evening shift. It was a weekday and despite the beautiful, warm weather there were few park visitors.
At about 4:30 p.m., I was on the Potomac River beachfront gathering and recording weather data when I noticed an elderly woman standing about 40 yards from me. She caught my attention because she was strangely shuffling along, looking toward her feet. She appeared to be desperately looking for something she had lost in the grass.
After I had watched her for about five minutes, I walked over to offer my assistance. My first thought was that perhaps she had lost her keys. She seemed very distant and our conversation was very brief. I only remember three points she made: she did not need my assistance, she lived up the beach "a ways," and she asked if I knew where the gravestones were that used to be where we were standing.
I remember that for some reason I felt I was imposing on the woman and not wanting to be an imposition, I left to walk 300 yards east to the Chesapeake Bay shore to record more data. About five minutes later, while I was walking back to my truck which I had left parked near the River, I noticed that the woman had disappeared. It was then that I realized the adjacent parking lot was empty. Furthermore, from my vantage point since our conversation, I would have had to have seen any cars entering or leaving the area. None had. I did not conduct a search for the woman though I often wish I had done so.
A few hours later, I asked then park manager, Gerry Sword, if he knew anything about a graveyard near the Potomac River picnic area. He wanted to know why I was asking, so I told him about my odd encounter with the old woman. After Mr. Sword heard my story, he told me that there had once been a graveyard somewhere near where the mysterious lady had been wandering. It was the Taylor family graveyard. It's exact location is no longer known but its former existence is well documented. Records show that one of the individuals buried in the lost graveyard is Elizabeth Taylor. Evidently someone had come across the missing burial site and stolen her headstone. Elizabeth Taylor's grave marker was found in a local hotel by a Point Lookout park ranger.
Some years later my mother, Regina Hammett, and I went to the site where I had talked to the old woman. We searched for signs of a graveyard using metal rods to probe down through the sand. Within minutes we located a rectangular, rocklike form under about a foot of sand. Soon we located several other possible gravestones laid out in regular rows as one would expect. However when we dug up a couple of these objects, we discovered they were concrete foundations of an 1860s Civil War warehouse. The Taylor family cemetery has never been found.
Could the strange woman have been the deceased Elizabeth Taylor searching for the rest of her family?
On several occasions, I have witnessed a man running across the road through Point Lookout. The sightings always took place during the day, on the same section of road, and the man always crossed the road just after my truck had passed, causing me to view him in my rearview mirror. The man was always crossing in the same direction. Other rangers have experienced the same phenomenon while passing in other vehicles at different times of the day and different times of the year.
The first time I saw the man I immediately returned to the crossing site. The man was running, using long strides. He first appeared at the edge of the road adjacent to one of the Point Lookout camping areas. He crossed the road and dashed into the woods on the other side, leaving park property. My first thought was that he was a trespasser fleeing the area. I examined the area but was unable to find any type of path on either side of the road or any evidence of human or animal crossing. I did not get a good enough look at the intruder to identify him or describe his attire.
The site of the man's crossing is very near but not in the original Confederate soldier cemetery... used to bury prisoners who had died of smallpox at the nearby smallpox hospital where sick Confederates were held. Had the man been making the same trek during the Civil War, he would have been running in a route taking him directly away from the smallpox hospital.
Reportedly, Confederate prisoners would trick their Union guards into sending them to the hospital and then would attempt an escape through the same woods from which I had seen the man flee. Could the figure have been the spirit of a Confederate prisoner who escaped from the smallpox hospital, only to die in the nearby woods, having himself been infected with the deadly disease as often happened?
Power outages are not at all unusual at Point Lookout. Being located on a peninsula, electricity can only be brought in from one direction. If those lines are interrupted, the Point is left in darkness. Because of this, Point Lookout residents always keep candles and matches available.
One dark and stormy night when the power was out on the Point, Gerry Sword experienced something we have yet to explain.
According to Mr. Sword, he lit three identical candles in a candelabrum in the living room. Mr. Sword left the candelabra for a short time to go to the kitchen to fix dinner. A few minutes later he heard a loud sound come from the room where he had left the candelabra unattended. Being alone in the house, he immediately went to investigate the disturbance. The candelabrum was as he had left it only now there was a marked difference in the size of the candles. One had only burned about an inch, the second had burned nearly four inches. But it was the third candle that is hardest to explain: only about an inch of this candle remained however a section of the candle rested on the floor nearby. Apparently, somehow the candle had been broken. The wick on the length of candle lying on the floor had been lit, but now was extinguished. Inexplicably, the small piece of candle in the candelabra was aflame.
A sixth sense
It is said that dogs can perceive things humans cannot. They can hear things the human ear can't and their superior sense of smell is well known. Perhaps dogs have other senses completely alien to us, senses we could not understand.
Later Mr. Sword moved to a property located adjacent to an old Civil War road that ran the length of Point Lookout. On several occasions, Mr. Sword's German Shepard seemed to ‘see' someone or something traveling on the old Civil War road. Sometimes the dog would sit and watch the invisible traffic go by for lengthy periods of time. Other times the dog would bark and lunge against its chain, as if trying to get at an intruder walking down the road – though none was ever seen.
More eerie tales
Following is a series of encounters experienced and told by Laura Berg, former resident of the Lookout Lighthouse.
Just passing through
Before moving into the lighthouse, Ms. Berg learned of the strange things that happened to the former park manager, Gerry Sword, during the time he lived there. Mr. Sword frequently heard snoring in the kitchen. At times he would hear voices outside of the back of the house but when he checked, there was no one there. Then he would hear voices in the front yard and again upon checking, there was no one to be found. This happened frequently. One evening he actually saw figures of men going through the house! Ms. Berg also learned that numerous fishermen throughout the years had heard calls for help on the water only to discover that there was no one to be found.
In the company of strangers
The first night Ms. Berg spent in the lighthouse, she was awakened to the sound of heavy or old-fashioned boots walking up and down the hall. She also relayed that one of the rooms had a very bad odor at night. Some mornings she heard a female voice at the top of the stairs singing. She never could tell what song it was but it seemed to be a very happy one. Sometimes she heard the sound of men laughing and talking in the south-side living room and whenever she checked for intruders, she never found anyone. She only actually saw something one time... two figures in the basement. They were transparent and Ms. Berg couldn't tell if they were male or female.
Coming to call
Ms. Berg enjoyed family and friends visiting her in the lighthouse. Several of them had strange experiences. One time when her parents were visiting her from Baltimore, her mother was awakened in the middle of the night by someone calling her name – Helen.
Another friend who was visiting her went into the living room alone and saw a woman in a blue dress. Thinking it was another guest, she went to ask Ms. Berg who it was. Both of them returned to the living room but no one was there.
A guardian angel?
Ms. Berg's most vivid memory was being awakened one night and seeing an unusual series of six lights. She thought it might have been a reflection from a boat or a car but when she looked out, all was dark. As she became more awake, she suddenly smelled smoke. She jumped up and raced downstairs and found her space heater on fire. She was able to put the fire out but the entire wire was burnt, as was the wall socket. She realized that if she hadn't been awoken by the lights, the whole house could have burned, with her in it. She felt like someone was looking out for her and that she was safe.
Through the time that Laura Berg spent in the lighthouse she had many strange experiences but she never felt threatened.
These are only a few of the many unexplained phenomena people have experienced while visiting the park. Still not convinced? Perhaps a personal visit is in order.
Point Lookout State Park's Ghost Walk event, will be held on Friday and Saturday, October 26-27. Information/reservations: (301) 872-5688
Dorcas Coleman, assistant editor of The Natural Resource, is also a true believer in the spirits of Point Lookout.
Dorcas Coleman, assistant editor of The Natural Resource, is also a true believer in the spirits of Point Lookout. | <urn:uuid:d5140edc-66a3-48fe-b73c-3c81843840a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dnr.state.md.us/naturalresource/fall2001/ghosts.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983946 | 3,911 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Return to front cover
NSF External Panel supports replacing Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station
On 12 March 1997, Norman R. Augustine, Chairman of the U.S. Antarctic Program External Panel, presented to House Committee on Science 22 findings and 12 recommendations (http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/congress/anta3-97.htm) that resulted from the panel's 9-month examination of infrastructure, management, and scientific options. Their findings and recommendations were developed to maintain a high-quality research program and implement U.S. policy to provide an active and influential presence in Antarctica, while operating within a realistic budget. The panel's review, the results of which are published in The United States in Antarctica-Report of the U.S. Antarctic Program External Panel (April 1997) (http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?antpanel), emphasized the high geopolitical, scientific, and environmental value of the antarctic program.
The United States has continuously supported antarctic projects for over 40 years. A part of this effort, the U.S. Antarctic Program (USAP) has three principal objectives: presence, science, and stewardship. The stated U.S. policy toward Antarctica is that the continent should be maintained as a peaceful territory, free of national claims disputes and available for the benefit of all humankind. Although the Antarctic Treaty system has created a political environment that today is largely characterized by cooperation and mutual understanding, seven nations have made claims to parts of Antarctica, some overlapping, and potential disagreements remain an underlying reality.
In April 1996, the National Science and Technology Council (NSTC) completed a review of U.S. antarctic policy, requested by Senate Appropriations Committee on the Veterans Administration, Housing and Urban Development, and Independent Agencies. The Committee, aware that the National Science Foundation was considering a South Pole redevelopment project, asked the NSTC to examine the policy contained in Presidential Memorandum 6646 (1985), particularly ". . . the need for a year-round presence, the need for three stations, and the roles of NSF, the Department of Defense, and other Government agencies." The Committee asked that the NSTC consider U.S. antarctic policy in the context of the value of science performed, the affordability of a continued U.S. presence, and options for reducing the annual logistics and operational budget.
In its report to Congress, NSTC's Committee on Fundamental Science stated that
The Committee also recommended that NSF convene an external panel to "explore options for sustaining the high level of USAP science activity under realistic constrained funding levels."
In response to this final recommendation, Dr. Neal Lane, Director of NSF, established the U.S. Antarctic Program External Panel on 16 August 1996. The charge given the 11-member panel (http://www.nsf.gov/cgi-bin/getpub?antpanel) by Dr. Lane was to "examine and make recommendations concerning the stations and logistics systems that support the science while maintaining appropriate environmental, safety, and health standards; the efficiency and appropriateness of the management of these support systems; and how and at what level the science programs are implemented." The panel members were also asked to consider the eventual replacement of AmundsenScott South Pole Station and other USAP infrastructure.
In his 12 March testimony to House Committee on Science, Mr. Augustine summarized the External Panel's recommendations and answered questions, most of which centered on the ability of the private sector to capitalize on their contributions to antarctic research.
The panel offered a series of 12 specific recommendations (http://www.nsf.gov/od/lpa/congress/anta3-97.htm), each of which is discussed in its report and all of which are included in appendix IV of the report. Overall, the panel concluded that the geopolitical importance assigned to a permanent U.S. presence in Antarctica, particularly at the South Pole, is warranted and that this justifies a year-round presence at several locations, including the South Pole. The panel also emphasized that, by working in cooperation with many nations, the United States is playing an important role in preserving a fragile and nearly pristine ecological system that serves as an indicator of potential global environmental trends. The panel endorsed the NSTC's evaluation that the research being performed in Antarctica is of the same high quality and relevance as that being supported elsewhere by the NSF and that it uses the unique antarctic environment well and addresses significant scientific issues that have important human consequences. On behalf of the panel, Mr. Augustine commended the NSF's management of the logistical and research programs.
Because of the unique physical conditions in Antarctica, the continent is a one-of-a-kind scientific laboratory that enables scientists to investigate phenomena ranging from the microscopic to the Earth-shaping. Changing circumstances, however, particularly federal funding pressures, have resulted in a major realignment of support functions in the Antarctic, including the withdrawal of the U.S. Navy. The Navy had been involved in early exploration and, since the 1950s, research support. As the Navy withdraws, the Department of Defense has been shifting air transport functions provided by ski-equipped Hercules airplanes to the Air National Guard, and NSF has transferred other functions to civilian contractors. As a result, this period is particularly significant, not only in terms of the need for intense management attention but also as an opportunity to search for new ways of reducing costs and of conducting research and related activities.
Because of the NSF's traditional focus on the conduct of science and because of the character of the federal budgeting process, which, unlike commercial practice, does not ordinarily include a depreciation account to provide for the renewal of fixed assets, aging U.S. antarctic facilities are costly to maintain and, in some cases, of arguable safety. In the panel's opinion, the United States would not send a ship to sea or a spacecraft to orbit in the condition of many facilities in Antarctica, especially those at the South Pole. Consequently, they agreed with NSF that steps need to be taken without delay to remedy the existing conditions, particularly of AmundsenScott South Pole Station.
NSF has estimated that constructing a replacement station at the South Pole would cost between $150 million and $200 million and that the process would take about 5 years to budget and 8 years to build. After reviewing the design currently being considered by NSF, the panel recommended that the replacement station be reduced in size and cost. They also felt that additional savings must be generated in USAP to offset a substantial fraction of the cost of a replacement facility.
Its principal conclusion is that the South Pole Station needs to be replaced soon for economic, safety, and operational reasons and that modest upgrades are needed at Palmer and McMurdo Stations. Although NSF will correct urgent safety shortcomings at South Pole Station using $25 million funded during FY97, the panel recommended that the other renovations (a minimum of $15 million at Palmer and McMurdo Stations) and the replacement of South Pole Station be funded by a downsizing of the proposed new South Pole Station design, reducing the cost to $125 million excluding $5 million of interim expenses to keep the existing station functional until replacement.
The panel also concluded that a cumulative reallocation of $20 million from science grants and science support between FY98 and FY02 and the generation of at least $30 million in savings through cost-reduction actions already underway would offset costs proposed for infrastructure improvements. Although this represents a considerable reduction in new funding needs relative to previous estimates, it still produces a cumulative shortfall of $95 million over the 5 years during which the replacement South Pole Station is to be funded. It is the conclusion of the panel that these residual funds are not to be found within the resources of the USAP without severely undermining the viability of the science program and degrading health and safety conditions. Consequently, the panel "...recommend[ed] that additional funds in the amount of $95 million should be added to the NSF budget" over the next 5 fiscal years (1998 to 2002) "to permit the phased replacement of the existing South Pole Station." (The United States in Antarctica: Report of the U.S. Antarctic Program External Panel, p. 71.)
For more on FY98 Congressional budget
actions, see Recent Congressional actions related to the NSF | <urn:uuid:4fd83507-31b7-472a-8cef-8a8f56edc844> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/1997/nsf97160/ch5.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949466 | 1,727 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Editor's Note: Learn from a panel of experts and entrepreneurs who have successfully financed their own ventures and are helping others do it at the Thought Leaders Live 2013 event May 29, in Long Beach, Calif. Event and ticket information can be found here.
Angelia Kane, founder of Bedtime CEO, advises clients on how to bootstrap a startup
Photo Courtesy of the company
Angelia Kane was so sure the corporate world wasn't for her that she began freelancing right of college in 1993. She started with web design, moved into consulting and then after the Internet bubble burst, ultimately, marketing. Becoming a mom led her to want more structure in her work life, while keeping the flexibility she coveted being her own boss. She launched New York-based Bedtime CEO, which offers coaching and other services to those balancing entrepreneurship and parenthood. Kane is a firm believer in bootstrapping -- using savings to launch a company -- having financed her solopreneur career this way. She encourages her clients to bootstrap and shared her reasons and strategies in an interview. Edited excerpts follow.
Entrepreneur: What's the biggest misconception about bootstrapping?
Kane: That it's impossible to do. It's possible. It just takes more planning and time than if a bank cuts you a check. For example, instead of paying a lot of money to lease office space right away you can rent desk space, sometimes by the hour. Also, kitchen incubators are popular [for those starting food businesses]. You can rent a certified licensed kitchen by the hour. As for office furniture, the first place I would look is Craigslist or Freecycle.
Entrepreneur: Why should entrepreneurs start this way?
Kane: You're more careful spending your own money than someone else's. When I started my business I didn't want the overhead of traditional office space. I had competitors who started around the same time. They had well-lit open office space and [high-priced] Aeron chairs, but they didn't make it. I had a rocky start, but even with the [economic] ups and downs, it wasn't as hard for me to become profitable. Also, the average entrepreneur has a few failures behind him before he succeeds. If you bootstrap, each attempt won't cost you too much.
Entrepreneur: Is there a down side?
Kane: It could take three times longer [to get your business off the ground], though that is changing. For example, you could have a successful viral marketing campaign that costs nothing or maybe $100. But if you can't write a check whenever you need to get something going, you'll have to put in the time to figure out how to do it yourself. But if you're maxing out all the time you have to put in, and it's not enough, that's when bootstrapping will slow you down.
Entrepreneur: How do you get around that?
Kane: Think about how you'll grow or who you'll target. Going after businesses might be a better use of your time than targeting individual consumers, for example. There is this concept of a "force multiplier," where one set of actions has a larger reach or serves multiple purposes.
Entrepreneur: Are there businesses for which this approach won't work?
Kane: Any business where you need to buy lots of equipment to get started. Most people can't bootstrap a restaurant. You can't really bootstrap a franchise. But, for example, one client wanted a baking business and that's expensive. You need equipment, licenses and a certified kitchen. So I suggested renting a kitchen by the hour. She probably saved $10,000 over a month.
Entrepreneur: You can also bootstrap, and get funding later.
Kane: Absolutely. Slow growth in the beginning benefits you in the [long run]. During the dot-com era, I saw how too much access to capital too soon can make you lazy and [undisciplined]. If you put up your own money, you'll know where every penny went and be more deliberate in all financial decisions. Being a tight money manager will differentiate you to investors.
Entrepreneur: Are there best practices for bootstrapping?
Kane: Think service. A service you can provide is the fastest way to beef up cash flow. Don't spend much on [website] design. There are many free and affordable options. I'm a fan of what Wordpress can do. You can also get logos designed cheaply on 99designs and deals on business cards at Moo.com, for example. Some of the best ways to market your business don't cost money. I did tests last year on strategies, and contests were the most successful to draw attention to a [business]. You can register with sweepstakes sites to promote your giveaway. I tested different price points for the giveaway and found if it's under $10, people don't care. But if the item is $100 or so, people will pay attention.
Entrepreneur: What common mistake do entrepreneurs make when bootstrapping?
Kane: Thinking cheap and free are the only ways to get things done. Sometimes you have to pony up. If you need skilled expertise -- legal, programming, information technology or public relations, for example -- you might as well spend that money. If you need a lawyer, you don't want to spend $50 [on something that should cost a lot more], because the lawyer is your cousin's friend. That will backfire on you. | <urn:uuid:1bb021b7-f75a-4084-8077-8ca21dafdee4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/217773 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967009 | 1,144 | 1.75 | 2 |
Battle of Braddock Down, 19 January 1643
Royalist victory during the Civil War. Sir Ralph Hopton, commanding the Royalist forces in Cornwall, had made a futile attempt to raise Devon for Charles, and had been forced to fall back in the face of superior Parliamentary forces. Knowing how badly supplied Hopton was, the Scotsman Lord Ruthin, commanding the Parliamentary forces, chased him back into Cornwall. However, on 17 January three Parliamentary warships had been forced by a storm to seek refuge at Falmouth, and had been captured by the Royalists, replenishing their stocks of powder and arms. Thus reinforced, Hopton, now commander-in-chief of the King's forces in the west, decided to attack Ruthin. The Royalist force found Ruthin on Braddock Down, and took up positions facing him. Ruthin had more cavalry, Hopton more infantry, but Hopton also had two light cannon, which he kept hidden for the first two hours of fighting, a period of long range musket fire, with neither side willing to abandon their positions. Finally, Hopton decided to attack, and after revealing his cannon, ordered a general advance. Sir Bevil Grenvile and his Cornish foot charged the Parliamentarians with such force that they appear to have fled, probably after only firing a single volley, said to have killed two men, the only Royalist casualties. The fleeing Parliamentarians reached Liskeard, where the townsmen turned on them. The pursuing Royalists captured between 1,250 and 1,500 men, along with the Parliamentary arms and powder, including five invaluable guns, which greatly strengthened Hopton's army.
How to cite this article: Rickard, J. (11 April 2001), Battle of Braddock Down, 19 January 1643, http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_braddock.html
The English Civil War , Richard Holmes & Peter Young, an early work by one of the countries best known military historians, this is a superb single volume history of the war, from its causes to the last campaigns of the war and on to the end of the protectorate.
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Subscribe in a reader | <urn:uuid:757fb4c3-62ed-4763-8f6f-8afe72578aac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://historyofwar.org/articles/battles_braddock.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970108 | 454 | 3.328125 | 3 |
I love the look of what's usually called a chunky shelf, but the prices charged for most of them border on the criminal. Here's a cheap do-it-yourself project I found on Reader's Digest's website of all places. All you need is some basic tools, a couple of hours and an appreciation for cheap fixes that don't look cheap.
1. Pick up an 18" or 24" wide hollow core door or two.
2. Mark the studs on the wall where you want your shelf to go.
3. Using either a table saw or a circular saw (use a fence or some kind of straight edge if you're going the circular saw route), and cut the door in half.
4. Hollow core doors are actually not hollow. They have a corrugated cardboard core. Take a wood chisel (or a steak knife) and remove the corrugated cardboard center.
5. Measure the inside dimension of the thickness of the door. Round the number down to the nearest eighth inch.
6. Cut a 2x4 to the thickness of the inside dimension of the door's hollow core. This 2x4 is the cleat that will hold up your shelf and make it appear to float.
7. Draw a straight line across the studs you've already marked on the wall. This straight line will be the line where you set the bottom of the cleat.
8. Screw or bolt the cleat to the studs through the wall.
9. Apply carpenter's glue to the top of the cleat and the lower inside of the back of the shelf. Slide the shelf onto the cleat.
10. Fasten the shelf to the cleat with 1" brad nails space 8" apart.
11. Allow the glue to cure and paint your heart out. Paint them any color but the blue in these photos, please. | <urn:uuid:1f580de4-128a-4897-a2a7-199f3be853c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kitchenandresidentialdesign.com/2009/02/cheap-fixes-fast-fat-shelves.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900498 | 391 | 1.671875 | 2 |
The state appears to have passed the marijuana legalization initiative, but it may be a year before the new law is implemented. The state Liquor Control Board, which is tasked with regulating the industry, released a statement and a fact sheet on Wednesday on the issue. Among the highlights:
- I-502 goes into effect 30 days after the general election. However, the board has until Dec. 1, 2013 to establish rules, and it expects it will “take the full year” to get a framework in place.
- The board will create an application process similar to a liquor license. Marijuana producers, processors and retailers will have to pay a $250 application fee, and a $1,000 yearly renewal fee.
- It’ll cost an estimated $12 for a gram of marijuana, according to the Office of Financial Management (medical marijuana dispensaries charge between $10-15 a gram).
- The liquor control board and OFM will decide how many retail marijuana stores will be allowed to open, taking into account “population, security and safety.”
- The board will get “clarification” from the federal Dept. of Justice in the coming weeks, as well as coordinate with the Washington State Patrol, Dept. of Health and Dept. of Agriculture.
Early voting results show I-502 easily passing with 55 percent of the vote. | <urn:uuid:4f87a6e0-d72c-4c49-93bd-fda7f3844a50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://capitolrecord.tvw.org/2012/11/marijuana-legalization-could-take-a-full-year-before-rules-are-in-place-board-says/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94448 | 281 | 1.625 | 2 |
For many in the old city of Sarajevo, the legend spray-painted on a wall in a predominantly Muslim quarter expressed the agonies of civil war: "Welcome to hell."
For weeks, some of the deadliest weapons in modern warfare have been used against civilians across Bosnia and Herzegovina and its capital, Sarajevo.
Artillery, tanks, mortars, rocket-propelled grenades and machine guns, as well as Yugoslav-built fighter-bombers, have been used to blast lives and property in every corner of the former Yugoslav republic. Atrocities, including summary executions of civilians, have been commonplace. 570,000 Refugees
Piecing together reports from cities, towns and villages too dangerous for most outsiders to visit, international relief agencies say hundreds of people have been killed and at least 570,000 -- more than one civilian in eight, in a total population of 4.3 million -- have been left homeless. The figures for the dead and homeless are little more than guesses, and many diplomats believe they are probably low.
What is clear is that a tragedy is unfolding on a scale with few precedents in Europe since World War II, and that efforts to end it, or even to mitigate its scale, have failed. 28 Killed in Sarajevo
Today, at least 28 more people were killed in a Yugoslav Army artillery and mortar barrage on Sarajevo. In Brussels, the Foreign Ministers of the 12-nation European Community announced the withdrawal of their Ambassadors from the truncated Yugoslav federation of Serbia and Montenegro, identified by the United States and the European Community as the main aggressor in Bosnia. [ Page A10. ]
Under threat of additional but unspecified economic sanctions, the European ministers also demanded the immediate withdrawal of the Yugoslav army from Bosnia, or its "dismantling." The wording was intended to discourage a process Serbia initiated after earlier demands for the army's withdrawal, the transfer of as many as 80 per cent of the army's troops, amounting to about 30,000 men, along with much of their equipment, to irregular Serbian units that have been fighting alongside the army.
But with one Bosnian cease-fire after another having been violated almost as soon as it has been proclaimed, Western diplomats in Belgrade, the Serbian and Yugoslav capital, say there may be no end to the fighting until the rival sides -- Serbs, Croats and Muslim Slavs -- exhaust themselves.
By then, the diplomats say, there may be no Bosnia and Herzegovina left to save, and the independent state proclaimed in Sarajevo in March, and recognized by the United States and the European Community in early April, may become little more than a footnote in the turbulent history of the Balkans. Goal of Serbs and Croats
Last week, at a meeting in Graz, Austria, leaders of the republic's Serbian and Croatian groups announced that they had agreed to partition Bosnia and Herzegovina. This brought them closer to what has long been seen as their objective: annexation of their respective enclaves to Serbia and Croatia.
The biggest losers in the arrangement would be the Muslim Slavs, who make up the largest group in the republic with almost half of the population. For them, partition would mean retreating into small, dispersed enclaves that would have little hope of coalescing into a viable independent state.
For the United States and the European Community, the situation represents a major diplomatic setback, since Bosnia is the archetype of the post-Communist, multi-ethnic nations that range all across eastern Europe and eastward to the Central Asian republics of the former Soviet Union. | <urn:uuid:2c994d2a-ac04-401a-820e-872daa15a75e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nytimes.com/1992/05/12/world/pessimism-is-overshadowing-hope-in-effort-to-end-yugoslav-fighting.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968236 | 744 | 2.703125 | 3 |
The show is a collection of sketches and songs inspired by the lives of the performers, and also by the writings of a Trappist Monk named Thomas Merton. Specifically, the focus is on the concept that gives this musical its title, which is all about being in the present moment in order to experience life more fully.
However, there are many things that keep us from being fully present, and the cast addresses some of these as well. Bell's easily distracted onstage persona is the most obvious example, but the show suggests that it's actually events in our past that are often the largest obstacles.
Flashbacks abound, with each performer getting his or her own narrative arc. Bowen's tracks his journey into full acceptance of his identity as a gay man. Blickenstaff's revolves around her need for attention. Bell's is mostly about his fantasy life, living in his own head instead of the here and now. The most compelling journey, however, is that of Blackwell who discusses how filling up the day with activities used to be her way of escaping from a home life that filled her with shame.
Bowen's music is mostly buoyant, with a 1960s pop sound as a primary influence. The songs also take full advantage of the tight harmonies this foursome can create.
The musical could use a bit of trimming. For example, "The Amazing Adventures of the 'Doc' Wilbert S. Pound" is an amusing tune with an Irish sea shanty flavor to it, but it also feels out of place. The same goes for a sequence in which the cast talk about their mutual love of the movie, Tootsie.
Still, the four performers demonstrate a fierce commitment to the work, and their enthusiasm is contagious. | <urn:uuid:e02c0fbb-d3b9-4fa9-8351-106db58ab00f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theatermania.com/new-york-city-theater/reviews/03-2012/nowherethis_53060.html?cid=news-ticker | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98271 | 354 | 1.617188 | 2 |
How are war criminals prosecuted under humanitarian law?
Extract from ICRC publication "International humanitarian law: answers to your questions"
On becoming party to the Geneva Conventions, States undertake to enact any legislation necessary to punish persons guilty of grave breaches of the Conventions. States are also bound to prosecute in their own courts any person suspected of having committed a grave breach of the Conventions, or to hand that person over for judgment to another State. In other words, perpetrators of grave breaches, i.e. war criminals, must be prosecuted at all times and in all places, and States are responsible for ensuring that this is done.
Generally speaking, a States criminal laws apply only to crimes committed on its territory or by its own nationals. International humanitarian law goes further in that it requires States to seek out and punish any person who has committed a grave breach, irrespective of his nationality or the place where the offence was committed. This principle of universal jurisdiction is essential to guarantee that grave breaches are effectively repressed.
Such prosecutions may be brought either by the national courts of the different States or by an international authority. In this connection, the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwanda were set up by the UN Security Council in 1993 and 1994, respectively, to try those accused of war crimes committed during the conflicts in those countries.
Why are the humanitarian rules not always respected and violations not always repressed?
This question can be answered in various ways. Some claim that ignorance of the law is largely to blame, others that the very nature of war so wills it, or that it is because international law and therefore humanitarian law as well is not matched by an effective centralized system for implementing sanctions, among other things, because of the present structure of the international community. Be that as it may, whether in conflict situations or in peacetime and whether it is national or international jurisdiction that is in force, laws are violated and crimes committed. Yet simply giving up in the face of such breaches and halting all action that seeks to gain greater respect for humanitarian law would be far more discreditable. This is why, pending a more effective system of sanctions, such acts should be relentlessly condemned and steps taken to prevent and punish them. The penal repression of war crimes must therefore be seen as one means of implementing humanitarian law, whether at national or international level. Lastly, the international community has created a permanent International Criminal Court, which will be competent to try war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.
What is a war crime?
War crimes are understood to mean serious violations of international humanitarian law committed during international or non-international armed conflicts. Several legal texts contain definitions of war crimes, namely the Statute of the International Military Tribunal established after the Second World War in Nuremberg, the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, the Statutes and case law of the International Criminal Tribunals for the former Yugoslavia and Rwa nda, and the Statute of the International Criminal Court. Definitions of the notion of war crime are also given in the legislation and case law of various countries. It is important to note that one single act may constitute a war crime. The following acts are, among others, included in the definition of war crimes:
- wilful killing of a protected person (e.g. wounded or sick combatant, prisoner of war, civilian);
- torture or inhuman treatment of a protected person;
- wilfully causing great suffering to, or serious injury to the body or health of, a protected person;
- attacking the civilian population;
- unlawful deportation or transfer;
- using prohibited weapons or methods of warfare;
- making improper use of the distinctive red cross or red crescent emblem or other protective signs;
- killing or wounding perfidiously individuals belonging to a hostile nation or army;
- pillage of public or private property.
It should be noted that the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia has recognized that the notion of war crime under customary international law also covers serious violations committed during non-international armed conflicts. The Statute of the International Criminal Court and the Statute of the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda also include in their respective lists of war crimes those committed during internal armed conflicts. | <urn:uuid:09120caa-63fb-4276-abd8-3ec8b3eace0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.icrc.org/eng/resources/documents/misc/5kzmnu.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941442 | 863 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Jersey State Board of Education
In 1994, the State Board initiated a strategic planning
process for education reform in the state. After two years of public
input, the State Board and the Commissioner of Education adopted the Strategic
Plan for Systemic Improvement of Education in New Jersey. The plan,
reviewed and updated annually, determines the activities designed to
achieve the states education goals. For example, the State Board
has taken action on the following major initiatives:
Adopted statewide Core Curriculum Content Standards
in May 1996 which define a thorough education and form the basis
for the new statewide school funding system.
Created an equivalency and waiver process to allow
for flexibility among districts by granting relief where code seems
Adopted code for the operation of charter schools
and inter-district school choice.
Adopted code on continuing education for teachers.
Code requires at least 100 hours of state-approved professional development
activities every five years.
Adopted code to implement the comprehensive standards
and assessment program that has formed the basis for education-based
reform in the state.
Evaluated and reviewed the state licensure code.
Adopted graduation requirements to coincide with
Core Curriculum Content Standards.
Adopted code to ensure that the provisions of the
No Child Left Behind Act are implemented in New Jersey.
Assisted the State-operated school districts to
reverse a cycle of failure, help them achieve state school monitoring
standards and return to local control. | <urn:uuid:2111ca80-9685-46e4-9d83-af05e624b723> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nj.gov/education/sboe/boe/accomp.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916194 | 309 | 2.90625 | 3 |
The Wikicollecting Top 10 Most Expensive Albert Einstein Memorabilia Wikicollecting.org takes a look at the most valuable and important items of Einstein memorabilia everv sold, from an xray of his head to the letter that gave birth to the Atomic Bomb....
News-Antique.com - Oct 07,2011 - 10) Skull X-ray
The first item on the list is also the most unusual. Many people have wondered what went on inside Einstein’s head, but one particular collector paid $38,750 to find out when they bought a 1945 medical x-ray of his skull during a Julien’s auction in December 2010.
9) Einstein’s most famous photograph
Einstein’s fame stems from his brilliant scientific theories, but he is also one of history’s most instantly recognisable faces due in part to a famous photograph. The image, which depicts him with wild tufted hair and his tongue sticking out, was taken by photographer Arthur Sasse on Einstein’s 72nd birthday.
Einstein liked the photograph so much he requested nine copies for himself, gifting many to friends. A signed copy which he dedicated to the CBS and ABC journalist Howard K. Smith sold during an RR Auction sale in June 2009 for $74,324.
8) Six questions letter
In October 1948 Einstein answered a letter from the writer Milton M. James, who had asked him his opinion on international political matters and the development of the atomic bomb. Einstein’s answers reveal his belief that scientists bear no responsibility for the use of their discoveries, along with his thoughts on racial prejudice in the United States and the strengths and weaknesses of democracy.
His fascinating answers were contained in a letter, which was subsequently sold at a Christie’s auction in December 2006 for a price of $89,741.
7) Special Theory of Relativity manuscript
Many people have struggled to understand the Special Theory of Relativity, none more so than Einstein’s close friend and Long Island neighbour David Rothman. One afternoon in 1939, whilst sat talking together on the porch, Rothman asked Einstein to explain the theory to him in the simplest possible terms.
Einstein responded with a series of diagrams and notes which detailed his theory without using mathematics, and the highly rare manuscript (one of only four known to exist on the theory) sold during a Christie’s auction in June 2008 for a price of $230,500.
6) Unified field theory manuscript
From around 1923 until the end of his life, Einstein was devoted to the study of a Unified Field Theory which would allow many of his scientific theories to be united and described in a single field. Although his struggle proved unsuccessful, his work on the subject inspired a number of physicists whose quest to discover the field continues to this day.
A Christie’s auction in February 2009 saw a rare unpublished Einstein manuscript on the subject sell for $230,500.
5) Thoughts on religion letter
In January 1954 Einstein wrote to the philosopher Eric Gutkind, in reply to receiving his book about religion. In the letter, Einstein describes religion as “childish superstition”, the Bible a collection of “honourable, but still primitive legends” and denounces the idea that the Jews are God’s favoured people (despite being Jewish himself).
The letter is one of the most personally revealing Einstein manuscripts to ever sell at auction, and reached a price | <urn:uuid:14b8d135-0cb8-45ec-935b-40817927c411> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news-antique.com/?id=800472&keys=einstein-most-expensive-memorabilia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971917 | 716 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Game for Exercising and Enhancing your Mental Activities
This is very interesting app.
Whiz Puzzle is a game for exercising and enhancing your mental activities along with having fun. It has three puzzles in it. Math Square is a puzzle that requires formation of mathematical equations, the aim is to work out where each number goes to solve the equations. This game has three challenges to make it triple fun and comes in a range of sizes from 2 x 2, 3 x 3 & 4 x4. Word Search displays a matrix of characters, where you have to find the hidden words given at bottom of the matrix. Select the word by touching the starting character and drag your finger to complete the word. If the word selected is correct, it will highlight that word.Cross Word is displayed in the form of rectangular grid of white and shaded squares. The goal is to fill the white squares with letters, forming words, which lead to the answers. The answer words are placed in the grid from left to right and from top to bottom. Questions are given below the grid and beginning of each word is marked with a number in the square. | <urn:uuid:798758e6-0361-4c2b-86dd-a42af1a95de5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://modmymobile.com/forums/479-android-apps-talk/565273-game-exercising-enhancing-your-mental-activities.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94726 | 229 | 2.359375 | 2 |
About this title:
Written nearly fifty years ago, at a time when the world was still wrestling with the concepts of Marx and Lenin, The Illusion of the Epoch is the perfect resource for understanding the roots of Marxism-Leninism and its implications for philosophy, modern political thought, economics, and history.
About Liberty Fund:
Liberty Fund, Inc. is a private, educational foundation established to encourage the study of the ideal of a society of free and responsible individuals.
© 1962 by H. B. Acton. The copyright to this edition, in both print and electronic forms, is held by H.B. Acton’s estate. It is reproduced here by permission and may not be reproduced in any form without written permission.
Fair use statement:
This material is put online to further the educational goals of Liberty Fund, Inc. Unless otherwise stated in the Copyright Information section above, this material may be used freely for educational and academic purposes. It may not be used in any way for profit. | <urn:uuid:f1cd2b77-191e-40dc-af0e-25966b390b8b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oll.libertyfund.org/?option=com_staticxt&staticfile=show.php%3Ftitle=877&Itemid=27 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.906251 | 208 | 1.992188 | 2 |
Heart disease is a term that refers to the heart’s inability to function normally. Many forms of this disease exist and its causes are varied.
The damage of heart disease is furthered by high cholesterol. Once heart disease begins, cracks in the blood vessels walls begin to appear, most often near the heart. In an effort to prevent anymore damage, the body will begin to deposit fatty substances such as cholesterol and lipoproteins to repair the cracks. This may lead to more problems as the blood vessels may clog and narrow, preventing adequate blood to get to the heart and other parts of the body.
Lack of vitamin C is also damaging to your cardiovascular system. Vitamin C is important as it prevents blood vessel walls from cracking. Without it, the fatty substances used to patch the crack may prevent blood from going through the body, and may cause a heart attack or stroke.
Types of Heart Diseases
The most commonly found forms of heart disease are coronary heart disease, ischaemic heart disease, pulmonary heart disease, congenital heart disease, hyper tensive heart disease, inflammatory heart disease, and valvular heart disease.
Some forms of heart disease are attributed to congenital reasons such as heart valve malfunctions, the electrical rhythm of the heart going out of sync, alcoholic cardiomyopathy, aortic regurgitation, and a family history of heart attacks and heart failure.
Causes of Heart Disease
Known major causes of heart disease include obesity, smoking, hypertension, diabetes and a sedentary lifestyle. Other causes include menopause in women, being aged 65 and older, and also infection of the artery walls.
Heart disease can also be caused by congenital defects, inflammation, as well as viral, bacterial, fungal, or parasitic damage to the heart. Some genetic or autoimmune disorders in which cellular proteins in heart muscles are misused by the body or disrupt enzymes can also cause cardiac distress.
Other diseases may be precursors to heart disease. These include atherosclerosis, dermatomyositis, Friedrich’s ataxia, hemochromatosis, Kawasaki disease, and Paget’s bone disease. Although rare, rheumatic fever and syphilis can also cause heart disease.
Common Symptoms of Heart Disease
While symptoms are not always clear, there are some symptoms you should be wary of. This includes heaviness or pressure on the chest, unexplained dizziness or nausea, shortness of breath, back or shoulder pain, irregular or fast heartbeats, and excessive heart palpitations. If experiencing any of these, see your doctor as soon as possible.
Diagnosing Heart Disease
Heart disease should be a concern, and discussing it with a doctor is strongly advised, especially if there is a known family history or some lifestyle risks that are strong factors. Those with high blood pressure or cholesterol, frequent loss of breath, heavy smoking or drinking, obesity, inactivity and diabetes are good reasons to have heart disease tests performed.
Cure for Heart Disease
Once diagnosed with heart disease, doctors will most likely recommend lifestyle changes that may include more frequent exercise, healthier diets, and avoidance of alcohol and tobacco smoke. If these don’t improve current conditions, medication will be employed. The last resort is most often surgery.
While there are a variety of treatments for heart disease, there are no cures. Many theories have been suggested, but so far, none have proven to be reliable.
Cellular therapy, however, is revealing itself to be a possible cure for heart disease, and many are researching its potential benefits. The reason is that cellular products have great potential for repairing any damaged or diseased tissues in the body. Cellular products include bone marrow stem cells and peripheral blood, and also come from myoblasts from skeletal muscle cells. This method is a potential treatment for congestive heart failure and ischemic heart disease.
Current research continues to show promising results, and with the results of current treatment methods, a cure may be a reality in the future.
Treatment methods should be discussed with a physician, and keep in mind that many of the medications are available through prescription. If lifestyle changes and medication are not showing significant changes, surgery may be required. Like the treatments, there are many surgeries that are minimally invasive and require very small recovery times.
Heart disease is preventable as long as one consistently makes good lifestyle choices, such as regular exercise, consuming low sodium and fat diets, and avoiding alcohol and smoking are among these choices. After all, prevention is a step in the right direction. | <urn:uuid:7e7b1591-4460-4e4a-b17d-d29fc3b38653> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.startchallengetool.com/tag/inflammatory-heart-disease/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936749 | 935 | 3.59375 | 4 |
Lox/LH2 propellant rocket stage. Loaded/empty mass 770,835/63,480 kg. Thrust 8,265.26 kN. Vacuum specific impulse 425 seconds. Version for Saturn C-8.
No Engines: 8.
Status: Study 1960.
More... - Chronology...
Gross mass: 770,835 kg (1,699,400 lb).
Unfuelled mass: 63,480 kg (139,940 lb).
Height: 42.68 m (140.02 ft).
Diameter: 10.06 m (33.00 ft).
Span: 10.06 m (33.00 ft).
Thrust: 8,265.26 kN (1,858,104 lbf).
Specific impulse: 425 s.
Specific impulse sea level: 306 s.
Burn time: 338 s.
J-2 Rocketdyne lox/lh2 rocket engine. 1033.1 kN. Study 1961. Isp=421s. Used in Saturn IVB stage in Saturn IB and Saturn V, and Saturn II stage in Saturn V. Gas generator, pump-fed. First flight 1966. More...
Associated Launch Vehicles
Saturn C-8 American orbital launch vehicle. The largest member of the Saturn family ever contemplated. Designed for direct landing of Apollo command module on moon. Configuration used eight F-1 engines in the first stage, eight J-2 engines in the second stage, and one J-2 engine in the third stage. Distinguishable from Nova 8L in use of J-2 engines instead of M-1 engines in second stage. More...
Lox/LH2 Liquid oxygen was the earliest, cheapest, safest, and eventually the preferred oxidiser for large space launchers. Its main drawback is that it is moderately cryogenic, and therefore not suitable for military uses where storage of the fuelled missile and quick launch are required. Liquid hydrogen was identified by all the leading rocket visionaries as the theoretically ideal rocket fuel. It had big drawbacks, however - it was highly cryogenic, and it had a very low density, making for large tanks. The United States mastered hydrogen technology for the highly classified Lockheed CL-400 Suntan reconnaissance aircraft in the mid-1950's. The technology was transferred to the Centaur rocket stage program, and by the mid-1960's the United States was flying the Centaur and Saturn upper stages using the fuel. It was adopted for the core of the space shuttle, and Centaur stages still fly today. More...
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© / Conditions for Use | <urn:uuid:052c18f1-2b18-4d8a-a84d-cc01e0320c32> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.astronautix.com/stages/satnsii8.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900377 | 544 | 2.703125 | 3 |
A recent study showed that people who drank tea for more than 10 years also had a reduction in body fat.
Green tea is loaded with an antioxidant called epigallocatechin gallete, which not only stops the growth of cancer cells but kills them as well. This property also lowers cholesterol levels and prevents the formation of blood clots, which can lead to heart attacks and stroke.
Green tea is so effective in promoting good health because of how it is made. The steaming process stops the EGCG property from being oxidized the way it is through the preparation of other teas.
Many of the weight-loss supplements on the market include green tea or green tea extract in their formula. According to a finding at the University of Geneva in Switzerland, research indicated that men who consumed a combination of caffeine and green tea extract burned more calories than those individuals burned more calories than those who took just caffeine or a placebo. | <urn:uuid:f3a5fd08-f01e-46db-b194-dbd22e0cd1f2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mydailymoment.com/diet_and_fitness/other/green_tea.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965112 | 188 | 2.15625 | 2 |
What is Showmanship?
A good showman is a person that can effectively present an animal in such a way as to enhance its best characteristics. In showmanship, you are judged on your abilities to both control and present your animal, and how you and your animal can work together as a team. Advance planning and practice are the keys to becoming a good showman. Dairy goat showmanship not only generates enthusiasm in the show ring, but also teaches many valuable lessons that can be used in daily life.
These lessons include:
- Learning about work and determination to reach a goal
- Winning graciously, and losing with dignity.
In Showmanship, your job is to accentuate the positive and downplay the negative.
Have a positive attitude! Be confident that you are showing the animal well, and to the best of your ability. Don’t get discouraged by an uncooperative animal, or more experienced showman in your class. Listen to the judge’s reasons for the placings and learn from those reasons. Leave the ring with pride and confidence, and always shake the judge’s hand and thank them for the experience. If you tried, and did your very best, you are a winner!
Change sides by crossing over to the front of your goats, NEVER cross behind the goat. Watch the Judge for hand signals and/or verbal commands. Stand; never kneel behind your goat. When not walking, the animal should be immediately set up in a correct show stance. A correct show stance is one where the animal’s legs are placed squarely underneath it. Set up the end of the goat nearest the judge first, meaning, if the judge is standing at the head of the line, looking at the front of your goat, then set up the front legs first. If the judge is near the end of the line, then the rear legs would be set up first.
Place the front legs in a natural stance, perpendicular to the ground. Place the feet so that the legs are parallel to each other, no wider than the chest floor. Place the rear legs so that the hocks are directly below the pin bones, with the rear cannon perpendicular to the ground. Don’t over spread the
rear legs. You can level the topline of your goat by “teasing” the goat in the loin. You simply put slight pressure on either side of the loin with your fingers, pressing down just in front of the hip bones.
Excessive handling of your goat will draw attention to its weaknesses, so set your goat up quickly and leave it alone.
50 points Showmanship AbilityThis consists of following such basic rules as keeping the goat between the exhibitor and the judge, walking at a normal pace, changing sides by crossing in front of the animal, etc. Basically, these 50 points are based on your knowledge of the animal and correct ring procedure, and how well you and the animal work together as a team.
40 points Grooming of the Animal
Includes the overall appearance of the animal in regards to health and condition, as well as cleanliness and proper clipping and grooming.
10 points Appearance of Exhibitor
Based on the neatness and appropriateness of grooming and attire of the show person. | <urn:uuid:21f9ec6a-45d1-400e-910d-4a2e0ca85e06> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americangoatsociety.com/education/showmanship.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957659 | 672 | 3.109375 | 3 |
The artist simply reveals, he doesn't explain. Freud tried to figure this out because he felt it very important to understand what makes a creative person tick. And he said that he had failed. In other words, I don't think that the artist is a scientist; he's almost the antithesis of the scientist. He cannot explain, he can only state. He makes a poetic statement, and the psychiatrist figures out why that is a universal truth. The psychiatrist tells people why they behave the way they do; the artist tells how they behave. | <urn:uuid:2b05f011-4c6b-4854-9bd3-0d4942a32ac5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.quoteland.com/rate/William-Eastlake-Quotes/7381/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985699 | 110 | 1.929688 | 2 |
(AP) -- Thousands of people have been placed under quarantine in a town in northwest China after a man died of pneumonic plague and 11 others were confirmed infected with the deadly lung infection, health authorities said.
The 32-year-old herdsman died in Ziketan in Qinghai province, the provincial health bureau said in a statement posted on its Web site Saturday. It did not say when he died.
Most of the others infected are relatives of the deceased and are in stable condition in a hospital, the bureau said.
The town of 10,000 people has been placed under quarantine and a team of experts has been sent to the area, it said.
Pneumonic plague is spread through the air and can be passed from person to person through coughing, according to the World Health Organization. It is caused by the same bacteria that occurs in bubonic plague - the Black Death that killed an estimated 25 million people in Europe during the Middle Ages.
While bubonic plague - which is usually transmitted by flea bite - can be treated with antibiotics if diagnosed early, pneumonic plague is one of the deadliest infectious diseases. According to the WHO, humans can die within 24 hours of infection.
The Qinghai health bureau statement warned that anyone who has visited Ziketan and surrounding areas since July 16 and has developed a fever or a cough should seek treatment at a hospital.
©2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
Explore further: Little evidence for prediction rules for low back pain | <urn:uuid:d77709a3-7d6c-4fcd-91a0-c4986f05634c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://phys.org/news168412915.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968347 | 320 | 1.960938 | 2 |
That job, leading, is often lost on politicians while risk-taking business leaders are happy to pick up the slack. Pundits all around the political spectrum are bemoaning the lack of leadership in Washington, DC. There is a lot of fuss over missed opportunities to boost clean energy technologies and wean ourselves off of foreign oil. Many clean energy advocates fear that passage of Proposition 23 in California, which could cause the suspension of AB 32, could not only kill developing technologies, but would leave us with even more pollution and environmental problems in the long term
But regardless what happens or does not happen in November, plenty of evidence suggests that we are in the early stages—a Wild West, dare we say, of an energy revolution. You only have to look at Silicon Valley, a region that has taken it in the shins numerous times over the years, only to dust itself off and reinvent itself, as transformed from agriculture to defense contractors . . . to semiconductors and then dot-com to dot-bomb, only to find a spark in clean energy and other technologies. Many of these entrepreneurs have failed more than once, but are able to bounce back.
And that is the difference between entrepreneurs, business and social, and politicians. Leaders of a business and even a non-profit can hit a snag, perhaps even flop, but then recover, unfazed by the fact they followed the wrong strategy. Politicians, however, often feel they cannot make that choice—one wrong decision and they or their party could be tossed out the next election cycle. Therefore, politicians are often risk adverse, as Byron Kennard, Executive Director of the Center for Small Business and Environment, mused in a recent article.
Politicians need votes, which is why they often mute their core beliefs and often try to please all sides. There is the tale of the northeastern congressman who voted for every tax cut but also for every spending program. When asked why he would vote that way, he just answered, “Because I can.” Or because he felt he had to. Entrepreneurs, on the other hand, at some point have to answer to the bottom line, or their company—and the livelihoods of others—could be adversely affected.
Which leads us to clean, renewable, alternative energy—however you want to phrase it. If you believe in peak oil, or the science in global warming, or that the pace of energy consumption cannot keep up with the growing global demand, you would think something has to be done. But there is a cost. Even free-market espousing The Economist, the editors of which want to see something done about this risk—point out that such a cost would be 1% of the world’s economic production.
And therein lies the problem: few politicians in the US wants to tell his constituents that at some point, well—let me just quote Kennard:
Entrepreneurs embrace risk while politicians – most of them – are risk-adverse. Or, maybe, to be fair I should rephrase this observation to state that entrepreneurs can afford to take risks that politicians cannot. Too many voters crave reassurance that cheap and abundant energy will be available always and forever, and too many politicians are ready, willing and able to provide it. (“Drill baby, drill!”).
Too many politicians embrace clean tech when they are lame ducks or have nothing to lose, like Charlie Crist and Mark Sanford. Others run away from the topic when it seemed too volatile, like Al Gore in 2000 and John Kerry in 2004.
The passing of Prop 23 would be a setback, but could be a bump in the road on the way towards energy independence. If oil spikes in price again, and these technologies could scale, become cost effective, and improve—and some would argue they already are—we would have to thank such entrepreneurs, who are masterful at pursuing their dreams and goals while many around them say it cannot be done. | <urn:uuid:4d915bec-7491-42c5-bad3-8182c3211342> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.triplepundit.com/2010/09/entrepreneurs-to-politicians/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973259 | 812 | 1.773438 | 2 |
A Club Refutes the Myth Black People Don’t Ski
By LIZ LEYDEN
QUEENSBURY, N.Y. — It was nearly time for lessons to begin, but Marcel and Kwesi could not be found. The West Mountain ski school director hurried into the rental shop looking for the missing students. Other members of the Nubian Empire Ski Club filled the benches, snapping stiff buckles into place.
Omoye Cooper, the club’s president, stood among the bent bodies, sorting tickets and fielding questions, including this latest: Where were Marcel and Kwesi?
Ms. Cooper pointed out the window toward the base lodge.
“You’ll see them,” she said, laughing. “They’re probably the only brown boys in there.”
At the small mountain about an hour north of Albany, the faces buried beneath helmets and neck gaiters were mostly white. But scattered among them were the Nubians, whose mission is to coax more African-Americans onto skis.
When Phil Littlejohn moved to the Albany area around 2001, he immediately saw what was missing. Mr. Littlejohn, 74, who first skied in the Poconos when he was 28, had joined black ski clubs wherever he lived.
“In Albany, there was no black ski club, and this is the gateway to ski country,” he said. The problem, he said, was “lack of exposure.”
“So many African-Americans don’t know what a great, great addition to their life skiing becomes,” he said.
In 2001, he and a skiing novice, Peggie Allen, persuaded a dozen people who had never skied to try. They named the group in honor of the black people of southern Egypt, and so began what Mr. Littlejohn described as a “labor of love.”
The Nubian Empire Ski Club, which is based in Albany, has since grown to more than 40 members: experts and beginners, first graders and retirees, professors and accountants. They have skied most mountains in New York and as far away as Chamonix-Mont-Blanc in the French Alps.
This season, despite a lack of snow, the club’s youth program has drawn nine participants. On a recent Sunday they gathered on the bunny trail at West Mountain for their second lesson of the season. Brown grass edged the trails, but no one seemed to mind, soon caught up in the silly language of learning: Pizza stop. Duck walk. Sit low to slow.
“Do you remember when we couldn’t even turn?” one little girl shouted to the boy beside her. “When we used to fall and fall?”
Nisha Thomas, a 31-year-old employee in the state comptroller’s office, was one of three adults in the group of beginners. That Ms. Thomas ignored an oncoming cold to do so was as surprising to her as was the fact that she let Ms. Cooper, her mother-in-law, talk her into skiing at all.
“I’m from the Caribbean,” said Ms. Thomas, who lives in Albany. “I didn’t grow up dreaming about snow. I think this club helps because it’s a sort of mentorship.”
The Nubian Web site brims with instructions that people accustomed to winter sports take for granted, like layering on synthetic clothes and sunscreen, as well as the reason for buying water-resistant snow pants: “Your first day will acquaint your butt with the snow. Keep it warm and dry!”
Off-season, club members appear wherever they might find new recruits, visiting Kwanzaa and Juneteenth celebrations and setting up information booths in Walmarts.
When skeptics tell them “black people don’t ski,” Ms. Cooper notes that the National Brotherhood of Skiers, a black organization that formed in 1973, has 3,000 members. It has 59 member clubs, including three in New York City.
Kimberly Barksdale, executive secretary of the group, said that for people who did not grow up with snow sports, the clubs provided critical support.
“Our people in the clubs love to ski, and they also love to help others learn to,” Ms. Barksdale said. “They walk them through everything and really make sure they have a good time. And that sense of camaraderie makes it so much more likely that people stay with the sport.”
Of 67,000 skiers who responded to a question in a survey conducted by the National Ski Areas Association at the end of the 2010-11 season, 2 percent identified themselves as African-American.
Audrey Bennett, a communications professor at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, said she heard about the Nubians through word of mouth two years ago. Though her son Marcel was sure he would hate skiing, Ms. Bennett, 40, pushed him to try it. Now, Marcel, 14, races giant slalom and is applying to ski academies.
“I loved it after the first run,” he said. “I felt like I was free, like I was flying down the mountain. All my stresses disappeared.”
By noon, most everyone on the beginner slope at West Mountain had turned toward the lodge for lunch — everyone but three small children who scooted back for one more run.
“Look, they snuck back up,” Ms. Cooper said, smiling. She watched the three, remembering her own beginnings on skis.
“I wanted to conquer that hill, not let it conquer me,” she said. “And then I was going to quit.”
But it was too late. “It was too addictive,” she said.
The children snaked down the hill. Wide smiles filled their faces as they reached the bottom without falling. Before they could jump back in line, Ms. Cooper glided toward them.
“Do not go back up,” she said. “We are going in for lunch. Exit stage left. Don’t worry. We’ll be back out.” | <urn:uuid:22d0c248-468e-4cf0-bd81-9cac07bce3f9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nbs.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=103:a-club-refutes-the-myth-black-people-dont-ski&catid=86:latest-nbs-news | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974713 | 1,335 | 1.71875 | 2 |
WANEP worried over provocative language
5/3/2012 1:00:45 PM -
The West Africa Network for Peace Building (WANEP-Ghana) has expressed concern about the use of vindictive and provocative language on the Ghanaian media networks.
It said the derogatory remarks creeping into the media landscape had the potential of plunging the nation into chaos, if not checked immediately.
The National Coordinator of WANEP, Mr. Justin Bayor, said this at a media consultative workshop in Takoradi.
He appealed to the Ghana Journalists Association, the Private Newspaper Publishers Association of Ghana, and the Ghana Independent Broadcasters Association to put in place measures to ensure sanity, and professional and ethical standards in the media landscape.
Mr. Bayor said WANEP-Ghana had instituted measures in 14 violence-prone communities in northern Ghana to avert violence during the elections in December.
He mentioned some of the communities as Bawku, Bimbila,Gushiegu, Bupui and W, and said the non-governmental organisation (NGO) was working with youth groups and women's organisations to identify early warning signals to avert violence.
It said the NGO had instituted a project dubbed 'Media Responsibility Project (MEREP)' to sensitise and educate media practitioners, media managers, radio presenters, media owners and production staff on the need to avoid inflammatory language on their networks.
The project is funded by the World Association of Christian Organisations and the Germany Embassy.
Mr. Bayor said currently, media commercialisation had superseded public interest, and described it as dangerous and detrimental to the country's fledgling democracy.
He appealed to media practitioners and political party communicators to use civilised language to avert conflict.
Some participants at the workshop called for the regular training of media practitioners on the modern trends in reporting.
They said more powers should be given to the National Media Commission and National Communication Authority to sanction and withdraw licenses of defaulting media houses to ensure sanity in the media landscape. - GNA | <urn:uuid:7d809df4-b14e-43b2-ac5e-19364347a350> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.modernghana.com/news/392853/1/wanep-worried-over-provocative-language.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928599 | 419 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Just a Thought
What this series is about ... As we age, keeping physically active is essential. It not only improves the appearance of the body, it also prevents the occurrence of health complications in the future. Join the discussion in this series as we research the various programs that can help maintain a healthy body.
Part 3: Staying Young: Sleep
Wake up Australia: The value of healthy sleep
Report by Access Economics
Sleep disorders are a large and under recognised problem in Australia.
An estimate of over 1.2 million Australians (6% of the population) experienced sleep disorders at a cost of $10.3 billion in 2004. The most common disorder is Obstructive Sleep Apnoea (OSA), affecting an estimated 4% of the population, although there are over 70 other different diagnosable sleep disorders.
Insomnias are also highly prevalent, with substantial morbidity and mortality. According to Access Economics these disorders contribute to a range of other health and social problems, with substantial health and economic impacts – accidents and injuries, other chronic illnesses, production and consumption losses, and second generation effects, particularly from childhood sleep disorders. The report quantifies some of the many impacts of sleep disorders:
Sleep disorders underlie:
• 9.1% of work-related injuries;
• 8.3% of depression
• 7.6% of non work-related motor vehicle accidents (MVAs);
• 2.9% of diabetes;
• 0.9% of nephritis and nephrosis (kidney diseases); and
• 0.6% of cardiovascular disease.
The health costs of sleep disorders themselves were $200 million in 2004, of which OSA and other apnoeas are an estimated 39%. Other major components of hospital inpatient costs ($61m) are circadian rhythm disorders, sleep-related epilepsy, non-organic sleep-wake disorders, alcohol-dependent sleep disorders, sleep-related asthma, insomnias (disorders of initiating and maintaining sleep), hypnotic and stimulant dependent sleep disorders, and other specified extra-pyramidal and movement disorders (Periodic Limb Movement Disorder and Restless Legs Syndrome).
The fact that the health costs of sleep disorders are only 2% of the $10.3 billion, the total cost of these disorders to the community suggests that perhaps too little is spent in prevention and treatment that could avoid the huge “tail” of the other indirect cost impacts across society. The health costs of other health problems caused by sleep disorders are $429 million.
The total financial costs of sleep disorders ($6.2bn) represent 0.8% of GDP, $310 per Australian, and $5,175 per person with a sleep disorder in 2004. Sleep disorders impose substantial morbidity and premature mortality on the population.
In addition, sleep disorders cost nearly 40,000 years of health life each year, as measured by DALYs (disability adjusted life years).
The report Wake up Australia: The value of healthy sleep recommends priority interventions to address the current fragmented and under-resourced sleep health landscape including:
Education and awareness-raising – for community, health professionals and public policy makers, regarding the importance of good sleep hygiene and how to achieve better sleep outcomes.
Research and development – for cause, care and cure, at the basic, applied, development and delivery levels.
Cost-effective prevention, treatment and management options – identification and funding for cost-effective interventions, such as those outlined above; and
A national coordination point – the establishment of a catalysing National Sleep Health organisation with a forward national action plan.
What does sleep do for us?
A number of tasks vital to health and quality of life are linked to sleep, and these tasks are impaired when we are sleep deprived.
Learning, Memory, and Mood
Students who have trouble grasping new information or learning new skills are often advised to "sleep on it”. That advice seems well founded.
Recent studies reveal that people can learn a task better if they are well rested. They also can remember better what they learned if they get a good night's sleep after learning the task than if they are sleep deprived.
Similarly, volunteers needed to sleep at least 6 hours to show improvement in learning, and the amount of improvement was directly tied to how much time they slept. In other words, volunteers who slept 8 hours outperformed those who slept only 6 or 7 hours.
Other studies suggest that all the benefits of training for mentally challenging tasks are maximised after a good night's sleep, rather than immediately following the training or after sleeping for a short period overnight.
Many well-known artists and scientists claim to have had creative insights while they slept. Mary Shelley, for example, said the idea for her novel Frankenstein came to her in a dream. Although it has not been shown that dreaming is the driving force behind innovation, one study suggests that sleep is needed for creative problem solving. In that study, volunteers were asked to perform a memory task and then were tested 8 hours later. Those who were allowed to sleep for 8 hours immediately after receiving the task and before being tested were much more likely to find a creative way of simplifying the task and improving their performance compared to those who were awake the entire 8 hours before being tested.
Exactly what happens during sleep to improve our learning, memory, and insight is not known. Experts suspect, however, that while people sleep, they form or reinforce the pathways of brain cells needed to perform these tasks. This process may explain why sleep is needed for proper brain development in infants.
So, not only is a good night's sleep required to form new learning and memory pathways in the brain, but sleep is also necessary for those pathways to work up to speed. Several studies show that lack of sleep causes thinking processes to slow down. Lack of sleep also makes it harder to focus and pay attention. Lack of sleep can make us more easily confused. Studies also find a lack of sleep leads to faulty decision-making and more risk taking. A lack of sleep slows down our reaction time, which is particularly significant to driving and other tasks that require quick response. When people who lack sleep are tested by using a driving simulator, they perform just as poorly as people who are under the influence of alcohol. The bottom line is: not getting a good night's sleep can be dangerous!
Even if we do not have a mentally or physically challenging day ahead of us, we should still get enough sleep to put ourselves in a good mood. Most people report being irritable, if not downright unhappy, when they lack sleep. People who chronically suffer from a lack of sleep, either because they do not spend enough time in bed or because they have an untreated sleep disorder, are at greater risk of developing depression. One group of people who usually do not get enough sleep is mothers of newborns. Some experts think depression after childbirth (postpartum blues) is caused, in part, by a lack of sleep.
Sleep gives the heart and vascular system a much-needed rest. During non-REM sleep, the heart rate and blood pressure progressively slow as we enter deeper sleep. During REM sleep, the heart rate and blood pressure have boosted spikes of activity. Overall, however, sleep reduces our heart rate and blood pressure by about 10 percent.
According to some studies, if our blood pressure does not dip during sleep, we are more likely to experience strokes, chest pain (angina) an irregular heartbeat, and heart attacks. We are also more likely to develop congestive heart failure, a condition in which fluid builds up in the body because the heart is not pumping sufficiently. Failure to experience the normal dip in blood pressure during sleep can be related to insufficient sleep time, an untreated sleep disorder, or other factors.
A lack of sleep also puts the body under stress and may trigger the release of more adrenaline, cortisol, and other stress hormones during the day. These hormones contribute to the blood pressure not dipping during sleep, thereby increasing the risk for heart disease.
Inadequate sleep may also negatively affect the heart and vascular system by increased production of certain proteins thought to play a role in heart disease. For example, some studies find that people who chronically do not get enough sleep have higher blood levels of C-reactive protein. Higher levels of this protein may suggest a greater risk of developing hardening of the arteries (atherosclerosis).
Deep sleep triggers more release of growth hormone, which fuels growth in children and boosts muscle mass and the repair of cells and tissues in children and adults. The sleep effect on the release of sex hormones also encourages puberty and fertility.
A good night's sleep on a regular basis helps people from getting sick or recovering from sickness if they do get sick. During sleep, the body creates more cytokines - cellular hormones that help the immune system fight various infections. Lack of sleep can reduce the ability to fight off common infections. Research also reveals that a lack of sleep can reduce the body's response to the flu vaccine. For example, sleep-deprived volunteers given the flu vaccine produced less than half as many flu antibodies as those who were well rested and given the same vaccine.
Although lack of exercise and other factors are important contributors, the current epidemic of diabetes and obesity appears to be related, at least in part, to chronically getting inadequate sleep. Evidence is growing that sleep is a powerful regulator of appetite, energy use, and weight control. During sleep, the body's production of the appetite suppressor leptin increases, and the appetite stimulant grehlin decreases. Studies find that the less people sleep, the more likely they are likely to be overweight or obese and prefer eating foods that are higher in calories and carbohydrates. People who report an average total sleep time of 5 hours a night are, for example, more likely to become obese compared to people who sleep 7-8 hours a night.
A number of hormones released during sleep also control the body's use of energy. A distinct rise and fall of blood sugar levels during sleep appears to be linked to sleep stage. Not getting enough sleep overall or enough of each stage of sleep disrupts this pattern. One study found that, when healthy young men slept only 4 hours a night for 6 nights in a row, their insulin and blood sugar levels mimicked those seen in people who were developing diabetes. Another study found that women who slept less than 7 hours a night were more likely to develop diabetes over time than those who slept between 7 and 8 hours a night.
Australasian Sleep Research Association
The Australasian Sleep Association is the peak scientific body in Australia and New Zealand representing clinicians, scientists and researchers in the broad area of Sleep. Its many functions include the organisation of domestic and international scientific meetings, as well as acting in an advisory capacity to government and industry.
The ASA is affiliated with the World Federation of Sleep Research and Sleep Medicine Societies, http://www.sleepaus.on.net/
Project Manager and Editor, Quality4life
28 August 2006 | <urn:uuid:5d1d2840-b305-4cd6-a5ec-021543cddeb5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dlibrary.acu.edu.au/research/Quality4Life/healthyageing/archives/thought2006/thought28august2006.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95075 | 2,258 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Ferdinand Zeppelin, Graf von
Zeppelin, Ferdinand, Graf von (zĕpˈəlĭn, Ger. fĕrˈdēnänt gräf fən tsĕpˌəlēnˈ) [key], 1838–1917, German army officer and airship inventor and builder. He entered the Prussian army in 1858 and served in the Seven Weeks War and in the Franco-Prussian War. He was an observer with the Union army during the American Civil War. In 1891 he retired from the Prussian army to devote himself to the building of motor-driven airships. He invented the first rigid airship in 1900, and in 1906 built one that had a speed of 30 mi (48 km) per hr. In 1908 he established at Friederichshafen the Zeppelin Foundation for the development of aerial navigation and the manufacture of airships.
The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, 6th ed. Copyright © 2012, Columbia University Press. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:3d84f5ad-fc72-46b9-acba-11d9187f8eb6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/people/zeppelin-ferdinand-graf-von.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90244 | 222 | 3.25 | 3 |
An ARBROATH-based project supporting some of the area’s youngest children looks set to be extended.
The ‘Just Play’ project is a three year pilot partnership lead jointly by Angus Council and Tayside Police.
The initiative received funding of £350,000 from the Scottish Government’s CashBack for Communities programme – which uses funds recovered from the proceeds of crime – and operates from premises in the town.
The project has a major emphasis on play activity for children up to three years-old and targets families and young children who live in deprived or vulnerable situations.
The project encourages families to focus on purposeful play activities in the early years, which have been proven to reduce the likelihood of young people becoming involved in antisocial behaving and offending later in life.
The service has been operational in Arbroath since January, and plans are now in place to develop it in other areas of Angus including Forfar, Kirriemuir, Brechin and Montrose.
To share experiences and contribute to the development of the initiative across Angus, children’s services staff from the public, private and voluntary sector met in Brechin last Wednesday.
It is hoped the event enhanced joint working in this area.
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Weather for Arbroath
Sunday 26 May 2013
Temperature: 8 C to 17 C
Wind Speed: 17 mph
Wind direction: South west
Temperature: 8 C to 12 C
Wind Speed: 22 mph
Wind direction: South | <urn:uuid:29816f4f-2926-40f1-b0df-1caf9db1a32a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.arbroathherald.co.uk/news/local-headlines/just-play-scheme-to-be-extended-1-2644997 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942691 | 320 | 1.648438 | 2 |
A film about the great 20th century sculptor whose work was inspired by the cubism of the 1920s, and her life story that contains all possible dramas for a creative person living in the previous century.
How Are You Doing, Rudolf Ming?
Rudolf is 13years old boy obsessed with filmmaking. As a matter of fact, it is the only thing he is really fond of. His main interest is horror films, and he uses a special technique to make them - drawing each shot on long strips of paper. He shows the films on a slide projector with a special live soundtrack. Rudolf´s story illustrates the conflict between the imaginary world of a boy and the society surrounding him, where everybody expect him to live according to certain rules and dogmas. How does he cope with it? The biggest surprise comes when the local priest asks Rudolf to make a film to be played during the service.
Is It Easy? ...After 20 years
In 1986, Juris Podnieks, the outstanding Latvian filmmaker, made Is It easy to be young? Based on conversations he held “on equal grand” with young people who had taken their first independent steps in life. The problems they confronted were of a new nature for Soviet society at that time. With its openness the film gained tremendous success around the world. The aim of third film twenty years later is to discover what has happened to this rebellious generation. How have their lives, thoughts and attitudes changed? Through their stories we´ll see life in Latvia after twenty years of independence.
In the 1930ies a popular saying suggested to use three teaspoons of sugar in a cup of tea - one for each of the three Latvian sugar factories. In 2007 the last sugar factory got closed in Latvia as the World Trade Organization made the decision in accordance with European Union’s interests to open the market for sugar. The owners of the sugar factories in Latvia, who by that time were already mainly foreigners, refraining from further clarification and discussion in society, chose to receive the EU compensations and to close their sugar factories. The district was granted around 2 million EUR to repair the roads, popularly nicknamed "the sugar roads”. The factories were swept off the ground.Among the winners were couple of famers, who got minor compensations, then some who got really good money. But the real winners is Denmark, which is currently one of the largest sugar producers in Europe and the largest sugar importer of Latvia. Over the last 20 years we have observed that as the economy of Latvia developed, we were getting further and further away from the most important asset of any farmer – the land and the possibility to grow something and produce. So who we are now? Failed bankers and real estate brokers? Cheap labour for old EU Member States? What can we really rely on?Provoked by the discussions around the loss of the sugar industry in Latvia, we want to show the new age in the Latvian countryside through a very personal story of the director. He was born in the countryside and spent his childhood in the reality of Soviet time’s collective farm. Regaining of Latvia’s independence at the beginning of 1990s and getting back the land of the grandfather, brought a dream of having his own farm. Having it in mind, he went to study at the Agriculture College. There were 30 young guys in his group from all over Latvia and they were all dreaming about becoming farmers. Where are they now? For us this is a story on how destroying traditional lifestyle and manufacturing can destroy mentality of a whole nation.
Ham Radio Holidays
A teen in Florida makes friends over the airwaves with a ham in Germany. An aircraft engineer in Washington exchanges call signs with hams in 100 countries... Amateur radio enthusiasts come from all walks of life. Every year a radio amateurs championship takes place - 48 hours of the most intense attempts to establish contacts over radio waves. The Latvian team is among the leaders in this international competition. We will head to the competition in November 2012 to learn more about these guys in order to make seriously positive and ironic fairytale about the Latvians and their counterparts in other countries - big boys and their dream hobby. | <urn:uuid:10856ffd-ae1d-4d69-8a7e-e9b3eadec240> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dokweb.net/en/documentary-network/professionals/cilinska-antra-3353/?fromView=eeDocsList&fromId=docs&fromUrl= | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975482 | 861 | 1.78125 | 2 |
From the Dorset Echo
INSIGHTS into a traditional Traveller lifestyle were on offer at Dorchester Borough Gardens.
Traditional Gypsy caravans, crafts and music were on show at the event to mark Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month.
The day also included a baptism service for a Romany Gypsy family conducted by Reverend Roger Redding.
The free event was organised by the South West Dorset Multi-cultural Network in partnership with the ethnic minority and Traveller achievement service and community workers from NHS Dorset and the Dorset Healthcare University Foundation Trust.
West Dorset District Council’s community development officer Emma Scott said: “The aim of the day is to celebrate Gypsy Roma Traveller History Month.
“Gypsies are the largest ethnic minority group in West Dorset so this is a really nice way for people to come along and learn a bit more about a culture they don’t necessarily know very much about.”
As well as a traditional Traveller kitchen and peg making on show, the day included music from Dave Rawlins on the mandolin and storytelling from Michael Loader.
Youngsters were also given the chance to check out two Gypsy caravans, or vardos, on show and a miniature children’s caravan.
Mrs Scott said: “The kids really love them and find them enchanting and intriguing.
“People are welcome to step inside and have a look at them as well as touch the artefacts and get a feel of how life on the road really was.
“We are also doing consultation with Gypsies and Travellers to find out what their experiences are like of living in West Dorset.”
She added: “We also have displays about the history of Gypsies in Dorset and we have various displays depicting what life was like in the past for Gypsies.”
Mrs Scott also praised Dorchester Town Council for its support of the event and for allowing it to take place in the Borough Gardens.
She said: “We want to say a big thank-you to the town council who support this event and allow us to use the Borough Gardens.”
Mrs Scott said that she hoped the annual event would continue for the foreseeable future. | <urn:uuid:d4899ddd-11aa-44fe-a076-996572fc6198> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://travellerspace-gypsyroads.blogspot.com/2012/06/insight-into-travelling-life-dorset.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965036 | 471 | 1.617188 | 2 |
6 arrested in Oregon Capitol protest over logging
SALEM, Ore. (AP) - Six people have been arrested in a demonstration at the Oregon state Capitol.
Two of the demonstrators climbed flag poles Monday and attached homemade banners protesting plans to increase logging on state land.
The others were arrested more than three hours after they chained themselves together Monday in the offices of Secretary of State Kate Brown and State Treasurer Ted Wheeler.
Several dozen other demonstrators remained in the building throughout the day, singing songs that echoed through the building.
Wheeler, Brown and Gov. John Kitzhaber make up the State Land Board, which angered environmentalists last year with a plan to increase logging in the Elliott State Forest.
The timber industry has said the plan will create new jobs and boost school funding, but conservation groups say it would harm fish and wildlife. | <urn:uuid:47758e00-b287-49b4-85fd-40b6bd06ff5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wfls.com/6-arrested-in-Oregon-Capitol-protest-over-logging/12543835?archive=1&pid=249009 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93934 | 171 | 1.601563 | 2 |
- FrontPage Magazine - http://frontpagemag.com -
Feminist Hawk: Now is Not the Time for Women To Go to Sleep
Posted By Feminist Hawk On February 28, 2010 @ 12:48 pm In NewsReal Blog | No Comments
When Jenn Q. Public told me about the subject of her newest post I was livid. I could just feel my talons sliding out instinctively as she explained the story and I gave her my blessing to proceed with it.
Such wealthy, comfortable pseudo-feminists as Naomi Wolf and Arianna Huffington are so narcissistic that they cannot see beyond their own bed posts.
As Jenn wrote:
Young girls in Yemen are forced into marriages with adult men, lesbians in South Africa face “corrective rape,” and women throughout the Muslim world suffer indignity, violence, and death under Sharia law. But that’s not the sort of horrific oppression interrupting Wolf’s beauty rest.
The “next big issue” women need to address, says Wolf, is lack of sleep.
“If you ask us, the next feminist issue is sleep. And in order for women to get ahead in this country, we’re all going to have to lie down and take a nap.”
These women are not feminists. They are not fighting for oppressed women. They’re not advocating for equal rights so that women can pursue their self-destiny. They’re acting like ungrateful, spoiled children who do not appreciate what the true feminists who came before them were instrumental in achieving in this country over the course of the 20th century.
There’s still plenty of sexism in this country and problems that women face. But these issues pale in comparison to the Islamic gender apartheid that victimizes hundreds of millions of women across the world every day.
So the question that true feminists — both men and women — must ask is this: are they going to fight for their own comfort and privilege or for the very survival of their sisters across the world?
We already know Wolf and Huffington’s answer.
Article printed from FrontPage Magazine: http://frontpagemag.com
URL to article: http://frontpagemag.com/2010/feminist-hawk/feminist-hawk-now-is-not-the-time-for-women-to-go-to-sleep/
Copyright © 2009 FrontPage Magazine. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:4cc64276-7924-44d2-a525-1d0941d9ce7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://frontpagemag.com/2010/feminist-hawk/feminist-hawk-now-is-not-the-time-for-women-to-go-to-sleep/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946327 | 514 | 1.625 | 2 |
- Last Updated: 3:44 AM, November 13, 2012
- Posted: 10:06 PM, November 12, 2012
President Obama’s re-election and Democratic gains in the US Senate end any possibility of repealing the Obama health law. It will roll out as written, imposing major changes soon on you and your family. If you are uninsured because you can’t afford it, help may be on the way. But if you are one of the 250 million Americans with coverage, there are big problems ahead.
If you get your health insurance through a job, you might lose it as of Jan. 1, 2014. That’s when the new “employer mandate” kicks in, requiring employers with 50 or more full-time workers to provide the government-designed health plan or pay a fine. The government plan is so expensive, it adds $1.79 per hour to the cost of a full-time employee. That’s incidental if you're hiring neurosurgeons but a hefty increase for hiring busboys and sales clerks.
Currently, employers in retail and fast-food industries pay less than half that to cover their workers.To avoid thecostly mandate,some employers will push workers into part-time status. Other employers will opt for the fine. Either way, workers lose their on-the-job coverage.
Worse, they risklosingtheir jobs.Even the fine adds 98 cents an hour to the cost of labor, enough to make some employers cut back on their workforce.
As many as a third of employers are considering canceling coverage, according to McKinsey & Co. management consultants. But that doesn’t mean you’ll be uninsured; you won’t have that choice.
When you file your taxes, you will have to show proof that you are enrolled in the one-size-fits-all plan approved by the federal government. It’s mandatory, starting Jan. 1, 2014, or the IRS will withhold your refund. If you’ve been going without insurance, or your employer drops coverage, your options will be enrolling in Medicaid (if you’re eligible) or buying a government-approved health plan on your state health exchange.
What’s an insurance exchange? It’s like a supermarket that only sells cereal. The exchange will sell only the government-designed plan. In most states, exchanges will be an 800 number, a Web site and a government office, like the DMV. People with household incomes up to $92,200 will be eligible for a subsidy.
If you’re a senior or a baby boomer, expect less care than in the past. Cuts to future Medicare funding pay for more than half the Obama health law. Hospitals, for example, will have $247 billion less to care for same number of seniors than if the law had not passed. Hospitals will spread nurses thinner. California nurses already are striking over the increased workloads.
When Medicare cuts led hospitals to reduce nursing care in the past, elderly patients had a lower chance of surviving their stay and death rates from heart attacks rose, according to a report last year by the National Bureau of Economic Research.
For the first time in history, the federal government will control how doctors treat privately insured patients. Section 1311 of the law empowers the Secretary of Health and Human Services to standardize what doctors do. Even if you have a private plan from Cigna or Aetna and you paid for it yourself, the federal government will have some say over your doctors’ decisions, with an eye toward reducing health-care consumption.
If you sell your house and make a profit, you’ll likely be paying a new 3.8 percent tax on the gain. The law includes about half a trillion dollars in tax hikes, including a new 3.8 percent tax on gains from selling any asset, including your home, small business, stocks or bonds, effective Jan. 1, 2013. That’s on top of capital-gains taxes and applies to any profit that pushes your income over $200,000.
These changes are spelled out in the 2,572-page law, but many more changes will be imposed by regulations yet to be written. The Obama administration is adding federal workers at a rapid pace to churn out and enforce new rules. The government’s own projections say the cost of health-care administration — bureaucrats telling doctors and patients what to do — will soar from $29 billion when President Obama was first elected to $71 billion by 2020, some $40 billion dollars a year more in bureaucracy.
What a shame: That’s enough money to buy private health plans for fully half of all Americans who are now uninsured because they can’t afford it.
Betsy McCaughey, author of the new book “Decoding the Obama Health Law,” is a former lieutenant governor of New York.Follow @NYPostOpinion | <urn:uuid:09bccb57-5f54-4943-909b-79a5a03fb175> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nypost.com/p/news/opinion/opedcolumnists/beware_obamacare_now_reality_YT42eCrsbtZC3KbDONGm4O | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941505 | 1,030 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Environmental groups call for more protected zones off East Antarctica
Thirty environmental groups on Thursday issued a joint appeal for upcoming talks on establishing protected zones in the seas off East Antarctica to widen the scope of the marine haven.
TheAntarctic Ocean Alliance (AOA), gathering WWF, Greenpeace, Oceans 5 and other groups, said the plan had to be expanded given the importance of Antarctica's biodiversity.
”We are calling on (the meeting) to support the establishment of the world's largest network of marine reserves and marine protected areas in the ocean around Antarctica as a legacy for future generations, said AOA chief Steve Campbell.
Twenty-four countries plus the European Union are to take part in a meeting in Hobart, Tasmania of the Commission for the Conservation of Antarctic Marine Living Resources, or CCAMLR.
Running from Tuesday until November 1, the meeting will debate proposals by Australia, France and the EU to set up a protected marine habitat off the coast of East Antarctica.
AOA said it was lobbying for additional areas to be added to this, including the East India and Prydz Gyre seamounts.
The region is home to big populations of penguins, seals and whales and also has unique seafloor features that nurture early links in the food chain, it said.
The CCAMLR was set up in 1982 with the goal of conserving Antarctic marine life in the face of rising demands to exploit krill, a key component in the ecosystem. It permits fishing provided it is carried out in a sustainable manner and takes account of the effects of fishing on other components of the ecosystem”. | <urn:uuid:d7ce8f56-f1cf-40f6-8387-4d7efa9a04f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.mercopress.com/2012/10/19/environmental-groups-call-for-more-protected-zones-off-east-antarctica | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927123 | 330 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Snoopy and the Red Baron are making a comeback. Or at least the biplanes the two comic strip characters are associated with.
Albany-based artist Tyler Hoare has been delighting motorists on the Eastshore Freeway for years with his sculptures of the two World War I-era planes, and he will install a new version of the aircraft on Saturday at the Emeryville mud flats next to the Chevy's restaurant at 1890 Powell St.
The installation will take place from 1 to 3 p.m. Volunteers are welcome.
"The last one, my wife got mad at me because I didn't do anything for the volunteers," Hoare said. "So this time we'll go over (afterward) and have a taco and a beer."
The Berkeley resident, who has his studio in Albany, knows the drill by now.
"When I did this the first time in 1975, I was 35 years old. Now I'm 72. I can almost do it by myself. I always like to have somebody come along in case I fall in."
The Red Baron and Sopwith Camel planes each measure about 12 by 10 by 6 feet, and last about five years, according to Hoare. He normally has the planes facing south but this time will have them facing each other in a midair dogfight.
"The Red Baron will be facing the dock," Hoare said. "The Sopwith will be facing out to sea."
Hoare installed the first planes in 1975 on the remains of an old pier. There were about 20 old wood posts in the water back then, giving him plenty of opportunities to install his whimsical
He has put the Red Baron and the Sopwith Camel out there several times, as well as a collection of pirate ships and a ship known as the "Chinese junk."
Hoare said there are now just three posts left in the water and that he doesn't expect them to survive more than another five years.
The same natural forces destroying the pier are the ones that ultimately destroy his artwork. Which is part of the point.
Whatever Hoare puts out on the water is made of recycled materials and installed with the knowledge that it might last a week, or several years.
"What I'm doing is No. 32," he said. "That's how many boats and airplanes have gone out on the Bay. It's been the Chinese junk, pirate ships, there've been a dozen airplanes. The planes will last five years. The ships will last a week because of the wave action."
At the Emeryville location, "That post is right in line with the Golden Gate Bridge, so you're getting the wave action of the ocean, not the Bay."
The artist, who also has a plane hanging at Albany High School, has collected plenty of stories over the years. His first installation was stolen, which led restaurateur Joe Scoma to invite Hoare to the establishment he owned on the property at the time.
Scoma offered to buy a piece and have it put back out on the water, promising to make sure nobody stole it.
There was also the mallard duck Hoare created for Club Mallard in Albany. The owner allowed Hoare to drink free at the club, so the artist wanted to return the favor.
The artist built an 8-by 8-foot mallard and installed it near Golden Gate Fields for the owner's birthday. Hoare then arranged for a limousine to pick up the owner and drive him by.
Unfortunately, by the time the limo arrived, the waves had destroyed the duck. So, Hoare built another one and this time made sure that it was installed just before the limo arrived.
"That was a case when it didn't even last one day," he recalled.
When a local politician put a sign on one of his sculptures, Hoare called him and suggested that locals might find it obnoxious that he used the artwork in such a crass way. The sign was gone the next day.
Hoare does art for other purposes. He just sent a piece to the Peninsula Art Museum and has another ready for the San Mateo County Fair.
So why does Hoare keep returning to the Red Baron and the Sopwith Camel?
"I couldn't tell you where the World War I thing came," he said. "When I was thinking about that post, I was thinking a banana. No, no, no."
Instead, he went with the plane. He hasn't quite put (as the song goes) "10, 20, 30, 40, 50 or more" out there, but he has created an East Bay treasure. | <urn:uuid:e5fdc942-a952-4367-9792-46c9ff388f1c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marinij.com/ci_20810250/familiar-sight-returning-bay-waters | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984938 | 961 | 1.546875 | 2 |
The Museum of the Confederacy Richmond
General E. Lee’s Sword worn at the surrender meeting at the McLean House at Appomattox on April 9, 1865. Click To View Larger Photo.
The museum is home to the largest collection of confederate artifacts. The Museum of the Confederacy’s rich collection of civilian and military Civil War artifacts relating to the Confederate States of America, as well as the post-war “Lost Cause” era, is a valuable resource for the study of the role of the Confederacy in the War and in our society today. | <urn:uuid:02b67c4a-f8bd-4de3-ba87-c6f821b3da23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theartofsurgery.com/richmond-visitors-guide/the-museum-of-the-confederacy/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909845 | 120 | 2.828125 | 3 |
The image of Pakistan as 'the most dangerous nation in the world', or a 'dysfunctional democracy' dominates US media. Yet, throughout the history of Pakistan civil society structures, popular uprisings, and community mobilizations have attempted to hold regimes accountable and uphold human rights and dignity. Pakistan is the only nation to have seen a woman being elected twice as the head of an Islamic state, while rock bands to Sufi saints adorn the cultural landscape of this diverse nation, and recently has seen landmark judicial anti-discrimination decisions upholding the rights of transgender communities. 'Contraband Pakistan; Debunking the Stereotypes' features film makers, media personnel, policy, and political figures who will collectively provide an insider look into the hybrid realities of modern day Pakistan.
Kiran Khalid (ABC, CNN): is the first Pakistani-American woman in broadcast news in the United States, and lead reporter on issues related to Pakistan.
Javed Jabbar: Ex-Cabinet minister, two term senator, and media legend from Pakistan. | <urn:uuid:48445ec8-1639-4fc5-874d-8b55a9c4cacd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ticketinguide.com/i-view2010/Panel_Contraband_Pakistan_Debunking_the_Stereotypes.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913675 | 213 | 2.34375 | 2 |
Welcome to the Intel Content Locator. Use the filters on the left to explore Intel's full library of content and find the information you are looking for. Use multiple filters to further refine your view.
White paper explains how Intel strives for “Conflict Free” supply chain for metals from Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Intel’s sourcing policy and measures on conflict free minerals in the electronics supply chain from the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Learn how Intel ensures a responsible supply chain for the future with assessment and auditing, supplier diversity, conflict-free minerals, and more.
Nobody told Magdalene and Naema that girls and women aren't supposed to use the internet or learn about technology.
Intel’s community grant program supports schools and organizations near communities where Intel is located.
Highlight reel from the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF) 2010 from San Jose, California, USA.
Intel Education team trained 125 girls in Dhaka and Pabna and 450 rural kids on Intel-powered classmate PCs, using technology to inspire learning.
Operating four sites, Intel in California employees volunteered more than 275,000 hours in 2011, generating $2.1 million in matching grants.
Intel in China
Running two sites, Intel in Colorado employees volunteered 7,635 hours to schools and nonprofits in 2011, and donated $1.2 million to the United Way.
More than 2,800 employees work in Intel’s Costa Rican facility. This overview details their efforts in education and community involvement.
Intel in Ireland
Overview details how more than 44, 000 hours of Intel Israel’s volunteer efforts are focused on education and community involvement.
Intel in Malaysia
More than half of Intel’s manufacturing is in America, with facilities in eight states. Employees support non-profits and educational programs.
The Intel Involved Matching Grant Program aims to recognize and motivate Intel employees to engage in outreach and volunteerism.
Discover how women and girls inspired by access to education and technology overcome hardship and build a better future.
Discover how individuals build a better future with technology; creating the new, reinventing the familiar, and affecting change around the world.
Discover how individuals and companies using technology improve the quality of healthcare services, helping to build a better future.
Discover stories of lives transformed by innovative programs that provide education and technology solutions while helping to build a better future.
See the full list of Intel’s educational programs for K–12, higher education, and global entrepreneurs.
Intel promotes conflict-free mineral sourcing to counter violence, genocide, and exploitation associated with the electronics supply chain.
Yesenia shares her college journey successes, struggles, and the impact of her Beyond 12 coach from the Leadership Public Schools College Park.
Intel shares inspiring stories of courageous and resourceful people who address global issues with innovative ideas, helping build a better future.
Intel is helping to transform the lives of millions worldwide through education, technology, and programs that challenge and inspire. | <urn:uuid:9b15a52b-b198-4d34-84f5-5b7738dd8fe9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intel.com/content/www/us/en/contentlibrary.html?customfacets=!:Topic%2FCorporate+Information%2FCorporate+Responsibility&customfacets=!:dtopic%2FTechnology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908444 | 618 | 1.8125 | 2 |
The world loves cotton. Cotton is also a very common material used in clothing. In fact, over half of the cotton consumed in US textile mills each year is converted into apparel.
Most of the products we buy are made from conventional cotton, a very water- and toxic chemical- intensive product to cultivate. For instance, it takes approximately 400 gallons of water to grow enough conventional cotton to make a single undershirt. Cotton is known as one of the ‘dirtiest’ crops; it accounts for about a quarter of global insecticide sales and one-in-ten global pesticide sales. All in all, cotton crops are sprayed with over $2 billion worth of chemicals yearly and more than half of the chemicals sprayed are classified by the World Health Organization as hazardous.
These toxic chemicals have real consequences for the environment -- damaging soil, polluting ground and surface water, and adversely affecting the health of wildlife and insects. They also have consequences for us too as residual pesticides on our clothing can leach into our bodies and cause skin irritation.
Now I can’t speak for all of us, but when I think of irritated skin, one of the worst places to be inflicted are in and around our nether regions… and I feel the same way about my partner.
Organic cotton boxers and briefs are a great alternative. But another option that is fast growing, is underwear made from other plants altogether.
One of the newest brands to hit the men’s underwear market is Woodies. Their boxers, briefs and tighty-(not-so)-whities are made from Tencel®, an eco-friendly material that is insecticide- and pesticide-free so it doesn’t come with the risk of leaching leftover chemicals onto your skin – especially there.
Tencel® aka Lyocell is a biodegradable fabric made from the wood pulp of eucalyptus, a fast growing renewable resource that needs no fertilizer or pesticides and uses very little water to grow. It is also certified by the International Forest Stewardship Council. Other benefits of Tencel® include that it wicks away moisture, is anti-bacterial, is extremely durable, and very soft to the touch.
I have a few Tencel® garments myself and they are amazingly comfortable. If you haven’t yet experienced the material for yourself, trying it for the first time… and down there is not a bad place to start. | <urn:uuid:17ac9397-c865-4c56-842b-2f76301b59d9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ethicalocean.com/content/eucalyptus?visitor=good | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957634 | 505 | 2.46875 | 2 |
June 14, 2002 EVANSTON, Ill. — A Northwestern University environmental engineer has received a U.S. patent for a treatment device that renders perchlorate — a thyroid-damaging ingredient of rocket fuel and a drinking water problem — harmless. The applications extend beyond the safety of drinking water and this one pollutant.
Bruce E. Rittmann, John Evans Professor of Environmental Engineering at the Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, received U.S. Patent No. 6,387,262 for a hollow-fiber membrane biofilm reactor, that, through a natural biochemical process of electron transfer, turns perchlorate into innocuous chloride.
The cost-effective and environmentally friendly system also works on nitrate, a contaminant from agricultural fertilizers that can cause methemoglobinemia, or blue-baby syndrome, in infants, and is expected to be successful with other oxidized pollutants, such as bromate, selenate, heavy metals, radionuclides, and a range of chlorinated solvents, including trichloroethylene, a problem in the semiconductor industry.
Currently there is no effective clean-up solution for perchlorate, which was discovered in the water supplies of a large number of states in the late 1990s, and existing methods are not always successful when dealing with other contaminants.
"Many emerging pollutants are difficult to treat with conventional methods," said Rittmann. "These methods do not destroy the contaminants but simply move them from place to place, from the water to a solid resin to a nasty brine that still contains the contaminants. Our simple method, which destroys the contaminant, should work for almost every oxidized pollutant, which means it has an incredible range of applications, including being used on more than drinking water."
Rittmann has teamed up with the environmental engineering firm Montgomery-Watson-Harza Engineers, Inc. to conduct a pilot study in La Puenta, Calif., treating groundwater that is highly contaminated with perchlorate and nitrate. Results have shown that the biofilm reactor can effectively treat 0.3 gallons of water per minute, removing perchlorate and nitrate at the same time.
The decontamination process takes advantage of a community of microorganisms that lives as a biofilm on the outer surface of the membranes in the system. The microorganisms, found naturally, act as catalysts for the transfer of electrons from hydrogen gas to the oxidized contaminant, such as perchlorate or nitrate. Chemically speaking, the oxidized contaminants are eager to receive electrons, which reduces them to harmless products. The hydrogen gas supplies the electrons, and the biofilm microorganisms are the agents for the transfer.
A bundle of 7,000 hollow-fiber membranes are in one of the pilot-study biofilm reactors, a column approximately 5 feet tall and 18 inches in diameter. Each membrane is like a long, very thin straw, only 280 micrometers in diameter (the width of a thick sewing thread). Hydrogen gas is fed to the inside of the membrane fibers, and the hydrogen diffuses through the membrane walls into the contaminated water that flows past the fibers. At this meeting point, on the outside of the membrane, bacteria attach to the surface because they gain energy from the process of transferring electrons and can grow and thrive. The contaminants are reduced to harmless end products — perchlorate to chloride and nitrate to nitrogen gas — while the hydrogen gas is oxidized to water.
"We are exploiting nature," said Rittmann. "Life is all about transferring electrons. We have an extraordinarily efficient system for bringing hydrogen and its electrons to oxidized pollutants, such as perchlorate, and reducing them to innocuous substances."
Hydrogen gas is an ideal electron donor for biological drinking water treatment as it is non-toxic and inexpensive, and Rittmann's system has been shown to be safe. Another advantage is that the performance of the reactor can be controlled simply by adjusting the pressure of the hydrogen gas.
Rittmann also is conducting research on the microbial ecology of the bioreactor system in order to understand how it works. Which microorganisms are doing the work? How fast do they work? How do they achieve the essential reaction of electron transfer?
"By looking at the details of what's going on in the biofilms, we can make the system even more reliable and efficient in cleaning up some of the most dangerous and newly discovered contaminants in drinking water, ground water and wastewater," said Rittmann.
The current research is supported by a grant from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and administered by the American Water Works Association Research Foundation.
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The above story is reprinted from materials provided by Northwestern University.
Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:1ee74014-22e1-404a-b764-7e5980a1ae33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2002/06/020614075100.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943691 | 1,023 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Herpes - genital; Herpes simplex - genital; Herpesvirus 2; HSV-2
Many people with HSV-2 infection never have sores, or they have very mild symptoms that they do not even notice or mistake for insect bites or another skin condition.
If signs and symptoms do occur during the first outbreak, they can be quite severe. This first outbreak usually happens within 2 weeks of being infected.
Generalized or whole-body (
A recent initiative by Solvey Pharmaceuticals, Inc. seeks to encourage women to look for the signs of low testosterone in their men. Low... Read more »
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I was busy on another project, but from the other room, Dad called, “Dorian, turn on The Dr. Oz Show!” Being the dutiful daughter, I... Read more »
On June 9, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first effective vaccine against Human Papillomavirus, a sexually transmitted infection that... Read more » | <urn:uuid:2c7566c9-7a9e-4c75-8759-c8262c55fedc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthcentral.com/genital-herpes/h/what-are-the-signs-of-herpes-in-women.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930909 | 238 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Feb 16 2011 By Amy Watkins
NEWCROFT Primary School pupils got in the fighting spirit when they took part in a Greek workshop as part of their studies.
Children from Years 4 and 5 were visited by Timezone from Staffordshire to go alongside the topic they have been studying this half term.
They got the chance to dress up and prepare for battle, learning army training manoeuvres with shields and spears and learnt the Greek alphabet and numbers using wax tablets and quill pens.
They have since made Greek vases, which they painted with their parents on an open afternoon on Wednesday, February 16.
Steve Nash, assistant head and Year 5 teacher, said: “We do a topic each half term and everything we learn is to do with that topic. The kids have really got into it – I think it might even be the favourite so far.” | <urn:uuid:67072265-2828-42c8-b591-e29ebb628250> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.loughboroughecho.net/news/shepshed-news/2011/02/16/youngsters-step-back-in-time-to-ancient-greece-73871-28181095/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980858 | 177 | 2.125 | 2 |
It has been a busy few weeks and these photos spent a long time in the camera! But here they are. Back in October, Tony's Cob Building Class at AB Tech did most of the earthen plaster work on our bench. But Tony and I put the final earthen plaster touches on our bench project one sunny afternoon.
The plaster is made of clay, sand and wheat paste. The mixture is smooth and thick and is applied by handfuls and then compressed and smoothed with a piece of plastic cut from a yogurt container. This plastic rib helps to make the edges nice and gives the plaster a smooth surface and a finished look.
The earthen plaster coats the entire bench and gives it a harder, smoother finish than just raw cob.
This bench was designed to have room for lots of kids to sit around it. The backside of the bench overlooks the woods, to one side are the raised garden beds and to the other side are bird feeders and a storm water garden.
The bench has a beehive theme complete with giant sculpted bees on the top surface. It is to be an observation station for wildlife watching at the school. The bench has a built-in place to store a notebook which will be used as a journal to record bird activity.
I love this detail of where the foundation meets the cob.
The opening now has a wooden door fitted for it, hinged to a piece of wood that was built into the cob structure. I'll need to get pictures of it to share.
Sammy the snake guards the opening. Not sure yet what we are doing to finish the snake.. right now, we left it in raw cob. I think Tony was talking about oiling it to preserve it and allow it to have a different look from the smooth plaster finish of the rest of the bench.
The whole project still has a way to go.. The AB Tech class continues the work on the strawbale playhouse that is located opposite of the bench. In this photo you can see the brick courtyard that has been started between the two structures.
More pictures to come. What a great way this has been for me to learn about cob building and help out and my daughter's school. I look forward to the day when I am ready to build something out of cob in my own backyard! | <urn:uuid:d66bc3c1-f1ef-42d1-8ef2-dfd2bd61f439> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://anurbanplot.blogspot.com/2009/11/next-installment-on-cob-bench-project.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971772 | 478 | 1.742188 | 2 |
"No More Tears Sister," a documentary by Helene Klodawsky that chronicles the life of renowned human rights activist Dr. Rajani Thiranagama, who was assassinated at the age of 35 during the violent ethnic conflict that has enveloped Sri Lanka for decades, will have its national broadcast premiere on Tuesday, June 27th. The film is a part of the 19th season of P.O.V., the showcase for independent documentaries, on PBS
We have produced an extensive companion website – www.pbs.org/pov/nomoretears
– that features an overview of the history of the conflict in Sri Lanka, interviews with members of Human Rights Watch and the University Teachers for Human Rights (Jaffna), excerpts from letters written by Dr. Thiranagama during the late 1980s shortly before her death, interviews with her family members and links to a variety of websites focusing on Sri Lanka, the Tamil Tigers and the plight of women involved in similar conflicts around the world.
We hope that you watch the P.O.V. broadcast of “No More Tears Sister” on Tuesday, June 27 at 10 PM (check local listings) on most PBS stations. | <urn:uuid:7e1c1dbe-a185-4a79-9a35-d4e4eec2d8a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lankalibrary.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=2309&view=next | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964808 | 248 | 1.617188 | 2 |
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Foster care is supposed to be a temporary haven for children living in unsafe conditions. But about one-quarter of the 500,000 children in foster care in the U.S. end up in the system until they become adults. DELORES ROACH: Everything is all right at school? OPRAH LINDSEY: Fine.
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Oprah Lindsey has been fortunate enough to remain with the same foster mother, Delores Roach, for 15 years. She was put into foster care at age three because of an abusive mother.
DELORES ROACH: Oprah will always be part of my home. I don't think anybody would ever be able to take that away from her. It goes way beyond fostering.
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Lindsey is now on track to graduate high school and plans to go to college to study nursing. But most foster children don't have that kind of success. A full two-thirds of the children who age out -- meaning those who leave the system when the state stops paying their foster parents -- are unable to function successfully on their own. That's according to a recent study by researchers at the University of Chicago. Mark Courtney is the study's author.
MARK COURTNEY: Many of them have a very hard time making ends meet financially. They don't leave the foster care system with much in the way of human capital. They don't go on to college in great numbers; many of them don't even have a high school diploma. They have a lot of mental health problems.
They have very unstable living arrangements. They move around a lot, very high rates of homelessness, and they end up getting involved with the criminal justice authorities. Many of them end up arrested or incarcerated. And others are victimized themselves, either physically or sexually.
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Nationwide, an estimated 30,000 adolescents age out of the foster care system each year. According to the Child Welfare League of America, 25 percent become homeless, 56 percent are unemployed, 27 percent of male children end up in jail. In fact, the next big wave of homeless people might be foster kids aging out.
Thomas Hudson is a prime example. Born in Chicago to a drug-addicted mother, he was placed in foster care at age 13. He aged out of the system earlier this year, and is now working part-time in an after-school program. Hudson barely makes enough money to buy groceries.
THOMAS HUDSON: Oh, my God. Where I am now is not where I want to be. I am in a messed-up situation. I don't have an apartment of my own. I'm basically homeless because I'm living at the mercy of other people. And I'm dependent on them to do stuff for me. And I don't like that because that's not living. I feel like I'm right back in the same situation that caused me to enter the system in the first place.
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Transitioning foster children like Hudson to independence is particularly difficult because state foster care systems don't usually provide educational or employment support.
Bryan Samuels, director of the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services, admits that the child welfare system has paid little attention to kids who age out. He says when the state has taken custody, its responsibility should not end at age 18.
BRYAN SAMUELS: In effect, you're taking on the job of parenting, and no parent believes at 18 that their child is ready to live independently. And therefore if parents don't think that, then why should the taxpayers or the department act as if these victimized and abused and neglected children should be able to?
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Abused and neglected children like Nicole Porter, who at age 21 still deals with the psychological aftermath of being raped by the son of her foster father. She ran away after the rape, but was returned to the foster home, where she attempted suicide.
NICOLE PORTER: I OD'd off some medication. Just so I -- I didn't want to die; I just wanted to escape from the problems. I wanted to just breathe, you know. For one, it happened; for two, nobody didn't acknowledge it; for three, I didn't' get any comfort. Even my case worker tried to hide it.
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: She spent a total of ten years in foster care, in five different placements. When Porter aged out, she had no means to support herself, so she moved in with her sister and her five children.
Porter has been writing poetry for ten years and managed to get a GED. She had hoped to be in college, working on her writing skills, but instead, spends her days taking caring of her nieces and nephews.
NICOLE PORTER: How many horses is it?
NICOLE PORTER: I enjoy being with the kids. I love working with kids. But I would love to do poetry. I would love to do poetry. I'm trying to write a book now, and I'm procrastinating a lot. But I want to write a book called "Everyone Has a Story," so the people that's going through everything that I've been through, or about to go through everything that I've been through, they can kind of have somebody to, "Hey, she went through this too and look at her now."
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Aware of the problem of kids aging out of foster care, Congress passed legislation in 1999, setting aside $140 million for independent living programs.
Denise Brown supervises an independent living program on Chicago's North side.
DENISE BROWN: We're doing some teaching around moving through the community on your own, and also assisting with some of the other socialization skills, things like dating, setting boundaries when friends are visiting, setting visiting hours, learning to cook for yourself, doing your laundry, setting an alarm clock and getting up on time.
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: Eighteen-year-old Terrence Williams has benefited from the program. In foster care from the time he was an infant, Williams has been in eight different foster homes, group homes, and residential treatment centers.
TEACHER: Every person that gets a degree, meaning minorities -- I'm talking about minorities now...
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: The program pushed Williams to enroll in an alternative high school that features small classes and also provides counselors.
COUNSELOR: Did he talk about going over it with you?
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: He also enrolled in a music class at a community college, a class he hopes will help prepare him for a career in music. Researcher Mark Courtney says the independent living program model should be applied more broadly.
MARK COURTNEY: I think anything short of a policy that says to youth that have been in foster care who are our kids, "We will be there for you, to the point of having a place, a safe place for you to be, a home for you to be in until you're at least 21" -- anything short of that really just flies in the face of realities of this group. We don't do that yet.
ELIZABETH BRACKETT: In fact, says Courtney, the problem is even worse than the number suggests. While there are 30,000 foster kids who age out annually, there are another 30,000 who are simply dropped from state care because they've run away. Those are the foster kids with no support, and no ties to the system once charged with raising them.
JIM LEHRER: For more on this, there's a separate documentary on the subject that will air next Thursday on many PBS stations. It's called "Aging Out." Please check your local listings for the time. | <urn:uuid:30354b74-9034-44d8-8015-6f0e91e88572> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/social_issues/jan-june05/foster_care_5-19.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973859 | 1,663 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Scientists. We’re an enigmatic group of people. On the one hand, we are trailblazers. We’re the innovators and inventors whose job it is, quite literally, to expand the world’s technology through knowledge. We’re quick to see the merit in new methods like fluorescent proteins and hit the ground running with them.
Yet when it comes to social adaptation and technology, we’re more than behind the curve. Although 72% of internet-using Americans are on Facebook, less than 2/3 of college faculty are. Similarly, in one survey, more than half of lab managers said they have never used Facebook.
It may seem of little consequence whether scientists are using social media. That certainly seems to be the attitude of many scientists – social media platforms like Facebook are seen as little more than ways to tell everyone how good the omlette you just made was or convince yourself that your ex’s new girlfriend isn’t prettier than you.
But social media platforms aren’t just digital water coolers. They are the way the world is networking and communicating. They are how and where we share information – with friends, colleagues, acquaintances and any and everyone else.
Last Friday, I gave a talk titled “Science and the Public: Why Every Lab Should Tweet.” My slides can be downloaded here (keynote for now – will get ppt ones soon!), but I want to go over the argument I presented. I have broken this into two parts: this first post covers why, from a global perspective, it is important for scientists to engage in social media. My second post will cover what scientists can gain – personally and professionally – from doing so.
So who cares if scientists are slow to adopt social media? For one, I do. I care because especially here in the US, science is poorly understood. Only 28% of our population can pass a basic science literacy test with questions like “Does the Earth revolve around the sun?” or “Did modern humans live alongside dinosaurs?” Such results might be funny if science weren’t so central to current politics. How can our nation make good decisions on climate change, medical practices or research funding if so little of our population understands even basic science?
Yes, part of the solution to this problem is to invest in better education. But even assuming we do that, we are ignoring the millions of Americans who are no longer in school. We can make the next generation more scientifically literate, but we have to consider the current generations, too. Adults over age of 35 never learned about stem cells, nanotechnology or climate change in school, so they depend on the media to learn what they need to know. These are the people who vote. They are the ones whose taxes pay for scientific funding. We need to reach out to them, and to do that we need their trust.
Contrary to how it might seem, scientists as a group are highly trusted by Americans. We rank second only to military personnel. But this trust is only in a broad sense – as a recent survey by Scientific American and Nature showed, the minute you start asking about specific topics, especially complicated scientific topics like the causes of autism or climate change, that trust fizzles.
How to we build and maintain that trust? We have to communicate better. As Rick E. Borchelt and colleagues wrote in an essay for AAAS, “The scientific community needs to understand what ethical practitioners of public relations have long known: trust is not about information; it’s about dialogue and transparency.”
Right now, science is almost entirely a one-way conversation. Scientists, as a group, pride themslves on doing cutting-edge research and publishing it in the top-tier journals of their field – then most feel that their part in the conversation is over. The problem is, these publications aren’t really communicating science to anyone but other scientists. Articles are kept locked behind expensive paywalls, and even those that are published in open access journals are still inaccessible, as they lie behind what I like to call jargon walls.
It’s not that non-scientists are too stupid to get science. Far from it. The average person simply doesn’t have the specific vocabulary to understand a scientific paper. I’m not stupid, yet when I take my car in to the mechanic, I don’t have the specific vocabulary to understand exactly what is making my check engine light keep turning on.
This jargon wall breeds distrust. Do I overall trust mechanics to know how to fix my car? Sure. But when one starts going on and on about how my timing belt needs adjustment, my fuel injectors need to be replaced, and there’s an oil leak in my engine that needs fixing, do I fully trust that he’s not just making up problems to get me to pay more for repairs? Not for a second.
Even worse, scientists pass the buck when it comes to communicating science. We write the papers, but then hand them off to journalists and say “here, explain this to everyone else.” We hand what we’ve committed years of our life to over to a writer that may have little to no science training and even less passion for the discipline as a whole. Then, we gripe and moan when the science is shottily explained or, worse, completely misinterpreted.
Guess what? As scientists, that is our fault. Sure, some science writers are worse than others. Some are perfectly content to publish hype-driven stories that neglect scientific integrity. Others are amazing – I would trust Ed Yong or Carl Zimmer with even my most precious scientific baby. But it is first and foremost the scientist’s job to share his or her research with the broader community. That means it is the scientist who is ultimately to blame when their research isn’t communicated well.
How can the public trust us when we’re not out there sharing what we do? When they can’t see our passion? When we say we ‘don’t have time’ to interact with them, to explain our research better or answer their questions?
Only 18% of Americans can name a living scientist. That statistic crushes my heart.
When I say scientists should be involved in social media, it is because we need to open that dialogue. If people don’t know who we are or what we do, they will never really care about or trust what we say. Once upon a time I would have said this meant walking down the street and talking to people, but we now live in a digital age. 57% of Americans say they talk to people more online than they do in real life. Scientists need to be on social media because everyone else is already, talking about their thoughts and feelings, having discussions about things they care about, and generally, well, being social.
48% of young Americans check Facebook first thing in the morning. 28% do so before they even get out of bed (including me). There are now more than 200 million tweets posted every day. If you’re trying to communicate but you’re not on social media, you’re like a tree falling in an empty forest – yes, you’re making noise, but no one is listening. It’s not much of a dialogue if you’re the only one talking.
Scientists need to be searchable. We need to be available. We need to take the time to open a dialogue about our research. Yes, it’s going to take up time, which is a rare and precious commodity to the average scientist. Yes, it’s going to take extra effort and dedication. But it will be worth it.
Alan Alda said it perfectly when he asked,
“if scientists could communicate more in their own voices—in a familiar tone, with a less specialized vocabulary—would a wide range of people understand them better? Would their work be better understood by the general public, policy-makers, funders, and, even in some cases, other scientists?”
The answer is YES.
Update: my slideshow for the talk (though it’s much prettier in Keynote… just sayin’)
I’ve gotten some questions regarding stats references in the slideshow, so here they are: The Facebook stats are put out every year by Facebook; this is a nice info graphic post which sums up their most recent set. The 28% statistic came from this Science Daily account of Jon Miller’s AAAS Symposium, and the number who can name a living scientists came from this Research!America poll. There were also some stats at the end from a couple surveys, summarized in this blog post. All of the stats on use of different media for news are from Pew Research Center (here’s a nice summary post). Social media image credit: ThumbsUp
Posts In This Series:
- Part 1: It’s Our Job
- Part 2: You Do Have Time
- Part 2.5: Breaking Stereotypes
- Part 3: Win-Win
- Part 4: On The Road
- Part 5: It’s Time To e-Volve | <urn:uuid:795a99fb-6237-457b-aa3c-bc828b07b7db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.discovermagazine.com/science-sushi/2011/09/27/social-media-for-scientists-part-1-its-our-job/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949968 | 1,932 | 2.515625 | 3 |
- Larissa ; a city
- Mount Olympos
Volos airport (VOL) is situated in (Nea Anchialos), about 30 km SW from the city, and currently operates only weekly charter flights during the summer, directly from Amsterdam and the UK. There are expansion projects of the airport underway, as well as a rail connection from Volos city to the airport, so as to be able to start some commercial routes as well.
By regional coach
Interurban coaches ("KTEL" buses) are by far the most convenient way to travel around Greece, as well as for intra-regional travelling. There is frequent bus service from Athens Liossion Station to Larisa about 15 times a day (cost is about €20), as well as from Thessaloniki bus terminal "Macedonia" to Larisa about 10 times a day (about € 12).
Trains (OSE) connect Larissa to other cities in Greece. Travelling with ordinary trains can be cheaper, although a little bit slower, whereas choosing a fancy faster Intercity train will cost the same amount of money, or even more than a KTEL bus.
This page was last edited at 08:44, on 23 November 2007 by Andreas Routsias. Based on work by David and Anonymous user(s) of Wikitravel. | <urn:uuid:566528b9-26d3-4e6f-b3dc-a53922246314> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.traveltips24.com/Larissa_(prefecture).htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946735 | 274 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Editor’s Note: The summer Olympics draw viewers to sports that they otherwise ignore. We marvel as athletes ranging from divers to pole vaulters turn power and speed into athletic artistry. Speed (velocity) and power (force) are also key elements in physics. This is the third in a series of guest posts by Dr. Larry Silverberg, an NC State professor of mechanical and aerospace engineering, who works in the area of engineering dynamics. He talked to NC State coaches Tom Wood (track and field), Jon Choboy (tennis), and Josh Karshen (diving) about the dynamics involved in their sports.
Track and field is about the individual – the challenge that one places on one’s self. Every year, world competitions are held, but the public really only pays attention once every 4 years – during the Olympics.
The discus, shot put, javelin, and the hammer events are all similar with respect to dynamics and training. This is why many will compete in more than one of these events. But in any of these sports, movement and strength turn into grace and beauty for the athlete – and the spectator.
Let’s take a look at the discus event. The goal: to throw the discus as far as possible. The discus looks much like a thickened Frisbee. The men’s discus weighs two kilograms (4.4 pounds), while the women’s discus weighs one kilogram (2.2 pounds). The athlete must stay within a circle that is 2.5 meters in diameter, and starts out with both legs planted. The athlete begins to spin, first on the right leg, then on the left. This builds up speed, or velocity, which can be translated into momentum for the discus. When the left leg lands the body turns and transfers its angular momentum to the discus and the athlete then releases it.
The release speed, release angle, spin and height of release are the key parameters. The release angle is between 37 and 42 degrees. The flight path and the angle of release are matched so the discus doesn’t wobble. Ideally, the athlete wants to release the discus as high as possible within that window between 37 and 42 degrees.
Once the discus is in the air it continues to spin. The spin helps the discuss catch and ride the wind to go farther. If the athlete released the discus at the right point, the discus will land in the cone-shaped throwing sector. If the discus lands outside that sector, the throw won’t count.
There are different types of discuses. Skilled throwers use a discus that has its mass distributed towards the outer edge of the disc. This makes it harder to spin but, once spinning, it makes the spin continue for a longer period of time – which helps it catch the wind. The skilled discus thrower can also account for head winds – throwing the discus with a flatter trajectory.
In track and field, the United State has been strong in the men’s and women’s sprint events, the men’s shot put and hurdle, and is growing stronger in the woman’s discus after winning the gold in 2008. Women’s discus begins Aug. 3, while men’s discus begins Aug. 6. | <urn:uuid:6b868e93-940a-4abd-bd1e-327899b76d5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://web.ncsu.edu/abstract/science/olympic-physics-the-discus/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950258 | 699 | 3.4375 | 3 |
Every Friday at Nothing in Biology Makes Sense! our contributors pass around links to new scientific results, or science-y news, or videos of adorable wildlife, that they’re most likely to bring up while waiting in line for a latte.
From Noah: Paleontologists reconstruct the song of a fossilized Jurassic-era katydid.
Examining the insect’s seven centimeter long fossil wings under microscope, researchers were able to see how the prehistoric male katydid employed stridulation, i.e. rubbing body parts together, to produce a song to attract a female.
From Jon: A tranquilizer that is commonly abused as a club drug shows great promise for treating depression.
And the patient, they say, you know, yeah, it helped with my pain, but, you know, my depression seemed better. And so this was sort of a curiosity for a long time until a few years ago, when some folks at the National Institutes of Health decided that they really wanted to check this out.
From Sarah: The New York Times on the natural history of venomous mammals.
Every so often, however, a mammalian lineage discovers the wonders of chemistry, of nature’s burbling beakers and tubes. And somewhere in the distance a mad cackle sounds.
Skunks and zorilles mimic the sulfurous, anoxic stink of a swamp. The male duck-billed platypus infuses its heel spurs with a cobralike poison. The hedgehog declares: Don’t quite get the point of my spines? Allow me to sharpen their sting with a daub of venom I just chewed off the back of a Bufo toad.
From Jeremy: Antibiotic-resistant strains are now so widespread that we may soon see the day when gonorrhea is untreatable.
Gonorrhea is one of the most common sexually transmitted diseases in the world—with about 600,000 cases diagnosed in the U.S. each year. A few years ago, investigators started seeing cases of infection that did not easily respond to treatment with a group of drugs called cephalosporins, which are currently the last line of defense against this particular infection. Now, the number of drug-resistant cases has grown so much in the U.S. and elsewhere that gonorrheal infection may soon become untreatable, according to doctors writing in the February 9 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine. [Link sic.]
And, from Devin: Adrien Treuille discusses the power of online, collaborative puzzle solving for Google’s “Solve for X.” | <urn:uuid:0685548b-00d7-4800-b740-fd44f592f74c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nothinginbiology.org/2012/02/10/friday-coffee-break-11/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923173 | 555 | 2.0625 | 2 |
WASHINGTON — Early diagnosis is considered key for autism, but minority children tend to be diagnosed later than white children. Some new work is beginning to try to uncover why — and to raise awareness of the warning signs so more parents know they can seek help even for a toddler.
"The biggest thing I want parents to know is we can do something about it to help your child," says Dr. Rebecca Landa, autism director at Baltimore's Kennedy Krieger Institute, who is exploring the barriers that different populations face in getting that help.
Her preliminary research suggests even when diagnosed in toddlerhood, minority youngsters have more severe developmental delays than their white counterparts. She says cultural differences in how parents view developmental milestones, and how they interact with doctors, may play a role.
Consider: Tots tend to point before they talk, but pointing is rude in some cultures and may not be missed by a new parent, Landa says. Or maybe mom's worried that her son isn't talking yet but the family matriarch, her grandmother, says don't worry — Cousin Harry spoke late, too, and he's fine. Or maybe the pediatrician dismissed the parents' concern, and they were taught not to question doctors.
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It's possible to detect autism as early as 14 months of age, and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends that youngsters be screened for it starting at 18 months. While there's no cure, behavioral and other therapies are thought to work best when started very young.
Yet on average, U.S. children aren't diagnosed until they're about 4½ years old, according to government statistics.
And troubling studies show that white kids may be diagnosed with autism as much as a year and a half earlier than black and other minority children, says University of Pennsylvania autism expert David Mandell, who led much of that work. Socioeconomics can play a role, if minority families have less access to health care or less education.
But Mandell says the full story is more complex. One of his own studies, for example, found that black children with autism were more likely than whites to get the wrong diagnosis during their first visit with a specialist.
At Kennedy Krieger, Landa leads a well-known toddler treatment program and decided to look more closely at those youngsters to begin examining the racial and ethnic disparity. She found something startling: Even when autism was detected early, minority children had more severe symptoms than their white counterparts.
By one measure of language development, the minority patients lagged four months behind the white autistic kids, Landa reported in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders.
It was a small study, with 84 participants, just 19 of whom were black, Asian or Hispanic. But the enrolled families all were middle class, Landa said, meaning socioeconomics couldn't explain the difference.
One of the study's participants, Marlo Lemon, ignored family and friends who told her not to worry that her son Matthew, then 14 months, wasn't babbling. Boys are slower to talk than girls, they said.
"I just knew something was wrong," recalls Lemon, of Randallstown, Md.
Her pediatrician listened and knew to send the family to a government "early intervention" program that, like in most states, provides free testing and treatment for young children's developmental delays. Matthew was enrolled in developmental therapy by age 18 months, and was formally diagnosed with autism when he turned 2 and Lemon enrolled him in Kennedy Krieger's toddler program as well. In many of his therapy classes, Lemon says, Matthew was the only African-American.
Now 7, Matthew still doesn't speak but Lemon says he is making huge strides, learning letters by tracing them in shaving cream to tap his sensory side, for example, and using a computer-like tablet that "speaks" when he pushes the right buttons. But Lemon quit working full-time so she could shuttle Matthew from therapy to therapy every day.
"I want other minority families to get involved early, be relentless," says Lemon, who now works part-time counseling families about how to find services early.
For a campaign called "Why wait and see?" Landa is developing videos that show typical and atypical behaviors and plans to ask Maryland pediatricians to show them to parents. Among early warning signs:
- Not responding to their name by 12 months, or pointing to show interest by 14 months.
- Avoiding eye contact, wanting to play alone, not smiling when smiled at.
- Saying few words. Landa says between 18 and 26 months, kids should make short phrases like "my shoe" or "where's mommy," and should be adding to their vocabulary weekly.
- Not following simple multi-step commands.
- Not playing pretend.
- Behavioral problems such as flapping their hands or spinning in circles.
Copyright 2012 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. | <urn:uuid:1358c0a8-d256-46ff-95f4-1beb81eb0e5f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rss.msnbc.msn.com/id/46547582/site/todayshow/ns/today-parenting_and_family/t/autism-not-diagnosed-early-minority-kids/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972921 | 1,134 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Introduction - What is E Ink and E-Paper?
Electronic paper (or e-paper) is a collective name for display technologies that resembles real paper - in terms of display clarity (contrast), sunlight readability, thickness and flexibility. The most popular e-readers (such as Amazon's Kindle) use E Ink display for example.
While it's possible to fabricate flexible e-paper displays, such displays aren't available on the market today as companies are still perfecting the technology and developing ways to actually commercialize it.
The term e-paper is quite confusing, as actually there are several different technologies trying to achieve the same goal: a flexible, thin, sunlight-readable efficient paper-like display. Here is a list of the leading technologies around:
There are also some other technologies, which offers low-power reflective displays. While these aren't really e-paper technologies, they do compete with e-paper displays for sunlight readability and power consumption:
E Ink is currently the clear leader in e-paper displays. E Ink screens are made by E Ink Inc and are used by Amazon, Sony, Samsung, Barnes & Noble and others in their e-readers and other products.
E Ink displays are Electrophoretic (a science which was actually discovered back in 1807 and deals with particle motion as influenced by electric field): they are made of tiny capsules (0.04mm in diameter) that contain two kinds of particles: black and white. Using electricity you can choose whether the white or black particles will rise to the top of the capsule - and so change the color of the pixel. Those particles remain in place when no electricity is used - and so the displays do not need power when the image does not change. E Ink also offers color e-paper which uses color filters on top of the black and white display (these aren't available commercially yet).
Where can I find e-paper displays?
The most popular application for e-paper displays today is an e-reader. Popular readers include Amazon's Kindle, Sony Readers and the Barnes & Noble Nook. Those e-readers feature great sunlight readability and long battery life (a few weeks usually) - all thanks to the E Ink display.
Other products include mobile phones (for example the Motorola Motofone which uses an E Ink as the main display and Samsung's Zeal which uses small E Ink displays on the keyboard), wrist watches, hard-disks and more. | <urn:uuid:cdcac418-0c50-46ae-a182-c552a331014d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.e-ink-info.com/introduction | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918877 | 508 | 2.671875 | 3 |
US anti-war activist organizations
- After Downing Street: is a nonpartisan coalition of over 200 veterans groups, peace groups, and political activist groups that has worked since May 2005 to pressure both Congress and the media to investigate whether President Bush has committed impeachable offenses in connection with the Iraq war.
- CODEPINK: Women for Peace: A women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the war in Iraq, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education and other life-affirming activities.
- The Declaration of Peace: A grassroots nonviolent action campaign calling on the U.S. government to establish a comprehensive plan to end the U.S. war and occupation in Iraq. It is working to stop U.S. military escalation in Iraq, to defund the war, to bring the troops home safely, and to support a comprehensive Iraqi-led peace process.
- Iraq Moratorium: Making a commitment that on the Third Friday of each and every month, people will break their daily routine and take some action, by myself or with others, to end the War in Iraq.
- Iraq Veterans Against the War: Iraq Veterans Against the War (IVAW) was founded by Iraq war veterans in July 2004 at the annual convention of Veterans for Peace (VFP) in Boston to give a voice to the large number of active duty service people and veterans who are against this war, but are under various pressures to remain silent.
- National campaign for nonviolent resistance (formerly known as Iraq Pledge of Resistance): A nationwide network of activists and organizations committed to ending the war in Iraq through nonviolent resistance, utilizing the practices and philosophy of Mahatma Gandhi and Martin Luther King, Jr.
- National youth and student peace coalition: A broad-based youth and student led coalition formed shortly after the tragic events of September 11, 2001 and has worked to build strategic, long-term opposition of youth and students to the war, both at home and abroad.
- No War No Warming: A network of over 50 organizations and many individuals, linking the interrelated issues of global warming and the war in Iraq, seeking to strengthen mutual support between the peace/justice movement and the climate crisis movement. Currently working towards another intervention on the 5th Anniversary of the invasion of Iraq. No War No Warming ensures that the crucial subjects of global warming and environmentalism are integrated into the anti-war message. Committed to nonviolent civil disobedience as a method of creating change.
- Not in Our Name: We believe that as people living in the United States it is our responsibility to resist the injustices done by our government, in our names. Not in our name will you wage endless war...
- Peace Action West: Fostering broad-based civic activism to create a strong voice for peaceful and pragmatic solutions to global problems.
- Resist in March: Events Planned for March 10-19, 2008, to Resist the U.S. Occupation of Iraq, Oppose New Wars, and Demand Impeachment.
- United for Peace & Justice: A coalition of more than 1400 local and national groups throughout the United States who have joined together to protest the immoral and disastrous Iraq War and oppose our government's policy of permanent warfare and empire-building.
- Veterans for Peace: Veterans working together for peace and justice through nonviolence. Wage peace!
- War Resisters League: A network of organizations and individuals committed to dismantling the war economy and developing an economy of peace that prioritizes people over profits. We seek to motivate and empower a broad-based movement to educate, agitate and organize against the military industrial complex through creative, nonviolent and democratic means.
- Winter Soldier: Iraq & Afghanistan: In 1971, a courageous group of veterans exposed the criminal nature of the Vietnam War in an event called Winter Soldier. Once again, we will demand that the voices of veterans are heard. Once again, we are fighting for the soul of our country. We will demonstrate our patriotism by speaking out with honor and integrity instead of blindly following failed policy. Winter Soldier is a difficult but essential service to our country.
Local & California anti-war activist organizations
- Bay Area United Against War: a non-profit affiliation of groups and individuals dedicated to organizing demonstrations, seminars and other peaceful actions to stop war, protect human rights and civil liberties.
- Bay Area Direct Action to Stop the War: We are a decentralized, unaffiliated network of Bay Area affinity groups and activists, working together to organize a day of coordinated, independent, and nonviolent direct actions against the government and war profiteers in San Francisco on March 19, 2008.
- Grandmothers Against the War, Bay Area: In November 2005, several San Francisco Bay Area women, inspired by the Manhattan grandmothers who had been arrested while attempting to enlist in the U.S. military, formed a group of “grandmothers” dedicated to working to end the war in Iraq. Grandmothers Against the War was formed to implement non-violent actions to end the Iraq war and to recruit new members among all like-minded individuals regardless of gender, age or biology because “’grandmother’ is a concept of love, all embracing.”
- Mountain View Voices for Peace: Mountain View Voices for Peace works to build peace and justice in our community, our nation, and our world. We are opposed to wars of aggression, and to all activities which are destructive of basic human values. Through action, education, and service, we strive to build a society based more on mutual respect, understanding, and caring. We invite all who share these aspirations to join us in our endeavors.
- Peace and Justice Center of Sonoma County: The Center envisions a world of peace, justice, and freedom. It is a revolutionary and empowering vision of a democratic community where differences are respected, conflicts are addressed nonviolently, oppressive structures are dismantled, and people live in harmony with the earth, nurtured by diverse traditions that foster compassion, solidarity, and reconciliation. Therefore, we commit ourselves to replace violence, war, racism, and economic injustice through active nonviolence as a transforming way of life and as a means of radical change - personally, locally, nationally, and globally.
- Peninsula Peace and Justice Center: Committed to changing U.S. foreign and domestic policies to ones that meet human needs and human rights; A demilitarized society and economy; true justice for all, at home and abroad, regardless of economic status or beliefs; an end to racism, sexism and all forms of discrimination; giving ordinary people the information and opportunity they need to be involved and effective in the efforts to change our country and our world.
- San Jose Peace and Justice Center: Since 1957, the San Jose Peace Center has educated thousands of local people to critical issues of peace and justice. Throughout its history, the Peace Center has been a consistent voice for alternatives to the ever increasing violence and militarism taking place throughout the world.
- South Bay Mobilization: A coalition of community, labor, student, and religious groups as well as concerned citizens and veterans, who oppose the war and occupation that is now being waged under the guise of fighting terrorism. This includes the war and occupation taking place in Iraq, as well as the countries which will be targeted next. In addition, we oppose the war being waged on our constitutional rights. We believe that war is terrorism and that we need to find alternative ways of resolving conflict if we hope to make the world safe for all its people.
- United for Peace & Justice - Bay Area: A regional, movement-building coalition that coordinates and supports the work of existing local groups and strengthens or creates solidarity where few exist.
- Los Altos Voices for Peace: Stands for, and gives voice to, those who seek peaceful answers to local and global violence. Informs, educates, and persuades others, including public officials, to find peaceful solutions to conflict. | <urn:uuid:359c9892-dc46-483e-afbb-381f81ab5153> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stanford.edu/group/antiwar/cgi-bin/mediawiki/index.php?title=Anti-war_organizations | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937415 | 1,629 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Our Team's History
350.org was founded by U.S. author Bill McKibben, who wrote one of the first books on global warming for the general public, and a team of university friends.
Together, they ran a campaign in 2007 called Step It Up that organized over 2,000 rallies at iconic places in all 50 of the United States. These creative actions - from skiers descending a melting glacier to divers hosting an underwater action - helped convince many political leaders, including then Senator Barack Obama, to adopt our common call to action: cutting carbon 80% by 2050.
This global team has helped mobilize over 5200 actions in 181 countries on October 24th, 2009—check out the video below. CNN called it 'the most widespread day of political action in the planet's history:
The team took that message to the big UN climate conference in Copenhagen in December of 2009—a conference that fell apart because some nations weren't yet ready to start making serious cuts in their emissions.
So now we're building an even bigger and stronger movement. On 10/10/10 we hosted a Global Work Party, with over 7000 climate solutions projects in communities around the world:
And we experimented with more creative forms of activism with the 350 EARTH project--check out that video here:
Moving forward into 2011, the 350.org became more global as we encouraged the world to move beyond fossil fuels -- here was our big day of action called "Moving Planet":
In early 2012, we helped the world connect the dots between climate change and extreme weather -- Climate Impacts Day on May 5th put a human face on the climate crisis.
As we charge ahead, 350.org continues to become more global, more strategic, and more focused on building an unstoppable movement for climate solutions that will be impossible to ignore. | <urn:uuid:60f0b326-56dc-41d6-8dfd-dd27ff1ae28b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://350.org/story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947695 | 372 | 2.21875 | 2 |
This ESL writing lesson introduces students to run-on sentences and how to correct them, after which several run-on sentences are presented for the students to rewrite and correct.
A run-on sentence is when two complete sentences are put together without correct punctuation (a comma or period, for example). You should avoid run-on sentences when you write!
This is actually two sentences: We went to the beach. and It was a lot of fun. To correct this, you can add a period:
> We went to the beach. It was a lot of fun. (Right!)
Or you can add a conjunction (and / but / so / because) between the sentences. (Note: With “and/but/so” you need to use a comma (,), but with “because” you usually don’t need a comma.)
> We went to the beach, and it was a lot of fun. (Right!)
> We went to the beach because it is a fun place to go. (Right!)
> John is sick. He hasn’t gone to the doctor. (Right!)
> John is sick, but he hasn’t gone to the doctor. (Right!)
> I didn’t finish my homework. The teacher is not happy with me. (Right!)
> I didn’t finish my homework, so the teacher is not happy with me. (Right!)
1. I was late to school the teacher didn’t notice.
2. I want to live in California the weather is nice there.
3. My dad ate all the ice cream I can’t have any for dessert.
4. Doctors are important they help sick people.
Back to ESL Writing
Stickyball.net Home: ESL Resources for Teachers | <urn:uuid:34b31c70-d41b-4003-8293-683e83b330e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://stickyball.net/writing.html?id=518 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928139 | 381 | 4.0625 | 4 |
According to a recent analysis, the literature on atypical antipsychotic medications doesn't significantly inflate their overall effectiveness for the treatment of schizophrenia. Still, some negative studies and conclusions regarding the drugs' safety and efficacy have not been published, leaving clinicians with an incomplete picture of the drugs in this class.
There is evidence that clinical trial sponsors and researchers may avoid submitting for publication studies that have negative findings. Less commonly, some journals may hesitate to publish trials with negative results. Such bias can skew the evidence base so that an intervention appears more effective than it is. To assess whether such bias exists in the evidence base supporting antipsychotic medications, Erick H. Turner, MD, of the Oregon Health & Science University in Portland, and his colleagues looked at studies examining atypical antipsychotic drugs for the treatment of schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder. The researchers compared the published studies with those that had been submitted to the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to gain approval to market the drugs for these indications (Turner EH et al. PLoS Med. 2012;9:e1001189). | <urn:uuid:cdeb980d-5143-477f-b118-ec58327bc70e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=1148214 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93689 | 228 | 2.21875 | 2 |
A fare hike is on the anvil for passenger ferries operated across the State by the State Water Transport Department (SWTD).
Ferry fares fixed in 2001 were not revised during the past 12 years. Commuters now travel up to 3 km by paying a minimum fare of Rs.2. The shortfall in income used to be compensated for by the State Government through supplementary demand of grant.
The National Transportation Planning and Research Centre (NATPAC) is ready with a study on the viability of the 51 ferry services which operate mainly in Ernakulam, Alappuzha and Kollam. The agency will hand over a report on fare revision to the State government by this month-end.
The report will specify how to operate the services without incurring loss. The report is also expected to throw light on problems such as low fuel efficiency, slow speed of boats, and inherent weaknesses in the SWTD’s administration. This is the first time that such a scientific study is being done by NATPAC. The agency suggests fare revision for buses, autos and taxi cars.
“A fortnight ago, prior to fixing an index on the fare revision, officials of NATPAC discussed with us details like the operating cost of ferries and other expenses incurred by the department,” said Shaji B. Nair, the Director of SWTD.
During the last decade, the department had forwarded to the government three proposals for fare revision. The government decided to take a wait and watch approach, as the ferries catered to the needs of thousands of commuters who lived in islands and backward areas which did not have alternative modes of transport. In Ernakulam alone, 15,000 passengers use the ferry service daily.
Bulk diesel consumer
The demand for speeding up the fare revision process gained impetus after oil companies included the SWTD in the bulk consumer of diesel category.
Mr. Nair said the department’s monthly expenses increased by over Rs.20 lakh per month after it was recognised as a bulk consumer. The ferries need 1.8 lakh litres of diesel each month. The annual income from sale of tickets is approximately Rs.6 crore. The ‘bulk customer’ tag alone has increased the department’s annual fuel bill by Rs 2.40 crore. Till 2001, the fare hikes used to be nominal.
The gaping deficit between income and expenditure was one of the reasons cited by the SWTD for its inability to augment its fleet, despite massive demand.
Though estimates say that the operational cost is 10 times the revenue, a proportionate fare hike is unlikely, because of socio-economic factors. | <urn:uuid:6391151d-4bc1-437d-a655-8b8d8f99d145> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Kochi/fare-revision-on-the-cards-for-ferries/article4425593.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966954 | 540 | 1.867188 | 2 |
SoldierÂ’s Application for Confederate Pension
THE STATE OF TEXAS,
County of BURNET
I, W.C. HEFFINGTON, do hereby make application for a pension pursuant to the provisions of Articles 6204 to 6227, inclusive, of the Revised Civil Statutes of 1925, as amended by S.B. No. 27, passed by the Forty-first Legislature at its Fifth Called Session, and all other laws of this State relating thereto.
I served as a Confederate soldier (or sailor) in the war between the States of the United States; or (that I was a soldier who under special laws of the State of Texas during said war served in organizations for the protection of the frontier against Indian raiders or Mexican marauders); or (that I was a soldier of the militia of the State of Texas who was in active service during said war).
I served honorable from the date of my enlistment until the close of the war (or until I was discharged or paroled in some military organization regularly mustered into the army or navy of the Confederate States until the surrender). I was honorably discharged or surrendered
DISBANDED AFTER THE CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR 1865
(Give date and cause)
That I have been a bona fide resident of this State continuously since the 23RD day of DECEMBER.. A.D. 1910.
1. What is your age? BORN OCTOBER 21ST 1846, AGE 83
2. In what county do you reside? BURNET COUNTY
3. How long have you resided in said county? 20 YEARS
4. What is your postoffice address? MARBLE FALLS, TEXAS
5. Have you applied for a pension under the Confederate pension law and been rejected? YES
6. If rejected, state when and where. ABOUT 1828, BURNET COUNTY
7. In what State was the command in which you served organized? TEXAS
8. What was your postoffice address at the time of enlistment? WEATHERFORD, PARKER COUNTY
9. How long did your serve? FROM 1863 TO THE CLOSE OF THE CIVIL WAR 1865
10. Give, if possible, the date of enlistment and discharge. SEPTEMBER 1863 AND DISBANDED 1865
11. What was the letter of your company, number of battalion, regiment or battery? LETTER I, CAPTAIN DAVID YEARY, MAJOR QUAIL. MINUTE MEN AND STATE RANGER SERVICE
12. If transferred from one command to another, give time of transfer, name of command and time of service.--
13. What branch of the service did you enlist in--infantry, cavalry, artillery or navy? MINUTE MEN TEXAS RANGER SERVICE
Wherefore your petitioner prays that his application for a pension be approved and such other proceedings be had in the premises as are required by law.
(Signature of Applicant) W.C. HEFFINGTON
Sworn to and subscribed before me this 20TH day of JUNE A.D. 1930
County Judge BURNET County, Texas
State of Texas,
County of Travis
Before me, the undersigned authority, personally appeared HENRY S. SISK, and after being duly sworn deposes and says:
My name is Henry S. Sisk. I reside at the Texas Confederate Home, Austin, Texas, and was a Confederate soldier during the war between the states and enlisted from Parker County, Texas. I am personally acquainted with W.C. (BILL) HEFFINGTON, and have known him since boyhood and knew him in Parker County, Texas, for many years. I remember well that he was a member of what is known as MINUTE MEN, and belonged to the State Ranger service from 1863 to 1865. I remember well a battle with the Indians at Dove Creek in the state of Texas in 1864 in which myself and W.C. (BILL) HEFFINGTON participated and remember well that both of our horses were killed at that fight. I am positive that Bill Heffington, the applicant, did valiant service for the State of Texas while he was a member of the Ranger force and I believe that he is justly entitled to a Confederate pension from the state of Texas due to service performed. I know that he made an honorable soldier and never deserted the cause.
signed by Henry S. Sisk (his mark)
Witnesses: M. Hornsby and A.W. Toker
Subscribed and sworn to before me this the 22nd day of May 1930.
Notary Public Travis County, Texas
AFFIDAVIT [from first application]
I lived on Bear Creek in Parker County from 1858 to 1870. My fatherÂ’s farm adjoined that of STEPHEN HEFFINGTON who settled in Parker County in 1851. During the war the Confederate Service had to assign certain of its soldiers to guard the frontier from Comanche Indians. I saw my father, JOHN HENRY TAYLOR, TOM HEFFINGTON, and BILL (W.C. HEFFINGTON, WALTER GLENN, AND JOHN DURKEE leave for the frontier. They were gone for many months, and I know positively that BILL HEFFINGTON was in the service. He killed an Indian and brought back to the neighborhood his shield, headress, belt, bow and arrows, etc., and I saw these with my own eyes. I did not see him in any Indian fights because I was a small boy, but I saw him leave with the other soldiers and months later he returned. His brother TOM was wounded in a fight with the Indians on Dove Creek, now in Tom Green county.
(Signature of Witness) T.U. TAYLOR
I was born in Parker County, Texas, May 2, 1856, and lived in said county until 1870. The facts contained in the above statement are absolutely true.
Signature of Witness) Mrs. TENNESS MILAM
I was born in 1848 in Gainsville Ark., and came to Parker County in 1864 and lived there until 1867. The above facts made by T.U. Taylor and his statement is True and Correct.
Signature of Witness) R.C. DEWITT
Sworn to and subscribed before me, this 3RD day of FEBRUARY A.D. 19 25
Notary Public, Travis County, Texas
CERTIFICATE OF STATE AND COUNTY ASSESSOR
I, JOE L. PANGLE, State and County Assessor in the County of BURNET, State of Texas, do certify that W.C. HEFFINGTON, or his wife, or his trustee, or trustee for his wife, whose name is signed to the foregoing application for a pension, under the Ace of the Thirty-third Legislature, approved April 7, 1913, is charged on the tax rolls of said county with a homestead of the value of ($2000.00) Two Thousand Dollars, and of other property, real or personal, or both, of the value of ($600.00) Six Hundred Dollars.
Given under my hand, this 4th day of February A.D. 1925
[signed] Joe L. Pangle
State and county Assessor
APPLICATION FOR MORTUARY WARRANT
THE STATE OF TEXAS
County of BURNET
I, HAM HEFFINGTON do hereby certify that I am the person to whom is entrusted the paying of the accounts and indebtedness of the late W.C. HEFFINGTON, who was a pensioner of the State of Texas, and whose file number was 46671 and whose original county was BURNET.
The said pensioner W.C. HEFFINGTON, died on the 26TH day of JANUARY, 1932, in the town of MARBLE FALLS County of BURNET, Texas.
The pensioner died in the home of HIMSELF AND WIFE who was related to the pensioner as _____.
That the warrant, which application is hereby made for, shall be applied to paying all or part of the funeral expenses incurred by the said pensioner W.C. HEFFINGTON.
I further certify that the warrant for the current qurter has not been cashed by the pensioner, to the best of my knowledge and belief.
I am related to the pensioner as (Friend) SON that my postoffice address is MARBLE FALLS.
Signed HAM HEFFINGTON
Sworn to before me this 2ND day of FEBRUARY, 19 32
COUNTY JUDGE in and for BURNET State of Texas
CERTIFICATE OF UNDERTAKER
I, W.F. & J.F. BARNES LUMBER CO. , do certify that I am undertaker in the town of MARBLE FALLS, county of BURNET, State of Texas, that I had charge of the body of W.C. HEFFINGTON, who died in the town of MARBLE FALLS, County of BURNET, State of Texas on the 26TH day of JANUARY 1932. That said body was prepared for burial by me on the 26TH day of JANUARY 19 32, and that I am of the opinion that warrant herein applied for should be issued to the said HAM HEFFINGTON who makes the foregoing application.
Signed D.A. CAMERON, MGR
CERTIFICATE OF PHYSICIAN
I, J.R. YETT, do certify that I am a practicing physician, and that I attended W.C. HEFFINGTON in his last illness, and am of the opinion that his ailments were BLOOD CLOT ON BRAIN CAUSED BY UREMIC POISON FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS AS A RESULT OF BLOOD CLOT ON BRAIN HE HAD PARALYSIS WHICH CAUSED DEATH AS __?__.
I further certify that I am of the opinion that the Mortuary Warrant above requested should be issued in the name of the aforementioned applicant, in accordance with Act passed by the Thirty-eighth Legislature and approved March 2 1923.
Signed: J.R. YETT
PhysicianÂ’s Address MARBLE FALLS TEXAS | <urn:uuid:46d338cd-ae3b-434e-b1bf-423d6d98ed2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://boards.rootsweb.com/localities.northam.usa.states.texas.counties.burnet/1583/mb.ashx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952576 | 2,171 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Open Access News: over 1200 articles
September 10, 2004
New study indicates that too little movement could cause back pain that mimics an injury.
September 8, 2004
New study indicates that the pain from heavy backpacks could be breeding life-long back problems in children.
September 6, 2004
OSHA stresses management, employee involvement and training in its third set of industry-specific voluntary ergonomics guidelines.
September 2, 2004
Gardeners and manufacturers are turning to ergonomics to take the discomfort and even some of the tediousness out of gardening.
September 1, 2004
New training styles and conferences aim to improve ergonomics, safety and comfort in health care environments.
August 30, 2004
Recent survey finds that Dutch are getting both taller and wider.
August 27, 2004
All sorts of ergonomics fixes are available, but still musicians aren’t always ready to adopt ergonomics to reduce their unique work-related injuries.
August 25, 2004
Facing absenteeism rates of 25 percent, Norwegian companies are banking on ergonomics concepts to get workers to come to work.
August 23, 2004
Faster return to work and ease of completing tasks are both by-products of outreach efforts intended to help federal office workers with disabilities work more productively.
August 20, 2004
For workers who just can’t seem to get enough accomplished at work due to lack of sleep, a company in New York offers ultra short-term accommodations specifically designed for the power nap.
August 18, 2004
The CDC's reorganization plans leave groups wondering how occupational safety and health will be impacted.
August 16, 2004
Study indicates that changes in the health care system may be causing increases in musculoskeletal disorders in nurses.
August 13, 2004
From portable video games to loaded backpacks, applying ergonomics to back-to-school could mean reducing the risks of injuries for today’s children.
August 11, 2004
New survey of physicians indicates that men and women get their back pain from different sources.
August 9, 2004
New doctor hours are becoming more ergonomic but they're also creating a rift with older doctors and medical scheduling.
August 6, 2004
Trends in office furnishing include customized cubicles and ergonomically-designed desk chairs, all being touted by employers as potential ways of luring new employees and retaining old ones.
August 4, 2004
New study finds that companies who make final hiring decisions based on tests for carpal tunnel syndrome could be wasting money.
August 2, 2004
More libraries are adopting self-service checkout to reduce injury risks to staff.
July 30, 2004
Recent study looks at the usability of websites and finds they don’t always "fit" their intended, older audience.
July 28, 2004
Liberty Mutual’s research indicates that today's ergonomic office equipment is just fine but the set up may still need tweaking. | <urn:uuid:c19ec9e3-a25f-4a86-a09f-18b971a815f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ergoweb.com/news/news_list.cfm?cat_id=1&s&s&s&start=701 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936024 | 615 | 1.898438 | 2 |
posted by Thom Holwerda on Thu 27th Dec 2012 10:19 UTC, submitted by anonymous
"Computers are ubiquitous in modern life. They offer us portals to information and entertainment, and they handle the complex tasks needed to keep many facets of modern society running smoothly. Chances are, there is not a single person in Ars' readership whose day-to-day existence doesn't rely on computers in one manner or another. Despite this, very few people know how computers actually do the things that they do. How does one go from what is really nothing more than a collection - a very large collection, mind you - of switches to the things we see powering the modern world?" | <urn:uuid:4dc2d6ed-1e40-4443-9d29-14cbffa5ee91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.osnews.com/story/26635/An_introduction_to_writing_for_computers | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966699 | 140 | 2.359375 | 2 |
By James Dacey
These days, pretty much every major newspaper, science magazine or broadcaster has an associated website and these sites almost always provide the breaking news stories before their printed counterparts. In addition, the Internet is awash with blogs, podcasts and social-media sites, where it is often the scientists themselves who are first break new developments to the outside world.
When it comes to slightly longer news and analysis articles, just a few years ago printed media was still the first choice for most people, as reading at length from an antiquated screen could leave you with serious eyesore. What’s more, busy people on the go didn’t always have immediate access to a computer or an Internet connection to access their chosen news websites. Today the situation is different. Screens have improved and the proliferation of Internet connectivity, combined with the advent of smartphones and tablets, means that many people can access many forms of news, at any time, nearly anywhere.
We want to know where you get most of your updates when it comes to physics news. Let us know via this week’s Facebook poll.
What is your primary source of online physics news?
General news sites
Specialist media sites
To share your online habits, please visit our Facebook page. And, if you get the majority of your physics news from a different source, then please let us know what that is by posting a comment on the Facebook poll.
In last week’s poll we were interested to know how you see astronomy in relation to physics. We asked “Do you consider astronomy to be a distinct academic discipline from physics?”
The results are in and 70% of you think that astronomy is not a distinct academic discipline from physics.
Michael Danielides voted with the majority and commented that an astrophysics lecturer once told him that astronomy and astrophysics were both branches of theoretical physics, “because you can’t interfere with the ongoing experiment”.
Thank you for all your participation and we look forward to hearing from you in this week’s poll. | <urn:uuid:365e67db-14a1-452d-bc92-056dcd1e8745> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.physicsworld.com/2012/05/10/what-is-your-primary-source-of/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959517 | 424 | 2.390625 | 2 |
The rapid changes in the means of information access occasioned by the emergence of the World Wide Web have spawned an upheaval in the means of describing and managing information resources. Metadata is a primary tool in this work, and an important link in the value chain of knowledge economies. Yet there is much confusion about how metadata should be integrated into information systems. How is it to be created or extended? Who will manage it? How can it be used and exchanged? Whence comes its authority? Can different metadata standards be used together in a given environment? These and related questions motivate this paper. The authors hope to make explicit the strong foundations of agreement shared by two prominent metadata Initiatives: the Dublin Core Metadata Initiative (DCMI) and the Institute for Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) Learning Object Metadata (LOM) Working Group. This agreement emerged from a joint metadata taskforce meeting in Ottawa in August, 2001. By elucidating shared principles and practicalities of metadata, we hope to raise the level of understanding among our respective (and shared) constituents, so that all stakeholders can move forward more decisively to address their respective problems. The ideas in this paper are divided into two categories. Principles are those concepts judged to be common to all domains of metadata and which might inform the design of any metadata schema or application. Practicalities are the rules of thumb, constraints, and infrastructure issues that emerge from bringing theory into practice in the form of useful and sustainable systems. | <urn:uuid:f57b9f38-8ad8-4573-8946-d9261af3995b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.worldcat.org/title/metadata-principles-and-practicalities/oclc/53942184?lang=es | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916729 | 298 | 2.46875 | 2 |
A useful and well-written summary of open access to publications in the medical field triggered some thoughts I’d like to share. The thrust of the article was that doctors need more access to a wide range of journal publications in order to make better decisions. The article also praises NIH’s open access policy, which has inspired the NSF and many journals.
My additional points are:
- Open publication adds to the flood of information already available to most doctors, placing a burden on them to search and filter it. IBM’s Watson is one famous attempt to approach the ideal where the doctor would be presented right at the point of care with exactly the information he or she needs to make a better decision. Elsewhere, I have reported on a proposal to help experts doctors filter and select the important information and provide it to their peers upon demand–a social networking approach to evidence-based medicine.
- Not only published papers, but the data that led to those research results should be published online, to help researchers reproduce the results and build on them to make new discoveries. I report in an earlier article on this site about the work of Sage Bionetworks to get researchers to open their data. Of course, putting up raw data leaves many challenges: one has to be careful to deidentify it according to accepted standards. One has to explain the provenance of the data carefully: how it was collected and massaged (because data sets always require some culling and error-correction) so it can be understood and properly reused. Finally, combining different data sets is always difficult because they are collected under different conditions and with different assumptions.
Filed Under: THCB
Tagged: Andy Oram, Data, Evidence Based Medicine, NIH, NSF, open access
May 7, 2013
My job and my life intersected in a profound way when my daughter was diagnosed with Type I diabetes. Years working in mobile innovation didn’t prepare me for how personally relevant mHealth so quickly became. Her clinical trial at Stanford University, supported by the National Institutes of Health through Congress’ Special Diabetes Program, featured a world-class endocrinologist working alongside software coders, applications developers, algorithm writers, network engineers and other mobile innovators. They were all pushing together for what could be a revolution in diabetes management—the artificial pancreas.
Recently I had the opportunity to talk about my daughter’s experience and share my thoughts on how government can help encourage the next wave of mHealth innovation, when I was invited to testify before Congress on mobile innovation and health care.
America’s leadership in the mobile economy — 40,000 apps and counting in the broad mHealth category — matches America’s leadership at the cutting edge of medical technology.
Mobile devices, wireless networks and targeted applications are enabling better, more seamless and cost-effective care that empowers and informs stakeholders on both sides of the stethoscope.
The virtuous cycle of investment in the mobile ecosystem — from networks, to handsets and tablets, to applications — provides an unparalleled foundation for dramatic advances in the nation’s health and wellness. My message to Congress was to lean in and strike a reasonable and circumspect balance that both protects patient safety and privacy and propels the dramatic, mobile-fueled advances we are seeing through American medicine today.
Continue reading “What Do mHealth Leaders Need Most From Our Government? Clarity.”
Filed Under: Tech
Tagged: Diabetes, Diabetes Management, Jonathan Spalter, mHealth, mHealth Regulation, Mobile Future, NIH
Apr 7, 2013
In some ways, the Insititute of Medicine is like the famed “Academy” of Motion Picture Arts & Sciences. Having membership conferred is the ultimate accolade in a field full of brains, competition, money, and ego. A major difference is that the IOM doesn’t give out annual awards for best studies or best theories–the whole institute is comprised of lifetime achievement award winners.
That’s why when the IOM issues a report, it garners a lot of attention.
Their most recent, “Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America” attracted the usual spate of headlines:
I’ve looked over the report–it’s been released in ‘pre-publication’ form on their website, and you can read the whole thing. It’s a worth a click over, because even if you can’t slog through 350+ pages, they’ve made several executive summary features (including a top ten list) andgraphics that do a great job of conveying the authors’ findings and recommendations. A few things jumped out at me:
- $750 billion of our collective annual $2.3 trillion health care outlay does not improve health
- we still have far too many errors in hospitals
- too many patients discharged from hospitals are readmitted in less than a month (20%!)
- which points to the lousy job we do ‘transitioning’ people from hospital to home
- communication amongst medical personnel is abysmal
The report uses analogies from many industries. There’s the requisite comparison to aviation, since the safety record of commercial airlines is enviable. But there are also comparisons to hotels, manufacturing, general contractors, engineers, and even ‘mission control’ at NASA. [Health care does not compare favorably to NASA. Doctors should, but are not working for a common purpose like getting people to the moon.]
Continue reading “Waste Not”
Filed Under: Hospitals
Tagged: Costs, Health Reform, IOM, John H. Schumann, NIH, Patient Safety, Quality
Sep 21, 2012
By DAVID WILLIAMS
An Archives of Internal Medicine article (Conflicts of Interest in Cardiovascular Clinical Practice Guidelines) is getting a lot of notice this month. In essence, many of the physicians who develop guideline that influence practice patterns and payment decisions have conflicts. The authors recommend only allowing those without conflicts to write the guidelines.
This isn’t a new issue. In 2006 I wrote a piece (Another dirty little secret is out in the open) and am reposting it below because it’s timely:
A year ago in Time to deal with medicine’s dirty little secrets?, I wrote about a variety of practices that are relatively well-known in the health care field but would be shocking to outsiders. Industry often takes the blame for “aggressive marketing tactics,” and no doubt some of that is deserved. But physicians are also culpable.
The open secrets include the ghostwriting of journal articles by industry sponsors, physicians and academic medical centers holding ownership stakes in companies whose products they are researching, the clinical role sometimes played by orthopedic sales reps, and perhaps the most egregious example: physicians who set guidelines having financial relationships with the companies that benefit from how those guidelines are set.
Now we have a new example, which is even more serious than usual. A recent New England Journal of Medicine article blames Eli Lilly for overzealous promotion of Xigris. According to the Boston Globe:
Eli Lilly and Co. funded medical guidelines created for the treatment of [sepsis] in an effort to boost sales of a drug with questionable benefits. The allegation was made by senior scientists at the National Institutes of Health. [They] said Lilly tried to shape the guidelines for use of the drug Xigris by sponsoring a three-pronged marketing campaign
The first two phases are by now almost standard practice in the industry:
- Lilly paid a task force to spread the word that hospitals were rationing Xigris because of its cost, which forced docs “to decide who would live and who would die”
- Lilly “orchestrated” the development of practice guidelines to treat sepsis that called for early use of Xigris (an example of the phenomenon I have described before)
But then Lilly allegedly took a third step, which was a little shocking even to me:
Now, Lilly is sponsoring lobbying efforts to turn the guidelines into quality standards. Hospitals that follow such quality measures receive higher payment from insurers.
What’s happening here? Basically, an influential group of doctors is being lazy and greedy, and Lilly is enabling their behavior. The doctors put their fingers in the cookie jar and Lilly keeps restocking it. The public is paying for the cookies –in the form of higher product sales and sub-optimal health care– and should get fed up!
I have no problem with companies using legal means to promote their products, even if their tactics are “aggressive.” They owe it to their shareholders to maximize return on investment. But it isn’t in their long-term interest to push things as far as the medical profession often lets them.
Industry leans on the reputations of individual physicians (aka “key opinion leaders”), medical societies (aka guideline writers), and journals to legitimize their marketing messages. It’s up to the medical profession to scrutinize industry claims and issue independent guidelines and quality standards. Sometimes these claims hold up and deserve to be propagated. Sometimes they don’t. If the docs and journals don’t do their jobs they deserve to lose credibility.
It’s hard to know the extent to which medical guidelines are already corrupted. The situation is a bit like the incident when the Chinese President’s plane was refitted. In the process of fixing up the plane someone inserted a bunch of listening devices (presumably at no extra charge). When the Chinese checked out the plane and realized it was bugged they had to rip the whole thing up. That’s something like what is going on within the major payers. They’ve stopped treating journal articles and guidelines as objective and have started doing their own analyses. But do we really want to leave health care decisions just to them?
Here’s some free advice to the different players in health care:
- Industry: Feel free to market your products and services aggressively, but don’t take things too far. If you do you’ll end up killing the goose that lays the golden eggs. No one will trust doctors, guidelines or journals anymore
- Physicians: Remember that pharma and device companies are not stupid. If they spend money supporting your research or sending you to conferences or sponsoring continuing medical education it’s because they expect to get a return on their investment. It’s awfully hard to remain objective in such instances. Your job is to adopt the best medical practices and put the patient first –sometimes that requires expensive new treatments and sometimes old, cheap standbys are better
- Payers: Go ahead and challenge the objectivity of journal articles and guidelines. On the other hand, don’t pretend that low cost is always synonymous with best treatment. Expect physicians to keep you in line on that.
- Patients: You need to look out for yourself. Find a good, honest physician. Take a look at who’s sponsoring the educational materials you receive. Ask your physician about alternative treatments and do some research yourself
Filed Under: Physicians
Tagged: Archives of Internal Medicine, cardiology, Conflict of interest, Eli Lilly, Guidelines, NIH, Quality
Feb 24, 2011
I wrote here the other day about the NIH’s new translational medicine plans. The New York Times article that brought this to wide attention didn’t go over well with director Francis Collins, who ended up trying to disabuse people of the idea that the NIH was going to set up its own drug company.
But there’s been an overwhelming negative response from the academic research community, largely driven (it seems) by worries about funding. Given the state of the budget, flat funding would be seen as a victory by NIH, so this isn’t the best environment to be talking about putting together a great new institute. The money for it will, after all, have to come out of someone else’s pile. Collins spends most of that statement linked above denying this, but it’s hard to see how there won’t be problems.
I think, though, that there’s an even more fundamental problem here. In the latest BioCentury, there’s an interesting sidelight on all this:
In comments submitted to NIH, Joseph Zaia, associate director of the Center for Biomedical Mass Spectrometry at the Boston University School of Medicine, argued against setting timetables for research results. “I do not believe that running medical science on a short sighted business time schedule will produce more cures faster. It will, however, deplete NIH resources very rapidly and possibly tear down an infrastructure of knowledge that took decades to create.” Zaia complained that the NCATS “process seems to be driven by the FasterCures movement sponsored by Michael Milken,” which he said has “been masterful in manipulating the political system for their purposes, and forcing NIH into this reorganization.”
FasterCures’ Margaret Anderson, executive director of the non-profit group that advocates for accelerating medical innovation, submitted a letter strongly endorsing NCATS, which she said “will provide a significant stimulus to moving ideas out of the lab and into the clinic.” Continue reading “New Cures! Faster! Faster!”
Filed Under: OP-ED
Tagged: Derek Lowe, Drug development, NIH
Feb 18, 2011
For most of the past decade, Democrats and Republicans in Congress have competed over who could pour more money into the National Institutes of Health, the largest funder of biomedical research in the world.
But the party is over. The budget cuts proposed by a leading House Republican this week included cancellation of the $1 billion that the Obama administration wanted to add to the $31 billion NIH budget.
It was part of a broad assault on science funding that was announced by appropriations chairman Hal Rogers, R-Ky., who also called for large cuts at the National Science Foundation, the White House Office of Science, the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration and the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.
The purpose, according to Rogers, is “to rein in spending to help our economy grow and our businesses create jobs.”
If creating jobs is his goal, Rogers might want to take a look at a new study that appeared yesterday in the New England Journal of Medicine, which found that publicly-funded research is a far more important contributor to the creation of new drugs and vaccines than previously thought. The classical view of innovation is that government funds basic science, while industry comes up with the new and innovative products based on that science. Continue reading “NIH and Drug Innovation”
Filed Under: Merrill Goozner, OP-ED
Tagged: Drug development, NEJM, NIH
Feb 14, 2011 | <urn:uuid:24667a30-c962-4b43-b709-e33e525a81d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thehealthcareblog.com/blog/tag/nih/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95111 | 3,115 | 2.203125 | 2 |
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The year's at the spring; And day's at the morn; Morning's at seven; The hill-side's dew-pearled; The lark's on the wing; The snail's on the thorn: God's in his heaven, All's right with the world!Browning, Robert
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Search Quotations Book | <urn:uuid:bc5a9b53-80c9-4f0b-b111-d965b93b7009> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://quotationsbook.com/quote/42395/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928811 | 97 | 1.835938 | 2 |
The phrase "constancy of purpose" captured, for Deming, what quality is all about in organizations. Plenty of companies have mission statements, but few seem infused with a sense of mission. Jeffrey Liker's book "The Toyota Way" makes clear that what makes that firm unique among its competitors is not a set of superior production tools. Rather, at all levels of the organization, there is an abiding belief in a production system that relentlessly seeks incremental improvements. The "lean" organization eliminates all that does not contribute to quality for the customer--whether the customer is internal (the next group of people in the production process) or external (the purchaser of the end product).
My review of individuals who are widely considered to be great within their fields--athletics, science, arts, leadership--finds that they are lean in the same way. They find a field that captures their imagination and interest, and they tinker at it and work with it until they reach a high level of mastery. This constancy of purpose is driven by a love for the effort itself: a chess grandmaster or Olympic athlete seeks out opportunities to meet challenges and become the best they can be. Taxing the production system and occasionally shutting down the production line is essential to Toyota's success. Until you test the limits of your system, you can't know where the weaknesses are. The highly successful individual is one who craves such tests. This is what Nietzsche meant when he said, "Under peaceful conditions, the warlike man turns on himself."
The psychologist Abraham Maslow made a crucial distinction between individuals who are driven by needs and those who pursue values. One is engaged in the elimination of deficit states; the other seeks to accomplish positive ends in their own right. He believed that, once basic needs were met, individuals would be free to actualize their greatest potentials. Yet it is not that simple. Many people have their basic needs more than met and yet display little constancy of purpose in their own lives.
Ed Seykota noted that good traders have talent, but--with great traders--the talent has them. So it is in any field. Constancy of purpose comes from the capacity to become absorbed in one's pursuits, to find them inherently challenging and meaningful, and to allow oneself to become a vehicle through which talents and skills are expressed.
That requires finding one's productive niche. Not a job, not a career, but a calling. How many traders fail to succeed at their work--how many people fail to succeed in life--because they have not found that niche that fits their talents, skills, and interests? Constancy of purpose is a natural outgrowth of finding a niche: When you're doing what you are meant to be doing, it is difficult to veer from the path of quality. | <urn:uuid:30181242-ad92-45b3-9e41-d6a14fb05f0a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://traderfeed.blogspot.com/2006/06/blueprint-for-uncompromised-life-part.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972569 | 571 | 2.09375 | 2 |
From the image above, assume that it is a 3D image that is of m*n*o size.
Each voxel can only be either 0 or 1. White is 1. Black is 0.
In this 3D environment, there is one cylinder-like structure, but the whole cylinder does not have consistent radius - from one to the other end, the radius changes around. The whole structure (as in "any edge of the structure to the whole thing inside) consists of white voxels or 1 only. All other voxels outside the structure are 0.
Red line is the computed skeleton of the 3D image - this red skeleton line is always right in the middle of the whole structure.
This implies for any particular voxel of the red line, we can draw the blue circle of respective radius for any particular voxel.
The radius or these green lines are what I am looking for.
If we are to compute for the radius of any particular voxel of the red line, how could that be accomplished? | <urn:uuid:80b6c580-786c-4fb5-b74f-8a8eaa97b665> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://math.stackexchange.com/questions/102968/finding-the-radius-of-a-particular-center-voxel-in-3d-cylinder-like-structure?answertab=oldest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90924 | 218 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Here, I would like to talk about the concept of being considerate “to” others, and not just being considerate “of” others. The idea is to not only coexist with people with different views, but to actually appreciate them and implement them and their differing views, and the concept of them doing anything they want differently than us, into our own ways of thinking and life.
I was driving on an almost empty freeway today when I noticed a very slow driver in one of the middle lanes, the same lane I was in. Even though I was within the speed limit, it seemed that I either had to change lanes to get ahead, or simply slow down. A thought came to my mind “Aaah, slow driver, move!” and then I realized: I was not being considerate of this very driver! The freeway was empty, I did not own any rights to this lane, and I could simply overtake this person if I wanted to. However, instead of doing that, I had felt as if this person driving slow in one of the middle lance was an annoying thing I had experienced. In my view, that was being inconsiderate to that other driver, who probably simply wanted to drive slowly, and safely, on a rare day when the freeway was not crowded at all.
I wonder how many times we may feel online that someone or something is annoying us, but in reality, we are just being inconsiderate. Why is it that many different views like cultures, religions, political views, and even online views on things like blogging, dictate or advice us to do something specific, but rarely, or never, tell us that we should be accommodating and considerate to others and conflicting views also.
Being inconsiderate offline
Almost every week I talk to some friends who tell me about how they ran into some people who had no manners because they did not respect the culture, religion, political view or something else that my friend believed in. However, people usually do not talk about their own character not having any rules or views on how one should be accommodating of other views. For example, if a certain culture dictates how someone should eat, it can be very hard to find any rule or cultural characteristic that dictates how one can let someone eat anyway they want, if they did not subscribe to certain cultural trends.
If a culture, religion, or any other guideline view about something in life about is not accommodating of people who want to do things their own way while not hurting others, why can we ourselves not be more considerate to and of others and still follow our culture and our rules? If our culture or religion does not consider other conflicting views, does that mean our culture and religion is not good? Why can people not be all right with others doing the same thing in different ways? Does everyone have to have the same religion? Does everyone have to have the same culture? Does everyone need to have the same political view? Does everyone need to do everything in the same exact manner? As long as someone is doing something and not hurting others directly and intentionally, why can we not be happy with them, coexist with them, and even incorporate them and their views into our own lives?
Being inconsiderate online
I run into many blogs daily where people get upset over someone having differing view about something then them. A blogger may get upset and feel offended if someone else talks about contradictory views on religion, politics, or even blogging. However, should we not have the quality of being considerate to other views? Why can our own online views, such as blogging rules, dictate something like “We will treat and deal with the people who have the exact same views as us, in exactly the same manner as the people who have different views“?
Why is it that I cannot write something, like saying that blogging is just a stupid fad, without getting people to attack me without any reason? Being inconsiderate does not mean that you do not disagree with others. Being inconsiderate means that you cannot live normally while knowing that people have different views. The only reason we may be upset at others online, and thus be inconsiderate to them, is because those other people are going after ideas that we ourselves have either not thought of, or we have decided not to utilize them. We do not disrespect and disagree with others people because we believe we are right; we disrespect and disagree with others because they have a different view and because they do not subscribe to our views.
This mentality creates a little dilemma, if one believes in the concept of applying a theory to different things; does everyone then, when following the concept of being considerate to others, need to follow the same standards online? Why can we not have more blogs without any RSS feeds? Why can we not have nonstandard, and strange, labeling around a site, like the word “Backroad” instead of “Archives“? Why can we not have more blogs without the comment feature? One of the grand questions of all: if we want to be considerate to others, why can we not be comfortable with blogs that deliberately aim to be inconsiderate?
Do you think the concept of being considerate to others has any value for you?
What is your view on this? Do we have to criticize or hate every instance of something that we disagree with? Could that be the reason why many married and dating couples look like brothers and sisters, because many people want to find someone who not only acts like them but also looks like them? Can human beings, as a whole, ever have a mentality where they not only respect different views and people, but they also make it a part of their own character to revolve their own views and character on such a thing? We we, as individuals, easily have a mentality where we are not only considerate to others, but where we also revolve our own ideas and beliefs around the idea of letting other ideas and beliefs prosper within our own life domain?
I am touching the introduction of this touchy subject very lightly, as this subject probably defines the lives of many people out there, and deserves more than just a single post that was written while Bes was hungry. Do you agree or disagree with this?Follow @besz | <urn:uuid:c8b45062-5df5-4863-adbf-ce1a8c2c07b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thereasoner.com/articles/the-concept-of-being-considerate-to-others | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980229 | 1,289 | 2.453125 | 2 |
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( Originally Published Mid 1800s )
The Cinderella foot is passe de mode, and if we have cause occasionally to regret a vagary or freak of the "new woman" she deserves to be eternally blessed for having made it the fashion for our feet to bear some harmonious proportion to the frame they are to support, and to have made it no longer true, as cleverly stated well-known author, that the length of a woman's by a skirts is directly proportional to the size of her feet, and that women with large feet are always greatly shocked at the immodesty of those who have small pedal extremities and are "always trying to show them."
Smallness alone was, in my girlhood, the test of beauty in feet, as I recollect it. I remember perfectly my mother's look of surprise and stern disapproval when I had to succumb to a number three shoe, and how we were brought up on a tradition that our maternal grandmother had such tiny feet she always wore children's shoes in size, and had her satin gaiters sewed on her little feet each day that not even a silken lace might interfere with the lines of beauty and symmetry.
But in the emancipation of women, who are no longer dolls or toys, but fine, vigorous, splendid creatures of superb, physical development from tip to toe, feet of proper size to sustain a woman's weight are considered not only more attractive to the eye, but correct form. Unfortunately very few women born before the wave of good sense have sightly feet. Scarcely one woman in a thousand has a foot free from deformity or blemish of some kind.
For generations back women insisted upon wearing shoes too short or too narrow, and shoemakers were compelled to cater to their desires and furnish shoes built almost upon the Chinese plan for the deluded creatures who insisted upon having what they were pleased to consider small feet.
It is also really astonishing that we should have so long submitted to the tyranny of French heels and viselike foot gear. I look at my number five, flat-heeled, broad-soled shoes, in which I walk many and many a mile without fatigue, and think how foolish I once was,-and not so foolish either, for in those days common-sense shoes were not to be had.
Fortunately we know better nowadays, and our little girls are growing up with beautiful, undeformed feet; but, as I have said, so recently have we come to our senses that the woman past thirty with a perfect foot is almost unknown.
Occasionally an actress is said to have a perfect foot, and her fame is made thereby. Yet when "Trilby" was played all over the country by different women, there was never a real Trilby foot that bore unscathed the telltale test of the photographer.
The foot of the average woman should require at least a number five shoe. A large foot on a tiny woman is not beautiful, but on the other hand neither is a tiny little foot artistically pretty or agreeable to gaze upon. It is harmony that makes beauty,-proper proportions that make harmony.
A woman's foot attains its normal size at about twentytwo. Strange to say, the foot at sixteen or seventeen is larger than a few years later. Shoemakers all say that girls between sixteen and seventeen have feet that are not yet shaped. They are fat and flabby. At about twenty the foot gets its proper shape, the flesh grows firmer, the muscles and tendons stronger and the bones become well set. When the foot gets its settled shape a narrower shoe is required, frequently two sizes narrower than could have been worn at sixteen. At about forty a woman's feet go back to the flabby state.
It is true that small feet are considered by many a mark of aristocracy, but they certainly do not indicate superiority of intellect, for many brainy women of supreme intelligence have had very large feet. For example, George Eliot and Mme. de Stael, the most brilliant women intellectually of their day, had such large and ungainly feet that they were made miserable by the consciousness of their undue proportions. Mme. de Stael once ventured to assume the role of a Greek statue in some tableaux vivants, and was grievously offended by the witty Talleyrand's bon mot that he recognized the impersonator at once by the "pied de Stael."
A long hand and foot are said to indicate mental superiority and a capacity for a larger grasp and a greater tenacity of purpose than smaller members. The proper size of a woman's foot varies from five and one-half to nine inches-that is, the foot that has been unrestricted from infancy and permitted to grow as freely as the head, without stricture of any kind. The fashionable Chinese foot is about three and one-half inches in length, and I have seen the feet of women in modern Europe which were reduced by tight squeezing to almost Chinese proportions.
A truly beautiful foot must first be free from all blemishes, and in perfect proportion to the leg and stature. The instep should be high, or moderately high, and the portion under the instep hollow and well raised above the level of the sole, the toes regular and well developed, the heel narrow and nonprojecting-the general outline of the perfect foot is long, slender and graceful. The toes of the beautiful foot, according to Flaxman, should follow each other imperceptibly in a graceful curve from the first to the fifth, and in the Greek foot, according to the most famous statues, the second toe was made longer than the great toe. The beauty of the longer second toe is dis puted. The skin of the main part of the foot should be of an almost marble whiteness, and the toes and heels alone a rosy pink. | <urn:uuid:4b008bfa-131a-4982-9254-19db11909cb9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oldandsold.com/articles03/beauty30.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974072 | 1,225 | 1.820313 | 2 |
In turbulent times, more IT workers are choosing to become contractors - so what’s the good and the bad of going freelance, asks silicon.com’s Steve Ranger.
I’ve always preferred the term ‘freelance’ to ‘contractor’. Maybe that’s because freelance, coined by Sir Walter Scott in his chivalric epic Ivanhoe to describe medieval mercenaries, sounds freewheeling and heroic, like someone quixotically making their fortune by their wits.
The term ‘contractor’, on the other hand, I’ve always thought sounds rather reductionist, rendering someone down into a piece of paper.
But whatever you call them, the number of freelancers and contractors is on the rise.
Figures released by Kingston University and Professional Contractors Group (PCG) for National Freelancers Day - that’s today - show that the number of freelancers in the UK now totals 1.56 million, or roughly one in 20 in the UK workforce - a figure that’s up from 1.4 million back in 2008.
From CIOs on short-term contracts to developers with in-demand skills, going freelance is an attractive way for many tech workers to work outside of the normal employer-employee arrangement - as shown by the significant portion of freelancers that describe themselves as managers (161,000) or IT and telecoms workers (93,000).
According to the PCG’s managing director John Brazier, the number of freelancers in the UK has shown steady growth during the recent turbulent times, and confirms “a widely held belief that more and more skilled and talented individuals are opting for freelancing as a work/lifestyle choice, or because of economic circumstances”.
To me, one of the biggest changes in IT over the last decade has been the rising power - and often salary - of the contractor. Such a rise is inevitable. A worker with in-demand skills will always be tempted to maximise their income, while companies can benefit by paying for expensive skills only when they need them.
So tell me: what are the good - and the bad - aspects of being a freelancer working in IT? Do you enjoy dipping into a variety of different organisations while still being beholden to none? Or do you miss the stability and the community of working for one company?
And those of you who are full-time employees, what’s it like to work with contractors? How does it affect the team dynamic? Let me know what you think by posting a comment below. | <urn:uuid:bb28d627-cdc2-4ec5-a313-72c313b20682> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techrepublic.com/blog/cio-insights/what-do-you-really-like-about-being-an-it-contractor/39748257 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952639 | 542 | 1.617188 | 2 |
(Swami Chidananda was the disciple of Swami Sivananda, the founder of the Divine Life Society, and Swami Chidananda succeeded him in 1963.)
We may progress in concentration and meditation, in Japa, in prayerfulness, God-remembrance and devotion, in the depth of our philosophical understanding, but we must also see clearly that simultaneously with these positive and progressive things happening to us, that our continuous human culture must accompany them, keep pace with them, must also move forward into a greater and greater state of perfection, wholeness and idealism. We cannot afford to forget that, as we evolve in our spiritual dimension, we have to also simultaneously evolve upon our human dimension.
Spirituality must make us into good persons. Spirituality must make us ideal human individuals. Spirituality must help to make us benefactors of our own society. Spirituality must make us a centre of blessedness to others, a centre of help to others, a centre of harmony, a centre of everything that contributes to human welfare — individually and collectively.
To enter into the spiritual life is a rare blessedness, it is a great good: to take it seriously and engage in active spiritual Sadhana is a second blessedness and a still greater good: but to persevere in the spiritual life, to be ever progressive and ceaseless in one's spiritual life, is the greatest good, the crowning blessedness.
Swami Chidananda (1916 – 2008) | <urn:uuid:ff887eff-838d-461d-a687-3ef53a50b3a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hindu-blog.com/2009/09/swami-chidananda-on-using-spirituality.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939641 | 307 | 2.15625 | 2 |
The new DS3, customise every feature to suit your style
A smoking exhaust is always a cause for concern, and I recently was asked to look at a diesel-engined car from which the smoke could be blue-white, or black.
The car had recorded about 150 000 kilometres and the engine started easily and ran well.
The owner said he had renewed the air and fuel filters, but, as this made no difference, wondered if he should think about renewing the injectors.
Black smoke emitted from the exhaust appears when some of the fuel injected is not burned during combustion, perhaps due to over-fuelling, or injector problems, which allow fuel droplets that are too large into the combustion chamber.
White smoke, which is often steam, can be caused by a coolant leak, resulting in water in the combustion chamber. Water in the fuel is another possibility. If the smoke clears quickly, it is probably condensation or even a very slight coolant leak.
Blue smoke is the result of oil being burnt during combustion, perhaps because of worn cylinder bore/rings. Oil leaking past valve stem seals is another possible cause. The smoke will be most obvious after the car has been left standing for some time, while a bore-sealing problem will produce smoke at higher engine speeds and especially under deceleration.
Something amiss with the crankcase breather system may produce blue or whitish smoke. On cars with turbochargers, the seals should be inspected too.
As the owner was determined to do the job himself, I advised to first check the crankcase breather system. Then, rather than fitting new (and expensive) injectors, to have the car checked by a diesel specialist who should be able to pinpoint the problem and cure it far more cheaply by using a professional fuel system cleaning agent.
On another subject, I must once again stress the importance of using the correct coolant when dealing with modern engines. Gone are the days when we could take liberties and rely on simply topping-up with water and pouring in some anti-freeze with no thought of checking specific gravity with a hydrometer. Guessing on a modern engine is simply not good enough.
Why is this? It is because alloy heads with steel gaskets and iron blocks need the correct concentration of the specified coolant for your car's engine. Failure to do this may result in the various metals to react to each other and encourage corrosion, with possibly disastrous results.
Some manufacturers recommend using a pre-mixed coolant, but many of us still use the traditional water and coolant mixture with no adverse effects. All the same, some recommend using only distilled water, claiming that tap water is full of chemicals that bode ill for the cooling system.
Regularly check the coolant level, and if it drops too regularly, find out why. I saw an engine recently on which, as the coolant level fell, the engine oil level increased. It was obvious that coolant was entering the oil system through a head fault.
In this case, the car was old and would have been expensive to put right, so the owner took it to a breaker. Sometimes it pays to face facts and cut your losses. -Star Motoring | <urn:uuid:b9f04aee-20dd-4b8f-8d4d-c2f0ede7a513> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iol.co.za/motoring/special-features/why-your-car-s-huffing-and-puffing-1.1429351 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972411 | 667 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Harvard Dems Chat with Senator Tim Wirth!
Posted 4/12/13 by Jacob CarrelRead post »
Posted 3/26/11 by Katie
For those curious about how operations are named:
Each command within the vast Defense Department apparatus is given a series of two-letter groupings that they can use for their operations’ two-word sobriquets. Under the system, the U.S. Africa Command, nominally in charge of the Libya strikes, was given three sets of words that it could begin the operation with.
“These words begin between the letters JF-JZ, NS-NZ and OA-OF, and those three groups give about 60 some odd words,” explains Africom spokesman Eric Elliott. “So, the folks who were responsible for naming this went through and they had done recent activities with NS and they went to O.”
Using the O series of letters, Africom officials picked out “Odyssey” for the first word. The second word is picked “as random as possible because that’s the goal of these operational names,” says Elliot. Africom pulled out “Dawn” for its second word and the resulting combination, “Odyssey Dawn,” is devoid of any intended meaning, Elliott insists. | <urn:uuid:d7f12691-90ba-4269-a96a-caba7d42c95d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.harvarddems.com/2011/03/26/odyssey-dawn/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964959 | 279 | 1.671875 | 2 |
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - A review of official reports of bad drug reactions is revealing more signs that people taking the diabetes drug Actos are at higher risk of developing bladder cancer.
Between 2004 and 2009, more than half a million adverse reactions among people taking anti-diabetic drugs were added to an official U.S. Food and Drug Administration database. Among those reports were 138 instances of bladder cancer in patients taking at least one of more than 15 different anti-diabetic drugs.
Last Updated: 2011-05-13 16:25:23 -0400 (Reuters Health)
However, more than a fifth of those bladder cancers were in patients taking Actos (pioglitazone), suggesting a "disproportionate risk" in comparison with other anti-diabetics, said study author Dr. Elisabetta Poluzzi of the University of Bologna in Italy.
A certain number of people taking a drug will always develop other problems, she explained, and it's often not clear whether those problems stem from the drug itself. As a result, these findings do not show Actos increases the risk of bladder cancer, she cautioned - just that researchers should look into it further.
"Disproportion is indicative of possible risk," Poluzzi told Reuters Health in an email, "not of an actual risk."
Still, this is not the first report to tie the drug to bladder cancer, and the possibility of increased cancer risk is already included in the prescribing information for the drug.
Last year, the FDA began a safety review of Actos after receiving early results from a long-term study by the drug's maker, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co Ltd. That study showed a raised risk of bladder cancer in patients with the longest exposure to Actos, and in those with the highest cumulative dose of the drug.
Actos is in the same class of drugs as GlaxoSmithKline's Avandia, which has not been associated with bladder cancer but has been linked to heart risks.
The FDA has said patients should not stop taking Actos unless told to do so by their doctor.
To investigate the question further, Poluzzi and her colleagues reviewed reports of negative reactions submitted to the FDA's official Adverse Event Reporting System, launched in 1969.
It's an imperfect system, she and her colleagues note in the journal Diabetes Care - for one, manufacturers are required to report to the FDA any health problem they suspect stems from one of their products, but for doctors, patients, lawyers, and anyone else who reports these reactions, it's entirely voluntary. As a result, the number of FDA reports does not equal the true number of bad reactions to drugs.
The data are also influenced by what is known as "notoriety bias," Poluzzi added, in which the number of reports of bad reactions typically rises after warnings - such as a new study - suggest that they could occur.
However, the scientists also saw disproportionate cases of bladder cancer among Actos users in the years before a major 2005 study suggested that a link might exist.
It's not clear how Actos might increase the risk of bladder cancer, Poluzzi added. The drug treats diabetes by activating certain receptors on cells - much as a key opens or closes a lock, and this same mechanism may also encourage some cells to become cancerous, she said.
Bladder cancer is the sixth most common cancer in the U.S. According to the National Cancer Institute, there were about 70,000 new cases diagnosed nationwide in 2010, and close to 15,000 deaths from the disease.
"Until the final data of the FDA investigation are available, physicians should pay careful attention to this possible risk," Poluzzi and her colleagues write.
SOURCE: http://bit.ly/frmkux Diabetes Care, online April 22, 2011.
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Yoga for Back Pain
Pets HelpYour Heart
Are YouMoney Smart? | <urn:uuid:2a895c74-1b5f-405a-83e7-0c3b824f9d9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lifescript.com/health/centers/diabetic_peripheral_neuropathy/news/2011/05/13/more_signs_diabetes_drug_linked_to_bladder_cancer.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955644 | 886 | 2.15625 | 2 |
The Fed should be more transparent
- A security officer patrols the front of the U.S. Federal Reserve building in Washington. Reuters
The continuing financial crisis has made clear to many people the deep problems that exist within our financial system. One of the key decisions to be made in any of the reform proposals floating around deals with the Federal Reserve System and its powers.
For nearly 100 years the Federal Reserve has operated largely in the shadows. The Fed’s monetary policy operations, including open-market operations and agreements with foreign governments and central banks, are exempt from audit by the Government Accountability Office.
Congress itself never delves into these areas in the limited time it has during the Fed chairman’s semiannual appearances before the House Financial Services Committee, and any pointed questions are evaded. Former Fed Chairman Alan Greenspan was adept at this — his “Greenspan-speak” was legendary — but Chairman Ben Bernanke is no slouch, either, at giving vague and nonresponsive answers to direct questions.
While I oppose giving the Fed any additional power, even members who support an expansion should support dealing with the crucial issue of Fed oversight — before proposals for giving the Fed additional power as a regulator of the financial system are discussed. Using Section 13(3) of the Federal Reserve Act, the Fed has gone on the warpath over the past two years. It has involved itself in direct financial support to individual firms such as Bear Stearns and American International Group, has developed new credit facilities to funnel money to numerous other financial companies and has boosted its balance sheet to more than $2 trillion — secure in the knowledge that the legal blocks put in place in 31 U.S.C. 714 to prevent GAO audits of the most significant of the Fed’s actions will hide it from any serious oversight. For an organization with arguably as much clout as the rest of the federal government put together to be able to escape significant oversight is a situation that needs to be rectified immediately.
This is why I introduced H.R. 1207, the Federal Reserve Transparency Act, earlier this year. I introduced similar bills in the early 1980s, but they never received nearly the attention that H.R. 1207 has. For this, we have the Federal Reserve’s actions to be thankful for. More Americans than ever are now aware of the powers that the Fed has and the extent to which it is using them. In some recent polls, 75 percent of Americans supported an audit of the Federal Reserve, which is what H.R. 1207 would do. All restrictions on GAO audits of the Fed would be lifted, and all of its books would be fair game.
Not surprisingly, the Federal Reserve is opposed to H.R. 1207. One of the most often heard arguments is that opening monetary policy operations to a GAO audit would erode Fed independence. Nothing could be further from the truth. An audit of the Fed has one main goal, and that is to find out how much money is being spent and who is receiving it. Congress already dictates monetary policy to the Fed in the guise of the Humphrey-Hawkins mandates of full employment and price stability, so the Fed’s vaunted independence is already compromised in that regard. Nothing in the audit called for by H.R. 1207 should be construed as leading to increased congressional interference in or dictation of monetary policy. | <urn:uuid:d73152b9-5f8b-43cf-a38c-07a2c095d750> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1009/28431.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971843 | 701 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Government-sponsored prize competitions have allowed agencies to save money on new projects, better hedge risky investments and improve results by bringing together people from a range of disciplines, a report released Tuesday by the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy said.
Challenges also allow agencies to "establish an ambitious goal without having to predict which team or approach is most likely to succeed," the report said.
Federal agencies have sponsored more than 150 prize competitions since Congress established governmentwide authority for the challenges with the America COMPETES Reauthorization Act signed in January 2010.
The OSTP report details numerous challenges that yielded innovations but doesn't break down likely cost savings that resulted.
The Energy Department, for instance, helped sponsor the Progressive Insurance Automotive X Prize, which offered $10 million to teams that built cars that could reach fuel efficiency levels above 100 miles per gallon.
"As the prize did not dictate a single approach, it incentivized 111 teams from around the globe to develop a new generation of technologies in the field," the report said. | <urn:uuid:48c9fb1f-2ea8-4def-aaad-5e8ece969447> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nextgov.com/technology-news/tech-insider/2012/04/white-house-report-touts-prize-competitions/55329/?oref=ng-nextpost | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961873 | 211 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Program seeks to cultivate gardening expertise
The Master Gardener Program of Morris County is accepting applications for its September class. The program provides in-depth training to individuals with an interest in gardening and a commitment to volunteer service. It is a cooperative effort between Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Morris County and the Morris County Park Commission.
This unique partnership allows students in the Morris County program to take advantage of the expertise of Rutgers University faculty and staff, as well as the onsite demonstration and display gardens at Frelinghuysen Arboretum and other Morris County park facilities. In return for their training, Master Gardeners assist both the Extension office and the Park Commission in public outreach.
Morris County Master Gardeners have donated many volunteer hours in the service of Morris County residents. A vital component of the program is the Master Gardener Helpline, staffed five days a week from April to October by volunteers who answer gardening questions over the phone. Residents can also bring plant or insect samples into the extension office for identification.
Community outreach is an essential part of the Master Gardener Program. Every year the Master Gardeners staff a table at the three day 4-H Fair in Chester. They create an educational display, answer questions related to gardening, lawn care and pest problems and give out fact sheets on a variety of subjects of interest to homeowners. Master Gardeners also participate in the Morristown Fall Festival, the Chatham Farmers Market and Madison Bottle Day. In addition, they staff a Helpline table at the Morris County Library.
The Horticultural Enrichment Program works with senior citizens and youth at various facilities in Morris County, teaching them gardening-related activities and encouraging them to connect with the world and each other through plants.
Morris County Master Gardeners also participate in events at the Snyder Farm, part of the New Jersey Agricultural Experiment Station and Cook College, Rutgers, whose mandate is to "improve the quality of life through an integrated program of scientific research, public education and community outreach." One event the Master Gardeners are involved with every year is the "Great Tomato Tasting," where the public is invited to evaluate heirloom and hybrid tomatoes. Master Gardeners also help with the harvesting of test zinnias and strawberries, among other crops.
The Morris County Master Gardener Training Program consists of a series of 24 weekly lectures at the Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown, as well as a requirement of 60-hours of volunteer activities for Rutgers Cooperative Extension and the Morris County Park Commission. Successful graduates then become Certified Master Gardeners and are encouraged to continue their volunteer service on a yearly basis in order to retain their certified status.
Classes, which begin Sept. 13 and run through March, are held on Mondays from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. at Frelinghuysen Arboretum in Morristown. There is a $225 fee to cover course and administrative expenses. For more information, call Rutgers Cooperative Extension of Morris County at 973-285-8300, ext. 223. Information and applications can also be found on the Rutgers website, www.njaes.rutgers.edu, and click on "Lawn and Garden" and then "Rutgers Master Gardener Program."
Morris County residents may call the Master Gardener Helpline for answers to gardening, lawn care and pest management questions at 973-285-8300. It is open April through October on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. and Tuesday and Friday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. | <urn:uuid:b87a93ea-31bd-4928-bf48-8566817f2635> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.northjersey.com/community/announcements/100961824_Program_seeks_to_cultivate_gardening_expertise_.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941739 | 747 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Every day, in New York and Paris, Tokyo and Houston, students clad in little more than swimwear grab towels, bottled water and rubber mats and enter a very hot room. As the teacher calls out instructions, they sweat profusely, performing a sequence of 26 yoga postures, repeated in every 90-minute class.
Bikram or ''hot'' yoga took root in Los Angeles three decades ago, but the technique has spread far beyond coastal cool. The Bikram Yoga College of India in Los Angeles, named for its founder, Bikram (pronounced BEEK-rum) Choudhury, has 314 certified schools worldwide, with 12 studios in the New York area.
As more and more people take up Bikram to lose pounds and gain strength, however, medical professionals are expressing concerns about the demands of yoga contortions performed in extreme heat.
''Heat increases one's metabolic rate, and by warming you up, it allows you to stretch more,'' said Dr. Robert Gotlin, director of orthopedic and sports rehabilitation at the Beth Israel Medical Center in Manhattan. ''But once you stretch a muscle beyond 20 or 25 percent of its resting length, you begin to damage a muscle.''
Each week, Dr. Gotlin said, he sees as many as five yoga-related injuries to the knees or the lower back. Postures that require extreme bending of the knees -- squats and sitting backward on folded legs, for example -- are the most likely to cause tears in knee cartilage. In Bikram yoga, students practice the ''toe stand pose,'' a single-legged squat and the ''fixed firm pose,'' sitting backward with bent knees.
''Basically, the knee is a piece of bone with two strings of muscle on the top and bottom, and you can only tighten those strings so much,'' Dr. Gotlin said. ''The more you flex the knee under load, the more pressure is exerted on the kneecap.''
Bikram advocates maintain that the immediate warmth and simple movements at the start of each class are safer than traditional yoga.
''The heat helps people work slowly and safely into the postures and makes injuries infrequent,'' said Jennifer Lobo, an owner of Bikram Yoga NYC.
But David Bauer, a physical therapist in New York who also teaches yoga, said the enthusiasm and competition among participants could contribute to injuries.
''When you are in a hot studio filled with hard-core Type A personalities, and everyone's adrenaline and endorphins are pumping, you're not feeling any pain,'' he said, ''and it may mask how far you can go.''
The mirrored walls in Bikram studios may encourage students to concentrate on outward form, Mr. Bauer said. In contrast, more traditional yoga emphasizes an inward focus on breathing and individual limitations, possibly helping to curb injuries.
''Learning where your body is and what your body can do is what yoga is about, not reaching for an ideal or modeling yourself after a picture in a book,'' Mr. Bauer said. ''If you are just flexible and not strong, at the end of your range you are going to tear a muscle.''
Indeed, part of the Bikram yoga philosophy is the push to go a little farther every time a posture is performed. Each pose is done two times per class. Participants arch backward and bend to the side in ''the half-moon pose,'' for example, and then do the movement again, trying to bend the spine even more.
Practitioners maintain that the spinal flexibility and strength cultivated in Bikram yoga can be vital in warding off the effect of aging on posture. Some physical therapists, however, question the value of excessive joint flexibility, saying it can lead to inflammation and pain. | <urn:uuid:3da2174f-52a0-48f3-97e9-608ea58376ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nytimes.com/2004/03/30/health/when-does-flexible-become-harmful-hot-yoga-draws-fire.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938072 | 770 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Total electricity demand this winter is expected to be 2.8% higher than last year, federal energy forecasters predicted Friday. The Energy Information Agency (EIA) said the winter should be 11% colder than last, resulting in a 4.6% increase in electricity use by the residential sector and 3.9% increase by the commercial sector.
The impact of a colder-than-normal winter on fuel prices and consumer bills has become particularly difficult to forecast this year and "subject to much higher uncertainty than in past years," says EIA analysts Dave Costello and Neil Gamson.
EIA is predicting that natural gas used in power generation will yield its apparent average price advantage compared to residual fuel oil by the end of summer 2001 and that the heavy oil will be cheaper of the two fuels throughout 2001.
The agency is predicting total natural gas demand will average 71.2 bcf/day this winter, up 4.1 bcf/day over last winter. The projected increase will be driven largely by a return to normal winter weather, plus an increase of natural gas used by space-heating customers, the EIA said in its monthly forecast.
Domestic natural gas production is projected to increase to an average 51.8 bcf/day, during the heating season, up from the 50.7 bcf/day last winter. EIA is projecting withdrawals from storage this winter will be 9.2 bcf/day, slightly less than last year's average of 9.5 bcf/day. That would leave end-of-season stock of working gas at 857 bcf, compared to 1,150 last year, or the lowest level since the 750 bcf reached in March 1996.
Highest gas prices
This year, the average wellhead price for natural gas is expected to average almost $3.40/mcf, the highest annual price on record in nominal terms, the EIA said, and the highest annual average price since 1985 adjusted for inflation.
The rate of growth for gas demand is projected to slip to 2.7% next year, from about 4% this year, the result of high prices, EIA says. Electric generating plants that have been sold by utilities to unregulated generating companies is expected to help drive gas demand in the industrial sector up 9.3% next year.
Electric utility coal demand is expected to fall by 3.3% this year, primarily the result of the effect of the growth of nonutility electric generation, the agency says. It is predicting coal consumption by independent power producers is expected to more than double this year�increasing by 119%�from 45.9 million short tonnes to 100.5 million short tonnes.
The EIA is projecting total coal consumption by the electric power industry will rise 2.7% this year and 2.5% in 2001, while coal production is expected to remain virtually flat this year. | <urn:uuid:6a977ff7-00ce-4b80-b0cb-22097397885f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ogj.com/articles/2000/10/eia-winter-electricity-demand-to-rise-28._printArticle.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953219 | 592 | 2.375 | 2 |
food at work
Unwork with our partners Zurich Insurance Group and Sodexo are conducting an exciting major research initiative to look at the future of food in the workplace.
Our project will create a new, global perspective that investigates a broad agenda from the link of food to wellbeing, performance and health through to the interior design, provision and economics of food and drink in the modern workplace. It will build a body of knowledge from analysis, global case studies and data gathering to create a new vision for the future of food at work.
Our final report will be published towards the end of 2013. Click here for more information and to get involved with this exciting study.
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what is unwork?
The Future of Work
We specialise in creating the business case for new ways of working, challenging the established patterns of work and enabling businesses to understand the opportunity from agile working and alternative ways to organise work.
We focus on all aspects of the future of work – where people, place and technology meet. We are particularly interested in activity based working (ABW), change management and understanding the technology enablers required.
We believe there are six key forces shaping the future of work, which we use to create a vision of the future of work for our clients:
(1) Demographics and intergenerational working
(2) Psychology and behaviour – company culture and workstyles
(3) Space – property and workplaces
(6) Travel and the city
We provide unrivalled knowledge of global innovation in work and the workplace.
We specialise in…
New Ways of Working, Activity Based Working, Disruptive Technology, Change Management, Agile working, Innovation | <urn:uuid:8df272a9-2072-431d-b7bb-439bf4ab8deb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://unwork.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922902 | 579 | 1.570313 | 2 |