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Tides of the Ocean
Each day the ocean surface rises and falls – a phenomenon called tides. The highest point of the rise in the ocean surface is called high tide. The lowest point is called low tide. Most places have two high tides and two low tides each day.
Tides happen because of the gravitational pull of the Moon and Sun on ocean water. Because Earth is rotating, the tides change over time. The Moon has a much greater impact on tides than the Sun because it is much closer. The Moon pulls the water that is closest to it creating a high tide on the side of the Earth closest to the Moon. The ocean water forms a high tide on the opposite side of the Earth too. Low tides occur in areas between the high tides.
The difference between high tide and low tide is called the tidal range. Some places have a larger tidal range than others because of differences in the shape of the ocean floor. The difference between high and low tide can be as little as a few centimeters to as much as several meters depending on location. In Canada's Bay of Fundy the tidal range is very large – 16 meters – because of the narrow shape of the bay which funnels the tidewater into a small space.
Tides also differ at different times of the year depending on the location of the Moon and Sun in relation to Earth. At times when the Sun, Earth, and Moon are in line with each other (during full and new moons), the tidal range is larger because both the Sun’s and Moon's gravitational pull create the tide. This is called a spring tide. At times when the Moon and Sun are not in line with Earth, when they are at right angles when viewed from Earth, the tidal range is smaller. This is called a neap tide.
Tides are a powerful force and, because of this, scientists and engineers are working on methods to extract some of that power to produce electricity. This can be done by channeling tidewater to flow through turbines that generate electricity. A tidal power plant located in an estuary in Brittany, France has turbines that turn when the tide is going in and when it is going out. Systems like this may be a danger to wildlife, thus, scientists are studying estuarine ecosystems to understand how it might be affected by turbines. | <urn:uuid:c17f1b3f-9d31-40cb-9507-7aad3b4faaf4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.windows2universe.org/earth/Water/ocean_tides.html&edu=high | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961236 | 471 | 4.40625 | 4 |
By Julia DeGraw and Ronnette Steed
It’s been a good week for clean water lovers. On Monday, May 20, the Oregon State Legislature gave final passage to a memorial to Renew America’s Water with overwhelming bipartisan support as the Senate voted 29-0 on passage. The House previously passed House Joint Memorial 7 by a vote of 55-0.
HJM 7 calls on Congress to reinvest in our deteriorating water infrastructure and it sets an important precedent for other states to follow. The resounding endorsement of the Oregon Legislature to adequately fund our sewer and drinking water systems is something Republicans and Democrats both agree on. Updating and maintaining our public water systems creates much-needed jobs in both urban and rural communities, improves the environmental quality of our lakes, rivers and beaches and ensures clean, safe water for kids in our schools and for families across America.
HJM Chief Sponsor Representative Michael Dembrow (D-45) summed up the need for reinvestment in our water systems with this statement:
“Safe, clean water is one of the most precious public resources that we have. Across Oregon and the rest of this country, our public drinking water and wastewater systems are facing a crisis. These public water systems have provided clean, affordable water to generations, but they are falling into a state of disrepair. Congress must act now to increase investment in state revolving loan programs that assist communities with repairing and upgrading their water infrastructure, to maintain access to affordable water.”
According to a Congressional Budget Office 2010 report, federal investment in water and sewer systems has fallen 82 percent from 1977 to 2009 from about $15.6 billion per year to a mere $2.8 billion. The dismal amount money set aside by Congress also varies widely from year to year, which means municipal public utilities cannot rely on that money to plan important projects. Our public water and sewer utilities need an adequate and reliable source of funding from the federal government. With water systems and pipes built 50 to 100 years ago aging out and new rules for water quality from the EPA, it is high time to bring our public water systems into the 21st century.
Getting our water systems up to snuff and properly maintained isn’t just critical for public health and safety, but it is also good business. If Congress fills the budget gaps for our aging water infrastructure it could create over 5,000 jobs in Oregon alone. Most of those jobs would be in rural communities that need the economic boost the most.
Congress could create jobs, boost the economy, improve the environment and ensure clean safe water for the majority of Americans by passing legislation to Renew America’s water. We have a trust fund for transportation; having one for our water systems is long overdue. If Republicans and Democrats in the Oregon State Legislature can get together to support a full-fledged endorsement to fix our water systems, hopefully they can motivate Congress to do the same.
Ronnette Steed is a Food & Water Watch volunteer in Portland, Ore. | <urn:uuid:6eaa8844-c003-4c86-ba40-5214790d0792> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foodandwaterwatch.org/blog_categories/tap-water/blogs/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939516 | 609 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Our group attends about 500 births a year. Our practice’s primary cesarean section rate (women having their first cesarean section) has been 7-10% in the last several years. Our total c-section rate runs about 12%. (This compares to a local and national average of somewhat more than 30%.) We are convinced that we accomplish this remarkable outcome through providing individualized, supportive patient care during labor. It does not put our babies at risk. Our practice statistics for indicators like Special Care Nursery admissions or low Apgar scores are the same as or better than the hospital averages.
Women who wish to attempt a VBAC (vaginal birth after cesarean section) find good support from our practice. In 2010, eleven women chose to VBAC with us and ten of these ladies were successful. In 2009 the success rate was similar, eight out of nine women were able to have a vaginal birth.
Some additional statistics about our group that you might be interested in:
- Episiotomy rate is less than 2%
- Epidural rate is less than 50%
- Infants with 5 minute apgar score of less than 7 rate is 0.3-2%
- Preterm birth rate is 2-5%
- Low birth weight babies (less than 5.5lbs) rate is 4%
- Induction rate on average is about 16%
To make an appointment with URMC Midwifery Group, call (585) 275-7892. | <urn:uuid:70632aab-cf83-4868-ab58-ac8e69345d4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/ob-gyn/midwifery/outcomes.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958335 | 317 | 1.625 | 2 |
Telecommunications in East Timor
Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste
|Mobile lines (2007):||103,000|
Following Indonesia's withdrawal from East Timor in 1999, the telecommunications infrastructure was destroyed in the ensuing violence, and Telkom Indonesia ceased to provide services. A new country code (670) was allocated to East Timor by the International Telecommunication Union, but international access often remained severely limited.
A complicating factor has been the fact that 670 was previously used by the Northern Marianas, with many carriers not aware that the code is now used by East Timor. (The Northern Marianas, as part of the North American Numbering Plan, now use the country code 1 and the area code 670.)
Telephone calls are also often extremely expensive: for example, Telstra in Australia raised the cost of calls to East Timor to A$3.00 a minute from 97 cents in 2003. In the UK, BT's standard rate is over £2 a minute .
Telstra expanded its cellular telephone signal into East Timor in 2000, and operated services until 2003, when Timor Telecom, 50.1% part-owned by Portugal Telecom, began operating fixed line and mobile telephone services. Until recently, the fixed line network was mainly confined to the capital Dili, although this has been expanded nationwide, to each district capital.
According to a press-release issued by Portugal Telecom, the total number of fixed phones (landline) are 3,000 and mobile cellular are 103,000 (as of June 2008). There is no broadband or ADSL service.
Portugal Telecom signed a 15-year contract in 2002 to invest US$ 29 million to rebuild and operate the phone system. The contract could be extended by 10 more years, totaling 25 years of monopoly. 2003 gross revenue totaled € 10.5 million.
As explained above, the domestic telephone system suffered significant damage during the violence associated with East Timorese independence. As a result, there is extremely limited fixed-line services, and mobile-cellular services and coverage are limited primarily to urban areas.
International service is available in major urban centers, but not much elsewhere.
There are at least 21 radio stations in East Timor. The main station is Radio Timor Leste, broadcasting in Tetum, Portuguese and Indonesian. Other radio stations include Radio Kmanek, and Radio Falintil, and Radio Renascença, while there are also FM retransmissions of RDP Internacional from Portugal, Radio Australia, and the BBC World Service. Community radio stations broadcast around the country, in regional languages such as Tokodede and Fataluku.
East Timor has one national public broadcaster, Televisão Timor Leste or Televizaun Timor Lorosae, which broadcasts local programming in Tetum and Portuguese, as well as retransmissions of RTP Internacional from Portugal.
East Timor has approximately 1,200 Internet users (2006) and 285 Internet hosts (2008). The vast majority of users use dial-up in lieu of broadband, as only 50 hosts offer any broadband service.
Internet Service Providers (ISPs)
There is only one ISP in East Timor, Timor Telecom. Two-way Satellite Internet is in theory available, as the country falls within the Australian and Asian footprints of several satellites offering this service, however in practice licences are not granted for use of non-East Timorese Telecom services. As such, internet services are restricted to locations with landline telephone or dedicated line infrastructure. WiMAX and GPRS internet access are not available. | <urn:uuid:c5821d39-5fc4-4a88-a034-702073200980> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecommunications_in_East_Timor | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912569 | 744 | 2.609375 | 3 |
Professional sports team relocations have been a feature of the American sports industry since the nineteenth century. Team owners have been willing to move from one city to another, and, occasionally, from one league to another, in search of greater profits. While some relocations have produced litigation and legislative efforts to regulate the movement process, in most situations the decision to move has been left to the team owner.
It now appears that the Sacramento Kings of the National Basketball Association are poised to move to Seattle, a city that lost its previous NBA team, the Supersonics, to Oklahoma City in 2008. Since the story broke, a number of publications, including the Wall Street Journal, have reported that the Kings are the most travelled major league sports franchise in American history. That is true, although at least one other current team can claim to have moved as frequently.
The current Kings began life in the 1920’s as a semi-professional team in Rochester, New York. In 1945, the Rochester Royals joined the National Basketball League, then switched to the Basketball Association of America in 1948, and in 1949, it was one of the inaugural teams of the National Basketball Association which was formed with the BAA merged with the NBL.
In 1957, the Royals moved to Cincinnati, and in 1972, they moved to Kansas City and Omaha, splitting their home games between the two cities. Because the American League baseball team in Kansas City was already known as the Royals, the team changed its name to the Kings. After the 1974-75 season, the team began playing all its games in Kansas City, where it remained until it moved to Sacramento in 1985. If they do move to Seattle, that will be the team’s sixth city.
However, a case can be made that the Indianapolis Colts of the National Football League have also played in at least six different cities. Here’s the argument.
From 1913 to 1916, the top semi-professional team in Dayton, Ohio was called the Cadets. In 1916, the team apparently became fully professional and changed its name to the Dayton Triangles. The Triangles quickly established themselves as one of the strongest professional elevens in the Midwest, and when the National Football League was organized in 1920 (originally as the American Professional Football Association) the Triangles were a charter member.
The Triangles played in the NFL until 1929, when the team finished last in the 12-team league with an 0-6 record while being outscored 136-7. (The 1929 championship was won by the Green Bay Packers who finished the season 12-0-1, which is still the second best record in NFL history).
At the conclusion of the season, the Dayton owners sold the team’s franchise to New Yorkers Bill Dwyer (a fomer NHL owner) and Jack Tepler (coach of the NFL’s Orange Toronados). The new owners moved the team to Brooklyn and renamed the team the Dodgers in imitation of the borough’s major league baseball team. (Trademark protection did not extend to team names in 1930.)
Given Dayton’s poor performance in 1929, the new owners made no effort to resign any of the Triangles, and instead recruited most of its players from the ranks of Tepler’s former players who had previously been under contract to the Orange Tornadoes. Either the NFL was not using a reserve clause in its contracts in 1929, or else the Orange team (which moved to Newark in 1930) decided that it was not worth going to court to prevent its former players from jumping teams.
In 1937, a 50% interest in the Brooklyn team was purchased by future New York (baseball) Yankee owner Dan Topping. Topping, who eventually gained complete control of the team, kept the Dodgers in Brooklyn, but in 1944, he changed the team’s name to the Brooklyn Tigers. The team had gone 2-8-0 in its final season as the Dodgers, but the name change hardly helped as the club finished 0-10-0 in 1944.
As a result of the wartime manpower-shortage, the Brooklyn Tigers combined with the Boston Yanks for the 1945 season. The largest number of the teams starters had played for Brooklyn in 1944, but the team was coached by Boston coach Herb Kopf, and the club played four of its five home games in Boston. (The fifth home game, with the New York Giants, was played in Yankee Stadium.)
(Combined teams were a feature of the NFL during World War II. In 1943, the Pittsburgh Steelers and Philadelphia Eagles combined for the season, and in 1944, Pittsburgh and the Chicago Cardinals did the same.)
However, after the 1945 season, Topping decided to move his team to the All America Football Conference, a new major league football enterprise designed to compete directly with the NFL. In the new league, Topping’s team was renamed the New York Yankees, and it played its home games in Yankee Stadium. Although most of the Yankees were recruited from the ranks of returning veterans and recent college graduates, Topping brought several of the best of his Tigers/Yanks players with him to the new team, including fullback Pug Manders, tackle Don Currivan, and fullback Eddie Prokof, the first round draft pick of the Tigers/Yanks in the 1945 NFL draft.
To fill the gap opened by the move of the Tigers to the AAFC and in anticipation of a post-World War II sports boom, the NFL allowed the Boston Yanks—the Tigers former partner–to move to New York City where the team played as the New York Bulldogs.
After four seasons of competition, the two leagues agreed to merge. Cleveland, San Francisco, and Baltimore (the original Colts) were added to the ten team NFL, now (temporarily, as it turned out) dubbed the American-National Football League. Although the mechanics of the transaction are a little obscure, as part of the merger of the leagues, the AAFC Yankees and the NFL Bulldogs were permitted to merge into a single “second” New York team. Ownership of the combined team, called the New York Yanks, went to Bulldogs owner Ted Collins (who paid $1 million for the Yankees).
The combined team was coached by Red Strader, the former coach of the Yankees, and the vast majority of the team’s players had played for the Yankees the year before. Although the New York Giants were permitted to take several players from the Yankees as deferred compensation for allowing the new Yanks to move into their territory, nine of the eleven starters for the 1949 Yankees played for the 1950 Yanks. Essentially, Collins bought the Yankees and substituted them for his team in New York. Moreover, the similarity of team name, coach, and players undoubtedly led New York football fans to associate the 1950 NFL team with its 1949 AAFC predecessor.
Although the 1950 Yanks compiled a 7-5-0 record, the following year the team slumped to 1-9-2. At this point owner Collins decided to get out of the football business and sold his franchise to the league. The NFL in turn transferred the franchise to a group from Texas, who moved the team from New York to Dallas, where the team was dubbed the Texans. Along with the franchise came the roster of the 1951 New York Yanks.
The 1952 Dallas Texans tuned out to be one of the biggest disasters in NFL history. Not only did the team lose its first seven games of the season, but white residents of Jim Crow Dallas seemed reluctant to cheer for a team with black players. (Several of the former Yanks were African-Americans including star running back Buddy Young.) In their first four home games, the Texans never drew as many as 18,000 fans while playing in the 70,000 seat Cotton Bowl. After Game 7, a 27-6 home loss to the Los Angeles Rams in which the team drew just over 10,000 fans, the franchise was returned to the league.
The NFL moved the team offices to Hershey, Pennsylvania (near the NFL offices in Philadelphia), and the Texans played one of their two remaining home games in Akron, Ohio, and the other in Detroit against the Lions. With only a single victory over the Bears (in the Akron game), the Texans finished their only season at 1-11-0.
After the season, the abandoned Dallas franchise was awarded to Carroll Rosenblum of Baltimore who renamed the team the Colts. (The original Colts had folded after the 1950 season, becoming the last NFL team to go out of business.) The Colts initially flourished in Baltimore, but faltering attendance led the team to relocate to Indianapolis in 1984, where the team has played ever since.
So Dayton became Brooklyn and Brooklyn became New York after a one year stay in Boson. New York became Dallas and then Baltimore and then, finally, Indianapolis. Counting the temporary combination of 1945, the team has played home games in seven different cities. (I do realize that since 1898, New York and Brooklyn have been part of the same city, but for sports purposes, they have traditionally been treated as though they were two separate municipalities.)
It would be interesting to see the Colts play a “turn-back-the-clock” game next year wearing Dayton Triangle uniforms, but I am not holding my breath.
You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed. | <urn:uuid:a7f14e55-c90e-4d58-8114-2b15d5ecb506> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://law.marquette.edu/facultyblog/2013/01/13/the-basketball-kings-and-the-football-colts-are-the-most-frequently-relocated-teams/?pfstyle=wp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97969 | 1,947 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Color & Light – Zebras
Abel Chapman 1851-1929
Ink & wash drawing for his book Savage Sudan (London, 1921), ca. 1913–20.
While sketching zebras in Sudan, the British hunter-naturalist Abel Chapman noted that his perception of stripe patterns could change. Depending on distance and the angle of light, a zebra’s stripes could even seem to disappear. | <urn:uuid:01c777cd-e4bb-4e05-a7f1-7a4d82268659> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sil.si.edu/Exhibitions/ArtofAfricanExploration/details.cfm?id=10903 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934395 | 88 | 3.109375 | 3 |
Aside from paying very little attention to visual design and not caring about the impact of horrible typography, the big problem with library catalogs is that they are not designed to help people accomplish library tasks. Instead, they’re designed to expose catalog records.
I’m not even talking about lofty library tasks like learning, creating, and connecting. I’m not referring to semi-interesting library tasks like discovering exciting content. I’m talking about very basic library tasks: finding items in a specific location, reserving items, and renewing items. Of course, people can do these tasks with our catalogs but only because the functionality has been clumsily bolted onto catalog records.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but this is totally backward—prioritizing the collection, not people, results in a user-hostile interaction design and a poor user experience.
Imagine the reverse: a tool that prioritizes helping people accomplish their tasks, whereby bibliographic data exists quietly in the background and is exposed only when useful.
Starting from design
I wondered what this would look like, so I sketched out some examples. I’m certainly not the first to complain about OPAC functionality, but taking this as an explicit design challenge rather than as a software architecture or cataloging challenge led me to emphasize readability and ease of use.
Beyond that, there isn’t too much to explain about these designs. Figure 1 is a very plain bibliographic record and illustrates how simplifying them would make them easier to use.
Figure 2 hints at eliminating the need for a dedicated view of a single bibliographic record; in this mock-up, nearly everything a member needs to do with an item is available without it.
(The ability to link directly to a single record is missing from this example, but that would be easy enough to sort out.) Figure 3 is similar but uses a swipe-friendly layout that could be effective on mobile devices.
An effective catalog design would obviate the need for how-to screencasts and handouts. Designs like this would not only make our libraries easier to use, but, by freeing up the time we spend helping people with our catalogs, they would make librarians’ lives easier, too.
While these examples aren’t fully featured, they illustrate how focusing on people and tasks would change our catalog. When bibliographic data plays second fiddle, the page calms down and is easier to understand and use. What’s more, by employing some basic principles of graphic design, these creations instill more confidence in library services than our current catalogs.
Members in mind
This is just one example of how focusing on our members’ motivations and goals can transform what we do. Members will be better served if all of our services are designed as responses to their motivations and goals. With regard to catalogs, this focal point leads to improvements in usability. For library services, this emphasis makes libraries more worthwhile.
The deeper libraries dive into the lives of their members and explore opportunities for improving their lives, the more impact we can make and the more valuable libraries will become. This sort of listening, not shouting, is the best form of library advocacy. | <urn:uuid:c69abc5d-af95-4c50-86a1-1898ac070737> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lj.libraryjournal.com/2013/02/opinion/aaron-schmidt/catalog-by-design-the-user-experience/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954168 | 672 | 1.921875 | 2 |
Congratulations, graduates! You should be proud of your scholastic accomplishments. But just because you graduated from high school or college, does not mean you are done learning. Life is a constant learning adventure. Keep your brain fresh and look sharp at your interviews by keeping up your education with the help of these iPhone apps.
The vocabulary you exercise every day in text messages to friends is not the acceptable vocabulary for emailing your new boss. If you need to brush up on your word choices and find some new words to spruce up your language, the Vocabador app ($1.99) for iPhone is an entertaining place to start. Vocabador is the app-solutely coolest way to brush up on your vocab. Train through three levels of difficulty: lightweight, middleweight and heavyweight.
Just cannot get enough grammar? You will love the Grammar Girl app ($1.99) for iPhone, which is filled with quick and dirty tips to improve your writing. That means you can impress your boss with stellar emails and perfect proposals. This savvy app is a modern and educated lady’s best friend. With the app, you get access to Grammar Girl’s weekly shows plus a direct line to send your best grammar questions answered by Grammar Girl herself.
All those inane excuses you used on your teachers for missing class are not going to fly with your new boss. And late assignments don’t just mean a demotion in your grade; at work they can cost you your job. Stay on the fast track to a promotion by keeping yourself organized with the Awesome Note app for iPhone ($3.99). Use this handy app to create your to-do list, take notes, and sync important dates with your iOS calendar.
Do you want to go on an excellent adventure before you hit the daily grind of the real world? Check out the Sullivan’s List app ($2.99) for some unique inspiration. This iPhone app has 100 of the best events around the world. It is essentially a bucket list of worldly fun in iPhone app form. Pick the events you want to hit from the amazing photography and add them to your travel list. After all, have a little bit of fun... you earned it.
The transition from school to work life is not an easy one. Make sure you get your daily dose of inspiration with the I Can Do It 2012 Calendar app ($3.99). Each day, you will get a new positive thought and affirmation to start off on the right foot. You can even email your favorite daily inspiration notes to friends who may also need a pick me up. | <urn:uuid:02c36fbc-81b9-4ba0-a547-775c6360b9c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.appolicious.com/education/articles/12065-five-smart-iphone-apps-for-recent-graduates | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939642 | 534 | 1.703125 | 2 |
During the 2011 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC) and Swedish telecom site solution supplier Flexenclosure were awarded the prestigious Global Mobile Award by the GSMA for the Community Power project in the "Best use of Mobile for Social & Economic Development" category.
Lars Linden, Head of Ericsson Sub-Saharan Africa, says: "We are honored to have been presented with this award. This initiative reflects Ericsson's ongoing commitment to harnessing our technical leadership in developing innovative products and sustainable business models that form the building blocks of a connected and sustainable Africa. We will continue to seek new ways of driving sustainable business growth for our customers and expand the reach of networks in Africa."
Having adopted the Ericsson Community Power solution, MTN in Liberia becomes the first operator in the world to implement a system of this type. With this, many of the residents of Liberia's Kokoyah District could soon enjoy access to electricity in their homes for the first time.
This will take what has started in some markets as a way of charging mobile phones to a whole new level, enabling the electrification of the world's remotest villages.
Kokoyah is one of several Millennium Villages in Africa. It is located in the far south-east of Bong County, which has a population of approximately 15,000 people.
The Ericsson Community Power solution was developed in partnership with Swedish green site solution specialist company Flexenclosure as part of a portfolio of innovative services and products for the Millennium Villages Project (MVP). Comprising Ericsson Community Power and Flexenclosure's E-site solution, this is a revolutionary product that combines an off-grid base-station site powered mainly by renewable energy sources such as sun and wind, with the ability to share excess power with surrounding local communities, institutions and individuals.
The Community Power solution allows subscribers to recharge their mobile phones with excess power generated from the station, which in turn drives network usage and thereby revenue. In more mature and large-scale deployments, several sites can be combined to create a mini-grid to power services such as streetlights, clinics and schools for an entire community. It would even be possible to feed power from the base station into the national power grid which can help to alleviate power shortages.
In Africa, much basic infrastructure is lacking, and there are more people with mobile phones than access to electricity. According to the International Energy Agency, 585 million people had no access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa in 2010. Yet mobile-phone penetration levels in Africa are at about 50 percent.
Frans Joubert, CEO of MTN Liberia, says: "In emerging markets this solution allows operators to bring much needed services to the community in a sustainable way, and offers additional value to the customer, the operator and the community at large. Beyond meeting the basic electricity requirements of the community, this solution can serve utility companies worldwide, and MTN is proud to be part of this initiative, which can change so many lives."
The solution has been trialed in the Dertu Millennium Village, a remote settlement in north- eastern Kenya. There, one site generated about 4,000kWh in excess energy a year, theoretically the amount of energy needed to generate power to support mobile phone charging stations, illuminate street lights and supply power to community buildings such as clinics and schools in a small village. In Dertu, the base station powered a fridge that stored medicine for the local community.
"Ericsson Community Power offers us groundbreaking opportunities to transform the lives of individuals, businesses and communities that have traditionally been excluded from numerous services due to their lack of access to power. Now, they have been given the platform to enjoy products and services that were previously impossible to access, and also to expand their commerce and trade beyond their immediate environment," concludes Lars Linden.
Notes to editors:
More information on the Millennium Village Project
More information about the Earth Institute
More information about the Millennium Promise
More information about the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)
More information of the Kokoyah Millennium Village
More information about the United Nations Development Programmes in Liberia
More information on Flexenclosure
More information on MTN
Our multimedia content is available at the broadcast room: www.ericsson.com/broadcast_room
Ericsson is the world's leading provider of technology and services to telecom operators. Ericsson is the leader in 2G, 3G and 4G mobile technologies, and provides support for networks with over 2 billion subscribers and has the leading position in managed services. The company's portfolio comprises mobile and fixed network infrastructure, telecom services, software, broadband and multimedia solutions for operators, enterprises and the media industry. The Sony Ericsson and ST-Ericsson joint ventures provide consumers with feature-rich personal mobile devices.
Ericsson is advancing its vision of being the "prime driver in an all-communicating world" through innovation, technology, and sustainable business solutions. Working in 175 countries, more than 90,000 employees generated revenue of SEK 203.3 billion (USD 28.2 billion) in 2010. Founded in 1876 with the headquarters in Stockholm, Sweden, Ericsson is listed on NASDAQ OMX, Stockholm and NASDAQ New York.
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, PLEASE CONTACT
Ericsson Corporate Public & Media Relations
Phone: +46 10 719 69 92
Ericsson Investor Relations
Phone: +46 10 719 00 00 | <urn:uuid:118a3aa5-51b0-4a7d-8aaf-354fc0b7865d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ericsson.com/news/1489255?idx=10 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927559 | 1,122 | 1.710938 | 2 |
The Winner of the BBC TV Contest
The TV contest for young artists organised by the Charles
Saatchi Gallery in London was won
The exhibition is held within the framework of the Hermitage 20/21
The work by Eugenie Scrase Trunkated Trunk represents a piece of a tree trunk on a crooked fence. Scrase found a tree that fell on a metal fence in east London. She asked the owner of the house if she could have the piece of the trunk as well as the damaged section of the fence.
The School of Saatchi was created by the Saatchi Gallery, it is a project aimed to discover new talented British artists. In Autumn, 2009 the BBC channel featured a TV documentary series about the School and the idea of beauty in the contemporary art.
In the Saatchi School following a selection process six finalists received an opportunity to perfect their skills under the supervision of the leading British artists in an art school established especially for them. The work of the winner, Eugenie Scrase, selected by the Saatchi Gallery, the artists Tracey Emin and Matthew Collings, broadcaster, art critic and Frank Cohen and Kate Bush, Head of the Art Department of the Barbican Gallery is exhibited in the State Hermitage at the exhibition Newspeak: British Art Now.
As a grant the winner has also received a free studio for 3 years in Chelsea provided by the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in partnership with the Saatchi Gallery.
Upon the closing of the exhibition in the State Hermitage, an expanded version of this exhibition will open at the Saatchi Gallery in London (from summer 2010 till January 2011). | <urn:uuid:818853bd-88b1-4b64-a5d2-c14f179974d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hermitagemuseum.org/html_En/11/2009/hm11_2_436.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965198 | 343 | 1.664063 | 2 |
Media Watch (a subcommittee of the Public Relations Committee) has three primary initiatives:
- Educating the public about effective autism treatment through proactive contact with the media;
- Responding to inaccurate information or proposed treatments described by the media (as it relates to scientific findings about their effectiveness); and
- Supporting accurate media depictions of empirically–sound interventions for individuals with autism spectrum disorders.
We seek to increase awareness of the scientific underpinnings surrounding autism treatment that can lead to real hope for those touched by this disorder.
Below are some recent letters showcasing our Media Watch efforts.
Sunday, July 31, 2011
How disheartening to think that with the level of evidence that is available to support behavioral intervention, "effective treatment would need to be "trial and error" for children with ASD..."
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Waiting until adulthood to teach complex work skills within service delivery models that have low staffing ratios will not likely culminate in proficient and marketable skills...
Monday, June 06, 2011
Faced with aggressive and, in some cases, disingenuous marketing tactics, how can families and persons with autism confidently investigate possible treatments?
Saturday, April 30, 2011
Important conversations about autism treatment are sidetracked when journalists use sensationalism in the titles of their articles...
Wednesday, March 30, 2011
...there are no published research studies supporting the effectiveness of the DAN protocol, and furthermore, many of the techniques practiced by DAN physicians are considered to be harmful by the medical community at large...
Monday, March 28, 2011
You astutely point out that there are both direct and indirect costs for allowing pseudoscience to persist...
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Your evaluation of the recent books published by Paul Offit and Seth Mnookin highlights for the reader the clear empirical evidence in support of vaccinations...
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
It is important that the media take responsibility to get the facts straight. You are correct in your assessment of the potential danger of wildly misleading stories such as this one. ..
Tuesday, January 25, 2011
As you effectively pointed out in your article, the suggested (but now discredited) link between the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine and autism has had far reaching negative effects by putting the health of scores of children at risk...
ASAT Responds to Star-Ledger Article 'Apple iPad, iPod Touch Might Help People with Autism Take Steps toward Independence'
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
I want to commend you for balancing the potential utility of this technology to promote independence... | <urn:uuid:7ab429af-d3f6-472e-9ccf-91e21e436466> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asatonline.org/media_watches?page=5 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920352 | 535 | 2.359375 | 2 |
If you have been bullied, it may affect you in many ways and stay with you well into adulthood. Know that you don’t have to feel this way and that there are resources that can help. If you are being bullied, or know someone who is, Tell them to stop! This step is one that most never do.
If you are being bullied, remember that it isn’t your fault and that no matter what you shouldn’t be ashamed of who you are or how you feel. Make sure to talk with someone you trust. Talking to someone could help you figure out the best ways to deal with the problem. Reach out to family members and friends you trust to discuss the problem and do not be afraid to ask for help. Talking to a counselor or health professional can help you get through the emotional effects of bullying.
Many do not realize but bullying has serious and lasting effects. While these effects may also be caused by other factors, research has found bullying has significant effects for those who are bullied, those who bully others, and those who witness bullying. People who are bullied have a higher risk of depression and anxiety, including the following symptoms, that may persist into adulthood: Increased feelings of sadness and loneliness, Changes in sleep and eating patterns, Have increased thoughts about suicide that may persist into adulthood ( In one study, adults who recalled being bullied in youth were 3 times more likely to have suicidal thoughts or inclinations), Are more likely to have health complaints, Have decreased academic achievement and school participation, Are more likely to drop out of school and they are more likely to retaliate through extremely violent measures (In 12 of 15 school shooting cases in the 1990s, the shooters had a history of being bullied).
People who bully others have a higher risk of abusing alcohol and other drugs in adolescence and as adults, Are more likely to get into fights, vandalize property, and drop out of school; Are more likely to have criminal convictions and traffic citations as adults (In one study, 60% of boys who bullied others in middle school had a criminal conviction by age 24) and are more likely to be abusive toward their romantic partners, spouses or children as adults.
People who witness bullying tend to have an increased use of tobacco, alcohol or other drugs, Have increased mental health problems, including depression and anxiety and are more likely to miss or skip school.
There is no one single cause of bullying. Rather, individual, family, peer, school, and community factors can place someone at risk for being bullied or for bullying others. Even if a child has one or more of the risk factors, it does not mean that they will bully or will become bullied.
Generally, children, teens and young adults who are bullied do not get along well with others, are less popular than others, have few to no friends, do not conform to gender norms, Have low self esteem and are depressed or anxious.
Children, teens and adults who are at risk of being the bully are normally well-connected to their peers, have social power, and at least one of the following: Are overly concerned about their popularity, Like to dominate or be in charge of others.
Others at risk for bullying others are more isolated from their peers and may have any of the following: Are depressed or anxious, Have low self esteem, Are less involved in school, Are easily pressured by peers, Do not identify with the emotions or feelings of others.
Other risk factors for bullying others include the following: Being aggressive, Have less parent involvement, Think badly of others, Are impulsive, Are hotheaded and easily frustrated, Have difficulty following rules and tend to view violence in a positive way.
Somethings people have lead to believe increase risk of bullying, doesn’t affect it in anyway. Many feel the Location in which they live has a big part to play. There are no differences in rates of bullying for urban, suburban, or rural communities. Bullying happens everywhere. Others believe school size has a lot to do with it. The overall percentage of students being bullied does not vary based on school size. And the biggest flawed conception of bullying is based on gender. Boys and girls are just as likely to be involved in bullying but forms of bullying do slightly vary by gender. For instance, some research has found that girls are more likely to bully others socially (excluding others intentionally, breaking up friendships and so forth).
If you or someone you know is being bullied make sure to tell an adult or talk to a trusted individual. For more information about bullying and how to stop it visit: www.stopbullyingnow.com , stopbullying.gov, kidpower.org or talk to you guidance councilor, friend or family members! Next week we will cover the links between bullying and suicides in teens and young adults. | <urn:uuid:db751602-5c33-48a9-aeda-3ab7633481e7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theantlersamerican.com/print/2144 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975907 | 981 | 3.328125 | 3 |
I’m a thief. I stole an email address, and I don’t feel too bad about it. Maybe a year or so ago, I decided to register my full name with Gmail. Because my primary address had my gaming handle in it, I wanted something a little more professional to use when necessary. When I attempted to register, I was told that name was already taken. For you Kevin Johnsons out there, this might not be uncommon. For a Seth Gholson, this is quite uncommon. My initial thought was “Oh! I must’ve registered it long ago and forgotten.” Naturally, I clicked “forgot my password.” I was present with the following security question:
What is your favorite color?
This seemed quite odd. I’d never use that as security question. For one thing, I’m on the fence between green and blue. I tend to spend a few years in each camp, alternating every so often. I just assumed I might’ve made this account so long ago that I chose this question before I understood what security meant. I made a gamble and I picked green. Wrong. Next up: blue. Bingo. I was present with a “new password” form. I set my password and logged in.
There were 5 emails – all Myspace related, 4-6 months old, and unread. None had even been archived. The last email was an account cancellation message from Myspace. That seemed awfully odd. A bit of Googling and and use of the Way Back Machine and I found him: another Seth Gholson. If his Myspace profile was an accurate indication, then he was around 14 or 15, had already developed an impressive ego, and fully expects to become a professional athlete.
Lessons to be learned by Mr. Other Seth Gholson:
- Don’t pick easy security questions.
- Don’t use the most obvious answer.
- Bind your next gmail account to a secondary email address, like I did right after I snatched it.
- Stay away from Myspace. It’s full of pervies.
I don’t feel too bad for this. It looks like he barely ever used it. On top of that, I’m older. I call firsties. If there’s a Seth Gholson out there born before ‘83, I welcome you to snatch the address from me. | <urn:uuid:499d40db-1ce5-4354-83f6-1ba805ef167a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sethgholson.com/tag/pervies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971691 | 522 | 1.601563 | 2 |
CHARLESTOWN, Mass. (NNS) -- USS Constitution departed her berth from Charlestown, Mass. Aug. 19, to set sail for the first time since 1997, during an underway demonstration commemorating Guerriere Day.
The underway honored the 200th anniversary of Constitution's decisive victory over the HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812, marking the first time a United States frigate defeated a Royal Navy frigate at or nearly equal size. It's also the battle in which Constitution earned her famous nickname "Old Ironsides."
"I cannot think of a better way to honor those who fought in the war as well as celebrate Constitution's successes during the War of 1812 than for the ship to be under sail," said Cmdr. Matt Bonner, Constitution's 72nd commanding officer. "The event also ties our past and present by having the ship not only crewed by the outstanding young men and women who make up her crew, but also the 150 chief petty officer [CPO] selectees who join us for their Heritage Week."
More than 150 CPO selectees and CPO mentor chiefs assisted Constitution's crew in setting sails. CPO selectees participated in Constitution's annual CPO Heritage Weeks, a weeklong training cycle divided by two weeks that teaches selectees time-honored maritime evolutions, such as gun drills, line handling and setting sails. The training is also designed to instill pride in naval heritage in the Navy's senior enlisted leadership.
"I'm a boatswain's mate," said Chief (Select) Boatswain's Mate (SW) Michael Zgoda, assigned to USS Ingraham (FFG 61). "This is the foundation of my rate. Being able to learn from a variety of genuine chiefs and their different perspectives on leadership is overwhelming and important to the chief petty officer transition. I'm extremely honored to be a part of the group that can say they sailed the USS Constitution."
The ship got underway at 9:57 a.m. with tugs attached to her sides and 285 people on board, including special guests, such as the 58th, 59th, 62nd and 65th former commanding officers of Constitution; Rear Adm. Richard Breckenridge, Commander, Submarine Group Two; Rear Adm. Ted Branch, Commander, Naval Air Forces Atlantic; Vice Adm. William French, Commander, Navy Installations Command; retired Navy Capt. Thomas Hudner Jr., Medal of Honor recipient; and Dr. Phil Budden, Britain's Consul General to New England.
At 10:27 a.m., Budden and Bonner tossed a wreath into the ocean to honor and remember Constitution's battle with the HMS Guerriere.
When the ship arrived at President Roads, a body of water of Boston Harbor, the crew then set three sails from Constitution's main, mizzen and fore masts, and at 12:25 p.m., she detached from her tugs and sailed west under her own power for 17 minutes. She sailed at a maximum speed of 3.1 knots, at an average of two knots, and at a distance of 1,100 yards.
"As the ship's sail master, I felt a combination of pride and relief that the hundreds of man hours of training and planning over the past year all came together, and we were able to accomplish this goal," said Boatswain's Mate 1st Class (SW) Conrad Hunt. "I'm really proud that I can say I was a part of this historic occasion."
After tugs reattached to Constitution's sides, the ship headed to Fort Independence on Castle Island, where thousands of spectators waited to watch Constitution fire a 21-gun salute toward the fort at 1:14 p.m. Fort Independence is a state park that served as a defense post for Boston Harbor at one time.
Finally, the ship returned to her pier at 2:05 p.m. and everyone departed once the brow was safely set and the ship was clean. Constitution re-opened to the public for tours of the ship's history at 4 p.m.
"For me, this underway is representative of an incredible amount of work and dedication by not only the crew, but Maintenance and Repair Facility, Naval History and Heritage Command, and all of the partners coming together to make this happen," said Aircrew Survival Equipmentman 1st Class (AW/SW) Jason Keith, who is the longest serving crew member currently assigned to Constitution. Keith reported to the ship April 13, 2009 and will depart Aug. 31. "I've given tours to thousands of people, shined brass for hundreds of hours, and I've climbed the rigging to set and furl these sails over and over again. But sailing USS Constitution on Aug. 19, 2012 is one of the greatest honors I've had in my naval career, and I'm truly proud to be a part of this history."
The last time Constitution sailed under her own power was July 21, 1997 to honor the ship's 200th birthday. It was the first time the ship sailed in 116 years.
"When we sailed the ship, it became clear it was a different experience you can't have in port," said Lance Beebe, a crew member aboard Constitution's 1997 sail. "The ship comes alive, and you truly understand what she is all about. This new crew [2012 Sailors] just joined a group of crew members [1997 Sailors] that also got to experience Constitution under sail, and they became a significant part of her history as a result."
Constitution is the world's oldest commissioned warship afloat and welcomes more than 500,000 visitors per year. She defended the sea lanes against threat from 1797 to 1855, much like the mission of today's Navy. America's Navy: Keeping the sea free for more than 200 years.
Constitution's mission today is to offer community outreach and education about the ship's history.
For more information, visit www.history.navy.mil/ussconstitution or www.facebook.com/ussconstitutionofficial.
For more information, visit www.navy.mil, www.facebook.com/usnavy, or www.twitter.com/usnavy.
For more news from USS Constitution, visit www.navy.mil/local/constitution/. | <urn:uuid:c0304c51-6ae6-42cf-bb7c-f32ed2e209ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.navy.mil/submit/display.asp?story_id=69100 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968157 | 1,311 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Animation professionals are pushing the limits of the field every day on the big and the small screen, but veteran animator and storyboard artist Ryan Woodward is breaking new ground right in your hands: on phones and tablet devices. Debuting last Friday, Woodward’s Bottom of the Ninth is an iOS app that is both a graphic novel and animated short film, with each comic panel acting as a frame for a short piece of the animated work. Using the skills accumulated from his seventeen years in animation, he’s broken out on his own with a small team of animators, programmers, musicians and voice-over talent to push the boundaries of what people think of as animation. Woodward has created what he calls “the first animated graphic novel,” and not just simple sliding graphics as in many animated comics, but a graphic novel featuring full character animation.
The story of Bottom of the Ninth is set 200 years in the future and revolves around a young girl named Candy gifted with phenomenal talent on the baseball field. Her father, a retired pro baller named Gordy, is training her to harness her raw talent into the skills needed to become a pro in their futuristic version of baseball, dubbed “New Baseball,” that comes complete with artificial gravity and vertical infields. With Candy’s talent she might be a shoe-in, but as anyone who’s parented a teenager or been one themself knows (don’t deny it), work is the last thing on her mind.
Ryan Woodward jumped into the animation field in 1995 fresh out of Brigham Young University, cutting his teeth in the trenches on Space Jam and the film’s polar opposite, The Iron Giant . As a young artist, Woodward apprenticed under a number of notable animators including Michel Gagné. In recent years, Woodward has transferred his talent to the CG realm and worked on this year’s The Avengers and Snow White and the Huntsman. After hours, he has continued to work on personal projects like the award-winning short film Thought of You ,and now, Bottom of the Ninth.
The first chapter of Bottom of the Ninth is available now for $3.99 from the iTunes App Store, with plans to release future chapters as in-app purchases.
Chris Arrant: Ryan, you’ve had an extensive career working in theatrical animation and live-action films, but I was surprised to learn that you’d trained under animator Michel Gagné at Warner Bros., an industry veteran who has similarly pursued his own creative path. How do you balance a busy career working on major feature films while creating ambitious independent projects like Bottom of the Ninth?
Ryan Woodward: Not easy. But guys like Michel and also Acturas Actas taught me to have passion for this art form and they taught me the value of pursuing my own dreams along with supporting great feature productions. In the end it comes down to wanting to feel human. I want to feel like I’m arriving to my potential. The studio system is great and I learned a ton there, but the need for specialists in that industry limit you to how much you want to grow in other areas, and I’ve always wanted to grow and be a much more well-rounded production artist. And when you do your own production, you have to animate, write, design, storyboard, do compositing, learn 3D software, etc. etc. and it’s awesome!
Chris: Both sports themes and female protagonists are rarities in animation. Can you tell us the genesis of the story of Bottom of the Ninth, and did you ever think of producing it as a traditional animated film?
Ryan: The full ten-app script is actually written as a full length feature. Just because that’s how I know how to write best. Then I broke it up into comic books to fit in this new world of apps. The character is a female, primarily because I have three daughters. They are my life and my true source of happiness. (and my wife of course). So it’s much more natural for me to connect with a character that’s a female. I’m not your macho Dad at all. I’ll take a snuggle on the couch any day rather than a football toss. But the sports theme is where I introduce the principle of rewards for hard work. I love great sports legends and their stories. The physical, emotional, and celebrity status problems they have to overcome is incredible and it’s important for a main character to have to learn to do hard things and overcome them. I love baseball, not because I played Little League when I was a kid, but because of that nostalgia, that American dream that it naturally has embedded in it. Also, I really love the early time period of the Twenties and Thirties and the struggles that baseball went through with racism and female rights. Those issues make for great complexities in the story. The story has a little bit of Jackie Robinson’s struggle in it, and a lot of Jackie Mitchell’s (Google her).
Chris: Back in the origins of animation, Winsor McCay’s films were compared to moving comics, but animation quickly evolved into its own medium. The idea of an animated graphic novel–that is mixing the motion of animation with the static panel-to-panel storytelling of comics–is still somewhat of an amorphous medium. As an artist, how do you see it–are we going back or moving forward?
Ryan: Man, I hope we’re moving forward. This was so difficult to achieve, and I hope I did it justice. There are comic purists out there who may feel that what I am doing is blasphemous. That’s okay. I respect their loyalties to the art form and I sincerely strived to hold onto that comic feel though out the creation of this app. There were countless times that really cool gimmicks and tricks were introduced to me, and each time I had to ask myself if it helped to keep us in comic book land or does it take us out. So many tricks weren’t employed for that reason. All the way to the last week of production, I didn’t even have a table of contents, because I wanted the reader to flip through each page. But in the end I was convinced that due to the device’s limited memory, page flipping was really clunky if you wanted to go through fast to show someone a page and that would hurt the word-of-mouth marketing. So I added the table of contents. Also, at one point I had the first five or so animated scenes all together in one clip. But I realized that watching it, the viewer was taken out of the comic book world and put into short film world, so I diced up the animation and spread it out between five new pages. That then allowed me to add in a lot more new character elements and story. The only thing that I’m still trying to figure out is how to keep the nice flow of a film, yet give the viewer the self pacing like a comic. I think I did it the best way I could for now, but I’m sure new ideas will hit me by the second issue.
Chris: You’ve done a great job of capturing the fluid grace of a baseball player’s movement–a pitcher winding up to throw the ball, a batter’s swing. I couldn’t help but think of your breakout animated short Thought of You which explored the rhythms and gestures of contemporary dance. As an animator, did you find any connection between the movement in baseball and dance?
Ryan: Absolutely. I had so much fun studying the energy the flows through a pitcher and a batter. All the way from the foot, through the hips, torso, shoulders and then the arm. Man, it is so beautiful how the human body does that and it’s just like dance. Dance is all about these beautiful lines and rhythms that flow through the body. Baseball does the exact same thing. I had a fun time stretching out the overlapping action of the batter and the pitcher as well. The body is terribly distorted in some frames but it really helps sell the transfer of energy. I really studied the body movements of Tim Lincecum [starting pitcher for the San Francisco Giants] when he pitches. His torso is like rubber and it’s absolutely beautiful. With batting, there’s so much personality in there. A great comedian called The Batting Stance Guy characterizes a lot of the players’ different personalities and he was a huge inspiration as to how much personality comes in. In the next few apps coming, I’m gonna go crazy animating more batting personalities.
Chris: What kind of unexpected challenges–artistic or technical–did you face when creating an animated project for the iPad?
Ryan: Everything. When I started this, I didn’t have the slightest idea how an app was made. I just started hoping to figure it out along the way because that seems to be the way I do everything. So I got my developers license from Apple, opened Xcode and spent two full days learning coding before I realized this is not something I can just pick up. Coding is like learning Japanese. So I found a couple great coders that know Objective-C and left the magic up to them. The other big challenge was learning how to limit my ideas. In January, I had a simple idea that was only going to take three weeks. Then one idea after another, and another and another, I couldn’t help myself but do everything that I thought was cool and fun to create. Well, that totally got out of control and the app got so robust for a small team that I almost cracked and went into looney bin land. I would sleep less than 2 hours a night, I even went 3 days with no sleep at one point. Because the ideas were so fun to create, and I couldn’t put a stop to them. Finally, after my wife saw me degenerating slowly, I put a clamp on it and wrapped it up. The next issue will have a lot of these new ideas that are brewing in me.
Chris: Many artists are using Kickstarter nowadays to find funding for unconventional projects, but you self-funded this entire venture, correct? Why did you choose to self-fund instead of reaching out to the public?
Ryan: A ton of people told me to go to Kickstarter for this. And I think if I would have, it could have been really great. But I wanted to present myself to the public as a solid, professional studio structure that plans, finances, and produces totally independently on its own. Something about how I was raised in being totally independent held me to that idea. As a kid, I paid for my own scout camps, I had a paper route that funded my comic collection and quarter video game addictions (Russian Attack!). I put myself through college, and basically learned how to feel good about earning a dollar and spending a dollar. Over the past four years, I’ve done several outside projects and I’ve socked away every dime to fund “some future project” one day. That became Bottom of the Ninth and I dropped every last dime into it–with no regrets (even though it ended up costing 4x more than I anticipated and taking 4x as long). The thought of working hard, saving, and investing in my own beliefs is worth more to me than the Kickstarter cash flow. No disrespect to the Kickstarter guys though. I’ve contributed to some of their projects. I just had the fortune of previous jobs that allowed me to save up and invest in my own dream. | <urn:uuid:c7d8491c-278b-4b23-aa37-3594c53953f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cartoonbrew.com/iphone/ryan-woodward-aims-to-hit-a-home-run-in-the-bottom-of-the-ninth-65117.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973272 | 2,436 | 1.539063 | 2 |
The Bisaltae (Greek: Βισάλται) were a Thracian people on the lower Strymon river, who gave their name to Bisaltia, the district between Amphipolis and Heraclea Sintica (the modern village of Rupite, Bulgaria) on the east and Crestonice on the west. They also made their way into the peninsulas of Acte and Pallene in the south, beyond the river Nestus in the east, and are even said to have raided Cardia.
About 500 BC they issued some silver coins bearing the name of their tribe. Under a separate king at the time of the Persian Wars, they were annexed by Alexander I (498 BC-454 BC) to the kingdom of Macedon. At the division of Macedon into four districts by the Romans after the battle of Pydna (168) the Bisaltae were included in Macedonia Prima.
Plutarch, in his Life of Perikles, says that the Athenians established a colony ("cleruchy")"a thousand to dwell among the Thracian tribe of the Bisaltae." This colony was meant to strengthen Athen's hold over the wealthy region around Amphipolis, which would become a major battleground in the Peloponnesian War.
Their country was rich in figs, vines and olive trees; the silver mines in the mountain range of Dysorum brought in a talent a day to their conqueror Alexander. The Bisaltae are referred to by Virgil in connection with the treatment of the diseases of sheep. The fact that their eponym is said to have been the son of Helios and Ge points to a very early settlement in the district.
|Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Ancient Thrace and Ancient Thracians|
|This Ancient Thrace-related article is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.| | <urn:uuid:d2ccdfc9-2520-4e3b-b21a-1540a24e95df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bisaltae | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970387 | 398 | 2.984375 | 3 |
It is estimated that 80 percent of the U.S. population has experienced some type of moderate to severe foot ailment or pain one or more times in their lives.
According to statistical data from the U.S. Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), slips, trips and falls cause 15 percent of all accidental deaths — second only to automobile accidents in the number of fatalities. One solution often taken for granted is floor mats, which come in all styles, sizes and shapes.
Preparedness is elemental in executing a successful ice and snow removal plan; knowledge and training are keys to preparedness.
Although facility managers are not expected to predict weather patterns, these individuals must be on alert when it comes to seasonal trends and safeguarding their buildings.
Often, facilities consider the application of floor matting for use only on hard floor surfaces — overlooking the importance of floor matting on carpeted surfaces. | <urn:uuid:832e3efa-cc62-4710-96ee-38695793336a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cmmonline.com/topics/16393-matting | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944092 | 185 | 2.453125 | 2 |
Take Your Best ShotIt's springtime and basketball is in the air. The swoosh of hoops and the screams of fans is mad loud. Cheering for your favorite team is it. It's hard not to watch and get caught up in the fun. Luckily for most of us, the game is just a game - Win, Lose or Draw. Unless you're bettin', it really doesn't matter who wins. The question for you is: how are you playin'?
The GameI don't mean play a game on the court or on the field. I mean the game of life. How much do you give your team (family, friends and teachers) or coach (yourself)? Wayne Gretzky once said, "You're guaranteed to miss 100 percent of the shots you never take." Is he talkin' to you?
The PlanLook around. Notice who gives 110 percent (a baller) or who is a slacker (bench warmer.) Which are you and more importantly - who do you want to be? Just like you work-out to stay in shape or study hard for a test, you should have a plan. A plan that helps you take a shot and be slammin'. Ready? Start now. Find your pen and paper.
The GoalOkay. Answer this question. What do you want to do in your life (right now) that you aren't already doing? (Anyone who wrote down they want to go out with Justin Timberlake loses points.) Ya know why? Because Goals are RAD baby. Realistic - are ya with me? They involve Action and they must be Doable. You can do it.
The TeamAsk your parents or the adults you know how they reached one of their goals. You can hang with brainiacs or ballers as long as they are bringing their "A" game. Learn to always take a shot because it doesn't matter if you win or lose as long as you got game. And you do. | <urn:uuid:3f8476c4-aefa-4659-a69c-bbada6f89ea1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kidzworld.com/article/619-march-madness | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974823 | 407 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Sunderland seminar tackles sexual violence
Released: Tuesday 3rd July 2012 at 15:21
ONE of the UK’s leading researchers in the field of violence against women and children will be in Sunderland this summer for a seminar which looks at the myths surrounding sexual violence.
Professor Liz Kelly CBE will be one of the guest speakers at the one-day seminar, held at the University of Sunderland, on Thursday, July 5, and organised by the Centre for Children Young People and Families.
The seminar brings together researchers, practitioners, senior managers, policy makers and funders from across the Region to hear about and discuss best practice on challenging the myths surrounding sexual violence.
This is the latest in a series of seminars - Tackling Interpersonal Violence: Finding Out What Works – organised with the support of the Northern Rock Foundation.
Other guests speakers on July 5, include Dawn Bowman of Tyneside Rape Crisis Centre, Dilys Davy from Women’s Support Network and Jigsaw, and Detective Superintendent Steve Wade, head of PVP(Protecting Vulnerable People) at Northumbria Police.
Catherine Donovan, Professor of Social Relations at the University who will also be speaking at the conference, said: “We are delighted Professor Kelly will be attending this seminar. Her work in the field is internationally renowned and we look forward to hearing her contribution to the discussion about developing best practice in relation to sexual violence”
Enquiries about the seminar series should be made to Angela Wilcock: firstname.lastname@example.org | <urn:uuid:403d7424-1a75-431a-8f37-8c9fa942e86a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sunderland.ac.uk/newsevents/news/news/index.php?nid=1720 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912968 | 324 | 1.539063 | 2 |
01 May 2011 | News story
The oceans already provide goods and services worth billions. But if we need any more reason to protect them, just imagine the vast untapped potential they offer for scientific innovation, not least in the areas of renewable energy and medical research.
Oceans make an enormous contribution to the world’s economy—coastal and marine ecosystem goods and services (fisheries, tourism, coastal protection and so on) have been valued at US$ 12.6 trillion annually. By absorbing and storing vast amounts of carbon, they play a vital role in tackling climate change.
But scientists and industry researchers are only starting to scratch the surface in discovering the vast range of benefits that the marine world could provide.
“Organisms have done everything we humans want to do but without guzzling fossil fuels, polluting the planet, or mortgaging their future”, says Janine Benyus, a pioneer of biomimicry–a rapidly-growing field of research and development.
Biomimicry studies nature’s best ideas and imitates its designs and processes to solve human problems. Some believe it could help solve global energy problems, reduce waste and promote sustainability.
Biomimicry is starting to have a significant impact in fields such as medicine, defence and building construction, and has enormous potential in the quest for sustainable energy. With one million species living on coral reefs alone, and perhaps as many as 10 million in the deep seas, the oceans are a rich source of inspiration.
There are already numerous examples of proven energy technology inspired by nature including solar cells that mimic leaves and the process of photosynthesis. On the marine front, examples include the design of wave energy harvesters inspired by kelp and tuna, and wind turbine optimization inspired by the fin scallops of the humpback whale. Australian firm BioPower Systems has developed Biowave, an ocean power system that harnesses energy by mimicking the motion of underwater plants in the ocean currents to generate electricity.
Powered by microorganisms?
Although still in the pre-commercial stages of development, it may not be too long before we see fuels made from algae, including marine algae. Algal biofuels can be seen as a promising route to the production of future liquid transportation fuels for several reasons. Their production does not compete with agricultural land, they offer potentially good productivity levels compared to most conventional land-based biofuel crops, and they produce high grade oils that can substitute for petroleum fuels such as diesel and aviation fuel. With appropriate environmental and social safeguards, algae can be grown in the ocean and lower quality waters including waste waters.
Another powerful argument for saving the oceans is the immensely valuable role they play as a source of medicines and models for medical research.
One compelling example lies with cone snails—a large group of predatory snails that defend themselves and kill their prey by firing poison-coated harpoons. There are thought to be around 700 cone snail species and each one is believed to make up to 200 distinct toxic compounds. Only about six species and about 100 toxins have been studied in detail, and already several important new compounds have been found. One has been synthesized as a painkiller and is being marketed as Prialt, used for the treatment of chronic pain that is not responsive to opiates. Morphine has been our most effective painkiller but Prialt is a thousand times more potent and even more importantly, it doesn’t cause addiction, or tolerance—the state when more medication is needed to achieve the same effect.
The use of potent painkillers from cone snails that do not cause tolerance is a watershed in medicine, equivalent in some ways to the discovery of penicillin. Some believe that cone snails may provide more leads to important medicines than any other group of organisms. And yet they live in coral reefs which are threatened by global warming.
The oceans enrich our lives in so many ways yet the full economic benefits of the services they provided are rarely included in our economic spreadsheets. A sustainable future will depend on healthy oceans that continue to function and supply the goods, services and inspiration we need to thrive on this planet. | <urn:uuid:bdb181b1-03c7-4f46-8dee-cf5546d32b2e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.iucn.org/es/noticias/noticias_por_fecha/2011_news_sp/mayo_news_2011/?7371/Blue-gold | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951286 | 853 | 3.828125 | 4 |
SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - News of Osama bin Laden's death caused traffic to increase at popular U.S. news sites. Yet outages and slowdowns were less severe than during major news events in the past, meaning fewer people were stuck staring at error messages.
Two likely reasons? Smartphones and the royal wedding in Britain.
Dave Karow, a manager with Keynote Systems Inc., a San Mateo, Calif.-based company that monitors Internet traffic, said that smartphones helped spread the pain of throngs of people trying to view the same news sites at once. Smartphones typically deliver slimmed-down versions of the regular Web pages, which reduces the load on the sites.
Last week's wedding of Prince William and Kate Middleton may have also helped because many news organizations upgraded their Internet infrastructure, anticipating huge page views. Some of the extra capacity, which often can be increased or decreased based on a site's needs, may still have been in place.
Karow said that of the largest news outlets tracked by Keynote, only about a third experienced significant delays. But those delays were resolved quickly, a change from earlier news events that caused an immediate spike in traffic, such as Michael Jackson's death in 2009.
The average slowdown for regular Web sites was about five seconds, while for mobile sites it was less than three seconds, Keynote said.
"It wasn't like sites were completely cratered for hours," Karow said. "Within an hour, most sites were in pretty darn good condition and were serving pages pretty darn well. But it was within that first hour when they were seeing the most stress."
The crush of online traffic did cause some problems. Visitors to The New York Times site who were not already logged in could not access articles for about 30 minutes, as the site coped with an unprecedented surge in volume.
CNN.com reported 88 million page views between the time the news broke late Sunday and 1 p.m. Monday. That's more than three times what it normally gets during that time. MSNBC.com said its page views were 38 percent higher than on an average Sunday. ABC News said its website and wireless applications had its largest hour of traffic in history from 11 p.m. to midnight Sunday.
AP Technology Writer Joelle Tessler contributed from Washington.
Copyright Associated Press
Latest News Stories
A local organization is recognizing those who have served our country with a once-in-a-lifetime trip to our nation's capitol. The trip is honoring WWII veterans this Memorial Day weekend. | <urn:uuid:5c6bcef1-abdc-4947-8a1c-167c81e3fed0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wptv.com/dpp/news/science_tech/saved-by-smartphones%3F-sites-stay-up-despite-spike-wcpo1304452489370 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980773 | 526 | 1.75 | 2 |
Can you please tell me about any organizations that are doing major tree reforestation in Haiti? We need to share information with one another and organization to organization. If we re=grow trees in Haiti....Haiti is healthier and so the is the rest of the world. Imagine another 500 thousand trees in Haiti. That means better soil....that means more water retention for both trees and people. If you know how to purchase seedlings or seeds at low costs and from sources...share it with all of us.
King's Cross would love to be a part of this also. This is something that we are also very interested in being that we are serving in the countryside and working with the local farming community. We have been looking into
these same things. Will let you know about what we find out!
Ms. Lovan....thank you for your reply. You were the first to reply. I will gladly share this discussion with you....and any information I obtain from other sources. I know that there are groups planting trees....I just don't know of them at this time. I have heard that some folks are planting fruit trees with individual families...so that the family values the produce from the trees and will protect them and care for them.
I am currently recovering from a hard disk crash, so most of my info is not readily available.
However check out http://www.haiti.prizm.org/ where a lot of my Haiti research got uploaded.
You want to look at the AID NAVIGATION Contact Guide to Haiti ... version 4.8.
Around page 50, I start with groups in Haiti, which are working on the Environment.
For many of them, their urls may have moved since I found out about them, but from the names of the org you can do Internet search to find out where they have moved to.
likelink from google search tree planting in haiti
lambifund is pretty popular too. | <urn:uuid:92697dd7-29f6-4f33-98ee-6d3c3525beda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://haitirewired.wired.com/forum/topics/trees-for-haiti | 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 | 0.970532 | 403 | 1.71875 | 2 |
The Journey of a Lifetime
Think back for a moment - where were you 25 years ago when one of the most important advances of our time was invented?
In terms of technology, 1986 was a pretty exciting year. It was in 1986 that the internet mail access protocol was established and email started changing the way we communicate. In another breakthrough technology development, 1986 was also the year that Charles 'Chuck' Hull patented stereolithography and founded 3D Systems. While this second innovation has not been as widely recognised by the general population, its impact on our lives has been profound.
When Stereolithography was developed there was no such thing as rapid prototyping - creating a concept model, let alone a functional prototype, took months and cost thousands of dollars. And while designers and engineers were using computer aided design and manufacturing software there was no method for that software to communicate to what became the very first Rapid Prototyping System, SLA 1. So Chuck and 3D Systems also developed the .stl file format, still in use today, to complete the electronic 'handshake' from the CAD software and transmit files for the printing of
Continued invention was required to push the technology further into full commercial use. Chuck and his team had to overcome several challenging problems as they grappled with hydrodynamics and chemistry. One of the more pressing issues was actually the imaging technology. The lasers that supported the appropriate UV wavelength required substantial power supplies and water cooling towers. This added burden of space, time and cost - over and above the core system - limited the market potential. Then, when solid state lasers became an option, issues of wavelength compatibility persisted so Chuck took another calculated risk and reformulated the materials to launch the first Solid State Stereolithography System in 1996.
Video of Chuck discussing his invention WATCH >>
And the next 25 years?
We are excited by, and committed to, democratising access to 3D printing for both the non-expert professional user and the hobbyist/consumer market over time. This means that we will need to play a major role in collaborating, developing and delivering 3D content tools that allow a non-technical person to capture, create, share and print their 3D files. Chuck is still energised by any opportunity to push the technology envelope. With over 400 patents and 6 print engines, our years of expertise and myriad materials can be brought to bear on any application challenge. And, through our customers, the true pioneers, we've learned that it's the applications that have established our leadership in the market.
We are excited to be celebrating our 25th Anniversary this year! Please follow us on this journey. | <urn:uuid:fc0c9728-ad99-4eac-9c2d-67fb1edb9233> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.3dsystems.com/news/25th-anniversary | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966841 | 540 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Paper giants Asia Pulp & Paper (APP) and Asia Pacific Resources International (APRIL) are two of Indonesia’s, and perhaps the world’s, most destructive corporations. Between them, they produce 80 percent of Indonesia’s pulp and paper. This comes from clear cutting rainforests and replacing them with monoculture acacia and eucalyptus pulp wood plantations.
Indonesia’s rainforests are some of the most valuable ecosystems on earth because of their immense biodiversity, unique forest peoples and their role as massive carbon reservoirs that help to prevent climate change. But Indonesia’s forests and the people who depend on them are in crisis and the country now has one of the highest rates of deforestation in the world.
Many leading international companies and consumer brands are contributing to this tragic pattern of destruction, often unknowingly, by purchasing paper products from APP, APRIL, and their affiliates. RAN’s Rainforest-Free Paper Campaign is designed to pressure these companies and their supply chain partners to adopt social and environmental safeguards and to create incentives for APP and APRIL to reform their destructive practices.
APP alone is responsible for pulping an area of rainforest the size of the state of Massachusetts. Even as APP is facing massive legal action by the Indonesian government for its widespread destruction of Sumatra’s rainforests, its parent company appears to be moving forward with plans to build another pulp mill, perhaps the world’s largest, on the same island. Continued habitat destruction by the company poses one of the single largest threats to the continued existence of the critically endangered Sumatran tiger, of which only about 400 remain in the wild.
The destruction of peatlands and forests for fiber production by APP and APRIL is driving carbon emissions on a massive scale. Indonesia is now the third largest carbon polluting country in the world and over 80 percent of its emissions are caused by deforestation. A carbon life cycle analysis conducted by RAN of APP’s Indonesian operations estimated total APP emissions at 67 – 86 million tons of CO2e. This ranks APP ahead of the emissions of 165 countries around the world in 2006.
APP remains in gross violation of agreements signed with international creditors in that aftermath of its staggering $13.9 billion default in 2001. APP committed to protecting high conservation forest and promised to source 100 percent of its fiber from plantations by 2007. Instead, APP has continued to clear increasingly endangered Sumatran rainforest for pulp and new plantations.
RAN’s Rainforest Free Paper campaign is a central part of a global movement to reform Indonesia’s pulp and paper industry. Large companies who have already dropped APP due to deforestation concerns include Staples, Tiffany & Co, Scholastic, Office Depot, Levis, Gucci and Mattel. | <urn:uuid:bde62af1-e7a7-4fe3-a5f6-b4203e96cd43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ran.org/app-and-april-indonesia%E2%80%99s-leaders-climate-and-rainforest-destruction | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945274 | 577 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Making the proper nutrition choices will help you perform better on the athletic field. Find out which foods make healthy snacks, and will also help you perform your best.
if you’re child is invovled in sports ..it’s especially important for parents to stear them in the right direction when it comes to snackng…. our next guest is going to show us some healthy choices that pack a nutrional punch and will give your athlete the extra energy they need.. katie jeffrey-lunn is a registered dietitian with a master’s degree in nutritional sciences….andthe owner of ne fit-nutrition where she offers nutrition counseling…to both children and adults… welcome3 utrient rich carbohydrates are important for our health…but especially athletes right?what do they provide?ro3 what are the best sources of carbohydrates?hywhat are the benefits of carbohydratite snacking prior to exercise? 3 what are some of f the best sources of protein for the best sources what are some of exercise? 3 what are some of the best th sosturces of protein for orathletes…what are the ben | <urn:uuid:fbaf6543-6051-44d8-b506-d14c0dad64dc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tastydays.com/videos/nutrition-for-athletes | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935226 | 235 | 2.25 | 2 |
Not long ago, the gun control advocates Jim and Sarah Brady visited the White House. President Barack Obama reportedly told them that he was working on new gun control schemes “under the radar.”
It’s been said that guns have two enemies — rust and politicians. Rust never sleeps, and neither do those who would seek to restrict our constitutional rights. So let me tell you about a meeting you weren’t invited to, where those people were planning an attack on our rights that’s very much “under the radar.”
It happened in July at the United Nations headquarters in New York, at a meeting to draft of what they call the U.N. Arms Trade Treaty.
An Arms Trade Treaty doesn’t sound bad in concept — isn’t that what the U.N. is for? The problem, however, is what U.N. diplomats consider to be “arms.” To you and me, the word means tanks, fighter jets, missiles, that kind of thing. But look no further than the U.N. plaza to see what the silk-stocking set considers “arms.” There you will find a bronze statue of a simple .38 revolver — with its barrel tied into a knot.
Remember no other country in the world enjoys America’s constitutional right to keep and bear arms. This is why the vast majority of U.N. diplomats believe that an arms trade treaty must reach into your gun safe and mine. There is little question that this treaty would require additional restrictions on our Second Amendment rights.
Consider the comments of a spokesman from “Project Ploughshares,” a Canadian arms control group. “From a humanitarian perspective,” the spokesman told the Canadian Postmedia News “all firearms need to be controlled, and that’s the bottom line.”
This attitude has spooked even Canada’s government, which typically embraces a disarmament agenda. During the meeting, Canada put forth a panicky petition for a hunting rifle exemption in the treaty. Mexico immediately objected.
For an administration with a secretive itch for gun control, the situation is ideal. They can let the United Nations do the dirty work of drafting onerous new restrictions on civilian firearms, then package them inside a treaty with legitimate measures to control true military armaments.
The U.N. has scheduled the treaty to be finished in July of next year — just in time to go to the Obama White House for ratification.
That’s “under the radar” for you.
But one risk of operating under the radar is that you can’t see the moves of your opponents. This is not the first U.N. gun-control rodeo for my friends at the National Rifle Association. They know treaty ratification requires a two-thirds vote in the Senate. Thirty-four senators would have to vote no to block the treaty.
While the rest of Washington was fixated on the debt ceiling debate, the NRA quietly marshaled opposition to the treaty among pro-gun senators.
Fifty-eight senators have now called out the president on his plan. Led by Sens. Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) and Jon Tester (D-Mont.), 45 Republicans and 13 Democrats have written two strong letters —one from members of each party — to President Barack Obama and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. All the senators have vowed to oppose any treaty that restricts civilian firearm ownership.
What’s ironic is that the United States already has the world’s pre-eminent system for regulation of true military arms sales. If the rest of the world merely adopted the U.S. regulatory regime, there would be no need for an Arms Trade Treaty.
But rather than harmonize other nations’ patchy regulations on arms transfers, the diplomatic crowd would rather force Washington to hew to its utopian vision of global disarmament.
If this were only a partisan exercise in bashing Obama and the U.N., one could be forgiven for concluding it has no substance. But 13 Democratic senators clearly think otherwise — a sign that this debate is far from over.
Chuck Norris, an actor, martial artist and author, is the honorary chairman of the National Rifle Association’s voter registration program, Trigger the Vote. | <urn:uuid:fc54222c-d7b6-4cf2-8085-964729ae1f23> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dyn.politico.com/printstory.cfm?uuid=3CDB12D5-01FA-4CF5-9EC3-AC798E69E700 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949765 | 892 | 1.71875 | 2 |
It is now 10pm EST and Earth Hour 2009 is over in our town. But it’s not really over is it? We have the responsibility to celebrate Earth Hour ever hour! We should all be responsible for our actions and for the footprints we leave on this Earth.
It was about 7:30pm and my 6 yr old told me Earth Hour was fast approaching. He was making his plan of action. “If the movie isn’t over then we’ll have to turn it off at 8:29pm,” he said. By 8pm our movie was over and he said, “can we start it early?” So we took some time to make sure the lights were all off in the rest of the house. Next, we turned the a/c and fans off. Then we unplugged our electronics. The only lights that I could see in the house were the stove/microwave clocks which I couldn’t reach the plug from behind the stove. I wish I knew how much electricity we saved during our hour!
We finally made it to the back porch (it was lighter there) after we lit all of our candles and set up Monopoly. The baby was sleeping and the three of us played Monopoly. We laughed, giggled, played, and laughed some more! It was a very memorable evening.
Before we started our game the hubby and I stepped out front. As I suspected all our neighbors still had their lights on. Earth Hour wasn’t mentioned in local media so that didn’t surprise me much. I was tempted to walk around and explain it to our neighbors and see what their response was…but I decided to enjoy the time with my family instead. So that brings me to my question, Can one person (or one family) really make a difference? Of course we can. Last year I didn’t even know what Earth Hour was until I was seated on my plane coming home reading about it DURING EARTH HOUR! How ironic I know. This year I’ve been blogging about it for weeks, my friends and family know all about it, and I even spent an afternoon at the school explaining it to my sons class. If just one more person celebrated Earth Hour tonight because of my efforts than YES, one person can make a difference.
I’m actually sad that Earth Hour is over for 2009. I’m going to try to make our own Earth Hour once a month to remind us how important the Earth is to us…and how important we are to one another.
I’d love to hear how you spent your hour!
Looking for cloth diapering resources and tips? Visit my cloth diapering archives, follow me on Facebook, Twitter, and on Pinterest.
Subscribe to new posts via your favorite RSS Feed Reader or by Email. | <urn:uuid:9e77ea37-e2ef-4c77-bdbf-bd4b68160948> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theecochic.com/2009/03/28/an-earth-hour-retrospective/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979325 | 596 | 1.6875 | 2 |
How much more tax, ask upset Bollywood actors?
The government’s decision to levy 12 percent service tax on film and TV actors has left many fuming. While veteran actress Hema Malini feels it would burden producers further, actor Arshad Warsi believes it would leave many actors jobless and Sonam Kapoor says the government is “corrupt”.
Many feel it’s time the government stopped harrassing actors.
“This move is going to encourage a parallel economy. Artists take cheques, there is no black money or cash. Now they will want to take cash. It will become a burden on the producers. As it is the government does not help film industry and now this will become a problem,” Hema told IANS.
The government announced plans to levy the tax on actors’ acting as well as endorsement assignments, starting Sunday. It will be in an addition to the income tax they pay.
Vipul Shah, who produced “Singh Is Kinng” and “Force”, is worried about the producers’ woes.
“It is a terrible decision. They have the left the producers with nothing. Maybe they are under the myth that the film industry has lot of money and so decided to put a tax on it. The ticket rates don’t have any service tax, so ultimately it is the producers who pay it from their pockets,” Shah told IANS.
He says the decision will have a direct impact on producers of small budgets films.
“More films will lose its money in the coming days. Just imagine about the small budget films and other regional films… how do they pay service tax on every technician? I hope they realise that its a wrong decision,” the producer added.
Actors are dejected by the move.
“With this service tax, there will be some more jobless actors… Blame it on the tax?
Terming the decision as “ridiculous”, Divya Dutta tweeted: “‘They’ have no idea how some of the actors survive in this tough terrain of our profession. We are as much employed professionals as any in any field.
“I strongly appeal every one of our faculty to stand ‘tall’ against the implementation of such injustice. Please spread the word.”
Divya believes this development will impact the strugglers more than it would affect the established stars.
“That tax thing is okay for those who (are) doing well, but for those who (are) struggling, not a good news to pay more,” she added.
Choreographer-filmmaker Farah Khan, who is set to make her acting debut with “Shirin Farhad Ki Toh Nikal Padi”, is disappointed.
“And just as I’ve turned ‘actress’, the government has decided to also charge 12.5 per cent service tax to all actors! This is too much. Kitna nichodogey yaar (How much will you squeeze us)?” posted Farah.
Calling the government “corrupt”, actress Sonam said: “We are just filling every politicians pockets with money. If my money really went into developing my country I’d be more than happy to give it.” – IANS
|Print article||This entry was posted by on July 3, 2012 at 8:04 am, and is filed under Fashion. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. Both comments and pings are currently closed.|
Comments are closed. | <urn:uuid:79d9e827-77c8-487c-8c67-e9fd549081fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://textileandfashion.com/fashion-news-updates/how-much-more-tax-ask-upset-bollywood-actors/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972292 | 769 | 1.53125 | 2 |
There was a catastrophic event that happened in our system. Almost all of our system was down due to infiltration of virus, when the system is up and running. As I am working with the database for some queries, I meet this error that pop-up my screen, that said table or view not found.
PowerDesigner – Error
[Sybase][ODBC Driver][ ODBC SQL Server Driver ][ Table or view not found: Table ‘PMUSER’ not found
SQLSTATE = S0002
Right after this message, we investigated the reason for this error. We suspected it to be for some database malfunction or what we call database partial crush. We cannot restore the back-up ,since it is data from yesterday and a lot of inputs were done today. I am now asking for some suggestions on how to repair our database that will not erase some data. | <urn:uuid:b80b34c1-26bd-4315-a0b1-eb04242dd34c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techyv.com/questions/table-or-view-not-found | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941926 | 178 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Skip to comments.Complex Thinking Behind the Bow and Arrow
Posted on 06/26/2012 8:18:46 PM PDT by SunkenCiv
Using archaeological finds and ethnological parallels, the two researchers reconstructed the steps needed to make a bow and arrows. These are complimentary tools -- separate, but developed interdependently. The bow is the controlling element, while the arrows can be used more flexibly and are interchangeable. About 2.5 million years ago, humans first used tools to make other tools then to make tools assembled from different parts to make a unit with particular qualities, such as wooden spears with stone spearheads (ca. 200,000-300,000 years ago.) The bow and arrow and other complementary tool sets made it possible for prehistoric humans to greatly increase the flexibility of their reactions.
There are many basic complementary tool sets: needle and thread, fishing rod and line, hammer and chisel. The bow and arrow are a particularly complex example. The reconstruction of the technique shows that no less than ten different tools are needed to manufacture a simple bow and arrows with foreshafts. It takes 22 raw materials and three semi-finished goods (binding materials, multi-component glue) and five production phases to make a bow, and further steps to make the arrows to go with it. The study was able to show a high level of complexity in the use of tools at an early stage in the history of homo sapiens.
(Excerpt) Read more at sciencedaily.com ...
It may look simple, but it is a highly complex tool: a Bushman's bow from Botswana. (Credit: Image courtesy of Universitaet Tübingen)
Arrow points (top) were reworked and refined through experimentation, often using dart points (bottom) as a starting place. The difference between the two types of points (size and neck/stem width) can be observed in this photo. (Credit: University of Missouri)
|GGG managers are SunkenCiv, StayAt HomeMother & Ernest_at_the_Beach|
To all -- please ping me to other topics which are appropriate for the GGG list.
Pretty clever stuff if you think about it.
A couple of days ago, my five year old twins made a working bow and arrow by themselves! I made them unhappy because I had to take it away ... the arrows were really quite sharp and they could really shoot with it! (I got them some rubber-tipped arrows instead. This “raising young primates” stuff is difficult! LOL!)
We see Intelligent Design all the time. The modern world is built on Intelligent Design. Then, we look at the web of life and some folks think ... "I guess it just kinda happened."
I don't think so.
Every bit as clever as John Browning and I mean that as the highest compliment.
The atlatl is termed a spear-thrower but in actuality an atlatl dart is much more of an arrow than anything you’d call a spear, just a bit bigger. If you assume humans had been using small bows to start fires for some time after they had atlatls, then all you’re really talking about is somebody putting two and two together for four.
What a timely article. I was working with a buddy of mine who is usually on a different shift today. He’s a full-blooded Paiute...told me he has been learning to make bows and arrows of late and it’s been really fascinating. I asked him to put me on the list for one when he completes his. According to him they are made from a single, highly worked, piece of hickory...nice back up for when the SHTF...
the arms race went like this:
club with a rock attached
club with a sharp pointy rock attached
long pointy stick
thrusting spear(pointy stick with a stone tip)
throwing spear(lighter, works from a distance)
atlatl(mini spear that flies further)
simple bow and arrow(mini mini spear that is thrown with little effort)
cross bow and bolt
The arrow is easy to understand how it came about. The bow is a little puzzling. There must’ve been a use for a springy piece of wood prior to the bow and arrow. But I don’t know what it was.
LOL. Wait a few years when they graduate to the internal combustion engine.
Consider this :
First there was the 'sling' that was a string that threw a rock.
Then, they attached a stick to the string, and got more distance.
Then they tried bending the stick, and seeing if they could use the 'spring' of the stick to launch the projectile.
Then they got longer sticks. Then they tried tying down the bent stick (weapon loaded and ready).
Eventually someone tied the string to both ends of the bent over stick. During a struggle over it someone pulled the string back, and then let go. A 'lightbulb' went off in the other's head, and he started dreaming up what kind of projectile could be launched by this new found 'power'.
You know the rest.
A bit off topic, as usual, but there was a scene in “Quest for Fire” where the cavemen ran into some Aborigines. The cavemen had their “magic” (fire) get quenched and were looking for a new source. This Abo girl starts twirling a stick between her hands and after a few minutes smoke, and then flame appeared. The look of amazement and awe on the cavemens’ faces was something to see. One wept at the wonder of it.
I imagine at some point, one genius thought to make a bow and wrap string around the stick and play it like a fiddle to get a higher rotational speed. Then, at some point, another genius said, “Hey, wait a minute!” - and we were on our way to the A-Bomb.
The fact at the bow gets dinner and makes fire to cook it is amazing in itself.
***I made them unhappy because I had to take it away ... the arrows were really quite sharp and they could really shoot with it!***
Back in 1956, we made our own bows and arrows from reed. While playing with them I got hit right under the left eye with one that was sharp.
Thankfully it was 1/2 inch below the pupil. Not long after I got hit with a store bought target point in the shoulder.
How I survived childhood I will never know!
“There mustve been a use for a springy piece of wood prior to the bow and arrow.”
I wonder if some guy, after getting slapped in the face by a branch pushed over from the guy in front of him, figured it out?
I envision a vine crossing a path between two trees.
A wandering human passes by and trips over the vine that springs back to its original position.
The human investigates the cause of his fall and notices that the vine is capable of storing energy. He places his hand on the vine and pulls it back, then places a stick in front of it to hold it in place. When he lets go of the stick, the vine launches the stick several feet away.
After considering this effect, the human makes a portable version that can throw a stick farther and farther. Eventually, a crude but effective stick throwing device is produced.
But now the stick itself must be fine tuned in order to get more range, accuracy and killing force. Straighter sticks fly more distance than bent sticks. Certain types of wood materials produce better sticks. Eventually, through trial and error, a stick with a sharp point, hardened in hot coals is produced. At some point the stick is fletched with feathers to make it fly straight, and eventually the feathers are canted to make the stick spin and improve its accuracy.
From there improvements were made in materials and workmanship until a modern looking bow and arrow were made. The two units had to develop simultaneously with a definite goal in mind.......
Good thing you avoided all that lead based paint.
Complex thinking American style. Pie plates @ 120 yards.
I would imagine just walking through the flora single file and getting snapped in the face by a branch that the inconsiderate guy in front allowed (ala Three Stooges) ... would trigger a thought or two.
Did I just say trigger ?
Just staring at and digesting all that your home has would be a lifetime of conversation
Much older than that. The composite bow goes back to at least 2000 BC and was probably invented either by the Asian ancestors of the Mongols on the eastern steppe or the Indo-European nomads on the western steppe.
Whoever came up with it first, it was so amazingly effective it quickly spread over the whole steppe and to those people with whom they were in contact.
The disciplined mounted archer using a composite bow was the most effective weapon system in the world, properly used, for thousands of years. Only eclipsed by volley-fire muskets, perhaps around 1500.
And even then the musketeers couldn't make the mounted archers fight when they didn't want to, because they couldn't catch them.
***Good thing you avoided all that lead based paint. ***
Funny. Back in 1956 we used to get cool by running behind the city truck spraying DDT to kill mosquitoes.
It is impossible that primitive man without a physics textbook could reason out the idea that by putting a sinew between the two ends of a stick and then putting another stick on the sinew you would send the second stick outward with enough force to do something like kill an animal.
Does anyone really believe that Man was capable of this kind of creative reasoning—putting sinew and sticks together— thousand of years ago? HAH!
If not, could the bow and arrow be caused by three items combining in some happy accident of Fate? What are the odds on that? Triple Hah!
If any of these scenarios were reasonably possible, then “Oogah the Bowmaker” would be the parent of us all since he’d have owned all the women. And DNA would show it.
No, the only logical and reasonable answer is that Ancient Aliens provided primitive man with primitive weapons like the bow and arrow. No sense in starting us early hominids off with the Atomic Bomb.
...then "Oogah the Bowmaker" would be the parent of us all since he'd have owned all the women. And DNA would show it.Never heard of the so-called Toba Bottleneck? Turns out that...
Yeah, Oogah was sitting somewhere with his bow in one hand and his.... in the other.
The bowflex and the arrow shirt are also of prehistoric origin.
Here's the story. I have always had an interest in archery and while I was there I learned the former local communist leader made bows so I arranged to meet him. After several customary servings of vodka, I began to think I needed one. So $200 later I am packing it for the trip home.
I still have it, know of anyone looking for one?
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In 1995, SHRP introduced the first masters level program in New Jersey designed exclusively for Registered Dietitians (RD's). The program provides a clinically challenging rigorous graduate education in nutrition that may be completed online. This program is unique in regards to its distance education options and for advanced level practice opportunities in clinical, community, public health and management settings.
Mission Statement- MSCN
The Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition (MSCN) is dedicated to the pursuit of excellence through an individualized advanced-level, clinically focused graduate degree program. The program instills an appreciation of lifelong learning, professional leadership, and service. It prepares graduates with the advanced knowledge, expanded skills, and intellectual maturity necessary to become progressive, innovative and inter-professional practitioners and leaders in the dynamic health care environment.
- Advances knowledge and expands skills necessary to execute the role of innovative and progressive dietetics practitioners;
- Provides an outcomes oriented, student centered approach to graduate education;
- Promotes collaboration and interdisciplinary education through advanced level courses;
- Promotes the design, conduct, and analysis of clinical nutrition/dietetics research;
- Advocates professional leadership and service.
Strategic Vision of the Graduate Programs in Clinical Nutrition
The Master of Science in Clinical Nutrition (MSCN) and the Doctor of Clinical Nutrition (DCN) Programs are models for advanced-level graduate study in clinical nutrition. The programs utilize a web-based platform to educate a diverse group of RD professionals to service the state, nation and communities abroad. Graduates are prepared with critical thinking and scientific skills needed for advanced-level clinical practice, management, research, and leadership roles to respond to the challenges of the 21st century. Graduates are consumers of research and scholarship, able to design, conduct, analyze, and publish scientifically sound research and other peer reviewed papers on evidence-based dietetics practice. The program instills an appreciation for interdisciplinary collaboration and education, provides "upskilling" opportunities to achieve expanded roles in health promotion, disease prevention, and intervention for a multi-cultural society. | <urn:uuid:904b461f-1d85-4c98-a491-2865b00fc46a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://shrp.umdnj.edu/dept/nutr/programs/m_clinutr.html | 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 | 0.9161 | 420 | 1.585938 | 2 |
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Sussex goes Dutch for tree planting
9:54am Monday 12th November 2012 in News
Dutch elm trees will be planted to replace their diseased predecessors.
Last year wardens worked with residents to plant more than 30 trees in Saltwood Road, The Shepway and Chyngton Avenue in Seaford.
Following positive comments from locals, wardens will plant more in the coming months with the help of residents and children from Chyngton Primary School.
Seaford tree warden chairman Keith Blackburn said: “Sussex still retains one of the largest populations of elms surviving in the UK because the South Downs provided a natural barrier against the disease.
“Nevertheless, each year elms are lost and many Seaford residents will have been dismayed to see the large number of elm trees succumbing to Dutch elm disease this year.”
Wild flower planting under the new trees is also planned.
Wardens will also help representatives from Mercread Youth Centre, Seaford Football Club and Seaford Rotary Club to plant about 30 in Crouch Gardens on December 1.
To volunteer, email email@example.com or call 01323 873475.
See the latest news headlines from The Argus:
- Author Peter James 'lucky to be alive' following 70mph racing crash
- Hove murder: wanted man phones The Argus
- Shoreham Rugby Club holding charity barbecue and fun day
- Police investigate spate of car crime across Sussex
- Sussex Police get Chinese book of sayings as thank you gift | <urn:uuid:08b8762a-cfe3-4b45-a2f0-48cf0ead9bb7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theargus.co.uk/news/10041322.Sussex_goes_Dutch_for_tree_planting/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919561 | 353 | 1.59375 | 2 |
The Washington Street Public Boat Landing Facility illustrates Seattle's long-running reliance on the waters of Puget Sound and the Pacific Ocean. The earliest European American settlers chose the area in the 1850s partly because of its natural harbor, and since then the city's population has used the water in myriad ways. From its earliest timber products to its most modern computer equipment, Seattle business has sent much of its output by ship. The harbor helped make Seattle America's primary arrival and departure point for the Klondike gold fields, and for years newcomers took their first steps in the city on the docks at which they had arrived. Fishing continues to be an important part of the region's trade, and since the early 1900s, ferries have offered a reliable way to travel Seattle's bays and inlets.
In 1920, the city created a new waterfront landmark when it opened the Washington Street Public Boat Landing Facility. This galvanized iron shelter, supported by 16 decorated steel columns, is very similar in appearance to the earlier Iron Pergola. Over the years this building has fulfilled a number of uses: as a landing for ferries and ocean-going ships, as the headquarters of the Seattle Harbor Patrol and as the U.S. Navy's official shore-leave landing and departure point. Still used daily, the Public Boat Landing Facility remains the gateway to the city from Puget Sound and is the only remaining link from the historic Pioneer Square-Skid Road Historic District to the waterfront that it relied upon.
The Washington Street Public Boat Landing Facility is located just south Alaska Way Viaduct, on South Washington St. The facility is open to the public.
Washington St. Public Boat Landing
Photograph by Jennifer Meisner, Seattle Urban Conservation Division
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On a rural patch of land between the Mississippi River and the vast swath of marshes south of St. Bernard Parish, plans are being finalized for the last stretch of a nearly 25-mile ring of concrete floodwalls that will arm the parish against storm surges from a so-called 100-year hurricane.
But there's a hitch: The only patch of vacant land on which to build the wall is just across the St. Bernard Parish line, on the east bank of Plaquemines Parish. In order for work to proceed, the Plaquemines Parish Council must sign off on the plan, even though their constituents won't benefit from the 24-foot concrete levees just up the road.
Several St. Bernard council members this week brought up the conundrum in Plaquemines, making plans to attend a Plaquemines meeting next month to persuade their counterparts not to delay approval.
"It's a political problem for some of the councilmen ... because the (Army Corps of Engineers) has not provided the Braithwaite area with the same amount of flood protection as in St. Bernard," said St. Bernard Councilman Wayne Landry.
Although there are concerns in St. Bernard that the Plaquemines contingent might not sign the agreement, the Plaquemines Councilman who represents the area said Friday he does not plan to hold up the agreement.
But he does want to make a point.
"We just want to be on record as saying, 'There will be effects -- because of this levee -- in Plaquemines,'" said Plaquemines Parish Councilman Don Beshel, who represents the parish's east bank communities. "The water is going to hit that levee. And especially with the counterclockwise rotation, it's going to inundate us worse than before."
As a massive construction effort is under way to fortify the metropolitan area against hurricanes, the episode illustrates the inevitable winners and losers in the alignment of the 100-year system. Designed to reduce the risk of flooding from a 100-year hurricane -- a relatively modest storm that has a 1-percent chance of occurring in any year -- the 100-year levee alignment that was approved by Congress leaves out all of the east bank and much of the west bank of Plaquemines Parish.
At issue in this case is the Caernarvon floodwall, which ties together the Mississippi River levee and the corps' Chalmette Loop Levee system: more than 20 miles of planned concrete floodwalls and large floodgates stretching from Bayou Bienvenue along the Mississippi River-Gulf Outlet Channel and looping back around to the west to meet the river.
The corps' proposed alignment for the last stretch of the floodwall is in Plaquemines Parish, to avoid the relocation of nearby businesses on the St. Bernard side. The Lake Borgne Levee District, which oversees the maintenance of levees in St. Bernard, must enter into an agreement with the Plaquemines Parish Council to have jurisdiction over the Plaquemines section of the floodwall.
If the agreement is not signed, several St. Bernard Parish councilmen said construction on the floodwall could be delayed by as much as three months.
The issue will be discussed at a community meeting Monday at 6 p.m., at the Assumption Catholic Church, at 6951 Louisiana 39 in Braithwaite. The Plaquemines Parish Council is scheduled to take up the matter on Jan. 14.
Plaquemines Parish President Billy Nungesser said he understands the concerns of the residents on his parish's east bank, and said the parish is working with the corps to eventually get 100-year protection eight miles further south on the east bank of Plaquemines.
"It's almost criminal that they (east bank of Plaquemines Parish) were left out, but the corps is bound by Congress to finish that levee in a certain amount of time," Nungesser said. "We are doing everything we can in the parish to position ourselves to have 100-year protection. I understand that they're scared, they're angry, but we need to do the right thing... sign the agreement; help St. Bernard."
Landry and St. Bernard Parish Councilman Fred Everhardt plan to attend the Plaquemines council meeting in January to discuss the levee issue and also pledge to lobby the corps and the congressional delegation during an upcoming trip to Washington.
"All of our entire governing authority will commit to doing everything in our power, including visiting with all the key people in Washington in January, to make sure we lobby for Plaquemines to have the same protection," Landry said.
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Migratory birds need our support now!
Participate in World Migratory Bird Day and register your activity online!
The African-Eurasian Migratory Waterbird Agreement AEWA, together with the Convention on Migratory Species (CMS) and other partner organizations, is launching the first World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) on the weekend of 8/9 April 2006. To help make this a truly global initiative we would like to ask you to take part in this upcoming event. We are therefore appealing to all stakeholders to engage in activities to help highlight that on this weekend and from this year onward, people throughout the world will be concentrating on the phenomenon of bird migration.
At a time when migratory birds are being unfairly portrayed solely as the harbingers of death and disease, they need our support more than ever! World Migratory Bird Day is the first worldwide initiative to raise awareness, to educate and to inspire about the need to protect migratory birds and their habitats.
This year the WMBD will be launched with a special event called "WINGS" taking place at the edge of the Great Rift Valley in Laikipia, Kenya. It will be an artistic and cultural show reflecting the wonders of bird migration, hosted by the well-known author, nature conservationist and future CMS Ambassador Ms Kuki Gallmann. WINGS will be attended by a wide variety of local and international guests, bird experts and the media.
A number of these experts will also be attending the "Scientific Seminar on Avian Influenza, the Environment and Migratory Birds" directly following the WMBD event on 10/11 April at UNEP Headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya. The Seminar will give leading scientists, decision makers and other stakeholders a platform to review and discuss the latest scientific studies concerning the spread of Avian Influenza and its impact on wild birds and the wider environment.
While WINGS and the Scientific Seminar will be taking place in Kenya, the goal and vision of WMBD is to make it a truly global event. In order for WMBD to become a commemorative event throughout the world we are strongly counting on the support and contributions of conservation-minded individuals, Government agencies and NGOs alike. All stakeholders are therefore encouraged to hold WMBD-specific events and activities on the second weekend of April this year, and to register and advertise these on the WMBD Web site.
By linking existing bird related activities such as birdwatching excursions, exhibitions, lectures or film screenings to WMBD on 8/9 April you will be making a valuable contribution towards helping to ensure the success of WMBD.
Supporting the World Migratory Bird Day with your own activities and registering these on the WMBD Web site is a great opportunity to share your contribution and to tie into the global efforts being made to conserve migratory birds.
Migratory birds need our support - register now!
For more information on World Migratory Bird Day (WMBD) please contact:
UNEP/ AEWA Secretariat
8, Martin Luther King Strasse
Tel +49. 228.815.2451 | <urn:uuid:b5f5b00f-7219-4cab-a276-a6514d07134d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.birdlife.org/news/news/2006/04/wmbd.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909318 | 657 | 2.359375 | 2 |
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. - Albert Einstein If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another. If you wish to know that you are safe, cause another to know that they are safe. - The Dalai Lama, September 2001 Peace is not the destination. It is THE WAY. - Unknown
Peace cannot be kept by force. It can only be achieved by understanding. - Albert Einstein
If you wish to experience peace, provide peace for another. If you wish to know that you are safe, cause another to know that they are safe. - The Dalai Lama, September 2001
Peace is not the destination. It is THE WAY. - Unknown
I am a descendant of Canada’s first prime minister, Sir John A Macdonald.
Sir John A Macdonald
To be perfectly truthful I am not a direct descendant. My great grandmother Annie Macdonald was Sir John A’s niece which means he was actually my great great uncle. I am in fact, a direct descendant of Sir John’s father.
Sir John had a dream to forge a huge country called Canada and during his period as prime minister two rebellions ensued, the Red River Rebellion in 1869 and the North-West Rebellion in 1885, both led by Louis Riel due to unresolved grievances of the Metis people in what is now Manitoba and Saskatchewan. Many were killed and Louis Riel, now regarded as the father of the province of Manitoba, found himself at the end of a hangman’s rope.
In the process of the European economic conquest and confederation of Canada the native peoples lost all sovereignty over their traditional lands and became second class citizens in the new country of Canada.
As a descendent of Sir John A Macdonald’s family and the family of humanity I hereby claim the right to speak for a new vision where justice, peace and co-operation is our foundation for relations amongst all the peoples of our planet.
Many Canadians like to think of their country as a peace loving one. The reality is quite different. Just talk to a native person. Truly study your history. Watch how your country is investing heavily in armaments.
You don’t have to look very far to notice that the economic system which drove Europeans to grab the Americas and colonize half the world is still alive although it is at this moment on very shaky legs.
Sir John’s vision of a country born of two founding nations, the English and the French led to a policy of Bilingualism and Biculturalism. How blind can we be? If only we had learned more from the native cultures who were here before us.
Chief Dan George
“How long have I known you, Oh Canada? A hundred years? Yes, a hundred years. And many many seelanum (moons) more. And today, when you celebrate your hundred years, Oh Canada, I am sad for all the Indian people throughout the land.
For I have known you when your forests were mine; when they gave me my meat and my clothing. I have known you in your streams and rivers where your fish flashed and danced in the sun, where the waters said come, come and eat of my abundance. I have known you in the freedom of your winds. And my spirit, like the winds, once roamed your good lands.
But in the long hundred years since the white man came, I have seen my freedom disappear like the salmon going mysteriously out to sea. The white man’s strange customs which I could not understand pressed down upon me until I could no longer breathe.
When I fought to protect my land and my home, I was called a savage. When I neither understood nor welcomed his way of life, I was called lazy. When I tried to rule my people, I was stripped of my authority.
My nation was ignored in your history textbooks — they were little more important in the history of Canada than the buffalo that ranged the plains. I was ridiculed in your plays and motion pictures, and when I drank your fire-water, I got drunk – very, very drunk. And I forgot.
Oh Canada, how can I celebrate with you this Centenary, this hundred years?”
Instead when I was in school starting at the tender age of 6 in first grade we were made to robotically sing “God Save The Queen”, in which are the unforgettable lines:“Send her victorious, happy and glorious Long to reign over us, God save the Queen.”
Which to me means that you are pledging to fight wars for the British queen, just to keep her happy and glorious and the empire strong.
The time is now. The old ways don’t work anymore and Mother Earth needs your help.
Become the peace you want to see in the world.
I gratefully accept your comments and feedback,
- Afghanistan: Canada complicit in torture and war crimes
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- Video: A Question of Sovereignty
- Video: The Black Book Of Canadian Foreign Policy by Yves Engler part 1
- Video: The Black Book of Canadian Foreign Policy by Yves Engler part 2 | <urn:uuid:5f3df74f-d375-4601-b729-25b6040a873d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://devkhalsa.com/native-american-spirituality/on-canadas-143rd-birthday-july-1-2010/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969339 | 1,103 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Barnes, F.R.M. and Welch, P.H.
Communicating Mobile Processes.
In: Communicating Process Architectures 2004, Sep 05-08, 2004 , Oxford Brooks Univ, Oxford, England, .
This paper presents a new model for mobile processes in occam-pi. A process, embedded anywhere in a dynamically evolving network, may suspend itself mid-execution, be safely disconnected from its local environment, moved (by communication along a channel), reconnected to a new environment and reactivated. Upon reactivation, the process resumes execution from the same state (i.e. data values and code positions) it held when it suspended. Its view of its environment is unchanged, since that is abstracted by its synchronisation (e.g. channels and barriers) interface and that remains constant. The environment behind that interface will (usually) be completely different. The mobile process itself may contain any number of levels of dynamic sub-network. This model is simpler and, in some ways, more powerful than our earlier proposal, which required a process to terminate before it could be moved. Its formal semantics and implementation, however, throw up extra challenges. We present details and performance of an initial implementation.
- Depositors only (login required): | <urn:uuid:ebbb260c-5663-4831-97c4-b2ea76569af8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kar.kent.ac.uk/14107/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.910314 | 262 | 1.75 | 2 |
Boston Logan Consolidated Rental Car Facility
The main purpose of the Consolidated Rental Car facility, known as the "ConRAC", is to consolidate all airport-related rental operations and facilities into one integrated facility and to reduce the number of shuttle buses on airport roadways. The project consists of replacing and upgrading a myriad of existing ground transportation uses in the area of the airport known as the Southwest Service Area to be more efficient, environmentally friendly and to improve customer service. The Conrac will be a LEED certified four level garage with approximately 1.3 million square feet of parking, office and check in space.
The Green Bus Depot Project
The Green Bus Depot will maintain Logan Airport’s new fleet of clean-fuel buses.The LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certified bus storage and maintenance facility will be used to implement Massport’s Unified Bus System that replaces and consolidates existing rental car agency buses with Massport’s own fleet of 18 Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) shuttle buses. The new system will serve Logan’s four passenger terminals, the Consolidated Rental Car Facility (ConRAC), and the MBTA’s Airport Station with clean-fuel buses. The Unified Bus System and Green Bus Depot will offer significant environmental benefits by eliminating approximately 94 existing, diesel-powered rental car buses, and replace them with 32 clean diesel-electric hybrid ones. The new depot will reduce off-airport bus trips currently required for fueling and bus maintenance, thereby reducing traffic in East Boston and Chelsea neighborhoods, and congestion on airport roadways. | <urn:uuid:68e3fe6c-2c07-4c2a-9dfa-f5d1cc09fdfb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://massport.com/massport/Pages/CurrentProjects.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929499 | 327 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Feminism | Posted by Cheyenne T on 11/28/2012
“How Do I Look?” “Do You Think He Notices Me?” And Other Useless Questions
As our culture evolves, I find that one of the most important aspects of our evolution is technology. From the wheel to the internet, every invention has contributed to a change in the way we go about our lives. This is why I think the media plays a key role in the way we conduct ourselves.
My parents have always said that they didn’t have to experience the publicity that technology has brought to society to the same extremity that we do. It gets worse for every generation and the surplus of messages about how we should live our lives has grown to be outrageous. Everything is accessible to everyone at any time.
Our culture has become hyper-sexualized due to the evolution of the media. It’s so hard not to …
Feminism | Posted by Fiona L on 06/2/2011
Running In Heels: Why Should Women Leaders Have To Look Like Barbies?
After recently attending an awards ceremony for a women’s political organization in Washington DC, and experiencing what some have coined a wardrobe malfunction, I’ve realized to an even further extent the lengths women are forced to go to appear effortlessly put together. Women politicians are constantly being picked apart for what they wear, whether it’s Michelle Obama’s election-night dress or Hillary Clinton’s “cleavage.” Women in general are expected to come off like they’ve somehow woken up in the morning looking like Barbie, but women in leadership have to seem like they floated out of bed looking like Senator Barbie—and I can tell you from the experience I had last week, that looking like Senator Barbie can take a whole lot of effort.
As an alumna of the Running … | <urn:uuid:0ba39a5a-0245-404d-ad46-fe6463996d26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thefbomb.org/tag/michelle-obama/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955894 | 396 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Watch! Receive email when more records or Member Discoveries are added.Watch
Civil War "Widows' Pensions"
The files are grouped under the soldier's name. The pensioner's name (typically the widow's) is searchable, often giving her maiden name as well. Children's names and other dependents' names are searchable as well. Case files include where and when a man served, details of his service, his life before the war, and his family, including information about his widow, children, and sometimes his parents. These files are unfilmed textual records.…More
Recent discoveries in Civil War "Widows' Pensions"
Case Files of Approved Pension Applications of Widows and Other Dependents of Civil War Veterans, ca. 1861 - ca. 1910. Original data from: The National Archives
War of 1812 Pension Files Free Updated
Civil War "Widows' Pensions" Updated
What people are saying
— Spoken Word Services Blog (Glasgow Caledonian University)
Digital media annotation takes another step forward with Fold3… | <urn:uuid:941dc26b-ef81-44ef-96f1-2334b31d2068> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fold3.com/title_24/civil_war_widows_pensions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933658 | 228 | 1.640625 | 2 |
You find a book, let’s say you randomly pick it up at the library while browsing the shelves for something new to read, or you do it at the bookstore, and its from a author that you never heard of, and more than likely, most people hadn’t heard of either, but the book’s description makes it sound like something you’d want to read. So you read it. You find that you enjoyed it so much, you tell your friends, family, co-workers, and others about it. Eventually, you read every book this author puts out. You might like some of the novels, you might dislike others, but this once unknown author to you now has a loyal reader all because you decided to try something new.
Or, like many others these days, you see a book mentioned on Facebook, Twitter, or on some message board somewhere online(unless its mentioned on TV and then its an instant bestseller, especially if Oprah mentions it), you ignore what seems like spam a few times, but one day you’re convinced to try it out. You read it, like it, and then tweet about it, like the book’s page on Amazon, like it enough to review it, and even share your new find on one of your many social networks. You do the whole digital word of mouth thing without going anywhere and your small amount of influence convinces others to take notice of those books, who influence others, and so on. Plus, you like the author so much, that you sign-up for the author’s newsletter or blog, follow them on Twitter, and join their Facebook page, where you buy every single novel hereafter.
For a lot of authors, Word of Mouth is the only way they find readers.
Here are a couple of ways to spread the word about a novel you enjoyed and helping the author out at the same time (which you’ve probably seen in one form or another on various authors’ blogs):
1. Mention the book online, like on Myspace (if you’re still there), Twitter, Facebook, message boards, or wherever you frequent that allows you to mention books, and include a link to the store or author’s site.
2. If you have Pinterest, create a board, like a “Favorite Books,” or “Book You Read Recently,” and link it to either the author’s site of store where you bought it from. The author might even be on Pinterest, so you could also follow their boards and “like” the book board they created for that particular book.
3. Tell your friends, family, co-workers, church members, etc through e-mail, phone, text, or talk to in person about the book. Include what you liked and why you think they might enjoy it. If you want, give them a copy of the paperback to read if you have a paperback copy, or even lend them the ebook version, depending on your e-Reader.
5. Leave a review on Amazon, B&N, or wherever you bought it from, you can even leave a review on all the sites if you want. If you’re on Goodreads, Shelfari, Librarything, etc, you can leave a review there.
So reader, how have you been influenced to buy a book? Through Word of Mouth or by way of something else? | <urn:uuid:2282750a-473c-47ba-8308-a1b1cf3c5a65> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cliffballauthor.wordpress.com/tag/readers/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957519 | 715 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Bogotá, at 2,600 meters above sea level, actually has a beach - here in Simon Bolivar Park.
Simon Bolivar Park, in northwest Bogotá, is the city's biggest park - larger even than New York's Central Park. Simon Bolivar Park, named after the leader of the revolution against Spain, actually consists of several smaller 'sub-parks', including Parque de los Novios (Lovers' Park), a library with a park around it, a sports park, the Botanical Gardens and Central Park (pictured here), the largest of them.
Simon Bolívar is the scene of many cultural events, including Salsa al Parque and Rock al Parque, which is the largest free musical event in Latin America. It lasts three days and attracts bands from all over the world. | <urn:uuid:84bac23b-eb46-40bd-9f53-5520be46310a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.colombia.travel/en/official-bloggers?start=88 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938686 | 173 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Updated at 2:30 p.m. PT with corrected time line.
Ken Salazar, secretary of the Department of the Interior, on Wednesday said a final decision on the controversial Cape Wind proposal will be made by the end of April.
Salazar met with interested parties on Wednesday in Washington to hear arguments for and against the offshore wind project, which would be first offshore wind installation in the U.S. Following the three meetings, there is now a formal process for deciding whether the Cape Wind project will be approved or rejected, which will include public comments until February 13, followed by a final decision.
The Interior Department needs to balance between two national goals--increasing renewable energy output and historic preservation, Salazar said during a press conference following the meetings.
The location of the proposed 130-turbine wind farm is Nantucket Sound, which earlier this month was ruled eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places because of the spiritual attachment of local Native American tribes to the area.
Either the parties could agree to a memorandum of understanding to "address the adverse impact and provide mitigation," Salazar said. Or, formal consultations between parties will be cut off and a final decision will be made by the Interior Department.
"I think nine years after an application was filed for a permit, to have it continuing to face a future of uncertainty is bad for everybody involved," he said. The project would cost more than $1 billion to develop and provide enough electricity to supply about 70 percent of Cape Cod's needs.
Clean-energy advocates, native groups, and local government officials expressed their positions, which Salazar said were diametrically opposed.
But he did indicate that there was room for compromise by confining the area of the proposed turbines or decreasing the number of turbines. Moving the site of the proposed wind farm to the south of Nantucket Island, as suggested by the main local opposition group and native Indian representatives, would require a completely new application, he said.
The fate of Cape Wind will not define how the offshore wind industry develops along the Atlantic, which Salazar said will be "successful and robust."
There is concern among wind developers that listing a body of water like the Nantucket Sound under the Register of Historic Places will have a chilling effect on the development of offshore wind, something Salazar said he will consider in his final decision. | <urn:uuid:611b8bc9-690a-46b5-87f8-97ca077fc18f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/8301-11128_3-10434335-54.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965439 | 483 | 1.851563 | 2 |
Honoring Those Who Have Served
On November 11 we celebrate Veterans Day in the United States and Remembrance Day in Canada.
The day was originally set aside to “reflect and remember the sacrifices men and women made during World War I in order to ensure peace.” It was later changed to Veterans Day in the US and Remembrance Day in Canada to recognize the contributions and sacrifices made by all veterans, from all services, in war and in peace, to our society.
Please take a moment view the video message below about this important day. It expresses thanks, on behalf of everyone at RailWorks, to active duty military and veterans You’ll also learn about our efforts to actively recruit veterans to join our team.
(CLICK HERE TO WATCH IN WINDOWS MEDIA PLAYER)
In recognition of this important occasion, RailWorks is making a contribution to the USO, an organization that provides assistance to those serving in the military and their families. | <urn:uuid:4b2145ff-51ab-4f68-ac76-95cfe7f8b32e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.railworks.com/Honoring-those-who-have-served | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952395 | 199 | 1.648438 | 2 |
PARIS | Lucio Fontana was so handy with a knife he could probably have made a living as an old-school hit man. Instead he became an artist, and a pivotal one at that. Through what he called his “concetto spaziale,” or spatial concept, he exerted a huge influence on 20th-century modernist art.
A retrospective of his work — much of it intentionally cut, pockmarked by cigarette burns, torn by bullet holes or rat bites — is the inaugural show at Tornabuoni Art, a new gallery in Paris.
The gallery (16 Avenue Matignon, 33-1-53-53-51-51; www.tornabuoniart.fr; Metro: Franklin Roosevelt) opened in September in an elegant town house around the corner from the Élysée Palace.
The show, which runs through Nov. 30, draws on a specific history between artist and gallery: The Tornabuoni family, leading collectors of 20th-century art, discovered Mr. Fontana and nurtured him throughout his career. The Paris gallery, their first outside Italy, is showing more than 60 museum-quality works from their own collection. Covering the artist’s development from the early 1950s to his death in 1968, the exhibit seeks to prove why Mr. Fontana matters by illustrating his progression from baroque origins toward his increasingly pure and minimalistic monotonal, slashed canvases.
After starting out as a sculptor in the 1920s and ‘30s, Mr. Fontana became increasingly preoccupied with the dynamics of the relationship between light and space. In 1947, he published his “White Manifesto,” the founding doctrine of what became known as the spatial movement, dedicated to the concept of art as immaterial. In his “concetto spaziale” he was one of the first artists to propose an understanding of art as gesture or performance.
From 1950 onward he constantly experimented in his paintings, treating the canvas not as a surface but simply as a plane in three-dimensional space, to be built on or cut through. In a series of works that he titled “holes,” “stones,” “inks,” and the like, he developed a richness of expression — a variety clearly in evidence at the exhibit. | <urn:uuid:f5252873-b893-4d00-a63b-97dd0c1e21cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://intransit.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/11/10/a-spatialist-christens-a-new-space/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98101 | 492 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Dr. J. Scott Smith of Kansas State University in Manhattan recently studied Heterocyclic Amines (HCA's), which are carcinogenic compounds that form when meat is cooked at high temperatures. He found that adding rosemary extract to ground beef reduced the amount of cancer-causing compounds created during grilling. He attributed this to the antioxidants found in the rosemary extract. Smith reported that Rosemary extract is very expensive and therefore recommends adding whole, crushed, or ground rosemary before you grill your meats. Rosemary can be added to ground beef or rubbed onto the surface of steak, pork chops, chicken or fish.|
Action Sparked: Add whole, crushed, or ground rosemary to your favorite meat recipes to help reduce the amount of cancer-causing HCA's that are produced during grilling. Other cooking tips to decrease HCA's include:
Need more great grilling ideas? Check out our e-book, ''SparkPeople's Ultimate Grilling Guide: 75 Hearty, Healthy Recipes You Can Really Sink Your Teeth Into.'' Get it on Amazon.com and get grilling! | <urn:uuid:08987f24-e137-4bfc-99a3-133c241e9869> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=583 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933458 | 230 | 2.515625 | 3 |
ORCHARD PARK (WKBW) It happened around noon Friday, when residents in a wide area of Southern Erie County started smelling what many thought was natural gas in the air, even though it turned out to be a false alarm.
National Fuel says work was completed at their East Aurora location that released an odorant into the air. This is the chemical that gives the colorless and odorless natural gas it's smell. So when the air in the surrounding towns started smelling like gas, there was widespread concern.
At Orchard Park Pediatrics, the entire office along with a neighboring bank were evacuated due to the smell and the fear of an explosion.
"For quite a while we were out in the cold, the patients were out in the cold, and we were scared. With all the stuff on the news with the gas leaks and explosions and things like that, we were very concerned for our patients and for ourselves. Luckily nothing happened, other than everybody got a little bit of cold," Dr. Kathleen Dyson said.
The Erie County Sheriff's Office says the odorant chemical is called mercaptan, and is non toxic and harmless.
National Fuel released this statement in regards to the smell of gas:
National Fuel is advising residents in East Aurora, Orchard Park, Hamburg, and Elma that work completed earlier today at an National Fuel service station in East Aurora released an odorant, similar to the smell of rotten eggs, and there is not a natural gas emergency. After extensive investigation, it was determined that there are no gas leaks but the prominent smell does remains in the area and due to prevailing winds, the smell has carried for miles from the original location.
For customer protection, National Fuel adds an odorant to give natural gas a distinctive smell so leaks can be more readily detected. Residents can be assured that there is not a natural gas situation in their neighborhood.
For area residents concerned about a legitimate gas leak, please contact National Fuel's emergency hotline at 1-800-444-3130.
National Fuel Gas Distribution Corporation is a regulated utility and is one of the subsidiaries in the National Fuel Gas Company system. The utility provides natural gas service to approximately 725,000 customers in western New York and northwestern Pennsylvania. | <urn:uuid:fc7cdaa5-a805-4bef-bd05-fedcf5f61f4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wkbw.com/news/video/Gas-Leak-Scare-in-Southtowns-181610841.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97202 | 457 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Google's Project Glass Eyewear: Next Big Google Flop or Hit?
Project Glass is Google's dream to mass produce hybrid glasses that act as a miniaturized smartphone wired with hands-free access to a micro display, cameras, microphone, Web browser, and speech recognition. It's the type of jaw dropping innovation the tech elite love.
But are a pair of Google augmented reality glasses practical? Some argue "yes" and others "no". Think texting and driving don't mix now, how about drivers sporting Google glasses video chatting with a friend? Then again, a pair of Google glasses could make you the "smartest" guy in the room - as long as there is a Web connection.
Here are two opposing viewpoints on Google's Project Glass eyewear. PCWorld contributor Howard Baldwin argues the pro side of the argument while PCWorld contributor Ed Oswald represents the naysayers.
PRO - People have been trying to build wearable computers for years. Project Glass puts the technology into something people already wear.
CON - Easily breakable? While I understand Google’s desire to make these glasses as unobtrusive as possible, they look awfully fragile. Consumers will use these in situations where they may be dropped or come loose. These are no doubt going to be expensive, so people will want some assurance that these won’t easily break.
PRO - Who doesn’t love hands-free computing? Maybe these will help us bypass those nanny-state laws and let us talk while we’re driving again.
CON - Using the glasses will likely be more distracting than texting currently is. Google glasses places the data in front of your line of sight so that you probably will focus on the data rather than what’s around you. This could be more dangerous than texting or using your cell phone while driving.
PRO - Glasses will no longer be cause for derision. Instead, they’ll be as fashionable as iPod earbuds. Dorothy Parker’s adage about men seldom making passes at girls who wear glasses will finally be proven wrong.
CON - What about the millions of bespectacled people? According to Vision Council of America about 75 percent of the U.S. adult population wear some type eyeglasses. Unless Google's glasses correct vision or act as sunglasses for many it will be a hard sell.
PRO - You'll stand out. Now that computers will be on your head instead of in your pocket or purse, you can identify other technophiles more readily on the street (although like the distinctive white iPod earbuds when they first came out, you might be a more visible target for being mugged for your tech).
CON - Where’s the battery? Google’s prototype design begs the question as to where the battery may be located. As my colleague Megan Geuss pointed out last year, smartphone batteries suck. Will Google glasses require us to wear some kind of battery pack or will your smart glasses run out of juice every three hours?
PRO - Mobile anytime "knowledge" will be breakthrough technology for handicapped people of all types, especially for intellectually and physically challenged. This technology could also revolutionize knowledge, manufacturing, and service industries allowing for fast access to needed data, maps, and schematics.
CON - Potential privacy issues. As we wear these glasses around town, the search giant might be able to gather even more data on our daily lives. The video clearly shows deep integration to Google services: you are encouraged to share with the search giant. You think Google’s ads are too personal now? Imagine those ads after wearing Google glasses!
For more information on Google's Project Glass visit the Google+ home of the endeavor where you can find images, videos, and project specifics. | <urn:uuid:2626c878-cbf0-4b1b-baa0-c26f8b07ecc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.techhive.com/article/253259/googles_project_glass_eyewear_next_big_google_flop_or_hit_.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91852 | 777 | 1.976563 | 2 |
For those who have recently quit smoking or are planning on quitting, there are many herbs and vitamins which provide a secure and natural way of detoxifying against the harmful effects of tobacco. Many people are exposed to second-hand tobacco smoke too, generating similar health issues.
Flavonoids have attracted plenty of attention lately for their powerful antioxidant effects. (See below for a detailed listing.) Antioxidants are any substance which protects against damage by free radicals, rogue particles responsible for cell deterioration leading to cancer, cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, and other degenerative conditions. Free radicals occur naturally, however their presence is increased by exposure to radiation, smoking, alcohol consumption, and other harmful substances.
Smoking in particular increases oxidative stress, creating more free radicals which can damage the vascular system. Smokers are thus at high risk for developing serious health complications due to toxins. Vitamins along with other supplements can provide a strong antioxidant armada to search out and destroy free radicals and fortify against further damage.
Flavonoids are especially potent antioxidants, stronger than even vitamins C and E. Flavonoids are nutrients found mostly in herbs and fruits for example grapes. A number of these nutrients can be found together in one supplement pill. Alternative medicine is often a safer method of treatment because, unlike expensive prescription drugs, there aren't any side effects or long-lasting complications. Additionally, herbs and vitamins give a number of good things about overall a healthy body.
Some of the best herbs and supplements for smokers or those subjected to second-hand smoke are grape seed, pine bark, red grape skin, bilberry, green tea extract, gingko biloba, and milk thistle.
Grape seed and pine bark provide high concentrations of proanthocyanidins, antioxidants which promote the health of the connective tissues (for example muscles and tendons) and capillaries. Based on the University of Alabama, grape seed also may help lower blood pressure. Proanthocyanidins work by strengthening the endothelium, negligence a circulation system which separates it in the blood circulation itself.
Grape seed and pine bark are also anti-inflammatory substances. Like B vitamins, proanthocyanidins from grape seed and pine bark can pass the blood-brain barrier to provide their benefits to neurons and brain cells.
Did you ever hear that red wine is good for the heart? The science behind this folk wisdom is that red wine has a high power of proanthocyanidins from grape seeds.
Bilberry is often prescribed for the sake of your eyes because it protects connective tissues such as collagen, the primary component of the fluid of the eye. Smoking enhances the blood pressure level and subsequently increases oxidative stress in sensitive areas like the eyes.
By combating hypertension and protecting the connective tissues, a few of the side effects of smoking could be mitigated. It is a curious statistic that, although Japanese men on average smoke more than American men, the lung cancer rate is higher in america that in Japan. One explanation for this may have to do with japan diet and also the consumption of green tea. Green tea extract is well-known because of its antioxidant capabilities. Green tea extract continues to be researched as a strategy to a variety of serious illnesses, including tumors, cardiovascular disease, high cholesterol levels, high blood pressure, and cancer.
Gingko biloba is in wide use like a mental stimulant. By easing blood circulation towards the brain, gingko can increase memory, alertness, and concentration. For the similar reasons, gingko can be recommended to smokers: it can decrease blood pressure level and protect eyes and neurons from oxidative stress.
The flavonoids present in milk thistle are known as silymarins, which operate in the liver and protect it from punctures from damage by toxins. A healthy liver is crucial for overall a healthy body, and smoking and drinking can cause damage to this vital organ.
Smoking can cause many health problems, most significantly perhaps is oxidative stress and general deterioration from the body's cells. Antioxidants from herbal plants and supplements can help fortify the body and provide benefits towards high functioning body systems. A healthier lifestyle can start with healthy habits, but supplemental vitamins can offer the extra boost an appearance must achieve optimal health and wellness and activity. | <urn:uuid:a0ed28a2-a70e-42e4-adca-c11f5ac3a764> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://eyeuser.com/blogs/viewstory/570176 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941936 | 882 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Welcome to the Title V Office of Supplemental Instruction & Technology Web page. We offer review sessions for several courses in natural sciences, mathematics and business studies. We train and mentor student leader,; provide technological and pedagogical resources for learning, and foster faculty collaboration.
Originally supported by a grant from the U.S. Department of Education, the Title V Office of Supplemental Instruction & Technology was established at Lehman in the spring of 2007 to improve student transition to the upper division of scienc disciplines, mathematics, and business studies.
What is Supplemental Instruction?
Supplemental Instruction (SI) connects students and instructors with learning strategies and time management skills to improve success in traditionally difficult courses. SI is provided to all students who want to improve their understanding of course material and improve their grades.
SI review sessions are offered several times each week by a student or recent graduate who knows the material and knows how to study for great grades. These SI Leaders guide and facilitate rather than teach: students work together to find answers and improve their study skills.
Attendance at sessions is voluntary. SI is an opportunity for students to:
- Review and compare notes;
- Practice defining and discussing important concepts;
- Develop proven successful strategies for studying;
- Test & improve knowledge of the material before exams.
At each session an SI leader guides students through the steps and skills needed to understand and master the assigned work.
Adopted from the UMKC Supervisor Manual 2006, revised 01/09/2009.
Last modified: Oct 13, 2011 | <urn:uuid:e53c2fc2-21b1-4f1d-9573-1de4e2505217> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lehman.edu/supplemental-instruction/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92511 | 315 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Well, ok, a few more than that: Which one? Do you do this in all elections — local, state, and national? Do you vote the same line (or tend to) for all races, or is it different depending on the level of government?
Do you vote on third party lines even if you candidate has a major party line and will probably always be identified as a Democrat or Republican? Why?
And here’s the moment of truth: Do you vote on issues, but find that you tend to vote mainly for one party anyway? | <urn:uuid:178402b8-c455-4f63-bf03-4601f59ab2fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.timesunion.com/opinion/does-political-party-matter-to-you/15923/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968382 | 115 | 1.617188 | 2 |
THE FIRST perennial index of medical literature commenced publication in 1880. That volume included all the A's and some B's. The second volume of the Index Catalog of the Library of the Surgeon General's Office U.S. Army, containing Berlioz-Cholas, appeared in 1881. The second volume, heftier than any single volume of today's Index Medicus, contains more than seven pages of references to "chlorosis." One hundred years later, in 1981, Index Medicus contains none, not one, no listing at all. Chlorosis is gone from Index Medicus because it is gone from the practice of medicine. In 1881, chlorosis was a common disease, an iron deficiency anemia appearing especially in maturing girls during the adolescent growth spurt; it was less common in mature women and rare in men. It was called chlorosis because the victims were pale green, pale because anemic, green—who knows why?
Hippocrates mentioned the greensickness. Shakespeare made a | <urn:uuid:5faa1753-0032-42bf-af7d-058a5b58a63c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jama.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=366269 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953742 | 208 | 3.046875 | 3 |
Recently at a marketing event I had posed this question to Mahesh Murthy CEO of Pinstorm. I asked him whether the value of a click from Twitter is the same as the value of a click from SEM/Google Ads. His answer (much to my disappointment) was a YES. Later I tweeted the same question too and some of the replies I got was that ‘If you figure that out then you will be the first one?’
At the same time I had tweeted another question as well. It was “how many clicks = a conversation? or vice versa? How does one measure softer metrics like conversations, likes, retweets vs the CLICK?”
As we collectively dive into a world filled with Social media as IPL goes to youtube and My Name is Khan Premiere is Streamed in Facebook the question on the ROI of social media and the value of a click from social media vis a vis banner or SEM ads becomes more and more relevant.
Social media as you know is your social circle on the web. It more often than not has folks you like, know, trust, admire or adore. The latest launch by google buzz is also a move in that direction where in my friends and contacts on google can now share realtime updates and links with me.
Now question that arises is that I as a user who clicks on a link on say Google buzz am I more valuable to the website than lets say I the same user who clicks on a Google ad banner?
Well the answer may not be that simple but is one that needs some delving on. Some digital folks who read this may smirk and say ‘a click is a click is a click! I mean for god sake lets stop over analysing digital media!’
While I understand their frustration I believe we haven’t even started analysing digital media and what it offers in an intelligent manner. We folks like mathematicians have played with numbers and sold numbers. Because its very easy to sell numbers and right from the CFO to CMO in all companies understand numbers. But sometimes numbers are meaningless without any value attached to them.
We got 400 clicks vs We got 400 users on our site from 12 blogs and 8 tweets that recommended the customer experience at our online store. 19 of those users ended up shopping at our site, 200 registered and the rest bounced out.
While the above example over simplifies things you get what Im hinting at. I think its important that as an Industry we attempt at building more intelligence in the way we present ourselves. Digital shouldn’t be about clicks but it should be about ROI that is defined by intelligent analytics that drive value and not traffic only. | <urn:uuid:607c6505-691b-4610-b80f-01f210a0caa3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.watblog.com/2010/02/17/whats-the-value-of-a-click-does-it-depend-on-its-source/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964645 | 553 | 1.5 | 2 |
|Need advice from an expert
Nov 6, 2005
Hi Dr., One question, in case of occult HepB is there any treatment available? If so, how would you measure the response to the treatment in the absence of the typical antigens? Am I more suseptible to develop HCC than others? Thanks for your response.
| Response from Dr. McGovern
Occult hepatitis B is usually when someone has HBV DNA without other markers of infection.
The true clinical significance is unknown. I would not recommend treatment for this situation.
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This forum is designed for educational purposes only, and experts are not rendering medical, mental health, legal or other professional advice or services. If you have or suspect you may have a medical, mental health, legal or other problem that requires advice, consult your own caregiver, attorney or other qualified professional.
Experts appearing on this page are independent and are solely responsible for editing and fact-checking their material. Neither TheBody.com nor any advertiser is the publisher or speaker of posted visitors' questions or the experts' material. | <urn:uuid:e06bf50e-a979-449b-9c0c-34fb037f3612> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebody.com/Forums/AIDS/Hepatitis/Q169573.html?ic=4003 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916297 | 236 | 1.5 | 2 |
Strategy For Farming Vs. Wildlife Studied
September 2, 2011 by UPI - United Press International, Inc.
CAMBRIDGE, England, Sept. 1 (UPI) — Separating habitats from farmland could save species more effectively than trying to grow crops and conserve nature on the same land, British researchers say.
The separation may be the best way to meet increased food demand with the least impact on wild species, researchers at the University of Cambridge and the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds said in a release Thursday.
The researchers collected information on more than 600 species in southwest Ghana and northern India, where demand for agricultural land is putting increasing pressure on wild species.
“Farmland with some retained natural vegetation had more species of birds and trees than high-yielding monocultures of oil palm, rice or wheat but produced far less food energy and profit per hectare,” said lead author Dr Ben Phalan from the University of Cambridge. “As well as requiring more land to produce the same amount of food, the ‘wildlife-friendly’ farmlands were not as wildlife-friendly as they first appeared. Compared with forest, they failed to provide good habitat for the majority of bird and tree species in either region.”
Under current and future scenarios of food demand, the researchers said, most species would have larger total populations if farming was restricted to the smallest area feasible, while protecting as much natural forest as possible.
“It would be nice to think that we could conserve species and produce lots of food, all on the same land,” said study co-author Malvika Onial from the University of Cambridge. “But our data from Ghana and India show that’s not the best option for most species.
“To produce a given amount of food, it would be better for biodiversity to farm as productively as possible, if that allows more natural habitat to be protected or restored.” | <urn:uuid:23a2f315-4abd-4d68-8d9b-b2c89021d9d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://personalliberty.com/2011/09/02/strategy-for-farming-vs-wildlife-studied/?like=1&source=post_flair&_wpnonce=c7a699f16c | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943072 | 408 | 3.265625 | 3 |
American society could save lives, improve well-being and even save on health-care costs if it placed more emphasis on diabetes prevention, according to Jill Olausson, B.S.N., R.N., C.D.E.
|Jill Olausson (Photo of Thomas Brown)|
City of Hope’s newest certified diabetes educator in the Department of Clinical Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism, Olausson believes in the power of lifestyle change. At home both in clinical research and community outreach, she puts proven lessons about disease prevention into practice.
“People with pre-diabetes can actively take steps to keep from developing type 2 diabetes,” said Olausson. “With healthy eating and exercise, patients can manage the process and prevent complications.”
Olausson is excited about working with patients and other diabetes professionals at City of Hope, which is more than 3,000 miles away from her previous post: the Diabetes Center at Memorial Hospital in North Conway, N.H.
“Coming to City of Hope is an opportunity for growth,” she said. “I’m looking forward to helping to build the Department of Clinical Diabetes, Endocrinology & Metabolism into a center of excellence, participating in research and pursuing nursing magnet status.”
As part of her education mission, she now oversees City of Hope’s Diabetes Education Program, a series of classes recognized by the American Diabetes Association. These classes, which are held at the Leslie & Susan Gonda (Goldschmied) Diabetes & Genetic Research Center, will resume in May.
The classes will expand and grow, Olausson said, emphasizing diabetes prevention in adults and children through nutrition and physical activity. They will educate people with diabetes about avoiding complications and find ways to motivate people to make lifestyle changes while having fun.
She also will boost clinical services by overseeing an insulin pump and glucose sensor program and helping those with diabetes manage their medications.
Olausson is pursuing a master’s degree in nursing leadership and management and plans to pursue a doctorate in population sciences. She and her family live in Claremont, Calif. | <urn:uuid:44e80265-68d5-432f-ae6c-8be8cb94793d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cityofhope.org/ABOUT/PUBLICATIONS/HOPE-NEWS/2009-VOL-4-NUM-13-APRIL-20/Pages/new-diabetes-educator-strives-to-prevent-disease-and-its-complications.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930727 | 458 | 1.726563 | 2 |
The Philippine Supreme Court has suspended a massive new law that targets cybercrime, cybersquatting, spam, online libel, and even cybersex.
The Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, which we reported on last month, drew the ire of the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the National Union of Journalists of the Philippines, who expressed concern that this law could lead to a reduction of free speech online. Many fear the new law, with its enhanced penalties, echoes the dictatorial regime of President Ferdinand Marcos, who ruled the archipelago from 1965 to 1986.
The new law, which went into effect last month, has been suspended for 120 days, preventing the government from enforcing it. Oral arguments in the case will be heard by the court early next year. The court ordered the government to respond to its order within ten days.
If the law is upheld, it will expand powers of the National Bureau of Investigation (NBI) and the Philippine National Police (PNP). The law states that they are tasked with enforcement online, and that they "shall organize a cybercrime unit or center manned by special investigators to exclusively handle cases involving violations of this Act." Such cases will be prosecuted in "special cybercrime courts manned by specially trained judges to handle cybercrime cases."
Another petitioner, Renato Reyes, the secretary-general of the left-wing New Patriotic Alliance, told the Associated Press that the court's order was "a major victory for freedom and civil liberties." | <urn:uuid:3cb1ea59-b1d3-42a2-9725-2b14d7230c26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2012/10/philippine-supreme-court-suspends-anti-cybersex-anti-cybercrime-law/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941564 | 299 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Driving in Lille, France
The medieval city of Lille is located in northern France and was the European Capital of Culture in 2004. The city, which has a long and interesting history, is the largest city in the region and is on the French-Belgian border. It also connects to the UK, via the Channel Tunnel. It takes about 1 hour and 40 minutes to get from London Waterloo Station to Lille, via the Eurostar.
Lille is a vibrant and modern city – the fourth largest in France and the main city in the region to the north of Paris. The rail connection and the Industrial Revolution really helped establish Lille as a developed city and the large coal deposits and textile industry contributed as well.
Large sections of the city were destroyed during WWI and later during the great depression the city’s population took a major hit economically. In WWII the Lille was captured very early in the war and again was very quickly liberated after D-Day. Today the city has one of the largest student populations in France. There are many universities with different disciplines and it’s a popular place for foreign students. It was the birthplace of Charles de Gaulle in 1890 and, today, there’s a university in the city named after him.
There’s much to see and do in the city centre including a descent number of museums to wander around. These include the Musée des Beaux-Arts (the second largest fine arts museum in France after the Louvre), the Museum of Natural History (home to a large collection of mammals, insects and fossils), the Musée de l’Hospice Comtesse (formerly a hospital but is now an art museum) and the Musée d’Art et d’ Industrie de Roubaix: La Piscine (modern art museum displayed in an Art Deco setting).
The historic centre of Lille (Old Quarter or Vieux Lille) is well worth checking out with its narrow, winding cobblestone streets, chic little cafes and restaurants. It’s also home to the Cathédrale Notre Dame de la Treille.
Lillie also boasts some beautifully set squares, the largest of which is Place du Général-de-Gaulle (aka Grand place). Here you’ll find the fountain, La Grande Déesse and a number of historic houses surround the square including the HQ of the Flemish newspaper La Voix du Nord.
Another square located nearby is the Place du Théâtre which is home to many fantastic historic buildings such as the Opera House and the Chamber of Commerce. Located between the Place du Théâtre and the Grand’place is the La Vieille Bourse – the site of the former commercial exchange. Other squares worth visiting include the Place Rihour, where the tourist information centre is located.
One of the most impressive features of the city is la Citadelle. This was built by Louis XIV and its main entrance is situated opposite the historic centre.
Lille is also a shopper’s paradise. Like all other major European cities it has loads of department stores as well as quaint little French boutiques.
What to see in the Lille area?
Lille lies in the 4th largest metropolitan area in France. This area is made up of Lille, Roubaix and Tourcoing, as well as their suburbs. Tourcoing is an interesting place to visit with such sights as the Church of Saint Christopher, which dates from the 15th/16th century and is considered an excellent example of Neo-Gothic architecture; it also has an 80 metre tall bell tower with 80 bells.
Lille is the capital of the Nord Department which stretches from the northern tip of France as far as Picardy, along the Belgian border.
Dunkirk is located just a short 80km drive from Lille along the E42. It has a very strategic location and as the 3rd largest port in France has changed hands numerous times throughout history. During WWII roughly 1/3 of a million French and British troops escaped across the English Channel to safety. This is sometimes referred to as the Miracle of Dunkirk. As well as having a rich heritage, Dunkirk has fantastic shopping options and is well worth a day trip.
Just a few dozen kilometres along the coast is Calais. This is the closest point between France and the Island of Great Britain which is just a mere 32 kms away. If you’re lucky on a clear day you can even see the White Cliffs of Dover! Calais is a popular spot for British tourists as it’s easy to get to by both ferry and via the Channel Tunnel – and the tax is lower as well.
Other towns worth visiting in the Nord Department include the commune of Valenciennes, located about 40km in the other direction. It’s home to the Dodenne Tower, the La Maison Espagnole and the Notre-Dame du Saint-Cordon. Also to the south there is Douai which is worth visiting solely for the Bell Tower which was built in the 14th century.
You could always nip over the border and visit Belgium. This part of Belgium is home to cities such as Mons (host town of the Doudou Festival held annually on Trinity Sunday) and Charleroi. And since the area is French speaking make sure you keep your French phrase book handy!
Why not hire a car?
The best way to get to Lille is via rail connection from Brussels, London or Paris. You could also fly in but the airport is largely for domestic flights though it does have connections to Munich, Milan and Venice.
Once here though, the easiest way to get around and explore the surrounding countryside is to book Car Hire Lille. The city has 2 subway lines that largely connect the city centre to the suburbs and there are buses to both Roubaix and Tourcoing. Other than this there are no significant public transport options in the area.
Just remember driving is on the right and priority goes to drivers entering a junction from the right. Most of the roads you will come across are of the highest quality and the motorways can be tolled but are a very efficient way of travelling between cities. You could choose to travel off the motorway and this can be rewarded with breathtaking countryside scenery but some roads are a bit like mazes so its best to be prepared with maps and/or a GPS system.
If you have any travel tips for Lille, feel free to leave your story in the comment box below. Also, if you’ve any queries about car hire in Lille just get in contact. | <urn:uuid:7c5fecc7-6063-4628-9ad4-d167a8d4aeb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.novacarhire.com/2007/10/01/driving-in-lille-france/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965917 | 1,382 | 2.296875 | 2 |
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice.
There was little change in the status of respect for religious freedom during the period covered by this report, and government policy continued to contribute to the generally free practice of religion. However, in March 2005, the Government prohibited Ahmadiya activity in the country.
The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious freedom; however, a dispute between local Muslims and the Ahmadiya group in the city of Gabu resulted in injuries to four Ahmadiya members.
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights.
Section I. Religious Demography
The country has an area of 13,948 square miles, and its population is approximately 1,388,000. An estimated 38 to 45 percent of the population is Muslim; and between 5 and 13 percent is Christian. The remainder of the population follows traditional indigenous or animist religious practices. There are few atheists.
Christians belong to a number of groups, including the Roman Catholic Church and various Protestant denominations. Christians are concentrated in Bissau and other large towns. Islam is practiced most widely by the Fula and Mandinka ethnic groups, and Muslims generally live in the north and northeast. Practitioners of traditional religions inhabit the remainder of the country. Virtually all Muslims are Sunni. The Ahmadiya are not confined to any particular geographic region. Their numbers are extremely small; there is no reliable data on number of adherents. With the 2005 banning of Ahmadiya activities, followers have mostly returned to practicing the same form of Sunni Islam that other Muslims in the country practice.
Missionaries from numerous Christian denominations long have been active, and they operate in the country without restriction.
Section II. Status of Religious Freedom
The Constitution provides for freedom of religion, and the Government generally respects this right in practice. The Government at all levels strives to protect this right in full and does not tolerate its abuse, either by governmental or private actors.
There is no state religion. Members of all major faiths are represented in the National Assembly.
Christmas is the only religious holy day considered a national holiday.
The Government requires that religious groups be licensed and has reportedly not refused any applications. There were no reports that new applications were made during the period covered by this report.
Restrictions on Religious Freedom
Government policy and practice contributed to the generally free practice of religion. However, in March 2005, following a dispute in the previous month between Muslims and members of the Ahmadiya group in the eastern city of Gabu, the Government prohibited Ahmadiya activity, contending that Ahmadiya activities, including the group's practice of paying locals to attend services, were disruptive. In 2003, the Ahmadiya, expelled from the country in 2001, had been permitted to return after the Government determined that former President Yala's decision to banish them had been an illegal breach of due process.
There were no reports of religious prisoners or detainees.
Forced Religious Conversion
There were no reports of forced religious conversion, including of minor U.S. citizens who had been abducted or illegally removed from the United States, or of the refusal to allow such citizens to be returned to the United States.
Abuses by Terrorist Organizations
There were no reported abuses targeted at specific religions by terrorist organizations during the period covered by this report.
Section III. Societal Attitudes
The generally amicable relationship among religions in society contributed to religious freedom. Society is generally tolerant on religious matters; however, a high illiteracy rate leaves many easily susceptible to misinformation and manipulation by local leaders and others.
In February 2005, a dispute between local Muslims and the Ahmadiya group in the city of Gabu resulted in injuries to four Ahmadiya members before police intervened.
Section IV. U.S. Government Policy
The U.S. Government discusses religious freedom issues with the Government as part of its overall policy to promote human rights. Since there is no U.S. Embassy in Bissau, the capital, the U.S. Embassy in Dakar, Senegal, handled all official contact with the country.
The Embassy maintained relations with leaders of major religious organizations, nongovernmental organizations, and missionary groups in the country, including the National Islamic Council and the Catholic bishops. Since 2003, the Embassy has hosted an annual Iftar dinner in Bissau for Muslim leaders. The Embassy continued to seek opportunities to further understanding of religious freedom in the United States through public diplomacy programs, such as the International Visitors Program and dissemination of publications promoting tolerance. | <urn:uuid:6daacfe6-ea70-4f34-9db9-f6e11f72beb9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.state.gov/j/drl/rls/irf/2005/51477.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961412 | 964 | 2.96875 | 3 |
CHARLOTTENBURG.- Galerie Guido W. Baudach Charlottenburg
presents, for the first time in Berlin, an extensive solo exhibition of work by the Viennese actionist Rudolf Schwarzkogler (19401969).
Rudolf Schwarzkogler is what we tend to call an artists artist. Without ever having been the centre of art-world attention, his work enjoys the greatest possible international esteem particularly among artists largely due to his unique timeless brisance and his impressive formal precision.
Alongside Günter Brus, Hermann Nitsch and Otto Muehl, Schwarzkogler was one of the main representatives of Viennese actionism, though he never produced a single exhibition in his short lifetime and only ever carried out one action in front of an audience, the first of eight in total. The actionists stated aim was to create comprehensive synaesthetic artistic experiences using everyday objects and the direct involvement of the human body. Through their provocative directness and shocking brutality, these experiences were supposed to jar with customary behavioural patterns and liberate the viewer or recipient from internal and external anxieties and constraints. Schwarzkogler himself spoke of panoramas in this context: movable, modifiable real objects which the total act i.e. the action would make perceptible to all the senses.
In consistently white and virtually sterile spatial settings, Schwarzkoglers actions seem to subject human actors, his so-called action models, to quite drastic treatment from violent exposure and humiliation, to apparent electric-shock therapy and lobotomy, to symbolic blinding and castration. Besides fish (as a synonym for mankind), electric cables (as a synonym for transmission), and all sorts of medical equipment such as bandaging, knives, scissors, syringes, pharmaceutical bottles, cannulae and an enema syringe (as a synonym for disease and treatment), his other frequently recurring props were two abstract bodies: a white sphere and a rectangle of black glass, both referring to the artists close affinities with classical abstraction and what he saw as its fundamental cathartic significance.
Schwarzkoglers actions are orderly; what takes place is usually more static than dramatic. They thematize societal questions by way of association: gender relations, anomaly and repression, but always also the existential field of sickness, injury, and healing. After his first action in February 1965 Schwarzkogler, unlike the other actionists, concentrated exclusively on so-called photo-actions, i.e., actions whose structures and plots were specifically planned for photographic documentation. Like the other actionists, Schwarzkogler had his photographs taken by studio photographers; originally they were supposed to have been nothing more than a mediator between action and recipient. Thus photography became the actual medium of his work, a circumstance that has left us with a handful of serial actionist photography that is quite unique in style, highly complex both in terms of motifs and composition, and incredibly powerful in terms of its presence and visual expression. Between the late summer of 1965 and the spring of 1966 these works earned Schwarzkogler his fully independent position among the Viennese actionists.
At the same time though, Schwarzkogler also realised that the purely photographic reproduction of his actions had begun to contradict his fundamental demand for an all-encompassing stimulation of the senses, so he gave up the photo-actions with the same logic that had led to their discovery and had produced such masterful artistic results in the first place. Having spent some time dealing mainly with theoretical questions during a period of crisis in 1966/67, Schwarzkogler eventually found a new medium in the conceptual drawing. As a result, he started to draw up his so-called instructions for experiments, in which human figures were arranged in relation to various objects in order to create intense sensual experiences; then his environments, which consisted of physically accessible situations that were intended as experiential obstacle courses for the senses; and his so-called operating procedures, purely text-based drawings that suggest to the recipient certain seemingly ritualistic forms and processes such as ingestion or personal hygiene.
Though Schwarzkogler certainly intended the actual realization of his diverse designs, none of them ever got beyond the status of concept sketches. Nevertheless, his late drawings some of which recall early conceptual art, some concrete poetry are unthinkable without the prior actions, especially when we consider the formal convergences and the themes they address. In particular, the complex of illness, injury, and healing comes up throughout and actually has to be understood as the principal motif of the libertarian, emancipatory intention behind Rudolf Schwarzkoglers art.
At the centre of this exhibition are a number of photographs from the six most important actions that Schwarzkogler carried out between February 1965 and the spring of 1966. The action photographs exhibited here are rare original gelatin-silver prints and contact sheets from the 1960s and 1970s. These are based on photographs taken by the studio photographers whom Schwarzkogler commissioned to record the various actions, namely Ludwig Hoffenreich (actions 1, 2, 3, and 5), Kerstin Cibulka (action 4), and Michael Epp (action 6). These action photographs are accompanied by a film that was long thought lost: Schwarzkoglers 4th action, shot on 8 mm film by Günter Brus at the end of 1965. Having been transferred to DVD it is being screened publicly in Germany for the first time in this exhibition. In addition, as a form of reference material to Schwarzkoglers late, post-actionist work, there is a selection of printed works, colour silk-screens and black and white facsimiles of theoretical and conceptual drawings taken from a complete 1977 folio edition of Rudolf Schwarzkoglers work.
Galerie Guido W. Baudach Charlottenburg is particularly grateful to Dr. Ursula Krinzinger, who has administered the Rudolf Schwarzkogler estate at her gallery since 1975 and without whose generous loans and competent support the realization of this exhibition would hardly have been possible. | <urn:uuid:3a5f10c8-302c-4640-88f6-4057678bdd38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artdaily.com/index.asp?int_sec=11&int_new=50494&int_modo=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963233 | 1,256 | 1.796875 | 2 |
The ultimate crop rotation: Wealthy nations outsource crops to Ethiopia's farmlands
Monday, November 23, 2009
BAKO, ETHIOPIA -- In recent months, the Ethiopian government began marketing abroad one of the hottest commodities in an increasingly crowded and hungry world: farmland.
"Why Attractive?" reads one glossy poster with photos of green fields and a map outlining swaths of the country available at bargain-basement prices. "Vast, fertile, irrigable land at low rent. Abundant water resources. Cheap labor. Warmest hospitality."
This impoverished and chronically food-insecure Horn of Africa nation is rapidly becoming one of the world's leading destinations for the booming business of land leasing, by which relatively rich countries and investment firms are securing 40-to-99-year contracts to farm vast tracts of land.
Governments across Southeast Asia, Latin America and especially Africa are seizing the chance to attract this new breed of investors, wining and dining executives and creating land-leasing agencies and land catalogues to showcase their offerings of earth. In Africa alone, experts estimate that about 50 million acres -- roughly the size of Nebraska -- have been leased in the past two years.
The trend is driven in part by last year's global food crisis. Relatively wealthy countries are shoring up their food supplies by growing staple crops abroad. The desert kingdom of Saudi Arabia, for instance, is shifting wheat production to Africa. The government of India, where land is crowded and overfarmed, is offering incentives to companies to carve out mega farms across the continent.
Increasingly, though, purely profit-seeking companies are snatching up land, making a simple, if somewhat grim, calculation. As one Saudi-backed businessman here put it, "The population of the world is increasing dramatically, so land and food supplies will be short, demand will be higher and prices will rise."
The scale and pace of the land scramble have alarmed policymakers and others concerned about the implications for food security in countries such as Ethiopia, where officials recently appealed for food aid for about 6 million people as drought devastates parts of East Africa. The U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) is in the midst of a food security summit in Rome, where some of the 62 heads of state attending are to discuss a code of conduct to govern land deals, which are being struck with little public input.
"These contracts are pretty thin; no safeguards are being introduced," said David Hallam, a deputy director at the FAO. "You see statements from ministers where they're basically promising everything with no controls, no conditions."
The harshest critics of the practice conjure images of poor Africans starving as food is hauled off to rich countries. Some express concern that decades of industrial farming will leave good land spoiled even as local populations surge. And skeptics also say the political contexts cannot be ignored.
"We don't trust this government," said Merera Gudina, a leading opposition figure here who accuses Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi of using the land policy to hold on to power. "We are afraid this government is buying diplomatic support by giving away land."
But many experts are cautiously hopeful, saying that big agribusiness could feed millions by industrializing agriculture in countries such as Ethiopia, where about 80 percent of its 75 million people are farmers who plow their fields with oxen.
"If these deals are negotiated well, I tell you, it will change the dynamics of the food economy in this country," said Mafa Chipeta, the FAO's representative in Ethiopia, dismissing the worst-case scenarios. "I can't believe Ethiopia or any other government would allow their country to be used like an empty womb. The human spirit would not allow it." | <urn:uuid:a98f267a-7e10-4ed3-a3be-6b35ada8fe4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/11/22/AR2009112201478.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947092 | 772 | 2.25 | 2 |
Policy on Disarming
CHARLES F. MOSS ();
June 12, 1965,
, Section FOOD FASHIONS FAMILY FURNISHINGS, Page 30, Column , words
I have become increasingly concerned about proposals by our State Department that the United States completely disarm and disband its military forces in favor of a United Nations military force. According to State Department Publication No. 7277 [Freedom From War: The United States Program for General and Complete Disarmament in a Peaceful World], the only military force we should retain would be a token force to maintain internal peace. | <urn:uuid:13d00e6a-bc1e-48f4-aca4-9aeeedc90ddb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://select.nytimes.com/gst/abstract.html?res=F00716FE3C5F147A93C0A8178DD85F418685F9 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909436 | 119 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Chloe Schulze - Memorial School
Warren County Runner Up
Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetle
Hi! I'm Sandy, one of the Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetles. Please help my family and myself from extinction. Right now we are endangered, which is only one step away from becoming extinct!
We, Northeastern Beach Tiger Beetles, are sadly endangered because of habitat loss. Since we live on the beach- and of course you humans like to visit the beach every now and then during the summer- we are becoming extinct.
Northeastern Tiger Beetles appreciate living on long, wide, relatively undisturbed, sandy beaches of the Atlantic Coast or Chesapeake Bay. We feed on amphipods, flies, and other invertebrates. As a human, you may think that what we eat is gross! However, they are quite delicious to us beetles!
If you are wondering what a Northeastern Tiger Beetle looks like you will never have to ask that question again because I'm going to tell you. Northeastern Tiger Beetles have bronze green heads and thoraxes. We also have white to a light tan color when it comes to our forewings. Our forewings also have dark line on them. Typically we are 1 2-35 inches in length.
The interesting beetle that I'm telling you about also has interesting facts! One interesting fact about us is that our larvae are "sit and wait" predators. We hide and wait to attack! Another interesting fact is that we occur on beaches from Massachusetts to Virginia- which includes New Jersey!
In order to reproduce, so we don't become extinct, we lay eggs. The eggs are deposited in the mid-to-above high tide drift zone. Larval beetles occur in a relatively narrow band on the high drift zone, where they can be taken in by high tide.
Please help us Northeastern Tiger Beach Beatles by not polluting. You could stop littering on the beach, because like I told you we live on the beach, or you could just simply recycle. Everything you do can help us from becoming extinct. Please help, you are our only hope! Thank You!
Memorial School, Washington
Teacher: Mr. Butler
Find Related Info: Species on the Edge | <urn:uuid:b7b3c766-51b5-41cd-bd12-37b4bb9e2599> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.conservewildlifenj.org/education/teacher/edge/schulze/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958837 | 462 | 2.921875 | 3 |
Regulation of Extracellular Fluids | Nitrogen Wastes | Water and Salt Balance
Excretory System Functions | Invertebrate Excretory Organs | Vertebrates Have Paired Kidneys
The Human Excretory System | Kidney Function | Hormone Control of Water and Salt
Disruption of Kidney Function | Links
Cells produce water and carbon dioxide as by-products of metabolic breakdown of sugars, fats, and proteins. Chemical groups such as nitrogen, sulfur, and phosphorous must be stripped, from the large molecules to which they were formerly attached, as part of preparing them for energy conversion. The continuous production of metabolic wastes establishes a steep concentration gradient across the plasma membrane, causing wastes to diffuse out of cells and into the extracellular fluid.
Single-celled organisms have most of their wastes diffuse out into the outside environment. Multicellular organisms, and animals in particular, must have a specialized organ system to concentrate and remove wastes from the interstitial fluid into the blood capillaries and eventually deposit that material at a collection point for removal entirely from the body.
Excretory systems regulate the chemical composition of body fluids by removing metabolic wastes and retaining the proper amounts of water, salts, and nutrients. Components of this system in vertebrates include the kidneys, liver, lungs, and skin.
Not all animals use the same routes or excrete their wastes the same way humans do. Excretion applies to metabolic waste products that cross a plasma membrane. Elimination is the removal of feces.
Nitrogen wastes are a by product of protein metabolism. Amino groups are removed from amino acids prior to energy conversion. The NH2 (amino group) combines with a hydrogen ion (proton) to form ammonia (NH3).
Ammonia is very toxic and usually is excreted directly by marine animals. Terrestrial animals usually need to conserve water. Ammonia is converted to urea, a compound the body can tolerate at higher concentrations than ammonia. Birds and insects secrete uric acid that they make through large energy expenditure but little water loss. Amphibians and mammals secrete urea that they form in their liver. Amino groups are turned into ammonia, which in turn is converted to urea, dumped into the blood and concentrated by the kidneys.
The excretory system is responsible for regulating water balance in various body fluids. Osmoregulation refers to the state aquatic animals are in: they are surrounded by freshwater and must constantly deal with the influx of water. Animals, such as crabs, have an internal salt concentration very similar to that of the surrounding ocean. Such animals are known as osmoconformers, as there is little water transport between the inside of the animal and the isotonic outside environment.
Marine vertebrates, however, have internal concentrations of salt that are about one-third of the surrounding seawater. They are said to be osmoregulators. Osmoregulators face two problems: prevention of water loss from the body and prevention of salts diffusing into the body. Fish deal with this by passing water out of their tissues through their gills by osmosis and salt through their gills by active transport. Cartilaginous fish have a greater salt concentration than seawater, causing water to move into the shark by osmosis; this water is used for excretion. Freshwater fish must prevent water gain and salt loss. They do not drink water, and have their skin covered by a thin mucus. Water enters and leaves through the gills and the fish excretory system produces large amounts of dilute urine.
Terrestrial animals use a variety of methods to reduce water loss: living in moist environments, developing impermeable body coverings, production of more concentrated urine. Water loss can be considerable: a person in a 100 degree F temperature loses 1 liter of water per hour.
Many invertebrates such as flatworms use a nephridium as their excretory organ. At the end of each blind tubule of the nephridium is a ciliated flame cell. As fluid passes down the tubule, solutes are reabsorbed and returned to the body fluids.
Excretory system of a flatworm. Image from Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com) and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com), used with permission.
Excretory system of an earthworm. Image from Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com) and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com), used with permission.
Body fluids are drawn into the Malphigian tubules by osmosis due to large concentrations of potassium inside the tubule. Body fluids pass back into the body, nitrogenous wastes empty into the insect's gut. Water is reabsorbed and waste is expelled from the insect.
Excretory system of an ant. Images from Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com) and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com), used with permission.
ALL vertebrates have paired kidneys. Excretion is not the primary function of kidneys. Kidneys regulate body fluid levels as a primary duty, and remove wastes as a secondary one.
The urinary system is made-up of the kidneys, ureters, bladder, and urethra. The nephron, an evolutionary modification of the nephridium, is the kidney's functional unit. Waste is filtered from the blood and collected as urine in each kidney. Urine leaves the kidneys by ureters, and collects in the bladder. The bladder can distend to store urine that eventually leaves through the urethra.
Human excretory system and the details of the kidney. Images from Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com) and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com), used with permission.
The nephron consists of a cup-shaped capsule containing capillaries and the glomerulus, and a long renal tube. Blood flows into the kidney through the renal artery, which branches into capillaries associated with the glomerulus. Arterial pressure causes water and solutes from the blood to filter into the capsule. Fluid flows through the proximal tubule, which include the loop of Henle, and then into the distal tubule. The distal tubule empties into a collecting duct. Fluids and solutes are returned to the capillaries that surround the nephron tubule.
Filtration of the blood in the fine structure of the kidneys. Image from Purves et al., Life: The Science of Biology, 4th Edition, by Sinauer Associates (www.sinauer.com) and WH Freeman (www.whfreeman.com), used with permission.
The nephron has three functions:
Nephrons filter 125 ml of body fluid per minute; filtering the entire body fluid component 16 times each day. In a 24 hour period nephrons produce 180 liters of filtrate, of which 178.5 liters are reabsorbed. The remaining 1.5 liters forms urine.
In some cases, excess wastes crystallize as kidney stones. They grow and can become a painful irritant that may require surgery or ultrasound treatments. Some stones are small enough to be forced into the urethra, others are the size of huge, massive boulders (or so I am told).
Kidneys perform a number of homeostatic functions:
Water reabsorption is controlled by the antidiuretic hormone (ADH) in negative feedback. ADH is released from the pituitary gland in the brain. Dropping levels of fluid in the blood signal the hypothalamus to cause the pituitary to release ADH into the blood. ADH acts to increase water absorption in the kidneys. This puts more water back in the blood, increasing the concentration of the urine. When too much fluid is present in the blood, sensors in the heart signal the hypothalamus to cause a reduction of the amounts of ADH in the blood. This increases the amount of water absorbed by the kidneys, producing large quantities of a more dilute urine.
Aldosterone, a hormone secreted by the kidneys, regulates the transfer of sodium from the nephron to the blood. When sodium levels in the blood fall, aldosterone is released into the blood, causing more sodium to pass from the nephron to the blood. This causes water to flow into the blood by osmosis. Renin is released into the blood to control aldosterone.
Infection, environmental toxins such as mercury, and genetic disease can have devastating results by causing disruption of kidney function. Many kidney problems can be treated by dialysis, where a machine acts as a kidney. Kidney transplants are an alternative to dialysis.
Back to Table of Contents
Last modified: Tuesday May 18 2010
The URL of this page is: www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookEXCRET.html | <urn:uuid:62eac0d5-8c2c-47cf-b732-d6041ade0f61> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.emc.maricopa.edu/faculty/farabee/BIOBK/BioBookEXCRET.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931865 | 1,941 | 3.359375 | 3 |
CLEVELAND - Bed bugs have been on the rise in Cleveland and now police are taking action to try to combat the problem.
In a memo sent out to administrative units, Cleveland police said they will be distributing spray bottles containing bed bug killer to various districts and units.
Bottles will come in two sizes, according to the memo. Large size 16-ounce bottles will be maintained at district or unit levels, while smaller personal spray bottles are to be kept in glove boxes or storage areas of Division vehicles.
The memo said the spray kills on contact and is both safe and effective.
Reports this year have described bed bugs as a rapidly increasing problem in Cleveland.
In February, the Department of Public Health warned the public about bed bugs and held a series of informational meeting for residents.
ABC News released a report in March that ranked Cleveland 13th on a list of top 50 U.S. cities with bed bugs.
Copyright 2012 Scripps Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
A Cuyahoga Falls car dealership sold 40 cars to be used in the filming of "Captain America: The Winter Soldier".
Disciplinary hearings for Cleveland police supervisors accused of violating department rules during a deadly chase and shooting last November began Monday. | <urn:uuid:e5432b9d-22cd-45d6-8d8c-6e696aeed6bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newsnet5.com/dpp/news/local_news/cleveland_metro/Cleveland-police-to-carry-spray-to-kill-bed-bugs | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930005 | 267 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Original URL: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/19/pop_perils/
Excess of cola floors Oz ostrich farmer
Soft drinks hard on health, doctors warn
A report in the International Journal of Clinical Practice is warning of the perils of quaffing too much cola - a habit which can, by lowering blood potassium levels, result in symptoms from mild muscular weakness to paralysis.
The doctors behind the fizzy doom-mongering cite the extreme case of the Oz ostrich farmer who, having drunk 4-10 litres of cola a day for three years, required emergency treatment for lung paralysis following "sudden onset of muscle weakness after returning home from an evening of kangaroo-shooting".
He required "intubation and mechanical ventilation", and was subsequently found to be "profoundly hypokalaemic". He was "advised to curtail his cola drinking, and his potassium level normalised, his weakness resolved, and he made a full recovery".
The paper's author, Dr Moses Elisaf of the University of Ioannina in Greece, explained that hypokalaemia could be caused by too much of three common cola ingredients - caffeine, fructose and glucose.
He said: "The individual role of each of these ingredients in the pathophysiology of cola-induced hypokalaemia has not been determined and may vary in different patients.
"However in most of the cases we looked at for our review, caffeine intoxication was thought to play the most important role. This has been borne out by case studies that focus on other products that contain high levels of caffeine but no glucose or fructose."
In an commentary on the paper, Dr Clifford Packer of Ohio's Louis Stokes Cleveland VA Medical Centre, noted that some people might think 10-litre-a-day Aussies might be considered "so rare that it is not a public health issue".
However, he notes that from 1999 to 2002, "several million US teenagers were consuming two or more litres per day" and that "aggressive mass marketing, super-sizing of soft drinks, and the effects of caffeine tolerance and dependence, there is very little doubt that tens of millions of people in industrialised countries drink at least 2–3 litres of cola per day".
Apart from the risks associated with depleted blood potassium levels, "sugar-sweetened soft drinks have been shown to cause obesity, type 2 diabetes, dental decay and metabolic syndrome".
Packer's list continues: "They appear also to increase the risk for osteoporosis, gout, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hypovitaminosis C, albuminuria and chronic kidney disease (CKD).
"Case reports have linked soft drinks with secondary hyperparathyroidism, oesophageal perforation, haematuria, swallow syncope, pseudoporphyria, tongue erosions, hyponatraemia and gastritis."
And the good news? Packer notes: "The only therapeutic use of soft drinks is described in a few case reports of the successful use of Coca-Cola to dissolve phytobezoars."
For the record, phytobezoars are "concretions of poorly digested fruit and vegetable fibres that are found in the alimentary tract", and those of you with a penchant for unusual alimentary tract concretions can find one such case right here . ® | <urn:uuid:9a56e522-4bd3-4066-84b8-cf0ea3100616> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.theregister.co.uk/2009/05/19/pop_perils/print.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935297 | 722 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Monday, October 31, 2011
Thursday, October 27, 2011
The U.S. economy grew in the third quarter at the fastest pace in a year as Americans reduced savings to boost purchases and companies stepped up investment in equipment and software.
Gross domestic product, the value of all goods and services produced, rose at a 2.5 percent annual rate, up from 1.3 percent in the prior three months, Commerce Department figures showed today in Washington. Household purchases, the biggest part of the economy, increased at a 2.4 percent pace, more than forecast by economists.
Money given by the government to its citizens.
- Everyone (specifically youth) with the same chance
- A needed shared service
- A positive return on investment (education, security, infrastructure, etc...)
Wednesday, October 26, 2011
Here is a fact that you might not have heard from the Occupy Wall Street crowd: The incomes at the top of the income distribution have fallen substantially over the past few years.That's right kids... in 2009, the top 1% of earners made only 13.2x more on average than the rest of the top 50% (i.e. by definition those that are themselves better off than the average), down from a peak of 16.3x in 2007. Ignore the fact that this is still almost twice the level seen in the early 1980's.
I should also point out that the title of his post is "The Rich Get Poorer", so before I sign off why don't we quickly take a look at the definition of poorer:
- Having little or no wealth and few or no possessions.
- Lacking in a specified resource or quality: an area poor in timber and coal.
- Not adequate in quality; inferior.
- Lacking in value; insufficient.
- Lacking fertility.
- Undernourished; lean.
- Eliciting or deserving pity; pitiable.
Tuesday, October 25, 2011
Monday, October 24, 2011
Here are the specifics of seasonality: Imagine we start with two $10,000 accounts, and use them to make investments in an S&P 500 Index fund. One account invests in one 6-month period, the other invests in the remaining 6-month period. Account A is invested from November 1st through April 30th each year, while Account B is invested from May 1st through October 31st.
Here are the numbers:
• Account A portfolio grew from $10,000 to over $438,967. That is a 42-fold increase.
• Account B portfolio barely doubled to $22,659.
Sunday, October 23, 2011
The WSJ details:
It looks as if, despite everything, gross domestic product picked up in the third quarter, easing fears that the U.S. was on the cusp of another recession. But that doesn’t mean the economy is anywhere near where it needs to be.As the last portion of the article outlines, experts quibble where potential GDP is these days. I (a non-expert) will outline an alternative way to project potential GDP... past performance. While past performance does not guarantee future performance for investments, it also does not guarantee where the economy should be today. That said, it does represent a growth rate that Americans and American systems (tax levels, spending, debt accumulation) were used to dealing with / expected.
Economists expect Thursday’s GDP report from the Commerce Department will show the economy grew at a 2.7% annual rate in the third quarter. That would still leave economic output 6.7% below what the Congressional Budget Office estimates its potential is. In other words, in a world where employment and economic activity were as high as they could be without the economy running into inflationary trouble, the U.S. would be producing about $900 billion more in goods and services a year than it is now.
Experts quibble about exactly where potential GDP is these days, and that’s especially true in light of all the damage the economy has suffered.
Below is a chart outlining just that... real GDP going back to mid-1971, along with what real GDP would look like today if it grew at the 3.1% pace of growth it saw on average between June 1971 and June 2007. In addition, the yellow line is the difference between the two.
In this case, the differences implies current GDP is 11% below potential.
Friday, October 21, 2011
Leading Economic Indicators
Employment Reports Mixed
Finance and Government... Such a Drag (On Jobs)
Manufacturing Expands in September
RIP Steve Jobs
And your video of the week. Sublime with Badfish.
My buddy Sami Mesrour (from Blackrock) had a write up earlier this month titled Follow What I Do, Not What I Say; Consumer Spending and Consumer Confidence that outlines the surprise rebound in retail sales (bold mine):
The US consumer is feeling down. Several indicators of confidence collapsed over the summer with the declines beginning in May as job growth slowed, and the bulk of the drop in sentiment occurring during August. It is likely that the intense focus on the country’s deficit problem and the attendant prospects of lower government spending going forward were the main drivers in the decline of consumer expectations. Forecasters are concerned over this development because of what it implies for the growth of consumer spending—historically sentiment has been a good reflection of sales in the US.
This time, however, something strange is going on: consumers are apparently saying one thing, but doing another
- Borrowed time (ability for the consumer to once again borrow to spend)
- Income distribution (the rich keep getting richer and are driving spending, while individuals struggling are driving the confidence surveys lower)
- Transfer payments (outlined at EconomPic here)
- Foreclosures (squatters and those moving home with their parents are effectively not paying rent, increasing their ability to spend on goods)
- Nominal goods (very closely aligned with retail sales)
- Nominal consumption (includes the less inflationary services sector)
- Real consumption (i.e. less inflation)
- Real per capita consumption
Thursday, October 20, 2011
The index of U.S. leading economic indicators increased in September at a pace that suggests a slower rate of growth in the coming months.
The Conference Board’s gauge of the outlook for the next three to six months climbed 0.2 percent after a 0.3 percent gain in August, the New York-based research group said today. The September increase, the lowest since a decline in April, matched economists’ projections, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey.
A Federal Reserve survey published yesterday said the economy maintained its expansion last month even as more companies reported more doubt about the strength of the recovery. An acceleration in growth is needed to support the job gains that drive household spending, the biggest part of the U.S. economy.
Monday, October 17, 2011
The WSJ reports:
U.S. industrial production grew in September but the gain was small, underscoring the economy's lack of vigor.
Production rose by 0.2%, with a modest gain in manufacturing and a sharp drop in utilities caused by moderating weather. The Federal Reserve report on Monday showed overall production was flat in August, revised down from a previously estimated 0.2% increase.
Manufacturers in the U.S. have been feeling the weight of a lackluster economy, hamstrung by high unemployment. While it is still growing, the factory sector has, with the overall economy, slowed.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
Source: Barclays Capital / S&P
Monday, October 10, 2011
Along with taking a deeper look at macro trends / releases to try to figure out this whole economy thing (in these all-too-interesting times), I spend quite a bit of my time creating (long-term oriented) trading models. The goal? To better allocate my investments by taking away some of my emotion.
- If EM Equity Total Return index > 10-Month moving average, allocate to EM Equities
- If EM Equity Total Return index < 10-Month moving average, allocate to EM Fixed Income
Friday, October 7, 2011
According to the "establishment survey" of places that hire, the economy added more jobs than predicted: just over 100,000. More significantly, the last two months' numbers were revised upward by another 100,000 or so.
Yet when we turn to the "household survey" of actual people, the headline unemployment rate remains unchanged at 9.1 percent. How come?
The numbers suggest that the working-age population (16 and over) grew by 200,000 last month, and another 200,000 people rejoined the workforce - that is, are back looking for work. The household survey also shows that 400,000 more Americans were employed this month than last. So it's a wash.
Disturbingly, our U-7 number actually went UP. How so? Because -- and here's the bad news in this month's numbers -- the total number of workers toiling part-time, but looking for FULL-time work, jumped by 400,000, about 5 percent. Since "part-time for economic reasons" are included in our U-7, the number rose from 18.26 percent to 18.41 percent, the third highest month since we inaugurated U-7 back in December.
Thursday, October 6, 2011
Yesterday, I posted about China's Investment Conundrum (specifically, that China can't keep growing their investments at the torrid pace we've seen due to simple math). Below is a comparison of the composition of China's economy vs. that of the U.S., as well as growth in each component from 2001-2010.
Wednesday, October 5, 2011
What the chart shows is the remarkable growth across all the components, but the unreal growth in investment which now makes up almost 50% of China's economy (the fact that consumption grew by 75+% likely allowed for the other components to grow even faster as the citizens saw their lifestyles dramatically improve, allowing for the flexibility needed with central control by the government).
But, much like the exponential growth in China's currency holdings this investment growth is not sustainable, especially in a world that appears to have more than enough supply for the current (and waning) level of aggregate demand globally. So this begs the question... if there will be a rebalancing away from investment, will it happen due to the pace of Chinese consumption simply increasing (i.e. will China "save" the global economy) or will investment growth (and the Chinese economy) slow substantially?
The 5 iPods, 3 iPhones, iPad, and 2 Macs currently in my home attest to the fact that I believe Steve Jobs' was brilliant. And at times he was more than a "computer guy" and truly inspirational. The below video is one of those times (his now famous Stanford Commencement Speech).
Quarterly Job Cuts
U.S. employers announced the most job cuts in more than two years in September, led by planned reductions at Bank of America Corp. and in the military.
Announced firings jumped 212 percent, the largest increase since January 2009, to 115,730 last month from 37,151 in September 2010, according to Chicago-based Challenger, Gray & Christmas Inc. Cuts in government employment, led by the Army’s five-year troop reduction plan, and at Bank of America accounted for almost 70 percent of the announcements.
While the bulk of firings are not “directly related” to economic weakness, they “could definitely be a sign of more cuts to come,” John A. Challenger, chief executive officer of Challenger, Gray & Christmas, said in a statement. “Bank of America is not the only bank still struggling in the wake of the housing collapse, and the military cutbacks are probably just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to federal spending cuts.”
Source: Challenger Gray
Monday, October 3, 2011
What respondents are saying:
- "The economy continues to be a drag on our business outlook. We are trying to deal with new and additional FDA regulations which are costing significant dollars. It is hard to recoup any of these additional costs in our pricing levels without losing significant sales volumes." (Chemical Products)
- "Market is cautious, but still steady." (Electrical Equipment, Appliances & Components)
- "Global demand for semiconductors is down and maybe not yet 'bottomed out.' Inventory reduction activities are a priority." (Computer & Electronic Products)
- "Still strong automotive demand." (Fabricated Metal Products)
- "Orders remain consistent and steady — no sign of lower demand." (Paper Products)
- "Japan supply chain issues are over, but exchange rates and raw material prices are hurting our profit." (Transportation Equipment)
- "We sense a weakening in demand, but it is not extreme at this point." (Plastics & Rubber Products)
- "Overall, business is improving with a measurable uptick in orders this month. Part of that is due to pre-holiday season orders." (Miscellaneous Manufacturing)
- "Business continues to be sluggish." (Furniture & Related Products) | <urn:uuid:c42c5a91-ad34-46b5-9dae-96df87ffb697> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://econompicdata.blogspot.com/2011_10_01_archive.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 | 0.957678 | 2,777 | 2.109375 | 2 |
God’s Action of Furthering Nature in the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
Henry L. Novello, pp.217-238
This article critically discusses what is meant by the laws of nature and seeks to underscore the import of chaos theory and quantum theory for a philosophical interpretation of nature as ontologically indeterminate. The latter notion serves as a presupposition for the development of a non-interventionist approach to special divine action, where God is thought of as acting through and within the laws of nature, without becoming a secondary cause amongst everyday causes. The resurrection of Christ, though, poses problems for a non-interventionist perspective. While the existing laws of nature should be seen as preconditions for God’s eschatological act, at the same time, as a “singularity” event, the resurrection involves new laws of nature that govern the new complex ontological whole that is the risen life. The resurrection above all else reveals that created reality is ontologically open and that God is working to turn death, decay, and the “run-down” of the universe in the opposite direction of the plenitude of life.
Dialogue: Drawn into the Life of the Trinity
James Gerard McEvoy, pp.239-257
This article seeks to outline a theology of dialogue by asking what the key Christian doctrine of the revelation of God in Jesus Christ through the Holy Spirit can teach us about the nature of dialogue. As background to the explicitly theological exploration, questions from the field of the philosophy of language are addressed to indicate that human agency is inherently dialogical: that we necessarily find ourselves in dialogue with language, culture, society, and with what is ultimately valuable. The argument then turns to Jesus’ ministry and the whole Christ event, assessing the dimensions of the dialogue into which Christians find themselves drawn. A final section shows that the task of discerning the contemporary significance of the Christ event is itself empowered by the Holy Spirit. In authentic dialogue, then, Christians find themselves caught up in the life of the Trinity.
Identity, Relevance and the Crucified God
Duncan Reid, pp.258-272
The article begins by looking briefly at the identity-relevance dialectic in Moltmann’s The Crucified God and the theological context that produced it. It then considers our current situation, very different from forty years ago, of a multi-religious Australia within a desecularised world. The article poses the question: how are Christians to maintain both identity and relevance, in this new context? The author considers the contribution of a recent article by Ulrike Link-Wieczorek, and draws the conclusion that Moltmann’s identification of trinitarian thinking with the theology of the cross continues to be valid, and further, that this trinitarian theology of the cross constitutes the “true Christian universalism”. Both identity and relevance are best maintained by placing cross at the heart of our understanding of the Trinity, and the Trinity at the heart of what we say in conversations with adherents of other religious communities. The acknowledgement of the crucified God is an indispensible element in such conversations.
The 1662 Book of Common Prayer: Assessing its Eucharistic Theology 350 Years On
Brian Douglas, pp.273-287
This article examines the Eucharistic theology of the 1662 Book of Common Prayer within the wider philosophical and theological assumptions of multiformity in the Anglican Communion. The assumption of multiformity generally, and multiformity specifically in relation to aspects of the Eucharist in the 1662 BCP, is examined. The article concludes with some general reflections on the sometimes expressed normative nature of the 1662 BCP and its Eucharistic liturgy in the wider Anglican Communion and with specific comments on the constitutional situation of the Anglican Church of Australia as these relate to the 1662 BCP.
The Theological Convictions of the Basis of Union of the Uniting Church
Norman Young, pp.288-295
This article offers a retrospective survey of the key theological convictions that shaped the Basis of Union of the Uniting Church in Australia. It argues that the theological foundations for Union consisted of the beliefs that unity was already the gift of God to the Church, that the Church’s faith has priority over its ordering, and that authority is located supremely in Jesus Christ as the Church’s Lord. The article explores the implications of these convictions for understandings of ministry and governance and suggests that they continue to be relevant as churches face today’s ecumenical challenge.
Pacifica: Genesis and Progress of a Journal
John Honner, pp.296-310
This article provides recollections of the origins and development of the journal Pacifica from the perspective of one of the founding editors, with particular reference to the journal’s first ten years. It reflects on the circumstances and cooperation that brought Pacificainto being, on the early contributions of Pacifica to theology in the Australasian and Western Pacific regions, and on the contributions of Pacifica to ecumenism and dialogue with wider society.
Mark A. O'Brien pp.311-313
The Problems of Suffering and Evil
Christiaan Mostert pp.313-315
HENRY L. NOVELLO taught systematic theology for several years at The University of Notre Dame (Fremantle) and is currently an Honorary Research Fellow in the Department of Theology, The Flinders University of South Australia. He is the author of Death as Transformation: A Contemporary Theology of Death (Farnham, Surrey: Ashgate, 2011). His current research focuses on issues relating to eschatology, the theology-science interaction, the nature-grace relationship, and a theology of lament. His essays have appeared in Gregorianum, Pacifica, Irish Theological Quarterly, Australasian Catholic Record, Colloqium, and Compass.
JAMES GERARD MCEVOY is a Senior Lecturer at Flinders University and Catholic Theological College, Adelaide, where he teaches theological anthropology, fundamental theology, and Christology. His primary research interests are the church’s understanding of both contemporary Western culture and the task of proclamation in that context. He has published on these and related topics in Pacifica, The Heythrop Journal, Theological Studies, and The Australasian Catholic Record.
DUNCAN REID completed a doctorate at Tübingen, Germany, in 1992, with a thesis subsequently published as Energies of the Spirit: Trinitarian Models in Eastern Orthodox and Western Theology (Atlanta GA: Scholars Press, 1997). He was involved in theological education for 15 years, being Head of the School of Theology at Flinders University, Adelaide (1999-2001) and Dean of the United Faculty of Theology Melbourne (2002-2005). An Honorary Research Associate of the Melbourne College of Divinity and a member of the International Anglican-Orthodox Commission for Theological Dialogue, he is currently priest-in-charge at St George’s Anglican Church, Flemington, Melbourne.
BRIAN DOUGLAS is an Anglican priest who is currently Rector of St Paul’s Manuka in Canberra. He is also Senior Lecturer in theology at Charles Sturt University’s School of Theology at St Mark’s National Theological Centre in Canberra, where he lectures in sacramental theology, Anglican foundations and interfaith dialogue. His particular research interest is in Anglican eucharistic theology.
NORMAN YOUNG is Professor Emeritus at the Uniting Church Theological College in Melbourne and Lector Emeritus at Yarra Theological Union.
JOHN HONNER was one of the founding editors of Pacifica. He is a member of the faculty of the Broken Bay Institute/University of Newcastle and an associate teacher at the United Faculty of Theology/MCD University of Divinity. His most recent books are Love and Politics (2007) and Holy Humanity (2010). | <urn:uuid:b39208e5-83e7-435e-a60c-e153c83b9ae3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pacifica.org.au/current_issue | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915425 | 1,666 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Posted 1 year ago on Nov. 8, 2011, 10:22 p.m. EST by OccupyWallSt
The Outreach Group of the NYC General Assembly has an idea inspired by this story of unity between strangers using the original social media: chalk. It's a creative, anonymous and exciting way for supporters of all ages to show support everywhere.
to join in:
Draw on your sidewalk a cool message about support for Occupy Wall Street, strength in the 99%, etc.
Leave chalk (maybe in a box) and write a note asking people to write on other parts of the sidewalk.
Take before and after pics, and send them to OccupyYourBlock@gmail.com
Outreach Group will make a music video montage of all the pics sent in, post it and share it widely on for the new Occupy Your Block coming up in one week.
Nothing is more raw, more visceral than using rock on rock to communicate. Chalk has helped us launch major leaps in human evolution, perhaps more than any other tool; from cave drawings, to symbols, to language. It's a fast, guttural, fun way to share your voice with everyone who passes, and there's something about sidewalk chalk that makes every passerby want to take a look.
In a time when your message is either being ignored, ridiculed or demonized by traditional media, #occupy sidewalk may do the trick... Social media is anything but new. | <urn:uuid:94c05b23-3190-406c-aaa9-9b3891ad01fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://occupywallst.org/article/join-occupy-your-block-sidewalk-chalk-campaign/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935688 | 296 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Program Director: Debra Cinotti
The School of Dental Medicine offers a fellowship program to train dental fellows in the management and provision of dental care to the developmentally disabled
This program, commencing each July 1, supports two full-time fellows. The program includes seminars, lectures, and extensive clinical experiences at the School of Dental Medicine and University Hospital with emphasis on various patient management techniques needed to provide comprehensive dental care to the disabled population. There is direct patient care involvement with dental rehabilitation and surgical cases completed under general anesthesia in the operating room at the Medical Center. Fellows will also participate in the educational and training programs for staff at residences for the developmentally disabled. Independent study resulting in publication and/or case presentation is required.
Application can be obtained from:
Dr. Debra Cinotti
Dental Care for the Developmentally Disabled
School of Dental Medicine
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, NY 11794
Applicants must have a DDS/DMD Degree from an ADA Accredited Dental School. | <urn:uuid:119207f8-d1cb-41ce-9ff6-3f17d8a611e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dentistry.stonybrookmedicine.edu/dentalprograms/disable | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918573 | 217 | 1.648438 | 2 |
As we reported last week, the AHA has suggested that the popular high-protein diets may be risky for people with high blood pressure and other risk factors for heart disease. They had reviewed the Atkins, Zone, Protein Power, Sugar Busters and Stillman diets in particular.
The Association has published guidelines for evaluating high-protein diets, as follows:
- Total protein intake should not be excessive: average 50 - 100 g/day.
- Daily protein intake should be proportional to other nutrients:
- 15% of calories in protein
- 55% of calories in carbohydrates
- 30% of calories in fat
- Carbohydrates should not be omitted or severely restricted; a minimum of 100 g of carbohydrate/day is recommended.
- Selected protein foods should not contribute excess total fat, saturated fat, or cholesterol.
- The diet should be safely implemented over the long term; it should provide adequate nutrients and support a healthful eating plan to prevent increases in disease risk.
AHA notes that in evaluating high-protein diets, it's important that eating patterns follow the AHA Dietary Guidelines and include primary prevention strategies for coronary heart disease, especially in those with multiple risk factors, including obesity.
Lifestyle changes - Manage weight |
Nutrition channel: Weight Management Center
Source: AHA. Dietary protein and weight reduction, a statement for healthcare professionals from the Nutrition Committee of the Council on Nutrition, Physical Activity, and Metabolism of the American Heart Association. Circulation, Oct. 9, 2001;104:1869-1874. | <urn:uuid:52488e48-d281-4180-bffa-d71bb325b1ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lifeclinic.com/focus/nutrition/articleView.asp?MessageID=1417 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904032 | 320 | 2.96875 | 3 |
Extracting CDOS and CP/M) files
cisin at xenosoft.com
Fri Oct 12 11:01:35 CDT 2007
> >Yes. But MICROS~1 was completely clueless what the risks were and how to
> >deal with them for WRITE caching (what happens if the power goes off, or a
> >disk error occurs before the cached stuff gets written?)
On Fri, 12 Oct 2007, M H Stein wrote:
> Well, in all fairness if the power goes off just before or during a disk write I
> don't see how you could avoid problems without a battery backup or similar.
1) deliberate. The OS seems to say, "All done", and the user flips the
big red switch. With write caching, the obvious "all done" signals occur
before the work is done.
2) SMARTDRV rearranged the sequence of writes for more efficiency. When
power fails, you have a false DIRectory, even though none of the file was
actually written. Without SMARTDRV, perhaps some of the data was or
wasn't written yet, but the DIRectory will show a 0 length file, since
"closing" the file and writing the updated DIR isn't done until after all
of the data is written.
Grumpy Ol' Fred cisin at xenosoft.com
More information about the cctalk | <urn:uuid:f692ba5a-73fd-42b0-8219-127d141d7274> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.classiccmp.org/pipermail/cctalk/2007-October/061176.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943602 | 304 | 1.601563 | 2 |
So far at transportation Tuesdays, we’ve brought you the Top 5 Greenest Sports Cars and the Top 6 Sexiest Bicycles. Now, in the spirit of green civic pride, we’d like to focus on public transportation. Good public transportation can mean a number of things, but it is generally defined as being easy to use, efficient, clean, and get you where you want to go with as little fuss as possible. A tall order indeed. Here are our top five cities…
5. Moscow, Russia
There are few things by which you can set your watch to, the sun, the wavelength of an atomic clock, and the Moscow Metro. Said to be the most precise subway in the world, the Moscow Metro is a marvel of efficiency, speed, and beauty. On an average weekday, the metro carries over 8.2 million passengers, making it one of the busiest in the world. And as if that wasn’t enough, every station in the subway system features beautiful ornate architecture worthy of being featured in a museum. So in Moscow, the subway trains run, and they run well.
4. Paris, France
Ah Paris, the city of love, beauty and metro stations everywhere. The Paris Métro is the second oldest subway system in the world, it is also the one with the best coverage, as you are pretty much only going to be about 500 meters from a station if you ever need to get anywhere. And just in case that you cannot get to where you want to go via metro? just take a bike!
3. London, England
Not content with being able to brag about having the oldest subway system in the world, by almost 40 years, the city of London also distinguishes itself from every other thanks to their iconic red double decker buses. So what can you expect if you were to travel to London? Well, there’s the Tube, as it is affectionately known, which carries over 3 million people a day. Then there’s the DLR which is an automated light rail system covering the docklands, and a suburban tram system. Add to all this the infamous double decker buses and you end up with one of the best public transport systems in the world. There are a few things which detract from making London the best transportation system in the world, namely, the fact that once it gets past midnight, it gets sort of hard to move around, as the subway system shuts down. Having said that, the fact that you can easily see when the train is coming next with digital signs, and the cushy interior design (by NYC and Paris standards), can help mitigate that little fact.
2. New York, United States
Remarkable for having the largest subway system in the world track wise, transportation in NYC is a combination of ferries, buses, trains, subways and pedestrian and bicycle pathways. It is the only city in the United Stated in which more people use public transportation that private transportation, and the only locality where more than half of the population has no cars. If you can make it here in New York, you probably made it through public transportation. Now unlike London, and most of the public transport systems in the world, you can travel at any time that you want in NYC, even after midnight. Unfortunately, unlike London as well, NYC subway stations are dirty, generally unkept, could use some serious maintenance and work. You also have to guess as to whether or not the train that you are getting is the one that you want, as there is no indication of when the next train will be coming next. And if you get on it, do hope that it doesn’t change course.
1. Tokyo, Japan
Probably one of the most complex transit systems in the world, the public transportation system in Tokyo can only be describe as massive. The public transportation system in Tokyo is bases on a combination of light rail, ferry, bus, and the famous, and privately owned, subway lines of Tokyo. To put the sheer magnitude of the Tokyo public transportation lines in perspective, if you were to combine the entire number of trips done in the city (all 10.6 billion of them), you would get the same number of trips from all the transportation of the continental United Stated and Canada combined. Needless to say, if you want to get anywhere in Tokyo, you can do it via public transport. You might just have to shuffle from line to line, to do so. | <urn:uuid:0a37ad57-4718-44a4-90b5-2eba47caf148> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://inhabitat.com/transportation-tuesday-top-10-cities-for-public-transit/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960686 | 917 | 2.1875 | 2 |
As with the never-ending search for the “real SEAL knife,” many readers don’t seem willing to accept the fact that the primary U.S. Army-issue combat knife is the common M-9 bayonet. One “knife bayonet” or another has been the basic combat blade of our army since 1894 and the Krag Jorgensen rifle.
To be truthful, many of these knife bayonets were not ground to a functional cutting edge by the manufacturers and were next to useless as hand-held tools. The situation improved some with the M-5, M-6 and M-7 series of bayonets, but all of these were still more spear point than knife. It was with the introduction of the M-9 that the army first tried to design a weapon that was a multi-purpose knife first and a bayonet second. | <urn:uuid:23b1d3b5-5a41-4664-a340-d619835beb38> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tactical-life.com/tactical-knives/collectors-corner-a-better-bayonet-ontarios-m-10/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985754 | 183 | 2.53125 | 3 |
They say, in the district of Shigansk, near the Lena River, there is a lake. In that lake are some monstrous pikes, such as are able to swallow a man or even a reindeer. One time a big elk went there to drink, and the pike caught him by the muzzle. They fought, but neither was the elk able to drag the pike out of the water, nor did the pike succeed in drawing in the elk. So they both perished. Their bones were found in the shallow water. The cheek bones of the pike were used for a small hut which gave shelter to one man.
One time a chief officer of the country ordered a large iron hook to be hammered out. He baited the hook with elk brisket, and tied it to a strong cord plaited of three lines of tough elkhide and let it down into the lake under the ice. After a week, they went back to the lake and found that the pike had been caught. It was so heavy, that ten men could hardly pull it up. The strands of the cord snapped, until only one remained. They attached a team of twelve dogs to the line and continued to pull. The head of the pike came up to the ice; but the ice hole was too small, though they worked upon it for two days. The head butted against the ice, and the last line snapped and the pike was lost.
Another time they caught a pike, and found in the stomach fragments of a canoe which it must have swallowed together with the paddle.
A man traveled in a canoe on this lake. One time he cast his nets, and waited near them for a very long time. Then he looked down under water and he saw a big round eye, to the left of his canoe. He looked into the water to the right, and saw another eye, like the first one. They were the eyes of the big Pike. The distance between the eyes was about the length of the double paddle of the canoe. He was so badly frightened, that be paddled off, leaving behind him his fish nets; but the giant fish remained motionless, just as pikes are accustomed to do. The man came to the shore and brought a sacrifice to the whole family of pikes. After that he refused to eat of the flesh of pike, and so he was nicknamed Pike John. His descendants are still living. Their family name is Pike. 1
Told by Nicholas Kusakoff, a Russian creole, in the village of Pokhotsk, Kolyma country, summer of 1896.
100:1 in Russian Щукинъ. This name is quite common, and much in use also in European Russia. For giant pikes living in certain lakes, compare also the Chukchee story in Bogoras, "Chukchee Materials", No. 31, 129--W. B.--Ainu (B. Pilsudski, l. c., 232).--F. B. | <urn:uuid:c2e61388-3129-49ac-af4c-d1a540098ea5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sacred-texts.com/asia/tes/tes46.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986986 | 633 | 3.296875 | 3 |
Final steel beam lifted at 4 World Trade Center
Monday, June 25, 2012
NEW YORK (AP) — A final steel beam was lifted Monday atop a new World Trade Center skyscraper — the first expected to open at the site next year since the twin towers were decimated on 9/11.
With gospel superstar BeBe Winans offering a powerful rendition of “God Bless America,” workers raised their hardhats in tribute as the mammoth beam rose slowly into the Manhattan sky, swaying from a steel rope hoisted by a crane.
A U.S. flag attached to the bottom of the beam fluttered above several hundred spectators at the topping-off ceremony.
In the southeast corner facing the 9/11 memorial, the 72-story tower that was topped off Monday is to open for business in the fall of 2013 — the first occupied high-rise at the new trade center site since the Sept. 11 attacks.
The 1.8-million-square-foot skyscraper, designed by Pritzker Prize-winning architect Fumihiko Maki, will primarily house commercial offices. A third of the office space will be set aside for the headquarters of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, which owns the site.
At the moment, it is the second tallest skyscraper on the rebuilt World Trade Center site after One World Trade Center, although two other towers eventually will surpass the height of 4 World Trade Center.
On Monday, more than 100 construction workers signed their names to the white-painted steel, with elected officials and developer Larry Silverstein looking on.
Minutes earlier, in the half-completed, marble-graced entrance, Winans opened the ceremony by singing “The Star Spangled Banner.” Listening to it, some construction workers were moved to hold their hardhats over their hearts. | <urn:uuid:314258ab-2808-45ee-a040-d5d626910429> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newstribune.com/news/2012/jun/25/final-steel-beam-lifted-4-world-trade-center/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952373 | 382 | 1.632813 | 2 |
Source code file (Lex)
Lex performs simple transformations but the program’s main purpose is to facilitate lexical analysis. Lexical analysis is the processing of character sequences such as source code to produce symbol sequences called tokens for use as input to other programs, such as parsers.
The X file extension is also used for a file format for AVS image (SDSC Image Tool).
Learn more about X files:
Wikipedia has an entry on X files.
See the Unix FAQ at IT Knowledge Exchange. | <urn:uuid:d1abe6b0-8ecd-4163-9ff4-1bfe23a635d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whatis.techtarget.com/fileformat/X-Source-code-file-Lex | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9297 | 107 | 3.15625 | 3 |
LOS ANGELES, February 13, 2013 /PRNewswire/ --
ALDEBARAN Robotics, a world leader in humanoid robotics, launches Robotic Idol, the first robotic dance competition for grades 6th to 12th. The idea behind the competition is to help increase students interest by bringing Art in Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM).
ALDEBARAN Robotics is a worldwide leader in the continually growing field of humanoid robotics and an academic partner of the most prestigious universities, schools and laboratories. The company has recently announced a dancing competition for the NAO humanoid robot called Robotic Idol, to take place in California on October 26, 2013.
Robotic Idol is a programming competition based on NAO, an advanced humanoid robotic platform, geared towards secondary education to stimulate and challenge the student's creativity, critical thinking, and problem solving skills in STEM education. The competition aims to highlight that computer science is more attractive when learning programming with a humanoid robot.
NAO is an interactive and a fully programmable, 23inch-tall humanoid robot, with a sensor network that includes two cameras, four microphones, nine tactile sensors, sonars and pressure sensors, as well as a voice synthesizer and two high-fidelity speakers. NAO comes equipped with a graphical programming software, Choregraphe, that is perfect for beginners or advanced programmers. The user-friendly software enables teachers to approach programming in an entertaining way, while illustrating abstract concepts, and explaining mathematical theorems and principles in physics and computer science.
Aldebaran Robotics intends to reinforce the use of robotics in secondary education through motivating initiatives that aim to engage students at all levels. "We are bringing Art into STEM Education by incorporating dance with robotics. Students become more engaged in their studies, but most importantly this type of event entices girls to get involved with computer science and robotics" says Cedric Vaudel, Academic Regional Manager of ALDEBARAN Robotics.
Over the course of several months students will work in small teams, divided by grade levels and programming experience, to develop dance behaviors for NAO. The students will perform the dance sequences in front of a recognized jury composed of STEM mentors and robotic experts who will elect the winning team.
Registration is now open for teachers, educational organizations, or company sponsors looking to stimulate young minds. The registration deadline is June 28, 2013. ALDEBARAN Robotics has created a special package for schools that participate including 1 NAO humanoid robot, a programming kit, STEM curriculum, training, and much more.
A special workshop to discuss the details of the competition will be held Friday, February 22, 2013 from 9:00AM - 1:00PM (PT) at the RobotsLAB headquarters located at 75 Broadway Street, Suite 202, San Francisco, CA.
For more information about the competition and to request a complete informational packet, please visit http://www.roboticidol.com.
About ALDEBARAN ROBOTICS
Founded in 2005 by Bruno Maisonnier and now established in France, the US and China, ALDEBARAN ROBOTICS designs, produces and sells humanoid robots in order to contribute to humankind's well-being. There are currently over 3,000 units of the first NAO robot operating within schools and universities in over 70 countries worldwide to serve teaching and research. ALDEBARAN ROBOTICS has a team of 250 people, 40% of whom are engineers and doctors, involved in developing and producing its robots. For further information about ALDEBARAN ROBOTICS, please go to: http://www.aldebaran-robotics.com
Media Inquiries to:
Mirella DE ROSSI
firstname.lastname@example.org/ Phone : +1(949)330-7293
email@example.com / Phone : +33/1-81-72-02-31
SOURCE ALDEBARAN Robotics | <urn:uuid:b3d445be-4c38-4cfb-86af-c8f9728ec790> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eetimes.com/electronics-products/electronic-product-releases/advanced-technology/4406921/Robotic-Idol-the-First-Robotic-Dance-Competition-for-K-12-Education-to-Increase-Students-Interest-in-STEM | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927217 | 827 | 2.03125 | 2 |
|The American Presidency Project|
|• James A. Garfield|
|March 4, 1881|
We stand to-day upon an eminence which overlooks a hundred years of national life--a century crowded with perils, but crowned with the triumphs of liberty and law. Before continuing the onward march let us pause on this height for a moment to strengthen our faith and renew our hope by a glance at the pathway along which our people have traveled.
It is now three days more than a hundred years since the adoption of the first written constitution of the United States--the Articles of Confederation and Perpetual Union. The new Republic was then beset with danger on every hand. It had not conquered a place in the family of nations. The decisive battle of the war for independence, whose centennial anniversary will soon be gratefully celebrated at Yorktown, had not yet been fought. The colonists were struggling not only against the armies of a great nation, but against the settled opinions of mankind; for the world did not then believe that the supreme authority of government could be safely intrusted to the guardianship of the people themselves.
We can not overestimate the fervent love of liberty, the intelligent courage, and the sum of common sense with which our fathers made the great experiment of self-government. When they found, after a short trial, that the confederacy of States, was too weak to meet the necessities of a vigorous and expanding republic, they boldly set it aside, and in its stead established a National Union, founded directly upon the will of the people, endowed with full power of self-preservation and ample authority for the accomplishment of its great object.
Under this Constitution the boundaries of freedom have been enlarged, the foundations of order and peace have been strengthened, and the growth of our people in all the better elements of national life has indicated the wisdom of the founders and given new hope to their descendants. Under this Constitution our people long ago made themselves safe against danger from without and secured for their mariners and flag equality of rights on all the seas. Under this Constitution twenty-five States have been added to the Union, with constitutions and laws, framed and enforced by their own citizens, to secure the manifold blessings of local self-government.
The jurisdiction of this Constitution now covers an area fifty times greater than that of the original thirteen States and a population twenty times greater than that of 1780.
The supreme trial of the Constitution came at last under the tremendous pressure of civil war. We ourselves are witnesses that the Union emerged from the blood and fire of that conflict purified and made stronger for all the beneficent purposes of good government.
And now, at the close of this first century of growth, with the inspirations of its history in their hearts, our people have lately reviewed the condition of the nation, passed judgment upon the conduct and opinions of political parties, and have registered their will concerning the future administration of the Government. To interpret and to execute that will in accordance with the Constitution is the paramount duty of the Executive.
Even from this brief review it is manifest that the nation is resolutely facing to the front, resolved to employ its best energies in developing the great possibilities of the future. Sacredly preserving whatever has been gained to liberty and good government during the century, our people are determined to leave behind them all those bitter controversies concerning things which have been irrevocably settled, and the further discussion of which can only stir up strife and delay the onward march.
The supremacy of the nation and its laws should be no longer a subject of debate. That discussion, which for half a century threatened the existence of the Union, was closed at last in the high court of war by a decree from which there is no appeal--that the Constitution and the laws made in pursuance thereof are and shall continue to be the supreme law of the land, binding alike upon the States and the people. This decree does not disturb the autonomy of the States nor interfere with any of their necessary rights of local self-government, but it does fix and establish the permanent supremacy of the Union.
The will of the nation, speaking with the voice of battle and through the amended Constitution, has fulfilled the great promise of 1776 by proclaiming "liberty throughout the land to all the inhabitants thereof."
The elevation of the negro race from slavery to the full rights of citizenship is the most important political change we have known since the adoption of the Constitution of 1787. NO thoughtful man can fail to appreciate its beneficent effect upon our institutions and people. It has freed us from the perpetual danger of war and dissolution. It has added immensely to the moral and industrial forces of our people. It has liberated the master as well as the slave from a relation which wronged and enfeebled both. It has surrendered to their own guardianship the manhood of more than 5,000,000 people, and has opened to each one of them a career of freedom and usefulness. It has given new inspiration to the power of self-help in both races by making labor more honorable to the one and more necessary to the other. The influence of this force will grow greater and bear richer fruit with the coming years.
No doubt this great change has caused serious disturbance to our Southern communities. This is to be deplored, though it was perhaps unavoidable. But those who resisted the change should remember that under our institutions there was no middle ground for the negro race between slavery and equal citizenship. There can be no permanent disfranchised peasantry in the United States. Freedom can never yield its fullness of blessings so long as the law or its administration places the smallest obstacle in the pathway of any virtuous citizen.
The emancipated race has already made remarkable progress. With unquestioning devotion to the Union, with a patience and gentleness not born of fear, they have "followed the light as God gave them to see the light." They are rapidly laying the material foundations of self-support, widening their circle of intelligence, and beginning to enjoy the blessings that gather around the homes of the industrious poor. They deserve the generous encouragement of all good men. So far as my authority can lawfully extend they shall enjoy the full and equal protection of the Constitution and the laws.
The free enjoyment of equal suffrage is still in question, and a frank statement of the issue may aid its solution. It is alleged that in many communities negro citizens are practically denied the freedom of the ballot. In so far as the truth of this allegation is admitted, it is answered that in many places honest local government is impossible if the mass of uneducated negroes are allowed to vote. These are grave allegations. So far as the latter is true, it is the only palliation that can be offered for opposing the freedom of the ballot. Bad local government is certainly a great evil, which ought to be prevented; but to violate the freedom and sanctities of the suffrage is more than an evil. It is a crime which, if persisted in, will destroy the Government itself. Suicide is not a remedy. If in other lands it be high treason to compass the death of the king, it shall be counted no less a crime here to strangle our sovereign power and stifle its voice.
It has been said that unsettled questions have no pity for the repose of nations. It should be said with the utmost emphasis that this question of the suffrage will never give repose or safety to the States or to the nation until each, within its own jurisdiction, makes and keeps the ballot free and pure by the strong sanctions of the law.
But the danger which arises from ignorance in the voter can not be denied. It covers a field far wider than that of negro suffrage and the present condition of the race. It is a danger that lurks and hides in the sources and fountains of power in every state. We have no standard by which to measure the disaster that may be brought upon us by ignorance and vice in the citizens when joined to corruption and fraud in the suffrage.
The voters of the Union, who make and unmake constitutions, and upon whose will hang the destinies of our governments, can transmit their supreme authority to no successors save the coming generation of voters, who are the sole heirs of sovereign power. If that generation comes to its inheritance blinded by ignorance and corrupted by vice, the fall of the Republic will be certain and remediless.
The census has already sounded the alarm in the appalling figures which mark how dangerously high the tide of illiteracy has risen among our voters and their children.
To the South this question is of supreme importance. But the responsibility for the existence of slavery did not rest upon the South alone. The nation itself is responsible for the extension of the suffrage, and is under special obligations to aid in removing the illiteracy which it has added to the voting population. For the North and South alike there is but one remedy. All the constitutional power of the nation and of the States and all the volunteer forces of the people should be surrendered to meet this danger by the savory influence of universal education.
It is the high privilege and sacred duty of those now living to educate their successors and fit them, by intelligence and virtue, for the inheritance which awaits them.
In this beneficent work sections and races should be forgotten and partisanship should be unknown. Let our people find a new meaning in the divine oracle which declares that "a little child shall lead them," for our own little children will soon control the destinies of the Republic.
My countrymen, we do not now differ in our judgment concerning the controversies of past generations, and fifty years hence our children will not be divided in their opinions concerning our controversies. They will surely bless their fathers and their fathers' God that the Union was preserved, that slavery was overthrown, and that both races were made equal before the law. We may hasten or we may retard, but we can not prevent, the final reconciliation. Is it not possible for us now to make a truce with time by anticipating and accepting its inevitable verdict?
Enterprises of the highest importance to our moral and material well-being unite us and offer ample employment of our best powers. Let all our people, leaving behind them the battlefields of dead issues, move forward and in their strength of liberty and the restored Union win the grander victories of peace.
The prosperity which now prevails is without parallel in our history. Fruitful seasons have done much to secure it, but they have not done all. The preservation of the public credit and the resumption of specie payments, so successfully attained by the Administration of my predecessors, have enabled our people to secure the blessings which the seasons brought.
By the experience of commercial nations in all ages it has been found that gold and silver afford the only safe foundation for a monetary system. Confusion has recently been created by variations in the relative value of the two metals, but I confidently believe that arrangements can be made between the leading commercial nations which will secure the general use of both metals. Congress should provide that the compulsory coinage of silver now required by law may not disturb our monetary system by driving either metal out of circulation. If possible, such an adjustment should be made that the purchasing power of every coined dollar will be exactly equal to its debt-paying power in all the markets of the world.
The chief duty of the National Government in connection with the currency of the country is to coin money and declare its value. Grave doubts have been entertained whether Congress is authorized by the Constitution to make any form of paper money legal tender. The present issue of United States notes has been sustained by the necessities of war; but such paper should depend for its value and currency upon its convenience in use and its prompt redemption in coin at the will of the holder, and not upon its compulsory circulation. These notes are not money, but promises to pay money. If the holders demand it, the promise should be kept.
The refunding of the national debt at a lower rate of interest should be accomplished without compelling the withdrawal of the national-bank notes, and thus disturbing the business of the country.
I venture to refer to the position I have occupied on financial questions during a long service in Congress, and to say that time and experience have strengthened the opinions I have so often expressed on these subjects.
The finances of the Government shall suffer no detriment which it may be possible for my Administration to prevent.
The interests of agriculture deserve more attention from the Government than they have yet received. The farms of the United States afford homes and employment for more than one-half our people, and furnish much the largest part of all our exports. As the Government lights our coasts for the protection of mariners and the benefit of commerce, so it should give to the tillers of the soil the best lights of practical science and experience.
Our manufacturers are rapidly making us industrially independent, and are opening to capital and labor new and profitable fields of employment. Their steady and healthy growth should still be matured. Our facilities for transportation should be promoted by the continued improvement of our harbors and great interior waterways and by the increase of our tonnage on the ocean.
The development of the world's commerce has led to an urgent demand for shortening the great sea voyage around Cape Horn by constructing ship canals or railways across the isthmus which unites the continents. Various plans to this end have been suggested and will need consideration, but none of them has been sufficiently matured to warrant the United States in extending pecuniary aid. The subject, however, is one which will immediately engage the attention of the Government with a view to a thorough protection to American interests. We will urge no narrow policy nor seek peculiar or exclusive privileges in any commercial route; but, in the language of my predecessor, I believe it to be the right "and duty of the United States to assert and maintain such supervision and authority over any interoceanic canal across the isthmus that connects North and South America as will protect our national interest."
The Constitution guarantees absolute religious freedom. Congress is prohibited from making any law respecting an establishment of religion or prohibiting the free exercise thereof. The Territories of the United States are subject to the direct legislative authority of Congress, and hence the General Government is responsible for any violation of the Constitution in any of them. It is therefore a reproach to the Government that in the most populous of the Territories the constitutional guaranty is not enjoyed by the people and the authority of Congress is set at naught. The Mormon Church not only offends the moral sense of manhood by sanctioning polygamy, but prevents the administration of justice through ordinary instrumentalities of law.
In my judgment it is the duty of Congress, while respecting to the uttermost the conscientious convictions and religious scruples of every citizen, to prohibit within its jurisdiction all criminal practices, especially of that class which destroy the family relations and endanger social order. Nor can any ecclesiastical organization be safely permitted to usurp in the smallest degree the functions and powers of the National Government.
The civil service can never be placed on a satisfactory basis until it is regulated by law. For the good of the service itself, for the protection of those who are intrusted with the appointing power against the waste of time and obstruction to the public business caused by the inordinate pressure for place, and for the protection of incumbents against intrigue and wrong, I shall at the proper time ask Congress to fix the tenure of the minor offices of the several Executive Departments and prescribe the grounds upon which removals shall be made during the terms for which incumbents have been appointed.
Finally, acting always within the authority and limitations of the Constitution, invading neither the rights of the States nor the reserved rights of the people, it will be the purpose of my Administration to maintain the authority of the nation in all places within its jurisdiction; to enforce obedience to all the laws of the Union in the interests of the people; to demand rigid economy in all the expenditures of the Government, and to require the honest and faithful service of all executive officers, remembering that the offices were created, not for the benefit of incumbents or their supporters, but for the service of the Government.
And now, fellow-citizens, I am about to assume the great trust which you have committed to my hands. I appeal to you for that earnest and thoughtful support which makes this Government in fact, as it is in law, a government of the people.
I shall greatly rely upon the wisdom and patriotism of Congress and of those who may share with me the responsibilities and duties of administration, and, above all, upon our efforts to promote the welfare of this great people and their Government I reverently invoke the support and blessings of Almighty God.
|Citation: James A. Garfield: "Inaugural Address", March 4, 1881. Online by Gerhard Peters and John T. Woolley, The American Presidency Project. http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/?pid=25823.|
© 1999-2011 - Gerhard Peters - The American Presidency Project | <urn:uuid:4abf75c6-dea0-4c7a-8724-076d6954f7b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/ws/print.php?pid=25823 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960978 | 3,502 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Brigham Young University, through the National Middle East Language Resource Center, held a one-day Arabic language and culture camp on July 18 for high school students and younger children.
Students learned how to introduce themselves and how to write their names in Arabic.Arabic has become a popular language in the last 20 years according to BYU Arabic professor Kirk Belnap who coordinated the event. Belnap feels that more and more people will learn this language in the coming years.
“When I started teaching Arabic in the 80′s, we had no more than 5,000 people in higher education in the U.S. studying Arabic,” Belnap said. “Now it is probably more than 50,000 and growing.”
Belnap believes that learning Arabic is important to the western world because it helps us understand the culture and, most of all, assists in educational value to a growing multicultural modern society.
“It is interesting to learn a language that is from a culture quite different from your own,” Belnap said. “There is a huge educational value when you learn a language that is very remote as Arabic.”
Misunderstandings cause confusion about the Arabic world amongst Americans.
“There is a lot of misconceptions about the Arab world,” Belnap said. “It is really interesting to help people get to know a culture where there are lots of myths and misunderstandings, and to help people understand that what we share is more than what divides us.”
Belnap also feels that the Arabic world has influenced western society in a way we can’t imagine.
“Rather than being a matter of west against east, it is the contact of west and east that is very beneficial,” Belnap said. “Our universities, our educational system, our sciences, they all are profoundly impacted by their contacting in the middle ages with Arabic centers of learning.”
Belnap feels that it is beneficial for the the Arabic speaker when looking for a job.
“It is professionally advantageous because it helps the application stand out,” Belnap said. “It makes people think you are special. They have a comparative advantage in the understanding of a culture and being able to connect to people.”
If you weren’t able to attend the one day class, there is still a chance to take Arabic classes online for high school credit through BYU. For information on registration for other Arabic camps and costs for available online Arabic classes, visit their website.
Latest posts by Francesco Loli (Posts)
- Citizens of Pleasant Grove work out at the City fitness center - August 1, 2012
- Peruvian Independence Day celebrated in Salt Lake City - July 31, 2012
- BYU food science students give recognition to department - July 26, 2012 | <urn:uuid:0039dd45-0756-429b-8ad0-6f4bb1084d87> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://universe.byu.edu/2012/07/20/byu-gives-intensive-one-day-arabic-language-and-culture-camp/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96472 | 592 | 2.515625 | 3 |
On 17 August 1982, Royal Philips Electronics manufactured the world’s first compact disc at a Philips factory in Langenhagen, just outside of Hanover, Germany.
The invention of the CD brought in a technological revolution in the music industry as CDs marked the beginning of the shift from analog to digital music technology. The CD became a catalyst for further innovation in digital entertainment, helping pave the way for the launch of DVD and subsequent digital media.
The Philips factory in Germany, where the world’s first CD was pressed, belonged to Polygram – the recording company owned by Philips at the time. The first CD to be manufactured at the plant was “The Visitors” by ABBA. By the time CDs were introduced on the market in November 1982, a catalog of around 150 titles – mainly classical music – had been produced. The first CDs and CD players – including Philips’ CD100 – were introduced in Japan in November, followed by a US and European market introduction in March of 1983.
Philips and Sony partnered to develop the CD. As early as 1979, Philips and Sony set up a joint task force of engineers to design the new digital audio disc. Many decisions were made in the year to follow, such as the disc diameter. The original target storage capacity for a CD was one hour of audio content, and a disc diameter of 115 mm was sufficient for this. However, both parties extended the capacity to 74 minutes to accommodate a complete performance of Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.
In June 1980, the new standard was proposed by Philips and Sony as the “Red Book,” containing all the technical specification for all CD and CD-Rom standards.
Piet Kramer, who at the time was a member of the optical group at Philips that made a significant contribution to the CD technology, commented on Philips’ and Sony’s collaborative work: “When Philips teamed up with Sony to develop the CD, our first target was to win over the world for the CD. We did this by collaborating openly to agree on a new standard. For Philips, this open innovation was a new approach – and it paid off. In the late 70s and early 80s, we never imagined that one day the computing and entertainment industries would also opt for the digital CD for storing the growing volume of data for computer programs and movies.”
As music industry sales of CDs started to take off in 1983, more than 1,000 different titles were on the market. In 1985, one of the most famous bands in the world, Dire Straits, adopted the CD. The infamous album “Brothers in Arms,” one of the first fully-digital recordings (DDD) to be brought to market, went on to become the top selling CD at the time and the third greatest selling CD of the decade. The joint collaboration with Philips entailed Philips and Dire Straits jointly promoting the sound quality of the CD to consumers. “Brothers in Arms” became the first album to sell more than one million copies in this new format, marking the success of the CD as the emerging format of choice for music quality.
The Compact Disc, is the forefather of today’s extensive family of optical discs for a wide range of applications such as CD-Rom, CD-R and CD-RW, DVD, DVD R, DVD RW and beyond. Philips estimates that during the past 25 years, since the first CD was pressed at the Philips factory near Hanover, Germany, more than 200 billion CDs have been sold worldwide. | <urn:uuid:4f2ee8e7-12cd-4013-a7c2-5769fbbdd707> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.geekzone.co.nz/content.asp?contentid=7304 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969881 | 729 | 3.09375 | 3 |
Nuffield Research Placements
Nuffield Research Placements (previously Nuffield Science Bursaries) provide over 1,000 students each year with the opportunity to work alongside professional scientists, technologists, engineers and mathematicians.
Students in the first year of a post-16 science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) course are eligible to apply. Placements are available across the UK, in universities, commercial companies, voluntary organisations and research institutions.
Nuffield Research Placements are administered at a regional level by a network of Nuffield coordinators.
We particularly encourage students who don't have a family history of going to university or who attend schools in less well-off areas. We make sure no-one is excluded on a financial basis by covering students' travel costs. Some students may also be eligible for a weekly bursary in addition to travel expenses. Your regional coordinator will be able to advise on eligibility.
Further information for:
Nuffield students Emily O'Regan and Fred Turner win UK Young Scientist and Engineer of the Year at the Big Bang Fair.
Many more of our students were nominated for prizes. Read what Omar Asad from Dundee has to say about reaching the final.
See what our students have done during their research placements.
A video to encourage the participation of new project hosts has recently been produced. Watch it here.
Students who undertake a Nuffield Research Placement are invited to attend a celebration event. | <urn:uuid:dfe0a4b8-ba1c-49fb-94ac-2d1696a359ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nuffieldfoundation.org/nuffield-research-placements | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952196 | 306 | 1.8125 | 2 |
It seems I'm not making bags so much these days as other things made out of fabric to hold things that aren't made of fabric.
a giant bag that opens up into a playmat. You put your toy with a million tiny parts in the bag. When the kids want to play, they open up the bag and, in theory, play with the million tiny parts on the playmat. When they're done, they just close up the bag and all the parts are still in it, not hidden in the pattern of the carpet waiting to bite your feet in the dark or get vacuumed up.
But there are other considerations. We work on the same project from week to week, so there needs to be a way to keep the project safe. The 15-inch base plates get set carefully on a shelf out of reach. Everything else goes back in the buckets, which get put in a cabinet, so whatever I make needs to fit with other square things and not spill off the shelf. We have a LOT of blocks, especially since the school nurse just donated her older kids' stash from home. (Thank you!!!) So I wanted something that would function more like a box and less like an amorphous blob. And something I could make 3 of, one to test at home and 2 for school.
Out came the graph paper, the giant stiff sail, some cotton webbing and a few plastic yard signs from a charity walk, a political campaign and a roofer. One thing I learned is that you don't need a big fat needle to sew with thick upholstery thread. In fact, it just makes the going rougher when you've got very tightly-woven material to deal with. And it gums up the machine something awful when the thread keeps getting caught underneath. That's also why this project has been languishing for 3 weeks.
|Just the fabric, without the stiffening boards inside. |
Mat is turned over from play side.
Two days later, I added carrying straps. I marked places on the folded panels where I thought the ends should go. I unfolded the mat and cut webbing to go the distance between the marks.
Note to self: be sure to designate which sets of handle marks go together. It would be very easy to put the straps on in such a way that the box would not fold up.
Stroke of luck: what looked like a very long handle turned out to be just the right length to meet at the top of the box and be easy to grab. Also, a good yank on the handle helps the bag to fold up.
Laziness pays off: No stiffening in the lid makes it easier to conform to the slightly wonky shape of the box.
Now imagine that surrounded by 6 kids, age 5-11, building a cookie bakery or a Trojan Gummy Bear or a bird-powered cheesy popcorn factory. | <urn:uuid:8554b86c-734f-47ae-a4ff-b998b96367dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ogno.blogspot.com/2012/07/week-27-or-lego-box.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966401 | 598 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Hello Ron: Smith wrote a good piece on "Big Bang Cosmology and Atheism: Why the Big Bang is No Help to Theists" by Quentin Smith
As with most theistic arguments, it's not "debunkable," which is in itself a glaring problem. I'd just smile and say that's nice, circular, but nice. And then maybe add something to the effect of, it seems we have different definitions of what qualifies as proof.
Although I did like that idea earlier of making statements or asking questions that might throw them a bit off, but I think I might start answering them as though I agree while doing the suggested gender pronoun switching, throwing in a different, non-christian name for god or jesus, and whatever else along these lines. Might bring to light some assumptions they make and take for granted. That and it would certainly make me chuckle :).
It's also begging the question. The theist is assuming that which they are attempting to prove. (That god exists)
Begging questions is one of the tools in the Apologetical tool box. Not to go on ad nauseum, but I like George H. Smith's approach at pulling the rug out from under theistic retreats to presuppositionalism.
The following text is paraphrased from George H. Smith's book, “Atheism: The Case Against God” p.41.
To exist is to exist as something. To be something is to have a specific nature. That is to have a particular identity. The Laws of Identity A=A and Non-Contradiction A =/= ¬A entail that any ontological being must posses specific determinate characteristics. To have such characteristics is a consequence of being part of nature. But the theistic God is asserted to be super-natural, and that is to be exempt from the uniformity of nature. Herein lies the contradiction fatal to any claim of knowledge about God. Having specific determinate characteristics imposes limits, and those limits would restrict the capacities of the alleged super-natural being. Such restriction then renders the alleged super-natural being subject to the causal relationships that denote the uniformity of nature in actual existence and disqualify it from being God. To escape this contradiction, the religious mind proposes to somehow imagine a God lacking any definite attributes or properties. But a postulated existent devoid of properties or attributes is indistinguishable from nothingness and is incompatible with the concept of existence. For God to have characteristics necessarily means God must have definite characteristics. That is to say that God would then necessarily be limited, for to be A is to also not be ¬A. Any being with characteristics is then subject to the uniformity of nature imposed by those capacities. For a super-natural being to differ from natural existence, it must exist without a limited identity and nature. This amounts to existing without any nature or identity at all. If humanity is to have meaningful discourse about God, we must presuppose it to have properties by which is can be identified. By asserting that God is super-natural theism stipulates existence apart from the uniformity of nature and eliminates any possibility of assigning definite characteristics to God. But by assigning definite characteristics to God, theism brings its God within the natural realm and renders it not-God. Something cannot be both A and ¬A. God then cannot exist, and any claim of knowledge of God is indistinguishable from fantasy of God.
The argument then goes round and round with constant request for a way to reliably distinguish God belief from God fantasy. Sometimes this gets a little ugly, but I think it ultimately will have beneficial effect on the believer if it motivates them to question the faith, for indeed false comfort is no comfort at all.
Would I be safe, Robert, in translating that as, "The invisible and the non-existent look very much alike."
I don't know if this has been discussed but when someone uses a First Cause argument it's easiest to just ask who created God. Inevitably they will say "God has always existed" or "God created himself". You can then point out that they are guilty of "special pleading", a logical fallacy. The universe requires a creation/creator but God does not.
Edit: If they blow this off then they do not care about logic and no amount of logic you use will persuade them.
The latest attempt to get around that is to change the statement to 'Everything that began to exist had a cause, the universe began to exist, so it has a cause." They then state that God didn't begin to exist, so it doesn't need a cause. This one is just as easy to knock down.
First, the initial statement is assumed but not proven. We know of things that begin to exist that have no known cause (virtual particles), so claiming that everything that begins to exist has a cause is not true.
Second, the claim that the universe began to exist is not proven, either. We can only go back to Planck Time with our current understanding of physics, what happened before that is still speculative.
Yeah, I remember watching a debate with WLC where he stated that. Even though he talked himself blue in the face he never properly backed up the first two assertions. The statement that "God didn't begin to exist therefore he didn't need a cause" is still special pleading.
Dave, what would be a good response to a rebuttal that the atheist is unjustifiably presuming metaphysical naturalism?
Probably that no metaphysical naturalism is being presumed.
For the first point (things needing a cause to exist not being proven), the fact remains that there are things that begin to exist (such as virtual particles) that have no known cause. Postulating a supernatural cause is possible, but ultimately irrelevant as any supernatural cause can be provided (God, Ra, pixies, Nyarlathotep, and so forth), leaving us in the same spot as before, ignorant of any actual cause.
As for the second, "We don't know" is an acceptable answer. We have several hypotheses, some of which involve the universe being created, some not. Even if we were to include the 'God Did It' hypothesis, the answer is still "We don't know".
No answer is better than the preposterous one that a magical sorcerer made the universe. What most theists don't get is that their insistence that "there must be a cause because nothing else makes sense" presupposes that the physical laws that prevail now were there in the beginning. There's no reason at all to believe that. The original state may have been strange beyond human comprehension.
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Please click here to see the Risk Assessment 2013 details.
This Safety Plan has been formulated to enable the Poplar Regatta Organising Committee's responsibilities to be met, taking due account of advice from British Rowing, the
London Regatta Centre, the Environment Agency and other interested parties such as the Police and Ambulance Service.
Regatta Safety Adviser and Race Committee
The Regatta Organising Committee has appointed Nick Paul MBE as Regatta Safety Adviser. He is a full member of the organising committee and the co-author of
this document and the Regatta risk assessment.
A Race Committee comprising the Co-ordinating Umpire as Chair and two further ARA licensed umpires (being appointed on the day of the Regatta by the co-ordinating umpire) will undertake the duties detailed in British Rowing Rules
2-1-3 and 2-1-4; in particular they will decide if weather conditions are too dangerous to permit racing to continue.
British Rowing "Row Safe"
It is mandatory that all crews attending the Poplar Regatta comply fully, in regard to safety, with British Rowing's current Rules of Racing (Rules 2-2-1
to 2-2-5 inclusive) and hence with British Rowing's Water Safety Code ("Row Safe").
The on-site British Rowing Umpires will inspect boats for safety-related compliance.
No boats will be allowed on the water unless they pass the safety inspection, nor, for coxed boats, unless the coxswain is wearing an appropriate
life jacket or buoyancy aid in the correct manner. In "front-loader" boats coxswains must wear manually-operated gas inflation life jackets.
All crew coaches are to ensure that their crews are correctly briefed on "Row Safe" in particular in relation to capsize procedures for scullers.
Off Water Safety Cover
An appointed Regatta Medical Officer will be on duty throughout the day. First aid facilities are provided by St. John Ambulance with staff and facilities close to both the enclosure and the boating area. Adaptive entrants are required to advise the Regatta committee if they are providing separate medical cover.
On Water Safety Cover
There are six fully equipped safety boats in attendance. They are provided with radios on the Regatta's standalone safety network. Additional
safety equipment as specified by Row Safe will be carried by each Umpire’s launch. Boats will not be allowed to go afloat during the lunch break,
as there is no safety cover on the water.
Accidents and Emergencies
Any Regatta official observing a safety related incident must report it immediately by the nearest available radio link to Regatta Control.
The Regatta has a network of radios spread along the course, each radio being manned at all times whilst racing is in progress. The Co-ordinating
Umpire and/or his Assistant may assume control of the incident and will call for radio silence except from those involved in dealing with the incident
and will summon whatever help is needed. He will immediately suspend racing if the incident has occurred anywhere on the course. He will also initiate
any "999" call by mobile phone should the incident require assistance beyond the scope of that available on the Regatta site.
The Regatta Duty Controller holds a Regatta Incident Book in the Regatta Office portakabin. All safety related incidents, including "near misses"
must be recorded in this book. | <urn:uuid:420100c8-c772-4316-9bb7-b3f4e01c0a04> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.poplarregatta.co.uk/Safety.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943291 | 715 | 1.640625 | 2 |
How to Get the Economy Cooking Again
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Does falling unemployment, a rising stock market, and greater consumer confidence mean that the economy has finally turned the corner? While the news is welcome, we’re still stuck in the weakest, slowest recovery since the Great Depression. We’re still down about 6 million jobs since the recession ended. And there are still a number of factors beyond our immediate control, such as rapidly rising gas prices or a default in Europe, that could derail our fragile recovery.
The fact is that we need a growth rate substantially higher than 2% to 2.5% to create the 20 million jobs we’ll need in this decade. We can and must do better. How do we do it?
First, let’s stop shooting ourselves in the foot. Let’s turn off the regulatory fire hose that has drowned businesses large and small in an ocean of new, complex, and burdensome regulations. This tsunami of new rules and mandates has created massive uncertainty among businesses and has crippled investment and hiring.
Second, let’s get our fiscal house in order. In four years, the president and Congress will have added a staggering $5 trillion to the national debt—and with deficits as far as the eye can see. Unsustainable entitlement programs are driving these deficits and must be reformed. Those arguing for the status quo on Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid are consigning these programs—and the country—to bankruptcy.
Third, let’s not forget what made the American economy the strongest in the world in the first place—well-educated workers, a bold trade agenda, a world-class infrastructure system, and an affordable and abundant supply of energy. We need to turn around our failing K–12 schools, open new markets to American goods and services, make adequate investments in our infrastructure, and dramatically increase production of American energy. And we need a tax code that broadens the base, lowers rates for individuals and corporations, and simplifies compliance.
We can grow our economy faster and stronger if we make the right choices, remove impediments and uncertainties, and face up to tough fiscal truths that have been ignored for too long.
How are we going to create the political will, pressure, and courage to make all this happen? By making our voices heard, engaging on policy, and voting in elections. One of America’s greatest strengths is that citizens get to choose their leaders. So when November comes, let’s choose those who promise to put jobs and growth first and who will really get our economy cooking again. | <urn:uuid:7ac53a1c-fa41-475f-98a4-6cf8f6117327> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.freeenterprise.com/economy-taxes/how-get-economy-cooking-again | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935518 | 576 | 1.851563 | 2 |
by Weston Ochse
There is no denying the popularity of coming of age stories. From McCammon’s Boy’s Life to Simmons’ Summer of Night to Barker’s The Thief of Always to King and Straub’s The Talisman and everything in between, placing children and young adults in dire circumstances and voyeuristically adventuring with them through the threat seems to be a favorite literary pastime. When I wrote Scarecrow Gods and told the coming of age tale of Danny, it was as much an homage to those great tales that had come before as it was my signature addition to the great body of coming of age works.
Wikipedia defines Coming of Age as a young person’s formal transition from adolescence to adulthood. The nature of the transition varies and could be anything from the normal methodical matriculation to the age of majority or something more forced and immediate, such as an event or series of events that engender change in the adolescent’s outlook and interaction with the complications of life.
But why are these stories so popular? My belief is that it’s not that we enjoy reading about children, but rather that because we were children, we can as adults more easily relate as we relive many of the things that happened to us as they happen to them on the written page. Children as protagonists are archetypical and represent everything good and hopeful. As a rule, Children aren’t evil, nor do they commit irredeemable crimes. Thus the child or young adult as the protagonist is us, or how we’d want us to be, if given the chance to insinuate ourselves into that plot.
In Robert McCammon’s Boy’s Life, Cory Mackerson discovers for the first time that not only does a world exists outside of Zephyr, Alabama, but evil exists in his formally perfect universe as he tries to come to grips with his father’s newfound fears. The threat of loss is woven throughout the plot, creating a sort of literary panic as we walk alongside Cory as the events unfold.
Dan Simmons’ Summer of Night begins on the last day of school as students are being released for the summer. All of us can remember that impatient joy barely held in check as we sat, listened to the teacher speak Charlie-Brown-Grown-Up-Speak, watching the clock on the wall inexorably herald our freedom. In the book, five adolescents roar into summer, only to discover that their group many be the only thing that can save their friends, families and maybe even the world from the giant worms, the dead soldier, the principal and a preternatural rendering truck that follows them like a stalking dog. I still remember a scene where they are in the corn atop a tractor in fear for their lives and I remember being as nervous for them as I ever was for myself.
In perhaps one of the greatest tour-de-force coming of age novels written, the powerful talents of Stephen King and Peter Straub are combined to provide us with The Talisman. In this book, Jack Sawyer journeys from America’s East Coast to the West Coast to find the talisman that will save his mother from a horrible death from cancer. Wonderful in its otherworldliness, the reader is keenly aware that the boy’s mother is dying and that every delay and detour could mean that he’d miss the chance to save her.
I’ve spoken long into convention nights with friends and fans about these books, each of us happy to have read them, but harrowed by the readings of them. We lived the characters to such degrees that the very act of processing the words through our minds brought about a literary transubstantiation. Many of us admitted to crying in each of these books, well-aware that as adults we should be old enough not to allow our emotions such free reign, but were unable to control ourselves as we re-came of age with the characters.
My son turns eighteen today. He has not had to face giant worms or werewolves or a supernatural rendering truck, but his life has had its share of tribulation. Since his ninth birthday, he and I have been separated by sometimes great distances. Divorce is a hard lesson for anyone to learn, but for a child it’s even harder. Their whole perception of love and trust is shattered and has to evolve so that they can adapt to this new strange family system that has formed. I saw him as often as I could, when I could. Sometimes the Army kept us apart. Sometimes it was time. Sometimes it was money. But I tried not to let these keep us apart for long. We spent every summer and most holidays together.
And today he’s eighteen. He’s learned to do so much without me. He’s been in his share of trouble. Bad grades and cute girls have conspired to keep him from over-achieving. All in all, if he was a character in a novel, he’d be pretty normal. An experienced author would realize that to make his life more interesting, they’d have to add some unique character device. Well, that was already done. One thing I left out was that he was born with birth defects- a clef lip and a clef palette. Not something that would handicap him physically, but something that could create enough emotional baggage to sink a cruiseliner, especially considering the mean potential of children and their need to build themselves up by bringing other’s down.
I’m a huge fan of coming of age novels. I like to step into the shoes of the characters, experience their innocence and wonder, and succeed in the end against almost impossible odds. But that’s just pretend. I don’t have any real emotional stake in the characters of the novels because they aren’t real people. While thinking about my son’s birthday and the childhood he’s leaving behind, I couldn’t help but think that he starred in his own coming of age novel—a true life memoir of one boy against the world, against genetics and fate, struggling to become the man everyone thought he should be, the man he wanted to be but didn’t really know to be. He lived the life like any character lived their plot and I, his father, lived it as a reader.
There were times when I had as much influence over events in his life as a reader would the events in a novel. I was a voyeur, helpless to stop what was happening, even when I knew they’d lead to a bad end. I didn’t live with him. My relationship with his mother was such that she would hang up the phone at the first hint of conflict, even if it meant talking about what was best for our son. I had a certain amount of control and influence, but my success was predicated on my son’s willingness to follow my dictums, and my ability to deliver my messages in a package palatable enough for him to swallow. When I wasn’t looking, which was far too often, he did what he wanted, his wishes and my desires only sometimes intersecting.
My son’s real-life coming of age novel was sometimes a comedy, sometimes a drama and sometimes a horror. There were times I didn’t think he’d make it. There were other times that made me cry as I stepped into the footsteps of the character, my son, and tried to cha
nnel the emotions he was most certainly feeling. There were other time when I was, frankly, too scared to open the book of his life because I knew what was going to happen in the next chapter. But like in fiction, characters live and do things whether you read them or not, and any fear of reading what was about to happen in my son’s novel did nothing to change the prosecution of the plot, my hesitation meaning as much to the universe as my the real-life tears I shed for Cody Mackerson at the end of Boy’s Life.
Now that my son has turned eighteen, I’m closing the novel of his early years. Now that he’s come of age, the coming of age novel must end. The last chapter ends with these words: with a good heart and a discerning mind, he passed to adulthood, not quite ready for those challenges life was going to throw his way, but willing to battle through them, for he was a man, and that was what men did.
As readers we read coming of age novels to relive the hopes and possibilities of a character’s future. As writers we write coming of age novels to entertain and battle test morals we’ve come to embrace as graduates of our own coming of age novels. Most fathers are reoccurring characters in their own children’s coming of age novels, able to influence and advise as each plot device unfolds. And then there are us unlucky few who are voyeurs to our own children, readers of their coming of age novels, turning pages with as much fear as courage, hoping that by the end of the novel, our children, those bastions of our unparalleled love, will survive to live on.
I am proud to say that my son has made it past the first book in his trilogy of life. Book two is adulthood, and although I’m once again forced into the role of reader, for this I am not as lonely, for all of us are powerless in the face of our children’s adult momentum as we are forced to turn the pages of their destiny as they step, day-by-day through life.
Good Luck, Zachary. You were an exciting read. I look forward to our next volume.
(For a glimpse at my son in action click here.)
**Thanks to Richard Steinberg. He asked me to trade with him so he could write an essay about his mother. Of course I jumped to his aid, but in doing so, realized that the day he traded me for was my son’s birthday. Too much coincidence for me to let it pass. | <urn:uuid:9eec92a1-9c84-4678-9975-98648bd52ecb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://storytellersunplugged.com/westonochse/2006/08/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984414 | 2,114 | 1.859375 | 2 |
It has been recently revealed in a report that there is need for an inquiry to be conducted on the recalls being done on the hip replacement devices. This is the second time there has been a recall and this is why there is need for a proper review to be done on the matter.
It was revealed by Maryan Street, the health spokeswoman for the labor committee, that the health select committee and there should be a proper inquiry conducted on the matter so that it can be found that is responsible for this sort of hold up and why there is need for making these recalls over and over again.
"Other countries have conducted reviews and inquiries. The health minister should not have to be provoked by the select committee to be concerned about the health and welfare of New Zealanders”, said Ms. Street.
The recall has been made by Medsafe for the Mitch THR hip implants and there is need for a proper investigation to be done to found out the reason for the same. It is essential steps are taken in regard of this situation so that the patients don’t have to suffer in this situation. The health and safety of the patient’s needs to be kept as the prime concern of the authorities so that they can manage the risks wells.
It is essential that the safety and security arrangements of the patients are well looked after ad efforts are made for the betterment of the people. The toxicity levels of the area need to be managed well, so that there can be efforts made to make for a safer environment for the patients in the time to come. | <urn:uuid:ec9e89f0-af0a-4cf9-aece-e53cfdc5a06b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://topnews.net.nz/content/222225-inquiry-be-done-hip-implant | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979548 | 316 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Furthermore, although these are important ideas, they aren't Big Ideas. They explain certain phenomena well, but they have limited reach. Those in search of a really big idea had to look further back in the economics literature. They hit gold with ''The Nature of the Firm,'' a 1937 paper written by the Nobel laureate Ronald Coase.
The Coase paper asked a deceptively simple question: If the market is such a great tool for allocating resources, why isn't it used inside the firm or company? Why doesn't one worker on the assembly line negotiate with the worker next to him about the price at which he will supply the partly assembled product?
That sort of negotiation rarely happens. Instead of using markets, companies tend to be organized as hierarchies, using a chain of command and control rather than negotiation, markets and explicit contracts. Paradoxically, the primary unit of capitalism, on close inspection, looks a lot like central planning.
Mr. Coase didn't just ask this question; he also provided a provocative answer: it all hinges on the costs of making transactions. What economists call firms, he said, are essentially groups of activities for which it is more effective and less costly to use command-and-control than markets to have things done.
New-economy advocates found this a compelling idea. One consequence of the Internet has surely been to make it cheaper to communicate. This should, in turn, lower transaction costs and change company boundaries. Their conclusion was that companies would inevitably downsize and outsource, spin off unnecessary functions, and carry out more and more transactions using the Internet instead of internal memos.
Not so fast. The Internet lowers communication costs, that's for sure. But that means it lowers transaction costs within organizations as well as across organizations. The internal memo might disappear, but only because it is replaced by the internal e-mail message.
It just doesn't follow that lower communication costs lead to smaller companies. In fact, Mr. Coase himself said that ''changes like the telephone and telegraphy, which tend to reduce the cost of organizing spatially, will tend to increase the size of the firm.''
There's a lot of other evidence in the economics literature for Mr. Coase's observation. The Harvard business historian Alfred D. Chandler's classic work ''The Visible Hand'' documented how the deployment of the telegraph and railroad led to the creation of the giant corporation.
Maybe the Internet's role is to provide the inexpensive communications that can support megacorporations. This thought is enough to make a new-economy guru shudder.
What do the facts say about company size? Alas, they are inconclusive. From 1962 to 1992, the average size of a company hardly budged, and the small reduction that did occur could be attributed to the increased importance of the service sector, which tends to have smaller companies.
Later on in his article, Mr. Coase acknowledges that inventions like the telephone might reduce a company's size, if they reduce the costs of using markets by more than they reduce internal communication cost. In other words, it could go either way. We need a deeper understanding of transaction costs to resolve the issue.
So what are the important transaction costs? Mr. Coase, citing another economist, mentions three general categories: search and information costs, bargaining and decision costs, and policing and enforcing costs.
The Internet certainly reduces search and information costs, but, as we have seen, this cuts both ways. Bargaining and decisions still require a team of managers and lawyers sitting around a table. What makes contracts easier is codification and standardization, trends that are important, but are not greatly affected by the Internet, at least so far.
Policing and enforcing costs are the most relevant category. The reason the assembly-line worker doesn't negotiate with the person next to him is that it's too easy for him to say, ''Give me a good deal or I'll stop the line.'' Putting all the assembly-line workers under command-and-control reduces this sort of opportunistic behavior, at least as long as it can be easily observed.
Oliver Williamson, a significant contributor to transaction cost economics, argues that the temptation to be opportunistic is a major component of transaction costs, and hence a major determinant of the boundaries of the company. If certain suppliers are critical to your success, you want them inside, under your control, not outside, where their objectives may differ from yours.
The temptation to be opportunistic hasn't been affected much by the Internet. The Internet has made it easier, however, to monitor some sorts of contracts. Nowadays it is easy to tell if your supplier's claim that it shipped the parts to you on time is true; you can get the tracking number and check the shipper's Web page. Within the company, smart cash registers, inventory management systems, vehicle monitoring systems and the like help ensure that workers are performing their tasks, even when not directly observed.
Computers are monitoring more and more contracts, and that may well, in time, make companies more comfortable about letting functions move outside the command-and-control boundaries.
The real issue confronting a company trying to decide if some unit will be inside or spun off is what incentives the spinoff will have. If you spin off something critical to your business, you leave yourself open to extortion down the road. An internal monopoly supplier may be sluggish and inefficient, but its incentives are at least party aligned with the rest of the organization. An external monopoly can be much worse.
Mr. Coase's point about transaction costs' determining how organizations are structured is both profound and subtle. The Internet certainly affects transaction costs, but determining whether that means companies will be bigger or smaller requires careful analysis of competing forces. | <urn:uuid:ae0567e3-bce8-417a-b15f-874e16812c85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://people.ischool.berkeley.edu/~hal/people/hal/NYTimes/2002-01-17.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954381 | 1,180 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Over the past several weeks our social workers have received many calls due to recent tragedies. This Wednesday, news reports and images of an aircraft hitting a building in New York City brought back vivid memories of the confusion and shock we all felt on September 11th. Though we eventually realized it was not a terrorist attack, it quickly triggered feelings of uncertainty and vulnerability for many. The accident has also raised some very important questions about the security of New York City's airspace that we explore in this week's e-Newsletter.
Similarly, the loss of innocent young lives at the small schoolhouse in Pennsylvania and other recent school killings have caused concern about the safety of our children and communities. We can all associate with the shock and sorrow that follows such a cruel act. The hopeful response of the Amish community in the face of this tragedy has been a true inspiration as they have shown great strength and faith. Their unified support of one another has demonstrated the value of a compassionate community. Our thoughts and prayers go out to the family and friends of those affected in these tragic events.
On a related note, I received a poem from Patricia Tamuccio, Mother of Michael Tamuccio who worked for Fred Alger management on the 93rd floor of the North Tower. Patricia sent this poem in response to our request for 9/11poems.
“..after the loss of our Michael, a friend sent me the following anonymous poem, only it was entitled the ''death" of a child - I found that very uncomfortable and so changed it to the 'gift' of a child ...... I shared this poem with my teleconference group the other day and all seemed 'touched' by it......I hope you and anyone else it is shared with find the solace in it that I did ...... it hangs on the wall of my home office along with my Michael's eulogy and the poem that Diane Huggins created for him.....
'GIFT OF A CHILD'
I'll lend you for a little while
A child of mine, GOD said,
For you to cherish while he lives,
And mourn for when he's dead.
It may be six or seven years,
Or only two or three,
But will you, till I call him Home,
Look after him for me?
He'll bring his love to gladden you,
And should his stay be brief,
You'll have a host of memories
As solace for your grief.
I cannot promise he will stay,
Since all from earth return,
But there are lessons taught below
I want this child to learn.
I've looked the wide world over
In my search for teachers true
And, from the throng that crowd
Life's lane, at last I've chosen you.
Now will you give him all your love,
Nor think your labor vain, and
Turn against me when I come
To take him back again?
We have added the poem to Michael’s 9/11 Living Memorial page. The 9/11 Living Memorial is continuing to expand - thanks to Patricia and all of you who have sent in photographs and personal stories of your loved ones. We are very excited about the progress we’ve made in creating a digital archive to commemorate the lives lost and preserve the stories of 9/11. Visit www.911LivingMemorial.org and contact our office to coordinate adding photographs and content to the site.
As a reminder, in conjunction with the national annual depression screening day we will offer depression screenings over the phone Monday through Friday of next week. Details about the screenings are listed below.
VOICES Commemorative Events were a great success once again this year! A special page with a slideshow of images from the Commemorative Events has been posted on our website. Thanks to all who gave their time and talents to making this year's Forum and Luncheon the best yet. If you have photographs from the VOICES Commemorative Events or another commemorative event you attended around the September 11th anniversary, we would like to post them on our website. Please email digital photographs to firstname.lastname@example.org or call our office at (866) 505-3911 to arrange a way to transfer digital or printed photos.
Click to visit the 2006 VOICES Commemorative Events Homepage
Voices of September 11th will offer free, anonymous depression and anxiety screenings over the telephone for people who think they may be suffering from depression. Since September 11th, 9/11 Families, Survivors and WTC site workers, as well as members of the general public are reporting symptoms of depression and anxiety.
The screenings will be offered on Monday, October 16 through Thursday October 19 from 9:00 am to 5:00 pm EST and Friday, October 20 from 9:00 am to 3:00 pm EST .
The screening takes approximately 15 minutes and is conducted by a mental health professional. Screenings are available for adults and adolescents who are at least 14 years of age. Parents of children ages 6 to 13 may call on behalf of their children. Callers will be asked to answer questions. Based on their responses, the screener will provide a score and explain the results. Appointments may also be scheduled for a face-to-face interview at the Voices of September 11th office, 93 Cherry Street, New Canaan, CT.
Information on anxiety depression and will be sent upon request and referrals will be made if necessary.
Contact the Voices of September 11th office at (203) 966-3911 or toll free at (866) 505-3911 for the screening for more information. If the times next week do not fit your schedule, VOICES mental health professionals are available year-round to conduct depression and anxiety screenings upon request Monday through Friday from 9am to 5pm.
VOICES has posted an updated schedule of our teleconference and in-person support groups in the "Healing" section of our new website. As always, VOICES support groups are open to new members, but you must register with our office at 866-505-3911 before participating in a group.
The Sunday evening siblings teleconference will be moving to a new day and will be led by a new facilitator. Michelle Doherty, social worker, will be facilitating the group on Monday nights, beginning on October 23, at 7pm Eastern Standard Time. New members are welcome, however registration is required. If interested, please contact the VOICES office.
The trauma of 9/11 produced stirring works of art in response to the attacks, in honor of the victims, and in support of their families. The 9/11 Living Memorial is gathering these heartfelt artistic tributes into a "9/11 Reflections" section. "9/11 Reflections" includes poems, downloadable songs, and slideshows of art and artisanal work, such as quilts, by talented friends of the 9/11 community. Shown at left is a painting from the book "Messages of Hope, Peace and Love," which collected art made for 9/11 kids by a group of young art students in Seattle, Washington with the support of teacher Diane Brudnicki. They are beautiful and personal tributes of honor and love, as are all the works we are collecting in "9/11 Reflections."
This digital archive is growing rapidly. Please contact family liaison Debbie Westfal at (203) 966-3911 or (866) 505-3911 for instructions on how to add a "9/11 Reflection" to the 9/11 Living Memorial.
For more information on the 9/11 Living Memorial, read a press release announcing its launch. The 9/11 Living Memorial, officially debuted at VOICES Commemorative Events, was launched in cooperation with our friends at September's Mission.
Critics Let Fly About Lax NYC Air Traffic Control
The tragic consequences of Corey Lidle's sightseeing flight up the East River have led many political leaders and New York residents to question why flight rules for small airplanes are so lax around the City. Minutes after the accident, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) imposed temporary restrictions on East River airspace while it investigated. New York Governor George Pataki
called on the FAA to extend its restriction indefinitely, but the federal agency declined, reopening the east river to air traffic at 7 pm, about 4 hours after the accident. Flight restrictions were also imposed on other major U.S. cities and fighter jets were scrambled as part of a federal air defense plan created to counter another 9/11-type plot that turns aircraft into weapons. Read an Associated Press article for more information about the new response plan.
Many politicians have said that the current rules, which allow small airplanes to fly at low altitudes over the Hudson and East rivers without filing a flight plan or giving any notice to air traffic controllers, are a grave post-9/11 security risk. Some have noted the very strict prohibitions on small planes in place in Washington, D.C. and accused the FAA of a double standard. "If it's good enough for the president and the Congress, it's good enough for the 31/2 million people who work and live in Manhattan, said Sen. Charles Schumer (D-NY) in an interview with the New York Post. He added: "A smart terrorist could fly right up the Hudson, or right up the East River, no questions asked, and that's what we've got to stop."
But the chorus calling for tougher restrictions is not unanimous. The FAA claims they are unnecessary, and New York City Mayor Mike Bloomberg, himself a licensed pilot of small aircraft, said "there are procedures that allow an awful lot of traffic there to safely move up and down the rivers, to do sightseeing and bring people into the city and take them out, for business and pleasure reasons," as quoted in the New York Sun. He also warned against overreacting to an accidental crash, claiming, "Every time you have an automobile accident you're not going to go and close the streets, or prohibit people from driving, and this may very well be the same thing." Bloomberg added that requiring small planes to file a flight plan and fly under the supervision of air traffic control could overburden the already strained controllers, who are responsible for large passenger and cargo plane traffic in New York's three major airports. Tighter restrictions “may make it less safe because the controllers can't handle the volume,” Bloomberg is quoted in USA Today Coverage.
Friday, October 13th
Perspectives Counseling Service First Annual Wellness Expo
Time: 2pm to 7pm
Perspectives will be highlighting their newly expanded services. Come and meet their innovative staff of professionals. Explore Lifestyle Eating; Massage Therapy; Group Workouts; Life Coaching; Hypnotherapy Yoga; Accupuncture/Accupressure; Smoking Cessation; Weight Loss; Kickboxing; The Ultimate You Studio; and Enchanting Cottage Holistic Center. Location: 20 Montauk Highway, Blue Point, NY 11715. Tel:
The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (NYC DOHMH) created World Trade Center Health Registry (WTCHR) Resource Guide for people affected September 11, 2001 attacks on the WTC that includes information about occupational, respiratory, environmental, and mental health facilities as well as other services and resources.
While many of the facilities, services and resources located in this resource guide are located New York City area, many other regional and national services and resources are also included. This is the fifth update to the Guide, originally released in fall 2003. Exploring this resource guide will link you with health facilities, services, and other resources that may be helpful to you. The following topics are covered: American Red Cross September 11 Recovery Program; Help With Health Insurance; Medical Screening, Exams, and Treatment; Occupational Screening, Exams, and Care; Respiratory Screening, Exams, and Care; Environmental Cleanings, Information, and Referrals; Mental Health Information and Referrals; Other New York City Resources; Other Services and Resources; Scholarships; and Clinical Guidelines.
To visit VOICES Resource Guides for those affected by 9/11, please click here.
Attention 9/11 Rescue and Recovery and Clean-Up Workers: The New York State Workers’ Compensation Law has just been changed to help you register to file a claim for workers’ compensation if you have a 9/11- related illness. The change also applies to workers and volunteers who are not sick, but who may become sick in the future because they were exposed to the toxic air after 9/11.
The first step is to apply for registration as a bona-fide WTC worker. Visit the NYCOSH website to download an application form, or get a form directly from the NY State Workers' Compensation Board. Then you must fill out the form, have it notarized and mail in into the Compensation Board. A Factsheet provides FAQ's and more information, or you can call 1-866-WTC-2556 to request a form. THIS FORM IS TO REGISTER, NOT TO FILE A CLAIM. YOU MUST REGISTER NOW TO PRESERVE YOUR RIGHT TO FILE A CLAIM AT ANY TIME IN THE FUTURE.
The deadline for registering is August 14, 2007. If you do not register before the deadline, you will never be able to collect workers’ compensation if you develop a 9/11-related illness later. Thousands of people who participated in rescue, recovery or cleanup work after 9/11 are now sick. Many more may become sick as a result of exposure to contaminated dust and smoke. The New York State Workers’ Compensation Law has been changed to allow someone who was exposed, but is not sick, to register. Registering now will protect your right to file a workers’ compensation claim if you become sick at any time in the future. The law also allows anyone who already filed a claim – but was turned down because the claim was filed too late – to re-file. If you do not register and are sick or become sick later, you will not be able to file or re-file a claim. Workers’ compensation pays all the medical expenses for a sickness or an injury that is work-related. It also pays two-thirds of your average weekly wage up to $400 a week if you cannot work because of work-related sickness or injury. Even if you are now healthy, but were exposed to contaminated air after 9/11, you must register now with the Workers’ Compensation Board to protect your right to file a claim if and when you become sick.
The Flag of Honor, one of the many outstanding tributes to the memory of those lost on September 11th is committed to giving one framed canvas copy of the flag to the next-of-kin of each of the victims. John Michelotti, who started the project has asked VOICES for help in finding the next-of-kin for the following people:
Brian McAleese, Christopher Newton,
Brian P. Monaghan Jr.
Michelotti is using money from the sale of replica Flags of Honor to finance the effort to provide one for each 9/11 Family, and is also accepting donations. The Flags of Honor are also available on the VOICES website. If you have contact information, even just a name, for the next-of-kin of any of these three men, or would like more information about the Flags of Honor, please contact VOICES family liaison Debbie Westfal at 866-505-3911, or through email@example.com | <urn:uuid:e346c3f5-eeb1-42fe-8a77-2825dac699dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.voicesofseptember11.org/dev/Newsletters/newsletterarchive/eNewsletter_10_13_06.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949787 | 3,225 | 2 | 2 |
There’s nothing like flying to express your love of life and sense of adventure. Now, this may not apply to patronizing commercial airlines in this day and age (which often becomes an entirely different sort of adventure), but someone who voluntarily signed on as a Navy pilot 30-plus years ago must surely have done so out of a love for flying — soaring through the clouds, loosed from the bonds of Earth — a freedom generally reserved for birds of the wild.
John Constans did just that, and after he’d had his fill of flying for the Navy he continued with PSA, and later with US Air. He truly loved his work, second only to his family. But bad things — even some pretty unlikely bad things — sometimes happen to good people, and around Christmas 2011, John Constans was diagnosed with a disease that is (fortunately) relatively rare.
It’s so rare that it’s best known as “Lou Gehrig’s Disease,” after the famed baseball player who came down with the malady in 1939. Formally known as amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), it’s a disease of the nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord that control voluntary muscle movement. It usually develops after age 50, and in 90 percent of cases its cause is unknown. While incurable, ALS is treatable to a degree.
What’s needed is more research, but ALS is an “orphan” disease, so called because there are only about 35,000 sufferers in the United States (300 in our county), with about 5,600 new cases diagnosed annually. Other maladies get much more attention, but the Constans family — and the Team Godfather Charitable Foundation — recently threw a big festive gala, “Flying for a Cure,” to raise both awareness and funds for medical research.
John’s daughter Ashley works for Redfearn and Associates, an event production company. They assembled their collective expertise, accepted volunteers from among their clients, called in their markers, and elicited enough help and resources to put together a great fundraising event. The Hyatt Aventine gave them a deeply discounted rate. Sbicca, Pacifica, Crush, Solace and the Moonlight Lounge, and Campine provided an array of savory and sweet food stations for the reception (in the Barcino Pavilion), to accompany the big silent auction. Later, in the ballroom, the Paul Cannon Band played while the Hyatt provided a huge variety of foods at several stations, featuring salad, slider, taco and pasta buffets, topped off by an ice cream sundae station with all the fixings.
A program featured an informative video, with information about the Constans family and their battle with ALS. A live auction offered a dozen interesting items, including a guitar signed by Bob Dylan and another by Eric Clapton. A paddle-raise brought in $40,000 in pledges from the 320 guests, and when all was said and done, the event had netted a total of $90,000 for the cause.
The evening’s entertainment highlight was a private concert by internationally acclaimed musician Tristan Prettyman. A native of Del Mar, she grew up with the Constans girls as best friends. Her hourlong set included songs from her just-released third album, “Cedar + Gold.” Among them were the heartfelt “Come Clean” and “The Rebound” — artifacts of Tristan’s romantic misfortunes, now well behind her. | <urn:uuid:6f01f677-b3a5-43d5-8c19-5eae5b83f2bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.utsandiego.com/news/2013/jan/27/tp-flying-for-a-cure-fundraiser-the-fight-against/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972485 | 741 | 1.695313 | 2 |
It's Sunday afternoon, some time in the middle of summer. You and your friends are sitting around in the backyard, trying to figure out what to do with the rest of the day. The movies cost too much and it's too big of a hassle to fill up water balloons. You could terrorize your little sister, but then you'd have to find her first. Even thinking about what to do requires tons of effort at this point, so you tend to talk in short sentences – maybe even in grunts.
That, folks, is how we imagine this poem sounds. It's a bit lazy, like someone casually crossing off items on a shopping list. There's nothing too complicated in the language, and even the rhyme scheme has a sing-songy quality to it. You can almost imagine the speaker staring at the ceiling, eating leftover take-out, and absent-mindedly checking off all of the ways that a person could kill herself. | <urn:uuid:67c0acb3-d4cc-48ab-b7eb-ee94174cb185> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shmoop.com/resume-parker/sound-check.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976961 | 194 | 1.78125 | 2 |
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No matter how tense commercial relations between the U.S. and China become, American corporations cannot afford to mimic Google's (GOOG) mistake and give up huge growth opportunities in the world's largest market. That's why business leaders need to adjust their strategies quickly to stem the damage.
First, they must cultivate untapped sources of support within China, beginning with independent executives who also chafe at Beijing's market-unfriendly policies. Coordinating a message with these leaders would change the narrative, removing the perception that greater economic openness means giving in to foreign pressure.
Some are already willing to join U.S. companies in public support of better Chinese economic policies. On Mar. 24, for instance, Bloomberg reported that Chinese executives including Yang Yuanqing, CEO of Lenovo (LNVGY), have gone public with their support of the currency realignment U.S. exporters need to be more competitive in China.
One place to look for allies is among the private executives upset because they cannot secure loans from state banks that pump cheap money into state-owned enterprises. Case in point: Last year, Liu Jieyin, the founder of Okay Airways, complained about the unfair dominance of state companies to Forbes. And he said the business climate for independent firms was so bad that "if you asked me to set up a private airline now, I would not dare."
American companies should also try to enlist help from state-owned enterprises that have an interest in open trade and investment. For example, the Commercial Aircraft Corp. of China (Comac)—which is making the C919, China's first jumbo jet—recently signed a $10Â billion contract for an engine made by a joint venture of General Electric (GE) and France's Safran (SAF:FP). Comac is already taking orders for the C919, but whether the jet will be ready by 2016 as pledged depends on the successful execution of the engine contract. A worsening of the business environment could put such contracts, and even access to future export markets, at risk.
Despite the shrill rhetoric coming from Beijing, many government officials appreciate the concerns of foreign businesses. Some have long histories with foreign companies; others hope to restore economic openness for other reasons. They worry about stifling innovation and weakening the private sector, which has fueled growth for decades; creating housing and equity bubbles; and paying the environmental and public health costs of overinvestment. These worries were all raised publicly at the National People's Congress meeting in March.
In addition to mustering support within China, U.S. companies must choose their battles more carefully. So when an attempted hacking raised the prospect of local competitors stealing trade secrets, Google should have focused on compelling authorities, perhaps by dangling the threat of going public about the hacking, to commit to protecting its intellectual property. Instead, Google threatened to leave China's search engine market if search censorship wasn't lifted—an impossible request of an authoritarian state. This action invited a hard-line response, failed to secure Google's intellectual property, and will only hinder Chinese citizens' access to information.
When threats are necessary, they should come from business groups with substantial combined leverage. U.S. companies manufacturing in China are collectively responsible for the livelihood of millions of Chinese workers. They also have the ability to build up the capabilities of regional competitors such as India. This gives them political leverage if they act in unison.
Market openness serves China's long-term interests. It strengthens the country's dynamic private companies and improves access to Western technologies. But it may take time for China's leaders to realize that. In the meantime, U.S. companies need to challenge Chinese policies more effectively. If American businesses fail in China, they put at risk both U.S. economic competitiveness and the most important bilateral relationship of this century. | <urn:uuid:5a38e412-587c-4153-a05c-d697195572cd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.businessweek.com/globalbiz/content/mar2010/gb20100324_835560.htm | 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 | 0.958992 | 799 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Ghost Towns, Mayer, Arizona
I’ve passed by the Mayer Smoke Stack a few time in the past and decided to investigate the location since the weather was good. There are a few ruins to see, the stack is the only structure left that is mostly complete. I ran across a black and yellow king snake, at the time I wasn’t sure if it was poisonous so I decided to leave the area.
Mayer is situated where, in 1882, Joe Mayer built a store that also had overnight accommodations for travelers. It was so successful that he added a stage station and saloon. Mayer's store was the handiest place around. Cattlemen would lodge there while laying out $3,000 or $4,000 for reprovisioning. As mines opened at Stoddard, Copper Mountain, and Poland, the town expanded. It received a post office in 1884, and two years later Joe Mayer constructed the two-story Mayer Hotel. The Prescott and Eastern Railroad arrived in 1898, further solidifying the community's importance as a center of commerce.
Joe Mayer was a natural entrepreneur. A 1902 issue of the Prescott Journal-Miner reports that Mayer, in partner-ship with E.S. Rogers, planned to market toothpicks made from cactus thorns as "Indian Souvenir Toothpicks." The newspaper had received a sample lot and was duly impressed. The most obvious landmark in Mayer is the lone smokestack, 120 feet high, of the Great Western Smelter. Built in 1916, it was planned as part of a complex that would raise the daily capacity of the smelter from 200 to 700 tons. | <urn:uuid:90dec3f9-654a-4cf1-8647-d0ec6fabf876> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ghosttownaz.info/mayor.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981035 | 342 | 2.5625 | 3 |
We've seen this movie before. Maybe dreamed this nightmare. Or covered this Congress and White House.
We are careening downhill with broken brakes. We are out of control and a cliff is dead ahead.
We are down to one last desperate solution: We must build a bridge to somewhere to save us from plunging over the fiscal cliff and carry us safely to whatever is on the other side.
Here's the good news: We know how to build the bridge. Here's the bad news: We've failed for decades to build it because our leaders haven't had the guts to tell us the truth about what is on the other side.
And that won't happen until we make some changes in the basic assumptions that underlie our federal tax system and our massive domestic spending programs, called entitlements. Especially Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.
Here is where the new truth gets tangled in political old-think. Because many of our wealthiest individuals and corporate leaders are eager to discuss the need to reform (their translation is: cut) entitlement programs benefiting not just the poor and near poor, but also the middle- and upper-middle classes. But in truth, they too are beneficiaries of other huge federal entitlements -- tax deductions to which they've long felt entitled.
Republican presidential standard bearer Mitt Romney made a proposal during the last campaign that should be a starting point for our income tax reform. Romney proposed cutting the deductions that helped make
Social Security will no longer work as a pay-as-you-go program. Medicare too needs ever-increasing federal support. But they must continue to serve all who need them.
It may be time to rethink one big basic assumption underlying Social Security: It really is our key form of income insurance; it provides vital basic income for the ever-expanding group of elderly Americans. But it doesn't work like other forms of insurance we buy because everybody automatically gets its government benefits upon becoming senior citizens. When you pay premiums for health insurance or storm insurance, you know you won't receive benefits unless you have a health or storm problem covered by your policy. Yet, billionaires and multimillionaires with no income problems receive Social Security benefits payments, just like most Americans who need that money to pay basic bills.
Some experts -- and some wealthy Americans -- recommend reducing or eliminating Social Security benefits for those who earn millions annually.
It's a livable land we can see on the other side of that fiscal cliff. But to get there, we need a bottom line commitment from the president and Congress to save us from the mess they made by rethinking the basic assumptions driving our debt madness. | <urn:uuid:53e83ae7-2e23-45a7-8247-2da0d7defc4b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sentinelandenterprise.com/opinion/ci_22088827/budgetary-bridge-somewhere | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950977 | 533 | 1.578125 | 2 |
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It's All Politics
Wed December 7, 2011
Gingrich's Proposals On Child Labor Stir Attacks, But Raise Real Issues
Newt Gingrich's proposal to put poor children to work because, he says, they're not learning the "work habit" in public housing projects has been condemned by critics as worthy of a Dickens novel.
Those who followed the GOP presidential candidate's tumultuous legislative career in Washington say Gingrich's latest foray into child welfare is not an anomaly.
As House Speaker in the mid-1990s, Gingrich proposed banning welfare benefits for children born to unmarried young women and using the funds to build orphanages for youngsters whose parents were failing them.
At the time, criticism and condemnation rained down on Gingrich.
His orphanage proposal, which was part of the contentious welfare overhaul debate in Congress, died a fairly quick death. A similar fate likely awaits his plan to have children undertake school janitorial duties now preformed by union workers.
But many of his critics, including some child advocates, say that both Gingrich's work and orphanage proposals have merit. It's the way he presents them that raises hackles.
"To me, this is vintage Newt," Ron Haskins, co-director of the Brookings Center on Children and Families, says of Gingrich's jobs-for-kids plan.
"He has a good point, but he says it in a way that many people find offensive," says Haskins, a former Republican congressional staff member and author of Work Over Welfare: The Inside Story of the 1996 Welfare Reform Law.
There is strong data that shows the lifelong benefits of learning the work ethic at an early age, Haskins says, from better pay to personal stability.
Gingrich, however, wrapped his child work proposal around a claim that parents, mostly single mothers, living with their children in housing projects don't provide a model for hard work.
It's a claim easily disproved by U.S. Census Bureau data, Haskins says.
"Many of those mothers work, and way more work than in the past because of the welfare-to-work law he worked on in the 1990s," Haskins says. "If the economy were better, more would work, but they certainly have been setting an example."
According to census data, in 2010 there were 9.9 million single mother households with children under age 18, representing about 85 percent of all single-parent families with children.
More than 65 percent of those mothers were employed, the data showed.
Other critics found their own ammunition. The Hill reported that Obama supporter and actress Eva Longoria attacked Gingrich on Twitter, saying that Latina entrepreneurs start businesses at six times the national average.
Gingrich, in suggesting that children work as school janitors, also stepped on the toes of the union representing school janitors of the adult variety.
And child labor laws? "Truly stupid," Gingrich said during an appearance last month at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government.
The nation's federal Fair Labor Standards Act sets 14 as the minimum age for most non-agricultural work, though states can pass stricter laws.
The federal act allows youngsters of any age to "deliver newspapers; perform in radio, television, movie or theatrical productions; work in businesses owned by their parents with the exception of mining, manufacturing or hazardous job." They can also babysit , perform "minor chores" around a private home, and "gather evergreens and make evergreen wreaths."
There are different age requirements for youngsters working in agriculture.
During the welfare overhaul debate in the 1990s, Gingrich in his push to "end welfare as we know it," sought to create state-run orphanages arguing that many children would be better off there than with dysfunctional parents.
During interviews, he talked about babies in dumpsters. Abandoned children. A "little four-year-old who was thrown off a balcony in Chicago [who] would have been a heck of a lot better of at Boys Town."
Critics charged that it would be a return to the 19th century and also ratchet up costs. Then-First Lady Hillary Clinton called the proposal "absurd and unbelievable." Liberal commentators characterized the plan as an element of a war on the poor.
"We are not about tearing away babies from their mothers," Rep. David Bonior of Michigan, serving as Democratic whip, said at the time.
Richard McKenzie, an economics professor at the University of California Irvine, however, says he was inspired by the orphanage debate.
"I grew up in an orphanage, and before the media storm erupted over his proposal, I had never gone public about my upbringing," he said.
McKenzie ended up writing a column for the Wall Street Journal defending orphanages as imperfect but, as he says, "a damn sight better than what I had."
He has since written books about orphanages, including Rethinking Orphanages for the 21st Century, and continues to collect data on the experiences of people raised in orphanages. McKenzie is also an adjunct scholar at the libertarian Cato Institute.
"I think Gingrich was more right than he knew, and once he got hit from all sides, he backpedaled," McKenzie says.
He sees orphanages, or "residential academies" as many are now called, as a needed option for children living in abusive or dysfunction homes as he was. Both his parents were non-functioning alcoholics.
"Now, there are two ideologies — family preservation and family reunification," McKenzie says. "Preservation can leave kids in a bad situation until it gets really bad, and reunification can put children in and out of foster homes, going in circles."
"Modern-day orphanages are simply nothing like they were in the 1950s, or 200 years ago," he said.
Haskins agrees, but acknowledges there is great disagreement among child advocates about orphanages.
"We need lot of choices," Haskins says, "and one should be quality orphanages."
Gingrich, however, given his personality and penchant for bombast, is not the one to be carrying the message, Haskins and McKenzie say.
"It would be better for Newt to be measured on these issues, but he wants to say things in a radical way," Haskins says.
McKenzie agrees. "I met him 30 years ago, and am not impressed with his ability to deal with people without being sarcastic and nasty," he says.
Gingrich has not yet raised the issue of orphanages this campaign, and this week attempted to soften his child work proposal by referring to the effort as an "apprenticeship" plan.
His campaign spokesman did not respond to a request for comment. | <urn:uuid:8ed2b2b1-f56a-4e0e-80d3-90f5c9b88630> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kenw.org/post/gingrichs-proposals-child-labor-stir-attacks-raise-real-issues | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980298 | 1,406 | 2.3125 | 2 |
Since our Holy Father introduced the Luminous Mysteries of the Rosary a couple years ago, it’s been a joy and sometimes a challenge for my family to embrace these new mysteries. We are always on the lookout for new ways of approaching these rich episodes in Christ’s life.
As we've given more attention to the wedding at Cana (Jn 2:1-11), the second Luminous Mystery, I've been amazed at the depth of this passage. There are so many ways to approach this event, when Christ worked His first public miracle.
For one thing, the fact that it's a wedding itself is significant. As the Catechism of the Catholic Church notes, “the Church attaches great importance to Jesus's presence at the wedding at Cana. She sees in it the confirmation of the goodness of marriage and the proclamation that thenceforth marriage will be an efficacious sign of Christ's presence” (Catechism no. 1613). In the midst of a culture that devalues marriage, this mystery seriously redirects our attention to the fundamental goodness of marriage both as a human institution and as a personal vocation in Christ.
The wedding at Cana shows our Blessed Mother in action. As we pray in the Hail Holy Queen, Mary is our “most gracious Advocate” (Catechism, no. 969). As she interceded for the poor couple who ran out of wine at their wedding, she intercedes for each one of us. Her purpose is always to manifest and magnify her Son's glory (see Jn 2:11). She encourages each one of us, as she encouraged the servants at the wedding, to “do whatever He tells you” (Jn 2:5). That, in an inexhaustible nutshell, is the essence of Christian discipleship.
The wedding at Cana is the first of seven “signs” in the Gospel of John that bring to light the glory of God shining forth through the Word made flesh. The Catechism succinctly describes the meaning of this “sign”: “The sign of water turned into wine at Cana already announces the hour of Jesus's glorification. It makes manifest the fulfillment of the wedding feast in the Father's kingdom, where the faithful will drink the new wine that has become the Blood of Christ” (Catechism no. 1335; see also no. 2618).
Recently another, perhaps less obvious dimension of this Luminous Mystery came to light for me. As I was prayerfully reading the passage, I stopped at verse 10, where the steward of the feast says: “Every man serves the good wine first; and when men have drunk freely, then the poor wine; but you have kept the good wine until now.”
This makes for an interesting contrast with the multiplication of the loaves. In the multiplication of the loaves, our Lord does just that He multiplies. The miracle is that a few loaves are able to feed thousands with plenty left over. There's no mention of the bread somehow improving in quality. It's enough of a miracle that there's sufficient bread for the multitude.
At the wedding at Cana, however, the “water now become wine” wasn't simply more of the same. It fact, the steward seems to suggest that at this point the guests would have been content with a lesser vintage. Yet the wine Jesus miraculously gives far exceeds everyone's expectation. It is the “good wine.”
On a spiritual level, I find myself wanting the “good wine.” Where do I find this “good wine”? This question sounds very much like the question the woman at the well posed to Jesus a couple chapters later in St. John's Gospel: “Sir, give me this water, that I may not thirst, nor come here to draw” (Jn 4:15).
In both cases, the answer is found at the Cross, where the blood and water flowing from the pierced side of Jesus gives abundant, new life. We're speaking here of the sacramental life of the Church, through which the Blessed Trinity channels divine life to us. And so in the Eucharist, our Lord changes ordinary bread, along with wine, “the blood of the grape” (Dt 32:4), into His own Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity. Whenever we receive this “living bread,” we receive the awesome gift of partaking more fully in God's very life. This is the “good wine” par excellence.
The Lord gives us “good wine” in these sublime sacramental encounters not only to quench our thirst at the moment, but as a means for us to experience and savor His abiding presence in our lives in a powerful way.
As psychologist Richard Carlson notes, “Our inbox probably won't be empty when we die.” This is simply a clever way of saying that we tend to approach our lives as a series of tasks to check off our “to do” list. We push ahead through the seeming monotony of our daily lives toward some nebulous future moment when we'll be able to enjoy the fruit of our labors.
Yet the future remains in the future. The “good wine” Christ wants to give us is not in the unattainable future.
Rather, Christ wants to give us “good wine” right now not as an end in itself, but to prepare our “taste buds” for the heavenly banquet. The “good wine” is not elsewhere, but can and must be found right here, amidst our daily struggles. As we become more attentive to the present moment, to the superabundant “good wine” within our reach, we're better able to allow Christ's life within us to transform the “water” of our mundane lives.
This life of grace is now, it's real and, like the water made wine at Cana, it's surprising. What God wants to give us right now is better than anything we could desire or work for on our own. As Isaiah asks, why do we spend our money for that which is not bread, and our labor for that which does not satisfy? (Is 55:2). God is not a demanding slave master or even a disinterested patriarch. He's a Father who delights in the marriage of His Son to His Church and, more pointedly, who delights in each and every one of us. He is eager to infuse our lives with the “good wine.”
Leon J. Suprenant, Jr. is the president of Catholics United for the Faith (CUF) and Emmaus Road Publishing and the editor-in-chief of Lay Witness magazine, all based in Steubenville, Ohio. He is a contributor to Catholic for a Reason III: Scripture and the Mystery of the Mass and an adviser to CE’s Catholic Scripture Study. His email address is email@example.com.
Join Catholics United for the Faith and enjoy the many benefits of membership. | <urn:uuid:4305056a-3334-4d64-83d4-cdde748c4230> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://catholicexchange.com/got-wine/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960518 | 1,491 | 1.710938 | 2 |
"I have today signed into law H.R. 3754, the "Legislative Branch Appropriations Act, 1997," said President Clinton.
"The Act provides fiscal year 1997 appropriations for the Congress, the Congressional Budget Office, the Architect of the Capitol, the General Accounting Office, the Government Printing Office, and the Library of Congress.
"I am especially pleased to sign into law a provision that will allow blind and visually impaired persons to get earlier access to books and other reading matter. As a result of an agreement between the publishing industry and advocates for people with disabilities, books can now be converted into alternative formats such as Braille as soon as they appear in print. Prior to this change, the Library of Congress and other organizations that sought to provide these materials had to obtain permission from copyright holders on a case-by-case basis, leading to lengthy delays in access to all types of reading material. This law will help us reach our goal of full inclusion of people with disabilities.
"I am also pleased with the provision that encourages the Senate to transfer excess or surplus computers and other educationally useful equipment to public schools at the lowest possible cost. This complements our initiative to encourage Federal agencies to do the same to help integrate technology into school curriculums, and ensure that all students have the skills they will need to succeed in the information-intensive 21st century."
........... WILLIAM J. CLINTON THE WHITE HOUSE September 16, 1996 6 | <urn:uuid:aadeab94-1f60-4ffe-a3e8-2aa502cfd608> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://people.rit.edu/easi/law/cpyright.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947343 | 297 | 1.96875 | 2 |
Gardening Articles: Care :: Pests & Problems
by National Gardening Association Editors
If you've tried repelling, excluding, and scaring away a pest animal and it's still causing problems, you can trap and release it, or use a lethal trap. Trapping is an effective way to remove a specific pest animal, but isn't useful against a large local population over the long run. In the latter case, trapping should be done in conjunction with exclusion, fencing, or altering the habitat.
It's best to call your local wildlife officer or professional pest removal company to handle problem animals. However, if you're willing to do the dirty work yourself, here are some tips to follow.
- Minimize signs of human activity. Handle traps as little as possible and mask your scent by wearing gloves. Make sure the trap is the right size and sturdy enough to handle the animal you're after.
- Anchor the trap so the animal can't roll it over and escape.
- Bait the trap a few times before setting to teach the animal that it's a safe to approach it.
- Make a trail of goodies to the trap, and pile some in the back or on the trap for the critter to find.
- Disinfect the trap with bleach after using. Rabies is transmitted by saliva, and you don't necessarily have to be bitten to contract the disease.
- Place plywood under live traps to prevent animal from scratching up the lawn or garden once they're caught.
- Use caution when releasing large animals (e.g. raccoon, skunk, woodchuck). The safest method is to tie a strong rope to the trap door. Run the rope through an open window into your vehicle, so you can pull open the trap door from a point of safety.
- Check traps daily, and release or bury animals as soon as possible.
Live trapping and releasing animals has become popular. It seems no one really wants to hurt those fuzzy, furry, cuddly creatures. But in some cases live trapping can be more cruel than killing the animal. Relocated animals frequently become disoriented and aren't able to fit into their new habitat, often starving to death. If you use live traps, contact the Humane Society or the local or state game officer to determine the best method, time to trap, and way to release a wild or nuisance animal before setting the trap. Some species are protected from trapping by law in various states.
Once you've caught the animal, be careful. Wild animals can carry diseases such as rabies. Frightened skunks will be more likely to spray, and an agitated woodchuck will nip in self-defense. Here are some tips for trapping specific animals.
Chipmunks and Squirrels
Bait the trap with nuts, peanut butter, rolled oats, or seeds. Set traps near a food source (e.g. a bird feeder) or along a runaway such as at the base of a tree. Use metal traps, as rodents have sharp teeth and can chew through wooden traps. Check traps a few times a day. | <urn:uuid:f8d61a1e-eb1f-407b-9a75-30889ae4de9e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.garden.org/subchannels/care/pests?q=show&id=1825 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934729 | 639 | 3.078125 | 3 |
Created: 22 June 2011
Latest revision or update: 1 January 2012
Rabbi Jacob Weinberg leaves Oxford
by Harold Pollins
Originally published in Oxford Menorah December 2005. Updated 2011
During the whole of the twentieth century there were only two ministers for the Oxford Jewish congregation. Their total ministry lasted less than 20 years. The first was Rev Moses H. Segal who arrived just after the turn of the century and ministered in Oxford until 1909. The second was Rev Jacob Weinberg who was there during the Second World War. This is not to take into account Herbert Martin James Loewe who, as Lecturer in Hebrew at Exeter College from 1914 to 1931, acted as a kind of spiritual and social leader, especially for Jewish undergraduates but also for the small resident congregation. [In fact see my article, The Last Minister of Oxford, 2011, for references to other Ministers.]
There is useful information about Weinberg in David Lewis’s The Jews of Oxford. At the beginning of the Second World War there was a great increase in the number of Jews in Oxford because of the evacuation from London, the previous resident population being a mere handful. In his report to an annual general meeting of the congregation on 2 June 1940, the senior treasurer, Walter Ettinghausen, noted the ‘transference to Oxford of schoolchildren, prisoners, blind persons, hospital patients and private individuals’, as well as of some 400-500 refugees from Europe. In total his figures for the summer of 1940 amounted to some 800-900 Jews in Oxford (including 200 evacuated children), ‘the largest settlement of Jews in Oxford since the thirteenth century’. Later in 1940, as the London blitz got under way, the number of evacuees became even larger. There was another synagogue in Cowley and, for a time, two in Headington. Yet, as Lewis points out, during the war the membership of the synagogue was not very great; the highest of the figures he gives was in November 1944 at 85 men and 45 women.
this new, large community Rev Jacob Weinberg was appointed to minister to its
needs. He remained until 1948 and I want to concentrate on his farewell
ceremony. He had been awarded his rabbinical diploma in 1947 and after his
Oxford period he went to South Africa. David Lewis, then an undergraduate in
1948, notes that ‘I was sent by the University Jewish Society to speak at his
farewell party’ but he says little about that event. Nor does he refer to a
publication of 1948 in the Bodleian Library by Rabbi Weinberg and published by
the Oxford Jewish Congregation. It is entitled ‘Farewell Address by Rabbi J.
Weinberg, B.A., Minister’.
The pamphlet, as the title indicates, consists of the words of Rabbi Weinberg. A pity that there appears to be no record of the other speeches; there is nothing about the reception in the Jewish Chronicle, and indeed there were few if any reports from Oxford in that paper that year, unlike the regular ones in the war years and immediately after. Nor were there any reports in the local newspapers, the Oxford Mail and the Oxford Times. In the pamphlet Weinberg gave an account of his time in Oxford and it is a useful supplement to what is otherwise known. He notes that he tried ‘to do justice to all the demands made upon my time and energy whether as Minister, Preacher, Reader, Officiating Chaplain to H.M. and the American Forces, Chaplain to H.M. Prison, Chaplain to the local Hospitals and Institutions, Headmaster of our Synagogue Classes, or Social Worker’. He gave thanks to the various people who shouldered the burden of the increased activities. He paid special tribute to Walter Ettinghausen who was extremely active in the community during the first months of the war before he was called up for the army. B.I. Beckman gets a particularly fulsome appreciation as does Laurie Bloom who was notably responsible for the Cowley congregation. Weinberg recalled the increase in the number of Jews in Oxford and neighbourhood during the blitz and gave the surprising figure of 7,000 in total. Can that be right? His statistics seem exaggerated - David Lewis states that the number of individuals registered for kosher meat was 800. Weinberg also mentioned the growth in the number of organisations and clubs that came into existence to meet the new demands. Hebrew Classes were started; a Communal Centre was opened; a Youth Club was formed; a Ladies’ Guild was organised; Zionist Societies founded; arrangements were made for kosher meat; and arrangements were made for marriages and burials. Although Ettinghausen in his June 1940 report stated that a marriage in December 1939 was the first for many years, the Jewish Chronicle on 4 August 1939 reported the first wedding in Oxford of a refugee couple, Mr Fritz Weiss of Kitchener Camp, Richborough, and Miss Therese Weisz of Oxford. In the evening a reception and dance for them was held at the home of Mr & Mrs David Leverton.
As a minister Weinberg especially noted the large congregations at religious services, including attendance by American servicemen who were stationed near Oxford. Although attendance at Friday evening services had grown before the war because of the influx of refugees during the war he said that over 250 American soldiers ‘crowded our synagogue week after week’. On Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur in 1944 ‘the Union Debating Hall, accommodating nearly one thousand people, was filled to overflowing with members of the British and American forces’. At Seder nights at the Communal Centre between 300 and 400 people would celebrate the Seder.
Of particular interest are his observations on the immediate post-war period when ‘The great period of the Oxford Jewish congregation was over‘ although, he says, there were still between 600 and 700 Jews in Oxford. He attributes the survival to Laurie Bloom whose efforts led to increased synagogue membership and there was a financial surplus instead of the previous deficit. Moreover, he instigated the formation of the Social Section which quickly became the strongest organisation of the community with over 100 attending the Sunday gatherings. The Social Section also helped other organisations such as arranging entertainments for the children of the Hebrew Classes.
He ended by thanking the friends they had made in Oxford. ‘Your respect and your affection have made my stay in Oxford a very happy one’. He went to Muizenberg, South Africa, then became the minister at Edinburgh, and he died in 1989.
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