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Office Of Public Affairs
Colon Cancer Risk in U.S. Traced to Common Ancestor
Discovery of founder mutation involved two large families--one in Utah--one in New York
Jan 2, 2008 2:00 PM
Salt Lake City— A married couple who sailed from England to America around 1630 may be the ancestors of hundreds of people alive today who are at risk for a hereditary form of colon cancer.
Researchers from Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah have discovered a founder mutation—a mutation that has been traced from many individuals in the present-day population back to a common ancestor—which may contribute to a significant percentage of colon cancer cases in the United States.
An article reporting the finding was published in the Jan. 2, 2008 issue of Clinical Gastroenterology and Hepatology. The researchers studied two large families, one in Utah and one in New York, that both carry a specific genetic mutation responsible for increased risk of colorectal cancer. They discovered that the two families share common ancestors—a couple who came to America from England in the 1630s, about the time of the Pilgrims.
“The fact that this mutation can be traced so far back in time suggests that it could be carried by many more families in the United States than is currently known,” says Deborah Neklason, Ph.D., a University of Utah research assistant professor and leader of the study. “In fact, this founder mutation might be related to many colon cancer cases in the United States.”
The mutation causes a condition called attenuated familial adenomatous polyposis (AFAP). Without proper clinical care, people with the AFAP mutation have a greater than 2 in 3 risk of colon cancer by age 80, compared to about 1 in 24 for the general population. Yet the cancer can be prevented with proper screening and care.
"Knowing one has the condition can be life-saving,” Neklason says. “Not only are affected individuals at greater risk then the general population as they grow older, but precancerous polyps are often found in mutation carriers in their late teens and colon cancer has been diagnosed in individuals in their 20s.”
However, she explains, clinical recognition of AFAP can be difficult because colon cancer develops on average in a person’s 50s and the majority of sporadic, or non-hereditary, colon cancers occur after the age of 50. About a third of people with AFAP also have just a few polyps—again similar to that for sporadic colon cancer—and they may have a limited family history.
“People need to talk with their family, learn their family cancer history, and share this information with their doctors. Doctors need to be aware of AFAP, recognize people at risk, and know the screening and treatment protocols that can prevent colon cancer from developing,” Neklason says.
The Utah family in this study has more than 7,000 descendants spanning nine generations recorded in the Utah Population Database (UPDB), a shared resource for genetics research housed at HCI. Researchers use UPDB to identify and study families that have higher than normal incidence of cancer or other disease, to analyze patterns of genetic inheritance, and to identify specific genetic mutations.
Known individuals in this one family account for 0.15 percent of all colorectal cancers reported in Utah from 1966 to 1995. Based on that percentage, researchers expected to see eight cases of colon cancer from this family among the over 5,000 reported between 1996 and 2003. But after previous research identified this family as affected by AFAP, aggressive education and clinical intervention resulted in only one mutation carrier in the family being diagnosed with colon cancer during those years.
"Preventing seven cancers may not sound like much,” says Neklason. “But that’s seven colon cancers that didn’t devastate this family. And consider that $50,000 is a conservative estimate for the cost of colorectal cancer treatment. That amounts to at least $350,000, and that means a lot for any family.”
Co-authors on the study included physicians and researchers that belong to several University of Utah departments, including Huntsman Cancer Institute, Oncological Sciences, Human Genetics, and Medicine. Funding for the study was provided by the National Cancer Institute, the Utah Department of Health, the University of Utah, and Huntsman Cancer Institute.
The mission of Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at The University of Utah is to understand cancer from its beginnings, to use that knowledge in the creation and improvement of cancer treatments, to relieve the suffering of cancer patients, and to provide education about cancer risk, prevention, and care. HCI is a National Cancer Institute-designated cancer center, which means that it meets the highest national standards for cancer care and research and receives support for its scientific endeavors. HCI is also a member of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), a not-for-profit alliance of the world’s leading cancer centers, which is dedicated to improving the quality and effectiveness of care provided to patients with cancer.
# # #
|Deb Neklasson, Ph.D.|
research assistant professor ,
Director , U of U Health Sciences Public Affairs
Visit our News Archive for a complete list of previous News. | <urn:uuid:1482ff0d-ae2b-4e38-bc9a-7b630e38c7fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://healthcare.utah.edu/publicaffairs/news/archive/2008/coloncancerrisk.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952737 | 1,114 | 2.75 | 3 |
A life in the face of the King of Pop: HIStory of Michael Jackson's appearance
He started life as a cute, normal looking boy in a family of nine. But after finding early fame in the Jackson Five and then later as a solo artist, Michael Jackson's apparent addiction to surgey began.
By his mid-20s, the singer's nose was noticeably different and his skin appeared lighter. A decade later, personal scandals had overtaken Jackson's music career, his nose was disfigured and his face unnatural, apparently due to repeated - and seemingly botched - plastic surgery. And as the new millenium dawned, Jackson's appearance had become a tragic spectacle...
In 1960, Jackson is a toddler in Gary, Indiana, with chubby cheeks and the nose nature gave him. Aged 13 in 1971, he is at the height of fame as the lead singer of the Jackson Five
At 16, Jackson sports and giant afro and his skin has changed already - but it's only teenage acne. In 1983 and now 25, the eyebrows have thinned and the afro is gone, but there is little sign of the surgeons scalpel
1985 and the singer's wide nose is slimmer. his skin appears lighter and his eyebrows are now pencilled on. In 1992, a cleft has appeared on his chin and his skin in much lighter. He blames a rare skin disorder.
In 1994 Jackson was accused of molesting a 13-year-old. The singer, now 36, appears much older than his age. In 1997, Jackson's skin is so white he could almost pass for a white man
Now 44 and apparently wearing a wig, in 2002 Jackson's nose showed the first signs of disintegration. A police mugshot in 2003 as the star faced child molestation charges showed an almost cartoonish face
Tale of two noses
These photos show how Jackson's nose looks different from either side, a result of all his cosmetic surgery | <urn:uuid:1c73b848-bf23-4a96-968a-e073b477bc5e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-1159857/A-life-face-King-Pop-HisTory-Michael-Jacksons-appearance.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986787 | 400 | 2.5 | 2 |
On Monday 5 March, one day after the re-election of Vladimir Putin as president of Russia, demonstrations by the opposition were forcibly ended by the riot police and hundreds of protestors were arrested. Opposition leaders including Alexey Navalny, Ilya Yashin and Sergei Udaltsov were among the opposition protesters that were arrested following the fourth mass rally since December's contested parliamentary election and the first since the presidential poll of March 4. In the months leading up to the election, opposition leaders were elated not only by the large crowds their protests attracted, some in Moscow as big as 100,000, but by the unusual official tolerance from officials who previously rejected almost all permission requests for opposition rallies. However, just a day after Putin’s re-election the tolerance seems over.
The pattern appears clear: Putin will allow a few isolated protests, the place and time of which is agreed with the authorities, as a safety valve for disillusionment with his 12-year domination of Russia among mainly urban demonstrators. If, however, there are protests organized that are not in line with this policy, they will be forcibly beaten down by the riot police. Monday’s protest was such an example of an unauthorized anti-Putin demonstration.
Most of the oppositionists who attended the protest - 14,000 by the police's count and 20,000 by the opposition's - dispersed peacefully at its conclusion. However, about 1000 people remained as a column of special police entered the square. Standing in 30cm-thick snow on the ice and surrounded by a throng of supporters and bodyguards, Mr Navalny and Mr Nashin received a warning from Valerii Bakunin, assistant to Putin's Human Rights Commissioner, that the crackdown was imminent. They ignored the warning after which the Moscow riot police detained hundreds of demonstrators.
Where previous protests have been marked by high spirits and a hopeful mood, a day after the election the protest was notable for its sense of outrage and the strident anti-Putinism of the opposition's leaders. Black-helmeted police hauled away more than 500 people, including several opposition leaders, who attended unsanctioned rallies in Moscow and St Petersburg or refused to disperse at the end of a rally that had been permitted. After three months of protests that passed off peacefully, the police intervention sent a clear signal that Putin is losing patience with the opposition and will crack down if protesters step out of line. However, Russian activists say they plan to continue protesting against Vladimir Putin's victory in presidential elections.
Putin won the presidential election with 63.6 per cent of the vote and in May he will be sworn in to serve for another six-year term as president of Russia. Both members of the opposition and independent monitors have called the legitimacy of the election into question, stating that large-scale fraud was involved in the elections, including forced voting, ballot-box stuffing and carousel voting. Reports have recorded voters casting their ballots multiple times at several polling stations.
Right after his release Navalny, an anti-corruption blogger who has become a leading light of the protest movement, stated: "We will keep fighting until we win," announcing more protests in Moscow and other cities, starting this weekend.
Sources: Radio Free Europe, Reuters, BBC, The Washington Post
Image Flickr by Freedomhouse | <urn:uuid:b7bca0ad-e2ee-478d-9143-5b10216b2489> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.europeanforum.net/news/1362/massive_anti_putin_protests_condemned_by_the_new_president | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980204 | 671 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Working mothers and working fathers, finally there is a children’s picture book that you can use to explain to your children why you both work.
Rebeca doesn’t want her parents to leave every day. But then Mommy explains why she and Daddy must go, to make a living and provide for their girls. Young children will love the fanciful rhymes and find reassurance when they understand why Mommy and Daddy Work to Make Some Dough. Jennifer Pereyra’s charming tale is an excellent story for the children of working parents.
This is an eLIVE book, meaning each printed copy contains a special code redeemable for the free download of the audio version of the book. | <urn:uuid:049b49c9-de59-408a-892c-23118ef74567> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jenniferpereyra.tateauthor.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945696 | 145 | 2.25 | 2 |
Hello, seven thirty three friends! I'm Molly from The Creative Maven. When it comes to making stuff, I'll try just about anything, but my true passion is sewing... so I whipped up a really simple, cute and FUN sewing project for you today! We're going to make these ruffled, reversible cuff bracelets!
>>Very thick fusible interfacing
>>2 fat quarters of coordinating fabric scraps (you'll be able to make several bracelets!)
>>1/4" wide coordinating ribbon
>>Magnetic snaps (found in purse making section of your craft store). I used these. There are a couple of sizes, but I used the 3/4" ones.
>>Rotary cutter + self-healing mat
>>Rotary cutter + self-healing mat
>>Sewing machine + zipper foot
Step 1. Measure your wrist. Wrap a measuring tape around your wrist, the way you would want your bracelet to fit (do you want it really close against your skin, like a true cuff, or a little looser like a bangle?) - then add two inches to that measurement.
Step 2. Cut your pieces. Cut a piece of very stiff fusible interfacing, 1 1/2" wide by the measurement you came up with above (wrist circumference plus 2"). From one of your fabric pieces, cut a strip that is 2 1/2" wide by your wrist measurement from step 1 plus another 1". Finally, from your second fabric, cut a strip that is 2 1/2" wide by your wrist measurement x 2 (so if your wrist measurement is 10", you would cut a 20" strip) - when we ruffle it, it really shrinks up!
Step 3. Create your ruffle.With your extra long strip of fabric, run a seam down the center, lengthwise, pleating the fabric every inch or so as shown.
When you are finished, trim it so it matches the length of your other fabric strip.
Cut a piece of coordinating ribbon, and stitch it down the seam of your ruffled piece to cover the seam.
Step 4. Fuse fabric to interfacing. Center the strip of interfacing on the non-ruffled fabric strip (with interfacing towards the wrong side of the fabric). Flip the whole thing over so that you are looking at the right side of your fabric, and iron to fuse the interfacing to the fabric.
Step 5. Mark for your snap closure. Place your two fabric strips on a self-healing mat. The snaps each come with a little metal template dealy (see arrow) to help you place your snap in the right place.
Using a seam gauge (or tape measure or ruler if you don't have a seam gauge), measure 1/2" to 5/8" from the edge of one of your strips (ignore the picture where my seam gauge does NOT match what I'm telling you! :)). Also make sure to center the marker vertically so your snap will be in the center of the bracelet. Use a pen to mark in the slots.
Do the same to your other fabric strip, but do it on the opposite end (see arrows).
Use an Xacto knife to cut through the slits.
Step 6. Sew. Place your fabric strips on top of each other, right sides together, and stitch around three sides, leaving one of the long sides open.
Trim the corners (on the sewn corners only!), and turn the bracelet right side out. Use a closed pair of scissors to pop out the corners if you need to. On the open side, press the extra fabric toward the inside.
Insert the snaps - doesn't really matter which half of the snap goes on which side.
Starting with the open side, edge stitch all around the bracelet - closing the gap and giving it a nice crisp finish.
That's it! Two fun ways to wear it!
Kim, thanks SO much for inviting me to be here today! I hope you all will come visit me at: | <urn:uuid:80ceda6b-6dfb-45af-8a21-5a92ead741df> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.733blog.com/2010/10/friendly-tuesday-creative-maven.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912546 | 841 | 1.5625 | 2 |
Esther and John Earle prefer not to play favorites with the 50 grape, fruit and honey wines available at their Seneca Lake tasting rooms.
“They’re all like our kids,” says Esther Earle, who launched Earle Estates Meadery with husband John in 1994, followed by Torrey Ridge Winery in 1999.
No wonder the tasting rooms, located within the same structure in Penn Yan, Yates County, feel like home. Accented by brass chandeliers, cathedral ceilings and blond wood, the atmosphere lends itself to meeting up with Cousin Hick-A-Billy, a sweet nonvintage red blend made from Catawba and other native grapes, or Uncle Ralph’s Rabble Red, a dry nonvintage blend of Vincent and Marechal Foch.
Turning wine tasting into a come-as-you-are experience began enticing the Earles shortly after they befriended scientist Bob Kime in the 1980s.
As an employee at the New York State Agricultural Experiment Station in Geneva, Ontario County, until his death in 2002, Kime spent much of his career studying how to improve the taste and appearance of mead, or honey wine. The Earles got to know him when they donated orange blossom honey from their bee colonies for his experiments.
The Earles expected nothing in return except a few bottles of the resulting mead, which they eventually sent to Ithaca liquor stores to gauge its commercial appeal. Buoyed by the public’s interest, the couple started laying the foundation for Earle Estates and eventually branched out to making grape wine under the Torrey Ridge label from vinifera, hybrid and native varietals.
The subsequent years have given the couple the chance to educate the public about mead, a relatively uncommon beverage with roots trailing back to antiquity. Some of the options at Earle Estates are blends of fruit wine and mead, while others are purely honey-based but come in various styles, from semi-dry to sweet.
Last year, Earle Estates even delved into producing bubbly, resulting in the debut of a sparkling mead called Twinkle.
Though the winery and meadery saw a slight decline in visitors when gas hit $4 a gallon in 2008, Esther Earle says the recession and the staycation phenomenon have benefited both operations.
“We’ve been blessed through the bad times,” she says.
Sheila Livadas, for FingerLakesWine.com
Hours: 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday, 11:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, after Memorial Day through December; noon to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday and Sunday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, February through Memorial Day. Call ahead for hours in January. Tasting fee: $2 for six samples of wine. Not wheelchair accessible.
Photo courtesy of Torrey Ridge
Earle Estates Meadery is three miles south of Torrey Ridge (above). Tastings from both operations are available at the Torrey Ridge Winery. | <urn:uuid:3ab7a341-049e-4a7f-9730-79dba7f6b6ab> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fingerlakeswine.com/article/99999999/SPECIALS0901/50322026 | 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 | 0.951498 | 658 | 1.554688 | 2 |
A Better Hope
“On the one hand, a former commandment is set aside because of its weakness and uselessness (for the law made nothing perfect); but on the other hand, a better hope is introduced, through which we draw near to God” (Heb. 7:18–19).- Hebrews 7:18–19
On account of persecution, many in the original audience of the book of Hebrews came to doubt the reality of the new covenant. Some of them were considering a return to the old covenant and the Levitical priesthood at the time the epistle was written. They had forgotten that the hope of salvation in Christ was a better hope than the hope offered under the old covenant. Thus, the author, being concerned that none of them should fall away, wrote a letter to the Hebrews in order to remind them that the better hope of salvation in Christ finds its very ground in the heavenly temple itself (6:19).
This hope is a better hope because it is grounded in the priesthood of Christ. Unlike the Levitical priesthood, which was unable to perfect anyone, Christ is High Priest after the order of Melchizedek and is able to perfect all those who come to Him for salvation (7:1–17).
In today’s passage, the author of Hebrews continues His emphasis on the change brought about by the Melchizedekian priesthood of Christ. We are told that when Christ came, a former commandment was set aside because of its uselessness and weakness. The primary focus of this verse is on the Levitical priesthood and all its attendant sacrifices. Now that Christ has come, they have ceased because they have been fulfilled by the perfect sacrifice of Christ. The “weakness” of the old has given way to the perfection of the new.
The former commandment was “weak” not due to any defect in the Law itself; the Law, in itself, is holy and spiritual (Rom. 7:12). The reason for the Law’s “weakness” is to be found in man himself. Man’s sinful heart made the Law useless by itself to grant the righteousness needed. In the hands of law-breaking humanity, it became an instrument only of death (Rom. 7:10).
However, Christ has introduced a better hope by fulfilling the Law. Yet, we do not throw away the Law completely. We seek to follow it out of gratitude to Christ, looking forward to the day when righteousness comes naturally because we are completely sanctified. This reality of righteousness will not come until Christ returns, but until then, the better hope of Christ enables us to draw near to God (Heb. 7:19) so that we may be empowered to become more like Him every day.
The “better hope” of the new covenant demonstrates that there was hope under the old covenant. However, the old covenant hope is only shadowy, while the new covenant hope is substantial. Thank God that He has always given hope to His people and that you live in the day of a more realized hope and confidence.
Passages for Further Study
2 Cor. 3:1–11
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Please include the following statement on any distributed copy: From Ligonier Ministries, the teaching fellowship of R.C. Sproul. All rights reserved. Website: www.ligonier.org | Phone: 1-800-435-4343 | <urn:uuid:ce6d169b-7189-4904-81cf-27b7ae242ca8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ligonier.org/learn/devotionals/better-hope/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963345 | 800 | 2.25 | 2 |
By Nick Squires
There are not many countries you can bicycle around before breakfast. One of the very few is Nauru, a Pacific island nation halfway between Australia and Hawaii.
The island of Nauru is the world's smallest independent republic
Dubbed Pleasant Island in the 18th Century by the captain of a passing British ship - it is the world's smallest independent republic, a coral speck dwarfed by the vastness of the Pacific Ocean.
On most assignments, one of the first tasks is to hire a car. On Nauru, it didn't really seem worth the bother, I opted instead for a battered mountain bike.
It took me about an hour and a half to cycle the narrow coast road, sweating profusely beneath the fierce equatorial sun. Before I knew it, I was back where I started. I had just circumnavigated the entire country.
Nauru may be little, but it once enjoyed enormous wealth. In fact Nauruans were among the richest people, per capita, in the world.
A quirk of nature means that their island consists of some of the world's purest phosphate - the legacy of millions of years of sea bird droppings reacting with an uplifted coral.
From independence from Britain and Australia in 1968, until the 1990s, Nauru earned a fortune exporting its phosphate for fertiliser.
The decades of mining left the once-lush interior a bleak moonscape of strange, grey coral spikes - all that is left once the phosphate-rich top soil is scooped out of the ground - but Nauruans did not care.
Islanders are returning to fishing now the money has run out
They gave up their jobs, brought in migrants from other Pacific islands to do the hot, dirty work of digging and sat back waiting for the royalty cheques to drop into their hands.
They then went on an extraordinary spending spree. Families who had never left the island would charter aircraft to take them on shopping expeditions in Hawaii, Fiji and Singapore.
Sports cars were imported, despite the fact that Nauru has only one paved road and the speed limit is 25mph.
A police chief memorably bought a sleek yellow Lamborghini, only to find he was too portly to fit in the driver's seat. "We just didn't know how to handle it all," a barefoot islander told me as he played his guitar beneath a tree.
"Hardly anyone thought of investing the money. Dollar notes were even used as toilet paper," his friend told me. "It's true," he insisted seeing my look of disbelief. "It was like every day was party day."
A procession of conmen and carpetbaggers persuaded successive governments to invest in a string of bizarre schemes, including a West End musical about the life of Leonardo da Vinci.
The Nauraun children are still hopeful for the island's future
Nauru amassed a property portfolio of hotels and office blocks around the world. But corruption and downright incompetence took their toll and by the early part of this century, most of the assets had to be sold off to pay for the country's mounting debts.
Now all the money is gone.
Signs of Nauru's former wealth are few and far between. Homes are dilapidated, with holes punched through their walls.
An area known as Location is one of the most squalid slums I have come across in the South Pacific, a concrete ghetto of smashed windows, stray dogs and graffiti.
The brand new cars which islanders bought are rusted wrecks smothered in tropical undergrowth.
Last week a mob of angry islanders burnt down Nauru's only prison in what the government said was politically motivated unrest orchestrated by a former president.
Now comes another blow to this Micronesian micro-nation. A refugee detention centre, set up by Australia seven years ago, will close down at the end of this month.
It was built by the government of Prime Minister John Howard at a time when hundreds of boat people were trying to reach Australia.
It proved a huge vote-winner, but Mr Howard was turfed out in November and his successor, Labour Prime Minister Kevin Rudd, swiftly moved to shut it down. Nauruans are distraught - the facility brought much-needed jobs and hundreds of big-spending contractors, police and officials.
Despite all these trials, Nauru is determined to get back on its feet. A new reformist government is hatching plans to establish the island as a pit-stop for international tuna boats to refuel and repair.
Phosphate mining has resumed in on the island of Nauru
A mining company hopes to extract precious metals from the surrounding sea-bed. Phosphate mining has resumed with the government claiming there is another 30 years of reserves up in the scarred interior.
"We find ourselves in a big hole," concedes newly-elected president and former weight-lifting champion, Marcus Stephen. "We're doing our best to climb out of it. It won't be like in our heyday, but at least we'll be comfortable."
Nauruans realise that the party is well and truly over.
Now comes the hangover and then, with luck, some sort of recovery. But it will take squeaky clean governance, hard work and rock-solid investments for Pleasant Island to once again live up to its name.
It may not yet be paradise lost, but it is most definitely paradise postponed. | <urn:uuid:1ab51e7b-0f7a-43e1-8f5f-86459afb65bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/from_our_own_correspondent/7296832.stm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974117 | 1,139 | 2.296875 | 2 |
You have seen their pictures in the newspaper or on television. Still wearing army fatigues, they are encamped in the jungles" of Northern California or Oregon, or wandering, homeless, on the streets of New York or Los Angeles. They speak in apocalyptic terms of firefights with the enemy, battles fought against unseen foes. For them the war continues with battle lines on every side. The backfire of an automobile may be mortar fire from "Charlie." Planes taking off and arriving at the nearby airport—are they friend or foe?
They are victims of post-traumatic stress syndrome. For them, whether they are veterans of the Vietnam War, Desert Storm or some other war—the battle continues. They can't adjust to the reality of ordinary life. They continue fighting battles in their minds that were long ago decided. These people, many of whom performed valiantly in combat, are now losing a war of a different kind—one they are not even aware they are fighting. It is a sad and peculiar phenomenon.
As believers in Y'shua this can happen to us in the spiritual realm.
The normal life of the believer is a warfare. At times we feel as if we are fighting one battle after another. Yet our greatest danger is not when we are in the thick of battle. It is our failure to recognize that one battle is over and another has begun. If we fail to take stock of where we are, the nature of the struggle, who is for us, who is against us and how the battle is going, we may suffer our own form of spiritual post-traumatic delusions.
Elijah, the prophet on Mount Carmel, fought idolatry in Israel and won a great victory against the prophets of Baal. Following that victory, Elijah spun into a profound depression. He failed to reorient himself to the new realities, to adjust to the end of one battle and the beginning of another. As a result, with his own loneliness and self-absorption, he accomplished what the priests of Baal could not. He was reduced (albeit temporarily) to a whining, self-deluded state of cowardice.
David was always at his best in the midst of battle. He shone when Saul was seeking his life in the Judean wilderness; David emerged the moral victor because he would not return evil for evil in his dealings with the mad king. He was courageous in battle, no matter how outnumbered he was by the enemies of God. After his great victories David returned to the palace, while his soldiers conducted a mop-up operation to deal with the remaining Philistines. It was then that David's eye wandered toward Bathsheba and he plunged into sin.
The times when we are tempted the most are not in the midst of the battle, but are often after a substantial victory. That is when you are most likely to let down the spiritual force field around your heart. In the midst of the battle the opportunity to sin does not present itself so strongly because your energies are focused on that struggle. You are more likely to be depending on God's power, moving forward. The mistake most people make is that, after struggling and winning some battles, they fail to adjust to the ordinariness of their life apart from the struggle. They continue to fight the old battles, and as a result they lose the battle on other fronts. "Therefore let him who thinks he stands take heed lest he fall" (1 Corinthians 10:12). How can we take heed?
Recognize when a victory has been won
When we recognize our victories we can avoid being defeated in the areas where the battle still rages. We can reinforce the wall and support the troops to avoid losing the battle that is current.
We have won some important victories in the messianic movement during the last twenty years. We need to assess those victories and ask ourselves how the battle is going and where the battle is going. We have to be encouraged by the victories. We need to take the energy we have from the earlier struggle and reapportion it in order to have a proper stance for the future.
Focus on the fact that we have come a long way in the messianic community. Things are not what they used to be. There really was an outpouring of the Holy Spirit in the Jewish community that began during the time of the "Jesus revolution." It was a different kind of revival than what people are talking about today. It wasn't a harvest, it was a windfall. No one climbed the trees to get the fruit. We didn't reach up to pick it. We stooped to pick up what the Holy Spirit had shaken from the trees. That which we did not plant or cultivate grew to fruition. It was an extraordinary act of the Ruach Ha Kodesh.
Having grown up in a messianic Jewish home it is obvious to me that we've had an outpouring of God's Holy Spirit, because I remember the way things used to be. Most of the Jewish believers I was acquainted with were all of an older generation. The Jewish community could assert fairly confidently that Jews do not believe in Jesus because there was not much evidence to the contrary.
Then suddenly, Jewish people of all ages and backgrounds began coming to the Lord. Twenty years ago it was commonly said that Jews don't believe in Jesus. Now the party line is, "Jews who believe in Jesus aren't Jewish anymore." This is not only feeble in terms of Halakah, but absurd in light of the many Jewish people who either believe everything under the sun, or nothing in particular…and are still considered Jews.
Note this victory: The entire Jewish community has changed its stance because they cannot say that Jews don't believe in Jesus anymore. As a result, they have to re-define what is a Jew to exclude believers in Jesus. Some in the messianic community may be dismayed by the opposition we are getting, by the proliferation of anti-missionary groups attending conferences and speaking out against us. In reality it is evidence that we have won a great victory. The Jewish community must now grapple with what they could once dismiss out of hand.
We can acknowledge another great victory—and here again, this is the power of God at work—with respect to the kind of people who are coming to faith in the Messiah. Paul's words to the Corinthian church could easily have been written to messianic Jews of twenty years ago: "For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble…" (1 Corinthians 1:26).
Many might conclude that there still isn't much by way of wisdom and nobility in our ranks today! But, once again, I recall my experiences with the Bible studies and fellowship meetings of Jewish believers back in the sixties. It's not just that there weren't many wise or noble among us. There was a time when an outsider who visited messianic meetings would report that there were many there who were not playing with a full deck.
A recent article in the Detroit Jewish Press shows that some segments of the Jewish community have recognized a change, as the Jewish reporter observed of the local messianic congregation: "No longer the fringe. They have advanced academic degrees, high-paying jobs, Hebrew school and a 'good Jewish background.' Now they have Jesus" (Detroit Jewish Press, July 5, 1991).
God has given us victory. In the last two decades, a large percentage of Jewish people who have accepted Y'shua are communicators. This has translated into an upsurge in the quality of music and literature that express our movement as messianic Jews.
In the decade prior to 1968 most of the gospel tracts for Jewish people had been written in the 1930s. Of those tracts, no more than ten enjoyed a wider distribution than 1,000. Hundreds of pamphlets and tracts have been written in the last ten years, and several dozen have been distributed to hundreds of thousands, even millions of people. The literature that is available today is superb by comparison (though more still needs to be done).
During the days of King Jehoshaphat, the sons of Moab and Ammon came up against our people to fight. Jehoshaphat assembled an army to battle, placing at the head of the battle "those who sang to the Lord and those who praised in holy attire" (2 Chronicles 20:21). It was the musicians and dancers who led our people on to a great victory. Likewise, we can see that a victory has been won in the messianic movement by virtue of the quality of music and dance and other creative arts so prevalent today.
Twenty years ago the only distinctive "messianic music" was Christian hymns that had Yiddish lyrics set to the music. Messianic dance and art were unheard of, yet in the past twenty years there have been more than fifty messianic albums produced. Groups like Lamb, the Liberated Wailing Wall, Kol Simcha and Israel's Hope (to name just a few) have been around long enough that we sometimes take these things for granted. We continue to see people such as Marty Goetz (who was recently featured at the largest ever Billy Graham rally in Central Park) finding a welcome spot in the ranks of messianic musicians. Artists and albums continue to flourish.
A third victory is the opportunities for fellowship and worship that abound today. In earlier days the only opportunity for Jewish believers to meet one another on a national or regional level was the Hebrew Christian Alliance. Attenders were fairly few in number, and many of the "regulars" there were professional missionaries.
When we realize how things were twenty years ago and we see where they are today we cannot help but recognize that we have won a great victory.
The congregational movement is a result of this victory, as well as being a victory in itself. It gained momentum and validity by discipling those who had been won, as well as further developing the expression of worship and fellowship for Jews who believe in Jesus. And the congregational movement has steadily gained credibility through the institutions that represent it: the Union of Messianic Jewish Congregations, the International Association of Messianic Congregations and Synagogues, and the Fellowship of Messianic Congregations.
In the middle of a struggle, you don't know whether or not you are a winner. We need to recognize that we have victoriously broken through many barriers. From there we need to move on.
Prepare for what lies ahead
If we don't move on, we are in danger of losing important battles that are now upon us. We have had a spiritual "high." Unfortunately, many of us never settled with the ordinariness that must follow every high. Instead, we have wanted every high to be higher. Like Moses coming down from Mount Sinai, we have veiled our faces. It is not that the shekinah would blind the people who look at us, but that we have not been able to face the fact that after we have come down from the mountain (where we couldn't have lived anyway), our faces are no longer shining with the same intensity.
We must readjust to our current situation. If we continue to speak as though we are fighting the same battles; if we continue to act as though our faces are shining, the veil we place over our own eyes will only blind us to where the current battle is. We will roam around in circles instead of advancing. There has to be a transition when we come down off the mountain, otherwise we will begin to lose.
Where will we lose? We will lose if we fail to recognize the difference between the mountain top and the ordinary path. Yes, there has been a revival in the past, but are we having a revival now? Are we seeing the move of God's Spirit among our Jewish people the way we did fifteen to twenty years ago? We will lose the battle if we fail to recognize the difference, if we make the mistake of pumping up our own reports and expectations instead of taking stock of where we really are today.
If we fail to recognize that an era has closed, our hearts will be attacked by self-deceit and we will be too feeble, too busy nursing our pride to notice what God is doing right now. Let's stop talking about the thousands who are being saved when in reality there are handfuls here and there.
This kind of attitude is not unique to us as Jewish believers. Many ministries and mission groups talk about winning the world-class cities or winning the world by the year 2000. Not only does this triumphalism fail to correspond with present-day realities, it also ignores the statements of Scripture with regard to the kind of responses we can expect in a world that is hurtling into greater and greater wickedness.
Let's rejoice in what is actually happening rather than inflating ourselves with wishful thinking.
Our emphasis ought to be on building individuals rather than our own empires and institutions. This is reality! We will lose if we place more value on institutions than we do on individuals. If we remember the value of the individual we will not need to trumpet the hundreds of thousands. We will be spared the peril of "sanctified hyperbole." We will be able to rejoice in the one here and the family there that have truly come to put their trust in the Messiah. We will spend enough time with them so that they grow strong enough to win another one here and another one there.
We may also be in danger of losing the battle in terms of our relevance. Twenty years ago it was crucial for us to emphasize the Jewishness of our faith in Jesus. We were countering the claim that Jews don't believe in Jesus. We had to promote our Jewishness as part of our testimony because no one believed that Jews could choose Jesus. We have won that victory. Now we can allow our jewish identity to be much more of a natural expression of who we are, rather than a publicly promoted fact to counter a claim that has been already disproven. When we continue to fight for recognition as Jews who believe in Jesus, we are fighting a battle we have already won. We risk ethnic delusions, and we risk proving our identity in an unnatural or fabricated manner.
Worse yet, some are in danger of promoting our "Jewishness" and neglecting our "Jesusness"—as though somehow our message is that we are Jewish instead of that Jesus is the Messiah. We must maintain our relevance.
Our quickly-changing world leaves a constant trail of outdated slogans in the dust of irrelevance. I recently drove past a synagogue in Southern California where the sign out front read, "Free Soviet Jewry." There is no longer a Soviet Union from which to free them! Even when Jews from Russia emigrate we tend to call them "Soviet Jews," though they left Russia because they did not want to be under a Soviet government. We become irrelevant by virtue of our language.
Likewise we talk about Zionism and the Zionist ideal without recognizing that we have as much of an exodus from the Land as to the Land. Of those who did go to Israel, many went to find a better life. Now, a "better life" is more possible outside the Land. Thousands upon thousands of Israelis are living in the United States. People have turned their backs on Zionism, yet some of us are behaving like we just discovered it.
It is fine for messianic believers to move to Israel so long as plans to do so are well rooted in reality and not romanticism. But to say that we must move there because the Bible says Jews belong in Israel is to disregard what the Bible really does say: the Diaspora will continue until God Himself brings the Jewish people back. If God calls you to move to Israel, by all means, go! Each of us should be ready to respond to God's call wherever He may lead us. Just don't go thinking that you are fulfilling a Zionist ideal at a time when most Jews have abandoned the Zionist ideal. Let's keep our relevance. Whatever is true, whatever glorifies God and focuses attention on Him is relevant.
We must fight for our unity.
It seems as though the battles that we are all too often fighting are those amongst ourselves. Is this really where we want to establish the front lines of the battle? How can we know when we are fighting the right battles against the forces God has ordained us to overcome? By checking our arsenal. What kind of weapons are we using? The ones God provides are useless in a civil war!
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand. Stand firm then, with the belt of truth buckled around your waist, with the breastplate of righteousness in place, and with your feet fitted with the readiness that comes from the gospel of peace. In addition to all this, take up the shield of faith, with which you can extinguish all the flaming arrows of the evil one. Take the helmet of salvation and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints. (Ephesians 6:13-18)
These weapons, with which we are to "be strong in the Lord and in his mighty power" (verse 10), are in strong contrast to weapons of self-righteousness, sarcasm, cynicism or worse yet, sanctimonious spiritual one-upmanship which we can use to undermine and tear down rather than support and build one another.
The battle we are engaged in now, whether or not we choose to realize it, is the struggle to live up to who we say we are. Are we truly the fellowship of the redeemed—the people of God who have been called out of darkness into His marvelous light? Then we need to reflect that light in our character and conduct.
The image of Don Quixote jousting windmills is whimsical and quaint, but there is nothing quaint about us fighting imaginary battles when a real enemy threatens to tear us apart. The battle for unity is one we cannot afford to lose. The fighting and squabbling that goes on between individuals, congregations and institutions must surely grieve the Lord. Chalk one up for the devil!
Where are the front lines of the battles that we should be fighting? Not at the doors of our congregations! Not within the various unions and alliances which are meant to prevent division! Not between evangelistic societies that need to encourage one another to continue on the cutting edge of gospel proclamation! Can we really afford to draw battle lines within our own camp? Such battles we can never win; such battles are fruitless for us to fight.
The front lines are the very gates of hell which—if we are really fighting with the Lord's help and His arsenal—will not withstand us. We must continue to fight against the old nature that tempts and lays siege against our souls (1 Peter 2:11). We must continue to fight the world's standard of ungodliness, refusing to join in rebellion against the kingdom of Messiah (1 John 2:15-17). We must continue to battle against the powers of the devil, who is committed to making us spiritual cripples (Ephesians 6:12).
If we take a good look at today's battles and see those areas where we have failed to fight the good fight, perhaps God will visit us with a spirit of repentance. Perhaps He will once again visit us with the kind of revival that we talk about but are not really seeing. Then, truly, the gates of hell will not prevail against us. | <urn:uuid:7242d771-b876-4425-b858-35cb9af5cf02> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewsforjesus.org/publications/havurah/mm91_01/battle | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974138 | 4,069 | 1.96875 | 2 |
A Look at Android Fragmentation: The Good, the Bad and the Pretty Charts
There’s no doubt that there is a great deal of diversity when it comes to Android.
There are a half-dozen flavors of the operating system, with products made by dozens of manufacturers and literally thousands of individual designs. Whether this is good or bad depends on one’s perspective.
But the sheer number of different products is mind-boggling. In a report this week, OpenSignalMaps looked at data from 600,000 users who downloaded its signal-measuring software. The company found that its software has been downloaded by nearly 4,000 different devices. Some of these are actually standard devices running custom software. But even factoring those out, there are still upward of 2,000 different Android products in the wild.
Of the nearly 600 different brands, Samsung rules the roost with nearly 40 percent market share, followed by HTC, SEMC, Motorola and LG. At the bottom end of the market-share battle, the company spotted a pair of the ill-fated Fusion Garage tablets and a handful of Polaroid’s smart cameras.
For its part, OpenSignalMaps notes the downsides of so many makes and models, but says that the opportunities outweigh the challenges.
“Developers tend to bemoan Android fragmentation yet there’s much here to be celebrated,” the company said in its report. “While the number of different models running Android will continue to increase we’ve seen Samsung take the lion’s share of the Android market, most of that due to the Galaxy product line. Testing on the most popular Samsung & HTC devices will get you a long way.”
Besides, Android means reaching to all corners of the globe. OpenSignalMaps says it has collected data from nearly 200 countries, with the most popular being the U.S., Brazil, China, Russia and Mexico.
“One of the joys of developing for Android is you have no idea who’ll end up using your app,” it said.
The report is chock full of interesting numbers and charts, and is well worth a read. | <urn:uuid:7368d736-0489-4dc0-b876-d6e9f6e2176b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://allthingsd.com/20120517/a-look-at-android-fragmentation-the-good-the-bad-and-the-pretty-charts/?refzone=topics_android | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934328 | 457 | 1.640625 | 2 |
Nero Reaches Nine
Starting primarily as a burning tool, Nero has gradually developed into a full-blown suite for the creation, burning and distribution of digital media. As a result of this multi-functionality, you should be prepared to allocate 1.5GB of hard disk space and be ready for a lengthy installation session as the various files are copied to your system. You will need to enter a 39-character serial number in order to start the installation. At some point in time you will also need to carry out an online activation process for some of Nero 9’s functionality such as full DVD, MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 support.
While the various main modules making up Nero 9 can be accessed from the Windows Start Menu, a more convenient and visual approach is to use the Nero SmartStart front end. With SmartStart you can click on a series of tabs running along the top of the interface to access the specific categories of Rip & Burn, Create & Edit, Home Entertainment and Backup. As each one is selected so the relevant tools will be displayed. Some of the tasks can also be access direct from buttons running down the left of the interface. These buttons take you direct to facilities for data and audio burning, audio ripping, disk copying, auto backup and accessing the built in media player.
When opting for Rip & Burn tools, you are presented with a choice that includes working with data, audio and video plus copying a disk (naturally one for which you hold the appropriate copyright). Nero 9’s burning functionality is wide ranging. There is support for CD, DVD and Blu-ray including double layer media plus AVCHD. When ripping audio CDs, there is now a direct link to the Gracenote music services for automatic downloading of track and artist information.
The Create & Edit section opens the way for capturing content from a variety of sources including HD camcorders; converting between various formats for playing on devices such as the iPod and PSP; editing both audio and video; plus creating a label for your content media. Links are provided for uploading content to various sites including YouTube and MySpace. There is also a Music Grabber feature that can extract the audio from a music video and save it as MP3 for playing back on an appropriate device. Home Entertainment divides its field of reference into PC and TV applications. On the PC side you can play various files using a supplied media player while TV offers options to watch and record from a television through the Nero Live feature which integrates into Windows Vista Media Centre or works as a standalone application in Windows XP.
However you should be aware that you will require an appropriate hardware device (television tuner). A wizard will walk you through the process of setting up the tuner and this does involve scanning for channels even though this might have already been carried out when you first set up the tuner with its bundled software. This is not a quick procedure but you do get access to an EPG (Electronic Program Guide) facility enabling you to set up scheduled recordings. Nero Live can support up to four tuners simultaneously and has the ability to allow you to watch recorded shows with adverts removed using it new Ad Spotter feature.
Nero 9 comes with a copy of Nero Backup for archiving your data to an internal or external device. There is also a RescueAgent feature for recovering data from a damaged disk but as yet I have not been able to check out this feature. The fact that I am keeping my fingers crossed that this facility will not be required is not meant to indicate I have any doubts regard this feature but it is just that I hope I do not need to put it to the test.
While Nero 9 still keeps you waiting during the initial loading of the program and switching between the various modules, it certainly ticks all the right boxes with its media centric and burning facilities. Like many other products, Nero 9 lacks printed documentation, apart from a two-page set-up guide, and relies solely on the use of on-line manuals. Nero 9 has been priced at £59.99 for the full boxed version. You can also purchase the product online at a cost of €69.99 for the boxed product or €59.99 for downloading. System requirements are a 1GHz processor or better with 1.5GB of hard disk space, 256MB of RAM (512MB for Vista) running Windows XP SP2 and later. A DVD-ROM drive will be required for the installation.
|add to del.icio.us||Digg this review| | <urn:uuid:86e2bac3-9ad9-4262-b5c0-304bfc67ffee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gadgetspeak.com/gadget/article.rhtm/130123/572339/Nero_9_video_editing_software.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932462 | 925 | 1.507813 | 2 |
The Huzhu pagoda leans over Tianma village in Songjiang suburb, its seven-story structure so lopsided it seems in imminent danger of toppling over altogether.
It was built in 1079 — well before Italy's famous Leaning Tower of Pisa — by Gen. Zhou Wenda to house five Buddha relics given to him as a reward by Emperor Song Gaozong of the Southern Song dynasty. But from the start, it began to tilt.
"Part of the foundation was built on rock, part of the foundation was built on mud," explains Yang Kun, who works at the Songjiang Museum and has studied the pagoda's history.
Link [Update 3/13/09: reader beware: the website (NPR.org of all places) may have trojan in a rogue ad]
From the Upcoming ueue, submitted by . | <urn:uuid:87d2be01-83b8-4cf0-84ee-d1ad9444810f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.neatorama.com/2009/03/13/leaning-tower-of-shanghai/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976287 | 180 | 2.859375 | 3 |
French Cheese Types
The French culture has been pairing wine and cheese for centuries, and over time they have discovered which combinations work extremely well. Many people in the US are unfamiliar with the various types of cheese that exist in France. Here are brief descriptions of each type of cheese.
brie - snow white ring, soft ripened
chevre - goat's milk smoth tangy
camambert - snow white ring, soft ripened
semi-hard - mild nutty texture firm texture
hard - mt regions large pale yellow interior emmental like swiss with holes
blue veined mountains roquefort designated appellation 100% sheep's milk
allow 1 hr to come to room temp. do 3-5 of each cheese. rewarp tightly. rind is ok to eat. don't freeze them - freezing hurts the molds that give flavor.
Cheese and Wine Information
Wine and Food Pairings | <urn:uuid:dcb370b8-b789-486a-9522-6538c0499453> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wineintro.com/food/cheese/french.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926953 | 192 | 1.835938 | 2 |
A start for the Boy Scouts
On a national level, the BSA's policy of optional discrimination is disappointing, if not untenable. Is anti-gay bigotry a character trait consistent with good scouting or no? Best intentions may inform the national decision, but it's just the first step. In a few years, Boy Scout execs will look back at the pick-your-own-values approach and cringe.
The systemic challenge for the BSA is the independent chartered organizations that sponsor each unit (the Cub Scout packs, the troops, exploring posts and venturing crews.) The chartered organizations include PTAs, VFWs, Lions and Rotary Clubs, church congregations and others. The organizational diversity reflects the American mosaic: Buddhists, Methodists, Muslims, Quakers, the Grange, hospitals and Indian Tribal Councils. Because sponsors are responsible for approving the appointment of all registered scout leaders, however, a few religious denominations are unwilling to accept gays and lesbians. It's another reason parents need to pick troops and posts that align with their values.
Northwesterners can be grateful for the farsighted leadership of the Mount Baker Council of the BSA and to the south, Chief Seattle. Both councils play a meaningful role in shaping the leadership and citizenship skills of thousands of young people. Boy Scouts from the Mount Baker Council explore sublime places like the North Cascades and, along the way, develop values of honesty, responsibility, charity and friendliness. Boy Scout merit badges test intellect and problem solving and often shape future careers. In the end, most boy scouts fall in love with the outdoors and work diligently to protect it. (Consider, for example, former Gov. Dan Evans, a lifelong conservationist.)
Local councils will, we believe, reflect the inclusive values of a state that voted for marriage equality. Boy Scouts should be emblematic of tolerance and plurality, defining characteristics of the Pacific Northwest. The BSA's policy shift may also encourage equality-minded Washingtonians to contribute again to the scouts. The watershed will be the day that the United Way of Snohomish County, which adopted a strict non-discrimination policy in 2000, approves a grant to the Mount Baker Council (the BSA hasn't received funding since 2001.) We are almost there. | <urn:uuid:585dab14-87e8-4e6b-9477-29c0c4438185> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://heraldnet.com/article/20130206/OPINION01/702069934/1041/COMM0604 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934346 | 465 | 2.1875 | 2 |
James "Catfish" Hunter
by Steven Case, 2010.
April 8, 1946 - September 9, 1999
The story of James Augustus Hunter reads like a Hollywood script. Born the last of eight children in Perquimans County, North Carolina, Jim Hunter rose to superstar status in baseball while maintaining his down home North Carolina character. Better known as "Catfish", Hunter achieved an impressive list of pitching statistics that have placed him in the North Carolina Sports Hall of Fame in the North Carolina Museum of History in Raleigh as well as in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in Cooperstown, New York.
The youngest son of Abbott and Millie Hunter, Jim enjoyed hunting, fishing and playing baseball with his brothers. While at Perquimans High School, Hunter excelled in a variety of sports, enjoying success as a linebacker and offensive end in football as well as a shortstop, cleanup batter and pitcher in baseball. His pitching skill began to attract scouts from major league baseball teams to Hertford. In his senior year, Hunter was wounded in a hunting accident which led to the loss of one of his toes and the lodging of shotgun pellets in his foot. The accident left Hunter somewhat hobbled and jeopardized his prospects in the eyes of many professional scouts, but the Kansas City Athletics had faith in the young pitcher and signed Hunter to a contract.
Charles O. Finley, the Kansas City owner, gave Hunter the nickname "Catfish". The investment that Finley and the Athletics made in "Catfish" was returned many times over. Hunter's first major league victory came on July 27, 1965 in Fenway Park against the Boston Red Sox. In 1966 Hunter was named to the American League All-Star team and was named again in 1967. In 1968 Charles Finley moved the Athletics from Kansas City to Oakland and on May 8 that year in a game against the Minnesota Twins, Hunter pitched the first perfect game in the American League since 1922. He continued to win games and in 1974 both received the Cy Young Award and was named Pitcher of the Year by The Sporting News. After a contract dispute with Finley in 1974, Hunter left the Athletics in 1975 for the New York Yankees. Catfish's statistics while he was with the Athletics were impressive: four consecutive years with at least 20 wins, four World Series wins with no losses and a 1974 league leading earned run average of 2.49.
Hunter was the highest paid pitcher in baseball when he signed with the Yankees in 1975. That year he again won more than 20 games and was named to the All-Star team for the seventh time. Hunter would be named to the All-Star team again in 1976. The Yankees won three straight pennants with Hunter from 1976 to 1979. However, the years of arm strain and the effects of diabetes had begun to tell on the pitcher and in 1979 at the age of 33, Jim "Catfish" Hunter retired from baseball. Jim Hunter was an effective pitcher, not because he overpowered batters with his speed, but because of the precision of his pitching. His performance on the mound earned him a spot in the National Baseball Hall of Fame in 1987.
Hunter retired to familiar surroundings in Hertford, North Carolina, close to where he grew up and where he owns a modest farm. Hunter has returned to the North Carolina life he enjoyed as a boy. In his own words..."If I hadn't played baseball, I wanted to be a game warden or something. I want to be outdoors and I think down here is the best outdoor living you can get, for fishing or hunting, or whatever you want."
He was diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (Lou Gehrig's Disease) in September of 1998, and died of complications from the disease on September 9, 1999, at the age of 53.
References and additional resources:
"'Catfish Hunter' search results." WorldCat. http://www.worldcat.org/search?q=%22Catfish+Hunter%22&qt=owc_search.
"Catfish Hunter Statistics and History." Baseball-reference.com. http://www.baseball-reference.com/players/h/hunteca01.shtml
Hunter, Jim, and Armen Keteyian. 1989. Catfish: my life in baseball. New York: Berkeley Books.
NC LIVE resources
Stambler, Irwin. 1976. Catfish Hunter: the three million dollar arm. New York: Putnam.
WorldCat (Searches numerous library catalogs)
"James Catfish Hunter." From "Breath of Life" U.S. National Library of Medicine, Bethesda, MD, USA. https://www.nlm.nih.gov/hmd/breath/Faces_asthma/present_html/VIIB14.html
Video from WRAL "Tarheel Traveler." http://www.wral.com/lifestyles/travel/video/8260577/
1 April 2010 | Case, Steven | <urn:uuid:bd7ad024-488b-4d67-94d9-de635f25e14b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ncpedia.org/biography/hunter-james | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969389 | 1,025 | 1.765625 | 2 |
"No-Show" Guests Jeopardize Food Safety
the guests, decorated the table and prepared the food. Then
the guests are delayed, call to cancel or don't show at all.
Holiday meals and other celebrations require careful planning
to ensure that everything goes "just right." When guests encounter
emergencies and the meal must be delayed or cancelled, food
must be handled "just right" to remain safe.
Every day the hotline receives calls from consumers who need some help with
these unplanned situations. Here's how to handle the food
Q. I have prepared a special dinner for a group of friends,
but I just heard the weather report on TV advising everyone
to stay home. What should I do with all the food?
A. If your
guests can re-schedule within four days, cooked foods can be
stored safely in the refrigerator. For longer storage, freeze
any cooked food. Arrange the
cooked food in shallow airtight containers or wrap tightly
with heavy-duty aluminum foil or freezer wrap, and freeze. These
foods will keep their best quality (flavor, texture, juiciness)
for 3 to 4 months. Also, most vegetable, rice and pasta dishes
can be frozen. Cream sauces may become lumpy or separate when
frozen and reheated, but they will be safe to serve again.
Q. I thawed steaks for dinner tonight. Will they need to be discarded
if the guests do not come?
A. Raw meat (or poultry) can be safely
refrozen, but ONLY if it was thawed in the refrigerator. If
the meat or poultry was previously frozen, there may be a decrease
in quality when frozen a second time, but it would be safe because
bacteria do not grow in the freezer.
Alternatively, if your
guests will be able to come at a later time, poultry and ground
meats can be refrigerated for two days; red meats like roasts
and steaks, up to five days. Kept longer at refrigeration temperatures,
meat or poultry will likely spoil.
Q. Everything is ready for
the meal but my guests have been delayed at least an hour. What
shall I do to hold the food?
A. Remember the basic food safety
- Keep hot foods hot, and cold foods cold.
- Don't let any cooked food, meat or poultry remain in the danger zone — between 40 °F and 140 °F — for more than 2 hours.
If you have hot foods
in the oven, you may be able to hold them safely until your
guests arrive. Put a food thermometer in the thickest part of
your roast or poultry, or center of your casserole. Adjust the
oven temperature so that the food stays at an internal temperature
of 140 °F or above. To prevent dryness, cover the dishes or
wrap with aluminum foil.
Q. Due to an emergency situation, my
guests will be here, but they will be three to four hours late.
Can the food stay in the oven?
A. Food will probably dry out
if kept warm that long. For extended delays, it is safer to
refrigerate the food and reheat it when your guests arrive.
Food in shallow containers will cool rapidly to a safe temperature
in the refrigerator. Do not worry about putting hot foods directly
into the refrigerator because the thermostat will keep the unit
running to maintain a safe temperature (40 °F or below). When
your guests arrive, reheat food in a 325 °F oven to an internal
temperature of 165 °F, or until hot and steaming. Cold foods
should be kept refrigerated until mealtime.
Q. My stuffed turkey
is ready NOW, and the guests are not arriving for three hours.
A. If you have prepared a turkey and you have determined
it is safely done several hours before serving time, remove
the turkey from the oven and allow it to stand for 20 minutes.
If the turkey is stuffed, remove the stuffing, place it in a
shallow container, cover and refrigerate. Remove the legs, thighs,
and wings. Carve the breast meat, and legs and thighs, if desired.
If you want to serve the turkey cold, arrange the sliced turkey
on platters or in shallow containers. For carved turkey meat to
be reheated, place the slices in shallow oven-safe baking dishes
or pans. Cover and refrigerate the meat. If you will be making
gravy, pour off the drippings and refrigerate them. The gravy
can be made at your leisure.
About thirty minutes before serving
turkey to be heated, sprinkle with a little broth. Cover with
foil and heat in a 325 °F oven. The stuffing can be heated alongside
Q. I frequently order take-out foods when I am entertaining.
What should I do with the food after I bring it home?
A. How you handle the food will depend on its temperature when you
pick it up. First, take the food home immediately. Do not leave
take-out foods at room temperature longer than two hours. At
room temperatures over 90 °F, discard after one hour.
Foods cold when picked up should be refrigerated until serving time.
If the food is hot, and you will not be eating within two hours,
keep it in an oven set at a high enough temperature to keep
the turkey at 140 °F. Measure the temperature of the turkey
by inserting a food thermometer in the thickest part of the
thigh. If you are picking up the foods far in advance, refrigerate
them and reheat later for serving.
February 4, 2010 | <urn:uuid:3c541c7e-3641-4ebc-9e6f-68e1350dc0fd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fsis.usda.gov/FACT_Sheets/No-Show_Guests_Jeopardize_Food/index.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918236 | 1,213 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Assistance needed for shipping a donation of 25 computers for the Catholic University in Southern Sudan
Requested byCornell Global Solutions
Who are you trying to help? What issue are you trying to address?
Cornell Global Solutions has assisted the Catholic University of Southern Sudan to design an Agriculture Research and Extension Programme that will become a critical component of the new Faculty of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences located in Wau, Southern Sudan.
The Agriculture Research and Extension Programme will facilitate a dynamic system of learning that will empower students with the tools to respond to agricultural and environmental issues in their local communities. Objectives include: the development of solutions for Sudanese farmers; the integration of Faculty research and field work with community-held knowledge; the promotion of gender equity and community empowerment; the creation of a learner-centered education system (PBL); the promotion of equitable and sustainable resource management; and the engagement of students as future leaders responsible to their communities.
As part of the effort to prepare the Center adequately, we have received a donation of 15 computers that will be equipped with TEEAL (The Essential Electronic Agricultural Library). The issue now is that we do not have the funds necessary to ship these computers from NY to Southern Sudan. So we are looking for an individual or an institution that will be able to either help us ship these computers or fund the shipment.
Contact detailsOnly organisations who have exchanged contact details may view this.
Partnership typesProject funding; Provision of services / personnel
Regions / countries / territoriesAfrica: Sudan
Global issuesAgriculture, aquaculture and forestry; Community development; Education and training;...show all (4)
No one has responded yet | <urn:uuid:71ab74fa-a0d2-4ae3-8d78-03a1041d7a27> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalhand.org/en/browse/requests/all/request/5896?noscript=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929816 | 343 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Reference:Hansen et al. 2001
From Global Warming Art[ Hansen, J., R. Ruedy, M. Sato, M. Imhoff, W. Lawrence, D. Easterling, T. Peterson, and T. Karl (2001). "A closer look at United States and global surface temperature change". Journal of Geophysical Research 106: 23947-23963. DOI:10.1029/2001JD000354.
"We compare the United States and global surface air temperature changes of the past century using the current Goddard Institute for Space Studies (GISS) analysis and the U.S. Historical Climatology Network (USHCN) record. Changes in the GISS analysis subsequent to the documentation by Hansen et al. are as follows: (1) incorporation of corrections for time-of-observation bias and station history adjustments in the United States based on Easterling et al. [1996a], (2) reclassification of rural, small-town, and urban stations in the United States, southern Canada, and northern Mexico based on satellite measurements of night light intensity, and (3) a more flexible urban adjustment than that employed by Hansen et al. , including reliance on only unlit stations in the United States and rural stations in the rest of the world for determining long-term trends. We find evidence of local human effects ("urban warming") even in suburban and small-town surface air temperature records, but the effect is modest in magnitude and conceivably could be an artifact of inhomogeneities in the station records. We suggest further studies, including more complete satellite night light analyses, which may clarify the potential urban effect. There are inherent uncertainties in the long-term temperature change at least of the order of 0.1°C for both the U.S. mean and the global mean. Nevertheless, it is clear that the post-1930s cooling was much larger in the United States than in the global mean. The U.S. mean temperature has now reached a level comparable to that of the 1930s, while the global temperature is now far above the levels earlier in the century. The successive periods of global warming (1900-1940), cooling (1940-1965), and warming (1965-2000) in the 20th century show distinctive patterns of temperature change suggestive of roles for both climate forcings and dynamical variability. The U.S. was warm in 2000 but cooler than the warmest years in the 1930s and 1990s. Global temperature was moderately high in 2000 despite a lingering La Niña in the Pacific Ocean."
The following pages on Global Warming Art refer to this reference: | <urn:uuid:5b804072-aaaf-4b96-98c9-27914735267c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://globalwarmingart.com/wiki/Reference:Hansen_et_al._2001 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913059 | 547 | 2.875 | 3 |
An Arizona school district has condemned the in-school discipline at one of its high schools after two boys were forced to hold hands in front of their classmates as a punishment for fighting.
Earlier this week, the two students at Westwood High School in Mesa, Ariz., who have not been named, were faced with the prospect of either suspension from school, or sitting in chairs in the high school's courtyard and holding hands for 15 minutes during a lunch period. They opted for the latter.
"Kids were laughing at them and calling them names, asking, 'Are you gay?'" student Brittney Smyers told ABC affiliate KNXV.
Teens at the high school inevitably posted photos of the two, who spent the time shielding their faces with their heads in their hands, to social media sites.
On the Facebook posting, users commented that the public punishment is not appropriate, as it positions the teens as targets for taunting and name-calling. Others suggested the punishment was anti-gay, as it implies two males holding hands is embarrassing.
Helen Hollands, director of communication and marketing for Mesa Public Schools, told ABCNews.com that the school's principal, Tim Richard, who is in his first year at Westwood, had the idea.
"He's done some great things there," she said. "He's focused highly on maintaining a standard where [ideally] no students are failing a class."
Calls placed to Richard by ABC News were not returned.
Once the school district got wind of Richard's unique punishment, it issued a statement saying it doesn't condone what the school did.
"Mesa Public Schools is dedicated to maintaining a safe and supportive learning environment. The district has guidelines for appropriate student discipline and our site administrators have the authority to impose consequences within our policies and regulations," the statement said.
"The district does not condone the choice of in-school discipline given these students, regardless of their acceptance or willingness to participate. District leadership will address this matter with the school principal and review district protocol regarding student discipline with all administrators."
Hollands said that the district is aware that many perceived the discipline as bullying and biased.
"The district is looking at how the actions have been perceived," she said. "That's a very important piece to know."Also Read | <urn:uuid:ff8bf115-8035-45cf-81b1-15955d6b22e4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.yahoo.com/principal-punishes-high-school-boys-public-hand-holding-194725513--abc-news-topstories.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981804 | 473 | 1.867188 | 2 |
The Official State Theatre of Tennessee
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The Mighty Wurlitzer
The story of a theatre legend.
For decades, a favorite element of the Tennessee Theatre experience has been the golden-voiced Mighty Wurlitzer organ. The Wurlitzer was installed in the Tennessee Theatre at the time of the building's opening in 1928. THe organ was built by the Rudolph Wurlitzer Company in North Tonawanda, New York, and cost about $50,000 at that time. Today, it is one of the few theatre organs still installed in its original location.
Jean Wilson was the Tennessee Theatre's first house organist, and many have followed her--most notably Billy Barnes, who entertained at the console four times daily in the '30s and '40s; and the Tennessee's current organist, former Chancellor and Dean of Engineering at the University of Tennessee, Dr. Bill Snyder (pictured left at the grand re-opening gala January 2005).
The instrument is a 3/17 Wurlitzer Theatre Pipe Organ, and is set apart by its magnificent console, an original red Balaban 2 Style Wulitzer done in a French Moorish motif. Only one other Wurlitzer organ in the world was manufactured with such a console–the 4/24 Mighty Wurlitzer installed at the Alabama Theatre in Birmingham, Alabama.
In October of 2000, virtually the entire organ--all the pipes and the console with its manuals, stops, and pedals--was shipped to Reno, Nevada, to master organ rebuilder Ken Crome. Mr. Crome and his technicians painstakingly restored the instrument piece by piece, and artisans and craftsmen returned the organ's appearance to its original 1928 color scheme and design. The chambers on either side of the stage, which house the pipes, have been replastered to fully ensure the protection and preservation of the restored instrument.
While the organ originally came from the factory with 14 ranks of pipes, Mr. Crome expanded these to 17 ranks during the rebuild, giving the Mighty Wurlitzer a world-class voice.
The Wurlitzer returned to Knoxville on August 27, 2001, and was re-installed by Mr. Crome and his staff during the entire month of September. Acclaimed theatre organist Lyn Larsen was involved in much of the configuration and tonal regulation of the organ, and he was the first to publicly perform on it at a sold-out gala concert on October 1, 2001.
Mr. Larsen had this to say about the Tennessee's Wurlitzer: "I am so excited about the newly restored Wurlitzer organ in the Tennessee Theatre, and I consider it to be among the handful of the very finest 'in-theatre' installations in the country. The unsurpassed craftsmanship of Ken Crome and his expert team of artisans, the perfect match of the auditorium's acoustics to the organ sound, and the commitment to 100% quality by everyone at the Theatre have all combined to produce this 'new-old' pipe organ that is absolutely sublime. I hope to be a part of the Tennessee Theatre for many years."
Experience the magic of the Mighty Wurlitzer prior to each Summer Movie Magic presentation as well as on Mighty Musical Mondays!
More Upcoming Events
20 May 2013 at 7:30 PM
21 May 2013 at 8:00 PM
31 May 2013 at 8:00 PM
1 Jun 2013 at 2:00PM
1 Jun 2013 at 8:00PM
03 Jun 2013 at 7:30 PM
4 Jun 2013 at 7:30PM
06 Jun 2013 at 8:00 PM
10 Jun 2013 at 12:00PM
16 Jun 2013 at 7:00 PM
16 Jun 2013 at 9:30PM | <urn:uuid:b62bb5d3-81d1-42b9-baf4-f0c37387099e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tennesseetheatre.com/about-us/the-mighty-wurlitzer/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948391 | 813 | 1.757813 | 2 |
Understanding CT scans
What is CT?
CT or CAT scan stands for computerized axial tomography. A CT scan is an x-ray procedure enhanced by a computer. This results in a two or three-dimensional view (referred to as a slice or cross-sectional) of a particular part of your body.
Preparing for the Exam
Each CT exam has required preparations, the most frequent and their preps are listed. If the instructions for your exam are not listed, phone Baptist Health Paducah Diagnostic Imaging at (270) 575-2600.
If your exam is scheduled before noon, do not eat or drink after midnight on the night before the exam. If your scan is at noon or later, you may have liquid or light foods before 8 a.m. Oral contrast must be taken 90 minutes before the exam. This can be mixed a beverage. Do not eat or drink anything after you ingest the oral contrast. IV contrast is routinely administered through the arm. The exam takes 10 to 15 minutes.
IV contrast is routinely administered through the arm. The exam takes 30-45 minutes.
Head with Contrast
Do not eat or drink two hours before exam time. IV contrast is routinely administered the arm. The exam takes 10-15 minutes.
Head without Contrast
No prep. The exam takes 5-10 minutes.
Do not to move during the exam. You will be positioned on a scan table and moved into the scanner which is an open chamber. The technologist will have you in full view at all times and be in constant communication via microphones. You will hear humming of the equipment as it produces the images.
You may pre-register online. If you do not pre-register, arrive at the hospital 30 minutes before your scheduled exam time to complete the registration process.
- Inform the technologist if you may be pregnant.
- The technologist will ask you several questions before your exam such as: previous allergies, especially to iodine, a previous reaction to x-ray dye, renal (kidney) problems or diabetes. A lab test will be performed prior to the injection of contrast to assure safe administration.
- If you feel any discomfort during contrast injection, tell the technologist. A temporary flush, wave of nausea or metallic taste in the mouth are common side effects, but should be reported to the technologist. If you observe any tenderness, swelling or problems in the area of the injection site or the arm where the contrast was administered within 48 hours after injection, phone your doctor.
- Some exams require that you drink a contrast liquid. If this is necessary, you will be informed about when to drink the contrast and where to obtain it.
- If you have questions about your bill, please call Patient Accounts at the appropriate number listed in our phone directory. The radiologist's bill is separate from the hospital's.
For More Information
For more information on Baptist Health Paducah's diagnostic imaging services, phone (270) 575-2600. | <urn:uuid:b6160174-54dd-4429-9631-0ba130d3945c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.westernbaptist.com/Medical+Services/Diagnostic+Imaging/Understanding+CT+scans | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903537 | 618 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Click to enlarge Reserve Item Notice!
As a convenience, you can reserve this item even though it's out of stock. It may be discontinued or just temporarily sold out. Reserve items do not qualify for a refund. If we can't ship it within one month, you'll receive a store credit for the full purchase price!
Seen on the cover of Genii Magazine. A beginners young person book with 12 interaction tricks in the book.
How can a book read your mind? Or perform sleight-of-hand? Created and hosted by Mark Setteducati and Anne Benkovitz, The Magic Show is unlike any other book of magic in that the book actually performs magic for you. Pick a card, any card, and the book will accurately guess it. Spin the wheel on the front cover and watch the spheres mysteriously change colors. Count the Sorcerers--oops, better count them again. Cut the author in half! The Magic Show is as exhilarating as sitting in the front row at a real performance, but with one big advantage: A convenient reset book allows you to reset each trick--with or without learning the secrets of the illusion.
Full color Hard bound.:
Dimensions (in inches): 0.89 x 9.81 x 9.76
This is a great novelty gift!!
Review from Publisher's Weekly
A book is a repository of text and images, but it is also (excepting e-books) a physical object. Sometimes the physical medium of a book rivals its message in impact, as with coffee-table books, minibooks, pop-up books-and with this delightful and genuinely creative book that allows its users to put on a 12-trick magic show. Setteducati is a professional magician and renowned inventor of magic; Benkovitz is a game, magic and toy inventor. They, along with a game inventor, Ivan Moscovich, who's listed as the book's "creative advisor," appear throughout the book via appropriately gaudy, caricatured illustrations by Ellis that depict the principles moving through a magic house. The book is a marvel of design, with the tricks hinging on turnable wheels, envelopes, slots, tabs, translucent flaps and so on. Trick 1, "Astounding Spheres," for example, depends upon a sturdy, partially hidden disk embedded in the book's cover, with only the top and bottom of the disk visible, through cutaways. As the disk is turned clockwise, red spheres visible on it through the top cutaway move behind the cover proper, then reappear in the bottom cutaway as green spheres. It's a nifty trick, as are most of the others--including mind reading, escape artistry and card wizardry--some involving principles of misdirection, others depending on simple mathematical principles, but all presented with a flourish. Not every trick is a dazzle, but the book as a whole is a razzle-dazzle that adults and kids should enjoy time and again (the book includes extra pieces and reset instructions). With the holidays approaching, this could, and should, be a big seller. (Dec.) Copyright 1999 Cahners Business Information. | <urn:uuid:f7a0aae7-e272-4ef2-9697-0e42fd619921> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.themagicdepot.com/product_info.php?cPath=&products_id=1562 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94571 | 653 | 1.851563 | 2 |
How to Get the Most Out of Your Child's Tutor
Find a School
Learn about your child's school rankings, parent reviews, and more.
- Choosing a Tutor for a Children with a Learning Disability
- Getting Extra Help: Working with School Resources
- Getting the Best Help for Your High Schooler
- Servicios Educativos Suplementarios (SES)
- Social and Emotional Learning - Ten Things You Can Do
- Make a Geometry Dictionary
Tutors can make a world of difference for kids who are struggling with homework or preparing for college entrance exams. But your child's tutor can't be there all the time to keep her on track. Fortunately, you and your child can take action to make the most of your tutor's time, building the foundations for your child to succeed on her own.
"The goal of tutoring is to allow the student to go on their own eventually," says Kim Hartley, executive director of Buddy System, a tutoring service with offices in California and Arizona. Since most tutors are paid by the hour, effective tutoring is not only easier on your bank account but on your child's report card as well. Tutoring works only if your child regularly practices what the tutor reviews with her. "It's a lot of practice and repetition," says Wendy Kunz, center director at Sylvan Learning in Sycamore, Ill. But the practice pays off. And there are things you and your child can do together get the best bang for your tutoring buck.
Here are some expert tips:
Before the Tutor Arrives
- Buy a large wall calendar where your child can keep track of homework assignments and due dates. It helps to color-code short-term assignments, long-term projects and ongoing commitments. "A visual display is very helpful for students because kids often try to keep it all in their head," Hartley says. Lay it all out, so your child has all the information she needs at her fingertips.
- Set up a spot that's conducive to a productive tutoring session. This doesn't’t take much, Hartley says: Just find a place that's quiet and free of interruptions from pets and siblings.
- Arrange for tutoring to take place when your child is focused. Some kids work best after school, but others benefit from after-dinner tutoring. Leave a glass of water on the table so your child doesn't have to get up for a drink every few minutes. If your child needs a snack after school, schedule the tutoring after snack time. "When you're thinking about your stomach growling, you're not focused on what you're supposed to be learning," Kunz says.
- Organize the tests or assignments that your child is struggling with and wants to review with the tutor. This will help the tutor identify the problem areas where your child could use more help. It's similar to how doctors need to know your symptoms before telling you why you're sick. For example, if every wrong answer on your child's algebra homework is on the questions about functions, that tells the tutor to focus on functions.
- Don't plan for your child to do his homework while the tutor is there. That's not an effective use of the tutor's time, and it makes it harder for your child to learn how to do his schoolwork without help, says Jamie Puntumkhul of Miami-based JLP Education Services.
After the Tutor Leaves
- Ask the tutor to leave notes for your child to review later. During tutoring sessions, tutors with JLP Education Services make notes on yellow paper when a child is having trouble with a particular concept, and the tutors leave the notes behind afterward. Whenever kids see the yellow paper, Puntumkhul says, they know it's from the tutor. Ideally, students review those notes every day. This gives them great practice working on trouble concepts on their own.
- If your child lacks organization skills, ask the tutor to put together a checklist of daily homework tasks. Review the checklist every day to ensure that your child is staying on track. This will not only help your child stay organized, but it will also get her in the habit of making and reviewing checklists.
- File homework by subject as soon as possible. The binder or backpack your child takes to school should be her temporary storage spot for her assignments only until everything is filed, Hartley says.
- Find a workbook or worksheets for your child to review what she is working on, and have her practice it once a week, Puntumkhul says. Flash cards can also be helpful. These and similar resources are often available online by subject. For children having trouble reading, Kunz recommends Book Adventure, a free website where kids take quizzes about books they've read and earn points and prizes.
- Review concepts in short bursts, especially if your child is young and has a short attention span. Practice fractions in the car while running errands or when you're cooking in the kitchen together. If your child struggles with reading, encourage her to find something she likes to read and stick with it. "The more you read, the easier it's going to get," Kunz says.
- Teach your child to proofread and review homework before turning it in.
- Send your child to school well-rested and with breakfast in her stomach!
Kids who take tennis lessons or piano classes need to practice those skills at home in order to learn and improve their skills. Tutoring in academics is no different. Students have to practice the concepts they're not familiar with until they master the them and continue to build up their skills. If it's done right, Kunz says, tutoring is a temporary measure to boost your child's confidence, improve grades and instill a love of learning.
Today on Education.com
WORKBOOKSMay Workbooks are Here!
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- Should Your Child Be Held Back a Grade? Know Your Rights | <urn:uuid:fb972107-658e-4fe8-bbba-a83bbd858548> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.education.com/magazine/article/get-most-out-of-tutor/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950787 | 1,347 | 2.3125 | 2 |
A real-time audio and data collaboration tool specifically designed for use on the Internet. CoolTalk is a type of software that redefines how people communicate-whether they are talking across the room, across the country, or around the world. It provides full duplex audio conferencing, which means more than one user can speak and be heard simultaneously. Incorporated into the Netscape 3.0 browser (Microsoft's Internet Explorer uses NetMeeting), it helps you avoid long distance phone charges by turning the Internet into a telephone.
NetLingo Classification: Net Software
Subscribe to Word of the Day - Email this Definition to a Friend | <urn:uuid:60632edb-5edf-4db9-9a0a-b5ad1266c3b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.netlingo.com/word/cooltalk.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907338 | 129 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Heart disease is often described as a lifestyle disease. Certain habits or personal traits contribute to a person’s increased risk of developing heart disease. You, with the support of family and friends and your physician, can take control of your health. Research has shown that even small lifestyle changes can reduce your risk.
- Corporate Health
Mercy Medical Center recognizes that controlling rapidly rising health care costs is a challenge faced by all employers in today's business world. As a local health care provider, we are in a unique position to collaborate with employers to help combat these significant costs.
- Executive Health Check
The health of your key executives is vital to the health of your company. Mercy Medical Center - Des Moines Executive Health Program and Corporate Wellness Plan focuses on preventing health problems.
- Calcium Scoring
Calcium scoring can tell you if you're at risk for a heart attack while there's still time to do something about it.
- Vascular Screening
- Healthy Weight Program
The Mercy Center for Weight Reduction offers state-of-the-art, compassionate care for the entire patient, from psychological needs to nutritional needs. Patients visit with physicians, dietitians and psychologists, among other health care specialists, who help evaluate comorbidities (illnesses or conditions associated with obesity) such as hypertension, heart disease, pulmonary disease, sleep apnea and diabetes.
- Exercise Programs
The Mercy Wellness Center offers a variety of classes, open times and pick up games to help its members stay fit.
- Wellness Center Membership
The Mercy Wellness Center offers affordable individual, family and group rates. Memberships include full use of the Wellness Center’s facilities and classes. Personal fitness assessments and consultations are also available.
- Diabetes Management
Iowa Diabetes and Endocrinology Center (IDEC) offers a multidisciplinary team of registered nurses and registered dietitians who are also certified diabetes educators. We will work with you and your physician to help you control your diabetes and prevent or reduce the impact of complications through self-management, education and support. Working with your physician, we will help you learn how to take good care of yourself.
- Pain Management
When you are in pain, it is sometimes difficult to focus on anything else in your life. At Mercy Medical Center, we are committed to pain management as a priority in maintaining basic human dignity. We are dedicated to helping you deal with any type of pain you might have and achieving the greatest level of activity in your life.
- Smoking Cessation Program
Smoking Cessation classes are offered periodically to the general public and patients are provided counseling during their stay. If you would like more information about cessation opportunities in the community call (515) 247-4310. | <urn:uuid:a3078d63-0ef0-4d9e-aa7e-4a0251f45c30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mercydesmoines.org/heart/rehab_risk.cfm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945601 | 563 | 1.960938 | 2 |
As much time as you spend in front of your computer, it's inevitable, really - you're sitting by your computer
, typing away merrily and you accidently knock your beer into the keyboard. Mayhaps you've simply noticed the nast
that collects under the key
s from being exposed to your hand
s day after day. Key
s will eventually start to stick
and the keyboard
's response to your typing
goes to shit. Instead of buying a new keyboard
, why not just clean your keyboard
With all those delicate electronics in there, it would seem difficult to clean. Vacuums and compressed air are two of the common ways and will work fine to remove solids, but liquids (and their residue) can wreak havoc with those delicate electronics. So how to clean all that crap and gunk out of there?
Put in in the dishwasher.
Disclaimer: before i get a million /msgs about how your keyboard is ruined, smoking, melted or all minty fresh, read the rest of this node! If you're not comfortable with doing this, don't!
Don't try to clean your laptop keyboard like this, you'll just end up with a waterlogged laptop. Don't do this to wireless keyboards, antique keyboards, typewriters, teletype machines, pets, monitors, inflatable dolls, spare tires or AC induction motors. If you're not willing to take the (very small) chance your keyboard may not type again, don't fucking do it! OK, on with the directions.
First and foremost, if you ever spill any liquids in your keyboard, unplug it immediately*! Conductive liquids are bad things if there is electricity coursing through the keyboard.
You're going to have to unplug the keyboard to clean it so go ahead and do it anyway.
Now that you've got your keyboard unplugged, put it in the upper rack of the dishwasher (where all the glasses go), upside-down (as in keys down). If it has a cable attached, put it in a plastic bag and secure it with a few rubber bands to keep the cable all in one place.
Here's the easy part: turn on the dishwasher. i don't reccomend putting any soap or dishes in there with it. Be damned sure the heating element is off! Look for a button/switch labeled "energy saver" or "heated drying" or whatever, just make sure the dishwasher is set to air dry. Run the dishwasher through one cycle.
Once the dishwasher has done it's thang, take the (now clean but soaked) keyboard out and get all the water out of it by shaking or slinging it around. i prefer to sling. When you're confident you've gotten all the water out of it that you can, set it upside-down to dry overnight.
The next day, inspect the keyboard for water. If you're not 100% sure it's completely dry, sling, shake, let dry. Repeat as necessary.
When you're absolutely certain that all the water has evaporated, plug the keyboard back in. It should not only have whiter teeth and minty fresh breath, it should work just fine.
i have had a 100% success rate with this, as have every other person i've talked that has tried this method. If you try it, please let me know how it worked out for you or create your own WU below.
* hotplugging PS2 and ADB devices *may* cause your computer to freeze and possibly even damage the device. i've hotplugged ADB devices for many many years and have yet to have one die because of it. YMMV. | <urn:uuid:cf72a54f-5b3b-4ba8-aff9-0563cb48239a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://everything2.com/title/How+to+clean+a+keyboard | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958828 | 772 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Air travelers would need to pay extra security fee and tax if Congress approved President's Obama budget plan, according to Reuters.
Obama wanted airlines and passengers to pick up more of the costs of air travel and airport improvements, Reuters reported. He stated in the proposal the new plan could help reduce the deficit and cover security costs, according to USA Today. The new proposal was estimated to bring $7.4 billion in 10 years, according to Reuters. The money would fund the Federal Aviation Administration's air-traffic control system, USA Today reported, and also help to reduce the deficit.
President Obama had proposed budget plan to the Congress several times but they were all rejected, USA Today said. The industry group Airlines for America told USA Today their rejection of the new budget plan, saying that the government should not encourage economic and business development by discouraging flying. | <urn:uuid:6f698b4d-9051-44b1-a2a3-3429d44fe0fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.lib.umn.edu/hoxxx248/3101newsspring2012/2012/02/obama-proposed-new-budget-plan-to-bill-air-travelers.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966612 | 172 | 1.726563 | 2 |
This major museum exhibition, which premiered at the National Gallery of Art, is the first in the United States to focus exclusively on Dada, one of the twentieth century's most influential avant-garde art movements. Responding to the disasters of World War I and to an emerging modern media and machine culture, Dada artists led a creative revolution that profoundly shaped the course of subsequent art. Dada was a defiantly international movement, the first to self-consciously position itself as an expansive network crossing countries and continents. Born in neutral Zurich and New York, two cities that served as independent points of origin for the movement, Dada rapidly spread to Berlin, Cologne, Hannover, Paris, and beyond. This exhibition surveys the many forms of Dada artistic production as developed in the movement's six primary city centers and features over four hundred works in a dynamic multimedia installation that includes collages, films, paintings, photographs, printed matter, sound recordings, and sculpture. Among the nearly fifty artists represented are Hans Arp, Marcel Duchamp, Max Ernst, Raoul Hausmann, Hannah Höch, Francis Picabia, Kurt Schwitters, and Sophie Taeuber, along with a number of less familiar individuals associated with the movement. A publication accompanies the exhibition.
Coordinated by Anne Umland, Curator, Department of Painting and Sculpture. The exhibition is organized by the National Gallery of Art, Washington, and the Centre Pompidou, Paris, in collaboration with The Museum of Modern Art, New York.
The exhibition is made possible by The Dana Foundation and by Donald B. and Catherine C. Marron.
Major support is provided by an indemnity from the Federal Council on the Arts and the Humanities.
The Museum acknowledges generous funding from the Sue & Edgar Wachenheim Foundation and additional assistance from Pro Helvetia, Arts Council of Switzerland.
The accompanying educational programs are made possible by BNP Paribas. | <urn:uuid:68c9e63a-78fa-42c8-aea2-6ee6bf2f9c93> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/80 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943693 | 403 | 2.328125 | 2 |
The American Red Cross is collecting and distributing cards that send words of encouragement, gratitude and cheer while military deployments and hospital stays may keep many of our nation’s heroes away from their families this holiday season,
Through December 7, Americans can give something that means something by sending a card of thanks and support to members of the Armed Forces, veterans and their families.
“It just takes a moment to sign a card to share your appreciation for the sacrifices members of the military community make,” said local Red Cross officials. “You say thanks, we’ll do the rest.”
The Red Cross is inviting the public to send messages of thanks and holiday cheer until December 7 by mailing them to:
Holiday Mail for Heroes
P.O. Box 5456
Capitol Heights, MD 20791-5456
Pitney Bowes Inc. receives cards at the special Holiday Mail post office box, and screens them for hazardous materials. Pitney Bowes screens, packages and ships the cards at no charge, and contributes thousands of volunteer hours at sites around the country.
Red Cross volunteers across the United States and on military installations overseas then sort and deliver the cards throughout the holiday season. The Red Cross and Pitney Bowes have received and distributed more than 4.7 million cards for members of the U.S. Armed Forces, veterans and their families since the program began in 2006.
To ensure that cards are delivered in time for the holidays, they must be postmarked no later than December 7. Individuals are asked to refrain from sending “care packages,” monetary donations, or using glitter or any other kinds of inserts with the cards. More information and card requirements are at redcross.org/holidaymail.
The public can connect with fellow card senders through Facebook at facebook.com/redcross and Twitter.com/redcross using the hashtag #holidaymail. | <urn:uuid:36ce9b1c-f904-47d2-a936-fb0b8eeb9f40> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bethlehem.patch.com/articles/send-a-holiday-card-to-a-hero-via-red-cross | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94998 | 394 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Property Biz Canada
‘Small measures’ can save big bucks on energy costs, says federal efficiency expert
Property Biz Canada
Tue Oct 30 2012
The federal government has people whose job it is to convince building owners and managers across the country — even those within the government — that optimizing the efficiency of a facility should be seen more as an opportunity than a cost.
The government’s point man on this mission, Philip Jago, spoke to a group of commercial real estate professionals in Ottawa Thursday at the Better Buildings Breakfast event, put on by the Real Estate News Exchange.
Wide-ranging benefits from energy efficiency
Jago is director of the buildings divisions at Natural Resources Canada’s Office of Energy Efficiency. He told the audience about the many benefits that come from improving the energy efficiency of buildings, including lower costs, more productive staff, less impact on the environment and creating a more sustainable organization.
“A well-run building means happy tenants, happy employees and obviously higher productivity,” he said. “A well-run building means it’s not costing you as much as it might have cost you back 25 or 30 years ago. . . . And a well-run business economy in this country obviously gives us all sorts of issues on environmental protection, all on the positive side of the balance sheet.
“And then of course a well-run organization is sustainable over the long haul, which is always important, whether you’re in the public or private sector.”
Jago said commercial and institutional buildings in Canada account for 13 per cent of the country’s greenhouse-gas emissions, 14 per cent of energy usage and energy costs of about $24 billion a year.
He pointed out how cutting energy costs by 10 per cent would result in savings of $2.4 billion, and pushing that to 20 per cent — which he called “very obtainable” — would amount to almost $5 billion in savings.
“What would you like to do with five billion bucks?” he asked.
In terms of the tools his department has to help others achieve more efficient new buildings, he pointed to the National Energy Code of Canada for Buildings’ 2011 edition, done in conjunction with the National Research Council. He said the standards detailed there are 25 per cent more efficient, on average, than in the previous edition in 1997, and 18 per cent more efficient than the most stringent codes in the United States.
Energy Star tools coming to Canada
Jago also said an agreement has been reached with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency to use its Energy Star Portfolio Manager technology, which can help building operators track their energy usage, how successful their attempts at reductions are and compare that to the performance of other buildings.
“If you know where you are, vis-a-vis your competition, you will be spurred to action,” he said.
This Energy Star program will be available for commercial buildings and schools by next June, he said.
Small steps can make a difference
In an interview after his formal remarks, Jago acknowledged there are times when a significant project to improve the energy efficiency of a building is not practical, but that does not mean smaller steps cannot be taken.
“People seem to think that you’ve got to go into it and have capital expenditures before you’ll get savings,” he said. “We’re trying to argue that, although now’s not the time to buy a new this or a new that or tear something out, now’s the time just to turn around and say, ‘Today we’re using this much energy. How could we reduce that just by doing simple measures?’ Sometimes people don’t understand the magnitude or the impact of just starting out with simple measures.”
He talked about how the building where he works saw some unusual “spikes” in energy bills after a power outage. It was eventually discovered that the cooling system in a boardroom was not tied in with the building’s automated system and was running all the time.
“We found a couple of other things at the same time. We’re now saving . . . $2,000 a month. It’s still $2,000 a month, $24,000 a year, that we can use for something else other than electricity. And you probably have opportunities like that in your own facilities as well.”
In another example, he talked about a cement plant that saved $200,000 a year by turning off a fan that was on all the time, but no one knew what it did.
“It had run since the place was built,” Jago said. “No one knew why the fan was on, but no one wanted to turn the switch off. . . . One guy went there and he turned off the switch, and the plant kept running.”
For the federal government itself, Jago said one-third of its facilities have seen retrofits for better efficiency since 1991. To do this, it leveraged $300 million from the private sector and achieved $43 million a year in savings.
He was later asked what’s holding back such improvements in the other two-thirds of federal buildings.
“We don’t necessarily know what we use,” he answered. “We don’t know how to aggregate it all together. And I’ll be quite honest with you about that; we’re challenged like other large organizations are challenged to say, ‘Can anyone add it all up.’"
Jago went on to say: “Our facilities people (are) so busy sometimes with the immediate, they haven’t got the chance to step back and put that business case together that says this is where this can go.” | <urn:uuid:65234f88-06b1-4c41-8284-8184c31b1de8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.renx.ca/Detailed/Commercial/_Small_measures_can_save_big_bucks_on_energy_costs_says_federal_efficiency_expert_32519.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00015-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966279 | 1,232 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Mortise and Tenon Joints
Mortise and tenon joints are some of the oldest woodworking joints. Many classic 18th century furniture pieces such as the Philadelphia Chippendale highboys, Sheraton desks and others feature these joints. Mortise and tenon, if properly constructed, can also be some of the strongest joints. They can be used for outside frames of cabinets and chests, inside drawer-support frames, for table legs and chair parts as well as other projects.
A mortise is basically a slot cut in a piece of stock. A tenon is a reduced tongue on the end of the stock that is cut to fit into the mortise. Several different types of mortise and tenon joints can be constructed. An open-end mortise joint has the mortise all the way through the stock, allowing the end of the mortise to be exposed. This joint is often used to connect rails to posts or legs. Running the tenon entirely through the stock and then cutting a mortise in the end of the tenon, allows the tenon to be pinned in place with a small wooden dowel or tapered stick. With the latter, a sturdy joint is created that can be tightened by driving the tapered stick further inward. The open-end mortise joint disassembles quite easily by knocking the pin out and removing the tenon. The hole for the pin should be offset just a bit on the crosspiece to provide a tightening action between the two pieces. This joint is quite common in early American and other casual styles of furniture.
Another form of open-end joint is the corner mortise and tenon. The corner joint is commonly used for frame and panel sections such as raised-panel cabinet doors, or panel frames on chests.
A blind mortise-and-tenon joint has the end of the tenon concealed. The mortise does not go all the way through the stock. This joint is also used for rails and posts.
The tenons may be shaped in different styles as well. A straight tenon only has two cut sides. The opening of the mortise side is revealed. A shouldered tenon has all four sides of the stock reduced to conceal the mortise. By cutting a step in the tenon you create a haunched tenon that provides a good, strong joint used for frame construction. A bare-faced mortise and tenon has one edge exposed, normally on the inside of the piece.
As with many traditional joints, mortise and tenon joints can be cut using hand tools or with a variety of power tools. The tenon can be cut with a hand saw, a radial arm saw or table saw, or with a dado blade in either of the latter. The mortise can be cut by using a chisel, or by first drilling holes into or through the stock, then finishing the mortise with a sharp chisel.
Creating Mortise and Tenon Joints With Hand Tools
Creating mortise and tenon joints with hand tools requires quality, sharp tools. You1ll need a good square, marking gauge, brace and bit, mortise chisel, corner chisel and a smooth-cut backsaw. The chisels, butt gauge and saw shown are from Woodcraft Supply, makers of fine woodworking tools.
Tenons can be cut with hand tools. The first step is to mark the tenon with a square and marking gauge.
Position the stock in which the mortise will be cut facing upward, or the side in which the mortise is to be cut facing upward, in a vise or work-piece holder.
Place the stock that will have the tenon across it, with the end flush with one side of the mortise piece. Use a square to make sure the tenon piece is square with the mortise piece. Mark both sides of the tenon stock on the mortise stock. These are the mortise shoulder lines. If more than one piece is to be mortised, mark them all at this time.
If the tenon is to be shouldered to conceal the mortise, use a square to mark the width of the shoulders back from the first marks. These are the mortise-limit lines.
Determine the thickness of the tenon. This will also be the width of the mortise cut and is usually one-third the width of the tenon stock. It’s a good idea to keep the cut a size that can be cut easily with an available mortise chisel or brace and bit. Mortise chisels commonly run 1/4, 5/16, 3/8 and 1/2 inch. For 3/4-inch stock, a 1/4-inch wide tenon would be appropriate. Use a marking gauge to mark the thickness of the mortise to hold the tenon. Either a very sharp pencil or knife should be used to create a fine line mark. Then mark the waste or area to be cut. | <urn:uuid:5223664c-9a95-4835-9cda-cba8093fdb7e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://extremehowto.com/mortise-and-tenon-joints/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931459 | 1,029 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Paris death salon shows life and new trends in funeral industry
“Care to try out the coffin?” Surprised but intrigued, the young man lays himself down on the ivory satin fabric and holds his breath as the heavy lid closes over him. At the Salon of Death, everything is permitted.
For the first time in Paris, death is the star at a free exhibition taking place underneath the famed Louvre museum.
“It’s good to talk about death in the heart of the capital, because we’re a society pretty much based on consumption and leisure,” said Jean-Paul Soltani, who makes funerary monuments in the northwestern region of Brittany. “And here, we’re right next to the museum where they’ve got pharoahs’ tombs!”
Funeral parlors, organ donation societies, embalming techniques, and lots and lots of marble — it’s all on display at the Salon of Death, in a surprisingly clinical atmosphere. Organizers hope some 25,000 visitors will stroll through the Salon to admire the rows upon rows of biodegradable coffins or the luxurious funerary urns.
Or rest one’s head in a coffin, as the case may be. “There you go, I did it,” said one young man who braved the experience. “It felt like chasing away a little devil.”
A publisher’s stand displayed a selection of funeral requiems on CDs and non-religious books such as “Knowing How to Die” by the ancient Roman Stoic philosopher Seneca or “Reflections on the Guillotine” by French writer Albert Camus. At another stand, a former journalist explained how his company helped people who have had near-death or out-of-body experiences to meet and talk about what they lived through. | <urn:uuid:109f387a-40ec-4e8b-8c26-1ad3a22c7501> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.reuters.com/faithworld/2011/04/08/paris-death-salon-shows-life-and-new-trends-in-funeral-industry/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938275 | 400 | 1.882813 | 2 |
The IEEE Medal in Power Engineering was established in August 2008.
Sponsor: IEEE Industry Applications, Industrial Electronics, Power Electronics, and Power and Energy Societies
Presented to: An individual
Scope: For outstanding contributions to the technology associated with the generation, transmission, distribution, application, and utilization of electric power for the betterment of society
Prize: The award consists of a gold medal, bronze replica, certificate, and honorarium.
Basis for Judging: In the evaluation process, the following criteria are considered: impact on the profession and the betterment of society; succession of significant technical or other contributions; leadership in accomplishing worthwhile goal(s); previous honors; other achievements as evidenced by publications, patents, or other evidence.
Nomination deadline: 1 July
Presentation: At the annual IEEE Honors Ceremony | <urn:uuid:a147a7d2-29fc-4603-bed8-a79050badc03> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ieee.org/about/awards/medals/poweng.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905316 | 171 | 1.796875 | 2 |
It’s a new start for an old tradition in American Journalism, says Marvin Olasky, editor-in-chief of World Magazine. The news poem. Says Olasky,
Hardly a vile murder or a military victory went by without colonial poets bemoaning or celebrating the occasion in verse, with the work then published on a single page “broadside” and sold for a penny. Happily, my favorite pastor/theologian, John Piper, is also a poet, and below are his thoughts on justice in regard to Connecticut’s school shooting and Boston’s Marathon bombing.
Worldmag.com has posted Piper’s news poem “Grace Forfeited: Adam, Tamerlan, and the Lady” with the short introduction by Olasky.
Also, here at Desiring God, you can read … | <urn:uuid:991fff61-4ce6-4592-9298-ec7fcc5f7846> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.desiringgod.org/blog/authors/david-mathis.html?turn_off_admin_bar=true | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92509 | 182 | 1.828125 | 2 |
Stop me if you’ve heard this before: “Atheism is another religious belief”. “I don’t have enough faith to be an atheist.” “Someone curdled the contents of my brain pan and replaced them with a thurible.” Yeah, familiar nonsense, isn’t it? And now a Canadian “legal philosopher, writer, professor and practicing legal consultant”, Iain Benson, is forcefully regurgitating them again, with the added bonus of amazingly false claims.
“Atheists, agnostics and religious of all forms are believers and all have faith. The question is not whether they are believers but rather, what they believe in,” he says and insists the “new atheists” such as the late Christopher Hitchens or Richard Dawkins, who pride themselves on “not having any beliefs,” are wrong.
“Atheists are men and women of faith. Their faiths are different but they are still faiths and their beliefs still beliefs, no matter how much Dawkins and those like him wish it was different. Humans are stuck being believers, and that’s all there is to it,” he says.
We pride ourselves on not having any beliefs? Really? I have lots of beliefs, and I question them whenever necessary; I also expect my beliefs to be supported by evidence. I believe the earth orbits the sun, and I have evidence for that. I believe the earth is 4½ billion years old, and I have evidence for that. I believe life evolved, and I have evidence for that.
I don’t have faith, though, unless you’re willing to redefine “faith” to such a degree that it has no relationship at all to what theists mean by the term.
Here’s the problem: it’s not belief, because of course everyone has beliefs. It’s false beliefs. It’s beliefs that contradict reality, or are internally self-contradictory, or dogmatic beliefs that cannot be revised in the face of new evidence. Atheists try their best to get rid of those (although even there, we’re not perfect), while theists like Benson embrace such nonsensical jibber-jabber enthusiastically, and try to use their demonstrably false beliefs to guide public policy.
We all have a body of common beliefs: you’ll die if you jump out of a tenth story window, you should have a competent mechanic check out that used car you’re planning to buy, we can learn more about the world by observing and testing it. These are the set of pragmatic beliefs that allow all of us to function from day to day.
Then there are the set of entirely bogus and nonsensical religious beliefs layered on top of the useful common beliefs: you will live after death, a god cares about what you do in the privacy of your bed, we’re all damned sinners who will go to hell unless we belief in a zombie blood sacrifice. Sensible people reject those.
Although “dogmatic” doesn’t necessarily mean being rude, common usage helps prevent any real understanding of what dogma is. “Which is why so many atheists and men and women in the street think, like Dawkins and Hitchens, they don’t believe in anything. But they do.”
But a lack of understanding has enabled contemporary atheists to present their belief system as the only one that should have public recognition, forcing their own so called “non beliefs” on others.
No, you can believe whatever you want. What you can’t do is determine public policy by your dogma, which poorly reflects the realities of the physical world, nor can you use the state to indoctrinate children into your set of falsehoods.
Contrary to Benson’s freaky views, atheists aren’t trying to demand that politicians and teachers be atheists — we insist that they be secular. Big difference. Use secular principles to work out what is best for people in the material world. Weirdly, Benson seems to understand what “secular” means.
“We need to reclaim the true meaning of the ‘secular,’” Professor Benson says, pointing out that the word is misunderstood in today’s world and taken to mean “non-religious” when its real meaning, and legal definition is derived from the Latin word “saeculum” meaning “world.”
“Secular was used historically to distinguish between those things that were deemed to be ‘in the world’ and those that were expressly and technically ‘religious,’” he explains using the Catholic tradition to distinguish “secular priests” or those who work “in the world” from “religious” for those men and women who have taken specific religious vows and may live a cloistered life.
Yeeeeeessss? Atheists know what “secular” means. Perhaps Mr Benson should talk to a few sometime — his babblings reveal a profound ignorance.
According to Professor Benson, religious believers have as much right as anyone else to function in society according to these beliefs.
“Likewise religious institutions have as much right as non-religious institutions. Everyone has a belief system of some sort and those who draw on religious sources should not be put at a disadvantage,” he insists.
His support of equality for religious and secular institutions is commendable. Then I suppose he’d agree with me that the special privileges of tax exemptions and lack of regulatory oversight for changes should be abolished?
Since both religious people and atheists can share secular values, I don’t think it’s depriving the religious of their rights by insisting that everyone should be competent at their secular role; the special knowledge of religion/spirituality ought to have as much relevance to secular positions as knowledge of the rules of Dungeons & Dragons. | <urn:uuid:28a4c6f4-22d5-4b56-b217-db8e0cbd4a95> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://freethoughtblogs.com/pharyngula/2012/05/23/i-had-a-better-impression-of-canadians-before-i-read-that-tripe/?ak_action=force_mobile | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959811 | 1,253 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Much of the novel Reaching Home is set in the author's adopted home state of Maine. In an effort to give back to the citizens of Maine, the author and publisher have donated use of the novel and copyright materials to Maine Resilience in interest of building resilience, readiness and response to any adversity.
About Maine Resilience
Maine Resilience teaches participants to manage adversity to bounce back more quickly. Benefits include improved morale, decreased medical and mental health problems, increased team spirit and cooperation, and better relationships among co-workers and community members.
How Maine Resilience Got Started
Maine Resilience began in January of 2007. A major focus of the program has been to obtain sponsorships and continuing support. In December of 2007, the program received a grant from the Cumberland County Emergency Management Agency which has allowed the program to offer five workshops each year in Cumberland County for the last three years. In addition a number of organizations have funded training programs for their employees and members. The program has been coordinated with the effort, materials and information offered by the American Psychological Association and the Maine Psychological Association through their Public Education Programs. Clark Associates has also provided funding for seminar training and promotional materials.
Maine Resilience will continue to seek support from business who pride themselves on the resilience of their company employees and products with the goal of making Maine Resilience self-supporting and self-sustaining.
Maine Resilience Goals to continue to . . .
- Assist citizens of Maine in building resilience, readiness and response techniques needed to bounce back from tragedy - whether a national disaster, or a personal one.
- Train people with disabilities to utilize their untapped resilience skills to become trainers/coaches for Maine Resilience and conduct workshops to teach others the techniques needed to adapt in the face of disaster, and in the ups and downs of daily living.
- Recruit first responder professionals - fire fighters, police, EMT's, Red Cross personnel and other community leaders having resiliency skills, to be trained by Maine Resilience as trainers/coaches who will then conduct resiliency workshops for Maine businesses and the public.
- Invest in the citizenry of Maine to create a more effective and resilient response to crises. Both disabled people, and society as a whole, will benefit together by increasing resilience in communities.
- Teach participants to overcome adversity more quickly. Benefits include improved morale, decreased medical problems, better mental health, less sick time used, fewer accidents, better team spirit and cooperation, more rapport and relationships among co-workers and community members.
- Use story-telling to bring across the techniques of resiliency - permission has been gained, and use donated, for locally authored books, Reaching Home, and Duct Tape Isn't Enough, the readers and coaches guide to Reaching Home, to aide individuals and groups as they learn and teach the concepts and skills involved in resilience.
- Organize and conduct Train-the-Trainer workshops in the Portland and Bangor areas. Resilience Trainers/Coaches recruited will be disabled persons, emergency first responder personnel, and other community leaders. They will be compensated for their coaching time and expertise.
- Schedule conferences and mini-workshops with Maine businesses and community groups to provide resilience training workshops with continuing access to follow-up support sessions. A strong focus will be on partnering with local businesses and other Maine organizations for employee and citizen resilience training.
- Coordinate the program with existing efforts, materials and information offered and sanctioned by the American Psychological Association on resilience.
- Obtain sponsorships, partnerships and continuing project support from corporations, organizations, and foundations created on ideals in-line with the mission of Alpha One.
- Offer future components of Maine Resilience training tailored for: 1) schools, focusing on all grade levels; 2) pinpointing specific resiliency issues in time of war for Maine citizens; and 3) supporting Maine's war veterans and their families upon returning home.
- Offer Continuing Education credits for attendees participating in future Maine Resilience training sessions.
What Maine Resilience Needs Now
Your support! If you would like to be a sponsor, or would like to have your organization’s members/employees trained in resilience, contact Dr. Breazeale at firstname.lastname@example.org, or call Alpha One at 1-800-640-7200 | <urn:uuid:d1d8c570-18f6-4b24-b884-4aae0ac2dc19> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reachinghome.com/maineresilience.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943275 | 909 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Colorado women in 2011 earned less as a share of men's salaries than women nationwide, according to a report released Tuesday. Overall pay rates for both genders, however, were higher here than nationally.
Women who were full-time wage and salary workers in Colorado last year had median weekly earnings of $740, or 79.6 percent of the $930 for men, the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reported.
Nationwide, women earned $684, or 82.2 percent of the $832 for men.
In Colorado, the ratio of women's earnings to men's rose above 80 percent in 2002 and remained there through 2007, but it has dipped below that mark in three of the next four years.
Among the 50 states, median weekly earnings of women in full-time wage and salary positions in 2011 ranged from $564 in Montana to $878 in Connecticut.
Median weekly earnings for men were lowest in Arkansas, at $675, and highest in Connecticut, at $1,106.
The ratio in Kansas was 78.9; New Mexico, 83.9; Wyoming, 69.7; and Utah, 72.6.
In 1997 in Colorado, the ratio of women's earnings to men's recorded a low of 74.6 percent. | <urn:uuid:7c25f692-4973-4b76-9bca-54c889752497> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.denverpost.com/headlines/ci_22121553 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.981641 | 263 | 1.773438 | 2 |
A couple days later, I borrowed a four-wheeler and followed a hunter east out of Savoonga. We cut across roadless, trackless tundra, going around racks of abandoned reindeer skulls, and in and out of grass gullies. A storm from the Arctic was blowing in, steel-gray clouds and pale mist swirling like ghosts across the eerie expanse. When we neared shore, mist whipped off the sea, wetting our faces, soaking our outer layers. Our fat tires crunched over generations of whalebones and butchering camps. Several miles out on a cape, we stopped. Wearing a colorful wool cap and greasy Carhartt coveralls, the hunter threw a shovel over his shoulder. We walked together through blowing fog onto a mound of tundra-gnurls and pits. It was an ancient Yup'ik village where nobody lived anymore, and it was honeycombed with dig-holes. The hunter climbed down into one.
He had told me that sometimes he hunts seal, and sometimes walrus. There are seasons for salmon and seasons for murre eggs. On a scant, windswept island like this, you take what you can get. Now, he said, was the season for artifacts.
Permafrost had loosened its grip enough for him to push a shovel into the ground. He'd been digging here, he said, most of his life. His current pit was a little over waist-deep, with water collecting at the bottom where he dug out heaping shovelfuls of muck, seeking a prehistoric harpoon tip or a chunk of fossilized walrus tusk, something worth selling. The site was surrounded by spoil piles of countless walrus skulls and bits of artifacts useless on the market. I picked up a beveled whale rib and poked mud out through holes drilled into the bone. It was a sled runner, I saw, and the holes were where it had been laced under a footboard. St. Lawrence Island is a Native corporation, not an Indian reservation. Under U.S. law, Siberian Yup'iks have the legal freedom to do whatever they want with what they have on their land, even if what they find is thousands of years old. Then again, they were here a thousand years before U.S. law ever existed.
Although some of the villagers reject the practice, many Yup'ik hunters rely on harvesting artifacts in today's cash economy. The ancestors have helped them, they say. A rare cache that includes scrimshawed ivory, or maybe a set of beautifully carved snow goggles, can fetch hundreds of thousands of dollars on the antiquities market. But you can also sell broken carved ivory tips and parts of useless, ancient halibut hooks for $5 or $10. It all adds up, if you're persistent.
The hunter told me I could take a souvenir: anything I found on the surface. Even though I was captivated by the pieces of drilled or carved bone scattered around us, I couldn't do it. None of it was mine. I wasn't even sure how I felt about the hunter's ethics, but it wasn't my place to speak. I crouched and thumbed one of the ice-scrapers out of the ground. Five hundred years old, or maybe a thousand? Whatever the case, it was far beyond the scope of my horizon.
What artifacts do I have? My grandmother's wedding ring from Big Bend country in West Texas; a box of arrowheads from my great-grandfather in southern New Mexico? Even those were beyond my scope; I had moved too many times. What should I say when I was asked where I was from? Where I was born, maybe? My most recent home? The place I get my mail?
Here on this mist-driven mound, I felt a long way from ever being native. My ancestry lacked roots: a veneer of cities and trash dumps, maybe a pile of rusted cans, and –– if you looked back far enough –– a handful of sickly Pilgrim villages, now archaeological sites on the Northeast Coast. I had nothing like this in the ground beneath my feet, no ancient bone tools or skulls of animals eaten by my ancestors.
There are older people than Yup'ik, though. You can't see them anymore, but they lived here, too. At the height of the last Ice Age 20,000 years ago, sea levels were down more than 300 feet and a land bridge connected Siberia to Alaska, back when St. Lawrence Island was not an island, but a high point in a landscape of seemingly endless steppe roamed by mammoths.
This is where the first people are thought to have crossed into North America. They lived in what is now called Beringia, the subcontinent that connected Asia to North America. Anatomically, they were identical to modern people. Most would have had northern-Asian facial features and copper-brown skin. They used stone tools, hunted, fished, and gathered plants or eggs, whatever they could find in this hungry, wild country.
Years before I visited St. Lawrence Island, I traveled the rim of the Arctic Circle across Yukon Territory and Alaska. A college buddy and I were running a thousand miles of river through rumpled mountains and flats. We were traveling through what remains of Eastern Beringia, part of this lost subcontinent that stretches from northwest Canada across Alaska to the sea. The region's ecology has changed relatively little over tens of thousands of years; the landscape is considered an Ice Age relic.
Recent graduates of the University of Colorado, out to see the world on a grand adventure, the two of us had a 17-foot canoe and more leathery, home-dried fruit than anyone should ever consume. The Yukon River carried us north through spindles of black spruce clustered around open plains of tundra, sweeping us into a land utterly unlike anything we knew. With our sunglasses, mosquito nets and rich Arctic-sun tans, we felt like Lewis and Clark, our paddles gliding as green-backed mountains rose ahead of us, then fell to our backs. | <urn:uuid:e6716f74-a9d7-419b-bbe4-e0c7a075ed33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hcn.org/issues/44.17/vagabond-writer-craig-childs-on-20-000-years-of-wanderlust/article_view?b_start:int=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97325 | 1,276 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Dr. Donald Louria, Chair Emeritus, Dept. of Preventive Medicine and Community Health, New Jersey School of Medicine, will discuss "The Societal Consequences of Creating Extraordinary Longevity and the Looming Medicare Catastrophe: A Systems Approach" at the second session of The Research Café on Oct. 20 at 4:30 p.m. in the Campus Center Faculty Dining Room (3rd floor). Dr. Louria will give a talk based on his new book, Rethink: A Twenty-first Century Approach to Preventing Societal Catastrophes
. The talk is sponsored by the NJIT chapter of Sigma Xi, the national research honor society. Refreshments will be served and also can be purchased in the Pub or other Campus Center locations. Contact: Jay Kappraff at x3490. | <urn:uuid:8bb299b0-d01e-47e0-ad7e-6fb70a97c804> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.njit.edu/news/stories.php?year=2009&tag=jay%20kappraff | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935688 | 172 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Airman is a term used to refer to any enlisted personnel in the United States Air Force or Other Ranks in the Royal Air Force (in which airwoman is also seen). It is also a specific rank in the United States Air Force. More informally, it can refer to any member of an air force or to any pilot, military or civilian. When capitalized, it can mean any member of the United States Air Force, enlisted and/or officer, just as all members of the United States Marine Corps are known as Marines.
In civilian aeronautical usage, an airman is analogous to a seaman in nautical usage. As a gender-specific term, its use is depreciated by some, and is usually replaced with aviator. In U.S. Federal Aviation Administration usage, an airman is the holder of an airman certificate issued by its Airmen Certification Branch.
In the United States Air Force, Airman (Amn) is the second lowest enlisted rank, just above Airman Basic and below Airman First Class. An Airman Basic is typically promoted to Airman after six months, or if the trainee had 2 years of JROTC, or 20 college credit hours. An Airman's duties include adjusting to military life and becoming proficient in their Air Force specialty. Because of their lone stripe, an Airman is often nicknamed "Mosquito Wings," "Wingnut," or simply "One-Striper."
In the United States Navy, Airman is the non-rated Enlisted rank (E-3) in the Navy's Aviation Field, above Recruit (E-1) and Apprentice (E-2) but below Petty Officer Third Class (E-4).
The following rates (jobs) fall under airman: | <urn:uuid:74304d59-280b-4bbb-bb8b-e50857c619b4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reference.com/browse/Airman | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967314 | 368 | 2.875 | 3 |
Starting your own alternative energy power wind unit
Years ago, alternative energy power wind transformed wilderness areas in the US by giving energy needed to supply water for herds of cattle and sheep. As decades pass, these areas were supplied with inexpensive power by the grid, and the land forgot all about wind alternative energy. (see also Build Solar Panel & Wind Energy Facts )
As prices of non-renewable fossil fuels rise and damage to the environment alarmingly increase, our country is currently taking interest once again to this alternative way of generating electricity in a broader scale.
If you’re not yet convinced, here’s some of the important facts you need to know about alternative wind energy.
- You can use your own skill to build a system that will immediately supply you with energy.
- The source is available almost everywhere in the US.
- And most of all, the energy source is FREE.
As a form of alternative energy, wind power can be the answer to improving the environment by reducing the risk of global warming caused by carbon emissions produced by fossil fuels.
In some states, federal incentives are given to those who wish to install alternative wind energy, and some utility companies are offering subsidies. Although the support should be enough spur people, the lack of adequate information puts off the project.
Our goal is to erase any misconceptions you may have about wind power energy as it can be a great benefit to your home in the future. We’ll even teach you how to create your own system which will not only help save on utility bills, but also provide extra to the grid for energy rebates.
Useful tips on building alternative energy power wind generators
Modern wind generators are now strong but lightweight enough for your roof. The advancing technology for alternative wind energy gave rise to a system that produces less vibration and noise during operation. The gear system is now remarkably efficient that even a small system is capable of generating enough power for your home.
The USA Department of Energy Statistics can give you a data that lists sites best for wind energy in your area. If you still need further convincing, you can do your own detailed observation by using an anemometer to record the average wind speed in your prospected site.
A kit comes complete with plans and materials that will help an average home owner like you in building your own alternative wind energy plant for just $100 to $200. Basic setups do not require the help of an electrician, and average DIY skills are sufficient to complete the project.
Large utility companies do not actively develop alternative energy wind farms because landowners are reluctant to lease farmlands for turbine fields. But then again, reasons for not building one for your own are very small. Whichever way, wind power is your best alternative to save money and even help reduce carbon footprint.
Alternative energy power wind will be your backup when the cost of fossil energy becomes prohibitively expensive. The supply of fossil fuels may even come close to non-existent, making blackouts a regular part of your daily routine. The independence you’ll get from using this renewable energy will be your best bet in the future. | <urn:uuid:ddb3ab56-e393-4c69-be05-d3c4e38b2f2c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.greenenergydoityourself.org/alternative-energy-power-wind | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936289 | 637 | 2.953125 | 3 |
It's not enough, Willy Loman famously tells his sons in Arthur Miller's "Death of a Salesman," to be merely liked. You have to be well-liked. But focusing too much on being well-liked, the Lomans find to their eventual despair, can be a trap, and it's a trap that "Billy Elliot" falls into.
For there are things to genuinely like about this crowd-pleasing story of 11-year-old Billy, growing up in the coal-mining North of England during the 1984 miners' strike, who resolves against obvious odds to be a ballet dancer. But in its determination to overdo sure-fire material, "Billy Elliot" becomes as impossible to wholeheartedly embrace as it is to completely reject.
The best aspects of "Billy" all involve Jamie Bell, the young actor who plays him. A natural talent with an open smile and an eagerness for experience stamped on his face, Bell portrays Billy as a real boy's boy, a good lad whose defining trait is a constitutional inability to simply stand still.
Even before he takes a liking to ballet, Billy feels the music in his life, running and jumping when everyone else is marking time. The best scenes in "Billy Elliot" are invariably the dialogue-less ones in which the boy, briskly choreographed by Peter Darling, tears down the streets of his hometown, often with the vintage music of T. Rex on the soundtrack. Unlike its contrived dramatic aspects, this film's sense of the joy inherent in pure physical movement never lets it down.
"Billy Elliot" begins with a kind of reverse twist on "Girlfight," about a girl attracted to the world of boxing. Billy is busy taking boxing lessons when Mrs. Wilkinson's ballet class, displaced by the soup kitchen used to feed the striking miners, arrives to share the gym space. Almost viscerally, Billy is drawn toward this gaggle of baby ballerinas in white tutus and the strange but graceful movements they are learning.
The boy is rather more ambivalent about Mrs. Wilkinson herself, a tart-tongued woman of middle years (the perennially overripe Julie Walters) much given to dramatic gestures with a cigarette and a tough love approach to teaching. It's a shock to both of them to realize that Billy has a true gift for dance and that Mrs. Wilkinson has the ability to encourage and motivate him.
Certainly there is little in Billy's background that would make this talent predictable. His older brother Tony (Jamie Draven) would as soon smack him as look at him; his widower father ("My Name Is Joe's" Gary Lewis) goes off as regularly as Old Faithful; and neither man has had his disposition improved by participation in a strike that grows increasingly bitter and partisan as the film progresses.
The biggest hurdle for Billy to overcome, it turns out, is the familiar one of sexual stereotyping and family disapproval. "It's not for lads," his perplexed dad says of the boy's passion, and Billy finds himself continually educating the louts in town who think male ballet dancers are invariably gay.
There's of course a lot of potential in a story like this and no compelling need to push it as hard as possible, but the concept of leaving well enough alone is clearly alien to screenwriter Lee Hall and debut director Stephen Daldry. Not trusting the audience to have any reaction that has not been completely stage-managed, they lay on the sentimentality and the cliches as thick as they can, which is pretty thick. What results is a prime example of major studio emotional heavy-handedness seeping into even small independent films.
The situation gets even worse when Mrs. Wilkinson mentions that Billy might just qualify for acceptance in London's prestigious Royal Ballet School. No sooner is the goal presented than the filmmakers throw more obstacles in the boy's way than a Grand National Steeplechase, milking the situation almost beyond endurance. If "Billy Elliot's" plot had even a fraction of the grace andcontrol its dancing does, we'd all be a lot better off.
* MPAA rating: R, for language. Times guidelines: The language is strong, but the film is sweet.
Julie Walters: Mrs. Wilkinson
Gary Lewis: Dad
Jamie Bell: Billy Elliot
Jamie Draven: Tony Elliot
Jean Heywood: Grandma
Stuart Wells: Michael
Working Title Films and BBC Films in association with the Arts Council of England present a Tiger Aspect Pictures production in association with WT2, released by Universal Pictures. Director Stephen Daldry. Producers Greg Brenman, Jon Finn. Executive producers Natascha Wharton, Charles Brand, Tessa Ross, David M. Thompson. Screenplay Lee Hall. Cinematographer Brian Tufano. Editor John Wilson. Costumes Stewart Meachem. Music Stephen Warbeck. Production design Maria Djurkovic. Art director Adam O'Neill. Set decorator Tatiana Lund. Running time: 1 hour, 48 minutes.
In limited release. | <urn:uuid:9db48c5b-8c13-4b7e-9083-2644c31eb153> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://articles.latimes.com/2000/oct/13/entertainment/ca-35698 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957974 | 1,042 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Making the bed after getting up is a daily chore. Although it might seem a minor one, it has the character of a ritual that must be carried out, so much so that many people are simply unable to leave the home without having made their bed and this often gives rise to conflicts and arguments between parents and children. It’s a proven fact that for many people making their bed after getting up can be a tiresome, even painful task; sometimes out of sheer habit, other times because one is in a hurry and lacks time.
There are also many instances in which because of advanced age, some genetic defect, some type of physical disability or because of an accidents, the individual is simply unable to make the bed or where to do so the person would have to make an extraordinary effort which itself could end up being detrimental to the person’s health.
We invite you to watch the OHEA video demo. You will be convinced. | <urn:uuid:737e89c0-5e7e-45aa-9c04-c2875fcdd967> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ohea.eu/index.php/eng/ohea-smart-bed.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978836 | 193 | 2.0625 | 2 |
I'm not sure if this will help you or how it is related exactly, but I thought you, and the forum, would find it interesting.
So my Spanish teacher has a Portuguese Dad, Mexican Mom, and lives here. From what I can tell, she speaks Spanish, Portuguese, and English fluently. I asked her what language she thought in most and she said Spanish and she thinks through the other languages. But, to me, her English seems so fluent she has to think in it sometimes.
My French teacher (who I personally think is amazingly lucky) was born in Spain to an English-Spanish mother and an American father. She grew up in the Catalonia region and went to a French High School. She speaks Spanish, French and English fluently, and claims to speak Catalan, but I've never heard her. I asked her the same question and said that for the most part while she's been in America she thinks in English and thinks in Spanish in Spain or with her spanish-speaking friends. She said she has to think through French but she couldn't tell if she thought through it with Spanish or English. (I don't know, is it possible that she thinks in French but isn't entirely comfortable?)
Just thought I'd give you more examples of processing. | <urn:uuid:608de3b1-3466-4e55-8285-03bff71c5695> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.omniglot.com/forum/viewtopic.php?p=8084 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.994273 | 262 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Ch 2: Raising A Puppy
From the very first day your puppy comes home the clock is ticking. All aspects of puppy training and behavior modification will only get harder as time goes by, so don’t wait, start training today!
The first item on the agenda is errorless housetraining and chewtoy-training. You can’t expect your new pup to magically know where to pee and poop, what to chew, or when to bark. Instead, you need to teach her. Additionally, you will need to teach your pup that these rules still apply when she is home alone, and that there’s no need to be anxious in your absence. All of this is easy with a doggy den and puppy playpen: short- and long-term confinement areas for your puppy that will help her learn to have free reign of the house.
It is essential to teach your pup to like people and to enjoy being handled. If you don’t actively socialize your puppy to numerous unfamiliar people, she will most certainly develop fears about strangers, especially men and children. These fears can escalate into defensive and aggressive behavior, and a generally unhappy and stressed dog.
As your pup grows older, you must remember to continue socialization outside the home, certainly in puppy classes where your pup can learn to play appropriately with other pups and develop bite inhibition, but also you should strive to incorporate positive training into all aspects of your dog’s life. By training on your walks, in the car and at the park, you will raise a dog who is confident and relaxed in all situations. | <urn:uuid:323d2642-3e8f-4f96-8133-d5c85efb2cef> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/ch-2-raising-puppy | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958574 | 332 | 2.234375 | 2 |
You don’t have to read very far in Jane Eyre to notice that the syntax and style of the sentences are complex; phrases and clauses are elaborately interwoven, but still feel balanced and exact. For example, at the very beginning of the novel Jane tells us that she’s glad she can’t take a walk with her cousins: "I never liked long walks, especially on chilly afternoons: dreadful to me was the coming home in the raw twilight, with nipped fingers and toes, and a heart saddened by the chidings of Bessie, the nurse, and humbled by the consciousness of my physical inferiority to Eliza, John, and Georgiana Reed" (1.1.2). You could convey the same information by saying, "I never liked long walks. I hate coming home in the dark and having cold fingers and toes, and I hate getting yelled at and feeling pathetic compared to my cousins." But Jane’s sentences are refined; we can tell that she’s educated, that she never over-simplifies her ideas, and that she likes to give us a series of ideas in an interconnected web, instead of a group of short statements. | <urn:uuid:5293472e-cf8c-41d6-b404-ee3650be1d83> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.shmoop.com/jane-eyre/writing-style.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959884 | 252 | 2.84375 | 3 |
The Standard Model of particle physics tells us what elementary particles make up the universe. As far as we know, the particles in the Standard Model are the basic building blocks of matter and cannot be broken into smaller pieces. But scientists have not entirely ruled out the possibility that even smaller particles exist.
The idea of particle substructure is known as compositeness. Theories of compositeness say that the 12 matter particles and 12 antimatter particles described by the Standard Model are made up of even smaller units called preons. Different combinations of preons give rise to observable qualities such as mass and charge, allowing us to distinguish one composite particle from another.
If history is any indication, scientists could indeed discover that what we thought of as the most basic units of matter are actually made up of something smaller. The ancient Greeks came up with the idea of atoms, supposedly indivisible bits of matter. But modern science found that atoms are made up of negatively charged electrons surrounding a positively charged nucleus. Further experiments saw that the nucleus was made up of protons and neutrons, which in turn consist of quarks.
Detectors at the LHC allow scientists to peer even further into the makeup of the smallest bits of matter. It will take many years of data collection and careful analysis to determine if compositeness exists. If it does, its discovery could open up a new world of subatomic particles. The unprecedented energy of proton collisions at the LHC could be what scientists need to find it. Hide | <urn:uuid:fe7fcf94-45ab-44c8-8473-ac75e02ec6b9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://quarknet.fnal.gov/projects/lhc/composteness.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949288 | 304 | 4.53125 | 5 |
Malaysian protest over rare earths refinery plan
People living near a planned refinery for rare earth elements in Malaysia have held a demonstration to try to halt its construction.
The protesters in the eastern city of Kuantan say there is a risk of dangerous radiation from the plant.
The refinery will process precious metals used in the production of mobile phones and flat-screen TVs.
Regulators insist that the plant will pose no health risk to people living in the area, in Pahang state.
However the BBC's Jennifer Pak in Pahang says few people believe the Malaysian government could handle a radioactive disaster.
The protest - dubbed Green Gathering 2.0 - began in a carnival atmosphere with people dressed in green and beating drums. More than 2,000 people took part.
Last month shares in Lynas surged after Malaysian authorities granted it a licence to operate the refinery.
Once it is completed, the plant is expected to be one of the biggest sources of rare earth elements outside China.
China is currently the biggest producer, with more than 95% share of the global market.
Global demand for rare earth metals has tripled over the past decade.
However, China has imposed a production cap and said it will cut exports of the materials, prompting accusations that it is trying to manipulate prices. | <urn:uuid:8e7dc22e-e55e-4d8a-8161-64a46a448ae9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-17169601 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953016 | 267 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Poker-training websites usually provide two kinds of training: fundamental information and advanced or sophisticated training. The fundamental sectors are meant for people who are new to poker and blackjack, and are not very accomplished at playing poker and blackjack, or who want to try themselves at poker and blackjack for the first time. For those who have gambled and got their experience for many years, "superior tactic" sector is usually provided by such websites.
Anyway, don't stop on the "fundamental" part just for the reason that perhaps you consider yourself to be already a good player and you believe that pursuing some type of study is unnecessary for you. Even skilled professionals never neglect spending a little time to review essentials and strengthen their skill. Novice poker and blackjack gamblers should follow the example.
All games have their rules which are the first to be learned by a beginner. However, there are a lot of different kinds of poker and blackjack, such as video poker blackjack, home poker, casino poker, etc. Thus, each kind has its own rules, and those are different and unique from all other pokers' rules. Training websites usually offer information about different poker and blackjack games, so you may learn about any kind you like.
Poker and blackjack have their terminology like all other games. Like lots of games, poker has terms for all its definitions and actions. A player who doesn't know the basic terms looks stupid - at best.
The basic term in the poker game is the stake. The higher stakes are, the more exciting the game becomes. Every player makes stakes according to the cards he or she gets in certain dealing. However, even a very good hand does not guarantee a good sufficient basis to stake's success.
The stake has to have a possibility to succeed, if somebody else calls. This is considered to be reasonably sophisticated premeditated perception that even qualified players usually fail to remember.
Good poker and blackjack lessons are also provided by TV tournaments. Poker and blackjack tournaments become progressively more popular. Nowadays, television is raising its stake on poker, and TV-tournaments are met by the viewers' great interest. The accomplishment of tournaments on TV has turned out to be the real TV-projects, involving producers, marketing and online branch with total budgets counted in billions of dollars. Counting the number of hours, poker and blackjack air-time is now about 250 per cent as much as it has been in the past two years. And it tends to increase. 16 tournaments will be introduced on nine different TV-channels in Britain in the nearest future.
It is worth mentioning that an online poker competition is extremely trouble-free in reality; the great numbers of gamblers, who gather to participate in a competition, begin with an equal amount of chips, and they engage in recreation in anticipation when one competitor has all of the chips. At ordinary intervals, the blinds and antes are raised, production the pots superior and cooperate added passionate. Playing against other gamblers in tournaments is as exciting as playing poker online with gamblers from around the world. Tournaments are scheduled and announced long before the playing actually begins, and gamblers ought to register and pay the required participation fee. Everyone has a chance to participate in such a competition - just learn to play poker and continue on! | <urn:uuid:886c36e0-bac4-440c-914b-7edd2388f409> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.syl.com/gambling/pokerandblackjackwellknownworldwidegamesofchance.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977234 | 681 | 1.546875 | 2 |
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The CISSP certification is the most prestigious, globally-recognized, vendor neutral exam for information security professionals. The newest edition of this acclaimed study guide is aligned to cover all of the material included in the newest version of the exam’s Common Body of Knowledge. The ten domains are covered completely and as concisely as possible with an eye to acing the exam.
Each of the ten domains has its own chapter that includes specially designed pedagogy to aid the test-taker in passing the exam, including: Clearly stated exam objectives; Unique terms/Definitions; Exam Warnings; Learning by Example; Hands-On Exercises; Chapter ending questions. Furthermore, special features include: Two practice exams; Tiered chapter ending questions that allow for a gradual learning curve; and a self-test appendix
• Provides the most complete and effective study guide to prepare you for passing the CISSP exam—contains only what you need to pass the test, with no fluff!
• Eric Conrad has prepared hundreds of professionals for passing the CISSP exam through SANS, a popular and well-known organization for information security professionals.
• Covers all of the new information in the Common Body of Knowledge updated in January 2012, and also provides two practice exams, tiered end-of-chapter questions for a gradual learning curve, and a complete self-test appendix.
600 pages; ISBN 9781597499682
, or download in or | <urn:uuid:c17963b8-6334-4d0b-a1af-2017ca3fe261> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ebooks.com/1014262/cissp-study-guide/conrad-eric-misenar-seth-feldman-joshua/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907149 | 331 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Charlotte Observer Feb. 22, 2007
Resurrection of a wetland
Land near 2 schools will be restored to its former life-rich state
by GAIL SMITH-ARRANTS
It's a tranquil but neglected spot, a slice of old farm bottomland.
It's hemmed in by Harris Road Middle School, the construction zone for the new Odell Elementary and the sprawling Moss Creek subdivision.
In the next year or two, it could become a much more public, polished place -- an outdoor education center -- when state officials follow through on plans to restore the stream and habitat.
Eventually, students could be walking on boardwalks over the wetlands crisscrossed by a Rocky River tributary and dotted with sedges, rushes and fuzzy cattails gone to seed.
State and local officials envision the bottomland as a two-acre learning center about the size of two football fields. It would have a restored stream and wetlands with an educational trail and signs stressing the importance of wetlands in the environment.
Cabarrus County and the county school system approved the project this month, paving the way for stream restoration and related work as part of the state's Ecosystem Enhancement Program.
"The restoration project will put it back the way it was before the farmer monkeyed with it," Dennis Testerman said this week as he looked out over the floodplain.
Years ago, farmers straightened out stream channels so they would have more property for farming. That eliminated the meandering ways of streams that used to lace the floodplain, said Testerman, a conservation specialist with the county Soil and Water Conservation District.
Today, the Rocky River tributary stream must absorb runoff from roads, from the two schools sitting high above the streambed and from Moss Creek on the other side.
"That's the bottom line on why wetlands are so important," Testerman said. "The wetland takes runoff and filters out pollutants, like nature's sponge."
Prompted by development
Development is what prompted the restoration project. The little stream below Harris Road Middle is part of required federal mitigation work; the state is trying to offset environmental damage created by road construction somewhere else.The same thing has happened at adjacent Moss Creek, where developer Bob Burkett paid consultant Craig Wyant to restore butterfly habitat and wetlands to make up for land that was disturbed for the construction of the 1,400-home subdivision.
Burkett planned a learning trail connecting the subdivision to both schools, with a boardwalk and signs stressing the importance of wetlands. But that may be on hold because of the state project, he said.
"I'm kind of in limbo," Burkett said. "We were going to donate that to the county -- the work and materials."
Although the state and Burkett are working on two similar, but separate, projects, county Commerce Director Jonathan Marshall said they should be able to work together.
"I suggested to (Burkett and Wyant) that we meet to determine how the two properties can mesh and to ensure that there are no conflicts," Marshall said.
Everyone sees advantages to restoring wetlands, for residents and schoolchildren.
"This project has some real benefits ... also for the kids in the schools on either side of this project," said Tad Boggs, communications director for the state program.
Design and construction could take one to two years. Boggs said the state could work with Odell and Harris Road schools on environmental education and introduce teachers to Project WET (Water Education for Teachers), a ready-made state curriculum for all grades.
Reintroduce native species
As part of the stream/wetlands restoration, invasive plants such as honeysuckle will be yanked out and replaced with native species. The state will monitor the property for five years to make sure native vegetation thrives.
The area already has wetlands lovers. Testerman, the conservation specialist, pointed out willow oak, red cedar seedlings, hackberry and sweet gum.
"Sedges have edges. Rushes are round," he said, feeling the spiky, grassy clumps standing in the stream.
The streambed is in need of a facelift. While touring the area, Testerman picked up crushed soda cans and abandoned golf balls -- "alligator eggs," he calls them.
But he also inspected remnants from real eggs -- dried egg cases for wasp and praying mantis, clinging to blackberry briars and broomstraw grass.
As carefully as a surgeon, he pried open an egg case with a metal fingernail file. Tiny holes dotted the inside of the brown casing, hard as a walnut shell.
More than the stream is at stake in this restoration, Testerman said. "People try to forget about this as wildlife," he said. "But with the food chain, you need a constant supply of insects." | <urn:uuid:9973ff79-84cd-46ec-9f73-e3ac3a440982> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nceep.net/news/clips/charlotte2-22-07.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95169 | 1,014 | 2.234375 | 2 |
Protectionism is not for us, says Gordon Brown in exclusive Davos yesterday. So too does Peter (Lord) Mandelson, who has his own vested interest.
Brown should realize that if a leader refuses to protect his own nation, he is by default giving comfort to the rest of the world.
The Prime Minister can only say that because he’s never been elected by the whole nation — nor even by the Labour party. He has no sense of obligation to a body of people to whom he owes his job. Worse, he probably despises the electorate, believing they will never elect him to the highest office in the land. He’s right on that one.
Stodgy bureaucrat and international socialist that he is, he views the entire world as his field of gold, the backdrop to his fame on a global stage. Britain is a minor matter in the calculation.
Nothing else explains his fixation on global structures at the expense of national ones, which are there just to be destroyed. His refusal to staunch the mad scamble of immigration that occurred on his watch for a decade, is a scar on the Labour party that it will not live down for a generation.
Even when Brown had the chance of a derogation on Eastern European migration, he brushed it aside. It would damage his reputation as a world statesman, and besides who cares about the workers whose jobs would be undercut? Not the master theorist with no experience of the real world.
This disconnect between Brown’s actual policies and the support his own countryfolk have cried out for, is not to be found in the lame rhetoric, “British jobs for British workers”, but runs through his actions like veins in a blue cheese.
We have a Prime Minister who doesn’t actually care much for the British and their concerns at all. Trappings of power and the airy-fairy “world coming together as one”, are the driving forces behind everything he does.
This leaves the electorate with a very serious subcrisis to add to the emerging economic and financial woes: a government that governs for anyone but them.
Prime Ministers are appointed to office on the basis that they command a majority in the House of Commons. In the case of Brown, he came to power in mid-Parliament — another fine mess left by Tony Blair — so lacks the nation’s backing for his Soviet-style political philosophy.
Until fairly recently (1997 to be precise) you could count on a PM having strong patriotic instincts that would put Britain first. It is the essence of the job, after all. Until next summer that assurance is missing. We are governed by someone who puts the rest of the world before our own interests.
Brown’s principal sidekick Peter Mandelson — a man attracted to power like a mosquito to blood — is so caught up in the European “project” that he can’t be relied upon to make any decision in the UK’s best interest. Less globalization than continentalization. But it comes to the same end.
It’s hard to imagine a more dangerous situation for the country. A Prime Minister and deputy acting for overseas “friends” rather than for our much depleted country.
Brown’s late countryman, novelist and historian John Buchan would have had blunt words to describe both of them, none ideologically-correct in Labour’s terms. Suffice it say that Richard Hannay and Sandy Arbuthnot would be on their trail like unforgiving tigers.
It’s time to put the country first. Globalization has failed spectacularly, especially in the Ponzi-scheme financial sector. It came up with idiot’s gold that blew away with the first whiff of cordite, leaving millions with lifelong indebtedness or facing default and bankruptcy.
Britain will not break out of this home-grown disaster until its principal authors are persuaded, or forced, to leave the scene. The party that demonizes others for a living should in turn be demonized by those who come after … in the long-term national interest.
Then what? Ralph Waldo Emerson had a simple solution to most economic woes:
“If a man write a better book, preach a better sermon, or make a better mousetrap than his neighbour, tho’ he build his house in the woods, the world will make a beaten path to his door.”
That worthy objective can’t be achieved by government. All it can do is ensure that education is tip-top, support meritocracy and real social mobility, and give up trying to micromanage national life.
Gosh, I think I’m making a case for a Conservative Government.
It would be a new dawn, would it not?
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Let’s be frank Frankia is not for the English | <urn:uuid:9c10152e-0647-4f89-b8aa-c84667be4320> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.syntagmamedia.com/category/janice-turner/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962327 | 1,056 | 1.820313 | 2 |
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Bruntsfield Hospital was an Edinburgh hospital which started in 1878 as a women's dispensary ( clinic) opened by the city's first woman doctor, Sophia Jex-Blake. It soon added some beds for in-patients, and moved from a busy, central area to the more peaceful Bruntsfield before the turn of the century. Its name from 1885, Edinburgh Hospital and Dispensary for Women and Children, continued in formal use into the 1930s, but before 1920 it started to be known as the Bruntsfield Hospital. For a few years, another of Scotland's pioneering women doctors, Elsie Inglis, was a consultant there. In 1948 the hospital was absorbed into the National Health Service (NHS); it closed in 1989.
Origins In 1878 Jex-Blake opened the Edinburgh Provident Dispensary for Women and Children to offer advice and medicines to working-class patients, either subscribers or non-paying "charity" patients. At first she treated out-patients only, although from 1883 a few patients who needed rest were accommodated in her newly-bought Regency house, Bruntsfield Lodge, to which she also moved her private practice.The dispensary became the Edinburgh Hospital and Dispensary for Women and Children in 1885, the year when it opened a small ward for in-patients near the original premises. The annual report that year said that "the Provident system was being more and more used to the evident advantage of both patients and doctor".Scotsman, 1 December 1885
1899 - 1910 When Jex-Blake retired and moved away in 1899, she left funds for trustees to buy or build a new hospital. In fact her own house was bought and fitted out by the hospital committee: a committee led by well-connected women active in various social reform projects, Flora Stevenson and Sarah Mair among them.The Nursing Record 9 December 1899
The following year things were ready for patients to be transferred to the improved hospital.In 1899 there was discussion about joining forces with Elsie Inglis and her Medical Women's Club, but Inglis set up a separate small charitable nursing home for maternity patients. In 1904 they moved to bigger premises which they called The Hospice, adding a dispensary, and maintaining links with the establishment at Bruntsfield, where Inglis was appointed senior consultant in 1905. Her partner in private practice was Jessie Macgregor, an ex-student of the Edinburgh School of Medicine for Women who worked for some years at the Hospital and Dispensary for Women and Children.
Expansion, change and closure Financial and administrative amalgamation came in 1910, when a new hospital building was constructed in the grounds of the old 'Lodge' and officially opened by Queen Mary in 1911. The Hospice continued to care for mothers and babies, Bruntsfield took gynaecological, medical and surgical patients, and the dispensaries carried on as before. When the new Elsie Inglis Memorial Maternity Hospital opened in 1925, there was a joint finance and executive committee for the two hospitals, but Bruntsfield Hospital had its own management and continued to have its own identity. In 1939 the Executive Committee adopted the familiar 'Bruntsfield Hospital' name in its formal title.By 1948, when the hospital became part of the NHS Edinburgh Southern Hospital Group, there had been several additions including a children's ward and specialist facilities. The hospital had 80 beds, and some wards had verandahs overlooking the garden. It had built up a fully female staff with three resident medical officers and a range of consultants; the 1950s saw heated debate about the first appointments of male doctors to the staff. The hospital started to take in geriatric patients in the 1970s.Reorganisation of the NHS in the 1980s led to the closure of Bruntsfield Hospital in 1989. Napier University hoped to use the buildings but the city council turned down their planning applications. In 1991 the exteriors of the Regency house and the 1910-11 annexe were given a Category B listing; three years later the site was developed for residential use.
Footnotes Addresses and other details:
Jex-Blake's Provident Dispensary was at 73 Grove Street, near Haymarket, and from 1885 in-patient beds were provided at 6 Grove Street. Her home and private practice were half a mile away at 4 Manor Place in the New Town. In 1883 she moved to Bruntsfield Lodge, which had been known for decades as Greenhill Cottage, and had a good-sized garden. The 1910-1911 building with a bell roof fronts onto Whitehouse Loan.
Elsie Inglis' first nursing home was at 11 George Square. In 1904 this moved to 219 High Street and was called the Hospice.
This article is based on an article from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia and is available under the terms of GNU Free Documentation License.
In the Wikipedia there is a list with all authors of this article available. | <urn:uuid:6547e3b7-60ed-4d34-852a-2c77e06e5283> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lumrix.net/health/Bruntsfield_Hospital.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975408 | 1,035 | 2.234375 | 2 |
The moa was a massive, flightless bird that stood 12 feet tall and weighed more than 500 pounds. These fast-footed creatures once ran free in New Zealand's pristine forests and are believed by many to have been hunted to extinction in the 1400's by the Maori people. Despite the fact that scientists have given up on the Moa, reports have been filed consistently for decades that a small population of these immense animals may still be hiding on New Zealand's South Island. To make matters even more interesting, the reports indicate that the creature may have evolved into a fierce and elusive predator, with several hunters claiming to have been attacked. The story caught our attention recently, when a flurry of sightings took place in deep South Westland, an untouched and rugged wilderness. Here, in seldom explored forests, intrepid locals have produced footprint and photographic evidence to support their claims that a monstrous bird is hiding from the modern world.
Josh and the team decide to try a touristy Vampire haunted house before the investigation and realize sometimes that's scarier than the real thing.
In this death-defying investigation Josh makes one of the most shocking paranormal discoveries in Destination Truth history.
Josh talks about why sometimes slowing down during your travels is the best course of action. | <urn:uuid:1fbdd18b-23ae-4a5a-baef-bc827db1be08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.syfy.com/destinationtruth/creatures/the_moa | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00067-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964313 | 255 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Our Government has failed to deliver these presents over the past year and, as a last resort, we thought we would include them in our Christmas wish list. The chances of having them being delivered by yourself, down our chimneys, seems much more likely than any other way we can think of (barring a snap election and the installation of a Green/Labour Government).
- Jobs, about 300,000 so that everyone who wants to be fully employed, can be, and maybe some of the 477,000 or so who have gone to Australia can return.
- Clean Rivers, it would be great if families could enjoy a swim in their local river or creek again over the Summer break.
- A Living Wage, 40% of our children who live in poverty have a working parent. The median family income has dropped over the last few years and an increase in family incomes would be a great present.
- A Low Carbon Future, it would be wonderful to gift our children with a real future that doesn't include catastrophic climate change. A carbon tax and rejoining Kyoto would be a great start.
- Good Public Transport, the Government want to spend $12 billion on unnecessary roads and yet the demand is growing for public transport. Reopening the Hillside Workshops would help with number one on our list as well as building our rail capacity.
- A New Minister for Education, the current one is just pretending to know the job and it is beginning to show. Our education system has dropped to number 9 internationally, so let's get someone else in the job to restore us into the top 4!
- Homes, around 90,000 are needed in auckland alone. It would be great to have high quality houses for those on low incomes rather than the barely livable ones available for renting.
- A Lower NZ Dollar, let's get our economy going again and our manufacturers humming!
- Saving the Maui Dolphins (we have only 55 left), with so many of our native species near extinction saving these unique animals would be a wonderfully symbolic start to wider campaign of conservation.
- Keeping Our Assets, it would be a brilliant present to New Zealand to know that we still have possession of all our assets and that the family jewels aren't being sold off to pay for this Christmas.
We will leave you a glass of milk as it is the one thing that seems to be in plentiful supply.
We are looking forward to Christmas day and the possibility of receiving at least one of the above.
The People of New Zealand | <urn:uuid:da2953e5-b4f7-4c80-a309-32429b3a8403> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://localbodies-bsprout.blogspot.com/2012/12/new-zealands-christmas-wish-list.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968256 | 515 | 1.773438 | 2 |
The big one — the federal election — will occur later this year, and Western Australia will also head to the polls. Crikey’s elections guru outlines the year ahead and makes some guesses on the big date.
I begin 2013 as I did 2011 and 2012: with a review of this year’s electoral calendar. On the two previous occasions I engaged with the possibility that a federal election might be brought on ahead of time due to parliamentary defections and/or byelection defeats. Having proved more than a few detractors wrong in avoiding such mishaps, the situation for the Gillard government is definitive this time — it will face the polls this year, by no later than November 30.
Should the government push the election date out as far as it can go, it will have extended its “three-year term” to three years and three months, the date of the 2010 election having been August 21. This is because the clock on the three-year term does not start ticking until the first sitting of parliament, which was on September 28, 2010. Once the parliamentary term expires, there can be a 10-day gap before the writs are issued, as many as 27 days for the ensuing nominations period, and a further campaign period of up to 31 days until polling day.
The minority government agreement reached with Tony Windsor and Rob Oakeshott after the 2010 election stipulated the “full term” to be served should continue until September or October. The Howard government provided handy precedents in this respect, having held out for at least an extra month in 2001 and 2007 without incurring too much opprobrium.
The other end of the equation is how soon the election can be held. In theory, an election for the House of Representatives only can be held at any time, so long as one dispenses with the assumption that it will be held concurrently with a half-Senate election (the time where a double dissolution might have been a theoretical possibility having already passed). A House-only election would put election timing for the two houses out of sync, something governments have been determined in avoiding since the last such election was held in 1972.
There were theories abroad that the government might nonetheless have just such an election in mind, either to seize advantage of an upswing in the polls or to spare itself the embarrassment of failing to bring down a budget surplus. However, the government’s pre-Christmas withdrawal from the surplus commitment — together with the Prime Minister’s recent insistence the election date will be “around three years since the last one” — make it a safe bet the House’s election timetable will indeed be tied to the Senate’s.
The next half-Senate election will be held to replace senators who were elected when Kevin Rudd came to power in 2007. They began their terms in mid-2008 and will end their terms in mid-2014. The election process must begin in the final year of the six-year term, namely from the middle of this year. Since the process involves a campaign period of at least 33 days, the earliest plausible date is August 3 — less than three weeks before the third anniversary of the 2010 election.
“The best bets therefore seem to be the first three Saturdays in September (the 7th, 14th and 21st) and the last three in October (the 12th, 19th and 26th) …”
School holidays in various states between September 21 and October 12 offer a complication for part of the period nominated by Windsor and Oakeshott, although Howard’s decision to hold the 2004 election on October 9 showed that only the consecutive AFL and NRL grand final weekends were (in Howard’s own words) “sacrosanct”.
The best bets therefore seem to be the first three Saturdays in September (the 7th, 14th and 21st) and the last three in October (the 12th, 19th and 26th), with the proximity of the three-year election anniversary strengthening the case for September over October.
Considerably less ambiguity surrounds the second biggest electoral event of the year: the state election in Western Australia, where the Barnett government’s introduction of fixed terms has set the date for March 9.
The government has further taken the opportunity to return the election date to its traditional position early in the year, which had been upset by Alan Carpenter’s unsuccessful gamble in bringing the previous election forward to September in 2008.
The introduction of the fixed term regime has thus granted the Barnett government a six-month extension on its four-year term, which as far as I can tell makes this the second longest term served by an Australian parliament since federation — the first being a short-lived experiment with five-year terms in South Australia in the late 1930s.
Surprise early elections in other states are always a technical possibility, but fixed terms and bumper majorities make this very hard to envision in any case but one. The exception is Victoria, where Ted Baillieu’s government holds the slenderest of majorities, trails in the opinion polls, and has ongoing problems with the accident-prone member for a marginal seat. Were Baillieu’s government to fail where Gillard’s has succeeded — and lose a seat through a parliamentary defection or byelection — the result would be a parliamentary gridlock that would almost certainly require an election to resolve.
A step lower on the electoral food chain are byelections, which are hard to foresee in advance but almost certain to occur at least somewhere at state if not federal level. One intriguing possibility emerges from Bob Katter’s promising idea to lead the Katter’s Australian Party Senate ticket in Queensland and bequeath his existing seat of Kennedy to his son Rob Katter. That would require a byelection for Katter Jr’s existing state seat of Mt Isa, which would provide Katter’s Australian Party with a further opportunity to land a punch on the nose of the Liberal National Party. | <urn:uuid:bc51dfeb-f6ba-4991-86a6-7d472fe2823c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/01/07/poll-bludger-pencil-in-september-for-the-federal-election/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975557 | 1,239 | 1.78125 | 2 |
In the last debate, Governor Romney made the claim that the US Navy is the smallest it’s been since 1916 implying that the US Navy is regressing in terms of overall strength. How accurate is this claim? We recently compiled a new data set on naval capabilities and created a measure of state naval strength for all countries from 1865 to 2011. As such, we are in a position to address the claims of the Romney campaign.
Broadly stated, our measure of state naval power is based on a state’s total number of warships (non-fighting ships are excluded) and each ship’s available firepower. To make comparisons over time, our annual measure is based on available firepower within the international system in that year. (For more information, see our paper here.)
In 1916, the US controlled roughly 11% of the world’s naval power. This is an impressive number that ranks the US third in naval strength behind the UK (34%) and Germany (19%), and just ahead of France (10%). What about the US navy in 2011? In 2011, the US controlled roughly 50% of the world’s naval power putting it in a comfortable lead in naval power ahead of Russia (11%).
The US Navy has decreased in absolute size as Governor Romney argues (although this decline has been ongoing since the end of Cold War). U.S. warships are more powerful now than in the past, as President Obama implied. However, neither the number of warships nor the power of our ships is what is most important for understanding military and political influence. It is relative military power that matters most. In this respect, the U.S. navy is far stronger now than in 1916. | <urn:uuid:a112a433-ab7b-4a98-bd31-05d94f8b81e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://themonkeycage.org/2012/10/23/how-strong-is-the-u-s-navy-really/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957076 | 348 | 2.78125 | 3 |
Things are looking up
Encephalitis had Collin Goodchild's parents terrified and his doctors and nurses searching for answers.
Not all seizures in children are violent. Some could even go unnoticed. Others might cause a child to go instantly dark, like an unplugged lamp—unable to respond and staring into space. That's what happened to Collin Goodchild on July 1, 2008, when he was almost 6.
After a second seizure almost 10 days later, Collin came to Boston Children's, unable to walk in a straight line or follow a moving finger with his eyes, and his arm was jerking uncontrollably. "Our minds were racing," says Collin's father, Mark. "It was a complete nightmare."
Boston Children's doctors diagnosed Collin with encephalitis, an inflammation in the brain that can be caused by a number of things, including viruses, bacteria and the body's immune system turning against itself.
Fortunately for the Goodchilds, encephalitis—which is often confused with the more dangerous bacterial meningitis—is rarely fatal in the United States. But identifying its cause can be a real challenge. There are a few tests that can recognize certain causes, but often doctors and families never know for sure what's behind a child's encephalitis. "The doctors tested Collin for everything they could, but everything was coming back normal," says Mark. "I was glad he didn't have the bad things he was being tested for, but it wasn't giving us any answers, so it was kind of bittersweet. "
Encephalitis is known to cause symptoms like fever, confusion and difficulty walking and talking, but these often subside over time. Unfortunately, there's no way to know how long this might take, or what, if any, long-lasting effects the encephalitis might lead to down the road. "The doctors can tell you, 'We hope he'll talk again. We hope he'll walk again. We hope he'll eat on his own,'" says Mark. "But they don't know—that's what's so scary."
The weeks following Collin's diagnosis were a nightmare for Mark and Suzette. Collin's arm-jerking developed into a full-blown movement disorder, with episodes of uncontrollable thrashing and screaming. The doctors finally brought the disturbing episodes under control, but only by medicating Collin very heavily.
Soon, his speech began to dry up. "He could still use a few words, like 'yes' or 'no', but other than that he could barely talk," says Suzette. "And I don't know if he was following instructions either. You'd ask questions, and he wouldn't do things. It was like he didn't understand. The doctors would come in and ask him to raise his hand, wave, or blink, but he wouldn't do it. It was almost like he was somewhere else."
A few days later, Collin lost the ability to walk. Shortly after that, he couldn't even swallow on his own and began receiving all his nutrition through a feeding tube inserted into his stomach.
Mercifully, after three or four weeks, Collin's symptoms started to subside as his brain began its long, slow healing process. He began to swallow again, so he could get some of his nutrients by drinking small amounts of liquid. It was encouraging, but he was far from out of the woods. He still couldn't walk or communicate, so began extensive physical, occupational, speech and feeding therapy.
Fortunately for children like Collin, young brains are not yet fully developed, so they're strong and adaptable. But it's nearly impossible to say how much of the brain will heal—once the medical emergency passes, you can see a light at the end of the tunnel, but no one can say what you'll find when you get there.
So the Goodchilds kept doing everything they could to get Collin well. "We went anywhere and everywhere we needed to go," says Suzette, including kindergarten, a prospect his parents would have never deemed possible a month earlier. Collin spent about an hour each day in school, working with an aide and soaking up his surroundings. He still couldn't communicate, and received a majority of his nutrients through a feeding tube, but he was walking again and slowly rebuilding his strength and dexterity.
Flash of insight
On the day in December that would change Collin's life, his neurologist, Mark Gorman, MD, woke up suddenly in the middle of the night with an idea. He remembered a study he'd heard about at a conference that described a subset of encephalitis patients with movement disorder, just like Collin. It wasn't an obvious association to make, because these patients were women with ovarian tumors, but Gorman focused on the similarities. He quickly located and contacted the doctor who had first identified this subset, and described Collin. The doctor agreed that it sounded like the same set of symptoms, and identified them as indicators of a certain type of encephalitis known as anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis.
Things moved quickly after that. Gorman sent a sample of Collin's blood and spinal fluid for testing, and sure enough the results came back positive for anti-NMDA receptor encephalitis. Finally, after months of uncertainty, Collin's phantom malady had a name, and it was something Gorman could treat. Collin was placed on an intensive three-day round of steroids, and monthly sessions of a four-hour-long infusion of a blood product called IVIg.
"Even after the first treatment, we felt things were getting better," says Suzette. "And then in February, he had his second IVIg and his gross motor skills started to click, just like that. We had him on a handbike, and his arms and legs were just going."
One day in March, she was in the kitchen and Collin was in the living room with his younger brother Colby. "They were just sitting there, and as usual Colby was doing all the talking since Collin couldn't," says Suzette. "But then I heard a voice and I said, 'Oh my God, that's not Colby, That's Collin!'" Suzette called Mark and told him to come home.
"The kids were sitting at the table, and Colby was all excited," says Mark. "He'd say 'Dad, watch this…Collin, say circle.' And you hear this little voice: 'cir-cle?' And Colby would say, 'Collin, say star,' and he'd say 'star.' He said square, he said triangle. It was unreal."
Two days later, Collin was picking cashews out of a bag of trail mix, repeating the word cashew. "We were all laughing," remembers Suzette. "We just thought 'This is a miracle. We've been waiting months for this.'" Later that week Collin went in for his third IVIg and came out speaking full sentences. The room exploded in joy.
From then on, Collin's turbocharged recovery took off. He started responding to what people were saying to him, and asking questions of his own. "It was by far the most amazing thing I've seen," says Gorman. "I just asked him normal stuff I'd ask any 5 or 6 year old." Most thrillingly, his knowledge was intact, and words flooded back into his vocabulary. Kitty Petty, the Boston Children's education consultant who helps Mark and Suzette with Collin's academic program, says the fact that Collin retained so much from before the encephalitis is very significant. "He's not just parroting words, he's recognizing things and identifying them," she says. "These are important cognitive activities."
At school, Collin began to be tested on writing, numbers, shapes and colors. More people than he will ever know watched in delight as he sailed through the goals that were set for him.
Now, when they're not snowboarding in Maine, Collin and Colby are classmates in first grade. "People take so much for granted," Suzette says. "When something like this happens, it sets you back, and makes you realize that if you have faith, and a strong family, and the community that we do, that you can get through it. And we did. We really did." | <urn:uuid:6226eaba-ce8b-455f-b48f-4ea215963fd6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.childrenshospital.org/az/Site832/mainpageS832P6.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.990956 | 1,743 | 2.296875 | 2 |
As part of Fisheries Awareness Week, IFI in association with the EU Life+ CAISIE project organised a ‘Balsam Bash’ in Clashganny to remove Himalayan balsam (Impatiens glandulifera) from the banks of the River Barrow. This event was reflected by others around the country in Dublin, Mayo and elsewhere. The events gave local volunteers, such as members of angler’s associations, the Irish Wildlife Trust and Tidy Towns groups, the opportunity to come together to help reinstate natural riparian ecosystems.
Himalayan balsam, native to the western Himalayas, was originally introduced as a garden plant and can now be found throughout the country. The plant negatively impacts native ecosystems by crowding out native species and leaving the river bank exposed during the winter. Fortunately its morphology and life cycle display a number of weaknesses that make balsam bashing an effective control method. The plant’s entire life cycle takes place in a single year, its shallow roots make it easy to pull, it has no thorns or bristles, can only propagate by seed and these seeds tend to germinate after one year. All of this means that continued balsam bashing can be an extremely effective control method.
This event and the others that took place over Fisheries Awareness Week, were aimed at raising awareness of the recreational opportunities afforded by our rivers and lakes and our responsibility to maintaining and improving these natural habitats. The events proved to be most successful and will be staged again in future years. | <urn:uuid:ca9b3385-2d95-46b6-9f5e-3e2e603872a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://caisie.ie/?p=713 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957106 | 316 | 2.375 | 2 |
My name is The Cog. I’m a medieval shipwreck. Found in 2000 during construction works in the harbor of Antwerp (Belgium). A dendrochronologist was able to date my wood. He told me it was chopped in the winter of 1325-1326. Somewhere in the northwest of Germany.
Since my discovery I just can’t stop talking. But what did you expect? I was lying there, under a sedimentary layer of 7 metres, for several centuries. Nobody to share my thoughts or feelings with. Doomed to pass my days in solitude. Until this huge crane brought me light in the darkness – and unfortunately also a stabbing pain in my hull.
The age-long pressure of the sediment on my timbers caused an annoying selective amnesia. I don’t remember where I come from. Who built me and which waterways I may have sailed. But what fascinates me most is the strange position I was found in. Upside down. Without any remains of a possible cargo or mast. How did this happen? Did I founder in a violent storm or a devastating deluge? Or was I already put on inactive for a while?
I was lucky to find some interested experts who wanted to help me out. During my research project, carried out by the Flanders Heritage Agency, I discover new truths about my past. Together with the broad public. Because that is what I do: I involve the public in a direct and personal way and I try to make the output of my research more accessible. Let’s be honest. What is more attractive for a non-scientific public: live updates through social media with pictures and results hot from the press or a well-considered written final report with the main scientific results and conclusions?
A ‘fait divers’ or an important discovery in my research. By blogging, tweeting (@dekogge) and facebooking, I launch my story for those who wish to follow it. Day in day out, I wear my heart on my sleeve (or should I say timber?). For the sake of my own memory. And in favor of our common past. | <urn:uuid:d4a74ea8-461d-4a96-a7d5-43d1eb1f2b0e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dayofarchaeology.com/the-cog-a-medieval-chatterbox/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951866 | 446 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Arts Integration and English
Until recently, Rwanda operated in two languages: Kinyarwanda and French. But in 2008, the government declared that English would replace French as an official language, a move designed to position the populace to better compete in the global marketplace. Students now have to learn the language in their schools, and--more daunting--teachers have to learn how to teach it.
When I met with a local community school in Kigali about how the Museum of Photographic Arts could help meet some of their challenges, the director expressed a desire for the school’s teachers to be better equipped to integrate the arts into their classroom. And so we designed a teacher training workshop to introduce a few art activities that would help support the kindergarten teachers’ instruction of English. Last week at the workshop, the teachers and I used found photographs in magazines (donated by the US Embassy) to create collages that reinforced their lessons on the spelling of English numerals, alphabet-based vocabulary, and vocabulary related to the human body.
We had a lot of fun connecting words and images in the workshop. This is only a start. Teaching English to the entire student population of Rwanda is a huge task. But it's a natural place for the arts--and particularly photography--to play a supporting role. | <urn:uuid:763d0b75-c2bc-411c-8b97-82edd5987a37> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mopa.org/blog/03-12-12/arts-integration-and-english?mini=calendar%2F2012-12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956473 | 268 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Apollonius, a Greek philosopher, seer and neo-Pythagorean teacher, was born in Tyana in Cappadocia around the time of the birth of Christ. Most of what we know about him comes from an idealized account of his life set down by Philostratus, a century after his death. This claims Apollonius as son of the sea-god Proteus, and covers his wide travels, speeches and miracles, including Lazurus-like episodes of raising the dead. One notable incident in the Life, that of Apollonius's unmasking of a Corinthian disciple's bride as a vampire or lamia, was later the basis for John Keats' masterful poem, Lamia, in his collection of 1820. Apollonius eventually settled at Ephesus, and died after a long life of nearly a century. Later attempts to set him up as a rival savior to Christ, left him with an unfair reputation as something of an antichrist.
The French occultist, Eliphas Levi, would later claim to have summoned the spirit of Apollonius by a necromantic rite in 1854.
Click the Amazon logo to find books by or about Apollonius of Tyana or the Google logo to search the web for more information. | <urn:uuid:930b266f-082f-48f3-8ba4-05bc083c744e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.byzant.com/Mystical/Biography/Biographies.aspx?id=20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976181 | 274 | 2.734375 | 3 |
Saying the memory verse together at suppertime will imprint it on the hearts of your children forever.
Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command.
It was in third grade that I lost my first best friend. On the first day of school we learned that we would not have the same teacher, which meant that we would be in different classrooms. Although we stayed friends, we lost the intimacy of having the same classmates and teacher and we gradually drifted into new friendships. Everybody needs a best friend. Perhaps one of the hardest lessons of friendship to learn is that most friendships don't stay the same and don't last forever. People move, or change, and the things that provided a basis for a friendship aren't there any more.
Having a best friend is so important to children. A best friend is someone to confide in, someone who will always stick up for them, someone to eat lunch with, and play with at recess. A friendship gives a child a place to belong. Inevitably children will hit rough patches in friendship. But knowing Jesus as their friend can give them the strength and courage to be alone, and to find new friends.
JUST THE FACTS
How well did you listen to the story?
Q. What assignment did Miss Wattle give to Liz and his class?
A. To write an essay about their best friend.
Q. Why did Liz and Lucille have so much trouble with this assignment?
A. Because they were told they couldn’t pick each other to write about.
Q. How did Lucille try to find a new best friend?
A. She tried to be like Lacey, then like Chamy, and then like Marci.
Q. What did Granny tell Liz and Lucille?
A. That they can have more than one best friend, and that they can’t make themselves into someone they are not just to make a friendship.
Q. Who did Granny tell them would always be their best friend?
This question is meant to help the children develop a biblical understanding of God, who He is and what He does. The "answer" is not meant for parents to read to their children. Rather its purpose is to assist parents in guiding the conversation to this biblical understanding. We encourage you to use an open Bible in this conversation, building biblical literacy and well as a biblical theology.
How can Jesus be our friend? Can you think of ways Jesus is a friend to you?
Sometimes it can seem presumptive to call Jesus, our Savior and Lord, our friend. In fact, we wouldn’t do it if he himself hadn’t called himself our friend. Jesus’ friendship is the most costly kind—a friendship that is forged in the sacrifice of his life for ours. But it also comes at a cost for us. Jesus says he is our friend, if we do what he commands. And, what does he command? Matthew 22:37-39 sums it up for us: Love God and love our neighbor. | <urn:uuid:6f0a08eb-7386-4cad-a56c-7937d25733fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://kidscorner.net/parents/guide/who-needs-a-best-friend | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975242 | 645 | 2.34375 | 2 |
The Charcoal sketches of Los Angeles, which date from circa 1934 to circa 1947, are an extensive collection of 50 drawings
made by John Wardman. Wardman was a British-born artist who emigrated to California in the 1930's. His work has been displayed
in a number of exhibitions and museums. Many of the sketches depict parts of Los Angeles subsequently demolished to make way
for Union Station. Together with the scenes from Chinatown (which are also included in the collection) these sketches record
an era in the metropolitan history of Los Angeles that may have otherwise faded without a trace. Almost all the sketches display
the facades of civic buildings or the everyday, street-level dealings of merchants and tradesmen.
50 drawings: charcoal on paper; 23 x 30 cm.
50 digital objects
Copyright has not been assigned to The Bancroft Library. All requests for permission to publish photographs must be submitted
in writing to the Curator of Pictorial Collections. Permission for publication is given on behalf of The Bancroft Library
as the owner of the physical items and is not intended to include or imply permission of the copyright holder, which must
also be obtained by the reader.
Collection stored off-site. Advance notice required for use. | <urn:uuid:bfe15afb-ebd6-4550-a040-8cbf1005da0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf7z09p2wz/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930779 | 258 | 2.703125 | 3 |
We all remember the excitement when AIB announced its plan to migrate its desktop systems to Sun’s Java Desktop System (JDS). Touted as a triumph for Linux and its arrival in the IT market (especially the desktop market), many people told me that it was a great boost.
I was never convinced.
For instance, the license that JDS comes with is quite onerous. While sticking to the requirements of the GPL, which Sun has to use in order to include the Linux kernel, it skirts its spirit with aplomb, and quite a great deal of obscure legalese too.
And then there’s this: more so than any other Linux-based operating system “distribution”, JDS avoids, as much as is possible, mentioning Linux. Mainstream, and not-especially-clued-in technical, news outlets will hype the Linux connection, but Sun won’t. For example, on the main web page for the Java Desktop System, there is (at the time of typing) no mention of Linux. Why?
My belief is that Sun intends not to use Linux as the base for JDS in time. Solaris, Sun’s own UNIX-based operating system, has recently been released under an open source license. This is great news, especially since Sun is engaging with the Free Software community on how to do it in a manner that garners respect from the community. There are a few problems for Sun with this course, and it no doubt is hoping for help from the Free Software community in solving them:
- Solaris has been developed for two CPU types, Intel and SPARC. As I understand it, it has yet to be ported or certified on others like Power, AMD and embedded chips like ARM and those from Motorola.
- Solaris has been developed for architectures and other hardware under Sun’s control. For each deployment of Solaris, either on SPARC or Intel, the box itself has been built by Sun: it is a hardware company as well, y’know. Not noted for its desktop offerings (though I remember fondly working for a few years on a SPARC 20 workstation!), Solaris has yet to be certified on standard commodity hardware builds.
And already, the community has started to take up these challenges. If a reasonable number of developers download, build and test OpenSolaris, these problems will be solved. And if enough interest is generated, they will be solved before too long.
When that time comes, Sun will have an operating system that fits onto general-purpose hardware which it can then use for JDS instead of the Linux kernel and the GNU utilities that make up the back-bone of all GNU/Linux distributions. This will be made easier because Sun promotes the JavaTM brand far more than the presence of the Linux kernel and the GNU OS utilities. “Yes, it did use Linux at one time, but we provide an open desktop operating environment, not a Linux distribution.”
Both in the spirit and letters of the Free Software community, this is perfectly fair. Sun is using Free Software for its most fundamental purpose: to fill a gap without strings being attached. However, it’s temporary because Sun is also setting about using its own resources to fill that gap. In doing so, though, Sun is contributing to the pool of Free Software as well, so not all is cynical.
This doesn’t altogether fit very well with Sun’s actions and statements of the past year or so. Settling with Microsoft by agreeing a “patent regime”, promoting open standards over open source (in concert, it seems, with Microsoft), the JDS Release 2 licenses and Jonathan Schwartz’ (“President, Chief Operating Officer,Sun Microsystems, Inc.”) blog entries all suggest that Sun regards Free Software as competition (which it is) that is determine to ruin companies like it (which it isn’t — Free Software doesn’t care in the least about how well or otherwise businesses like Sun and Microsoft do). Some might see the release of Solaris as Free Software as a softenening of Sun’s position. I am leaning that way, but, as I say, I’m not convinced. | <urn:uuid:9c6ba8ed-5cff-4a1e-831c-221e96b012f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.linux.ie/eibhear/2005/01/27/sun-open-solaris-and-the-java-desktop-system/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951066 | 885 | 2.15625 | 2 |
Back in “The Whole Truth” (which seems like ages now), before we knew Ben’s name or much about his true identity, he read a quote from The Brothers Karamazov, a classic Dostoevsky novel about redemption:
GALE: “Men reject their prophets and slay them, but they love their martyrs and honor those whom they have slain.” So, what’s the difference between a martyr and a prophet?
JACK: Either way, it sounds like you end up dead.
GALE: That’s the spirit.
It’s been a while, but I think this topic deserves revisiting. Ben was obviously trying to hint at something ironic in his usual sly way. I believe he was saying that people do not often want to hear the real truth.
Clairvoyance, prescience and prophets have emerged as a major theme in LOST:
Richard Malkin, the ‘psychic’, seemed to know what was to happen to Claire, but then claimed to be a fraud… or was he?
Claire had several prophetic dreams while on the island, dreaming of Aaron being at risk, and the Oceanic mobile later seen in the Staff Station, and her dreams of the Black Rock in her diary.
Boone had a vision of Shannon being killed after Locke applied a mysterious paste to his wound.
Charlie had religious dreams of Aaron in danger.
Walt appeared to have clairvoyant abilities, and predicted something would happen to the raft.
Shannon had visions of Walt before she knew he was missing (and Walt in those visions appeared to try to warn her).
Hurley had a dream in which Walt was seen on the milk carton as a “Missing Person”, before he heard news he was missing.
Locke had several prophetic dreams, including the one of the finding of the Beechcraft/Boone dying, one where he was led to the location of the “?”, and the one self-induced drug trance (dreaming of Boone and the airport) which led him to find injured Eko.
Eko dreamt of Ana-Lucia shot, before he had news of her death.
Desmond most recently appears to have gained powers of precognition, as he predicts both Locke’s speech and lightening striking the area of Claire’s tent.
By “martyrs”, that could be anyone’s guess. The person that comes to my mind (besides Ben refering to himself willing to die for his cause) is Boone, who Locke said was a “sacrifice for the island”.
How do you interpret the Karamazov quote, and what Ben meant by using it?
This entry was posted in Lost
. Bookmark the permalink | <urn:uuid:be113a1b-cad5-460b-a345-ff7defa9e8c8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lostblog.net/2006/10/28/prophets-and-martyrs-revisited/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986332 | 595 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Scope, Varmint or Target
Varmint scopes are generally much larger and of higher magnification than big game scopes. They can be larger than the big game scope as varmint rifles are seldom carried great distances. Most varmint scopes have parallax adjustment, fine reticles and many have sun shields which prevent unwanted light from entering the scope.
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Order Online 24 Hours a Day, 7 Days a Week, 365 Days a Year | <urn:uuid:6f2b73ce-400e-4a9d-9337-054e4b70b297> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.huntingblades.com/scvaorta.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935002 | 134 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Most ingrown nail infections
can be described as a simple foreign body reaction. The nail grows into
the skin and acts as a foreign body, just like a splinter or a piece of glass.
Continued pressure by the nail against the skin causes inflammation and a soft
The most common reason we develop ingrown
nails is due to improper trimming of the nail. The nail is very weak when
twisted (torsion). If the nail is trimmed so that a small spur, called a spicule, is left on the border of the nail, the nail
will continue to grow forcing the spicule into the skin. As the skin
responds to this 'foreign object' it becomes inflamed and sore. The area
adjacent to the nail will become increasingly more difficult to trim, and so
begins the vicious cycle that we call an ingrown nail.
The majority of ingrown nails are on the hallux
(big toe). Pain is usually tolerable until the nail is bumped or stepped
on. Ingrown nails are extremely common in adolescent boys and in women 2-3 months
postpartum. Why? Young boys seem to have little regard for regular hygiene and
pregnant women have a difficult time reaching their feet during the last several
months of their pregnancy, not to mention the additional burden of their feet
The shape of the nail can also be a contributing
factor for ingrown nails. Pincer nails( as shown to
the left), a term used for nails that have a
pinched appearance, put pressure on the periungual folds. As
shoe pressure is exerted on the nail, the edges of the nail push into the skin
just as the weight of something put on a table pushes through the legs of the
table to the floor.
Other contributing factors that may cause ingrown
nails include trauma to the nail, pressure from adjacent
toes and the shape or profile of the forefoot in relationship to the shape of
the toe box of the shoe. Medical conditions, such as fungal infections or
psoriasis, can change the shape of the nail and contribute to ingrown nails.
Treatment for ingrown nails
Ingrown toenails are treated much the same as a splinter.
Antibiotics and soaking can help to reduce the inflammation associated with the
ingrown nail, but until the foreign object (ingrown nail) is removed, the stale
mate between the nail and adjacent skin will continue. Removal of the
offending border of nail is necessary in most cases of ingrown nails.
Many have suggested the 'proper' way to trim the
nail, but in actuality, every nail is a bit different from the next nail.
Therefore, it's most important to trim the nail with
quality nail trimmers in a way that it is not going to
irritate the periungual fold. Trimming the nail straight across may work
for some but is ineffective for others. Some advocate cutting a groove or
V in the distal tip of the nail. This is also ineffective. Cotton under
the edge of the nail has been tried, even metallic clips that 'lift' the nail,
but each of these will fail in time unless the offending border of the nail is
removed. NailEase may
help to lift the edges of the nail in a limited number of cases. Many pregnant
women develop ingrown nails due to their inability to reach their feet. NailEase
is a great product for them since they are poor surgical candidates until they
The technique used most commonly today to treat
infected ingrown nails is called a phenol-alcohol procedure (P&A procedure). This
procedure is performed in the office under a local anesthetic on
an out-patient basis. After the toe is numbed and cleaned with a
disinfecting agent, a thin margin of nail is removed. Phenol, which is 77%
carboxylic acid, is applied to the nail matrix to kill the cells that produce
that small margin of nail only. The phenol is then flushed out with
alcohol. Patients can return to a Band-Aid and regular shoes the next day.
The interesting thing about the phenol-alcohol
procedure is the lack of pain experienced by patients following their
surgery. This is due to the fact that phenol has a topical anesthetic
property that last for 2-3 weeks. Although the procedure will drain for
several days, the benefit of using phenol is significant. Phenol is best
know as the active ingredient in Chloroseptic Mouthwash Spray. In
Chloroseptic, phenol is used in a more dilute concentration but has the same
effect in that it inhibits sore throat pain.
Other surgical procedures may be used with or
without phenol and include the use of a CO2 laser or other chemicals to destroy
the matrix cells. The decision to remove one border, both borders or the
entire nail should be discussed with your doctor.
The following images show the steps involved in correcting an
ingrown nail with a P&A or phenol alcohol procedure. Image 1 shows
administration of local anesthesia. Once the nail has been anesthetised,
the foot is prepped with a Betadine or comparable solution. Image 2
shows a small tourniquet (Penrose drain) around the toe to inhibit bleeding (hemostasis).
A nail splitter is being used to create a clean split to remove just the borders
of the nail. Image 3 shows a hemostat being used to remove the nail.
The nail bed is then scraped with a small curette to physically destroy the nail
matrix. In image 4 we see the application of phenol. Phenol
application is normally done 3 times for 5-10 seconds each application.
And image 5 shows the final bandage. This procedure is completed in 10
minutes and is performed in an office setting. Post-op care varies, but
steps are taken to promote drainage of the nail and may include Epsom Salt soaks
or application of steroid/antibiotic drops. Patients return to a normal
shoe the day after surgery wearing just a 1 inch Band-Aid. Healing takes | <urn:uuid:05f70e0a-0534-4d34-a38b-3d6629e9c438> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myfootshop.com/detail.asp?condition=Ingrown%20Toe%20Nail | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939776 | 1,323 | 2.84375 | 3 |
(Sitting Still And Sitting Cross Legged)
[K talked about the necessity to sit still for self observation - for meditation, in many of his public talks. He said that restless movements, fidgety movements dissipate energy. He said that when one sits with the back and head straight more blood goes to the head. K has talked about these in his talk on ''what is meditation'' given in Sandiego in 1972. In the book 'The river meets the Ocean' by G. Narayan, the author mentions an anecdote where K was questioned about the necessity to sit cross legged. Before K could reply a child said that in sitting cross legged there was more energy (for self enquiry) and K said that there was no need to say more on this. K asked his listeners to sit quietly for a while after his talks. However K clearly said that sitting still or sitting cross legged is NOT meditation but a mere rite, a mechanical ritual if the importance of sitting still or sitting cross legged is not understood. K repeatedly said that meditation is part of life from moment to moment, it is like a river - with no beginning and with no end and it is possible to look within while sitting still or while standing, talking, walking or while watching the birds and trees. The Buddha said that there should not be a break in awareness - insight even for a moment. This aspect of complete/total/holistic meditation has been dealt with under other headings in this study. Here is a collection of K/Buddha Teachings on sitting still and sitting cross legged.]
of all sit absolutely still. Sit comfortably, cross your legs, sit absolutely
still, close your eyes, and see if you can keep your eyes from moving.
You understand? Your eye balls are apt to move, keep them completely
quiet, for fun. Then, as you sit very quietly, find out what your thought
is doing. Watch it as you watched the lizard. Watch thought, the way
it runs, one thought after another. So you begin to learn, to observe.
of all sit completely quiet, comfortably, sit very quietly, relax, I
will show you. Now, look at the trees, at the hills, the shape of the
hills, look at them, look at the quality of their colour, watch them.
Do not listen to me. Watch and see those trees, the yellowing trees,
the tamarind, and then look at the bougainvillea. Look not with your
mind but with your eyes. After having looked at all the colours, the
shape of the land, of the hills, the rocks, the shadow, then go from
the outside to the inside and close your eyes, close your eyes completely.
You have finished looking at the things outside, and now with your eyes
closed you can look at what is happening inside.
mahamoggallano bhagavato avidure
monk Mahamoggllana was sitting not far from Lord Buddha - cross legged
and keeping his body upright and was established in the mindfulness
of the body within (at the level of sensations).
bhikkhave, bhikkhu arannagato va
Here a monk, having gone into the forest, or to the foot of a tree or to a vacant sheltered place, sits down cross legged, keeps his body upright...
- discourse on the establishment of mindfulness, the observation of body | <urn:uuid:b994461d-ea89-43e9-bd92-d161a7f8a3cc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buddhanet.net/bvk_study/bvk207.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963791 | 720 | 2.40625 | 2 |
BEIJING, Sept. 28 (Xinhua) -- No "serious adverse reaction" has been reported in the tens of thousands of citizens inoculated with China-made A/H1N1 flu vaccines, the country's health minister Chen Zhu said on Monday.
He did not elaborate on the definition of "serious adverse reaction". Previously, Beijing had reported 14 cases of adverse reaction out of 39,000 residents inoculated.
Liang Xiaofeng, director of the immunization center under the Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, told reporters at a news briefing on Sept. 23 that "the inoculations are safe, but the possibility of adverse reactions cannot be ruled out."
Liang said four of the 14 adverse reactions "may be" related to the vaccines and an investigation into the reasons was underway.
Liang also said there was still uncertainty about the safety of vaccination for "sensitive groups" such as pregnant and breastfeeding women.
The medical cost for A/H1N1 flu patients, especially for those suffering from heavy symptoms, will be compensated within the framework of the established medicare system, Chen Zhu said.
China is focusing inoculation on vulnerable groups such as students, teachers and patients of chronic diseases.
In response to possible adverse effects, China has established a system which enables local health departments to halt inoculation if serious cases like death or deformity occurred, or there appeared an apparent tendency of mass suspected cases of adverse reactions from A/H1N1 flu vaccines.
By Friday, among the more than 15,900 confirmed cases of A/H1N1 flu on the Chinese mainland, about 71.8 percent of whom have recovered. There have been no deaths reported, according to the notice on the website of the Health Ministry.
Special Report: World Tackles A/H1N1 Flu ¡¡ | <urn:uuid:ee584b86-9cf4-48d4-bce4-8e92f234078f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-09/28/content_12121078.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950544 | 381 | 2.203125 | 2 |
Updated: 11/17/2012 12:05 PM KSTP.com
(AP) SRINAGAR,India - Indian police in Kashmir say a blast in a liquor shop has killed one person and wounded another five.
A police officer says a grenade is suspected to have been used in Saturday’s attack on the outskirts of Jammu, the winter capital of the Indian portion of Kashmir. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters.
Nearly a dozen militant groups have been fighting against Indian rule in the Himalayan region. In the past, they have demanded closure of liquor shops.
However, no one claimed responsibility for Saturday’s blast.
On Thursday, gunmen fired into a liquor shop in Srinagar, killing one person in Indian-run Kashmir’s main city.
Kashmir is divided between India and Pakistan, which have fought two wars over it since 1947.
(Copyright 2012 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved.) | <urn:uuid:d4978952-6e7c-469f-bef9-f2bbdc53a26c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hbispace.com/printStory/kstp/index.cfm?id=2838463 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957049 | 206 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Common Core as a ‘tight-loose’ approach to education
By Tyler on March 15th, 2012
This is one in a series of posts examining the Common Core State Standards and the conversation surrounding their impact on teaching and learning.
Chester Finn had an interesting post on the Fordham Institute’s Flypaper blog the other day arguing that “small-government conservatives” should like the Common Core State Standards because of its “tight-loose” approach to management of America’s education system.
What he says is it creates a system that’s tight on goals (or “ends”) and loose on the means for accomplishing them.
The “tight-loose” term is thrown around often in business — and now on occasion from Arne Duncan and others in education reform circles. In simple terms, what he’s saying is that the Common Core standards create a clear set of goals and standards that states can agree to and choose to adopt, but that the details of how schools reach those goals and teachers teach toward those goals would be left up to those at the local level.
Seems logical, right? What do you think?
In trying to find out more about this “tight-loose” idea, I stumbled across this post on the Ed Sector blog from a couple years ago from a teacher who compared this approach to what happens with student learning in her classroom. Here’s what she said:
“…this method is a tool I love to use in the classroom. Give students an open ended task with a clear goal and sit back and watch what happens. Usually, the students go above and beyond my expectations and manage to do so creatively. Although, to be honest, the middle part- where all the creativity and problem solving skills are working themselves out- is extremely noisy, messy, and embodies exactly why I named my blog “organized chaos”.
Learning is messy! Isn’t it??
No comments yet | <urn:uuid:1f6ba84d-1b65-4796-a4d5-1b1ac17f926d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oomscholasticblog.com/2012/03/common-core-as-a-tight-loose-approach-to-education.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951836 | 421 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Some people with autism have difficulty processing intense, multiple sensory experiences at once. This animation gives the viewer a glimpse into sensory overload, and how often our sensory experiences intertwine in everyday life.
Today is Valentine’s Day and love is in the air. My son, Norrin, is seven years old and I can count the times that he’s said “I love you” to me spontaneously. When I tell him I love him, he usually says it back (I never taught him to say it). Or he just says “yes” (and that makes me smile). I don’t know if he understands what love means. Love is an abstract concept for many kids with autism to understand. But I know that Norrins loves me, he doesn’t need to say it with words – he shows me.
I asked some autism mom bloggers how their kids show their love and this is what they shared:
“Music possesses a universal power recognised in cultures throughout the world,” Ms Parolisi said. “It is a great motivator. Not only can it be used to enhance communication, memory and physical rehabilitation, but also to help express feelings, alleviate pain and stress and promote a sense of peace and wellbeing.”
Even when we do not see any changes for a long period of time we cannot give up. We must continue to teach in a kind way and step in and out to the tune that is playing at that particular time. Our special needs children and adults certainly keep us on our toes and as they continue to grow and change we must too.
“Your son fits into the Autistic Spectrum Disorder.” Her voice was clear yet somewhat monotone. How many times has she said these words to an unprepared parent? I silently cried as her message began to fill hollowness deep inside my heart.
Many autistic adults would like if autism were recognized as a difference rather than a disability. Many in this group are the walking, talking autistics. We can go out in public by ourselves. Some of us are parents. We are your friends, neighbors and co-workers. We might seem to be a bit odd, but we can fit in enough to at least be allowed a place in the world at large.
Are you impressed with—but overwhelmed by—the number of apps designed to help kids on the autism spectrum? Do you want to narrow your search for the perfect app for a particular person?
The Autism Society of Minnesota (AuSM) website features a helpful app wheel, divided into Common Learning Characteristics categories such as Social Skills, Need for Sameness or Routine, Sensory Sensitivity, Difficulty With Traditional Learning Methods, Behavior, and Communication.
Classroom guinea pigs help students with autism communicate with their peers and adults.
Becky B's insight:
When you think about guinea pigs, you don’t necessarily think of their therapeutic value. Yet within a safe school environment, these little critters go to the head of the class when it comes to helping students with autism improve their social skills.
Share the wealth! Find out about great books and other resources about ASD.
Becky B's insight:
Over the years, we’ve collected a list of quite a few great tools, and we’ve added a number of our own as well. And we’ve organized many of these resources into categories that we want to share with you throughout 2013. Categories include: Books, General Autism/PBIS Information, Professional Resources, Sensory Resources, Visual Support, and Technology.
A new study conducted by a BYU professor and two students shows that the severity of autism for children may be caused by fear.
Psychology professor Mikle South discussed that when talking with parents who have children with autism, parents often discuss the difficulties they face everyday when trying to get their children to adapt with life changes as well as changes in daily routines.
For most children, Sunday’s success would seem insignificant. But for children diagnosed with autism or Asperger’s syndrome or other sensory sensitivity issues, such holiday moments can pose huge hurdles.
The deviation from routine and the multitude of stimuli such as Christmas music, twinkling lights and bustling, noisy crowds can be overwhelming.
That’s why parents and Riverview Elementary Principal Dianne Holmes provided Sunday’s “Sensory Friendly Santa” event at the Spotsylvania County school. | <urn:uuid:ce9020ff-a8b3-4df4-ab98-795d909c9918> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scoop.it/t/autism/p/1726391490/what-s-the-last-thing-you-say-to-your-kids-at-night | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960197 | 927 | 2.3125 | 2 |
» Introducing the future of cyber security: the GV-2010
Available to the general public on April 12, 2010, the GV-2010 utilizes groundbreaking technology to protect a company’s critical information while offering an unprecedented content control system to identify threats and classify information through real-time inspection.
The GV-2010 is unlike any cyber security product on the market. By combining numerous software and hardware security programs, into a single, hybrid platform, the GV-2010 allows companies to do more with their network cyber security, as well as do it more efficiently and cost effectively.
Most cyber security products must be pieced together with separate devices for data loss prevention, application firewalls, proxy servers, deep packet inspection and more. However, the unique design of the GV-2010 combines the security of these individual software solutions and hardware appliances into a single, standardized and modular next generation cyber security solution.
The GV-2010 is also easy to deploy. Its simple, plug-and-play platform provides a multitude of solutions for securing any organization’s crown jewels. Working at wire speeds up to 10 Gbps, the GV-2010 has the advanced outbound monitoring capabilities and enterprise-level performance that even the biggest organizations require.
By combining what other network security appliances do through software into the programmable hardware core of the GV-2010, Global Velocity has created a more efficient and effective way to manage and control high volumes of traffic without meaningful network latency.
The future of cyber security is available in the here and now, with the GV-2010 from Global Velocity.
» Join the Revolution
"“When we spoke with the folks at Global Velocity - the company's corporate headquarters is in Clayton, Mo., with an office in Palo Alto, Calif. - we were impressed with what we termed “DLP on steroids”. This is one hot box … We liked this product and the company for their creative approach to a real problem: deep analysis at very high speeds and reduction of the number of boxes needed to put on our perimeters.”"
Read The Article | <urn:uuid:fba3dd3b-4fc9-4402-951b-ec7706136999> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalvelocity.com/news-media/global-velocity-news/introducing-the-future-of-cyber-security-the-gv-2010.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.914906 | 435 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Brazil Protects Vast New Areas of Amazon Rainforest
BRASILIA, Brazil, June 6, 2008 (ENS) – Brazil commemorated World Environment Day yesterday by signing into existence four new protected areas, three of them in the Amazon rainforest.
Following a speech in observance of the special day, President Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva signed the documents authorizing the three new protected areas in the Amazon, including Mapinguari National Park in Amazonas state, named after a mythical red furry creature supposedly living in the rainforest.
The Madeira River is the longest
tributary of the Amazon River.
(Photo by Wilson Dias
courtesy Agencia Brasil)
Mapinguari National Park is designed to preserve savannah areas of the Purus and Madeira river valleys. It is an area of great biological diversity with unique ecosystems that offer great potential for scientific research and eco-tourism, according to the government of Brazil.
In addition, there are two new extractive reserves – Ituxi in Amazonas state and another on the River Xingu in Pará state.
The new areas would expand the extent of protected rainforest by 2.6 million hectares, or 10,000 square miles, an area just slightly smaller than the nation of Belgium.
The protected areas close a green circle that, beyond protecting the biodiversity inside its limits, must draw a line to contain the advance of the agricultural takeover of the Amazon rainforest At least 23 million hectares, or 89,000 square miles, of the Amazon rainforest are already protected.
President Lula’s proposal must be approved by Congress and could face legal challenges.
The president also signed a decree protecting mahogany trees and another creating an inter-ministerial group to present proposals to raise financing for conservation of the Amazon rainforest. The donors would not have a say in management of the protected areas and the fund would be managed by the Brazilian Development Bank.
The president said that he is “not egoistic” and that he wants to share with all humanity the benefits of environmental preservation of the Amazon. “We want that all breathe the green air produced by our forests,” he said Thursday.
Lula said that Brazil will have to face a strong worldwide debate on environmental preservation, but that the government does not fear this debate.
The president said Brazil’s record of environmental preservation is equal to that of any country in the world. “Europe, for example, only has 0.3 percent of its native forest still standing. Brazil still has 69 percent,” he said.
Brazil faced criticism at the World Food Summit in Rome convened by the UN Food and Agriculture Organization, FAO, which concluded today. Brazil was attacked for using so much of its land for biofuels and for failing to effectively protect the Amazon rainforest.
“I felt a little in the FAO in Rome that argued food security how much we were attacked and with the most diverse arguments, also on the question of the Amazonia,” the president said.
President Lula said that many conservationists think they can dip their fingers into protection of the Amazon rainforest the way Catholics can walk into a church and dip their fingers into the holy water before they make the sign of the cross.
“I am thinking that Amazonia is equal to those blessed water glasses that they have in the churches and everybody finds that they can put their finger in. It is enough to be Catholic and to enter the church to want to place the finger to make the sign of cross itself,” he said.
Environment Minister Carlos Minc, wearing his trademark vest, and
President Lula confer before announcing
Brazil’s newly protected areas.
(Photo courtesy Environment
Ministry of Brazil)
The resignation in mid-May of former environment minister activist Marina Silva raised fears among environmentalists that Brazil may be turning its back on rainforest protection.
As if to show the world that this is not the case, Carlos Minc, Brazil’s new environment minister, announced the government’s commitment to create the new protected areas on May 29, at the Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity, CBD, in Bonn.
He also expressed commitment to zero net deforestation by 2020.
At the biodiversity conference, Minc met with WWF, the World Bank, and the German Development Bank, or KfW – all donors to Brazil’s Amazon Region Protected Areas Programme, ARPA.
“I insisted on coming to Bonn to announce the good news and restate our commitment to ARPA,” said Minc during the meeting. “We are now launching its second phase and raising the total goal for areas protected and supported by ARPA from 50 million to 60 million hectares.”
ARPA, the world’s largest tropical forest conservation program, is coordinated by Brazil’s Ministry of the Environment and implemented by the Chico Mendes Institute for Biodiversity Conservation in partnership with seven state governments from the Amazon region.
ARPA’s second phase will be implemented over a four year period from 2009 through 2012. During this period, 20 million hectares of new protected areas are expected to be created.
Additional goals for the second phase are the implementation and consolidation of protected areas created during its first phase and the implementation of complementary financing mechanisms.
“ARPA has been a major conservation success story and remains core to WWF’s overall strategy and vision for the Amazon. We see it as a powerful tool for CBD implementation,” said James Leape, WWF International’s director general.
WWF announced a new commitment to ARPA and intends to donate US$ 30 million. Of the total, US$10 million will be allocated for direct costs of program activities and US$15 million for long-term recurrent costs of the ARPA Trust Fund.
The remaining US$5 million will be used for products and services provided by WWF-Brazil, such as studies, reports and capacity building activities targeting the creation of new protected areas and the implementation of those already created by the programme.
For the first phase of ARPA, which ends in December 2008, WWF had already contributed US$17 million.
At the CBD conference, the German Development Bank, or KfW, pledged 10 million euros to support ARPA’s second phase. The German government has already provided nearly 30 million euros towards this goal through KfW Entwicklungsbank.
“The cost of preserving biodiversity and protecting the climate cannot be borne by the developing and emerging countries alone,” said Ingrid Matthäus-Maier, a member of the Board of Managing Directors of the KfW Bank Group.
“Industrialized countries need to get involved as well – in their own interest,” said Matthäus-Maier. “Nature conservation in Latin America is an important concern for us. By participating in this fund we are further broadening our commitments and making a major contribution to the sustainability of protected areas.”
ARPA provides financing for the required basic infrastructure, equipment for the territorial administrations, the elaboration and implementation of management plans, and the formation of so-called population committees, which give local communities a say in the management of the nature conservation areas.
“In regards to protected areas, there is good news on the horizon at long last,” said Arnold Newman, executive director of the International Society for the Preservation of the Tropical Rainforest, based in Los Angeles.
The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change is enthused over the very good reception of the CRED program – Compensated Reduction of Deforestation. This will bring monetary compensation from developed nations directly to tropical forest developing nations in measure to the volume of forest that they place in protected status.”
“This is in response to the scientific evidence that fully 20 percent of total greenhouse gas emissions are derived directly from deforestation of tropical forests,” Newman said.
“Even if we dissuade one-half of deforestation, this will reduce 12.5 percent of greenhouse gas emissions,” he said, “a signficant stride especially in view that we are doing rather poorly on reducing fossil fuel consumption.” | <urn:uuid:4ad7e7ce-5aa9-42d0-9eab-dfa747543f81> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sundancechannel.com/blog/2008/06/brazil-protects-vast-new-areas-of-amazon-rainforest/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946115 | 1,717 | 2.671875 | 3 |
Fox Champions Discriminatory Bill That Would Leave Domestic Abuse Victims Unprotected
Published on Wed, May 16, 2012
An IPC report on the Violence Against Women Act (VAWA) was cited in a Media Matters story:
Immigrants Are Highly Vulnerable To Domestic And Sexual Violence. From the Immigration Policy Center:
Female immigrants are more likely to work in the informal labor market as domestic workers and caretakers and are less able to assert their rights or to be protected under current laws. Immigrant women workers are also vulnerable to rape, sexual abuse and harassment, or other gender-motivated exploitation in the workplace. Some immigrant women are brought to the United States through human trafficking networks and are forced to work under conditions of surveillance, threats of deportation, and physical harm.
In addition, both legal and unauthorized immigrant women may face challenges related to domestic violence, especially if their immigration status depends on an abusive spouse.
Finally, immigrant women may be fearful of reporting abuse or exploitation to the police for fear that they will be deported and separated from their families, effectively providing abusers with a tool to silence their victims.
Published in the Media Matters | Read Article
Read Our Blog
Read the latest in immigration news at ImmigrationImpact.com, with new articles published every weekday. | <urn:uuid:01fedb6a-026f-45d9-8c3a-487c99b3882a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.americanimmigrationcouncil.org/newsroom/clip/fox-champions-discriminatory-bill-would-leave-domestic-abuse-victims-unprotected | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944048 | 261 | 2.375 | 2 |
State Victories Expand Number Of Americans Covered By Same-Sex Relationship Recognition
July 07, 2011 1:19 pm ET by Carlos Maza
After suffering a major setback in Maryland earlier this year, the LGBT community has scored a number of major victories on the road to full marriage equality in the U.S. Both Delaware and Rhode Island passed laws allowing same-sex couples to enter into civil unions that provide them with many of the same rights and benefits afforded to heterosexual married couples in the states. New York also became the sixth and largest state in the country to adopt marriage equality.
In light of these victories, it’s time to update our previous statistics about the number of Americans covered by same-sex relationship recognition laws. Here’s the breakdown:
- Any Recognition: 42 percent of Americans live in states that provide some form of same-sex relationship recognition, including recognition of out-of-state unions. This number has remained relatively constant as New York and Rhode Island had previously offered domestic partnerships to gay and lesbian couples.
- Full Rights: 38 percent of Americans live in states that provide gay and lesbian couples -- either through marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships -- the same (or close to the same) rights, privileges, and responsibilities provided to straight married couples. That number represents an 8-point increase from earlier this year, thanks largely to New York.
- Marriage: 13 percent of Americans live in states that allow gay and lesbian couples to legally marry. New York’s decision to adopt marriage equality doubled the number of Americans living in places that allow for same-sex marriage.
- Allow For Unions In-State: 41 percent of Americans live in states that offer gays and lesbians the opportunity -- either through marriages, civil unions, or domestic partnerships -- to commit to each other in state-recognized unions performed in their jurisdiction. This number hasn’t changed significantly, since both Rhode Island and New York previously offered gay and lesbian couples with some form of relationship recognition.
These statistics don’t reflect the number of people covered by city and county ordinances recognizing same-sex couples, which cover millions more Americans.
Unfortunately, couples living in states that have adopted marriage equality are still denied the more than 1,138 federal rights, benefits, and protections offered to heterosexual married couples because of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA).
The number of same-sex couples covered by relationship recognition laws is likely to grow as states like Maine, California, and Maryland prepare to become the next battlegrounds in the fight for marriage equality. With a clear majority of Americans now in favor of allowing loving, committed gay and lesbian couples to have their relationships legally recognized, the march towards full marriage equality is only going to quicken its pace as times goes on. | <urn:uuid:ac603dd9-7bbc-464d-9ec9-f8257222489e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://equalitymatters.org/blog/201107070008 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950425 | 570 | 2.25 | 2 |
27. March 2011 17:49
We often receive emails from people who have removed tape which has been on a surface for a long period of time and they are now trying to get rid of some adhesive residue which was left behind on the surface. The first point to make is that removing adhesive from a surface should be done very carefully. One quick test would be to try using the adhesive side from another piece of tape like duct tape to pull it off. If that doesn't work you can try using solvents; however they should always be tested on an inconspicuous part of the surface first to see if they damage it. MEK and Toluene are the strongest two and can be found at hardware stores (since they are the strongest greater care needs to be taken when using them). The next two solvents would be acetone and alcohol or you can try looking for an adhesive remover/citrus cleaner such as 3M 08987 which we sell on the site. I hope this helps. Thank you. | <urn:uuid:a93bf7a8-700f-4378-a377-0a2e54675661> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.findtape.com/adhesive-tape-blog/?tag=/citrus-cleaner | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982307 | 208 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Terminology policy: strategy which aims at developing or regulating emerging and existing terminologies
Terminology policy-making at national level is a complex process and is perpetually influenced by various factors, such as demographic, cultural, ethno- and geo-linguistic factors, socio-psychological factors, economic factors or legal factors. Therefore, a terminology policy may serve quite different purposes.
Any formally conceived terminology policy is likely to address one or more of the following issues: establishment of support mechanisms and promotion activities, capacity building through the training of terminology experts, the development of terminological products, such as vocabularies, terminology databases and services. The planning and implementation of terminology policies invariably encompass standardization activities.
Increasingly it is recognized that a terminology policy or strategy can be highly beneficial for enterprises and other organizations. Therefore, in 2010 the International Standard ISO 29838:2010 "Terminology policies — Development and implementation / Politiques terminologiques — Élaboration et mise en oeuvre" has been prepared by ISO/TC 37 "Terminology and other language and content resources". It places terminology policies in the broader context of institutional strategic management.
In 2004, Infoterm was commissioned by UNESCO to organize the preparation of "Guidelines for Terminology Policies", which were published in 2005 and since then have been translated into many languages.
See Links and Resources on Terminology Policies and Planning
Terminology policies have become a topic in many events, conferences, workshops etc., such as the Special EAFT Seminar on Minority Languages and Terminology Policies, held in Dublin, 27-28 July 2007, where interesting case studies were presented.
See also 4 questions about strategic change – Success factors in the development and implementation of Terminology Planning Policies | <urn:uuid:b171ce67-9098-4264-ac8e-85fb9fa0b8f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infoterm.info/activities/terminology_policies.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916722 | 359 | 2.25 | 2 |
The booby prize this year for Dirtiest City in America goes to Fresno.
This Central Valley city suffers some of the worst air in the nation, and a water supply so degraded that the city used to tell pregnant women not to drink from the tap. Fresno epitomizes the environmental challenges of the Golden State. And it’s not alone. Plenty of its neighbors in central California like Modesto, Stockton and Bakersfield have it almost as bad.
The environmental degradation of the Central Valley has many contributing factors. First of all, its geography doesn’t do it any favors. It’s a big, long bowl surrounded on three sides by mountains that trap pollutants from cars and factories and oil fields in an inversion layer.
Second, it’s a victim of what brought people there in the first place — rich fertile soils from which grow much of America’s fruits and vegetables.
There is much more to this story from Forbes, to read about it and see other cities that made the list, CLICK HERE. | <urn:uuid:80a0653b-4ac3-475f-9060-638cdf0cf6c5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ksee24.com/news/local/Dirtiest-Cities-in-America-Fresno-Tops-the-List-182858911.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945715 | 216 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Affective depth refers to making emotional judgments about the newly learned words to store and recall newly learned words more readily. (Think about students trying to memorize words-rote learning versus trying to associate some emotions). Sometimes I ask students to form small groups and discuss the words that we learned. Take the example course book unit on globalization. . I give my students some guiding questions that they need to discuss in their group and then report to us: “Which words in the unit represent globalization? Do these words evoke any pleasant or unpleasant associations?...etc. At first my students had difficult time understanding the rationale behind talking about the newly learned words. I explained that we are trying out some techniques to learn and recall words better. Later on it became routine and some students stated that it helped them. It was obviously more enjoyable and I overheard them sharing their own way and giving advice to each other about learning vocabulary.
Use it or lose it
I ask my students to bring their vocabulary notes/ journals/ notebooks into class every day and when we do an in or out class task I ask them (beg them) to use the newly learned words.
I try to provide repetitions of encounter with a word. E.g. After seeing a model, students prepare vocabulary exercises. After I do the editing collaborative end product would be ready for use.
What works in your class?
- Teaching resources
- Teacher development
- Teacher training | <urn:uuid:0ab86877-0694-4398-83c7-ef7af8b65f08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.teachingenglish.org.uk/blogs/asligokturk/word-learning-techniques-worked-part-2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961765 | 293 | 4.1875 | 4 |
The Real Costs of Having a Baby
Bringing Baby Home: What to Expect Financially
Depending on the birthing method chosen and any complications that arise during the course of pregnancy, the cost of prenatal care and delivery can range between $5,000 and $10,000. Health insurance typically covers a large percentage of this cost. For most new parents, however, the real costs of having a baby encompass far more than this initial medical expense. Parents-to-be should plan for a number of other expenditures that may be required after delivery; these added costs can have a significant impact on finances during the baby’s first few years of life.
Child care arrangements
One of the biggest expenses working parents will face, child care costs vary widely depending on the location, facilities, the type of care offered, and the qualifications of the care giver. Child care is one area in which parents should not try to cut costs. The right child care provider can make a significant difference in the baby’s socialization and mental growth. A clean, safe environment and a dedicated child care provider can help to lay the groundwork for the baby’s future educational success by stimulating his or her imagination and providing enrichment activities designed to suit the child’s particular needs and interests.
For mothers who cannot breastfeed or who must supplement their breast milk with commercially available products, baby formula can constitute a significant expense. At peak consumption times, babies can consume as much as $150 worth of formula in a given month; this can create financial difficulties for parents who are unprepared for this additional expense. Breastfeeding as much as possible not only offers additional protection and health benefits for the baby, but can help parents save money as well. Parents are cautioned against attempting to make their own homemade baby formula; this can lead to serious nutritional problems and may result in obesity, malnutrition, or both.
Diapers and baby wipes
Disposable diapers are one of the major expenses parents face during the first two years of their baby’s life. Bargain brands are available at lower cost, but may not provide the fit, comfort, or style that parents expect and want for their babies. Some environmentally conscious parents choose to use a cloth diaper service rather than disposable products. While this can reduce the amount of trash that ends up in a landfill, it typically does not reduce the cost of diapers significantly if at all.
Car seats, crib, swings and other necessities
Providing the baby with a safe, secure place to sleep, sit and play can prove expensive for new parents. Most state laws require that babies leave the hospital in an approved car seat; this alone can cost as much as $100. Additionally, a well-constructed crib offers a safe environment for baby to play and sleep; prices range from around $50 for a very simple crib to over $500 for an elaborate nursery set. Changing tables and bottles for feeding the baby can also cost a considerable amount of money.
The costs associated with raising an infant can be overwhelming for some new parents. By planning carefully and taking these additional expenses into consideration during the budgeting process, however, most couples can manage their finances and balance the responsibilities of work and parenting effectively during the baby’s crucial first years. | <urn:uuid:2b3aa8cf-ddfc-4a4a-a835-fcb5aa59541e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.smellydiaper.com/babies/health-and-wellness/2011/03/31/the-real-costs-of-having-a-baby/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962449 | 664 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Researchers from Columbia University have found a scary security exploit during their researches. This exploit can not only make your personal data open for skilled hackers to steal at will, but can in addition end up in the blow up of your printer and as a result setting your whole house on fire. And I am not joking around. Those researchers have found out that certain models of wireless HP LaserJet printers (yet could hypothetically be any wireless model of printers from any manufacturer) are vulnerable to specific malware attack that can grant an absolute control of your wireless printer to the hacker from any point of the world.
So how this exploit works? Whenever you send any document to be printed on your wireless printer, if that particular document has this malware code inside it, this code would reinstall all the firmware of your wireless printer, granting full access to the interested hacker that wrote whole code of the malware. And since your printer is wireless due to the Wi-Fi connection, this hacker will be able to have full control of it at any time.
Once hacker gains this control of the wireless printer, he or she would be capable of accessing all information you send on that printer, potentially stealing all your personal information meant to be printed. But not only your private information and identity data at risk because this access will also allow that hacker to totally control the hardware inside your wireless printer, and continuously heat up the fuser that is used to dry the ink of the printer on the paper that goes out of it, which will cause that paper to go up in flames and destroy the whole printer during the princes.
So how can you possibly know if your wireless printer is infected by the malware and how will you be capable of fixing this issue? At this point, I can say you this: there are no easy ways to detect the malware, unless you are willing to throw away the infected wireless printer and replace it with the new one, but that might be pricey. Or, you can make sure your wireless printer is not connected to the internet. To do that you need to use wireless printer jammer that will protect its hardware from possible malware attacks.
What do you think about this new hacker’s feature? Write your opinions in the comments! | <urn:uuid:dce8d5d6-2e67-4c9d-9c97-1313e0c62966> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.jammer-store.com/2012/08/hackers-can-blow-up-printer-inside-your-house/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940693 | 449 | 2.40625 | 2 |
The National Council on Teacher Quality did an (unscientific) survey of actual teacher layoffs in the last couple of years, after noting "the lack of reports on layoffs in newspapers this fall. Last spring, they were all reporting about school districts handing out pink slips by the thousands, but there's been little follow up on teachers converting from pink-slip status to no-job-at-all status."
And it turns out that despite threats of hundreds of thousands of unemployed teachers nationwide, teacherpocalypse was more fizzle than bang.
In their 74 district sample, which was heavy on urban districts that should have experienced more layoffs, they found that:
Around 9,545 teachers--about 2.5 percent of the total number of teachers in these districts--were actually laid off (or were probationary teachers who were non-renewed for budget reasons). Excluding the uniquely bad-off California districts, that rate falls to about 1.5% across the country. About half of the districts reported no layoffs.
Many of the districts reported filling budget gaps with stimulus and EduJobs money. But two-thirds of the districts say they still haven't spent all of their federal stimulus cash, opting instead to do things like lay off administrators, allow attrition, and (in a small number of districts) trim benefits.
More Reason on teacherpocalypse hype. | <urn:uuid:b7a4b0ff-bdac-47a4-820c-9072f2a6d9e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reason.com/blog/2011/11/02/teacherpocalypse-update-there | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964066 | 280 | 1.632813 | 2 |
NetWellness is a global, community service providing quality, unbiased health information from our partner university faculty. NetWellness is commercial-free and does not accept advertising.
Saturday, May 18, 2013
What is the minimum size that a non calcified nodule can be biopsied?
It depends on where the nodule is located. However, most nodules need to be about 1cm before a biopsy is successful.
Sandra L Starnes, MD
Assistant Professor of Surgery
College of Medicine
University of Cincinnati | <urn:uuid:6fa60157-5b94-4c1b-bae5-621e3a47fa7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.netwellness.uc.edu/question.cfm/68233.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928779 | 111 | 1.726563 | 2 |
What is heartworm disease?
Heartworm disease is caused by a worm that lives in the heart.
How is it transmitted?
Heartworm disease is transmitted from dog to dog by a mosquito. It MUST go through a mosquito and can NOT go directly from dog to dog. EVEN INDOOR DOGS can get heartworm disease.
Do we have it in Western New York?
Yes. Absolutely. Anywhere there are mosquitos, there is heartworm disease.
What signs will my dog show when it gets infected?
Dogs will initially show NO signs. Once bitten by an infected mosquito, it takes 6 months for the parasite to grow up and migrate to the heart. After that the worms can live for months to years before a dog will show any signs of illness. Eventually the animal will go into heart failure and shows signs such as coughing, lethargy, exercise intolerance, weight loss, poor appetite, etc.
Is it fatal?
If left untreated, heartworm disease in dogs is fatal.
Can people get it? What about cats?
People can not get heartworm disease. Cats can get it but the disease differs from dogs. It is not as common in cats as dogs.
How do you test for heartworm disease?
An annual blood test is recommended for ALL dogs in this area. We test the blood for a protein that is produced by the worm. It is a very sensitive test.
Do I have to test every year?
Yes. AAHA and the AVMA standards of care recommend annual testing. The sooner we know about the infection, the easier it is to treat.
How do you prevent heartworm disease?
Monthly prophylactic medications include Revolution, Trifexix, and Iverhart and will prevent heartworm disease.
Can't I just give the preventatives to my dog if/when the test comes back positive?
No. The monthly preventatives will kill any "baby" heartworms (within 6 weeks of being infected by the mosquito) but once they become adults they are no longer susceptible to these mild, well tolerated medications.
What is involved in treatment of the disease?
First an animal must be staged to find out how far the disease has progressed. This involves blood work and chest x-rays and can be costly. Then the animal is treated with a series of injections that may have numerous side effects and requires hospitalization. | <urn:uuid:a77e7efc-6507-4852-ab9d-ade8f49a6420> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.georgetownanimalclinic.com/site/view/177938_HeartwormFacts.pml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94681 | 498 | 2.8125 | 3 |
The way in which companies host their websites is one of the most important decisions that they have to make when have plans to launch them. Fortunately, dedicated hosting, shared hosting and col-location hosting, provide a multitude of options for them to choose from. However, since they can only choose the best by understanding their differences owing to their various advantages and disadvantages, it is advisable for them to read widely about them before making a choice.
Although dedicated hosting enables companies to have it in the way that they want by allowing their providers to configure it according to their preference, it usually requires them to lease the space and equipment. These companies do not share resources with other companies because the server is specially designed for their website alone. The hosting company makes it unnecessary for the staff of these companies to upgrade and maintain the equipment since the responsibility of doing so lies with it. However, since the companies cannot assign their staff to address the inadequacy of the support that the host provides, they consider the inability of having physical access to the server a disadvantage.
Shared hosting, which requires companies to share resources with other companies, enables them to store their files on the same server with other businesses. Since this type of hosting only requires companies to pay the web host to maintain their server, they consider it the least expensive because the hosting company spreads the cost of maintaining it among all the clients who share it. However, many companies do not like this type of hosting because it prevents them from controlling their server configuration especially when they need to support special types of script by using their server. In addition, it has significant effects on the load time of their own websites owing to the high demand for resources from other websites since they have to share server resources. | <urn:uuid:58f99665-6e17-4128-b810-51b378315069> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://arcade.stanford.edu/useful-facts-about-various-web-hosting-options | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979568 | 348 | 2.015625 | 2 |
Posted: Feb 14, 2013 7:22 PM by Xiaoyun Wu
Updated: Feb 14, 2013 10:08 PM
COLUMBIA - Around 50 people showed up at Columbia Rising V-Day Dance in the Stephen's Lake Park Reichmann Pavilion Thursday night to celebrate the lives of women against gender violence.
Columbia joined the worldwide One Billion Rising movement, and held a series of events around Valentine's Day. This was the first time the organization held a dance party.
"The idea is that, at least or more than one billion people today have in some ways rose up, stood up, spoke out, danced, gathered, saying we no longer want gender violence to be a marginalized issue," said Victoria Day, one of the event organizers.
Admission was free, but organizers collected donations that will go to the Columbia True North Shelter. The sponsors were Columbia NOW, Mid-Missouri Women's International League for Peace and Freedom, Victoria Day, and Occupy COMO.
About half of the people who showed up were males. Evan Prost, who donated $20 at the event, said it was meaningful, especially to have it on Valentine's Day.
"Love shouldn't hurt. Love should always be care and affection, and shouldn't be power over anyone. That's the message," Prost said.
Go to the website for more One Billion Rising information. | <urn:uuid:5c699eb5-fe93-4f6f-ad29-94d6f95640a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.komu.com/news/columbia-holds-v-day-dance-against-violence/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970319 | 284 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Motive's Role in Criminal Punishment
Carissa Byrne Hessick
Arizona State University (ASU) - Sandra Day O'Connor College of Law
Southern California Law Review, Vol. 80, 2006
Motive plays an important role in criminal law. It is necessary to prove liability for some offenses; it is a key component of several defenses; and it has been a traditional consideration at sentencing. Motive's role in criminal punishment has grown through the adoption of hate crime sentencing enhancements and the rise of substantive sentencing law. And motive has an important role in punishment theory, as it reinforces the centrality of shared moral judgments, which are indispensable to any system of criminal law. Yet despite motive's increasing importance in criminal law, its treatment is inconsistent and incomplete. This Article proposes an expanded role for motive in criminal punishment, in which a defendant's motive for committing any crime may result in a sentencing increase or decrease. The proposed sentencing system not only will result in a greater correlation between a defendant's punishment and her individual blameworthiness, but also will increase sentencing uniformity, because it clarifies the aggravating and mitigating nature of various motives ex ante.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 69
Keywords: motive, criminal law, punishment, sentencingAccepted Paper Series
Date posted: August 3, 2006
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This page was processed by apollo3 in 0.969 seconds | <urn:uuid:da1ff6f0-6554-4785-a3ec-3ece164f76d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=921111 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924674 | 297 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Tweens' Secret Lives Online.
Children are using technology at ever-younger ages. About 15% of kids under the age of 11 have their own mobile phone, according to eMarketer. The Pew Research Center's Internet & American Life Project reported last summer that 16% of kids 12 to 17 who are online used Twitter, double the number from two years earlier. Most of the Tweens simply want to avoid bumping into Mom on Facebook. As families grapple with how to use social media safely, many marketers are working to create social networks and other interactive applications for kids that parents will approve. | <urn:uuid:eacfdfd3-687a-4153-9cec-9ff9b58e56d2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dieste.com/Content.aspx?Id=308&tag=Media | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92329 | 122 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Letter from Dr W.R. Blore M.C. RAMC
To view other similar items in the archive click on the hyper-linked words below.
|Title||Letter from Dr W.R. Blore M.C. RAMC|
|Notes||This is an extract from a photocopy of a letter from Dr W.R. Blore M.C. RAMC sent on 14th October 1915, from Suvla Bay, Gallipoli. It includes a sketch of Blore's dug-out which he had photographed, the film must still be awaiting development - as it was not developed until Blore and his comrades were evacuated in December 1915/January 1916. His family believe that Blore was the last RAMC doctor to leave Suvla Bay during that evacuation. This letter describes the chair which was actually shipped over from England in his luggage. Also described in the letter is his 'washing', which is probably the Kapoc sleeping bag hanging on the bushes. He describes the waterproof cover and the location and direction of the ditches designed to keep his dug-out dry.|
Also part of this collection are all Blore's letters home, his notebooks from his service as a doctor at Suvla Bay, Gallipoli, and on the Western Front - as well as his sleeping bag and many other artefacts.
|Item Date||14th October 1915|
|Creation place||Suvla Bay, Gallipoli|
|Copyright||The Great War Archive, University of Oxford / Primary Contributor|
|Digital repository||The Great War Archive, University of Oxford|
|Contributor Name||Alun Edwards|
|Contributed on the behalf of||David Blore| | <urn:uuid:971f3694-11c5-48d2-a5f5-3c7d7186e156> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oucs.ox.ac.uk/ww1lit/db/item_viewer.php?CISOROOT=/gwa&CISOPTR=5440&DMSCALE=50&DMWIDTH=600&DMHEIGHT=600&DMX=0&DMY=133.5&DMMODE=viewer&DMTEXT=&REC=4&DMTHUMB=1&DMROTATE=270 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95181 | 357 | 1.960938 | 2 |
March Of Progress
( Originally Published Late 1800's )
The world was never so rich as it is to-day. The fabled treasures of the ancients were but as pennies to dollars in comparison with the immense wealth of these later days. Comforts of civilization have been increased, until the day laborer has more to enjoy in America than a prince in the days of the Roman empire. Culture, intelligence and charity have elevated society above the idleness of ancient times, the ignor ance and superstition of Medaevial times, and are fast bringing contentment and peace to even the poorest. The average condition of the people is far better than at any other period. Light is dawning round the globe. Africa discovered today, is invaded with commerce and trade to-morrow. India and the islands of the sea are yielding to the influences of a better civilization than they have ever known. In every land the people know more, enjoy more, possess more, read and think more than at any period of the world's history.
The material progress made during the last fifty years is indeed astonishing. In Europe and the United States wealth has increased, since 1850, three times faster than population. Labor-saving machinery has multiplied until its productive power in the United States and England alone is equal to the power of a thousand million men. In reference to this, Mr. Huxley has said that the seven millions of laborers in England can produce as much in six months as would have required, one hundred years ago, the entire working force of the world one year to equal. According to Mulhall, Great Britain has trebled her wealth since 1830 ; France has quadrupled hers, while the United States has multiplied in wealth at least six-fold, and we are at present nearly four millions richer at sunset than at sunrise each day. The accumulations of Europe and the United States make up daily eleven millions of dollars, and the increase in population is about eleven thousand each day. The domain of nature has been invaded by science, and her secret forces made subservient to the will of man, until they stand ready to serve as willing courtiers wait upon a king. It is estimated that it now requires less than one-half of the manual labor that was required in 1845 to produce an equal amount of subsistence. During this period great progress has been made in political and intellectual development. Schools, colleges, hospitals, asylums, benevolent institutions and churches are found everywhere. They are the monuments of increasing charity, and show that philanthropy, education and refinement are keeping pace with this marvelous increase of wealth. The Nineteenth Century will be set down in history as the century of material prosperity, just as the Sixteenth is called the era of reformation, and the Seventeenth the era of progress and discovery. Shall we not hope that these accumulated treasures of material wealth shall furnish the basis for a moral progress no less wonderful in the Twentieth Century ? Do we not already stand in the morning twilight of such a day, in which the moral forces will grow and be made strong ? Shall not man be made gentler, wiser, purer, so that in the onward march of the centuries the Twentieth will take its place as the century of moral progress? The signs, we think, point in this direction and encourage the belief. | <urn:uuid:88561057-e697-4d6e-9853-8ce936ab2b00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.oldandsold.com/articles29/life-91.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965382 | 678 | 3.0625 | 3 |
Harry Potter Enters A New Electronic Eraby: Posted:
Millions atop millions first experienced the wizard world of Harry Potter in a more traditional way: pick up a bound copy, open the cover and turn page after page after page.
With J.K. Rowling's beloved novels now beloved literary classics, fans new and old can fall in the love with every word a whole new way. As of Tuesday, all seven novels are now available in downloadable e-book format via Rowling's Pottermore website, the Associated Press announced this morning.
The books are initially available in both U.S. and U.K. English editions. According to the site, French, Italian, German and Spanish editions will become available sometime in April. Though compatible with all major e-reader devices such as iPad and Kindle platforms among others, the digital editions will only be available via Rowling's website.
In a sense, that's fitting. Though the e-book format has been accessible several years now, she's resisted making her Harry Potter novels available online. It stems from a longstanding fear on Rowling's part of piracy. Since the series' popularity exploded not long after the 1997 debut of Harry Potter And The Sorcerer's Stone, unscrupulous individuals would go out of their ways to both get early looks at forthcoming releases and make the books more widely available via torrents. Rowling and her publishers have also filed injunctions that clashed with civil liberties and free speech groups to prevent anyone from reading her works before their release dates.
"In a free and democratic society, a book publisher sought and obtained a court order banning reading and discussion of a children's book," wrote Michael Geist in a 2005 Toronto Star piece. "In fact, [Canadian 'Harry Potter' publisher] Raincoast had asked the court to go even further, by compelling purchasers to disclose the names, addresses, and other contact information of any other person with whom they discussed the book's contents."
Check out the video below to hear Rowling's appreciative message to her fans. | <urn:uuid:4ee8c736-7e7d-4e54-9581-a1773d8774e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.yidio.com/news/harry-potter-enters-new-electronic-era-5665 | 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 | 0.939556 | 413 | 1.820313 | 2 |
ActiveDocument is an open source Ruby connector for MarkLogic server, although at a later date it could potentially expanded to work with other XML databases. The goal of ActiveDocument is to make it as easy for developers to work with MarkLogic as ActiveRecord makes it for them to work with an RDBMS. The intent is to make them write as little XQuery as possible. If they can get 80% of their tasks done without having to write any XQuery that should increase adoption. Performance is less of a consideration as developers will have the ability to write their own potentially more performant XQuery later on in the development cycle.
Also, the here goal is NOT to make ActiveDocument just an invocation of stored procedures. In fact, I'm imagining that about 80% of the calls from Ruby to MarkLogic will be XQuery that I am dynamically generating. This also is very much what ActiveRecord does where they have a SQL calculus engine that dynamically generate SQL. Again, like ActiveRecord I will give you the ability to call XQuery stored on the server, similar to invoking Stored Procedures. This will be something developers would use to access the 20% or so of functionality that they can't get through the dynamically generated SQL.
A final goal is to make this a very flexible system. It should be flexible enough to support another transport mechanism beyond HTTP if such is ever required. It should also support a different XQuery generator which could potentially allow this to support additional XML databases. | <urn:uuid:6a345ce1-2093-4b40-ae21-e43329e5a1f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://developer.marklogic.com/code/active-document | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961883 | 303 | 1.992188 | 2 |
(CNSNews.com) - At the close of business on Tuesday, the debt of the federal government exceeded $15 trillion for the first time--with the largest single owner of the publicly held portion of that debt being the Federal Reserve.
Over the past year, as the Federal Reserve massively increased its holdings of U.S. Treasury securities and entities in China marginally decreased theirs, the Fed surpassed the Chinese as the top owner of publicly held U.S. government debt.
In its latest monthly report, the Federal Reserve said that as of Sept. 28, it owned $1.665 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities. That was more than double the $812 billion in U.S. Treasury securities the Fed said it owned as of Sept. 29, 2010.
Meanwhile, as of the end of this September, entities in mainland China owned $1.1483 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities, according to data published today by the U.S. Treasury Department. That was down slightly from the $1.1519 trillion in U.S. Treasury securities the Chinese owned as of the end of September 2010, according to the same Treasury Department report.
Thus, at the end of September 2010, the Chinese owned about $339.9 billion more in U.S. Treasury securities than the Fed owned at that time. By the end of September 2011, the Fed owned about $516.7 billion more in U.S. Treasury securities than the Chinese owned.
The U.S. Treasury Department divides the federal government’s debt into two general categories: debt held by the public—the type owned by the Chinese and the Federal Reserve—and “intragovernmental debt,” which consists of what essentially are IOUs the Treasury gives to government trust funds such as the Social Security trust when it takes and spends their money on other things.
The current total national debt of $15.0336 trillion, reported by the Treasury today, consists of approximately $10.3145 trillion in debt held by the public and $4.7191 trillion in intragovernmental debt.
The combined $2.8133 trillion in U.S. government debt held by the public that is now owned by the Federal Reserve and the Chinese equals more than 27 percent of all U.S. government debt held by the public.
Currently, foreign entities, including those in China, own $4.6603 trillion of the U.S. government debt held by the public. These foreign entities, together with the Federal Reserve, own a combined $6.3253 trillion of the U.S. government’s debt held by the public.
That $6.3253 trillion in Federal Reserve-and-foreign-held debt equals more than 61 percent of the U.S. government’s publicly held debt. | <urn:uuid:846a6388-ae31-43cb-a6fd-4b25c27ddd91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.conservativeunderground.com/forum505/showthread.php?45946-Fed-Now-Largest-Owner-of-U-S-Gov%E2%80%99t-Debt%E2%80%94Surpassing-China&p=464992&mode=threaded | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967184 | 590 | 1.859375 | 2 |
Number of Somali refugees in south-east Ethiopia swells to 170,000
|Publisher||UN High Commissioner for Refugees|
|Publication Date||19 October 2012|
|Cite as||UN High Commissioner for Refugees, Number of Somali refugees in south-east Ethiopia swells to 170,000, 19 October 2012, available at: http://www.refworld.org/docid/5087d12e2.html [accessed 19 June 2013]|
The number of Somali refugees in a series of camps in an arid, harsh area of south-eastern Ethiopia has passed the 170,000 mark, making Dollo Ado the world's second largest refugee complex.
"Dollo Ado is now the world's biggest refugee camp after Dadaab in Kenya," UNHCR spokesman Andrej Mahecic said, adding that although the rate of arrivals at Dollo Ado has slowed this year, people are continuing to flee conflict and insecurity in southern and central parts of Somalia. Many cite fear of harassment and forced recruitment by armed groups who control large rural areas of the country.
Between January and the end of September this year, some 62,000 Somalis became refugees in the region surrounding their country. More than 25,000 of these fled to Ethiopia – making it the largest recipient of Somali refugees in the region so far this year.
By comparison Yemen registered 15,000 Somali refugees, Kenya 13,000, Uganda 6,800 and Djibouti 2,300 over the same period. Overall the number of Somali refugees in the region numbers more than 1 million.
In previous years, Kenya – which hosts around half this population – was the main destination. With 214,000 Somali refugees, Ethiopia shelters a fifth of this population at Dollo Ado and several hundred kilometres to the north at Jijiga.
In addition to Somalis, who constitute the largest refugee group, the country also hosts more than 91,000 Sudanese refugees, almost 61,000 Eritreans and 4,000 refugees from other countries, bringing the total refugee population in Ethiopia to nearly 368,000. Every month, the country accepts thousands of new arrivals, the majority of whom are Somalis in Dollo Ado followed by Sudanese and Eritreans.
There are currently five camps in Dollo Ado. The newest is Buramino camp, which opened in November last year and is now full with a population of more than 32,000. New arrivals are also being transferred to the Kobe and Hillaweyn camps. "We have increased the accommodation capacity of these two sites to 30,000 people each. The two oldest camps – Bokolmanyo and Melkadida – each host more than 40,000 people," Mahecic said.
With people still arriving at Dollo Ado, the Ethiopian government has authorized the opening of a sixth site and land for this has been designated between the town of Kole and Kobe camp, some 54 kilometres north of Dollo Ado town.
The cost of opening the new camp, setting up basic services and infrastructure including medical, education and warehousing facilities is more than US$5 million, Mahecic said.
"We are seeking support from donors and partners, including resources for NGO partners who would be working in the camp. For the initial phase, we urgently need US$1.5 million for site preparation, land demarcation and setting up basic infrastructure, including drilling of bore holes, setting up water points, emergency clinic, latrines." This year to date, UNHCR has received US$44 million against needs assessed at over US$112 million.
Refugees typically arrive with a few belongings only. Their most urgent needs are emergency shelter, food and basic aid items. To address these needs, UNHCR sent a convoy from Kenya last week carrying 10,000 plastic sheets, 500 plastic rolls, 20,000 blankets, 15,000 sleeping mats, 15,000 mosquito nets and 10,000 collapsible jerry cans. The aid is being distributed to new arrivals in the camps.
Meanwhile, a long awaited all-weather airstrip opened in Dollo Ado on October 3, significantly easing access for humanitarian staff and transportation of cargo. Funded by the United States government, the airstrip was constructed by a World Food Programme field engineering team working closely with the Ethiopian civil aviation and road authorities.
"This is an important and major improvement for humanitarian organizations working in Dollo Ado as adverse weather conditions often rendered the old airstrip unusable. The only other access involved a three-day trip on poor roads, severely delaying emergency interventions and urgent medical evacuations," Mahecic explained.
Somalia remains one of the world's longest and worst refugee crises. A third of Somalia's estimated 7.5 million population lives in forced displacement – either as refugees or internally displaced people. | <urn:uuid:517199b0-a680-417c-8e69-1748035c1716> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.refworld.org/cgi-bin/texis/vtx/rwmain?page=publisher&publisher=UNHCR&type=COUNTRYNEWS&coi=&docid=5087d12e2&skip=0 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952788 | 1,002 | 2.125 | 2 |
By Andrea Richard
By Carlos Suarez De Jesus
By New Times Staff
By John Thomason
By Falyn Freyman
By Falyn Freyman
By Liz Tracy
By John Thomason
Somehow, it's not surprising that Salvador Dalí was one of the pioneers of an art form that didn't even have a name until near the end of his long, notorious career. In 1939, the flamboyant Spanish surrealist created a pavilion for the New York World's Fair that was a prototype for the sort of art that would gain prominence in the 1970s and that still demands a great deal of attention today: the installation.
The prescient piece in question is documented in "Salvador Dalí: Dream of Venus," one of three exhibitions now at the Museum of Contemporary Art (MoCA) in North Miami. The show includes drawings and sketches, photographs, films, and archival documents associated with the pavilion, as well as an aural component in the form of a tape loop featuring the voices of B-movie star Ruth Ford and a sort of Greek chorus luring people into the pavilion.
As usual with Dalí, there was an agenda. Consider the introduction posted at the entrance to the show: "The organizers... knew that an installation at the World's Fair would do more to advance Surrealism in America than any museum exhibition.... [The pavilion] clearly played a significant role in bringing Surrealism to the masses in the United States and in making Dalí the most famous Surrealist in America." We all know what came of that.
Ever the shrewd self-promoter, the roguishly handsome young Dalí, who was then in his mid-30s, teased his pavilion with a show of his paintings at the gallery of his New York City dealer, Julien Levy, which also coincided with a Dalí-designed window display at the Bonwit Teller department store. The latter was classic Dalí as provocateur: a tableau featuring, among other things, wax female mannequins, a buffalo's head with a bloody pigeon in its mouth, narcissus blossoms, and a water-filled bathtub lined with black Persian lamb fur and inhabited by a mannequin and disembodied hands holding mirrors.
The display drew such large, traffic-disrupting crowds that the store's management grew nervous and began dismantling it, prompting Dalí to climb into the window and send the bathtub crashing through the glass. The artist was arrested and had to pay for the damages, although he later noted that the judge "made a point of adding emphatically that every artist has a right to defend his 'work' to the limit."
The World's Fair pavilion was similarly provocative. In sharp contrast to the sleek, futuristic look of so many of the other buildings in the fair, "Dream of Venus" boasted a pink plaster façade with a variety of organic-looking appendages. The ticket booth was in the form of a huge fish's head, where admission (adults only) was 25 cents. A gigantic reproduction of an Eric Schaal photograph of the booth, with Dalí and wife Gala peeking out of the eyes, greets you at the entrance to the MoCA show.
The pavilion also included Dalí's large reproductions of such classic paintings as Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus and Leonardo da Vinci's Saint John the Baptist, and there was an aquarium featuring scantily clad mermaids performing underwater. To document these creatures, the artist recruited fashion photographers Horst P. Horst and George Platt Lynes.
The show includes video footage and photographs of the mermaids, and there are dozens of photos of sections of the pavilion at various stages. Motifs familiar from Dalí's paintings -- melting watches, crutches, etc. -- appear again and again. There are also a few paintings that seem only marginally connected to "Dream of Venus," including the well-known 1939 oil Telephone in a Dish with Three Grilled Sardines at the End of September. For Le Pervers Polimorf de Freud, Dalí takes a found lithograph of a baby and inserts a bloody rat into the child's mouth.
Most of this material is fascinating to some extent, especially seen in light of the evolution of installation art during the 60-plus years since it was pioneered by Dalí and Marcel Duchamp, who created another seminal environmental display space for the 1938 International Surrealist Exposition in Paris. Ultimately, however, there's something vaguely anticlimactic about this exhibition that might have been avoided if the organizers had somehow found a way to re-create -- even in miniature -- the actual "Dream of Venus" pavilion, which we're able to experience only at a remove.
Adjacent to the Dalí show is a midcareer retrospective called "Jack Pierson, Regrets," which includes paintings, sculptures, photographs, drawings, and multimedia works by the Massachusetts-born artist, who worked in Miami Beach in the early 1980s. I can't muster much enthusiasm for Pierson's photo collages and large-scale color photographic prints mounted on aluminum, although there's a pleasing serenity to some of his large abstract canvases, such as Canvas Dyed with Hibiscus Tea, Salt (2001).
Pierson's word sculptures, which often consist of simply a single word -- Beauty, Time, Water, Stay -- created with mismatched letters made of painted metal, plastic, and wood, have an amiable pop goofiness to them. And his huge collage Heaven offers the treat of trying to identify dozens of movie and music celebrities in their heyday, seen here in 90 autographed, black-and-white photographs.
But Pierson's most satisfying pieces here are, fittingly, installations. Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow?(1994), on loan from the Whitney Museum of American Art in New York City, features a freestanding locked case made of glass and battered wood, with a stack of linen sheets inside. On top is an everyday assortment that includes a comb, cigarettes and a lighter, a shell ashtray containing cigarette butts, and a sketch held down by a pair of stones. On the wall a few feet away is a hook holding a key that, presumably, opens the padlock on the case.
Diamond Life (1990) is a more elaborate composition. A section of the museum's wall has been painted pale yellow and festooned with such items as an old post card and some dried twigs. In front of the wall, on a stretch of linoleum on the museum's floor, sits a table and chair. On the table rests an old hi-fi playing a scratched-up vinyl copy of Joni Mitchell's Hejira, with a stack of other albums (including the Rolling Stones' Let It Bleed) on the floor nearby. Other items occupying shelves under the table include paperbacks by Truman Capote and Joan Didion, an ashtray with cigarette butts, and a copy of a book called Art Since 1945.
MoCA rounds out this trilogy of shows with the tantalizing "Hernan Bas: It's Super Natural,"which occupies the freestanding Pavilion Gallery across from the museum's main entrance. As you enter the darkened gallery, a guard hands you a flashlight, which you can use to examine the nearly two dozen small paintings on the walls.
The paintings, in water-based oils on various surfaces, are dark, moody images of what appear to be teenage boys camping out, hiking in the wilderness, etc. In a handout, Bas, a native of Miami, explains that these works are about his attempts to create images of same-sex affection drawn from the adventures of the Hardy Boys in the famous mystery-book series, using, as he puts it, "the 'art' of creative misinterpreting naively innocent representations of heterosexual comradeship...."But these pieces are really just a preface to the show's centerpiece, a large multimedia installation called No Girls Allowed. It's a makeshift shanty with rays of light shining through cracks in the boards and music playing inside. Scattered around the perimeter of this fortress are such items as beer cans and bottles, a Styrofoam cooler, and empty cigarette packs.
The punch line comes when you peer through a small opening in one wall -- shades of Duchamp's large installation Étant Données -- to see not a Hardy Boys retreat but what might be the lair of sophisticated young gays, complete with a red love seat, a cell phone, a Ouija board, a Gucci shopping bag, a volume of Oscar Wilde, copies of men's fashion magazines, and a little bar stocked with such top-shelf brands as Absolut vodka and Bombay gin.
Despite his avowed nervousness about homosexuality, Salvador Dalí would likely both understand and approve of the sly subversiveness of Bas's work, making it the perfect coda to Dalí's "Dream of Venus."
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Check out the hottest list of places and things to do around your city | <urn:uuid:5a31f0e7-51bb-492a-b4cd-f5ba819c5c14> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.browardpalmbeach.com/2002-04-04/culture/re-installing-dal-iacute/full/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957013 | 1,918 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Researchers in the Department of Clinical Sciences are making progress on efforts to develop new gene therapy approaches to help heal cartilage and prevent osteoarthritis in horses, potentially leading to scientific methods that also may help humans.
In 2008, Dr. Laurie Goodrich was awarded a grant from the National Institutes of Health to develop a gene therapy approach to help heal cartilage and prevent osteoarthritis in horses, The grant, which is $678,000 over five years, investigates the success of treating joint injuries with a protein injected into injured joints within a virus-like agent called a viral vector.
"The lack of healing leads to cartilage degeneration and progression of osteoarthritis," said Dr. Goodrich, an Assistant Professor in the Department of Clinical Sciences, College of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. "This prevents many horses from returning to athletic performance."
Cartilage injuries in equine athletes are often career-ending. Cartilage heals on a limited basis because a specific kind of protein or growth factor, called insulin-like growth factor (IGF-I), is not as available in the joint and cartilage as it is in other areas of the body.
IGF-I helps cartilage develop and, studies have shown, promotes healing of injured cartilage. However, researchers have not been able to develop a way to maintain enough IGF-I in an injured joint to help it heal. Goodrich and a team of researchers hope that using a viral vector to deliver DNA that increases production of IGF-I, a protein, will increase healing in damaged joint tissues.
"While the study focuses on horses, the results may ultimately have the potential to help improve human cartilage health and reduce the osteoarthritis that often follows a cartilage injury," said Dr. Goodrich, who is principal researcher on the grant. "Horses have a very similar joint anatomy, biochemical and molecular makeup as humans, and joint injuries in horses often respond in a similar way. This is good news for horses and humans alike, as advances in joint research in horses will likely apply to humans."
The Federal Drug Administration has recently recognized that the horse is an excellent representative study model for cartilage injury and osteoarthritis in people.
Dr. Wayne McIlwraith, Director of the Orthopaedic Research Center, and Dr. R. Jude Samulski, Director of the Gene Therapy Center at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, are co-mentor the project.
The project also involves collaborations with bio-informatics and gene research experts across Colorado State University, including Dr. Ken Reardon, a Professor in the Department of Chemical Engineering; Dr. Hariharan Iyer, a Professor in the Department of Statistics; Drs. Aravind Asokan, Jeff Beecham and Tal Kafri from the University of North Carolina; Dr. Alan Nixon from Cornell University; and Drs. Chisa Hidaka and Chris Chen at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York. | <urn:uuid:527ef3e0-f455-4c43-91db-fe71e2cfaff5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://csu-cvmbs.colostate.edu/Pages/equine-osteoarthritis-research-program.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945583 | 616 | 2.890625 | 3 |
Jim Keith, farrier, quoted in the paper last week, said, "Amarillo is on the verge of becoming a major horse community." I'm glad to hear that. Surely a horse community is better than some of the options. Let's think horses. It wasn't so long ago that Amarillo was a horse community, major or minor I'm not sure.
Just think: a mere century ago Amarillo was a horse community; the people and the horses were proud and happy. Traffic problems, parking problems, red-light runners, road rage, monster cars, accidents, seat belts, emissions (we'll take that up later) were almost unheard of. Suppose we decide that the so-called progress from horse-and-carriage to automobile has been illusion, a mistake.
Mistakes may be corrected: we are already on the verge. Let's take the big step. Let the city council declare that at the end of the year 2002, only seniors over the age of 75 can drive an automobile within city limits. Others may walk, bicycle, skate, scoot, ride horseback, or hitch Dan up to the shay. Except for the seniors mentioned, no engine-powered vehicles permitted.
The 75-and-over crowd will have a grace period of 25 years of auto driving, though of course many will prefer to join the horse-and-buggy group. Think it over. Talk to your council-person. Talk to your Chamber of Horse Commerce. We can do it. We're on the verge. Our slogan: Bring Back the Buggy.
Visitors will come from all over the world to experience the pleasure of being in a city without automobiles. How will they get here? By planes, trains, busses and autos. But the automobiles will have to be parked on the edge of the city limits where a ring of garages and barns will spring up.
Those leaving town will park the horse and buggy; those entering will park the SUV or whatever. Rentals will be available. Horse-drawn streetcars will reappear. People who haven't walked more than a block in years will recall the pleasure of an evening or morning stroll. People will once again sit on the porch in the evenings. Men will water the grass. Children will play hopscotch, or Red Rover, or Run, Sheep, Run. TV? Cell phones? The Internet? etc.? We'll see.
Next week: End of Horse Community reverie. Winner of pretty/ugly words contest to be announced.
Amarillo Globe-News ©2013. All Rights Reserved. | <urn:uuid:88848046-b2a1-4d39-adf6-75e59a3b9b91> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://amarillo.com/stories/2002/01/20/boo_wylie.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945504 | 537 | 1.578125 | 2 |
When it comes to selling a home, it takes a good person to do. Now that times are tough, selling homes has never been harder. However, there are still succesful people all over the country selling homes.
So what do they have that you do not?
Well, one thing is the positive attitude that they must have to sell a home. If you are a grumpy person, don’t expect to sell many homes. But first thing is first, you must make the sell in your mind first, before it even happens.
More importantly you need to have goals and go through with them. What this means is that your goals must have deadlines. So if you want to sell a particular home, put down an expiration date. Put the goal somewhere that you will see a lot of times throughout the day. This helps attract the sale.
Moreover, make sure to sell the homes to people that fit that home which you are trying to sell. If you know for a fact that someone can not afford a particular home, do not push it on them. Be their friend and help them out. This will help you out in the long run because they will remember you were honest.
This will help your future sales with referrals and maybe the same person will be looking to buy another home. | <urn:uuid:78634c58-6901-455b-9407-154921178a45> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://buffalogalsellshomes.com/?SA | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979323 | 267 | 1.585938 | 2 |