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NEW STRENGTHENED RULES FOR FOOD FOR INFANTS, YOUNG CHILDREN AND FOOD FOR SPECIFIC MEDICAL PURPOSE 12/06/13
Today, the European Parliament gave its green light on a set of clearer rules protecting specific groups of consumers such as infants and young children. The aim is to better protect consumers on the content and marketing of these “special” food products, and to provide a better environment for businesses, as well as better application of rules.
More and more food products exist on the market that target specific groups of the population. The EU rules in force for these products are complex and fragmented since different sets of rules and concepts can overlap and create confusion for businesses and national authorities who apply the rules.
This new Regulation on food for specific groups will streamline the rules that apply throughout the EU, by eliminating those that are unnecessary and contradictory and by replacing them with a new, simplified Framework.
The new Framework will cover:
- food for infants and young children;
- food for people with specific medical conditions;
- food for weight control that replace the totality of the daily diet.
The new Regulation will do away with the dated broad concept of 'foodstuffs for particular nutritional uses', which has proven not fit for today’s market and legal context.
Under the new approach, food for other population groups will fall under different legislation. For example, rules on food for coeliacs will be transferred to the Regulation on Food Information to Consumers.
The Regulation will be published in the EU Official Journal in the coming weeks and will only apply from 2016 to allow time for businesses to adapt their commercial practices. No products will however have to be withdrawn from the market.
Over the next two years, the Commission will: adopt detailed rules (delegated acts) on food covered by the Regulation; and present two reports on the necessity to develop, in the future, specific rules for so-called 'growing up milks' for young children and food for sports people.
The Commission will also adopt specific rules on the use of statements on the absence or reduced presence of lactose in foods. | <urn:uuid:b975954c-5aac-48b7-8ee1-5a5034626489> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.elika.net/en/industria_alimentaria_etiquetado_trazabilidad.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943011 | 444 | 2.6875 | 3 |
From email@example.com Fri Jun 16 07:39:57 2000
Date: Fri, 16 Jun 2000 03:58:21 -0400
From: Najee E Muhammad <muhaddad@OAK.CATS.OHIOU.EDU>
Subject: [BRC-ANN] Quote of the Day: W.E.B. DuBois
What I have been fighting for and am still fighting for is the possibility of black folk and their cultural patterns existing in America without discrimination; and on terms of equality... This brings up a number of difficult problems which we will have to solve and make definite preparation for such solution.
Take for instance the current problem of the education of our children. By the law of the land today they should be admitted to the public schools. If and when they are admitted to these schools certain things will inevitably follow. Negro teachers will become rarer and in many cases will disappear. Negro children will be instructed in the public schools and taught under unpleasant if not discouraging circumstances. Even more largely than today they will fall out of school, cease to enter high school, and fewer and fewer will go to college. Theoretically Negro Universities will disappear. Negro history will be taught less or not at all and as in so many cases in the past Negroes will remember their white or Indian ancestors and quite forget their Negro forebearers.
Whither Now and Why | <urn:uuid:26a76e98-13e8-4dde-8275-d6a9a5687f72> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hartford-hwp.com/archives/45a/429.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.924709 | 299 | 1.867188 | 2 |
MUSIC IN REVIEW; Alexander Nevsky
By ANTHONY TOMMASINI
Published: October 21, 2006
New Yorkers looking for a film to see tonight should head to Avery Fisher Hall. Yes, the home of the New York Philharmonic has been temporarily turned into a movie house to present screenings of Sergei Eisenstein's 1938 epic, ''Alexander Nevsky.''
This landmark of Russian cinema was a joint project between the director and Prokofiev, whose moody and gripping score for orchestra and chorus is being performed live by the Philharmonic and the New York Choral Artists, conducted by the young Chinese dynamo Xian Zhang. At Thursday night's performance, the coordination between the music and the film, projected onto a large screen above the orchestra, seemed flawless.
Weirdly, Stalin played a pivotal role in the creation of this film. At the time, Nazi Germany was a looming threat to the Soviets. To fortify popular sentiment against the Germans, Soviet officials asked Eisenstein to make a film commemorating the victory of the Russian prince Alexander Nevsky over the marauding Knights of the Teutonic Order from Germany in 1242.
The original optical sound track used a studio-sized orchestra and apparently sounds terrible. Though this 110-minute film has many scenes with spoken dialogue, in long stretches Prokofiev's music accompanies silent scenes of landscapes, street life in medieval Russian cities and the climactic cast-of-thousands battle sequence.
While hearing the lush orchestra and chorus intrude, in a sense, on the film was sometimes jarring, over all it was a thrill to experience the music, best known as a concert suite, in its original context, especially in the brilliant, colorful and moody performance that Ms. Zhang conducted. Avoiding typical battle-movie bombast, Prokofiev taps into the bleakness of the story with muted and pensive music. There is a searing episode when the Teutonic Knights, who have occupied the city of Pskov, brutalize the townspeople, even tossing shrieking, naked children into bonfires. Prokofiev's music here is mournful and dark, with pleading strings and hymnal harmonies.
The film itself is stunning. The ruggedly handsome actor Nikolai Cherkassov, who plays Alexander, exudes calm authority. The battle scene when the German knights in armor and on horseback are defeated by the ragtag Russian foot soldiers is like an intricate choreography of thrusting spears and intertwined bodies.
Also striking is Prokofiev's bumptious music for two Russian soldiers, one grim and stalwart, the other big and goofy, who compete for the love of the maiden Olga but wind up bonding in battle. The mezzo-soprano Meredith Arwady gave a poignant performance of the despondent song of the maiden, left behind to wonder how her endearing suitors are surviving war. And Ms. Zhang, the Philharmonic's associate conductor, seems a bigger talent with every appearance. ANTHONY TOMMASINI
''Alexander Nevsky'' will be presented again tonight at Avery Fisher Hall, (212) 721-6500.
Avery Fisher Hall, Lincoln Center
Photo: The New York Philharmonic accompanying ''Alexander Nevsky.'' (Photo by Hiroyuki Ito for The New York Times) | <urn:uuid:2f2eae93-072a-4274-99f6-76cca9c097f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9B05E5D8163FF932A15753C1A9609C8B63 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932339 | 697 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Likewise is it written, “And be ye not like those who forget God, and whom He hath therefore caused to forget their own selves. These are the wicked doers."(98)
If the wayfarer’s goal be the dwelling of the Praiseworthy One (Mahmud),(99) this is the station of primal reason which is known as the Prophet and the Most Great Pillar.(100) Here reason signifieth the divine, universal mind, whose sovereignty enlighteneth all created things—nor doth it refer to every feeble brain; for it is as the wise Sana’i hath written:
How can feeble reason encompass
Or the spider snare a phoenix in his web?
Wouldst thou that the mind should not entrap thee?
Teach it the science of the love of God!
On this plane, the traveler meeteth with many a trial and reverse. Now is he lifted up to heaven, now is he cast into the depths. As it hath been said: “Now Thou drawest me to the summit of glory, again Thou castest me into the lowest abyss.” The mystery treasured in this plane is divulged in the following holy verse from the Surih of the cave:(101)
“And thou mightest have seen the sun when it arose, pass on the right of their cave, and when it set, leave them on the left, while they were in its spacious chamber. This is one of the signs of God. Guided indeed is he whom God guideth; but for him whom He misleadeth, thou shalt by no means find a patron.”
If a man could know what lieth hid in this one verse, it would suffice him. Wherefore, in praise of such as these, He hath said: “Men whom neither merchandise nor traffic beguile from the remembrance of God...."(102)
This station conferreth the true standard of knowledge, and freeth man from tests. In this realm, to search after knowledge is irrelevant, for He hath said concerning the guidance of travelers on this plane, “Fear God, and God will instruct thee."(103) And again: “Knowledge is a light which God casteth into the heart of whomsoever He willeth."(104)
Wherefore, a man should make ready his heart that it be worthy of the descent of heavenly grace, and that the bounteous Cup-Bearer may give him to drink of the wine of bestowal from the merciful vessel. “For the like of this let the travailers travail!"(105)
And now do I say, “Verily we are from God, and to Him shall we return."(106)
If the loving seekers wish to live within the precincts of the Attracting One (Maj_dh_ub),(107) no soul may dwell on this Kingly Throne save the beauty of love. This realm is not to be pictured in words.
Love shunneth this world and
that world too,
In him are lunacies seventy-and-two.
The minstrel of love harpeth this lay:
Servitude enslaveth, kingship doth betray.(108) | <urn:uuid:e440c7cc-78b9-4cf5-b384-958f2af66efb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/16986/18.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929607 | 680 | 1.835938 | 2 |
I haven't really read much into your sources but your approach to "3. Expressions: a digit" and "4. Addition" is completely backwards.
The correct procedure is to convert your infix (normal left-right expressions) to postfix using a stack. Then it's almost a 1:1 conversion directly to assembly.http://www.maths.abdn.ac.uk/~igc/tch/mx ... ode74.html
The compiler has input an expression in normal form from your program. It has decided that it is grammatically correct and has converted it into postfix form. Now it has to understand it -- i.e. work out what it is asking for. The compiler does not actually perform the operations called for by the expression (that is done when you run the program) but it generates a stream of machine instructions that will have the effect of evaluating the expression. To give you a taste of what happens let me invent a totally fictitious compiler and equally fictitious machine language.
The expression (a + b)*(c + d ) would be converted into something like the following
fetch value of a into register
add value of b to register
put result into temporary store T
fetch value of c into register
add value of d to register
multiply value of T into register
The point is that the actual machine operations are usually rather elementary things (on small computers there would probably be far more instructions used than in this example simply because the instructions are that much more elementary).
Let's get on with the problem. The beauty of postfix expressions is that they are very easy to evaluate. That's why I converted into postfix in the first place. And here is the evaluation algorithm, which once more uses the two `predicates' isvar(x) and isop(x):
01 algorithm evaluate(s,n)
02 // s is a postfix string of length n
03 for i = 1 to n begin
04 if isvar( s(i) ) then push(value of s(i) )
05 if isop( s(i) ) then begin
06 x = pop
07 y = pop
08 do y s(i) x and push result (note the order)
11 x = pop
12 return x
The basic action is this: as each variable appears in the expression its value is pushed onto the stack (4). When an operation appears (5) the top two values are taken off the stack (6,7) and this operation is performed on them. The result is pushed back onto the stack (8). This means that, at any stage, the next operator applies to the previous two values on the stack. At the end there should be just one value left in the stack -- the result. Pop this (11) and return it as the answer.
A compiler, as I said, does not actually perform the calculation -- you are not running the program yet. At line 8 the compiler will write the machine code for performing the operation, rather than actually performing it.
Considering the wide range of platforms today I would rather see a concerted effort writing a compiler which parses the source code to C or C++. That way you can leverage the compilers that have already been written for other platforms without having to learn the actual assembly. | <urn:uuid:4e121873-a216-4dc9-af71-7705fd560ccb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.purebasic.fr/english/viewtopic.php?p=336909 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928924 | 694 | 2.390625 | 2 |
$50 Hacking Device Opens Millions of Hotel Room Locks
- — 24 July, 2012 21:03
If you're staying at hotel, it might be a good idea to check the manufacturer of your door lock. A black hat hacker has unveiled a method that allows a fairly simple hardware gadget to unlock door locks manufactured by Onity.
Mozilla software developer Cody Brocious recently discovered two vulnerabilities within Onity's locks. Brocious was able to exploit said vulnerabilities with a device that cost him $50 to build. The schematics for the device are open source and available on the Web. Brocious will present his findings at the Black Hat Security Conference in Las Vegas on Tuesday night.
Onity tells PCWorld that it is aware of Brocious' work, but has declined to comment until it reviews additional information on the hack itself.
"Onity is prepared to address any potential issues posed by the presentation," a spokesperson said.
The company's locks are found on between four and five million hotel room doors worldwide. Brocious' device plugs into the DC port that is found on the bottom of the outside portion of the lock.
"[It] looks like a standard DC power port you'd see on something like a router," Brocious says. When the device is plugged in and powered up, it will, in theory, cause the door to unlock. The hack simulates a device used by hotel room operators to program locks to accept certain master keys. The hacking device reads the lock's memory, obtains the cryptographic key information, and then sends that information to the door lock, allowing the hacker to gain entry to the room.
Brocious explains that the key information is easily accessible and not protected, thus allowing his device to obtain it so easily.
That said, the hack doesn't work every time. In tests performed for Forbes Magazine, Brocious was only able to open one of three Onity-made locks at a hotel in New York City, and only after trying twice on the door that finally unlocked. The problem appears to be due to issues in the timing of how his device communicates with the lock.
Regardless, the issue is serious enough to cause worry for hotel room operators. Hotel room theft is already a problem they deal with on a regular basis: if a device like this gets in the wrong hands, thieves will become all the more effective. | <urn:uuid:bf06dcb6-b20d-4c00-b7de-b0b5acf92e63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cso.com.au/article/431598/_50_hacking_device_opens_millions_hotel_room_locks/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966878 | 486 | 1.554688 | 2 |
We like the social foresight of a bill in the state Legislature that would provide some non-violent former convicts an opportunity to lead productive lives.
The bill, approved last week by the S.C. House Judiciary Committee, would give someone who has been pardoned for a non-violent crime a better chance of living a normal life and getting a job.
The proposal by Rep. Todd Rutherford, D-Columbia, would allow someone to apply to have his or her record expunged after receiving a pardon from the S.C. Board of Paroles and Pardons.
Murder, sex crimes and other violent offenses would not be included in the program.
“Right now if you go to McDonald’s, they’re pulling a rap sheet,” Rutherford said. A pardon “doesn’t mean anything to people at McDonald’s. All they see is this guy was convicted of forgery 20 years ago,” he said.
Officials routinely stress the link between unemployment and recidivism for those who have already interacted with the criminal justice system.
Under the current law, “We’ve created a class of unemployable people,” Rutherford said. He said people who would seek expungements would first have to clear the hurdle of obtaining a pardon.
Law-and-order hardliners might see too much leniency in such a bill. But every criminal sentence should not be a life sentence. The punishment need not go on forever. An ex-con who has paid his or her debt to society deserves a chance at redemption.
And the bill offers no relief for people who have a record of violent crimes.
In fact, starting in July such people will be required to carry a specially marked driver’s license. Under the so-called “Scarlet Letter” law, because anyone who checks ID’s, from an arresting highway patrol officer to a bouncer at a bar, will immediately become aware of the individual’s record. | <urn:uuid:b342afea-e413-404f-8c89-b9c9a8257794> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.blufftontoday.com/bluffton-opinion/2011-04-10/bill-sets-ex-cons-redemptive-path | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964693 | 421 | 1.601563 | 2 |
In a way, Azure was the star of Build 2011 and folks here in Anaheim didn't even really know it. Whatever form the Metro apps delivery system takes in the final shipping version of Windows 8 (with a likely timeframe now of Q1 2013), its most impressive and maybe the most important aspect is the inclusion of apps that learn what functions they can provide to the user from the cloud in real-time, and then manage those functions locally on the user's behalf. Put more simply: adaptive apps.
Chris Jones, Microsoft's Senior Vice President for Windows Live, may become the company's newest star if he can pull this off. Windows Live has had trouble scratching out an identity for itself; but as Jones perceives it, Windows 8 could give Live new life, as a kind of cloud-based servant for the operating system. Jones began his Day 1 keynote demo on Tuesday by showing off services such as mail and scheduling.
If you weren't paying much attention to that point, you might have thought how ordinary it seems to have a mobile platform run mail and scheduling. If so, you would miss the underlying meanings here:
1. Microsoft is at least experimenting with the idea of folding Outlook from Office into Windows. As Jones said repeatedly, and showed directly, this mail app has Exchange ActiveSync built in. So do Windows Phones, of course, but making that feature meaningful only to folks who use Outlook and Exchange, as opposed to folks who use Windows, is thinking too narrowly.
2. Windows Live is experimenting with the notion of providing services directly to Windows without thinking it has to shove its brand into everyone's face. The brand distinctions (Windows 7, Windows Phone, Windows Live) aren't working for Microsoft as well as its services. Perhaps the way to get people to use Windows Live is to fold it into Windows 8 along with Outlook.
Here's one of those revelations from Chris Jones that folks may have missed: "All my mail accounts [are] in one place, and because they're all stored in the cloud, I just type my Live ID into this PC and they all just come down into the system. I don't have to worry about setting things up any more, because all of the settings are done through Live."
That's an allusion to Microsoft's innovative Access Control System for Windows 8, which is facilitated through a connection to the Azure Portal where ACS runs.
Jones took this connection one big step further with his demo of the Photos app. Again, there's no "Windows Live" branding here; the brand is you. As the photo at the top of this article shows, the services with which a Windows 8 user shares photos are branded with one of those photos - Jones uses his own family (lovely, by the way) as an example. Those connections with Facebook, Flickr and whatever else are all done in the background because the user logged in with the Live ID first, and because ACS handles all the rest of the authentication process in the background. It's single sign-on, but this time only once.
So when Jones happens to share photos from his phone with Facebook, those photos appear on the Windows 8 PC - even as the "Facebook" category itself. No manual syncing; a zero-click process. You've shared your photos once, and there they are.
Then Jones extended the notion of sharing photos to sharing entire folders - access to remote PCs via SkyDrive without having to go through SkyDrive.
"Every Windows 8 user's got a SkyDrive," said Jones. "Every Windows Phone user's got a SkyDrive. In fact, if you've got a Live ID, you've got a SkyDrive and it's there for you to put your personal files and the things you want to share. It's also accessible to developers, and that's an important thing because it lets you as a developer access SkyDrive the way you might have accessed the local file system." Photos that happen to be on a user's SkyDrive simply appear in the Photos app, again without manually syncing.
After years of wondering what Windows Live services should eventually become, this may finally be it: the background service that rises to the foreground. | <urn:uuid:e3767c41-340a-4752-8bc7-58e1ae0795aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://readwrite.com/2011/09/16/build-2011-windows-8-scales-th | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965655 | 853 | 1.5625 | 2 |
With the U.S. population aging and improved survival after heart attack, heart failure prevalence continues to climb. At the same time, major advances in diagnosis and treatment have converted the diagnosis of heart failure from that of an extremely high mortality rate to one of cautious hope, with many patients living long and active lives after diagnosis. Therapeutic options for patients with advanced heart failure, including heart transplant and ventricular assist devices (VADs), have also become increasingly complex, requiring substantial technical proficiency.
To meet this rising need in healthcare, Penn Medicine cardiologists are leaders in a new cardiology subspecialty, Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology. Seven of the nine Heart Failure and Transplant doctors at Penn are now certified by the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) in the new Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology specialty. Only 225 doctors are certified world-wide.
The new specialty was created because of the rapid progress in treatment options for patients with heart failure and the ever growing need to monitor, assess, and advance these new technologies for patients.
“With this new certification, Penn Medicine cardiologists lead the way in providing optimal, technically advanced yet cost-effective care for patients with heart failure,” said Mariell Jessup, MD, Medical Director of the Penn Heart and Vascular Center and a co-author on the original proposal to establish the new secondary subspecialty in Cardiology.
While most heart failure patients will continue to be managed by general internists or cardiologists, the new subspecialists will serve as consultants for patients with worsening heart failure and those who need more advanced care. Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiologists will also play a critical role as leaders of specialized services, such as transplant centers and heart failure clinics. They will be cardiologists with experience in managing the entire spectrum of patients with heart failure and proficiency in the expanding range of treatment techniques.
Among those awarded specialty certification in transplant cardiology and treatment of advanced heart failure at Penn Medicine are:
For the first five years, cardiologists who can document high-level experience in Advanced Heart Failure and Transplant Cardiology will be qualified to sit for the certifying examination. After that, one-year accredited training programs will be available for physicians after they have earned their board certification in Cardiovascular Disease through the ABIM. The first qualifying exam was held in November 2010.
The Heart Failure and Transplantation program at Penn Medicine offers comprehensive care for patients with heart failure and more treatment options than anywhere else in the region. From early prevention strategies to end-stage treatment options, Penn’s experienced heart failure specialists offer every option to help patients live longer, healthier lives.
The Perelman School of Medicine has been ranked among the top five medical schools in the United States for the past 16 years, according to U.S. News & World Report's survey of research-oriented medical schools. The School is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $398 million awarded in the 2012 fiscal year.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System's patient care facilities include: The Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania -- recognized as one of the nation's top "Honor Roll" hospitals by U.S. News & World Report; Penn Presbyterian Medical Center; and Pennsylvania Hospital -- the nation's first hospital, founded in 1751. Penn Medicine also includes additional patient care facilities and services throughout the Philadelphia region.
Penn Medicine is committed to improving lives and health through a variety of community-based programs and activities. In fiscal year 2012, Penn Medicine provided $827 million to benefit our community. | <urn:uuid:6998f514-2a14-4bab-b264-73080510a807> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uphs.upenn.edu/news/News_Releases/2011/02/advanced-heart-failure-transplant-cardiology-certification/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932267 | 750 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Austria Beginners Corner What's the Next Step?Edit This Page
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Austria Beginners Corner What's the Next Step?
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A serious problem for some researchers is to determine the actual name of their immigrant ancestor. Some ancestors in their eagerness to be assimilated into American culture, traded their difficult foreign names for American names. This occured often with given names and to a lesser extent with surnames.
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If you cannot find an exact date, you may estimate dates based on other information. You need at least the approximate year of an event. You may use standard genealogical approximation. From a marriage date, you can estimate that a man was married at age 25 and a woman at age 21. You can also estimate that a first child was born one year after the parent's marriage and that subsequent children were born every 2 years after that.
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In Austria, most records used in family history research are kept on a town or parish level. Therefore the exact town of origin must be known before research can begin. Most of the time, the place of origin in Austria is found in sources created in the country of immigration. These records should be searched for the ancestor, possible relatives, and other associated persons. Austrian place names may often be mispelled in American sources. Difficult names were shortened and diacritic marks ommitted. A gazetter, which is defined as a geographical dictionary, is an essential tool for identifying places. Look up your place name in the gazetteer to be sure that it is spelled correctly. A wonderul gazetteer is found online on www.genteam.at.
As mentioned earlier, Austrian place names are often mispelled in American sources. If you still cannot determine correct spelling of your locality even after you searched the gazetteers and the Internet, please post your query on FamilySearch Forums and one of our research consultants will be happy to evaluate your research problem.
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Until the 1900s, vital records were kept by church parishes or Jewish congregations. The records of different religions were kept separately. If you are not sure of your ancestor's religion, start by searching Roman-Catholic records. Catholicism was the dominant religion in the former Austro-Hungarian Empire. Not every village in Austria had its own parish. Often, several smaller villages belonged to one parish. Use gazetteer to determine the proper record keeping jurisdiction.
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In the FamilySearch Research Wiki, you can learn how to do genealogical research or share your knowledge with others.Learn More | <urn:uuid:9e6a23ae-166d-4f9f-8e14-048346efea3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://familysearch.org/learn/wiki/en/Austria_Beginners_Corner_What's_the_Next_Step%3F | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955509 | 653 | 3.40625 | 3 |
Those opposed to President Obama’s proposed deal with Mexico regarding the re-opening of U.S. borders to Mexican trucks to increase trade believe that a recent report from the Department of Transportation shows a substantial jump in trade with our southern neighbors without the border being completely opened.
Last week, officials announced that surface-transportation trade between the U.S. and Mexico grew 27.6 percent last year. NAFTA trade grew by more than 24 percent, and had the biggest year-to-year increase since the agreement was implemented in 1994.
The proposed deal President Obama reached with Mexican President Felipe Calderon last month would resolve the conflict surrounding the access for Mexican trucks to the U.S.. It is intended to encourage more trade, something Obama says would greatly benefits the economy. The 1994 NAFTA agreement was supposed to allow for the passage of the Mexican trucks, but the U.S. blocked them due to safety and environmental concerns. The block resulted in Mexico imposing tariff on imports of produce from the U.S.
Supporters of lifting the ban, and opening the border noted that truck-based trade with Mexico plummeted by more than $27 billion in the year the full ban was reinstated in 2009, resulting in a decrease in NAFTA revenue.
However, with the recent release from the Department of Transportation showing an increase in last years surface-transportation trade opponents of lifting the ban say it demonstrates that the lift is unnecessary.
Also, Obama’s proposal would require Mexican trucks to carry electronic monitoring devices, with U.S. taxpayers covering the cost. Sen. Mark Pryor (D-AR), in a letter to the Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood, said, “Electronic, on-board recorders keep our highways safe by enforcing hours-of-service laws and keeping fatigued drivers off the road. While I support these measures, it is unfair to ask taxpayers to pay for these devices in Mexican carriers, particularly in light of our current economic climate.”
So while some like Pryor don’t necessarily disagree with lifting the ban, they do disagree with having taxpayers cover the cost of doing so. | <urn:uuid:d20305e3-7367-44b2-9c35-3cca195e3561> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hispanicallyspeakingnews.com/latino-daily-news/details/dept.-of-transportation-report-could-put-holes-in-obamas-us-mexico-trucking/6332/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970009 | 434 | 2 | 2 |
Tuberculosis (TB) Treatment and Prevention Program
The TB program promotes and protects the health and safety of Santa Rosa County by identifying, treating and preventing the spread of tuberculosis (TB). We work closely with healthcare providers in our community to provide follow-up care and treatment to people who have TB, their close contacts and those who are at high-risk of TB to ensure the control and prevention of tuberculosis in our community.
What is Tuberculosis?
TB is a disease caused by a bacterium called Mycobacterium
tuberculosis. It is spread from person to person through the air when an
infected individual coughs or sneezes particles into the air. The bacteria
usually attacks the lungs, but TB bacteria can attack any part of the body such
as the kidney, spine, and brain. If not treated properly, TB can be fatal.
Common signs and symptoms:
- Cough lasting longer than three (3) weeks
- Unexplained substantial weight loss
- Night sweats
*Other symptoms may be present depending on which areas of the body are infected.
TB Infection Rates
Approximately 13,000 new cases of TB are reported in the United States each year. There are an estimated 10-15 million people who are infected with TB who may develop the disease any day.
TB Infection vs. Disease
become infected with TB may not exhibit any signs or symptoms since the bacteria
lie dormant in the individual's body. At this time the infected person is not
contagious. They may develop the disease at a later time so they are given
medicine to prevent this development. Individuals who develop TB disease are
contagious and need to seek immediate medical treatment. A person may have a
positive TB skin test but this only indicates exposure, not necessarily an
active infection. In order for a patient to be classified as an active TB case,
several criteria must be met beyond the skin test.
TB skin tests are only recommended in Florida for groups at high risk for TB disease and groups at high risk to progress from infection to disease. TB skin testing is no longer routinely recommended for:
Students in FL Schools or Universities
Teachers or School Related Staff
Food Preparation Staff
People who decide to be tested should be willing to accept and complete treatment if tested positive. TB is treated with a number of special antibiotics given over 9 to 12 months. The TB germs are very strong and slow to be killed. It is important that persons infected with TB follow the medication schedule closely. Failure to follow the medication schedule could result in a more serious "drug resistant" TB condition.
If you have any questions regarding the TB program, please call the Florida Department of Health in Santa Rosa County at (850) 983-5200.
If you believe you have come in contact with tuberculosis (TB), open this form and read the questionnaire. If you can answer "yes" to any of the questions, please print the form, fill out all the information, bring in to the health department and request to speak to the TB nurse:
TB Questionnaire (.pdf 16kb)
Centers for Disease Control (CDC) Tuberculosis Page
Florida Tuberculosis Hotline | <urn:uuid:439c179c-499d-4da9-8e67-9082cb0093f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.doh.state.fl.us/chdSantaRosa/c-tuberculosis.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917183 | 669 | 3.484375 | 3 |
Vol MMXIII, No 364
December 30, 1951
The Roy Rogers Show debuts on Television
Born This Date
Michael Nesmith of the Monkees born in Houston
On this date in 1942, Robert Michael Nesmith was born in Houston. In 1965 he and his wife moved to Los Angeles where Nesmith performed locally eventually winning an audition to become one of the Monkees for television. Being the most accomplished musician of the group, Nesmith helped produce many of their earlier efforts. The Monkees became a hit television show and pop band with a huge fan base that continues today. Nesmith went on to produce several television movies and television shows including helping to found MTV.
Nesmith inherited half of his mother's fortune for inventing "liquid paper." He also shares a birthday with fellow Monkee, Davy Jones.
Aggie coach, Homer Norton born in Alabama
On this date in 1896, Texas A&M Head Coach, Homer Norton was born. In 1939, Norton led the Aggies to an 11-0 record and A&M's only National Championship. From 1934 to 1947, Norton stacked up a record of 82-53-9, however, following the 1939 season, Norton's Aggies were beaten by the Texas Longhorns the next eight years in a row.
Roy Rogers and Dale Evans
HOLLYWOOD CA (1951)
On this date in 1951, The Roy Rogers Show debuted on television, starring Roy Rogers and his wife Dale Evans. Featuring the Double R Ranch, Roy and Dale would fade back into the old West, fighting outlaws, and saving towns from villans.
Roy was assisted by the "Smartest Horse in the Movies" none other than Trigger. Dale rose her horse, Buttermilk. Together with their trusted German shepherd dog, Bullet, Pat Brady and his jeep "Nellybelle" the show ran for 100 episodes from 1951 to 1957.
The show was a marketing success, with more branding and product endorcements than any other entity except Walt Disney. But the show was full of anachronisms, like Roy would chase the bad guys on horseback, but Pat would follow in a jeep, or tennis shoes on the Indians. Nonetheless, the show was pure magic for the kids, who were enthralled by all the excitement and scenery on the show.
At the end of each episode, Roy would ride up the road to the entrance of the Double R, joined by Dale, singing "Happy Trails to You" and at home, millions of families would sing along "... til we meet again."
Town of Harrisburg founded
On this date in 1835, the community of Harrisburg is founded in present day Harris County.
San Felipe Council hears rumbling for Independence
United with President Santa Anna in their Federalist cause to restore the 1824 Mexican Constitution and perhaps statehood for Texas, Texans learn today at the General Council meeting at San Felipe, that Goliad had passed a Declaration of Indepence from Mexico. At the Council are Federalist supporters of Texas attempting to resolve several grievances against Mexico by the Texans. But talk of Independence has soured the negotiations, and irreperably damaged the relationship between the Texans, seeking statehood, and the Santa Anna government. | <urn:uuid:fc2c71db-6a91-49b1-8f0e-17cdb7356ea4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://howdyyall.com/Texas/TodaysNews/index.cfm?GetItem=1208 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969334 | 677 | 1.796875 | 2 |
(NEW YORK) -- Fifteen years ago, a little furry toy called Furby became all the rage. Toys "R" Us couldn't restock its shelves quickly enough.
Now, Hasbro, the maker of the toy, believes Furby is ready for the 21st century and has redesigned it with some high-tech traits.
"It was a confluence of technology that made us want to bring the Furby back," Kenny Davis, marketing director for Hasbro, told ABC News. "The original Furby was more than an anamatronic toy; it was the first toy that appeared to have a brain. We have been thinking about the ways to give Furby a real personality."
Technology inside the new Furby, which will be covered in a series of different colored furs, will work together to give it an even bigger personality than it had years ago.
The new Furby is packed with parts you might associate with your smartphone: LEDs, an accelerometer and sensors. It's through its LED eyes that the new fuzzy creature is able to express most of its emotion.
Within the digital eyes appear graphics that show the Furby's true feelings; tickle it and hearts will appear, feed it a hot pepper and you will see fire in its eyes. And, of course, like the original, it can close its eyes when its time to go to sleep.
The new Furby is also more in touch with its feelings than ever before, thanks to sensors on its stomach, head and back, and an acceromerter inside. Flip the toy upside down or shake it, and it will babble and move its eyes appropriately. Tickle its back, stomach, or head and it will laugh.
But there's more inside Furby that helps it develop a personality.
"We did a lot to make sure Furby learned and grew too. It starts out sweet and naïve, but it can develop more richly than the first one did," Davis said.
Another way the Furby grows is by learning English. Furby, as you might remember, speaks in its own native tongue, called Furbish. Furby still speaks Furbish, but can learn English words along the way. And it's now much easier for you to know what Furby is saying if you use the Furby iPad app.
ABC News got a look at an early version of the app and it successfully translated Furbish to English. The app, which will be available for the iPhone and iPad when Furby hits shelves in September, communicates with the toy through a high frequency audio signal. The iPad app picks up the tone, which we humans cannot hear.
The app also allows you to feed Furby. Select the food icon and you can flick different digital foods -- chicken, sushi, a mini-hot dog -- into Furby's mouth.
But like the original Furby, the new Furby lacks an on/off switch. It only turns off when it goes to sleep or when it is left unattended. There's also no volume switch to turn down Furby's high-pitched voice.
And that's intentional, says Hasbro.
"Part of that is figuring out what your Furby needs and what to do about it," Davis said.
Hasbro says Furby helps teach children responsibility. But there's a higher price to be paid for that. The new Furby will cost $60 (batteries not included) when it goes on sale in September; almost double the price of the original $35 Furby.
Copyright 2012 ABC News Radio | <urn:uuid:378103c5-9426-4378-b52b-a88982e48a85> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://abcnewsradioonline.com/business-news/furry-1990s-toy-furby-makes-a-high-tech-comeback.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970846 | 740 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Dream retirement becomes financial nightmarePosted on: 20 December 2011 by 50connect editorial
If you thought the recession was bad in the UK, spare a thought for those who retired and moved to Spain
More than five million British people are living abroad, often attracted by the prospect of good weather and good fortune. But for many, the dream has turned sour.
Some have even reached breaking point and been forced to return to the UK. They have few complaints about the climate, so what's gone wrong? Well, it's the economy, and if you believe you have enough to live comfortably in retirement overseas - maybe you'll want to read this cautionary tale.
The pain in Spain
Unemployment rates are rising fast in Europe and many expats are struggling to find work. Spain is one of the most popular expat destinations, but job opportunities are drying up.
Spain's unemployment rate hit 22.8% at the end of October 2011, more than double the EU average. The total number of jobless has now doubled over the past year from two million to four million.
The situation is also expected to get worse: the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development recently predicted the jobless rate would peak at 23% in 2012. The construction industry has been particularly badly hit.
Construction was once a thriving sector that was happy to employ British workers. But the building sites are no longer a feature of the Spanish landscape as developers halt construction projects.
France is another favourite destination for expats, but unemployment reached an 11-year high in 2011 with 2.78million out of work, creeping ever closer to the record highs of 2.8 million in 2000.
Around 26,000 people have joined the jobless queues in France since the start of 2011, fuelling discontent that has prompted demonstrations against the government's handling of the economy.
Unemployment has risen throughout the past 12 months and economists are predicting a further spike to a peak jobless rate of 9.6%.
High unemployment is obviously grim for the locals, but expats can often find it even tougher. They are not always the first choice with indigenous employers. The lack of language skills can also make their job prospects slim.
Retiring in the sunshine
Life is hardly any sweeter for people who don't need to find work overseas. They are suffering from the poor exchange rate.
Let's say you earn a salary of £2,000 a month in sterling. A couple of years ago, you could convert the wage into euros and expect a monthly income of €3,060. Now, you would be lucky to get €2,400 a month, a drop of 20%.
If you have to convert your sterling to pay a euro mortgage, the figures look even more scary.
The situation is also difficult for expats who live on a fixed income, perhaps from a British pension.
Neville and Maureen Hopkinson moved to southern Spain, near the Costa del Sol, in the summer of 2003. They enjoyed their life and found they could manage comfortably on a pension. But back in 2003 the exchange rate was much more favourable at about €1.50 to the pound.
Stung by exchange rates
When sterling began to slide, the Hopkinsons started to feel the pinch. "The economic situation seemed to go downhill rapidly. Prices were still going up in Spain, but we were losing out on the exchange rate when we converted my British pension into euros.
"We weren't the only ones who were suffering. Many expats were struggling to get by and like us they eventually had to move back to Britain. People think it's bad in the UK, but it's 10 times worse in Spain," said Neville.
And what about people who live on the income from their savings? The typical savings rate is now about 1.5%. After conversion into euros, they could be left with almost nothing in their French or Spanish bank account.
It's not as if the cost of living is falling along with the pound. In other words, many expats are bringing home less but paying out more.
"In the current economic climate, most people are feeling the pinch and anyone surviving on a pension, salary or interest payments from the UK will be hurting more than most," says Mark Bodega, director at currency specialists HiFX.
Volatility in the currency market has seen the value of sterling fall by more than 31% against the euro in the past 12 months. For some people with overseas properties, that will have meant a rise in costs that they just can't afford any more. Many who stretched their finances to fund their dream home in the sun find themselves unable to afford their Euro mortgage payments or just general living costs."
Supporting yourself overseas
A few years ago, the entrepreneurial expat could boost their income by letting out a converted barn on their land or taking in bed and breakfast guests. But now that's far from a sure thing.
The strength of the euro has put many British holidaymakers off from visiting the continent. Some are abandoning foreign holidays entirely. The number of visits abroad by UK residents dropped by 13% since 2009, according to the Office for National Statistics.
Caro Havers owns Finca Maridadi, a group of three villas on a private estate close to the historic town of Ronda in Andalucia, Spain. "I have lived in Spain for nearly 20 years and moved to Ronda from the coast nine years ago," she says.
"I have definitely noticed that demand from British holidaymakers has dropped off as the pound has fallen to almost parity with the euro. It's understandable; people want a good deal. But it makes life very difficult if you are trying to make a living from villa rentals."
The villas are booked during the summer holidays, but there are still vacancies for the rest of the year. "It has been jolly slow over the last month or two and I just have to hope that it picks up. But you can't take anything for granted in this market," Caro said.
Caro would do almost anything to avoid selling her properties, partly because the property market in Spain, as in many other EU countries, is flat.
Nick Barnes, head of international residential research at Knight Frank, says: "The world's housing markets remain under intense pressure with little real evidence of any of the hoped for 'green shoots'. The inescapable trend is that the worst and most widespread economic recession since the 1930s continues to batter housing markets across the globe.
"Rising unemployment and concern among those still in jobs, added to constrained credit conditions, means that buyer demand for housing remains suppressed and confidence is low in most markets, which is inevitably having a negative impact on house prices."
House prices in Spain are down about 24.5% since 2007, and the average figure masks some big falls in some areas, particularly around the Costa del Sol. In France the figure is near 9.3%, but again there are some big regional variations.
Playing the rate game
The Hopkinsons have first-hand experience of the Spanish property market and it's not all happy.
"Our property was on the market for over a year and we eventually sold it for the same price that we paid nearly six years ago: €250,000," says Neville.
But there is an advantage to the weak pound. "When we converted the euros back into sterling, we actually made a profit of about £35,000, so the strength of the euro actually worked in our favour," he added.
Stephen Hughes, director at Foreign Currency Direct, has noticed an increase in the number of British people who are willing to sell their property abroad at a discount.
"Depending on when Brits bought their foreign property, they can now afford to significantly reduce the asking price and still regain more in sterling than they originally invested in the property as a result of the weaker pound," he says.
"We would strongly recommend that anyone thinking about buying or selling property abroad pay close attention to the exchange rates in order to get the best possible value for money."
In a way the Hopkinsons are the lucky ones: they managed to get out before their money ran out. Some are stuck because they cannot shift their properties overseas. For them, the expat dream has turned into an economic nightmare.
- Food & Drink
- Home & Lifestyle
- Sport & Leisure
- What's on | <urn:uuid:6665669a-f859-4745-b50e-046882fb5948> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.50connect.co.uk/articles/dream-retirement-becomes-financial-nightmare | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977216 | 1,727 | 1.609375 | 2 |
|Report LGBT/HIV Discrimination »|
For over 75 years, the ACLU has included lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people in its broad mission of civil rights and civil liberties for all. We continue to seek anti-discrimination protections for LGBT people in employment, housing, businesses, and public places. We advocate for state and federal non-discrimination laws, and litigate to ensure that religious beliefs cannot be used to justify acts of bias.
While there is public support for making discrimination against gay people illegal, we have more work to do to ensure that everyone, regardless of sexual orientation and gender identity, can fully participate in civil society. The need for enduring attitudinal change underlies our strategic approach to advocacy, which combines litigation and lobbying with public education and grassroots organizing.
Non-Discrimination Laws: State by State Information (2011 map): This map provides a state-by-state overview of LGBT non-discrimination laws.
Employment Non-Discrimination Act (2009 feature): Employment discrimination against lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender workers is pervasive and harmful. The Employment Non-Discrimination Act (ENDA) offers Congress the opportunity to ensure workplace equality by protecting LGBT workers from employment discrimination. ENDA is pending federal legislation that would ban employment discrimination based on an individual's sexual orientation or gender identity. | <urn:uuid:7dacf07a-734b-44af-ab3d-aaa865934474> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aclu.org/print/lgbt-rights/lgbt-basic-rights-and-liberties | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94304 | 267 | 2.890625 | 3 |
by Walter Robinson
Here’s a book story for you. Cartoon-lovers will recognize it as borrowed from Brother Brat
, a 1944 Looney Tunes where Porky the Pig is dragooned to babysit for Rosie the Riveter while she goes to weld planes to help "the United Nations fight Schickelgruber and Tojo." Before she leaves, Rosie thrusts into Porky’s hands a thick copy of a book called Child Psychology
, saying, "Here, this might help you." | <urn:uuid:c0fac055-24ad-4080-a41b-bfe56ac904a8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/books/robinson/robinson7-10-08_detail.asp?picnum=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.909732 | 112 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Items in the patient record which can be accurately and repeatedly measured.
List of specific requirements of a broadcast campaign, i.e. target, reach and frequency, number of GRPs, date of campaign, etc.
a measurable, specific skill students are expected to learn
a measurable, time-specific result which the organization expects to accomplish as part of the project
an end state that is measurable and time-targeted
a short-term target with measurable results
a specific, measurable outcome that you can expect from a program over which you will have some control
a target that a business sets itself
A measure of success representing the first attempt to establish expectations for any new system
The objective(s) provides the narrow focus for the lab. That means that you are supposed to concentrate very specifically on what it is you are supposed to accomplish in the experimental procedure itself. The objective(s) are actions, be sure to list them as such, to measure, to analyze, to determine, to test, etc.
A specific, measurable accomplishment within a specified timeframe. | <urn:uuid:3818ff6e-4fbd-4f49-ade8-d26781342f20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://metaglossary.com/meanings/1512769/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963947 | 219 | 2.265625 | 2 |
I am once again treated to the view that real atheists do not worry about such things as "under God" in the Pledge of Allegiance or "In God We Trust" posters in classrooms and on the money.
If true, it shows that real atheists are not as bright as they claim to be.
The function of these acts is to use praise and condemnation to create in children not just a belief in God, but a desire to believe in God and an aversion to the alternatives. It emotionally links belief in God with acceptance, membership in the community, and the corresponding sense of security that young children have evolved dispositions to crave.
The effects of an emotional belief in God include developing a belief resistant to reason, and a great deal of psychological trauma if one should ever come to question God. It is to create people who view atheists not only as having different view of the world, but to view them as a threat - on an emotional level. Atheism and atheist ideas are to make them feel uneasy and apprehensive. The mere existence of atheists sets off emotional alarms independent of all reason. They are "other" - outside of the community. They are not one of us. They are against us.
Would you deny that "indivisible, with liberty and justice for all" is meant to promote an emotional attachment to Union, liberty, and justice - and aversions to rebellion, tyranny, and injustice?
One does not need to actually get these acts repealed to fight these effects. It is useful just to challenge them - particularly in the presence of children. Children who know that there are those who question the condemnation of those who do not support a nation 'under God' and who do not trust in God should have some effect on allowing them see that it is permissible to adopt these attitudes. The emotional link is weakened.
If, instead, you ignore these acts as trivial, you help to lock in the political and social impotence of atheists for yet another generation. | <urn:uuid:dd7a73b4-ac14-4d8e-aee6-90684c6ee490> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://atheistethicist.blogspot.com/2011/02/real-athiest-worries.html?showComment=1297349100997 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963685 | 403 | 1.742188 | 2 |
Illustrations and maps to be added later. Suggestions welcome.
The Revolution began in 1789. At first it was promising, and a lot got done. Aristocratic and clerical privilege were abolished and administration was reorganized and made more efficient. The confiscation of church lands gave the Exchequer a much needed shot in the arm. But King Louis XVI's blundering attempts to regain control pushed the national assembly into declaring France a republic, and the nobility traitors. From there the slide to dictatorship was rapid as a new collapse of credit, foreign threats and the frustrations of the poor pressed the Assembly into ever more extreme measures. In 1793 King Louis XVI was guillotined and Robespierre was put into power by the working class of Paris. This new revolution was widely resented in the provinces but any attempt at disobedience was ruthlessly crushed. 1793-1794 saw 40,000 executions, the vast majority of them rebel peasants. The Terror had come to save the Revolution.
As the French state sank to its knees, the vultures gathered. In 1792 an Austro-Prussian army marched into France, its intended destination Paris. By then the French army was so demoralized and disorganized that no one expected it to offer significant opposition. However, the French did make a stand at Valmy. A strong cannonade proved that the Austro-Prussians would have a real battle on their hands if they pressed on. As this was not what they were looking for they pulled back. They had stirred up a hornets' nest!
At the end of the year the French surged forward all along their eastern frontier, one army overrunning Belgium [Austrian Netherlands], another marching north from Alsace and clearing the left bank of the Rhine, and another occupying trans-Alpine Savoy. This onslaught by forces that had been though incapable of defense amazed and alarmed Europe. As the French were eager to spread the gospel of revolution and prodigal in their declarations of war, 1793 saw the formation of an anti-French coalition that included just about everyone. The English and Dutch joined forces on the lower Rhine. Austria and the minor Italian states sent support to the Savoyards fighting in the Alps, and Spain attacked across the east Pyrenees. The allies forced the French back within the old frontiers but did not invade France itself much, being to quick to congratulate themselves for containing the French.
The French armies rapidly built up again as Carnot, the "organizer of war" took power and the Terror wound down with Robespierre's execution. Carnot 'scientifically' organized conscription and munitions production and sent both to the French Army at a truly revolutionary rate. As Carnot sent nothing but men and guns, the army had to attack to stay alive!
In 1794 a second surge forward began which again shoved the Allies across the Rhine. This time neither the river nor the winter stopped the French. 'General Winter' took the French side as a cold winter froze the Dutch fleet in the Scheldt--General Moreau led the army across the Scheldt and captured the Dutch fleet. The Dutch ashore found themselves citizens of a 'Batavian Republic' allied to France and paying French taxes.
By mid 1794 the Terror was done and the Republic was under middle class control again. This did not mean any loss of belligerence, for the new state could only function on a war footing and its armies only in an offensive role. Nevertheless, it was an extraordinarily ambitious plan that the five-man Directory sent to the general in command of the Riviera Front. So ambitious that the army commander, after one look at his starving soldiers, sent it back saying it was impossible. Let the man who dreamed it up carry it out. The directors concurred and dismissed the general. At the age of 26, General Napoleon Bonaparte (who had endeared himself to the Directorate by extirpating the working class committees that had run Paris during the Terror) was told to take command of the ambitiously named Army of Italy.
Napoleon arrived to find his men creeping along the coast towards Genoa to keep themselves fed and the Austrians beginning an attack along the foremost French corps. Napoleon immediately thrust north between the Savoyard and Austrian armies, then turned back towards the Savoyards and drove them back on Turin in disorder. At the end of April--Napoleon had been in command one month--Savoy accepted an armistice and a French occupation. Turning east Napoleon chased the Austrians out of Milan and by June had the remnants of their army locked up in Mantua. The minor Italian states quickly offered to buy peace from the conqueror. The amounts they had to pay brought tears to their eyes.
A six month truce had been in effect along the Rhine from December 1794 to June 1795. Napoleon was counting on General Moreau, who commanded the French army there, to stop the Austrians from reinforcing the Italian front. But upon the expiration of the truce Moreau moved slowly, and when he did move he was defeated. Napoleon's Army of Italy found itself facing a fresh Austrian force. After various battles with a few close calls Napoleon shut the new Austrian army up in Mantua too. In 1796 the Austrians sent a third army into Italy and this one Napoleon dispatched quickly in January 1797. In February the surviving Austrian forces in Mantua surrendered. Napoleon then invaded Austria itself and was 100 miles from Vienna when the Austrians surrendered.
Except for England, all of France's enemies had been defeated. Napoleon's campaign was by far the most spectacular. The terms of the peace gave France protectorates over the northern third of Italy (except for part of the territory of Venice which Austria was allowed to annex, to throw them a bone and keep the peace.) 1797 saw France with frontiers such as their kings had always dreamed of. France hailed its Caesar.
France had control of the Batavian Republic, the Cisalpine Republic, and Tuscany.
Before the ink was dry on the very favorable treaties of 1797 the French were on the move again. In February 1798 Napoleon occupied the remnant Papal States. In April he occupied Switzerland. In May he set sail for Egypt with an army of battle-hardened veterans. The Egyptian campaign depended on French command of the sea, which they did not have. Napoleon's army got safely to Egypt, taking Malta on the way. Once there Napoleon easily defeated the Mamluks and seized the country. But the pesky British struck. Admiral Nelson found Napoleon's fleet at anchor in Aboukir Bay and destroyed it.
After that Napoleon's actions seem to have been more dictated by anger than logic. Napoleon invaded Syria, but the British supplied the Turkish garrison at Acre and Napoleon could not take it. Napoleon then annihilated a Turkish force that had been sent in from Rhodes. Finally he decided that France needed him and slipped off home in a fast boat (October 1799). The garrison Napoleon left at Malta surrendered to the British in 1800, and the army Napoleon left in Egypt did the same in 1801.
France did need him. But that story is for the next entry. | <urn:uuid:69a430f3-6d23-400e-90eb-52591e639c08> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://french.wunderground.com/blog/BaltimoreBrian/comment.html?entrynum=20 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977965 | 1,482 | 3.328125 | 3 |
An umbilical hernia is a bulge in the abdominal wall near the navel (umbilicus) that sometimes contains abdominal tissue, a loop of intestine, fat, or fluid. An umbilical hernia may be present at birth or develop shortly thereafter.
Most of these hernias are noticed when babies are a few days or weeks old, after the umbilical cord stump falls off. But infants and toddlers can get them too. In most cases, they heal without treatment. Sometimes surgery is needed.
Adults can have umbilical hernias too. They are more common in women and people who are obese. And treatment is usually needed.
An umbilical hernia usually is not painful or dangerous.
Hernias can vary in size from less than 0.4 in. (1 cm) to more than 1.6 in. (4.1 cm) across but are rarely more than 0.8 in. (2 cm) across.
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Financial Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Tuesday, Jan 07, 2003
Info-Tech - Internet
Wi-Fi, the wireless alternative
WITH the delicensing of 2.4 to 2.4835 GHz radio spectrum recently by the Union Government, it is expected that India will witness widespread deployment of affordable broadband Internet connectivity, thanks to Wi-Fi (wireless fidelity). Wi-Fi is a wireless local area network (WLAN) technology that has already started revolutionising communication and is threatening to make inroads into the businesses of cellular operators and telephone companies.
Wi-Fi (also referred to as IEEE 802.11b technology) uses 2.4 GHz spectrum and operates at 11 Mbps that provides an alternative means of connecting to the Internet. A typical WLAN consists of setting up a fixed wireless base station transceiver (called "access point") that provides connectivity within an area called `microcell'. Typically, each base station is connected to the wired backbone so that users connected to the base station in a microcell are instantaneously connected to the information resources on the wired backbone.
The wired backbone can be an intranet having corporate server farms or it can also be the public Internet. Microcells may cover an office building floor, a work group area or it can be the whole campus of a university/institute. Users can instantaneously get connected wirelessly from their PCs, laptops or personal digital assistants (PDAs) having wireless LAN cards.
This innovative new network technology is being actively embraced by many academic institutions in the US. For example, Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire, in the US, has deployed 500 Wi-Fi antennas, covering roughly 200 acres, providing wireless campus connectivity. Dartmouth is not alone. From Carnegie Mellon in Pittsburgh to University of California, San Diego, American University, Washington DC, the University of Texas at Dallas and the University of Minnesota and dozens of others schools in the US are deploying campus-wide Wi-Fi networks and creating an environment ripe for innovative explosion of this new network service. 2.4 GHz spectrum was never licensed in the US and is cited as the main reason for the large deployment of Wi-Fi.
Wi-Fi was not considered as an economic alternative to wired LAN in India until recently. Apart from the high cost of base stations and WLAN cards, there has been an additional cost of about Rs 17,500 per year for the frequency usage for the first user and about Rs 4,375 for every additional user, before delicensing of the spectrum. These contribute to high capital and recurring expenditure per supported user. However, with increased adoption, prices of WLAN cards and access points are expected to drop considerably. However, according to the government guidelines, the 2.4 GHz is delicensed only for indoor use and the coverage area is limited to a single contiguous campus of an individual, duly recognised organisation/institution. Though educational institutions and corporate offices qualify, the restriction on indoor use poses lot of limitations for the large-scale adoption of Wi-Fi as an alternative to landline networks.
While Wi-Fi is perfect for academic institutions and browsers of the Internet, inherent security weaknesses of the wireless media has inhibited corporations from adopting Wi-Fi for transporting mission-critical and sensitive information. Wi-Fi alliance (http://www.wi-fi.com/) is actively working on improving the wired equivalent privacy (WEP) security standard as defined in 802.11 to suit the needs of corporate users.
Relatively less bandwidth offered by 802.11b networks is another reason why businesses have not actively considered Wi-Fi. Wi-Fi alliance is working on 802.11g standard, which is an improvement over 802.11b, that promises to provide up to 20 Mbps, using the same 2.4 GHz radio spectrum, thus providing smooth migration from 802.11b networks.
Wi-Fi has introduced new avenues for providing Internet access and has already started creating troubles for Internet and cable service providers in the US.
A breed of Wireless Internet Service Providers have started deploying Wi-Fi `hotspots' that tap on to an existing cable modem network or digital subscriber line of one paying subscriber to provide connectivity to multiple homes in the neighbourhood.
Starbucks has installed Wi-Fi antennas in its thousands of coffee shops in the US, providing Internet connectivity to its customers during "coffee-breaks".
The UN Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, recently indicated that developing world should actively harness the potential of Wi-Fi in bringing affordable Internet access to the masses. Media Lab Asia (MLAsia) is working on an extension of Wi-Fi that would provide low-cost and low-powered networking.
Delicensing the spectrum for indoor use is only the first step. Unless the spectrum is delicensed for limited coverage in external areas also, it is unlikely that this technology will reach the masses.
Given the recent bickering among various telecom operators, cellular service providers and ISPs in India, we can only hope that this new technology innovation does not get in to another controversy.
Can there be a repeat performance similar to the cable TV industry where local entrepreneurs have made inroads into 40 million households in the country in the last decade, thanks to low entry and licence fees and little regulation.
(The author is Associate Professor, IT&Systems Group, IIM Lucknow.)
Stories in this Section
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The Hindu Business Line | <urn:uuid:fdc10a85-97d2-4a4a-8363-3985b5e8f751> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindubusinessline.in/2003/01/07/stories/2003010700090900.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927253 | 1,179 | 2.3125 | 2 |
The Cooperative Education Department believes in the value of experience-based learning. Our mission is to engage students in a process of active learning that links work experience with opportunities for critical analysis and reflection.
Nationally Recognized Co-op Internship Program
One of the major premises underlying LaGuardia’s educational model is that learning takes place in many different settings, both in and outside of the classroom. For over three decades, the Cooperative Education (Co-op) Department has played a major role in educating students for the workplace. Working in partnership with employers, the program connects classroom learning with the skills and competencies needed in the workplace, helping to provide metropolitan area employers with qualified, motivated, technically trained Co-op interns. Most of the associate degree programs offered at LaGuardia require students to take a specific number of internships depending on their major. While students are on an internship, they attend an evening or Saturday seminar class. Students are graded for each successfully completed full-time and/or part-time three month internship experience. | <urn:uuid:36867dca-3774-474c-af27-4488143619c7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lagcc.cuny.edu/coopedu/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956298 | 211 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Passive strategies may not always be enough to beat the heat, depending on your home’s age, construction, and location. And even though newer central air units are more efficient than their older counterparts, overall, central air conditioning systems use a lot of energy.
In 2005, the Energy Information Administration reported that air conditioning accounted for 8% of residential energy use, consuming 0.88 quadrillion Btu per year. Air conditioner use in the United States results in an average of about 100 million tons of carbon dioxide emissions from power plants every year. Here are some ways you may be able to avoid central air entirely.
Although minisplit systems are often chosen by homeowners who have no existing ducts in their homes, their high energy efficiency makes them an excellent candidate for any home. Minisplits got their name because they have two components: an exterior compressor/condenser, and one or more interior units installed on a wall or ceiling.
Minisplit systems use air-source heat pump technology to provide cooling or heating. Refrigerant is pumped through tubing from the outdoor condenser and compressor to the indoor unit(s). In cooling mode, indoor air to be cooled is drawn across the unit’s interior evaporator coil and distributed via a fan. Humidity is removed from the room’s interior via a drain in the indoor unit.
Compressors of various sizes are available; the most powerful systems can support up to four indoor units and are capable of cooling an entire house (depending on size). Minisplit systems are energy efficient because they take advantage of zone cooling. Each interior unit is individually controlled to turn off cooling to a room or rooms when unneeded. Most, if not all, minisplit systems have a built-in timer so you can program when they turn on and off without being at the control.
Central air conditioning ducts may leak conditioned air—an efficiency problem not possible with minisplits. The U.S. Department of Energy reports that duct losses can account for more than 30% of energy consumption for central A/C, especially if the ducts run through an unconditioned space such as an attic.
Many people confuse attic fans with whole-house fans, primarily because both are usually installed in the attic. Attic fans are designed to cool and ventilate the attic only. They help regulate the temperature of your roof, thereby extending the life of your roofing. They also reduce the amount of heat that radiates from the attic to the living space. If you already have central air, a solar attic fan is an excellent option for reducing your energy costs and your carbon footprint.
Whole-house fans are oversized exhaust fans that pull in cool air (from open windows) while expelling hot air. As the name implies, they’re used to cool the entire house when the outside air temperature is lower than inside.
For houses with air conditioning, a strategy is to use whole-house fans to eliminate air conditioning use at night. On average, a whole-house fan uses 90% less energy than an air conditioner. Depending on your climate and your home’s thermal mass, it may be possible to precool the entire house sufficiently overnight to avoid air conditioning entirely. | <urn:uuid:80302206-7d4a-4257-9244-5bb70a46e239> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.homepower.com/articles/home-efficiency/equipment-products/when-passive-strategies-arent-enough | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.932744 | 674 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Will health rebate checks help Obama?
Some commentators this summer predicted the mailing of the checks could be a turning point for the controversial health law and perhaps give a political boost to Obama in his reelection bid.
“There are a variety of incremental ways that people are learning that the Affordable Care Act will be helpful to them,” said Ron Pollack, the president of Families USA, a liberal health care advocacy group. “The rebate checks will be a part of that.”
Still, despite that enthusiasm, the arrival of the rebates is unlikely to shift public perceptions in a major way. The policy has affected only a small percentage of Americans, not everyone is getting a direct payment, and the average size of the rebates is modest.
The health reform law limits how much of their customers’ premiums they can pocket for overhead and profits. Under the law, insurers must pay either 80 or 85 cents of every dollar on medical care. The insurers who fail to meet this target—called a medical loss ratio—are required to give their customers a refund for the difference and send them a letter specifying that the rebate is thanks to the health reform law.
Nationwide, the total rebates sound large. The Health and Human Services Department says that insurers owe Americans a total of $1.1 billion. But that number gets smaller once it’s spread out. Just under 13 million policy holders got rebates, about 5 percent of the U.S. population, or 10 percent of all households. The average refund was $151, but many Americans who get insurance through their employer received only a fraction of the total refund amount. (Washington, D.C., residents were more likely than most to get a rebate. Seventy-eight percent of employees working for large businesses were eligible.)
Many individual beneficiaries were delighted to get a refund. “It was like, finally, I’m not asked to shell out more money for health insurance,” said Morgan Theriot, 43, a self-employed human resources consultant from Silver Spring, Md., who got a $260 rebate check last month. “Finally, something is due back to me.”
But not everyone who got a check is now singing the praises of the health care law. Theriot said she had a client who was opposed to the law and got a $300 check. That woman said she’d be making a $300 donation to the Republican Party.
Not everyone is getting a check, either. People who buy their own policies, a small fraction of the market, will get a rebate directly from their insurer. But insurers will send rebates to employers who provide coverage for their workers. By law, employers are required to use the money to benefit their employees, but they have used a variety of strategies to do so, according to Tracy Watts, a partner at the employee benefits consultancy Mercer.
“In terms of employers’ actions, it is a mixed bag,” Watts said. “Some have actually cut checks and sent them to employees. Some have given a premium credit. And some have given employees extra money in their paycheck. I’m aware of one employer who put the money into a wellness fund that benefits employees.”
Watts said that many employers passing rebates along to their workers are not handing over the full amount. Since employees, on average, pay about a quarter of their insurance premiums, employers are tending to refund a prorated amount, a fraction of the average $151 amount.
Polling from the Kaiser Family Foundation suggests that some combination of news reports and letters in the mail has raised awareness of the law’s provision. In its August Health Tracking Poll, 42 percent of those asked knew about the refund provision, up from 35 percent in March. Sixty-two percent had a favorable view of the rebate provision.
Cynthia Cox, a policy analyst at Kaiser who has studied the issue, said this evidence suggests that the word is getting out about a popular provision. “More people may be aware of it than actually got the rebate,” she said. | <urn:uuid:d62a3552-5c74-4193-8d87-30d96817ce5a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.govexec.com/management/2012/09/will-health-rebate-checks-help-obama/58367/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97079 | 847 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Kentucky Companies Need To Backup Their Data And Servers.
Louisville | Lexington | Clarksville| Data Networking
Data Networking and the Company Data is one of the most valuable assets for any business. This can include anything from customer files, employee information or even your tax items needed to file. Proper measures should be taken to make sure that you protect this asset and always keep it accessible.
All types of non-accidental and accidental things can happen to your data. For instance there can be system failure, file deletion or some accident fire. Such accidents can destroy your data and can cut off your access to it and if you are a small business and you have a loss of data than it is more likely that you will never recover it. Still many businesses do not effectively plan to deal with data loss accidents. Online backup provider Carbonite (CARB) surveyed 1,000 employees at companies with one to 30 Internet-enabled computers in July 2011. This survey and research by the company revealed gaps in their backup plans. Even though 70 % said that they do some sort of data backup, 48 % said they had lost or deleted data accidentally, and only 13 percent felt open to a data disaster.
Almost all computer security experts recommend a complete and comprehensive approach to data and server backup solutions. Since no single solution is foolproof, companies should use the general backup and system restore functions including on-site backup system and storage equipment that transfers company information to a secure site online.
Basic data storage at companies generally involves tape backup systems and external hard drives where company information is copied on a periodical basis. Office servers which include hard drives or tapes should be placed off-site and put in a fireproof place. Such solution provides low-cost, ease of access and very little complexity, and very little Data Networking equipment.
But there is one problem with that manual backup is very unreliable and can still be lost in case of some accident. If a flood, fire or other disaster hits the location, the backup tapes or hard drives will be destroyed along with all other computer equipment. Physical hard drives and on-site computer servers can be affected by viruses and other system failure. Outsiders or employers can also steal equipment from the location.
Off-site backup solutions which include online cloud storage has now become the most popular option for data backup . Many service providers are now offering affordable and cheap data backup solutions for a small monthly or flat fee depending how much data storage is needed. The businesses should choose reliable providers that store data in secure and multiple locations with redundant data networks and reliable Data Networking equipment.
Data backup services have now become so cheap and affordable that if you can’t afford it you should shut down your business and do something else, not taking proper care of your business data is a sure way to end your business, and is just irresponsible. Please make a plan to backup and protect your files before its too late.
ISET Located in Louisville, Kentucky can take care of all your Data Networking needs, as well as Voice and Data systems. Authorized NEC Dealer Louisville Area’s.
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ISET Services all of Louisville and Lexington Kentucky, and Southern Indiana. Your NECPhone Dealer, Wireless Network Installer, and Telecommunications Provider.ISET 4525 Poplar Level Road Louisville, KY 40213 502-409-7191 Keywords: Louisville Voip, Lexington Voip, Kentucky VOIP, Voice Over IP Kentcuky,Louisville Phone Systems | <urn:uuid:79e44c04-ff6e-4460-811c-ba0a937418a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://isetservice.com/louisville-data-networking-data-backup/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9385 | 715 | 1.546875 | 2 |
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Dancing a Revolution: Innovate. Collaborate. Create!
Join students from the University of Utah's Department of Modern Dance to create an original, one-of-a-kind dance performance inspired by the baskets in Weaving a Revolution. Like the basket weavers, you can think up new ideas, share them, and work together with others to invent a new work of art.
Here's a Hint: For an engaging view of the dancers, position yourself on the bridge that crosses the Canyon on Level 3 at Noon or 2:00 p.m. You will have a unique perspective on the dancers as they perform inspired by figures on the baskets, and enjoy the accoustics of the percussion!
Dancing a Revolution - Premiere Weekend Schedule:
Saturday, January 19th: 12pm & 2 pm
Sunday, January 20th: 12pm & 2pm
Monday, January 21st: 12pm & 2pm
Included in Museum Admission
The Natural History Museum of Utah gratefully acknowledges Zions Bank as the presenting partner of the Weaving a Revolution exhibition.
Additional support provided by the Salt Lake County Zoo, Arts and Park Fund. | <urn:uuid:b4822749-d2c6-4e75-8171-0bbba54cf9a3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nhmu.utah.edu/events/dancing-revolution-innovate-collaborate-create?mini=2013-01 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934864 | 242 | 1.75 | 2 |
Texas mum in heteropaternal superfecundation
- May 18, 2009
ASTONISHED US medics say there's "an overwhelming 99.999 per cent" that a set of 11-month-old Texan twins have been born to different fathers.
ASTONISHED US medics say there's "an overwhelming 99.999 per cent chance" that a set of 11-month-old Texan twins have been born to different fathers.
Babies Justin and Jordan Washington arrived just seven minutes apart, UK tabloid The Sun reports, but were conceived separately because their mother Mia was cheating on partner James Harrison.
A disbelieving Mia, 20, told The Sun: “Out of all the people in America and all the people in the world, this had to happen to me.”
The Texas mum admitted having the affair at the time she conceived, and submitted to a paternity test because the two boys looked so unalike.
The double pregnancy is known technically as “heteropaternal superfecundation”.
It can occur when a woman woman releases multiple eggs during ovulation, which can be fertilised individually by sperm cells from separate partners.
Genny Thibodeaux, from Clear Diagnostics DNA Lab which did the test, said: “It’s crazy. Most people don’t believe it can happen but it really can.”
The test result means the boys will now be officially referred to as half-brothers. | <urn:uuid:c8dd74ac-01fd-495d-b028-8c6a8800dc3c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.news.com.au/news/mum-has-twins-to-different-dads/story-fna7dq6e-1225713225288 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962357 | 309 | 1.71875 | 2 |
In the 1970's, a group of ruthless Irish punks called the "Westies", managed to terrorize Hell's Kitchen in New York City. They had a penchant for violence and a desire to control the illegal activities on Manhattan's west side. Young Irish thug Jimmy Coonan teamed up with Mickey Featherstone, a Vietnam veteran with a reputation for being a ruthless killer. The "Westies" ruled the streets, protecting their various rackets, including drug dealing and extortion, through extreme violence. They were so powerful they were able to work as contract killers for the Gambino crime family.
Bowman, as international president of the Outlaws Motorcycle Club, ordered kidnappings, firebombings, assaults and murders. He joined another exclusive club in 1997, the "FBI Ten Most Wanted" list. Bowman was brought to justice with the help of an informant on the inside of the Outlaw brotherhood.
Spanning jazz to soul to funk, to more contemporary genres like R&B, rap and pop, African-American musicians are responsible for chart-topping hits like "I Feel Good," "Respect," "Georgia on My Mind," "Let The Good Times Roll," "Good Golly Miss Molly" and "Thriller." Explore our collection of famous black musicians, including Stevie Wonder, Tina Turner, B.B. King, Duke Ellington, James Brown, Little Richard, Beyoncé Knowles, and more.
As rock 'n' roll couples go, Ike and Tina Turner's relationship was one of the most volatile. Ike was a successful blues singer when he met Tina, who was a teenager trying to break into singing. Tina started singing for Ike's band, and in 1960 she had his baby. In 1962 the couple married. Even as Tina's career took off, and Ike produced her albums, the relationship was famously turbulent. Tina accused Ike of many instances of spousal abuse, and she even attempted suicide in 1968. In 1978, the couple finally divorced, and Tina launched a successful career comeback, on her own, in the 1980s. | <urn:uuid:6b6f977d-0a8b-4f24-934b-f5c44b58d1b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biography.com/people/groups?profile=259550&page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975373 | 428 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Lesson plans for teaching organization
A collection of LEARN NC's lesson plans for teaching organization, the second of the five features of effective writing.
- Getting Paragraphing Down P.A.T.
- One way to remember when to indent and begin a new paragraph is when (P) the place changes, (A) the action changes, and (T) the time changes (P-A-T). In this lesson, students will learn how to identify appropriate places to indent new paragraphs in their writing.
- Great beginnings
- Good beginnings hook readers and make them want to continue reading. Students will learn the features of good beginnings by reading the beginnings of several narrative picture books, and then writing good beginnings for their own narratives.
- Great endings
- Sometimes authors end their stories with a memory, a feeling, a wish, or a hope. Other times they end the story by referring back to the language of the beginning. In this lesson, students will examine the characteristics of good endings by reading good endings of narrative picture books. They will then practice writing good endings for their own narratives.
- Little Bit ? BIG BIT ? Little Bit
- This lesson helps students who tend to jump right in and tell their entire story in the first few sentences and then struggle to complete their story. Students will learn to start and end their stories with just a “Little Bit” about the setup and closure of the story.
- Meanwhile - Transition Words that Connect Ideas
- Students will identify transition words in picturebooks that they can use in their own writing. Transition words are the glue that holds sentences and paragraphs together. They signal that this is a new part of the story.
- Transition Words and Phrases
- Students will learn to combine sentences using two kinds of transition words: time transitions and thought (logical) transitions. Transition words link related ideas and hold them together. They can help the parts of a narrative to be coherent or work together to tell the story. Coherence means all parts of a narrative link together to move the story along. Think of transition words as the glue that holds a story together. Using transition words helps avoid the “Listing” problem in stories.
- Cause and effect writing: What it looks like and who reads it
- Students examine the causes and effects presented in a brochure called “Ozone: The Good and the Bad.” They also examine the language of the brochure with regard to audience appropriateness. Students then write their own brochures examine their classmates’ brochures for cause and effect and for audience appropriateness.
- Helping Students Understand Text Structures: Informational Problem/Solution
- This exercise teaches students to understand the organizational structure of problem/solution essays by having them write “what it says” and “what it does” statements about a text. Asking students to write these statements about a text will enable students to read the text closely and will ensure that they understand the structure of a problem/solution text.
- Examining effective openers and closures in writings
- Students will listen to a reading of Dr. Seuss’ and Jack Prelutsky’s Hooray for Difendoofer Day! Students will then work cooperatively to edit one another’s rough drafts of analytical essay, focusing on openers and closures.
- Practicing Elaboration in a Problem/Solution Essay
- One theory suggests that students tend to list in an essay because they lack the tools to elaborate. Because they do not have the strategies, they attempt to fill up the empty space by introducing new primary ideas instead of fleshing out the ideas they have already presented. This activity attempts to make students aware of the need to elaborate and to provide students with some workable strategies for elaborating. Using a PowerPoint presentation, the teacher demonstrates the necessity for elaboration in a problem/solution essay. Students then choose a particular point in the PowerPoint presentation to expand through elaboration.
- Making Patterns, Make Sense
- Students will analyze organizational patterns in analytical writing by reading, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! by Dr. Seuss. Students will then apply these patterns to their own writing by creating children’s books about success.
- Thematic and Organizational Patterns in McLaurin’s “The Rite Time of Night”
- Students will learn to identify and color-code thematic and organizational patterns found in the narrative and then use two-column notetaking to highlight how these patterns helped McLaurin give his story focus and organization. As a suggested follow-up activity, students are given ideas for writing their own narratives, using similar techniques as McLaurin. | <urn:uuid:e3c8f011-1af4-424e-89b8-b37560a91447> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.learnnc.org/lp/pages/2741 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929796 | 981 | 4.125 | 4 |
As attorneys for the Chabad-Lubavitch movement press on with attempts to retrieve texts stolen by the Nazis and now held by the Russian government, a case involving efforts to reclaim an art collection also taken by the Nazis is just getting underway.
In a case filed last July in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, the descendents of Baron Mor Lipot Herzog, a wealthy Jewish Hungarian art collector, are suing the Hungarian government for the return of Herzog’s collection. According to the complaint (PDF), the paintings were seized by the Nazis during World War II from Herzog’s family.
The Hungarian government filed a motion to dismiss (PDF) in February, arguing that the court lacks jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA). Herzog’s heirs filed their opposition (PDF) earlier this month, and the Hungarian government has until June 15 to respond.
Similar arguments for dismissal under the FSIA were lodged unsuccessfully by the Russian government in the Chabad case. U.S. District Court Chief Judge Royce Lamberth and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the D.C. Circuit both denied Russia’s motion to dismiss, but attorneys in this case disagree on whether the precedent set in Chabad will apply.
Michael Shuster of New York’s Kasowitz, Benson, Torres & Friedman, who is representing Herzog’s heirs, pointed to two arguments for exception under the FSIA that were cited by the appellate court in Chabad – first, that the plaintiffs are arguing the objects in question were taken in violation of international law; and second, that the foreign government does business in the U.S.
“Provided that the standards are met for coming within one of the exceptions to the FSIA, I think the U.S. federal courts haven’t shied away from entertaining these cases notwithstanding that they involved foreign sovereigns and events that go back in time,” he said in a phone interview today.
But lead counsel for Hungary, Thaddeus Stauber of Washington’s Nixon Peabody, said in a phone interview today there are too many differences in the underlying cases for Chabad to apply. Besides arguing that the plaintiffs failed to prove exceptions to immunity under the FSIA, Hungary is also arguing that a 1973 agreement with the U.S. government settled these types of claims and precludes future litigation.
Stauber pointed to claims made in filings that the Hungarian government set up compensation programs for losses that took place during and after World War II, and made restitution to the Herzog family when they brought claims to Hungarian courts. “The Hungarian state is the rightful owner” of the artwork in question, he said.
In the Chabad case, Russia withdrew participation after losing the motion to dismiss; a default judgment was entered against the country last July. The U.S. Department of Justice is weighing entry in that case as Chabad pursues judgment. Stauber said his client plans to “litigate the case fully.”
“Whether the case is ultimately heard in the U.S. or Hungary - where we contend it belongs - we will continue to pursue all of our legal rights,” he said, adding that he believes Hungary, unlike Russia, has an independent judicial system that can handle this type of litigation.
The case is before U.S. District Court Judge Ellen Huvelle. | <urn:uuid:4a5ad68a-6243-4431-a6f6-d9521ccf5479> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://legaltimes.typepad.com/blt/2011/05/in-herzog-art-collection-dispute-echoes-of-chabad-litigation.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960663 | 716 | 1.851563 | 2 |
The Obama administration fears that the beleaguered Syrian regime may unleash chemical weapons on rebels who are pressing their campaign closer to the capital of Damascus.
"I think there is no question that we remain very concerned, very concerned that as the opposition advances, in particular on Damascus, that the regime might very well consider the use of chemical weapons," Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said today.
"The intelligence that we have causes serious concerns that this is being considered," he said.
The regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad has moved to prepare some of its chemical weapons for use. U.S. officials reacted with alarm this weekend after U.S. intelligence uncovered Syrians moving components of sarin gas into bombs on or near Syrian airfields, a senior U.S. official said Wednesday.
Two U.S. officials said Wednesday it was still very unclear what the intent was behind the activity that caught their attention. There is nothing that suggests Assad ordered the chemicals be moved.
The heightened concern comes as Secretary of State Hillary Clinton imet today with U.N. Special Envoy Lakhdar Brahimi and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov to discuss the options to end the conflict in Syria.
The idea behind the meeting in Dublin is that the three parties might be able to revive the political transition plan on Syria put forward in Geneva in July.
Before the meeting began Clinton said, "Events on the ground in Syria are accelerating, and we see that in many different ways. The pressure against the regime in and around Damascus seems to be increasing. We've made it very clear what our position is with respect to chemical weapons."
The Obama administration has said the use of chemical weapons would be a "red line."
The meeting last for 40 minutes and a senior State Department official said, "It was a constructive discussion focused on how to support a political transition in practical terms. The U.S. and Russia committed to support Special Envoy Brahimi's efforts in that regard. The next step will be a meeting in the next few days between Special Envoy Brahimi and senior officials from the United States and Russia to discuss the specifics of taking this work forward."
That plan by the so-called Action Group for Syria called for an immediate cessation of violence, the withdrawal of Syrian troops to their bases, access for humanitarian agencies and the establishment of a transitional governing body with officials from across the political spectrum.
It did not call on Assad to step down, which Russia has long rejected, and the plan never really went anywhere. Its main proponent was former U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan who later resigned as special envoy to Syria and Brahimi was appointed to the post.
As the conflict reaches almost two years, there is speculation that Russia's stance may be softening. Russia is Syria's closest ally outside the Middle East and a shift in its support for Assad would likely spell the end of his rule.
Syria's current Deputy Foreign Minister Faisal Mekdad told Sky NewsWednesday that international intervention in Syria would be "dangerous for the whole region" and that it is "funny" to think that Syria could threaten a NATO country.
"In no way we can threaten a NATO country and these are just provocations and further support for the terrorist groups that are supported by the Turkish government and by many European countries," Mekdad said.
Mekdad also told Sky News that Assad will "never, ever" leave Syria and said "even if" Syria has chemical weapons it would not use them against its own people.
"We are saying if we have them we shall not use them against our people," Mekdad said. | <urn:uuid:4edc421a-d079-4bb9-a7f6-6016a64ae261> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.yahoo.com/syria-may-chemicals-panetta-fears-155224898.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980272 | 744 | 1.929688 | 2 |
I first learned of my 3rd great-grandfather, William Bickerstaff, while searching census records a few years ago. I was actually searching for Ellis, my 2nd great-grandfather - and found them both.
I don't know much about William yet:
He was born in 1807 in Cross Creek Township, Jefferson County, Ohio
His parents were Augustine and Elizabeth (unknown maiden name) Bickerstaff.
He married Susan Holmes in either 1829 or 1830.
He was the father of 13 children.
On November 18, 1833, he bought "public lands" from the U.S. government - 80 25/100 acres - in Jefferson County, Ohio.
From his obituary at right I learned that
- neighbors called him Uncle Billy.
- that his wife, Susan, was still living when he died.
- he was a Methodist.
- he was Democrat.
Another obituary indicates that he was the last of his birth family to pass away and says, "The deceased lived in Cross Creek township all his life following the occupation of farming.... He was always highly esteemed by his friends and neighbors, and his death breaks another link which bind the present to the early days of this community."
He was born when the state of Ohio was barely 4 years old and primarily forest with few towns or cities. How simple and primitive must have been the conditions in those days.
I wish Grampa William a very happy birthday, and I look forward to hearing his memories about the changes across time from Ohio's early days till the latter days of the 19th century. Happy Birthday!
Obituary shown above is from "The Steubenville Weekly Gazette," Friday, March 24, 1839, p. 12.
Referenced obituary from "The Steubenville (Weekly) Herald," Friday, March 24, 1893, p. 4.
Information about purchased property from BLM-GLO Certificate #3217, dated 18 November 1833.
Copyright © 2010 by Nancy Messier. | <urn:uuid:229971fc-d5ff-47a5-8d5d-c04f68a682a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nancysfamilyhistoryblog.blogspot.com/2010/02/william-bickerstaff-born-1807.html?showComment=1266211471402 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.98867 | 423 | 1.921875 | 2 |
The fact that school isn’t in session doesn’t mean young readers shouldn’t keep improving their skills. I’m recommending some super books to keep children’s minds occupied and entertained.
Almost all kids love animals. Wildlife photographer Steve Bloom has put together one of the most beautiful books of the season with BIG CATS. This visual journal takes us across continents and brings us into the realm of lions, tigers, leopards, and cheetahs. There are lots of fascinating facts and interesting bits of info along the way. For example, lions are the only big cats that live in groups, which are called prides; the leopard is the most secretive big cat, and therefore, tough to photograph; lions sleep over twenty hours a day; tigers actually enjoy being in the water; and a leopard’s spots are called “rosettes.” Bloom includes helpful hints for photographing animals in the wild. There are also suggestions for how youngsters can take good pictures of their pets at home. The photos are so glorious, I’d love prints from this book to hang on the wall.
From the lion’s lair, we head north on our African journey, with a book by Susan L. Roth and Karen Leggett Abouraya. HANDS AROUND THE LIBRARY: PROTECTING EGYPT’S TREASURED BOOKS focuses on a moment of history which will long be remembered by those who understand the importance to our culture of books. In January, 2011, the world watched as thousands of students, library workers, and demonstrators joined hands and surrounded the Library of Alexandria. They were protecting it from harm during a political protest. Roth’s collages winningly illustrate the commitment that these guardians felt for their beloved glass architectural marvel. Thank heaven that because of their diligence, this modern Bibliothecca Alexandrina was saved from the fate that destroyed its great predecessor.
Travel is exciting, even if we never leave our easy chair. Nick Barnard’s FLIGHT SCHOOL: HOW TO FLY A PLANE is the type of book that, back in the day, would have been recommended for boys only. Of course, in our enlightened age, we know girls can be equally engrossed in aerodynamics. I especially appreciate the fact that this paperback takes seriously the idea of a young person wanting to know what’s required to fly. There are drawings and descriptions of several types of planes, and explanations for commonly used lingo. I’ve heard the term “wilco” all my life, but never knew it stood for “will comply.” In the U.S., you can become a pilot at seventeen; you don’t need perfect vision unless you fly military planes; as long as you’re tall enough to see the controls and look out the windshield, you can qualify. Who knows? Perhaps this excellent book will light a spark that will lead to a future in aviation for your youngster.
Flight school may be a bit ambitious, but EVERY COWGIRL LOVES A RODEO. This sweet little book is the latest in a series by Rebecca Janni. It very gently teaches younger kids that there’s more than one way to win. Nellie Sue can’t wait for the county fair. She’s dying to win the Bike Rodeo contest. Her friend, AJ Pickett, is the Rodeo King, and Nellie Sue is anxious to use her girl power to win first place. But when a goat threatens to disrupt AJ’s ride, Nellie Sue jumps in to help him; after all, a badge of honor is just as good as a blue ribbon.
HEAD TO TOE: MY BODY AND HOW IT WORKS is put together by a group of London based authors, illustrators, and designers who are responsible for the children’s art and science magazine called Okido. This is a wonderful book to answer questions like “Where does all the food go?” after we eat. There are delightful games for kids to play, many of which are ideal for those “are we there yet?” car trips. And no more excuses for moping around on rainy days; the recipes and craft activities can keep kids happily occupied for hours.
Bill Evans is the Emmy award winning meteorologist at New York’s ABC affiliate. Known not only for his forecasts, but also for his wit and wisdom, Evans is the perfect author to tell us all about why IT’S RAINING FISH AND SPIDERS. Evans movingly relates how he became interested in being a weatherman when, in August of 1969, Hurricane Camille destroyed a large swathe of his native Gulf Coast. Snow, wind, and lightning are all fodder for Evans to educate young and old about the forces that control so much in our world. I know this book is supposed to be for kids, but I’m finding it impossible to put down. I’m heartily recommending this for older children, as I think really young ones may find it a bit scary. But you know your child best, and if you’re sure that knowledge trumps being afraid of the storm, by all means read this with your little guy or girl.
As always, the best part of getting children books to read is getting to enjoy them ourselves. With these exceptional finds, this summer is the perfect time to read together at home or on vacation.
Michall Jeffers is an accomplished Cultural Journalist and an avowed bibliophile. She writes extensively, both in print and online. Her eponymous cable TV show is syndicated throughout the tri-state area, and features celebrity interviews, reviews, and commentary. Michall is a voting member of National Book Critics Circle. www.michalljeffers.com | <urn:uuid:1aaa8f40-1c2e-499e-99e8-3bbb46b48eda> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.womanaroundtown.com/sections/reading-around/school%E2%80%99s-out-for-the-summer | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956834 | 1,228 | 2.171875 | 2 |
Chemo Side Effects Taking a Toll
Without knowing the exact regimen your daughter is receiving, it is hard to precisely answer your question. However, the side effects you describe are commonly seen with certain agents (paclitaxel, or Taxol, for example). These are frequent side effects, and it is common practice to slow down the rate or reduce the amount of drug if the side effects are too difficult to deal with. If the drug is truly intolerable, it would be important to ask the oncologist if a different drug can be substituted with hopefully fewer side effects.
Learn more in the Everyday Health Breast Cancer Center.
Last Updated: 01/16/2006 |
Last Reviewed: 01/16/2006
Breast cancer expert Dr. V. K. Gadi
is an assistant member at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center and an assistant professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine, both in Seattle. | <urn:uuid:3b87df5b-b620-4054-ae24-1387ff9b67ca> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.everydayhealth.com/breast-cancer/specialists/chemo-side-effects-taking-a-toll.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93879 | 189 | 1.835938 | 2 |
March 29, 1951/1971 Rosenbergs/Calley Convicted
On March 29, 1951 Julius and Ethel Rosenberg convicted of conspiracy to sell U.S. atomic secrets to the U.S.S.R. The case was pockmarked with glaring inconsistencies (and the chief evidence against them was the testimony of Ethel's brother, David Greenglass, a convicted co-conspirator) -- but it was their fate to be tried during the height of McCarthyism. While most critics now concede Ethel was probably innocent, they were both executed June 19, 1953.
On March 29, 1971 Lt. William Calley Jr., of the U.S. Army, was found guilty of the premeditated murder of at least 22 Vietnamese civilians. He was sentenced to life imprisonment. (He spent three years under house arrest after the sentence was reduced by various levels in the command chain, with the final reduction by Nixon.) The trial was the result of the My Lai massacre in Vietnam on March 16, 1968. He is the fall guy for the Army's preferred tale that the massacre was an aberration rather than a result of U.S. policy and attitudes in Vietnam.
These two convictions were exactly twenty years to the day apart. They represent the unevenness of American justice at its worst. In the case of the Rosenbergs, the government was unable to prove that any actual espionage took place only that they conspired to do so. This means they executed for planning something that was never proven to have occurred. In the Calley case, there was no doubt that the massacre had occurred under his supervision. The problem here is the sentence was lightened to the point of absurdity. He now runs a jewelry store somewhere in the South. Any trials of his superiors were show trials for innocent verdicts. The only saving grace here was that unlike Iraq, the crap has not flowed downhill to every enlisted man involved.
Permanent Backlink to Post | <urn:uuid:c1fd8407-5399-47da-9595-b0cad6bd2e9c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tvnewslies.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=42&t=7934 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984863 | 398 | 2 | 2 |
Sadly, the prolific New York tailoring firms and dressmaking establishments are no longer as abundant as they once were. The custom-made and, in later years, ready-made garment industries were mainstays of mid-19th century New York.
When the Civil War broke out in 1861, many of these firms switched to production of military goods, while dressmakers continued to ply their trade.
Myrtle Avenue Clothiers endeavors to replicate the material past as accurately as possible for the serious living historian. In the spirit of the garment industry of centuries past, we offer both ready-made and custom garments, for military and civilian applications.
As living historians, we are aware of the importance of portraying the people of the past as accurately as possible. “Authentic recreation” requires an understanding not only of the “big picture” of the past, but also of the period's material culture.
One of the best ways to understand this is through the study of clothing: every thread tells a story, every stitch has a purpose. That is why the garments we make are, wherever possible, either patterned directly from originals, or constructed using techniques found in originals. We have copied garments from both museum and private collections, including the New York City Fire Museum, the Suffolk County Historical Society, and Fort Mott State Park. | <urn:uuid:aa12dd9c-7d26-4ea0-a796-3ff37ffd8041> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.myrtle-avenue.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960754 | 275 | 2.265625 | 2 |
Oct 11, 2012 Republicans have been calling it the weakest recovery in U.S. history, but comparing recessions and recoveries has become incredibly controversial because, as in the case of much of economics, it all depends.
Aug 9, 2012 As many young adults struggle with finding a job and paying off student loans, and as families across the country work to pay off their mortgage, another group of people is even more worried about the future: those close to retirement.
Jul 17, 2012 Americans spent less on cars, computers and other retail items in June, held back by concerns about job stability and the global economy.
Jul 5, 2012 Ahead of tomorrow's June jobs report, data today shows the number of planned job cuts at U.S. companies has dropped to the lowest level in 13 months.
Jul 3, 2012 Some sobering news on the latest economic data and what's trading like ahead of the 4th of July holiday?
Jun 27, 2012 Metros with high-tech, manufacturing and reviving housing sectors also recover faster.
Jun 12, 2012 The index of Small Business Optimism fell by a tenth of a percent last month, but small businesses that weathered the recession may finally be beginning to hire.
Jun 12, 2012 A new report from the Federal Reserve shows that the median net worth of the American househeld is down 40 percent since 2007 and income is down 7 percent.
Jun 6, 2012 The recession has boosted the number of Americans on food stamps to 44 million. | <urn:uuid:fd5dd423-dd9c-4e96-8289-4ca1fdcf42ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.marketplace.org/story/related/3196%201808%20846%204894%2037%2019%204895%201208/48019?page=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951706 | 307 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The great designer Saul Bass was born in the East Bronx in 1920, studied at the Art Students League in the 1930s, and came to Los Angeles in the 1940s, finding a city ripe with potential and ready for transformation. He eventually opened an office at Highland and Franklin in the 1950s, and then, in 1956, created a more permanent space at 1778 Highland Avenue in Hollywood. Over his career, which lasted until his death in 1996, Bass would revolutionize the art of movie title design, reinvent the ways in which advertising campaigns were conceived and carried out, and basically change the foundations of visual communication in American popular culture.
Design historian Pat Kirkham, who teaches at the Bard Graduate Center in New York, joined Saul Bass' daughter Jennifer Bass, a graphic designer based in Venice, to create the voluminous, dazzling book Saul Bass: A Life in Film & Design, published last month by Laurence King Publishers. The 424-page large-format book is both a visual treat and a critical achievement, generously illustrating the often stunning work created by Bass while grounding it historically across multiple industries and histories. Indeed, Bass moved with seeming ease from traditional print-based graphic design to what we now call motion graphics, from advertising to the film industry, and cheerfully explored entirely new genres of design with an expansive, creative vision that can only inspire awe the more you comprehend it.
The book includes seven chapters that chart the designer's career mostly chronologically, moving from his start when he had the good fortune to work with Hungarian-born artist and designer Gyorgy Kepes, who wrote Language of Vision and taught Bass that "the basis of every living process is an inner contradiction." It charts Bass' often amusing early days in Hollywood, and then describes the long list of movie title sequences. Until the 1950s, movie titles were not generally considered significant or particularly creative additions to a film or its story. Bass, along with several other designers, changed that forever. Kirkham writes, "Saul believed that a film, like a symphony, deserved a mood-setting overture, and used ambiguity, layering and texture as well as startlingly compact imagery to reshape the time before the film proper began."
Early on, Bass collaborated with the great filmmaker Otto Preminger, and they would co-design 13 title sequences between 1954 and 1979. Perhaps the most famous of these was for The Man With the Golden Arm, which featured a groundbreaking campaign centered on a graphic symbol of an arm to gesture enigmatically toward drug addiction. Bass was delighted with the reductive image, with its metaphorical quality, and with its sense of nuance. Studio executives and exhibitors were not so delighted; instead, they were panicky, but Bass and Preminger managed to keep the arm and its provocative message at the core of the campaign, with Bass insisting that his interest was not in selling the film, but in announcing it.
Bass went on to create dozens of other title sequences, finally working with Martin Scorsese in the 1990s on films such as Casino, The Age of Innocence and Cape Fear. Images from all of these sequences are displayed on a large fold-out page at the back of the book. After reading this rich, detailed section, it seems as if the book must be close to its end. However four more sections follow, capturing Bass' incredible work in logo design, both nationally and internationally, as well as his own work as a filmmaker, often working in collaboration with his wife Elaine.
The book brings together a massive amount of information, factual and more personal, and it frequently isolates and synthesizes fundamental characteristics of Bass's work. It's a pleasure to peruse, with its visual design and generous attention to a mix of the critical, anecdotal and personal. Indeed, reading the book allows you to understand Bass' immense contribution to Los Angeles, to Hollywood and to the world through design, but it also lets you get to know a man who, with his daughter, frequently stopped to buy flowers for his wife at a small shop on La Brea Avenue. This melding of kinds of information and writing is no easy feat, but Kirkham and Bass manage beautifully, and the book is a remarkable contribution.
Kirkham will visit the Hammer Museum on Tuesday, December 13 at 7:00 p.m. to talk about the book, and to sign copies. | <urn:uuid:3f03ed46-6f01-4cb4-a9b5-ce0c513e1fc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.kcet.org/updaily/socal_focus/arts-culture/saul-bass-a-new-book-on-the-iconic-designer.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.976325 | 900 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Germany and the Third Way
Germany Is No Longer the Powerhouse It Once Was
NOVEMBER 01, 1999 by NORMAN BARRY
Norman Barry is professor of social and political theory at the University of Buckingham in the United Kingdom. He is the author of Business Ethics (Macmillan, 1998).
At least two things exercise political and economic commentators on Europe: the meaning and policy significance of the “third way” and the current malaise in the German economy. There is close connection between these two issues, though it is not quite the one that modern statists have in mind. But it is easy to show that the relative decline of the German economic “miracle” is directly linked to its adoption of economic and social policies that are recommended for a future social democratic Europe.
Advocates of the third way in the United States and the United Kingdom have similar, although watered down, things in mind. The European Union is itself suffering from the false promise of the latest modest anti-capitalist medicine. Yet the German experience provides an almost laboratory experiment of the errors of “capitalism with a human face,” the “social market economy,” “social democracy,” or any other version of the third way. It is not enough to condemn the third way’s political economy merely because President Clinton supports it. There are much better intellectual reasons for rejecting this currently fashionable doctrine.
For most of the postwar period (West) Germany, outside of Switzerland, was the most successful economy in Europe. Her recovery from the ruins of war was truly spectacular. The tragic irony is that just as countries in the rest of Europe ignored the reasons for this success so they will misunderstand the explanation of her current travails. For her early economic record was the result of the deliberate, almost planned, adoption of a free-market economy, which was completely against the trend of the times. There was no Wirtschaftswunder (economic miracle), only the rigorous implementation of well-tested economic policies based on sound theory. Germany’s problems today stem from the retreat from this over a 30-year period.
Germany is celebrating the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Republic but the real event to commemorate is the radical free-market economic program introduced by its postwar economics minister, and later chancellor, Ludwig Erhard, in 1948. At the time, the agony of Germany’s postwar attempted adjustment to economic reality was exacerbated by the continuation of a ruinous system of wartime planning under the Allied Control Commission. Interventionists though the advisers to West Germany were, they all agreed that there had to be currency reform; the Reichsmark was worthless and little used for whatever exchange actually took place. But Erhard, chief official of the Administration for Economic Affairs for the British and American Occupation Zones, managed, by a superb piece of political chicanery, to engineer a wholesale reduction of price controls under the noses of his Keynesian advisers. An early critic was John Kenneth Galbraith, who began his long career of highly profitable private punditry and catastrophic public economic error in postwar Germany. He wrote an influential article that promised misery and poverty if Erhard’s policy were to be continued. He was, of course, engaged in writing his book on the theory of price control at the time.
But Erhard pressed on with his economic liberalization. There was probably not a majority in favor of it, and a majority was only narrowly achieved in the elections of 1949, after the policy’s prophylactic effects were visible to all but the most blinkered of central planners.
Liberalization was not popular with the political elites. Erhard was never very close to the Christian Democrats, many of whom remained wedded to a form of interventionism and control derived from Roman Catholic social teaching, and the Socialists remained formally Marxist until 1959. Still, the reasons for Germany’s success were too obvious to ignore (though Britain remained oblivious to them until 1979), and the country was quickly won round. The Catholics managed to combine the market with religion, and the Socialists became, albeit for a short time, even more pro-capitalist than some of the Christian Democrats. A prominent Social Democrat member of the coalition governments in the 1960s and 1970s, Karl Schiller, actually resigned over a free-market issue. The Social Democratic party has now slipped back to its old socialist ways, and these have been reinforced by the usual contemporary fads, notably environmentalism (the present government is a coalition of Social Democrats and Greens), anti-Americanism, and careful and diluted, but not completely rejected, anti-capitalism.
Seeds of Decline
The seeds of German decline were planted long ago. The intellectual error was by no means confined to the Social Democrats. All major political movements have been infected with the virus of the third way, with its illusion that there is a morally appealing midway point between capitalism and socialism and that we can indulge our social consciences with welfarism and heavy economic regulation without seriously corroding the market society. It is highly successful capitalist societies that are peculiarly vulnerable to these illusions; they have little resonance in Poland or the Czech Republic.
Their origins in Germany date back to the foundation of the Erhard system. There were two interconnected social visions that governed political and economic life in postwar West Germany: the idea of Ordo-liberalism—that is, the peculiarly German version of classical liberalism—and die Soziale Marktwirtschaft (social market economy). The values, policies, and personnel of the two intellectual movements overlapped. All German market theorists had some doubts about unregulated capitalism. Most particularly they thought there was a tendency for free contract to produce, quite spontaneously, a non-contract society through the emergence of monopolies and cartels. The German skeptics were encouraged by their own experience; the German economy had been badly cartelized in the early decades of the twentieth century (which ultimately enabled Hitler to run a “non-socialist” command economy). The Ordo-liberals thought that mistaken legal decisions had produced this outcome. In their Wirtschaftsordnungspolitik, the legal and political order of a free economy, the state was given the responsibility of preserving, artificially, the foundational rules of a market society, though they ought to have realized that free international trade is the most effective guarantor of a noncartelized economy. The Germans were very much influenced by American antitrust law.
Both “liberal” movements believed in some state welfare but it was much more pronounced in social market theory than in Ordo-liberalism. Alfred Müller-Armack, a member of Erhard’s government, coined the deadly phrase “social market economy,” and he actually believed in a new concept of the person—neither capitalist man nor socialist man—who would emerge from a properly and ethically organized market society. Erhard himself probably regarded the social market economy as a morally convenient mask behind which he could advance his genuine market reforms. But at least the German liberals thought that welfare policies should be marktkonform, that is, consistent with an efficient exchange system; they should not encourage the emergence of a dependency culture.
However, as the German system developed, it was the “social” element that began to predominate over the “market,” and throughout the 1960s the country began to resemble a Scandinavian welfare state, to which its liberal theorists had originally been vehemently opposed. Many reforms were quite debilitating. Unemployment pay was, and is, close to the wage paid for work; sick leave is very generous; and more or less free education can last almost forever. And, as any traveler will tell you, most shops are closed on Saturday afternoon. Given the reduced attractions of work (and German nonwage labor costs are the highest in the world) is it any wonder that German unemployment is 11.5 percent? The original Bismarckian state pension scheme was foolishly extended and its unfunded foundations, in combination with a declining birth rate, promise to present the country with a horrific problem in about 20 years. Government spending, which was kept below 30 percent of GDP under Erhard, is now above 50 percent.
One reason for West Germany’s original success was its social consensus. There was none of the confrontational attitude between capital and labor that so disfigured Britain before Margaret Thatcher. Once trade unions had accepted the market system, they were anxious to cooperate in what became a common enterprise. But this benign industrial culture had its downside. It produced a certain insularity and a hostility to the takeover mechanism: nothing much should change, and nobody should lose his or her job. Fearing the concentration of industry, the Ordo-liberals themselves gave this attitude some intellectual justification. They and the postwar government set up a cartel office, which sedulously sought out any innovator who might get a fraction more than the permitted market share.
German companies have never been concerned about delivering shareholder value. Indeed, they have traditionally financed their investment by bank debt, giving the lie to American business ethicists who worry about the immorality of corporate raiders loading up American corporations with junk-bond debt. Those ethicists looked to Europe as an example of probity, but as it turned out, the “greed-driven” Anglo-Saxon model of corporate governance proved highly flexible and innovative.
What nobody realized in Europe was that the predator breaks up companies, spins off unwanted parts, fires layers of redundant managers, and produces leaner and fitter enterprises. Such restructuring has been the foundation of America’s economic success since the 1980s. But in Germany’s much-vaunted consensus, the raider is subject to opprobrium and ostracism, especially if he is a foreigner. With banks (which, unlike those in the United States, hold substantial equity stakes in German companies), trade unions, and local interests forming invincible coalitions against change, German managers are secure, as they were in 1997 when Krupp tried a reverse takeover of Thyssen in order to rationalize the steel industry. The stakeholder groups got together and turned a hostile bid into a tame merger, with guarantees of no unemployment. Even Italy seems to be ahead in adopting Anglo-Saxon methods of industrial reorganization. The computer company Olivetti has just completed a spectacular $60 billion takeover of Telecom Italia against a formidable array of stakeholders. The takeover strategy, and motivation to maximize shareholder value, is now spreading to Europe. But Germany is far behind.
Fear of Inflation
Of the classical-liberal principles that undoubtedly inspired West Germany in the early postwar period, only a belief in sound money survived the onslaught of social democracy. Of course, Germany’s experience of runaway inflation in the 1920s made the country sociologically equipped to cope with the occasional pains of monetary rigor. Keynesian demand-management policies were eschewed from the early days, for excellent microeconomic reasons. An independent central bank, the Bundesbank, resisted all political pressures to relax what was basically Chicago-style monetarism (“just watch the monetary aggregates”).
But by the 1960s macroeconomics became fashionable, and successive governments became obsessed with tinkering with the aggregates; committees were set up and suggestions made by “wise men” for improving overall performance. But the Bundesbank retained its virtue (and the people their pride in the German mark) right up to reunification, when Helmut Kohl’s government compelled the Bundesbank, for overtly political reasons, to sanction a catastrophic one-to-one currency swap, the East German mark for the Deutsche mark. The former was pretty much worthless, and this arrangement, plus the granting of partial West German welfare “rights” to the former East, undoubtedly made the union of the two countries more difficult than it need have been.
German monetary chastity clearly could not survive the seductive lure of reunification. The next question on the macroeconomic agenda is whether the Euro, the new currency for the continent, will provide a satisfactory surrogate for the beloved mark. The Bundesbank had established a reputation for incorruptibility precisely because of its proven probity: prior to reunification no politician could compete with it in the public’s estimation. One of the first things the controversial leftist Social Democrat Oskar Lafontaine did in his brief period as minister of finance in the new Social Democratic government was to put pressure on the European Central Bank to relax its Bundesbank-type monetary rigor. That failed, but one wonders how that institution will survive a coalition of Spanish, Italian, French, and other politicians demanding inflationary employment policies.
With excessive social welfare and a sclerotic industrial economy, Germany is no longer the powerhouse it once was. An early Ordo-liberal, Wilhelm Röpke, once said that “like pure democracy, undiluted capitalism is intolerable.” He was a pioneer of the idea of the third way, but even he would be distressed at what has happened to his country.* Perhaps the major problem with Ordo-liberalism was its neglect of public choice. Its adherents really did believe that once people had experienced the joys of the social market they would have less reason to rely on the familiar human motivations and on the historically validated legal and market constraints. Social-market theorists had an “elevated” view of human nature: When politicians and public officials were imbued with a sense of community and reinforced by the glue of solidarity, no one need worry about things like antisocial rent-seeking; moral hazard would not be a problem for enlightened people in a generous welfare system; and managers of industrial corporations would be disciplined without stockholder pressure and the threat of raiders.
*Editor’s note: See Richard Ebeling, “Wilhelm Röpke: A Centenary Appreciation,” The Freeman, October 1999.
But the more astute German commentators learned early on that there is no feasible third way. All economic proposals that run counter to the laws of economics are eventually defeated by these inexorable processes; they may be a little slower to operate than those of physics, but they are just as compelling. Germany has breached just about every one of them in the last 30 years. As Vaclav Klaus, the former Czech premier, put it: “the third way is the third world.” | <urn:uuid:6e69bc93-6701-4690-bbac-2b972da6aa9f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fee.org/the_freeman/detail/germany-and-the-third-way | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969236 | 2,981 | 2.3125 | 2 |
PIMCO's September Cyclical Forum was held against the backdrop of some historic changes in announced and proposed monetary policy, particularly in Frankfurt, Germany.
-Saumil H. Parikh, managing director, PIMCO
- The probability of a deflationary left-tail outcome emanating from the eurozone has declined substantially in the short run, yet outright economic growth in the eurozone will remain elusive in 2013.
- The much-publicized "fiscal cliff" is set to hit the U.S. economy on January 1, 2013, and could reduce U.S. aggregate demand by roughly $600 billion to $700 billion (about 4% of GDP). Our best guess is that in most election outcomes, policymakers will only allow a $200 billion to $250 billion sunset in stimulus, creating a drag on economic growth of about 1.5% of GDP in 2013.
- We believe China's easy growth phase is over. But China has the balance sheet and the knowledge to continue executing its economic development plan, as long as political stability is maintained, income inequality is addressed, and the external demand environment does not further deteriorate. | <urn:uuid:e3bec550-dac7-4d69-8912-9019019b949c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onwallstreet.com/research_roundup/europe-fiscal-cliff-monetary-policy-2680841-1.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960963 | 232 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Toward the end of World War II, a biologist by the name of Dr. Ancel Keys set out to determine some of the physiological and psychological effects of restricted food intake in what was known as “the Minnesota starvation study.” The motive, it seems, was to understand the mechanisms of starvation, in order to more adequately handle potential post-war, European famine. The study participants were 36 physically and psychologically healthy men, conscientious objectors to the war, who volunteered to participate in a diet-regimen that cut their normal caloric intake roughly in half for a period of six months. What followed was an unprecedented look into the science and psychology of malnutrition. (One participant, Lester Glick, chronicles some of his experiences here.)
As any observer of the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur, or the Muslim period of Ramadan may tell you, fasting is a unique psychophysiological state, in which food becomes a primary focus. While religious or spiritual matters may be intended to take center stage, when told to not think about a white horse (or White Castle burger, as the case may be), that’s exactly what we can’t seem to do. Fasters may overindulge the night before, as they “stock up” for the fast, may similarly overindulge post-fast, and often report spending a great deal of time during the fast thinking about food, their hunger, and when they’ll eat again. From a dieting perspective, it’s likely that in the end, they’ve consumed more food than they would have without the fast, with the additional problem of having toyed (albeit briefly) with their metabolism.
In the Minnesota study, now captured by Todd Tucker in the new book, The Great Starvation Experiment, what we saw was a compromised humanity (and throwback to animal times), resulting from food restriction. As participants lost weight, and essentially began to starve, not only did they become incredibly and solely focused on food, but their hunger took on epic proportions—participants reported violent fantasies, contemplating suicide, murder, and ultimately, cannibalism.
A hot topic lately has been the significant increase in adult (and childhood) obesity—recent figures indicate, for example, that 64% of Americans (115 million) are considered overweight or obese. How do we explain this trend? While a number of factors may be involved, taking note from the Minnesota study, as well as the general research suggesting that (depending on which study you reference), 95-98% of all diets fail, it seems that perhaps the simple and repeated act of trying to restrict oneself has actually led to our expanding waistline. Trying to (unnaturally) tame an appetite can have quite a rebound effect, leading to both acute and chronic overeating, as compensation. While most self-imposed food restrictors thankfully do not arrive at the point of suicidal or homicidal ideation, what we can say is that the more weight we try to lose, the more we seem to gain. As a corollary, the more we grow our diet industry (now worth an estimated $40 billion), the more we grow ourselves, begging the question: Is it possible that we are obese simply because we are trying so hard not to be? | <urn:uuid:338099eb-66ab-4436-9366-0064b0a00d82> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://everywomanhasaneatingdisorder.blogspot.com/2006/09/irony.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970858 | 673 | 2.515625 | 3 |
Keep Good Kitchen Design on the Front Burner
Kitchen designers can help transform your dreams into a reality.
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The first step in designing a kitchen is to collect ideas you love. The next step is to take them to a kitchen designer who can transform your dreams into reality.
When interviewing kitchen designers, ask what types of projects they usually do, ask whether they are certified by the professional kitchen design organization, and request references.
Expect to pay for quality services. Fees can be structured in a variety of ways, but the common rate is anywhere from $50 to $150 per hour.
One of the first things a good designer will do is learn all about the intended uses for the space. An extensive questionnaire may be used that covers entertaining, shopping habits, storage needs, etc.
A good designer will be able to combine the necessary function within a chosen style.
Designers can incorporate added functionality in the kitchen, like a raised dishwasher, heatproof surfaces around the stove and strategically placed refrigerator drawers.
Learn about the five building blocks of kitchen design in this excerpt from Joan Kohn's It's Your Kitchen. | <urn:uuid:b3efcae5-ddfd-44d6-a735-5354b3839270> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.hgtv.com/kitchens/keep-good-kitchen-design-on-the-front-burner/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912719 | 254 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Sports > Schools
The Natural: Kirby the youngest person to receive prestigious karate honor
Tim Kirby has done plenty in the sport of karate over the past 29 years.
In addition to teaching in Plano, and throughout the Metroplex, the ninth-degree black belt has won virtually every major championship in the Southwest and can call himself a Hall of Famer.
But the biggest honor of Kirby's career may have come last month in Houston when he became the youngest person to attain the Jim "Ronin" Harrison Natural Fighter Award.
Harrison, one of the forefathers of U.S. karate, bestowed Kirby with the award.
"Just to know a warrior of [Harrison's] caliber is an honor in itself," Kirby said. "But to be chosen for this award by Mr. Harrison himself and the Hall of Fame Committee members as one that exemplifies the spirit and style in which Mr. Harrison is famous for is a humbling experience I will cherish for the rest of my life."
Kirby isn't the first to bestow such kind words on Harrison as Bruce Lee once said, "I fear no man, but Jim Harrison and Mike Stone are the last two men that I would wish to meet in an alley fight. Jim Harrison's fighting style is not flamboyant or spectacular; it's just simple and deadly."
Receiving such an honor was the latest milestone for Kirby in a martial arts career that began in 1973.
Kirby became one of Plano's first junior black belt practitioners when he received his first black belt on Dec. 4, 1976. Since then, Kirby won six straight state titles and the U.S. Karate Championships seven times, leading some to proclaim him, "the best all-around black belt competitor in Texas history."
That legend continued to grow just prior to receiving the Natural Fighter Award when Kirby earned his ninth-degree black belt at an event called The Gathering in Houston.
That achievement makes him one of the youngest Grand Master black belts in the world.
"Mr. Tim Kirby gives back so much to our community by sharing his wealth of knowledge and accomplishments," said Belinda Carmona Croff, one of many Kirby-trained students. "Even now he teaches martial arts to children and adults."
Kirby continues to do so around the Metroplex, including at The Jym in Allen. | <urn:uuid:b4a12df7-c1a1-4c5a-b135-e91f08ecb477> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lewisvilleleader.com/articles/2012/12/10/sports/schools/plano/9471.prt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970862 | 492 | 1.5 | 2 |
Statistics show that the Olympics failed to bring a surge in visitors to Britain, but those who did come spent more.
The Office for National Statistics says 3 million people came to Britain during August, 5 percent down on the year before. But earnings from visitors were 9 percent higher than in August 2011.
The Olympic Games ran July 27-Aug. 12, and the Paralympics Aug. 29-Sept. 9.
Many businesses complained of slow business during the games, and blamed predictions of crowding and travel chaos for scaring off visitors.
The figures released Thursday show that, despite some predictions, there was no mass Olympic exodus from the country. Residents of Britain made 7.3 million visits abroad in August, about the same number as the year before. | <urn:uuid:6d88ed97-1d8b-4337-a7e9-0d994216898a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wtvy.com/home/headlines/Stats-show-no-Olympic-boom-for-British-tourism-173666841.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973404 | 155 | 1.671875 | 2 |
A short two years ago, the Democrats basked in the glow of their dynamic new president, elected by their largest popular-vote margin since Lyndon Johnson in 1964, accompanied into office by a fiercely Democratic House of Representatives and a veto-proof Democratic Senate. A long two years later, after the party in power had delivered prodigious deficits and debt, relentless 10% unemployment, and the folly of Obamacare, the voters threw a little Tea Party and heaved scores of Democratic legislators and 400 years of seniority into the drink.
What had seemed to many liberals the beginning of a Democratic electoral realignment—40 fat years of bigger, more ambitious government—ended in what President Obama called a shellacking. (Shellac [verb, slang]: to beat somebody repeatedly with hard blows; to defeat somebody easily or decisively.) What had looked to Republicans like the beginning of a long exile proved a short interlude leading to GOP control of the House, tidy gains in the Senate, and historic increases in its number of state legislators and governors. These Wilderness Years, from 2006 to 2010, didn't allow for much wandering. One wonders if the party actually has learned its lesson, or will soon be longing again for the fleshpots of Egypt.
The GOP has been here before, after all. In many ways the midterm election is a familiar story of American voters' backlash against the Democrats' undivided control of government. Four times in recent political history the Democrats have held sway simultaneously over the House, the Senate, and the presidency. LBJ ushered in the Great Society after his 1964 landslide buried the Capitol in Democrats, Jimmy Carter frittered away his party's control of all three branches from 1976 to 1980, Bill Clinton tried to pass Hillarycare during his turn at unified Democratic control from 1992 to 1994, and Obama had two years to try to transform America. In every case the public deeply, and quickly, regretted its decision to entrust the Democrats with undivided government. And in the elections of 1966 and 1968, 1980, 1994, and now 2010, the voters executed an about-face.
Conservatives like to say America is "a center-right country," and Gallup confirms that conservatives enduringly outnumber liberals. But this center-right country has the strange habit of going on a three-branch Democratic bender about once a decade. It leaves a nasty hangover, with plenty of revulsion at the senseless, hurtful, and expensive misadventures we get into. Still, we keep doing it, and only once in all those years did the people in their wisdom entrust the Republicans with undivided government—during George W. Bush's term. That experiment ended in 2006. There's little reason to conclude, then, that the midterm repudiation of the Democrats prefigures a lasting endorsement of, much less a new electoral majority forming around, the GOP. Overall, the situation seems like the post-1968 norm that political scientists call dealignment: the public doesn't seem willing to trust either party with undivided control of the government for very long.
Nonetheless, two new facts obtrude themselves into our political calculations. One is the Tea Party, the other America's enormous deficit, debt, and unfunded liabilities. The Tea Party has not only energized the Republicans, it has given them a new purpose: to cut government back to constitutional size. The draconian cuts some of the Tea Partiers have in mind remind me of the late Joe Sobran's blithe declaration, "Anything called a program is unconstitutional." The problem is that such freewheeling libertarianism soon runs up against the habitual bias of American conservatism—the aversion to sudden, far-reaching, and unnecessary change, felt by lots of people who aren't card-carrying Republicans. Successful right-wing enterprises, like the rebuke of the Democrats in this election, are usually compounded of these two kinds of conservatism. Rand Paul and the Tea Partiers have announced bracingly that they're here to take back their government; but what do they plan to do with it once they've got it back? It won't be easy to exert constitutional control over it, and in that endeavor they'll need both a more nuanced grasp of the Constitution and popular support, too.
Here the other new fact comes to bear. The financial cataracts of our day may sweep everything before them, including the aversion to change. California, Illinois, and New York are insolvent or likely soon will be, harbingers of national distress if spending continues unabated. In the end, conservatives may have little choice but to adapt the American social contract to help foster a new, more responsible era. | <urn:uuid:0d6e1860-f558-4345-9b5a-63f4b4623e26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.claremont.org/publications/crb/id.1760/article_detail.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956667 | 950 | 2.125 | 2 |
During trips to Ecuador, Venezuela, Cuba and Nicaragua, Syria's deputy foreign minister, Faisal Al Mokdad, received mostly symbolic backing for his government's 20-month battle against rebels.
More than anything, just the fact that Al Mokdad visited minor international players such as Ecuador shows how isolated Syria has become on the world stage, as accusations of indiscriminate killing of civilians by Syrian forces draw widespread condemnation, said Anthony Skinner, Middle East-North Africa chief at the British risk analysis firm Maplecroft.
Through an interpreter, Al Mokdad said in Venezuela on Tuesday that he also visited Nicaragua and Cuba. Those two governments had yet to confirm the itinerary.
"I don't see these states as being particularly pivotal or significant," Skinner said of Al Mokdad's Latin American trip. "I would see this as a reflection that the regime in Damascus is feeling the heat and is trying to broaden its support."
Assad still enjoys the backing of two major world players, Russia and China, who hold permanent seats on the U.N. Security Council, and his government remains friendly with longtime ally Iran. But Assad has become a pariah in much of the world, with
Chavez has gone even further than his neighbors to prop up Assad, sending at least three shipments of diesel oil to the Syrian government, which is straining under economic embargos imposed by the United States and the European Union.
Depending on the amount of diesel being shipped, Venezuela's aid could provide a real boost to the Assad government, said Andrew Tabler, a senior fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy. Diesel fuels practically all of Syria's vehicles and much of its industrial base, Tabler said.
Al Mokdad said Tuesday that he brought a private message for Chavez from Assad but didn't reveal the contents.
Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino met with the diplomat Sunday and said it was important for Ecuador to hear directly from the Syrian government about its perspective on the conflict.
Ecuador's Foreign Ministry summarized Patino's remarks in a statement, saying he hopes the crisis may be resolved in a way "that responds to the interests and will of the Syrian people, without foreign interference."
Eduardo Gamarra, a Latin American studies professor at Florida International University in Miami, said the pro-Syria bloc in Latin America down to a shared aversion for Washington. All four Latin American countries visited by Al Mokdad belong to the ALBA regional alliance, which has billed itself as an alternative to U.S. power.
Chavez was also a vocal supporter of the late Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafi and has cultivated ties to Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who has followed a similar itinerary while mustering Latin American solidarity.
"When the rest of the world is condemning human rights atrocities there, both Chavez and (Bolivian President) Evo Morales and even now (Ecuadorean President Rafael) Correa have had no qualms about meeting with these people," Gamarra said of their support for Syria. "This group of Latin American countries could ostensibly be their largest and most vocal support."
The same group of countries has already shown itself willing to break from the international pack to champion unpopular causes, said James Lockhart Smith, chief Latin America analyst at Maplecroft. Venezuela and Nicaragua are the only countries apart from Russia and the Pacific states of Naura, Vanuatu and Tuvalu that recognize Abkhazia and South Ossetia, regions that broke away from the former Soviet republic of Georgia.
"What draws them together perhaps is this anti-America, anti-European, or anti-Western bias," Gamarra said of the Latin America bloc.
As for Chavez and his allies, Gamarra said, "there's really nothing that they gain from that relationship other than, you know, 'Me ,too' against the U.S."
For the Syrian government, the allies it still has can be helpful diplomatic defenders.
"They may believe that if they can mount a significant coalition of supporters worldwide that they can stymie a little bit the effort to get them out of power," Gamarra said.
Associated Press writers Ian James and Fabiola Sanchez in Caracas, Venezuela; Gonzalo Solano in Quito, Ecuador; and Elizabeth Kennedy in Beirut, Lebanon, contributed to this report. | <urn:uuid:50087312-dcd8-40ad-81b9-89914516b19b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eveningsun.com/nationworldnews/ci_22084916/syrian-govt-finds-rare-friends-latin-america | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964137 | 900 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Today would have been David Foster Wallace’s 50th birthday, and we think it’s safe to say that the entire literary world misses him dearly. Wallace has some of the most rabid fans of any author — poring over details, reading hundreds of pages of endnotes over and over, latching onto every piece of lore and scrap of ephemera, building photo tours of all the Boston buildings mentioned in Infinite Jest. If you need proof, just look at how many posthumous works on or by Wallace have cropped up in the relatively few years since his death (another book of unpublished essays is due out this fall). Many of these DFW enthusiasts have even gone the extra mile and tattooed the author’s words, or representations thereof, onto their bodies, cementing their connection to the luminous figure for all time. We can’t say we blame them. Click through to check out the DFW-related ink on some very devoted fans, and, if you’ve got ‘em, let us know about your own literary tattoos in the comments.
The title of Wallace’s famous 2005 Commencement speech at Kenyon College. [via] | <urn:uuid:b94f18f7-ae2a-413b-aadd-c59a42edf963> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://flavorwire.com/261864/awesome-tattoos-inspired-by-david-foster-wallace | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9575 | 246 | 1.75 | 2 |
Storing Beer 101
I’ve heard some of these storing beer myths since before I was old enough to drink beer. I can think back to my early college days when my friends and I were sitting around, pounding Little King’s Cream Ale, when one of my friends jumps up and screams…
Don’t let the sunlight hit the beer! It will make it taste funny!
And we all called B.S. on it, and decided to sacrifice one of our cream ales to the Sun God… and it sure seemed like the sun was doing something, but we were all past the point of caring.
Restocking The Fridge © by foilman
As I got older and started to home brew, storing beer became more important.
I came across this great article over at refrigeratorinfo.com entitled, “Brown Bottles and Tall Tales: 7 Myths About Storing Beer.” It seems my old college pal was right!
You can read the article on the site listed above, but here’s the myths about storing beer in a nutshell:
- If Cold Beer Gets Warm, Cooling It Again Will Make It Stale. [FLASE]
- Sunlight Skunks Beer [TRUE]
- The Color of the Bottle Affects Beer’s Shelf Life [MAYBE]
- Beer Must Be Shipped, Stored, and Aged Cold [FALSE]
- Putting Beer in the Freezer Is an Easy Way to “Quick Chill” It [TRUE]
- Beer Should Be Stored Upright. [TRUE]
- Bottles Are Better Than Cans. [FALSE]
If I had to take a test on storing beer, I would have done alright. But the biggest surprise for me has to be about cans are better than bottles; it’s really a matter of taste:
Wrong! Well, actually, this all comes down to personal taste. Canned beer has gotten a bad rap in recent decades because it’s often associated with mass-market, “cheap” beer. However, craft brewers are beginning to can their beer—212 breweries, according to CraftCans.com, including notable names like Sierra Nevada and Brooklyn Brewery.
Some craft brew fanatics even swear by the distinctive flavor of canned brew. The Huffington Post even conducted a blind taste test and found participants preferred the taste of canned beer to bottled three times out of four. But putting taste aside, you can’t deny that canned beer is much easier to store and transport—not to mention, you don’t need a bottle opener.
I do admit, I like taking good beer, in cans, to the pool in the summertime!
Since I do drink a lot of wheat beers, (and being a home brewer), I already knew about storing beer standing up: it lets the yeast settle on the bottom of the bottle!
I’d love to hear if your knowledge around storing beer was up to par. | <urn:uuid:c625384f-efa8-40ea-bc70-a9e65cec8439> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.the-brewstand.com/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9506 | 633 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Spotting Fetal Growth Problems Early Could Cut UK Stillbirths By 600 A YearMain Category: Pregnancy / Obstetrics
Article Date: 25 Jan 2013 - 0:00 PST
Spotting Fetal Growth Problems Early Could Cut UK Stillbirths By 600 A Year
|Patient / Public:|
Detection before birth must become a cornerstone of antenatal care
Growth restriction in an unborn child is the single largest risk factor for stillbirth, especially when it goes unrecognised before birth, finds a study published on bmj.com today. Yet it is currently missed in most pregnancies.
The authors say spotting it early could substantially reduce the risk, and this needs to become a cornerstone of safety and effectiveness in antenatal care.
Stillbirth rates in the United Kingdom are among the highest in developed countries. They have often been considered unexplained and unavoidable, and their rates have changed little over the last two decades.
Recently, doctors have found that many stillborn babies fail to reach their growth potential, prompting a renewed focus on what causes fetal growth restriction. So a team of researchers at the West Midlands Perinatal Institute in Birmingham set out to assess the main risk factors associated with stillbirth in a multiethnic population.
Using NHS records, they identified 92,218 normally formed singleton babies, including 389 stillbirths, from 24 weeks of gestation, delivered during 2009-11 (a stillbirth rate of 4.2 per 1,000 births). They then assessed several maternal and fetal risk factors for stillbirth and calculated the proportion of stillbirths that could be potentially avoided if these risks were removed.
These included mother's age, parity (the number of times she had given birth), body mass index, mental health history, pre-existing diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease, smoking in pregnancy, alcohol consumption, and fetal growth problems.
First, third and subsequent pregnancies were associated with an increased risk of stillbirth compared with second pregnancies, but high maternal age carried no increased risk in this population which excluded congenital anomalies. Ethnicity (African, African-Caribbean, Indian and Pakistani) carried a higher risk, as did deprivation and unemployment of the mother or her partner.
Maternal obesity (BMI of 30 or more), smoking, pre-existing diabetes, a history of mental health problems, and fetal growth restriction were all associated with a significantly increased risk.
As potentially modifiable risk factors, maternal obesity, smoking in pregnancy and fetal growth restriction together accounted for 56% of all stillbirths.
However, the strongest risk factor was fetal growth restriction, which carried a fourfold higher risk of stillbirth compared with normal growth pregnancies. This increased to an eightfold risk if it was not detected during pregnancy, accounting for 32% of all stillbirths in the study.
Yet the authors point out that the presence of fetal growth restriction is currently missed in most pregnancies.
They estimate that 71 stillbirths in their study population could have been avoided through better antenatal recognition. Extrapolated to the UK population, this would represent 600 fewer stillbirths per year.
"Our study shows that while there are several risk factors for stillbirth that can be ascertained from the outset of pregnancy, the single largest factor is fetal growth restriction, which is currently not well predicted and not recognised antenatally in most pregnancies," say the authors. "Most normally formed singleton stillbirths are potentially avoidable ... and preventive strategies need to focus on improving antenatal detection," they conclude.
In an accompanying editorial, two experts from the University of Auckland say this study adds "important new insights" about modifiable risk factors for stillbirth, but that efforts to improve detection of fetal growth restriction must be intensified.
Visit our pregnancy / obstetrics section for the latest news on this subject.
BMJ 2013;346:f108 doi: 10.1136/bmj.f108
Editorial: “Identifying risk factors for stillbirth: Efforts to improve detection of fetal growth restriction must be intensified”, Lesley M E McCowan et al.
BMJ 2013;346:f416 doi: 10.1136/bmj.f416
22 May. 2013. <http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/255321.php>
Please note: If no author information is provided, the source is cited instead.
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Note: Any medical information published on this website is not intended as a substitute for informed medical advice and you should not take any action before consulting with a health care professional. For more information, please read our terms and conditions. | <urn:uuid:0a315655-8603-4302-b56b-c0ab2d197293> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/255321.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930631 | 991 | 2.4375 | 2 |
From Uncyclopedia, the content-free encyclopedia
A mouth is one of the eight known orifices found in all mammals. Ten points if you can name John Travolta.
Parts of the Mouth
These are for lipstick (as the name suggests). They act as a kind of buffer-zone between the face and the mouth, to prevent unnecessary hostilities between the two.
While the tongue can be used for lipstick too, it is mostly used for talking and chewing. Owing to its busy schedule of talking and chewing, the tongue is stinging ripped, and is in fact the strongest muscle in the body. This makes it one of the most important parts of the mouth, especially when offering a loved one an oral service.
Teeth are hard and used for biting things. Things they are often used to bite are; food, tape, frozen milk, your mum, and chewing gum.
The tonsils were installed as a revenue generating means by surgeons. Their scientific title is "Dingalum Minoris," which translates into English as "the Unimportant Danglies." There are, or course, no prizes for guessing what part of the anatomy is the "Dingalum Majoris." The least said about the worthless tissue that is the tonsils, the better.
The cheeks are as vital a part of the mouth and its workings as any other. Though oft unappreciated, it is evident in every process that the human does with his or her mouth, be it kissing or sucking a lollypop. Cheeks are a must for any occasion.
The mouth has many functions. These are as diverse as they are useful and interesting.
The mouth is the entry point for all food into the body. It's good at this because it opens onto the outside (so food can be inserted) and it also opens onto the stomach. As such, it kind of acts like a laundry shoot for food. It is also useful as it can be used to break food up. The teeth are especially useful here, but the tongue is also good for mashing. Imagine trying to insert a cracker into your stomach without a mouth, and you'll see why we need mouths. Your tongue (mine too, actually) also does the important job of tasting. If you couldn't taste, you wouldn't know that semen is really salty and should be spat out.
No one is really sure how talking works, but everyone knows that it comes out of your mouth. Many women are working around the clock to elucidate the mechanism, or at least the effect, of excessive talking. Rumour has it that some vocal cords do some vibrating, the tongue does some dancing and lips give words a kiss on the way out. Rumour also has it that your mum is good in bed, though.
Spitting is a critical defence mechanism, not just for camels, but for all species with mouths. In a dire situation, such as one in which you are tied up with a bad person of another ethnicity close-by, spitting can be your only possible course of action. Unfortunately, most saliva is only mildly acidic, and will not corrode spaceship walls.
Spitting (alternative version)
It supposedly doesn't taste good. But with the right kind of diet, the flavor may change. Studies show eating something sweet or nutritious like strawberries or chocolate will in fact make it sweet. Smoking will make it bitter and drinking alcoholic substance will make it sour. 9 out of 10 doctors agree that a banana split with crack and tobacco sprinkled on top of it is the surest bet. | <urn:uuid:92cb355c-83e0-4060-bb38-33bf3e140bf6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uncyclopedia.wikia.com/wiki/Mouth?oldid=5322654 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969007 | 736 | 2.703125 | 3 |
Welcome to Zimbabwe
All of Africa is beautiful but on many levels Zimbabwe stands alone!
The country is located in Southern Africa and can easily be called Africa’s Paradise, but when considering the untamed national parks, majestic waterfalls and mysterious ancient ruins the metaphor that springs to mind would be “Africa in the roar”.
No trip to Africa should be complete without a visit to Zimbabwe. Having one of the worlds finest climates and a huge selection of attractions makes Zimbabwe an unbeatable destination.
Keep in mind that it is the rainy season in Zimbabwe between November and March…
Concerned about your safety?
There can be no hiding the fact that Zimbabwe’s tourism industry has suffered as a result of the country’s economic decline over the last decade. Travelers continue to have concerns about visiting the southern African nation that was once one of Africa’s most popular.
Will you be safe? Will you feel welcome? Should you travel to Zimbabwe if you disagree with the political stance of the government?
Ultimately, the decision to visit has to be a personal one, supported by careful research. Robyn Daly, Getaway photojournalist, says:
“I’ve never felt in danger in Zimbabwe it’s absolutely safe for visitors and never been so cheap. That’s one reason why I’m pestering my family to go there on holiday this year.”
Adrenaline adventures and relaxing activities
To visit all the attractions Zimbabwe has to offer in just one visit could be impossible, but below you will find a selection of the most popular attractions in Zimbabwe: Victoria Falls (the unchallenged adrenaline capital of the world), Lake Kariba (game safaris from luxurious houseboats), and Hwange Nature Reserve (an untouched and unspoilt slice of Africa).
Aptly included in the seven natural wonders of the world for its sheer beauty and might, this 108 metre curtain of falling water stretching some 1700 metres is sure to enthrall even the most well traveled visitor. Couple this with what is now known as one of the adrenaline capitals of the world from grade 5 pool and drop rapids on the mighty Zambezi, riding elephants, walking with lions to world class resorts, what more could one wish for in a single destination.
This vast expanse at one time held the record for being the biggest man made lake in the world which is now only surpassed by the Aswan dam in Egypt. Situated right in the middle of Big 5 game country, with the backdrop of the Matusadona mountains, makes this the playground of those wanting to experience an awesome aqua safari. Lake Kariba is home to the legendary Tiger fish which is the most ferocious fighting fresh water fish in the world. From luxurious lakeside lodges to houseboats of all shapes and sizes, there is something here for everyone.
We sure you have seen the scene before: 6 lions on a buffalo kill and a multitude of tour buses surrounding it. This is what Hwange is NOT! This is a park where you can get away from the crowds and immerse yourself in the peace and grandeur of this untouched and unspoilt slice of Africa. A mere two hours comfortable drive from Victoria Falls town will bring you to this awesome feast of the senses. Hwange National Park was founded in 1928 as a haven for the Big 5 and a multitude of plains game. It is in this fabled park that Flame of Africa was proud to initiate what is now known as the Save Hwange trust which assists in providing support in numerous fields e.g. fuel, spare parts etc. | <urn:uuid:93446048-2d86-4c38-b6a3-6ef815cb660a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://flameofafrica.com/zimbabwe | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942508 | 753 | 1.609375 | 2 |
Researchers at the U.S. National Institutes of Health and the Norwegian Institute of Public Health (NIPH) reviewed the medical records of 113,331 women pregnant in Norway during the 2009-2010 flu pandemic. While 2,794 expectant mothers were diagnosed with influenza, those who got the flu vaccination were about 70 percent less likely to get sick. However, women who contracted the flu while they were pregnant were more almost twice as likely to lose their babies before birth.
While there’s no firm proof that the flu directly causes a woman to miscarry or deliver a stillborn baby, the virus does appear to have a harmful effect on the fetus, according to Allen Wilcox, M.D., head the Reproductive Epidemiology Group at The National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences and study co-author.
That said, faulty research and hype about vaccine safety has made some pregnant women skeptical about protecting themselves from the flu. “There is no evidence of harm from the vaccine, and plenty of evidence of benefit,” says Wilcox. No wonder the World Health Organization has recommended it for years.
Wilcox says the vaccine can protect pregnant women in any trimester, the sooner the better. To locate the nearest available flu shot and schedule an appointment pronto: download the free TalkTo app or visit Talkto.com, type in “flu shot” and your location, and text the closest pharmacy or doctor’s office. You’ll get a response within minutes.
Here’s everything else you need to know to keep yourself and your loved ones safe from the flu:
Discover surprising walking tips, tricks, and techniques to melt fat fast and get a tighter, firmer butt with Walk Your Butt Off! Buy it now! | <urn:uuid:6185a6f7-5c44-484e-834f-49f79afc7c30> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.womenshealthmag.com/scoop/is-the-flu-shot-safe-for-pregnant-women/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9536 | 363 | 2.640625 | 3 |
British prime minister David Cameron and Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi gave powerful backing on Friday for suspending sanctions on the country, a stark shift in stance and a boon for a pariah state eager to come in from the cold.
Cameron, the first Western leader to visit Myanmar in decades, and Nobel laureate Suu Kyi said at a news conference in Yangon sanctions should be suspended, but not lifted altogether to pressure the quasi-civilian government to continue reforms.
Suu Kyi’s endorsement carries huge weight due to her international standing, with many Western diplomats admitting she has long influenced their policies towards Myanmar. The United States hinted after Suu Kyi won a parliamentary seat in an April 1 by-election seen as free and fair that it may also ease some embargoes.
Speaking on the porch of her lakeside home, which until 2010 had been a prison for much of her 15 years of detention, Suu Kyi said a sanctions suspension “would make it quite clear to those who are against reform that should they try to obstruct the way of the reformers, then sanctions could come back.”
Suu Kyi and Britain have long been the biggest advocates of sanctions, imposed over the past 23 years for human rights abuses by Myanmar’s military rulers. Critics argue they have kept the Southeast Asian country’s 60 million people in poverty.
It is now almost certain European Union sanctions will be suspended after the bloc reviews its restrictions on April 23, which would enable a flood of investment into a country rich in oil, gas and precious stones, with huge tourism potential.
Cameron, the first British prime minister to visit Myanmar since it won independence from Britain in 1948, said he would push for all EU sanctions to be suspended, except for an arms embargo.
“They haven’t done enough, there’s much more that they need to do, and we will keep that pressure on. That is why suspending sanctions, rather than lifting sanctions, is the right answer,” he said.
“If we really want to see the chance of greater freedom and democracy in Burma (Myanmar), we should respond when they take action,” he added.
Myanmar’s President Thein Sein, whom Cameron met on Friday, has stunned critics with reforms unthinkable a year ago, including the release of hundreds of political prisoners, easing media censorship and holding peace talks with ethnic rebels.
Myanmar won independence largely due to the efforts of Aung San, Suu Kyi’s late father, but a 1962 coup then heralded 49 years of military rule.
That ended a year ago after the transfer to Thein Sein’s quasi-civilian government stacked with former generals, a hegemony now threatened after Suu Kyi’s National League for Democracy (NLD) took 43 of 45 seats in April 1 by-elections. A parliamentary election takes place in 2015.
At a meeting at Myanmar’s imposing presidential palace in the remote, grandiose capital Naypyitaw, Thein Sein and Cameron discussed the importance of easing sanctions to convince hardliners in his cabinet and his army-backed ruling party that reform was the right path.
Cameron believed the changes implemented by Thein Sein were “sincere” and he was “cautiously optimistic” about the future. Suu Kyi said she believed the president was “genuine about democratic reforms”.
She said: “I don’t think the strength of those who do not want democracy could compare in any way with the strength of the people’s desire for democracy. This is why I am optimistic, but cautiously.”
Countries are now vying for business and influence in a nation rich in untapped resources and desperate to attract foreign investment. European firms fear Asian rivals are securing a foothold and already boosting their presence.
EU sanctions, which are less stringent than those of the United States, include assets freezes, bans on arms sales and investments or trade related to timber or mining of metals and gemstones. It does not prohibit investment in other sectors.
The restrictions also deny Myanmar access to the generalised System of Preferences, which give trade privileges to poorer countries, but EU diplomats say changing that could take time.
Some experts say Myanmar’s rapid opening up to foreign trade could result in rushed investments that benefit only the economic elite closely allied with the military old guard.
Cameron invited the Oxford-educated Suu Kyi to visit London in June. She has long refused to leave Myanmar due to fears she would not be allowed back by its military leaders. That stance cost her the chance to be with her husband, Michael Aris, who died of cancer while she was under house arrest in Yangon.
“Two years ago I would have said thank you for the invitation, but sorry,” she said, when asked whether she would accept Cameron’s offer. “Now I’m able to say ‘well perhaps’, and that’s great progress.” -By Mohammed Abbas | <urn:uuid:c94b84c3-60e6-4d58-8ad4-0f2fa06f5456> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.intellasia.net/british-pm-suu-kyi-back-suspension-of-burma-sanctions-193889 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958663 | 1,065 | 1.9375 | 2 |
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The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea announced today that they would begin negotiations to set up a free-trade area to promote trade and investment among the three countries.
The leaders of China, Japan and South Korea announced today that they would begin negotiations to set up a free-trade area to promote trade and investment among the three countries, the New York Times reported.
It’s the first time the three countries have declared their intention to establish a free-trade accord, according to the New York Times. The talks are expected to begin this year.
China, Japan and South Korea are three of Asia’s four biggest economies and have a total market of more than 1.5 billion people, Bloomberg News reported.
Trade among the three countries totaled $690 billion in 2011, according to a Chinese government report, Bloomberg News reported. The report said China is Japan and South Korea’s largest trading partner, and Japan and South Korea are China’s fourth- and sixth-largest trading partners, respectively, according to the New York Times.
More from GlobalPost: Pakistan, India to normalize trade by end of year
"The free-trade agreement will unleash economic vitality of the region and boost economic integration," Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao said at a news conference in Beijing with Japan's Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda and South Korean President Lee Myung-bak, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Japanese Prime Minister Yoshihiko Noda said trilateral cooperation is needed if the Asia-Pacific region is to be the growth center of the world, Bloomberg News reported.
There will likely be some resistance in each country to the idea of a free-trade area, Wang Shenshen, an economist at Okasan Securities Co. in Tokyo, told Bloomberg News before the announcement. Chinese manufacturers may push back against an influx of goods from South Korea and Japan, and South Korea’s agriculture industry may have problems with a free-trade agreement, Wang noted. “It won’t be smooth sailing to reach a final deal,” she said.
More from GlobalPost: Yandex, Russia's Google, takes off | <urn:uuid:e215ea33-75ce-4326-8c20-8780c212be20> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.globalpost.com/dispatch/news/business/emerging-markets/120513/free-trade-talks-china-japan-south-korea | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92969 | 452 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Hoeven proclaims Suicide Prevention Month; N.D. ranks 15th in the U.S. for suicide deathsGov. John Hoeven has proclaimed September as Suicide Prevention Month in North Dakota.
Gov. John Hoeven has proclaimed September as Suicide Prevention Month in North Dakota.
According to the North Dakota Department of Health, suicide is the second leading cause of death among North Dakotans ages 15 to 24 and the 10th leading cause of death overall. North Dakota ranks 15th in the nation for its rate of suicide deaths. In 2008, 86 North Dakotans died as a result of suicide.
Suicide affects everyone, but some groups are at higher risk than others, the Health Department said. Men in North Dakota and nationally are four times more likely than women to die from suicide. In North Dakota, people in the 25 to 34 age group and American Indians are also at higher risk.
“Knowing the risk factors and warning signs for suicide may save a life,” said Gail Erickson, suicide prevention director for the Department of Health. “It’s important to realize, however, that not everyone who displays these warning signs will attempt suicide.”
Risk factors for suicide include, but are not limited to:
* Previous suicide attempt(s).
* History of depression or other mental illness.
* Alcohol or drug abuse.
* Family history of suicide or violence.
* Physical illness.
* Feeling alone.
“Unfortunately, someone dies as a result of suicide every four days in North Dakota,” said State Health Officer Terry Dwelle, M.D., M.P.H.T.M. “About 5 million Americans have lost a loved one to suicide in the last 25 years. That’s why it’s important for all of us to recognize the warning signs and reach out to people who are having difficulty coping.”
The warning signs of suicide can include:
* Changes in a person’s mood, diet or sleeping pattern.
* Increased alcohol or drug use.
* Withdrawal from friends, family and society.
* Rage or uncontrolled anger.
* Reckless behavior.
Some of the ways to be helpful to someone who is threatening suicide include:
* Be direct. Talk openly and matter-of-factly about suicide.
* Be willing to listen. Allow expressions of feelings. Accept the feelings.
* Be nonjudgmental. Don’t debate whether suicide is right or wrong, or whether feelings are good or bad. Don’t lecture on the value of life.
* Get involved. Become available. Show interest and support.
* Don’t dare him or her to do it.
* Don’t act shocked. This will put distance between you.
* Don’t be sworn to secrecy. Seek support.
* Offer hope that alternatives are available but do not offer glib reassurance.
* Take action. Remove lethal means, such as guns or stockpiled pills.
* Get help from someone specializing in crisis intervention and suicide prevention. In North Dakota, help is available by calling 2-1-1, a free and confidential 24/7 information, crisis management, and referral services program.
The North Dakota Chapter of the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention raises funds for scientific research, education and treatment programs, as well as programs to support those who have lost loved ones to suicide. This year, five “Out of the Darkness” Community Walks have been scheduled in North Dakota to raise funds for suicide prevention and awareness. The event will be held in Minot Sept. 19, Grand Forks Sept. 20, Fargo Sept. 27, and Bismarck Oct. 3. Williston held a community walk was held Sept. 13. For information about locations and starting times, contact Mary Weiler at firstname.lastname@example.org or www.afsp.org.
The North Dakota Department of Health, the North Dakota Department of Human Services, Mental Health America of North Dakota, and American Foundation for Suicide Prevention are partnering with local organizations, tribal agencies, the Veterans Administration, and the North Dakota National Guard to address suicide prevention through the North Dakota Suicide Prevention Coalition.
For information about developing local prevention programs or for more information about suicide prevention, contact Gail Erickson, North Dakota Department of Health, at 701-328-4580. | <urn:uuid:0acdb54a-8839-48ee-b0c9-89737d9a988a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jamestownsun.com/event/article/id/94109/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921741 | 919 | 2.734375 | 3 |
IAU Circular No. 9039, issued on 2009 Apr 19, announces our recovery of P/2002 LZ_11 (LINEAR), now designated P/2009 H1 (LINEAR); it was last observed in January 2004 (MPC code #372, Geisei).
After several frustating and unsuccessful tryings due to moonlight interference and stellar crowding (the searched comet was in Sgr) we initially picked-up P/2002 LZ11 on 2009, Apr. 17.45 through a remotely controlled telescope of the GRAS network (details on image):
In our stacking the comet was located about 4 arcmin to the East-Northeast of the ephemerids position: co-adding of 25 unfiltered exposures, 120 seconds each, through a 0.25-m, f/3.4 reflector + CCD, revealed the presence of an extremely compact coma, about 12-arcsec in diameter, and a short tail nearly 25-arcsec long toward West.
We tried further follow-up on April 18 from the same site and from the Skylive-Grove Creek Obs. (MPC #E16), however our efforts were hampered due to the star crowding and to the unsuitable observing conditions (a magn. 19 comet seen through amateurs instrumentation, needs a pretty good sky).
Hopefully we were more lucky using the 0.37-m, f/14 reflector + CCD of the Iowa Robotic Observatory near Sonoita, AZ ((MPC# 857) over the same night: co-adding of 20 unfiltered exposures, 120 seconds each, showed the presence of a tiny coma about 8-arcsec in diameter, with a faint extension toward West (two bright field stars were interfering with the detection of the small tail we had recorded well the day before). Our image is available here:
According to the orbital elements published so far by the Minor Planet Center website (http://tinyurl.com/cqnamw), perihelion will occur on March 2010, with the comet at 2.4 AU from the Sun. This Jupiter-family comet moves along an elliptic orbit in about 7 years, having a semi-major axis of 3.7 AU, eccentricity of 0.35 and an inclination of 11.5 deg.
Ernesto Guido, Giovanni Sostero, Paul Camilleri and Enrico Prosperi | <urn:uuid:bde7884b-02c0-43e0-9441-195b0b72cedd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://remanzacco.blogspot.sg/2009_04_01_archive.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.930715 | 503 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Rules of '8 Cities'
Summary: 8 cities are placed randomly in a 6x6 grid. Both players build roads between cities and try to connect the most cities to the main city.
Turns: White starts by placing 1 road, then black 2 roads, then white 2 roads, then black 2 roads again, and so on. Each road you build from a city to an adjacent land tile or from one of your build roads to an adjacent land tile or city. If one side of your road doesn't lead to a city, then you must build there. Exception: if you can't connect any more cities to this road, then you loose this road. (eventually 'chainreaction') You cannot build roads parallel at the same place as your opponent, but roads can cross each other.
Pass: If all your roads are connected to eachother or to cities, you can choose to pass. This means you won't place any more roads this turn. If you pass at the start of a game, your opponent can start the game by placing 2 roads, just like his normal turn.
Flags: If your roads completes a new connection between cities, then you get your flag in these cities so that you see in each city how many cities are connected by your roads.
End of the game: The game ends as soon as one player has no possibilities anymore to make new connections to get new flags. This can happen during opponent’s move.
Winner of "8Cities": Now look which city has the most flags. If several cities have the most flags, then all these cities count. Look who has the most flags in this city/cities. This player wins. Is this equal, then you count the second-most important city/cities too, and so on.
Author: Corné van Moorsel. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:8e55a369-9fc2-42e7-93bd-2a2659223c50> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.mastermoves.eu/allgames.php?gametypeid=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00028-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966283 | 382 | 2.75 | 3 |
TrendLabs researchers recently received a report on malvertisements that appeared while a user was browsing through a popular Web-based email service.
At first glance, the ads may seem like the typical Web browser nuisance. However, random ads were proven to be vectors for downloading malware onto users’ systems. In one instance, an ad pointed to a URL containing exploits that download and execute several files on affected systems. The downloaded files include a malicious Java file (detected by Trend Micro as JS_BYTEVER.BG) and .PDF files (detected as TROJ_PIDIEF.GBA and TROJ_PIDIEF.GBB), among others.
Trend Micro™ Smart Protection Network™ protects product users from this threat by detecting and preventing the execution of the malicious files via the file reputation service. It also protects customers by blocking user access to malicious websites.
Non-Trend Micro product users can also stay protected from such threats via free tools like Web Protection Add-On, which prevents user access to potential malicious websites.
Update as of March 17, 2010, 4:23 p.m. (GMT +8:00):
Senior threat response engineer Vincent Cabuag adds that this relatively new encryption technique renders standard analysis tools useless in detecting the malicious script inside the .PDF file. The malicious script is obfuscated in a way that requires the use of certain APIs to decrypt. Thus, it would require manual analysis to be able to emulate the embedded script.
Update as of March 18, 2010, 7:54 p.m. (GMT +8:00):
According to further research by Baltazar, the attack used the “Liberty Exploit Kit,” which exploits known vulnerabilities found in Internet Explorer (IE) like MS06-014 (MDAC) and MS DirectShow. The exploit kit also includes exploits targeting Flash 9 (the most probable vector for malicious ads) and the above-mentioned PDF exploits.
Thus, no user intervention is necessary for an attack to be successful. Users must keep their Flash, Adobe Reader, and IE browsers updated with the latest security patches in order to stay protected from this attack.
Share this article | <urn:uuid:dfbbfde1-29f0-41df-bf49-d257b9928849> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.trendmicro.com/trendlabs-security-intelligence/malicious-ads-lead-to-pdf-exploits/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908301 | 449 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Do you want to live life bravely? It’s what Navy SEALs do best, and it’s all down to mental conditioning. You don’t need military training to live a courageous life. We got the secrets to bravery from Master Chief Will Guild, a 29 year Navy SEAL veteran. Guild mentors incoming candidates – and these are the five values he instills in them.
- The first value: Put your teammates first. Your teammates can be your family, friends or coworkers. Guild calls this “an exoteric responsibility” – which means, you’re living outside yourself. When you’re acting exoterically, you’re acting ethically because you’re asking yourself: “How do I treat others? How do I fit into the team? What’s my responsibility to them?” Ask yourself those questions, and you’ll be a better, braver person.
- The next value to embrace: Allow yourself to be afraid. Some people find fear overwhelming – and they freeze. Instead, reach out to family, friends, or coworkers. Fear is a shared experience. Other people can help you handle it, and being okay with fear is the first step to overcoming it.
- The third step to living a brave life: Control your emotions physically. Ask a friend or family member to study your posture when you’re happy or content. Then practice that posture over and over again. Your body can influence your mind – and you can literally control your emotions this way.
- The fourth step to being courageous: Break down big goals. It’s like the old saying, ‘how do you eat an elephant? One mouthful at a time.” Don’t wake up on Monday morning and say “Four days and 16 hours until Friday.” Instead, wake up and say, “One hour until breakfast.” Stay in the present – because living in the moment means that you can’t dread the future.
- The final value that Guild instills in his Navy SEALs: Have faith in yourself. Don’t let life intimidate you. You’re a lot stronger physically and mentally than you think you are. | <urn:uuid:d0594437-c83e-47da-adf8-5dc0dc47a90f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tesh.com/story/health-and-well-being-category/do-you-want-to-live-bravely/cc/6/id/17590 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913569 | 466 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Catch 22: Carrboro 2012
By Judith Blau
As many readers will remember, the expression “Catch 22” was made famous by Joseph Heller in his 1961 novel by the same title. More generally, it refers to a problematic situation for which the only solution is denied by a circumstance inherent in the problem. It is a logical conundrum. The novel reveals unspeakable horrors as the airmen stranded on the Mediterranean island of Pianosa struggle to keep their sanity through bombardments. The novel asks us to think deeply about personal gain versus the collective good; about people who scramble on the backs of others in their pursuit of greed and self-interest; about the dangers of profit-seeking at the expense of others; about justice and human rights.
But if there is a conundrum – a Catch 22 – for the novelist’s protagonists, there is none for the reader. We want them to overcome their self-interest; we want them to be rescued; we want them to “live happily ever after.”
There is a Catch 22 hanging out in our community, and we need to solve it together. Some employers are altruistically taking the risks; others are ruthlessly exploiting their workers. Meanwhile, we stand by idle, twiddling our thumbs. That is not what Carrborites are known for. It is not what we are proud of.
Let me be specific.
Carrboro has an outstanding labor pool of skilled and unskilled workers, many of whom have been in our community for as many as 18 years. There is no path to citizenship, and this is the Catch 22 – employers want the skills and labor of undocumented workers, but they also consider such employment to be sub rosa.
Department of Labor laws cover all workers, documented or not: dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs48.htm
Unfortunately, independent contractors are not covered, and most undocumented workers are independent contractors: dol.gov/whd/regs/compliance/whdfs13.pdf
However, if workers are employees of an LLC, their employment with other employers is protected. See the SCA Act: dol.gov/compliance/laws/comp-sca.htm
I am reaching out to residents of Carrboro to help me pursue this path, in the spirit of “Alice’s Restaurant,” another 1960s classic that also revealed a Catch 22. You youngsters can find the lyrics to Arlo Guthrie’s song here: arlo.net/resources/lyrics/alices.shtml
Judith Blau is the director of the Human Rights Center of Chapel Hill and Carrboro and a professor of sociology at UNC.
Comments are closed. | <urn:uuid:335928dc-b5d7-49c3-acf9-9ae038d8f9d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.carrborocitizen.com/main/2012/06/28/catch-22-carrboro-2012/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964022 | 570 | 1.695313 | 2 |
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KRWG.ORG-The Region's Home Page
Thu January 31, 2013
Doing The Work: What '30 Rock' Meant For Women On Television
I have never considered Liz Lemon a feminist icon of any kind, nor have I ever considered 30 Rock especially strong when it comes to gender politics.
I don't care for the obsessive joke-making about how Liz is ugly/mannish/old/awkward, and I haven't always been comfortable with the way some of the "she's baby-crazy!" or "she's relationship-crazy!" comedy has played. I was ambivalent about the way the Jezebel parody and the "women aren't funny" storylines were executed.
And yet, I think it's been one of the most important, helpful, meaningful, landscape-altering shows for women in the history of television for one simple reason: whatever the positives and negatives of the show's voice and aesthetic, it is Tina Fey's voice and her aesthetic, and everyone knows it.
Women in television comedy — even the great ones, even the icons — have traditionally been presented mostly as gifted performers or, at the very least, people whose sensibilities primarily advanced their own performing careers. They might run successful production companies, as Mary Tyler Moore did and as Lucille Ball did, and they've often been their own producers and had substantial power over their own shows, as Roseanne was and as Cybill Shepherd was. But they haven't generally become known for creating, as writers, a style of comedy that didn't have to revolve around their own performances and translated to writing for others. That's not to say they weren't doing it, not at all — I don't know how to even process the fact that more people don't know who Paula Pell is — but they didn't usually become famous for it.
Certainly, Tina Fey became famous as a writer hand-in-hand with her portrayal of Liz Lemon, and that performance has been much decorated and is one key to the show's success. But 30 Rock has such a bent, frantic, absurdist tone that it reads as a tremendously specific comedy style unto itself, and it's a style that is understood, here and everywhere, to belong to Tina Fey the writer, not just Tina Fey the performer. While she obviously collaborates with other writers in executing that style, it belongs to her, it travels with her, and it's benefited other performers, especially Alec Baldwin and Tracy Morgan (not to mention what it's done for Jon Hamm, Matt Damon, Jason Sudeikis, James Marsden, Will Arnett, Carrie Fisher, and countless others), at least as much as it's benefited her. I'm not even sure Liz Lemon is the standard-bearer for Tina Fey creations; I think Tracy Jordan might be, or Jack Donaghy might be.
Jen Chaney at Slate asked the other day whether 30 Rock has changed the landscape for women, and seemingly concluded that it mostly hasn't, because most shows are still run by men. That's certainly true, and the small numbers of women in writers' rooms is still one of those problems that's so depressingly resistant to change that it's hard to know what anybody can say about it that's new.
But there's more to the question than that. 30 Rock may not have undone years and years of gender imbalance in running shows, and it may not have changed hiring practices, but it's hard to remember now that before it came along, the entire idea of a woman having a comedy brand that translated to comedic opportunities for people other than herself was depressingly shaky as a public proposition. Again, that doesn't mean women couldn't do it or weren't writing comedy — there were women writers from the very beginning at Saturday Night Live and elsewhere. But comedy's creative centers of gravity in the public imagination were not generally women.
In recent years, that discussion has started — just started — to shift. I don't like Chelsea Handler's style of comedy, for instance, but it is hers, and it is associated with her, and it is assumed to be something a network can translate into a comedy she isn't performing on. While that comedy, Are You There, Chelsea? failed (justifiably), it made it on the air, and it's spun out into Whitney Cummings not only creating a show for herself, but also co-creating 2 Broke Girls. And Mindy Kaling, while she does perform on her show (as Fey does), works more in the Tina Fey model. She had a relatively small on-screen role on The Office and a much larger one in the writers' room, and she came to The Mindy Project known as much for her style and her writing as for her performance. And of course, there's Lena Dunham, who appears on Girls but whose public image — both positive and negative — is at least as driven by what people think of her as a creator and writer as it is by her acting.
It's true that a lot of comedies created or co-created by women have been canceled — Don't Trust The B, Ben & Kate, to name two particular bummers — but it's also true that comedy in general is struggling mightily with ratings issues. That those shows happened, and that their sensibilities were so closely identified with their female, non-performing creators, is something.
We've all seen enough purported Years Of The Woman in every field you can think of to be skeptical of any claims to real progress. But Tina Fey The Writer certainly moved the ball at least a yard or two in a couple of important ways. First, anyone still trying to remain above water while clinging to the theory that women aren't funny now has Tina Fey tied around one ankle like a 20-pound stone — and it's not just because of 30 Rock. She and Amy Poehler breezed into the Golden Globes and blasted just about every host that silly show has ever had clean out of the water. That doesn't mean everyone has given up, and heaven knows it must be a soul-battering drag to be the most visible public face of this dumb debate, but she put her head down and made her show, and it helped. She talks in her book, Bossypants, about ignoring sexism as much as she can, and there's a decent argument that not everyone has that luxury. But no matter what she had said, or how out-front she'd chosen to be about it, the most important thing about her work was always going to be the fact that she did it, rather than what she said about doing it.
Second, she created an example to aspire to for women who want to enter comedy known primarily as writers and creators, without necessarily expressing themselves primarily through their own performances. It's one thing to create a comedy persona, but it's another to be known as a creator of a distinct style.
I don't think it was ever the intent that 30 Rock would be feminist; it was the intent that it would be hilarious, and it often was. I don't think Tina Fey came to prove anything about women; she came to write jokes. She came in as an underdog to Aaron Sorkin's Studio 60 On The Sunset Strip, and she wrote the show for seven seasons. It was strange and uneven and wackadoo, like it was being held hostage by the Dread Pirate Roberts and would likely be killed in the morning, but it went on through boyfriends and marriage and kids and Jack finally getting his big chance to run GE. What makes it important for women is not its storylines about work-life balance or adoption or body image; what makes it important for women is its indelibility and its specificity. It could be and could have been no one else's. | <urn:uuid:1700e060-5df9-4e59-b4c3-c5426c276acd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://krwg-tv.org/post/doing-work-what-30-rock-meant-women-television | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987985 | 1,599 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Posted by Bruce Kahl on March 31, 2003
In Reply to: Origin of a weather proverb posted by Lucky on March 31, 2003
: Can anyone give me the origins of this weather proverb?
: "When the ditch and pond affect the nose,
: Look out for rain and stormy blows."
"When the ditch and pond affect the nose, Then look out for rain and storm blows"
"Sound traveling far and wide, A stormy day will betide."
Rain develops as the density of the air drops. This density change causes sound waves to travel differently, usually farther than normal.
This allows for a better mixing of the air which carries the fragrance of the flowers, or the putrid smell of the marsh or ditch to the nose.
High air pressure, associated with fair weather, tends to hold earthly scents to their source. When low pressure arrives, the odors are released and can be sniffed. | <urn:uuid:fe809929-966c-4d63-872a-308c50d4bb4f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.phrases.org.uk/bulletin_board/20/messages/59.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928453 | 194 | 2.921875 | 3 |
The landscapers planted a new tree (1 1/2 diameter) in the middle of the sod they also installed. They have the yard set to be watered 3x daily for half an hour at a time (the sprinkler heads are the low-flow Hunter rotator ones).
Is this too much water for the tree? If I tone back the water on the sod will that be too little water for the lawn? Do I need to give the tree a deep watering at some point?
One suggestion I have found is to remove the sod in a 6' ring around the tree -- but doesn't that ignore the fact that there is still water going to that area, and probably even more water to the tree since there's no sod to soak it up?
Edit: Some more information - Yard is in Colorado (very dry, has been in the 80s), with Colorado's typical clayey soil. The tree is a Box Elder. | <urn:uuid:55f871e7-0603-435a-ae8e-f7d569d47172> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gardening.stackexchange.com/questions/5257/watering-a-new-tree-in-the-middle-of-new-sod?answertab=oldest | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969816 | 192 | 1.601563 | 2 |
ARAN is seventeen years fighting animal abuse on a national level. Way back when the group was first formed, there was a promise made to the animals that we hear their cries and we are coming to help. Since then, we have being an outspoken voice for animals on almost every issue possible and have grown into a hugely respected and vibrant voice for the animals.
When word broke amongst reputable Irish animal rescue groups that Dunnes Stores were no longer accepting store fundraisers for these charities we were not going to sit back and let this go unnoticed without doing something to help. Outside of signing petitions and calling the store for comment we organised a gathering of caring people to bring the message directly to where the decisions are made - their head office. Recently a crowd of supporters gathered with rescued dogs calling on the supermarket giant to reinstate store fundraising and to at least afford us the opportunity to meet and discuss the very reasons for the ban which has literally pulled the carpet from underneath the many dedicated and over-stretched animal rescue groups who have long relied on such funding. Prior to when our demonstration started, news was breaking on radio stations across the nation about our demonstration, online news websites were also covering the story – helping to generate further public awareness for the issue and of course it also enabled us to get the plight of abused animals back into the public spotlight. During the demonstration we chanted outside of their head office before marching onto their store on George's Street. Whilst the demonstration was going on, supporters were politely calling Dunnes Stores to register their concern with their fundraising ban. To date Dunnes Stores has not responded to any emails from groups, members of the public or indeed the media. ARAN would urge Dunnes Stores to meet with us and other concerned animal groups to at least discuss the issue so that both parties know going forward know what the situation is, but for now we are literally out in the cold with the very animals who need our help. Watch the video of the demonstration, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a0dZxsRjsGU.
ARAN would like to thank the people that made it along today, the groups that sent in supportive messages, the media that covered the story. We would also like to thank Maureen O'Malley from Mayo Cat Rescue for traveling all the way from Mayo to show her support and we would like to thank those who travelled from Kildare and beyond. It proves just one hour of your time can make a huge difference.
We cannot overly state how important your support is right now in the fight to end animal abuse. Whilst we know the job at hand is a long one and in many ways we may not live to see an end to much of the abuse. But lack of action or just leaving the fight to those currently active will be detrimental to the cause of fighting cruelty to animals and animal injustice. ARAN is making an appeal to people who care, and there is many, to please commit, right now, to making 2013 the year you attend more of our demonstrations, or if not ours, then another group's, but please do something. We will not get very far with the will of a few. Please re-commit to doing more than you have ever done this year to bring animals more peace and comfort.
We very much appreciate and value the support of our members, supporters and campaigners who back and support our work, without you there would be no ARAN. But thankfully we are an ever expanding group of kind people. | <urn:uuid:c6ca99ea-b432-4f24-bd6d-51543186b60a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aran.ie/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=136:aran-urges-dunnes-stores-to-reinstate-animal-charity-fundraisng&catid=1:latest-news | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970195 | 708 | 1.585938 | 2 |
The Teacher Leader programs are designed to empower teachers to address authentic needs in classroom management, differentiated instruction, and most importantly improve student learning. Teacher leaders are essential in leading schools to overcome student barriers to learning, particularly those that emerge from high-need environments. Placing highly trained teachers who are prepared for systemic change and leadership in schools will help close achievement gaps, facilitate learning for all students, and develop equitable practices to meet the needs of diverse learners.
- To directly impact student learning
- To include a Professional Education Core rooted in Pedagogy, Leadership, and Content applicable to all programs of study in teaching
- To allow individualized programs based on the candidates' professional learning goals | <urn:uuid:84ee6678-0519-4132-a88c-b6940a41d51f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www3.wku.edu/online/grad-programs/mae-mge/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9612 | 138 | 2.984375 | 3 |
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Holiday Volunteer Opportunities
Wouldnít it be nice to show our sons the joy of giving to people they donít know, especially to children who donít have anything else this holiday season? If youíre looking for a way to show your son how to give to those less fortunate this holiday season, consider one of the following.
What To Give Your Son's Teacher
At certain times during the year it is expected that you will give your sonís teacher a gift. What gifts are good choices? Are some gift cards better than others?
Appropriate Uses for Facebook
How we use Facebook vis-a-vis our sons changes over time. Don't forget to reevaluate what you share about your son, and with whom you share it, as he gets older.
Letting Your Son Have Contacts
Deciding to let your son get contact lenses can be a big decision for any parent. Most boys who wear glasses start asking for contacts almost right away, but how does a parent know when her son is really ready?
Apps to Encourage Your Son to Read Classics
If your son needs a little encouragement to read the classics, these two apps will ensure that he sees these works for the exciting literature they are.
Teaching Children Not to Stare
Having your son stare at someone can make you as a parent uncomfortable, but once you understand that staring is age-appropriate behavior, you can use your son's staring as a teaching moment.
Potty Training Your Son
Potty training does not have to be a nightmare, but it probably will be a challenge. Be prepared for that challenge and know that you will succeed!
Fun Halloween Treats
Many moms want to do something cute and unexpected to surprise their sons on Halloween, but feel that they lack the creative genius needed to do so. Donít fall into the trap of thinking this way! Cute food ideas can really make Halloween special for your son.
What to Do When Your Son is Diagnosed with OCD
While OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is something that many people think of as an adult illness, it can also affect children. Here are some things to consider if your son is diagnosed.
Breakfast Ideas for Your Picky Son
Breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but what do you do if your son doesn't like breakfast food? Try some of these great ideas!
Website copyright © 2013 Minerva WebWorks LLC. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:c6d47412-e6c7-402d-b309-1fa5053d1ee7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bellaonline.com/Archive.asp?name=Sons&page=3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920814 | 561 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Journal Issue: America's High Schools Volume 19 Number 1 Spring 2009
As the twenty-first century opens, says Robert Balfanz, the United States is developing a deep social consensus that American high schools should ensure that all adolescents graduate from high school prepared for postsecondary schooling and training. Balfanz asks how well high schools are succeeding in this mission and whether they can ultimately fulfill it.
Balfanz first surveys the structure and demographics of today's high schools. Forty percent of white students attend high schools that are 90 percent or more white, while roughly one-third of Latino and African American students attend high schools that are 90 percent or more minority. Minority students are also much more likely than white students to attend high schools that confront the challenges of concentrated poverty. In predominantly white, affluent suburban school districts, nearly every student arrives ready for high school work and then graduates. In all-minority inner city schools in high-poverty neighborhoods, most entering students lack a good middle school education and only half to two-thirds graduate.
With only a third to a half of high school graduates today prepared to succeed in college, how likely is it that American high schools will succeed in their mission of preparing all students for additional schooling or training? Balfanz argues that reforms over the past twenty-five years offer some hope. The standards and accountability movement has made the American high school a more focused and academic place. College preparatory course-taking has increased substantially, as has standardized testing. Mandatory exit exams have been imposed. And during the past decade, in particular, reformers have made a concerted effort to improve the low- performing high schools that serve low-income and minority students. Investments by the federal government and by foundations have led to the development of several types of reforms that have been proven effective, thus raising hopes that the nation's lowest-performing high schools can better serve their students. Still, the American high school has a considerable way to go to be able to prepare all students for further schooling or training. To advance all its students, it must find a way to bring to scale the methods and mechanisms, conditions, and know-how that have enabled a few low-performing high schools to achieve this transformation. | <urn:uuid:9965b784-0308-471e-b01b-b6444d93fa63> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.princeton.edu/futureofchildren/publications/journals/article/index.xml?journalid=30&articleid=35 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970835 | 450 | 2.5625 | 3 |
What's the Latest Development?
People who thought they could get away with not paying Sweden's mandatory TV tax because they replaced their TV with a mobile device received bad news last week: The government has decided to start collecting the monthly SEK173 (about US$27) fee from them as well. The Radiotjänst collection agency is doing this by checking its database and calling on those customers who haven't paid the fee. The move has created a backlash, with some residents calling it "completely absurd."
What's the Big Idea?
Currently there aren't many Swedes who are completely TV-free, but the decision to collect from computer and mobile device owners is seen as an attempt to get ahead of fast-changing technology and the ways it's being used to access content. Revenue generated from the tax is used to fund public broadcasting, which is facing market pressure from newcomers Netflix and HBO, each of which charge only SEK79 (about US$12) a month for their services. Despite the current backlash, Radiotjänst spokesman Johan Gernandt believes most Swedes will get used to it since "[n]ine out of 10 already pay a TV license [fee]."
Photo Credit: Shutterstock.com | <urn:uuid:e7f991b2-1866-48db-b2da-a82952460ec6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bigthink.com/ideafeed/sweden-to-mobile-tech-users-pay-the-tv-tax | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972985 | 254 | 1.953125 | 2 |
Today, you know it as the Uptown Baptist Church, located at 1011 Wilson, at Sheridan. A hundred years ago, it was known as the North Shore Congregational Church, established in 1900. This image is from my personal postcard collection.
In her book about the North Shore’s history, Matilda Carse writes, “The North Shore Congregational Church was the first church organized for Christian worship and work in the territory, more than a mile square, extending from Graceland avenue to Argyle avenue, and from Lake Shore to Clark street. An excellent class of people, of moderate means, were making their homes here, and readily responded to the first call for a church." (Thanks to elgatonegrobar.com for the quote.)
Carse further writes, "After a careful search for the ideal location for [a] new church (every possible site from Montrose boulevard to Lawrence avenue having been investigated), it was unanimously voted that the corner of Sheridan road and Wilson avenue was the strategic point. Accordingly, by vote of the church, the Trustees were authorized to purchase this site for the sum of $14,500.”
A radio show was later broadcast from NSC, We Preach Christ Crucified. An advertisement for the show read, "This building is located on a busy corner, 4600 North, in Chicago. More than 250,000 people pass the corner of Sheridan Rd. and Wilson Ave. every 24 hours." | <urn:uuid:87522a55-7ef8-41e3-b51d-3a03dc88c68e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://uptownhistory.compassrose.org/2010/10/north-shore-congregational-church.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.977752 | 308 | 1.8125 | 2 |
THE INAUGURATION OF THE 44TH PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES
Well, that was remarkably short. As expected, it went through themes of economic hardship, new cooperation and internationalism and a Call to Arms of service and responsibility. Note this article from Alex Smith that points to how different these themes are to those espoused by David Cameron in Britain. And check out this great video we just found online!
‘Our challenges may be knew, but those values upon which our success depends – tolerance and curiosity – these things are old, these things are true. They have been the quiet force of progress throughout our history. What is required of us now is a new era of responsbility, to ourselves, our nation and the world.’
‘This is the price and the promise of our citizenship. This is the meaning of our liberty.’
‘Why a man who couldn’t have been served in a restuarant 60 years ago, can now stand before you and take the oath.’
‘The spirit of service, a willingness to find something greater than themselves. It is this spirit that must inhabit us all.’
‘We can no longer afford indifference to the suffering outside our borders, for the world has changed and we must change with it.’
‘Our power grows through its prudent use, the tempering qualities of humility and restraint.’
On terrorists: ‘Our spirit is stronger and cannot be broken, you cannot outlast us and we will defeat you.’
‘To the Muslim world we seek a new way forward based on mutual interests and mutual respect.’
‘People will judge you on what you can build, not what you destroy.’ Lyndon Johnson anyone?
‘Those ideals still light the world and we will not give them up for expedience sake.’
‘Know that America is a friend of each nation and we are ready to lead once more.’
‘Without a watchful eye, the market can spin off on its own.’
‘We will build the roads and bridges, we will restore science, we will harness the sun and the winds and the soil to fuel our cars and run our factories…to meet the demands of a new age.’
‘There are some who suggest our system cannot tolerate too many big plans. Their memories are short. The question we ask is not whether our government is too big or too small, but whether it works.’
‘We remain the most propserous powerful nation on earth. Our capacity remains undiminished.’
‘Starting today, we must pick ourselves up, dust ourselves off, and begin the work of remaking of remaking America.’
‘All are equal, all are free and all deserve the same chance to pursue their full measure of hapiness.’
After a stumble at the very beginning, you get the feeling that the more Obama ease into this and starts feeling like he’s back on the campaign trail, the better it will become.
Well, I didn’t expect them to be late. But constitutionally, Barack Obama is now the President of the United States.
Here comes Barack! Oh, no, Yo-Yo Ma is up first. It’s starting to feel like a scene from the West Wing. Where’s Santos?
Joe Biden will go first, as is traditional, in pledging his oath. The oath is longer than I remember it! I thought it was just, ‘ I do solemny swear to preserve, protect and defend the constitution of the United States, so help me God.’
Aretha takes the stage! Odetta was due to sing today. She sadly died in December. But DC looks spectacular as Aretha booms ‘Freedom regins’ over the Mall, from the Capitol Building to the Washington Monument to the Lincoln Memorial, which hosted Bruce Springsteen et al on Sunday night.
Josh, I couldn’t agree more. Today’s events bring America full circle, from the original sin of slavery, through Civil War, segregation, Jim Crow and the Civil Rights movement.
Wow, George Bush looks frozen, as the speaker says ‘We gather to etch another line in the solid stone of History.’
‘Ladies and gentlemen, the President elect of the United States, Barack H. Obama.’ Who’d've thought two years ago that Barack Hussein Obama would be the President? The throngs are still singing ‘Yes We Can’ and ‘Obama’…it’s like a rally in the weeks before the election.
An estimated three million people are packing the streets of the Mall in Washington, DC. LabourList will be on hand to cherrypick the best lines from Obama’s speech, which is due to begin in 19 minutes.
George Bush looks more than a little nostalgic as he walks through the Capitol and out onto the deck for his last official act as president. | <urn:uuid:6415a429-ff81-40fa-bae6-924bcdf69267> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://labourlist.org/2009/01/you-know-they-said-this-day-would-never-come-the-obama-inauguration-live-blog/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94155 | 1,059 | 1.90625 | 2 |
A copper wire with a bifilar winding that has the opposing magnetic fields cancel each other.
Take a enamel copper wire and nick the middle then twist the wire into a double helix.
Now curl the wire into a spiral. This will generate scalar waves when there is a current.
It is believed that scalar waves have strange effects including the distortion of the temporal field. In his time travel reports, Steven Gibbs says that the caduceus wound coil can create tachyons and alter temporal phenomena. He talks about how to make a caduceus coil for time travel.
The HDR caduceus coil built by Steven Gibbs should have the ability to generate an electromagnetic field that disrupts time waves and alters the flow of chronoton particles. My experiment with a watch subjected to the "gibbs effect" establishes that something is causing a disruption in the normal flow of time.
I believe this is caused by scalar waves emanating from the Hyper Dimensional Resonator or HDR created by inventor Steven Gibbs. These waves interact with those of the electromagnet to create a temporal disruption that can affect clocks. See videos of HDR at HDRusers.com
Steven Gibbs told me that in his caduceus coil he uses 21 gauge pure copper wire. Tin alloy will mess it up. Also, aluminum wire is a poison. It generates harmonics that are wrong.
The HDR caduceus coil is that round doughnut shaped object at the bottom of the left hand corner in the picture below. This is I believe what makes the HDR work and provides the missing factor for Steven Gibbs HDR.
Insides of a Hyper Dimensional Resonator (HDR) from Steven Gibbs
Return to Flux Cap Main Menu | <urn:uuid:f6a1fa6e-e35f-414f-9710-57aa106b506e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fluxcap.com/HDR_Caduceus_Coil.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911306 | 352 | 3.015625 | 3 |
Green beans are a popular beginner vegetable for you or your kids to plant and to eat. They're easy to grow, cook, or freeze, but they are NOT always green! Add some novelty to your beginner bean experience with my favorite, non-green, green bean variety, 'Royal Burgundy'.
Every beginner vegetable garden should include green beans. The seeds are big, sturdy, and easy to handle, making them an ideal choice for new gardeners of any age. Your first bean crop is even more novel with green beans that AREN'T green. If the spring seed display at the store only has green snap beans, you can order seeds. Seed catalogs and seed selling websites offer a wide choice of green, purple, and even yellow bush beans.
Pretty purple pods
My favorite variety of bean produces pinkish-purple flowers and purple pods, and is named 'Royal Burgundy'. This bean isn't just for fun--it is serious about producing a tasty pot of beans, too. I first saw this variety in my favorite seed catalog, which indicated that 'Royal Burgundy' is a bush bean. In vegetable garden parlance, that means the plants grow as small bushes, rather than vines. You don't need a trellis for them, and they won't grow again next summer unless you plant seeds again.
A fungus among us
mini science lesson
Beans are one of the "nitrogen-fixing" crops that will actually be able to get its own nitrogen, with the aid of helper fungus that grows in its roots.
Beans are pretty self-sufficient, but there is one extra step you might like to take to ensure the biggest plants. This is optional; just a helper. Buy a "bean and pea inoculant." This is sold in small packets, about the size of a single-serving oatmeal packet. Inside the packet is a powder which is the spores of special fungus. Adding the spores when you plant helps guarantees that the beans will have the buddies they need in their roots to do the nitrogen job. Count out the number of beans you think you'll need and put them in a cup of water. Then drain the water, add inoculant and shake. Plant as directed.
Like most veggies, bush beans need a sunny garden. Like tomatoes and peppers, beans are a warm season crop. You'll plant your beans between May and July, depending on your gardening zone. Southern gardeners may plant earlier than northern ones; most U.S. gardeners can plant bush beans anytime in June. For an average family, plant a row at least ten feet long.
Plant the beans in rows, because you'll need to get to both sides of the plant when you harvest. Dig a 2-inch deep trench in a row that is 10 feet or so long, which ought to give you several meals of beans for an average family. (If you want to freeze or can your beans in quantity, Meyer Seed Company recommends twenty feet of row per person.) Set beans in the trench, a few inches apart, and cover with an inch of soil. We use our hands to scoot the dirt from the trench side over the beans and then pat-pat-pat to press the soil onto the beans. Water well. Within a week, you will probably spot arching green stems emerging in a somewhat straight line where you planted. Success!
In a matter of weeks, you'll have a row of knee high small bushes with pretty, light purple flowers. When the flowers fall off they will leave tiny purple beans in their places. The baby beans are tasty fresh off the plant. Pick the beans whenever you think they're big enough; once they've lengthened to about six inches they will get just slightly fatter, and bumpier as the seeds swell. At that point, the pods are getting tough. It's better to harvest while they're tasty and tender than let them get leathery. 'Royal Burgundy' has earned fans for its good tasting beans and reliable crops, as evidenced by the positive comments in PlantFiles.
A 'Royal Burgundy' bean has a fun trick up its sleeve: it changes color when you cook it. Be sure and let the kids watch the first time you drop these beans in hot water. The beans go from purple to green almost instantly. You'll appreciate the color change when you're blanching beans to freeze; once they've all turned, they can be scooped out of the hot water and put into the cold. 'Royal Burgundy' beans cook just like other stringless beans you've used. We eat them simply simmered with butter, maybe adding slivered almonds for a crunchy touch. A slow-cooker full of beans, new potatos and a chunk of ham is a dinner favorite. You'll find a green bean soup recipe, along with more good bean advice, in Green Bean Soup: a summer delight that cooks in a snap by Jill Nicolaus.
'Royal Burgundy' isn't the only purple bean out there, but it's one I have grown. I highly recommend this one for your first bean crop. If you'll be ordering your seeds, you might want to read the articles recently included in Dave's Mail Order Gardening Theme Week, and use Garden Watchdog to help you find seed vendors.
References and credits
Meyer Seed Company - The company catalog always includes a helpful table of planting information for the central Maryland grower. Meyer is selling 'Royal Burgundy' seed in this year's catalog.
Thumbanil photo taken by and property of author. Plate of beans photo taken by DG member "TuttiFrutti" and found in PlantFiles.
About Sally G. Miller
I grew up playing in the Maryland woods, and would still do it often if life allowed! Graduate of University of Maryland, my degree is in Agriculture. Gardens and natural areas give me endless opportunity for learning and wonder. Naturally (pun intended) my garden style leans towards the casual, and my cultural methods towards organic. I like to try new plants, and have "some of everything" in my indoor and outdoor gardens. Thanks go to my parents for passing along their love of gardening and nature, and my husband and kids for being patient when I get lost in the garden. | <urn:uuid:e249bee5-eda4-4348-aeb3-e3c9da86cc1f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/2119/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955711 | 1,296 | 2.75 | 3 |
SOUTH BEND — Hurricane Sandy will bring strong winds to the Michiana area today through at least Tuesday.
INTERACTIVE SANDY TRACKER/CRISIS MAP
LIVE SANDY VIDEO
The National Weather Service has issued a wind advisory through 8 p.m. Tuesday.
Winds will increase today into Tuesday morning.
There will be sustained winds of 20 to 35 mph, with gusts of 40 to 50 mph expected. Locations along Lake Michigan will likely experience wind gusts approaching 55 to 60 mph late tonight into Tuesday, according to the weather service.
Lawn furniture and other unsecured objects could be easily pick up by the winds, and branches could fall on power lines. Drivers of lightweight and high-profile vehicles should exercise caution on the road, the weather service stated.
Here is the South Bend area weather forecast for this week:
Partly sunny this afternoon, with a high near 48. Breezy, with gusts as high as 35 mph.
Mostly cloudy tonight, with a low around 39. Windy, with a north wind 25 to 30 mph, and gusts as high as 40 mph.
On Tuesday, rain is likely after 9 a.m. Cloudy, with a high near 46. Windy, with a north wind around 30 mph, and gusts as high as 45 mph.
On Tuesday night, showers are likely with a low around 39. Breezy, with a northwest wind 20 to 25 mph and gusts as high as 35 mph. Chance of precipitation is 70 percent.
Showers are likely on Wednesday, mainly before 9 a.m. High near 46. Northwest wind 15 to 20 mph, with gusts as high as 25 mph.
Thursday, Friday and Saturday are expected to be partly to mostly sunny, with highs around 50 degrees and lows in the upper 30s.
Sandy could lead to waves as high as 20-33 feet on parts of Lake Michigan and dangerous conditions on other Great Lakes, according to the National Weather Service.
The NWS has issued Great Lakes gale and storm warnings in effect through Wednesday. It says waves on Lake Michigan could be 10 to 18 feet by Monday afternoon, then build to 20 to 33 feet on Tuesday before subsiding. Waves on parts of Lake Superior and Lake Huron could top 20 feet.
Dangerous conditions are expected along piers and breakwalls in areas including southwestern Michigan and northern Indiana. Snow linked to the storm could fall in our region.
Hurricane Sandy strengthened early Monday, putting it on a collision course with two other weather systems that would create a superstorm. | <urn:uuid:48995b57-e825-424b-a4ba-15999c6599aa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wsbt.com/news/wsbt-sandy-promises-to-make-waves-in-michiana-20121028,0,4119584,print.story | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966193 | 540 | 1.625 | 2 |
When the going gets tough, the tough go it alone.
During recessions, when other job opportunities dry up, the ranks of the self-employed rise, says Brian Headd, economist at the U.S. Small Business Administration, or SBA.
Right now, about 12 million people are thinking about or launching a business, says Paul Reynolds, visiting professor at the School of Public Policy at George Mason University.
That's about 5 percent more than in 2008, he says, and it's more than the number of people getting married this year.
It's about as difficult to succeed in your own business as it is to make a marriage work. "After five years, about 49 percent of startups that were launched during recessionary times are still surviving," says Headd. (The success rate for businesses born in good economic times isn't much higher -- about 52 percent or 53 percent reach a five-year mark.)
Studies show that there's a big link between people who seek out classes or counseling on starting a business and entrepreneurial success, says Reynolds.
Fortunately, there are thousands of places around the country offering free or low-cost help, Reynolds says.
Anyone who asks a banker for a business loan is likely to be pointed toward help, says Rose Oswald Poels of the Wisconsin Bankers Association. Lenders expect a reasonable business plan before handing over a check, and help constructing a plan is a main offering of entrepreneurial help centers.
3 agencies to help small businesses
- Small Business Development Centers
- Women's Business Centers
- SCORE, a nonprofit affiliated with the SBA
Indeed, enthusiastic entrepreneurs can easily overestimate their business savvy. "Bankers want to see a business plan that's no longer than about seven pages, but a lot of people come in here with 100 pages and more," says Sarah Winters, program assistant at the Center for Women & Enterprise based in Boston.
You don't know what you don't know. If you're open to taking advice, says Reynolds, you'll stand a better chance of going it alone.
Each locality may have its own offerings, like classes sponsored by a city development office or chamber of commerce.
Here, though, is a primer on three of the prevalent programs nationwide:
1. Small Business Development Centers, or SBDCs, which operate under the auspices of the SBA, are the most prevalent entity offering help, Reynolds says.
These centers endeavor to grow entrepreneurial efforts across the country, but each center operates somewhat uniquely.
Even though the aim is to spur startups, don't be shocked if an SBDC counselor frowns on your idea.
For instance, Carol Cornell, director of the Northern Kentucky University SBDC, says she's now seeing many laid-off workers who want to open a restaurant, store or franchise outlet.
The poor economic climate, plus the fact that many pink-slipped workers think of these business opportunities as a "default" option because they're discouraged looking for work, often bodes ill for a business launch, says Cornell.Instead, she encourages many to scratch their entrepreneurial itch by selling their expertise -- whether it be accounting, marketing or other service -- on a freelance basis, while still devoting some time to a full-time job search. | <urn:uuid:34bae727-1bc5-4667-b496-3d9dd003998d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bankrate.com/finance/money-guides/3-ways-to-boost-your-small-business-1.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958689 | 669 | 1.921875 | 2 |
After 30 years of deregulation and privatization income inequality is greater today than at any other point since World II. That fact should surprise nobody. What is startling however is that America maintains greater levels of income inequality today than we did in 1774—even if slavery is factored in.
This discovery comes from a new paper published by University of California – Davis professors Peter Lindhert and Jeffrey Williamson. Jordan Weismann summarizes the two professors’ findings in The Atlantic:
Not only was income more equally divided in the colonies, but Americans across the economic spectrum tended to be richer than their European equivalents. Even slaves, who were sometimes paid a tiny sum for their forced labor in addition to shelter and food, technically earned more than the poorest Europeans, Lindert and Williamson write. (From a human rights perspective, they were obviously worse off). The one big exception to this rule was the top 1 percent: Europe’s elite were still wealthier than ours.
On measures of equality, the colonies also compare extremely well to the latter-day United States… By the time the Civil War came, the top 1 percent of U.S. households laid claim to 10 percent of the nation’s income, versus about 7 percent during the founders’ era. Today, the same group accounts for about 19 percent.
One factor that might explain this is the relatively modest role and influence of corporations in 18th century America. The non-partisan organization Reclaim Democracy describes the role of corporations in America after we achieved independence:
-Corporate charters (licenses to exist) were granted for a limited time and could be revoked promptly for violating laws.
-Corporations could engage only in activities necessary to fulfill their chartered purpose.
-Corporations could not own stock in other corporations nor own any property that was not essential to fulfilling their chartered purpose.
-Corporations were often terminated if they exceeded their authority or caused public harm.
-Owners and managers were responsible for criminal acts committed on the job.
-Corporations could not make any political or charitable contributions nor spend money to influence law-making.
Compare that with how today’s politicians pander to corporations and –voila!- you have the beginnings of an explanation for why America has greater levels of income inequality today than it did in 1774. | <urn:uuid:f83180fc-98fa-4173-97fc-1df8ae3fb495> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dailyagenda.org/2012/09/19/income-inequality-worse-today-than-in-1774/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968745 | 482 | 3.609375 | 4 |
One of the stated major objectives of the American war in Iraq is to establish a "democratic" form of government. Yet when we look at the way decisions were made in our war policy, American democracy itself is found to be seriously lacking.
The decision to go to war was one of the most important in our country's recent history. It affects our relationship with countries throughout the world as well as the viability of the United Nations. It involves a major expenditure of funds to implement the war and also has diminished the monetary resources that are available to address major domestic problems and challenges. American lives were lost and continue to be at risk on the battlefield. And as we anticipate terrorist responses to the war we initiated, it is possible lives will be lost in the future here at home.
In a truly democratic society, a policy of such major proportions and consequences would require vigorous public discussion and debate, so that the leaders and the citizens fully understand the nature and consequences of the decision and are given the opportunity to review it. But looking back over the past few weeks, one thing is obvious by omission: There was a lack of intelligent debate over the initial decision by the Bush administration to wage war against Iraq.
If citizens of the United States were not concerned about the lack of public debate here, it became particularly evident after the weekend meeting in the Azores between President Bush and the leaders of Great Britain and Spain. The nations decided to bypass getting authorization for the war from the United Nations and instead to act on their own. The day following the Azores meeting, there was a nine-hour debate in the British Parliament over Prime Minister Tony Blair's decision to join with the United States in a war against Iraq. Watching the televised Parliamentary debate here in the United States was an educational experience: It highlighted the inadequacy of the American discussion over whether to go to war and demonstrated how the British parliamentary system is better designed to hold its leaders accountable.
In British parliamentary debate, individual members of Parliament are not afraid of disagreement or "conflict" with either their leader or with the policies being considered. Some members raise their voices in anger; others jeer at answers that seem inadequate; some, as in this case, even let it be known that they would resign from important government positions in protest against what they believed to be an immoral or illegal policy. What seems at times to be almost the equivalent of a "fist fight" in the parliamentary debate is a vigorous thrashing out of issues accomplished within a set of formal and informal boundaries in behavior and courtesies.
During the honest and grueling debate in the Parliament, several of the most critical issues were considered, including: Could the conflict be justified under legal and moral rules? What were the implications of the strains on relationships among our traditional allies? And what would happen to both Iraq and the Middle East in the future assuming the initial invasion succeeded?
In response to these questions and challenges, Tony Blair had to explain, defend, and justify the anticipated war. He had to demonstrate a clear understanding of the historical and political issues and to articulate a position that would justify his support of the decision by the United States to go to war.
Prime Minister Blair responded to the challenge articulately and in a manner that was convincing to many in the room. In the end all members had to put themselves on the line by voting either to support or to oppose the actions of the government. Under the parliamentary system this vote is more than symbolic: If the vote were to go against the Prime Minister, he would be obligated to resign and new elections would be held. While deep divisions on this issue existed within the ruling Labor Party--and many of Blair's own members voted against their Prime Minister--the final vote supported the proposed policy.
Whether you agree or disagree with the outcome, you have to be struck by the intelligence of a process in which debate forces officials to demonstrate an understanding of their actions and to justify their positions to the entire country. Of equal importance, the televised debate allowed the British people to understand as fully as possible the nature of the grave political decision.
Contrast that debate to the lack of public discussion prior to the actions of the United States--the country that initiated the war. Decisions here were largely made behind closed doors. While there were rumors of disagreement between Secretary of State Colin Powell and Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, whatever debate occurred within the administration was not conducted in public. Whenever the President appeared to talk about the policy, it was in a controlled situation where no real debate was allowed. No act of Congress was requested to declare war against Iraq. As a result the people of this country were not "educated" to the policy issues, nor were they given the opportunity to concur or reject the policy. Instead we had to rely upon the media to provide whatever information it could obtain through its various sources. Ultimately we didn't (and still don't) even know our leader's depth of understanding of the implications and outcomes of this war, reinforcing a continuing stereotype of President Bush as an unintelligent and uninformed leader.
The contrast between Prime Minister Blair and President Bush and their ability to provide convincing information to the public became even more evident when the two leaders held a joint news conference at Camp David during the second week of the war. President Bush's answers to media questions contained repetitive assurances, platitudes, and virtually no substance; instead, his answers served as examples of information "spin" on what he thought the public should hear. Prime Minister Blair's crisp, substantive responses stood in stark contrast, demonstrating a breadth and depth of understanding. For example, when asked about our allies' opposition to America's policy, President Bush merely replied that many countries support us--without answering the question. Prime Minister Blair spoke about the seriousness of the disagreements and the need to remedy them; at the same time he elaborated on the importance to continue with the war policy. He provided detail and reasoning on each point and made an argument in favor of the present policy.
The lack of debate here allowed the Bush administration to avoid providing explanations or justifications for its war policy and to control the public's perception of its actions. From the very beginning, we were told that Iraq was a threat to the United States, that Iraq had chemical and biological agents ready to use against us or our friends, and that Saddam Hussein was an "evil" tyrant who must be eliminated. It was also asserted that Saddam had links with al Qaeda and by implication that he was an accomplice to the tragedy of September 11, 2001. But the proof to support these assertions is weak and should have been subjected to vigorous questioning before any decision to go to war was finalized.
This lack of debate also allowed the Bush administration to define the terms to describe it actions. For example, from the very beginning the decision to attack Iraq was consistently described as a "war" when in fact what we witnessed more accurately was an "invasion" of that country. The term "war" in this case was used to describe a preemptive or unilateral attack by the United States against a country that was labeled a "threat." But Iraq never attacked the United States nor had it attacked other countries in recent years. Indeed, in light of the lack of resistance to American forces, there is even a serious question about the overall capability of the Iraqi military to successfully engage in international aggression.
An "invasion," on the other hand, is an aggressive act taken by one nation against another nation. It was to the Bush administration's advantage to insure that its actions were perceived as part of an ongoing war rather than as an invasion, because war, particularly taken as a matter of self-defense, tends to be more accepted on both moral and legal levels in modern international relations than invading another country. By not subjecting the decision to a debate where the real bases of the decision might be questioned, the administration was able to maintain support that otherwise might not have allowed this action to occur.
An additional way to avoid debate was to reinforce the sentiment that anyone who disagreed with the United State's war policy was unpatriotic. The appeal to patriotism is emotional: e.g., "our country is in danger--now is a time to support the President and his policies and not to argue over them (or think independently)." Anyone who disagrees with the war policy is deemed "unpatriotic" and subject to vilification. The consequence is that the appeal to "patriotism" establishes an environment that shuts down any attempts at debate, discussion, or dissent. Because of the worldwide doubt (including throughout American society) about the actions of the Bush administration, the opposition to antiwar activity in this country may not have been as intense as in the past. But a continuing theme was that such actions were unpatriotic and that the time for "debate" had closed. Unfortunately, a major problem with that assertion is that we were never allowed the opportunity for a real debate.
The link between moral justification and enlightened decision-making is very close, and should be a goal for which every democracy strives. A government decision to go to war should only occur after significant, extensive, and substantive public dialogue. It may not always result in the "right" decision, but such discussion can support the sense that the decision made is as good a decision as the leaders are capable of at that time. When we put the power of the destruction of the entire world in the hands of our leaders, it is particularly important that we need to find ways to ensure they are accountable for their actions and decisions. In the case of the invasion of Iraq, our representative system did not provide that protection. Instead of careful debate and discussion, the executive branch of government engaged in largely unilateral decision-making and control of discussion.
There can be no doubt that the fear emanating from the events of September 11, 2001, enabled the current administration to engage in unfettered and largely unchallenged policy-making regarding our security. And like past historical situations where fear rules, it has opened the door for the administration to not only pursue international war but also to consolidate power in the hands of our government at the sacrifice of the protections of our civil liberties here at home.
While Britain's parliamentary system has drawbacks that we may not wish to incorporate within our own government, it demonstrates there can be vigorous debate and accountability even in the most precarious of times. In contrast, the inadequacy of America's discussion has left many here--and in the rest of the world--in grave doubt about the wisdom and the moral justification of this country's war in Iraq. Instead it is seen as the raw assertion of power. That, in turn, raises serious questions about the adequacy of the "democratic system" that we wish to replicate in other parts of the world. | <urn:uuid:0356f798-6cdd-4659-8619-e16de2de32bc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.illinoistimes.com/Springfield/article-26-from-the-top-down.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 | 0.979006 | 2,190 | 2.625 | 3 |
FBI Wants To Monitor Social Networks
Although posting an image onto Facebook of yourself swinging from a chandelier may not be a wise decision, I think we can all agree that posting photos of yourself with the $8,000 you just robbed from a convenience store is incredibly stupid.
There's certainly been no shortage of foolish criminals being nabbed after logging on to social media sites to boast of their crimes, so it's natural that law enforcement agencies have been upping their efforts to monitor these websites. But just in case state and local agencies don't spook criminals into wising up, maybe the feds can.
The US Federal Bureau of Investigation recently released details of a plan to continuously monitor the global activity of Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. A document released on January 19 explains that the FBI is seeking companies interested in building an online monitoring system for the bureau.
"The FBI has conducted market research and determined that a geospatial alert and analysis mapping application is the best known solution for attaining and disseminating real time open source intelligence and improving the FBI's overall situational awareness," the document states.
The document suggests the FBI wants to target specific users, noting that agents need to "locate bad actors or groups and analyze their movements, vulnerabilities, limitations, and possible adverse actions." Also on the bureau's agenda is creating "pattern-of-life matrices" to presumably monitor targets' daily routines to help law enforcement in planning operations.
So next time you take to Facebook to brag about all the office supplies you've lifted, you might want to sing the chorus to this song.
[Via New Scientist]
Credit: Wikimedia Commons | <urn:uuid:76e41e62-dae1-49eb-8560-775bc7fabd05> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.discovery.com/news_tech_nfpc/2012/01/fbi-monitor-social-networks-120127.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.945121 | 338 | 1.945313 | 2 |
Winter Travel and help for the elderly
GrittingStaffordshire County Council is responsible for the gritting of highways and footpaths. You can receive regular updates on the county council's Twitter feed and on their website.
Help for the elderly and vulnerableWe ask everyone to look out for the welfare of their elderly and vulnerable neighbours during the winter months.
DirectGov offers advice on taking care in winter weather to help yourself or others around you.
TravelYou can check service delays on the railways at National Rail Enquries' website here
There is valuable advice on winter travel provided in association with the Highways Agency. | <urn:uuid:da08cac6-a14f-4ca9-b207-5cc34693b288> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cannockchasedc.gov.uk/info/100003/community_and_living/1063/winter_updates | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940223 | 127 | 1.5 | 2 |
An Exception Handling Framework for J2EE Applicationsby ShriKant Vashishtha
In most Java projects, a large percentage of the code is boilerplate code. Exception handling comes under this category. Even though the business logic may be just three or four lines of code, exception handling might go on for ten to 20 lines. This article talks about how to keep exception handling simple and straightforward, keeping the developer's plate clean for him to concentrate on business logic rather than devoting time to writing exception-handling boilerplate code. It also gives the basis and guidelines to create and deal with exceptions in the J2EE environment and targets some of the business problems, in which exceptions could be used to resolve them. This article uses the Struts framework as the presentation implementation, though the approach is applicable to any presentation implementation.
When Do We Need Checked and Unchecked Exceptions?
Have you ever wondered why it is such a pain to put a
catch block around a block of code you have written, even if you know that you cannot do much about those exceptions and will be content with just logging them in the
catch block? You may wonder why this can't just be logged in a centralized place, which in most cases for a J2EE application is a front controller. In other words, you would like to not be bothered with them, as you don't have much to do with them. But what if a method signature contains a
throws clause? You are either forced to catch these exceptions or put them in a
throws clause of your own method. That's a pain! Fortunately, the Java APIs have a category of exceptions called unchecked exceptions, which you are not forced to catch. Still, the question is, on what basis do you decide which exceptions should be checked and which unchecked? Here are some guidelines:
- Exceptions for which the end user cannot take any useful action should be made unchecked. For example, exceptions that are fatal and unrecoverable should be made unchecked. There is no point in making
XMLParseException(thrown while parsing an XML file) checked, as the only action to be taken may be to fix the root cause based on the exception trace. By extending
java.lang.RuntimeException, one can create custom unchecked exceptions.
- Exceptions associated with the user's actions in an application should be made checked. Checked exceptions require the client to catch them. You might ask why we don't make every exception unchecked. The problem might be that some of them may not get caught where they should be. It creates a bigger problem as errors are identified at runtime only. Examples of checked exceptions are business validation exceptions, security exceptions, etc.
Exception Throwing Strategy
Catch a base application exception (say,
BaseAppException) only and declare in your
In most of J2EE applications, decisions about what error message to show on which screen against an exception get made in the presentation layer only. This brings up another question: why shouldn't we put this decision making in a common place? In J2EE applications, a front controller is a centralized place to do common handling.
Also, there has to be a common mechanism to propagate the exceptions. Exceptions need to be handled in a generic way, too. To deal with this, we always need to catch the base application exception
BaseAppException at the controller end. This means we need to put the
BaseAppException, and only that exception, in the
throws clause of each method that could throw a checked exception. The concept is to use polymorphism to hide the actual implementation of the exception. We just catch
BaseAppException in the controller, but the specific exception instance thrown might be any of several derived exception classes. You get a lot of exception-handling flexibility using this approach:
- You don't need to put so many checked exceptions in the
throwsclause. Only one exception is required in
- No more clutter of
catchblocks for application exceptions. If we need to deal with them, one
BaseAppException) is sufficient.
- You don't need to do exception handling (logging and getting the error code) yourself. That abstraction will be taken care of by
ExceptionHandler, which will be discussed later.
- Even if you introduce more exceptions into the method implementation at later stages, the method signature doesn't change, and hence requires no change in the client code, which otherwise would have to be changed in a chain reaction. However thrown exceptions need to be specified in the Javadoc of the method so that the method contract is visible to the client. | <urn:uuid:c8459ea4-a683-410e-a987-dadfad8402eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.onjava.com/pub/a/onjava/2006/01/11/exception-handling-framework-for-j2ee.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926473 | 953 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Never having visited the Americas, I was curious to discover the thoughts behind Richard Rothman’s bundle of work ‘Redwood Saw’: a monumental portrayal of northern California. Rothman told me he thinks artists need to cultivate and trust in their experience of wonder. He prefers to begin there rather than with whatever the perceived required dialogue of the moment might be in the art world.
How did Redwood Saw come about?
I’d never photographed nature on it’s own terms, without the built environment being a part of the story; all the work I’d been doing for many years had been socially critical work. I asked myself what it might be like to make a celebratory body of work for a change. I’d been to the redwoods, and, like many people, I was overwhelmed by the beauty and scale of the forest. So I decided to pitch a tent and photograph there, and it was exactly the right place for me to be at that moment. It was on my second trip that my old critical instincts began to re-emerge, and I realized that including the small town of Crescent City, which is adjacent to the forest where I was shooting, was the better story. I began to photograph the architecture of the town. And after that I realized that I wanted to extend my project to portraiture, and after that, nudes, and after that, the ocean. So the whole thing unfolded very organically.
In a previous interview, a lot of literature is mentioned including books by Kafka. Does literature evoke ideas and stimulate to create? In what way?
Literature is a huge influence for me. One of the challenges of Redwood Saw was to make a much more narrative body of work than I had previously. For a long time I’d harboured the ambition of creating a big book about America in the form of a photographic novel. The novel is such a rich form, and it’s lasted because it’s so well suited to dealing with the urgent questions of consciousness and existence that I’ve always wanted my work to engage. Saul Bellow once wrote, ”Americans are panting for meaning.” And there are so many possibilities within the form, so many rich and new ways to play with it. Our need for stories is hard-wired, just as our need to ask age-old questions in the context of changing circumstances is not going to go away.
Do you think in literature and translate it to imagery?
Not exactly. One of the things that I appreciate about photography is how reactive it can be. You show up with your own agenda, your thoughts and feelings about the world, and you react to what you’re looking at. Sometimes you’re looking for a beautiful example of something you already know, and sometimes you stumble on something that feels like a discovery. It’s a beautiful kind of call-and-response that can be very fluid, but also very challenging. The focus is on trying to build a body of images that can be a vessel for the complexity of experience and awareness that one is trying to cultivate. The difficulty is to do it in a way that has a logic and emotional resonance that can be felt and communicated.
Do you think California has an interesting story to tell? What particular aspect pulled you the most?
California represents the end of the Western frontier, so it carries a particular valence in regard to American history. Then there is the particular light of the place, and spectacular geography. But, perhaps most importantly, there are still some remnants of wildness and scale that have been preserved which, when juxtaposed with what we’ve replaced it with, tell an important story. What really made me want to focus on the town of Crescent City, in addition to those reasons, is the fact that the town has an economic history that I think is emblematic of a lot of what is so troubling about the rest of the country, and, indeed, the world. Crescent City is a place that’s swung between the boom-and-bust cycles of successive extraction industries: mining, timber, and fishing. So I saw the town of Crescent City, which was small enough for me to really explore carefully, as a metaphor for the rest of the culture. That is one of photography’s potential powers: to engage with the tangible and specific aspects of certain facts and things, while simultaneously transcending the particulars to reflect on larger aspects of human existence.
What was the most impressive part of your journey through California?
Well, the geography, as I mentioned, and the whole grand display of five billion years of evolution as it’s played out there, and the magnificent complexity of life, which I tried to allude to in Redwood Saw. The marvellous sense of scale that you can experience in a redwood forest, or along the coast of the Pacific on a star-filled night, and the way that scale readjusts and invigorates the imagination. And then the whole conundrum of where we fit into it.
Written by May Putman Cramer | <urn:uuid:3a52d4d9-7036-4dd1-871b-1a5d45ee0ec0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.gupmagazine.com/articles/320-an-experience-of-wonder | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972549 | 1,057 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Do you ever need to place common objects in your design? Let’s say you want to add furniture in your design. Or add cars to parking lot. We don’t want to create objects like that, do we? We are likely try to find them on internet and download them. It would be nice if we know the website to find our contents, isn’t it?
Hongkiat has a list that contain 60 websites that offer free 3D models. However, they are mostly offer 3ds file format or 3ds Max. Sure, AutoCAD can import 3ds file format. But I find that it’s more comfortable to download native file format for my CAD application.
There are some popular resources that you can visit to find free models for AutoCAD, Revit, MicroStation, Inventor or SolidWorks.
Autodesk seek is probably the best place for finding Revit families. It provides 65,000 BIM models (at least that what they say). It has real models from manufacturers. So if you use them, you will likely be able to find the real products. It also provides DWG files if you use AutoCAD. And also provides the product specifications.
Because it’s an Autodesk website, it has integration for your application. You can search the products directly from AutoCAD or Revit applications.
You don’t need to register to download the files. However, you can directly download without confirmation if you register.
Revit City is a popular user forum. It also has a download section. Unlike Autodesk Seek, the contents are user generated.
You have to register before you can download the models. But it’s completely free. Because they are user generated contents, it would be a good idea if you can submit your models too.
GRABCAD is very popular for mechanical engineers. So many free models you can download here for free.
It has several popular MCAD file format like AutoCAD, Inventor, SolidWorks, NX and CATIA. There are many great models available here.
The CAD cube
The CAD cube offers 3D models in dwg and 3ds file format. It also offers 3D models from manufacturer, like Autodesk Seek.
Unfortunately, the manufacturers are based in UK. So if you don’t live in UK, you might not be able to find the real products near you. But we can still use the model anyway, they are great models.
Bentley library is provided by Bentley Systems. This is the place to find objects if you use Bentley solutions like MicroStation.
CADfroum is a great resource that I often visit. They have discussion forum, tips and trick section and cad library. Most of them are dwg file format. But there are also Revit and Inventor. This library is also user generated.
The CAD Block Exchange Network
CAD Block Exchange Network (CBEN) is a very popular block library. They focus on AutoCAD block only.
Do you have more resources to share?
If you do, share it by commenting below. | <urn:uuid:62d742f2-118e-43a3-9e67-aa38888d7807> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cad-notes.com/2012/08/7-free-cad-models-resource-to-bookmark/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940408 | 659 | 1.71875 | 2 |
A new compound library for central nervous system diseases may be on the way. The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), Beyond Batten Disease Foundation (BBDF), and the National Multiple Sclerosis Society are collaborating to fund the creation of a central repository of chemical compounds that have shown significant central nervous system (CNS) activity: the Collaborative CNS Screening Initiative (CCSI).
Led by the Harvard NeuroDiscovery Center’s Laboratory for Drug Discovery in Neurodegeneration (LDDN) at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, the CCSI will share emerging compounds with the potential to treat diseases of the CNS among academic CNS drug discovery centers with the goal of maximizing their potential and accelerating drug discovery efforts within the neuroscience community.
Through the CCSI, screening and early-stage drug discovery centers will submit anonymous CNS-active compounds to a selective shared library. Eligible compounds must have not only demonstrated potential through primary screens but be validated through secondary assays, and exhibit other promising characteristics such as benefiting from chemical optimization. The CCSI library will be made available to participating centers to include in their ongoing screening, which will hopefully increase the exposure of the shared compounds to a range of assays, diseases, and conditions to identify beneficial activities. Centers that discover novel activity will be connected with the contributing center to discuss further drug development of the compound.
“We envisioned CCSI as a simple, cost-effective way to stimulate novel collaborations and accelerate the drug discovery process for the benefit of patients suffering with CNS diseases,” said Marcie Glicksman, Ph.D., co-director of the Laboratory for Drug Discovery in Neurodegeneration at Brigham and Women’s Hospital. “The concept is so straightforward, yet funding is scarce for such early-stage initiatives.”
Nine academic centers have already committed to participate in the CCSI. Although it will begin as an academic collaboration, the CCSI may eventually expand to include industry and other organizations.
Funding for CCSI includes $43,344 from the ADDF, and $40,000 each from BBDF and the NMSS.
“Sharing knowledge is fundamental to scientific progress and the earlier in the process we share, the better,” added Danielle Kerkovich, Ph.D., principal scientist of the Beyond Batten Disease Foundation. “The CCSI will help researchers pinpoint early-stage CNS compounds that warrant further development, creating a more efficient path toward innovation.” | <urn:uuid:dc0c17f1-5eb6-4a51-adeb-5039923e7f74> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.genengnews.com/gen-news-highlights/new-cns-compound-library-goal-of-multi-foundation-collab/81248044/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927268 | 517 | 2.421875 | 2 |
The Crimson Playgoer
Constance Cummings Gives A Lusty Show in "If I Were You," Farcical Fantasy a la Thorne Smith
There who have been puzzled over the exact meaning of the expresion "If I were you" find one interpretation of the cryptic words offered in the play of that name by Paul Hervey Fox and Benn W. Levy. These dramatists say that their farce was suggested by an idea in a novel of Thorne Smith's, but their debt would seem greater than they thereby admit. Their end is physic research not yet reduced to scientific terms; their media are sex and the bathroom. Through the resulting fantastic extravaganza Constance Cummings barges with considerable gusto. The situations she and her colleagues find themselves in are not infrequently, not invariably funny.
Just Short of Being Too Crude
For the first two scenes, before the entrance of the supernatural, the dialogue is so dull and the characterization so crude that one gets ready for either acute boredom or a sudden shift. Fortunately it is the later that materializes. The here and the heroine, man and wife, suddenly change personalities or bodies, whichever way you choose to look at it. What the biochemist husband has failed to do for certain lower organisms by monkeying around with chemicals changing their sex his Irsh maid odes for him and his wife by Macbethian witchcraft. And so one morning they wake up vice-versa.
The externals of the situation receive all the attention. The husband used to do some indelicate scratching; he still does, but with his wife's body. The husband has to fit a dress on a friend, and the wife gets indignantly repulsed for interfering. The husband goes into the bathroom and comes out saying, "How inconvenient." The wife gets arrested for walking into a woman's wash room in a hotel. The wife has to tell the husband that he's going to have a baby. Similar situations of varying degrees of crudity and subtlety, with a preponderance of the former, make up the subject-matter.
The central pair have to get the maid's book of applied witchcraft to restore things to normalcy. They run into special trouble obtaining a yellow-bellied spider and in learning the Babylonian word for cockatoo. They ultimately succeed but with disastrous results for another couple present when the spell is cast.
Miss Cummings Good and Broad
Constance Cummings, a handsome, vigorous young woman, seems to enjoy the male impersonation, slapstick, and rough-house required for her. But since there is little room for anything else, this play can scarcely make or break her as a straightforward actress. For her sake it is to be hoped that "If I Were You" does not prove too successful. Not to mention a free-for-all including her, her wife, and the Irish maid, she is forced to kneel on the floor with the man lying on top of her, back to back and beat on the floor with a mallet. This is to cast the spell. The man weighs at least 165. He is Bernard Lee, and is quite satisfactory both as man and wife. A most meticulous and objective worker as a biochemist, he returns to his apparatus after the great change, pours in the wrong stuff, and says, "Ooh look, it's turning green!" The rest of the cast it is as generous to ignore as to mention. | <urn:uuid:74295854-cb77-4ebc-aea9-4711a1d5821e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thecrimson.com/article/1938/1/18/the-crimson-playgoer-pthere-who-have/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970459 | 714 | 2.046875 | 2 |
Alliance Will Catalyze New Teaching, Research, and Practice Models
Seeking new synergies through interdisciplinary health research
and education as urged by the prestigious Institute of Medicine
(IOM) of the National Academy of Sciences, New York University announced
in March that its Division of Nursing, currently in the Steinhardt
School of Education, will become a new College of Nursing within
the NYU College of Dentistry, effective September 1, 2005.
Both Nursing and Dentistry will continue to pursue robust independent
academic agendas while also taking advantage of exciting opportunities
to collaborate, form alliances, and further improve health care
NYU President John Sexton said, "One of NYU's distinctive characteristics
is our openness to innovation. As a community, we look toward the
future rather than dwell on the past. The future of health care
lies in new interdisciplinary directions in education, research,
and patient care.
"Today's action vastly increases the opportunities for each field
-- dentistry and nursing -- to engage in interdisciplinary learning
and scholarship. The nursing and dental programs provided by New
York University are among the finest in the nation. They share a
deep commitment to academic quality, clinical excellence, and research
innovation. Moreover, they have delivered compassionate health care
to needy patients in the region for a combined period of more than
200 years. We look forward to providing patients in our world-renowned
dental clinics with the option to visit top-notch nurse practitioners,
working in collaboration with physicians and dentists, to foster
earlier diagnosis and treatment of the many chronic health conditions
that plague Americans."
The College of Dentistry, founded in 1865, is the largest and third
oldest dental school in the nation. Although it is known for great
clinical programs, it also has one of the largest and most rapidly
growing research programs in the country. It is very influential
in shaping the nature of dental practice worldwide with unique programs
in the areas of oral cancer, tissue engineering, dental implants,
and catastrophe preparedness.
The Division of Nursing, founded in the Steinhardt School in 1932,
is one of the nation's most highly respected nursing programs, offering
undergraduate, masters, doctoral, and postdoctoral programs. Its
nationally renowned faculty guide 13 advanced-practice nursing specialties
and lead one of the country's oldest and most selective doctoral
In joining, the two programs will combine forces to promote five
key competencies that the IOM has declared essential for healthcare
professionals in the 21st century: providing patient-centered care;
working in interdisciplinary teams; employing evidence-based practice;
applying quality improvement, and using informatics.
Dean Alfano said, "For many years, the IOM has called for health
professional schools to stop educating students in 'silos' when
patients expect them to work in collaborative teams in clinical
practice. This innovation by NYU is a giant step in that direction.
Even more importantly, this combination places NYU in an ideal position
to research the many evolving links between oral health and general
health. Specifically, the partnership of the two disciplines offers
a great opportunity for research collaborations in such areas as
pain control; the emerging role of oral infection in systemic conditions
including premature birth, diabetes, lung infection and heart disease;
and the increasing use of saliva in non-invasive tests of both oral
and general health."
Dr. Terry Fulmer, who has been appointed Dean of the new College
of Nursing, said, "This move affords a particular opportunity for
the growth and development of nursing, a field that has made enormous
progress in advancing clinical care and health research. We anticipate
that nursing and dentistry will inform each other in a way that
has not been developed in the past, and patients will have the opportunity
to obtain additional primary health care while receiving their dental
care. Strong research collaborations will quickly evolve."
Dean Alfano added, "The faculty and students of the College of
Nursing will build outreach programs with NYU's Steinhardt School
of Education to foster improved health care for New York's school
children, and to help Steinhardt complete the critical 'health pillar'
in its unique multiple pillars concept of educational excellence."
To achieve these important goals, and to help address the troublesome
shortage of nurses in New York and elsewhere, Deans Alfano and Fulmer
intend to expand the nursing program significantly in the future. | <urn:uuid:a3de99db-e45b-4de4-9fa2-97bab148ebcf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nyu.edu/dental/nexus/issues/spring2005/nursingjoinsdentistry.html | 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 | 0.936606 | 935 | 1.515625 | 2 |
Letter: Basis of Conservatives’ Fears
To the Editor:
Steve Nelson writes about conservatives (“Conservatives Prefer to Battle Straw Men,” Dec. 9) but misleads when he characterizes progressives like himself. Nelson writes that neither he nor any political progressive he knows wants to limit the ability of conservatives to live in accordance with their beliefs. But of course he does, and thereby he treads upon the freedoms of others.
Nelson claims to respect those who believe in a “right to life” for unborn infants. Yet he would have them be forced to pay for abortions of others. This is not freedom.
Nelson claims to respect responsible hunters and states there has never been a progressive proposal to confiscate guns from responsible owners. Perhaps he is unaware of California Senate Bill 249, one example among several, which proposes to do exactly that for modern sporting rifles that have already been legally purchased. An extreme wing of progressives not only wants to ban hunting, but also to make pet ownership illegal in a meatless society.
Nelson states no progressive has suggested restricting the practice of religion at home “or virtually anywhere.” Yet the rights of people to demonstrate their religious beliefs in public are increasingly restricted, even when such demonstrations do not intrude on the rights of others to believe otherwise or not believe at all. Although the First Amendment says Congress shall not establish a state religion, it also says it shall make no law “prohibiting the free exercise thereof” — there is nothing here limiting expression to private places. Free means free.
While conservatives are often portrayed as anti-government, many of them believe a proper characterization is being pro-liberty, which includes having enough government to ensure that the actions of some do not intrude on the freedoms of others. Progressives like Nelson champion the rights of minorities. As America becomes increasingly diverse, perhaps it is time for them to recognize that our laws should not limit the freedom of those who hold traditional values, solely because the majority has abandoned them. | <urn:uuid:a872c325-d3f5-4b3f-b1d9-a56106eb4eaa> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vnews.com/opinion/3315154-95/nelson-conservatives-believe-free | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00074-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965104 | 419 | 1.59375 | 2 |
A polite refusal of any sort, such as "Oh, you're too kind, I couldn't possibly accept such a lovely fruitcake."
The 'original' Chinese rejection slip is a joke among writers. It's based on the rather 19th-century stereotype that all Asian people are crafty and never say what they really mean, but despite its canonical name, it's still a pretty piece of work:
"We have read your manuscript with boundless delight. If we were to publish your paper, it would be impossible for us to publish any work of a lower standard. And as it is unthinkable that, in the next thousand years, we shall see its equal, we are, to our regret, compelled to return your divine composition, and to beg you a thousand times to overlook our short sight and timidity."
Any similarly effulgent rejection can be referred to as a 'Chinese rejection slip', but watch your audience. The term could be seen as politically incorrect. | <urn:uuid:e2270e66-f0f9-4d85-a220-671a371f48eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://everything2.com/title/Chinese+rejection+slip | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980377 | 199 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Acceptable Behaviour Contracts is a written agreement by an individual, the Council, and the police, not to commit certain anti-social acts.
ASBOs are civil orders aimed at protecting the public from behaviour that causes, or is likely to cause, harassment
Under the Anti-Social Behaviour Act 2003 we have the right to apply for a Demotion Order
An injunction is a court order that prevents a person behaving in a certain way.
Parenting contracts are voluntary written agreements made between local agencies and the individual parents
The order will prevent the child or young person from engaging in further criminal activity, or anti-social behaviour.
Fixed penalty notices and penalty notices for disorder are one-off penalties
The Council may apply to the court to evict council tenants for serious cases of ASB
The police, working with local authorities, now have powers to take action in problem areas to help communities
Where a person is found to be committing anti-social behaviour, a letter is usually delivered to them, or the parent | <urn:uuid:4f7d4c32-8116-430c-b12e-c585378e47e8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://microsites.lincolnshire.gov.uk/safenk/anti-social-behaviour/ways-to-tackle-anti-social-behaviour?size=zoom | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929824 | 208 | 2.328125 | 2 |
This video explains the advantages of AMD Dual Graphics technology. AMD Dual Graphics technology combines the 3D graphics processing power of a DirectX 11 enabled embedded APU, such as AMD's new R-Series, and an AMD Radeon Embedded GPU to deliver enhanced 3D graphics rendering performance.
Hosted by: Bill Wong Videography by: Curtis Ellzey Edited by: Curtis Ellzey
Videos that have been watched and reviewed by peers and found to meet the standards of this site are labeled "Magnified."
Anyone can upload or link to a video for this channel. From here, videos are reviewed by site peers, and videos that meet site standards are labeled "Magnified" and become searchable and visible for all site visitors. | <urn:uuid:c6b4d5a2-2a7f-40b0-966e-046aab734ff4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.engineeringtv.com/video/AMD-Dual-Graphics-Technology | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922258 | 150 | 1.710938 | 2 |
My Dad was a pastor. He began his ministry in the early 50’s, when mainline churches were growing like weeds and a clerical collar would elicit a discount at the local department store and a complementary membership in the country club.
Not so for my son, who has also worked a pastor. He paid full price for his coffee at Starbucks, where he led discussions with Millennials who wouldn’t dream of darkening the door of his grandfather’s church.
My dad was a pastor. After serving in World War II, he went to college on the G.I. Bill and then on to seminary. Like other mainline denominations, the Presbyterian Church was in full growth mode back then, and clergy ranked high in polls among the nation’s most trusted and respected professionals.
Proverbs 31 used to be a standard at funerals. That was before we realized that womanly virtue meant more than giving a husband bragging rites in the city gates. I use to think it my pastoral duty to root out both masculine and feminine stereotypes in liturgy, hymnody and scripture. Now I’m not so sure.
Those of us who follow the lectionary have encountered the industrious woman of Proverbs 31 many times. Every three years she appears with her wool and flax, her distaff and spindle, her keen eye for both fashion and a good deal, her open hand to the poor, and her penchant for providing her husband bragging rights at the city gates. But we haven’t always welcomed her.
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During the 1850s, Bananal was the world’s primary producer of coffee, and the hills surrounding the town are still dotted with grand plantation mansions (although the coffee has given way to eucalyptus). Within close proximity to the town, several of these fazendas (estates) can be visited, although you should reserve by phone in advance.
Built in 1855, Fazenda dos Coqueiros (tel. 12/3116-1358, www.fazendadoscoqueiros.com.br , 9:30 a.m.–6:30 p.m. daily)—named after the swaying coconut palms that lead up to the gracious main house—is 5 kilometers (3 miles) from Bananal along the SP-068. The fazenda has been in the family of the friendly Carioca owners for over a century—that they live amidst the original furnishings conspires to bring history to life. And there is a ton of history: from the original furniture and fixtures (including an antique toilet) to more harrowing effects such as the medieval gadgets used to torture slaves and the dungeon-like senzala where they were herded at night so that their collective body heat would rise to warm their masters.
The region’s most opulent estate is the elegant Fazenda do Resgate (tel. 12/3116-1577, 7–11 a.m. Tues., 7–11 a.m. and noon–4 p.m. Wed.–Fri.), 8 kilometers (5 miles) from Bananal along the SP-064. Built in 1818, the interior is quite smashing and features splendid murals painted by noted Spanish painter José Maria Villaronga as well as a chapel. The fazenda was the first plantation in São Paulo to cultivate coffee on a large scale. At its most productive, it employed 400 slaves, and the owner, Manual Aguiar Valim, was among the richest men in Brazil . | <urn:uuid:b2ca8f1f-343f-4b43-9c13-709b5fc5e069> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://moon.com/print/80017 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963152 | 423 | 2.125 | 2 |
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Getting Into CS4
Among the useful features in the latest version of Photoshop are the new Adjustments panel and the Masks panel
|Figures 9 and 10 demonstrate the capabilities of the new Masks panel. While not a new control, by any means, the CS4 Masks panel consolidates a number of features into one place.|
Whenever building a layer mask, I almost always recommend that you start with a nonfeathered selection or use a hard-edged brush, so that you can be precise in your work with the knowledge that you can soften the edge later. In previous versions of Photoshop, creating that soft edge required you to apply a blur to the layer mask. But now you can simply use the Feather control on the Masks panel to achieve the same effect. Increase the value to blend the mask edge and decrease the value to create a more abrupt transition.
There are also three buttons on the Masks panel that allow you to apply more substantial adjustments to the current layer mask. The Mask Edge button brings up the same dialog box you’d see if you used the Refine Edge feature for adjusting selections that was introduced in Photoshop CS3. The controls are exactly the same, and just as powerful. You can expand or contract the mask, increase or decrease how closely the mask follows fine details in the image, smooth the edge of the mask or apply some feathering.
The Color Range button brings up the Color Range selection dialog box that has been with us for many versions of Photoshop, but in the context of a layer mask, it will allow you to refine a mask so it excludes all but the selected color range within the confines of the existing mask.
Finally, the Invert button does exactly what you’d expect, inverting the mask so it applies to the opposite area of the image.
At the bottom of the Masks panel, you’ll find controls to create a selection from the current layer mask, apply the layer mask to the current image layer (which I never recommend doing), disable (or enable) the mask and delete the mask.
If you’re still not excited about the Masks panel for perfecting your layer masks, consider this: Every change you apply to your layer masks with the Masks panel is nondestructive; you can go back and refine your settings at any time. Yes, that even includes the Feather control. If you feel like you softened the edge of a layer mask too much, just reduce the Feather value. It’s like having nondestructive adjustment layers that allow you to refine your layer masks. Simply incredible.
Ever wish you could achieve yet more depth of field for a given image? In many situations (macro photography comes to mind), achieving extended depth of field can be a challenge. Photoshop has long included tools for blending multiple images, and in CS4, this ability has been extended to include the ability to blend a series of images captured with different focal points into a single image with maximum depth of field. Colors and shading are blended smoothly, and vignetting and lens distortion is compensated for automatically.
But Wait, There’s More!
I’ve only skimmed the surface of the new and improved features in Photoshop CS4. There are many more improvements, but I think those covered here are enough that you should seriously consider an upgrade to Photoshop CS4 if you haven’t already. And in 18 months….
Tim Grey has authored more than a dozen books related to digital imaging for photographers, including the best-selling Photoshop CS4 Workflow. He’s a member of the Photoshop World Dream Team of instructors and publishes the Digital Darkroom Quarterly newsletter. Visit www.timgrey.com.
Page 3 of 3 | <urn:uuid:491223a6-2ba0-4273-adf9-abfb8242e110> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.digitalphotopro.com/software/image-processing/getting-into-cs4.html?start=2 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905329 | 777 | 1.929688 | 2 |
Iranian soldiers carry coffins with the remains of Iranian soldiers killed during the Iran-Iraq War, Nov. 30, 2008. The remains of 200 Iraqis and 41 Iranians were returned to their native countries during a ceremony at a border checkpoint near Basra.
"Iran's Foreign Policy in Post-invasion Iraq"
Journal Article, Middle East Policy, volume XV, issue 4, pages 47-58
Author: Kayhan Barzegar, Former Associate, Project on Managing the Atom/International Security Program, 2010–2011; Former Research Fellow, Project on Managing the Atom/international Security Program, 2007–2010
What are the roots and aims of Iran's foreign policy in post-invasion Iraq? Many scholars attribute Iran's policies to a desire to achieve national and regional interests, perceiving this policy to be mainly offensive and ideological. I argue instead that the roots and aims of Iran's foreign policy are defensive, mainly pragmatic, and based on state-oriented and strategic issues. As to Iran-U.S. relations in the new Iraq, the main controversy involves different perceptions of the security challenges; actions that Washington considers to be necessary for protecting the U.S. interests in post-invasion Iraq are regarded by Tehran as undermining Iran's security and national interests. The new political-security developments in post-invasion Iraq have led Iran to seek a friendly, stable, secure and prosperous neighbor. However, the Bush administration's regional policy — largely focused on defining Iraq as a counterweight to Iran, building regional alliances against Iran, and establishing long-term military bases next to Iran's borders — has compelled Iran to oppose it.
I argue that historical views and stateoriented and strategic issues all have significant effects on Iran's foreign policy in post-invasion Iraq. I then explain that the nature of cultural and political-security characteristics of Iran's sources of power as well as the demands of the factors and principles involved in Iran-Iraq relations will inevitably force Iran to be pragmatic in its policy toward the new Iraq; ideology is only one source of Iran's power. Lastly, I argue that Iran's foreign policy is based on achieving strategic aims. It is the result of a combination of considerations aimed at producing both security and opportunities. The birth of a new Iraq demands a revision of the current regional political-security architecture, mainly based on "balance of power." By shifting Iraq to a friendly state, Iran desires to discard the traditional designation of Iraq as Iran's counterbalance in the Persian Gulf and to turn the new relations into a "balance of interests." The main conflict in Iranian-U.S. relations in post-invasion Iraq is based on redefining Iraq's political-security structure. Understanding the roots of Iran's foreign policy has important implications for the United States and regional countries that are currently concerned about Iran's role and aims in Iraq.
VIEWS AND CONSTANTS
The Iranian View of Iraq
A major part of Iranian foreign policy toward the new Iraq is influenced by a troubled history of competition and disproportionate Sunni dominance over Iraq's natural resources, potential economic strength and key geographical position. The prevalent Iranian view is consequently one based on mistrust, to such an extent that even the removal of Saddam Hussein has not altered it. This concern was manifested in the Islamic Republic's two-pillar policy in the early days of the 2003 Iraqi crisis. On one hand, Iran opposed the American invasion and subsequent occupation. On the other, it designated Saddam's regime as a brutal one that deserved to be overthrown and punished. Iran did not want to see a pro-American Iraqi client regime with like-minded elites that would probably act in favor of U.S. purposes and in defiance of the Islamic Republic.
A nationalist view inside Iran holds that Iranian interests are distinct from those of the Arab world, whether they are cultural, economic, political or even military. This view holds that relations between Persians and Arabs have roots in their history. Even today, some Iranians believe that in a possible Iran-U.S. conflict, Arab regimes will act contrary to Iran's national interests. There is, therefore, an essential irreconcilable hostility between the two sides, and Iraq is not an exception. Saddam's aggression against Iran emerged from this cultural pattern. This way of thinking exists among Iranian nationalists, political elites, intellectuals, the Iranian Diaspora and manyordinary citizens. Another view maintains that in order to preserve Iran's pragmatic goals in the region, there should be only a reasonable level of political and security collaboration between the two sides. Some experts tend to agree that acting in favor of Arab issues, such as the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, has not only been costly to Iran's national interests, but has also resulted in little gratitude from the Arab world. Consequently, Iran should prioritize national interests as a precondition for conducting its regional and international relations. This view has theoretical bases within Iran and exists among some Iranian political elites and particularly academics and intellectuals.
There are also pan-Islamic and pragmatic views inside Iran for dealing with the Arab world. Focused on Islamic identity, one view holds that Iran should define its national interests in terms of coordination with Arab countries as an important player within the Islamic world. This standpoint maintains that the Islamic Republic needs to be directly and actively involved in all issues related to the Islamic world. Furthermore, such a view contends that the interests of the Islamic Republic demand the establishment of an enduring link with the Arab Middle East. During the first Persian Gulf War in 1990, some supporters of this way of thinking held the belief that Islamic duty required Iran to act against the United States and in favor of the Iraqi people, especially the Southern Shia. Another pragmatic view maintains that the enduring reality of the Arab world requires Iran to establish cooperation with its major representatives. Supporters of this view refer both to the demands of the constitution and to issues of geographical, cultural and religious coherence. Since the early 1990s, Iranian foreign policy has been based on confidence building and détente in the region, as practiced by the contemporary establishment, which believes in close relations with the Arab world, especially the new Iraq, given the two sides' cultural and religious similarities.
Whatever approach one favors, Iraq, because of its sources of power and politics, remains a significant factor in determining Iran's national-security interests. Though Iraq is an Arab country, its recent issues and problems have influenced Iran's (and Turkey's) national security....
For more information about this publication please contact the ISP Program Coordinator at 617-496-1981.
For Academic Citation: | <urn:uuid:7ebd0677-8ae4-409e-b3de-438f7e16d5c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://belfercenter.ksg.harvard.edu/publication/18770/irans_foreign_policy_in_postinvasion_iraq.html?breadcrumb=%2Fpublication%2Fby_type%2Fbooks_and_book_chapters%3Fpage%3D4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950126 | 1,331 | 2.375 | 2 |
RG0830.AM: Orsamus Charles Dake, 1832-1875
Omaha, Douglas County; and Lincoln, Lancaster County, Neb.: Episcopal minister, educator, poet
Size: 1.0 cu.ft.; 2 boxes
Orsamus Charles Dake was born in Portage, Livingston County, New York on January 19, 1832. He graduated from Madison University in Hamilton, New York in 1849. Dake moved to Illinois, where in 1853 he married Amanda Catherine Eaton of Edwardsville. In 1859, the Dakes moved westward to Lincoln, Illinois where Dake edited a pro-Lincoln newspaper, the Lincoln Herald. After a year and a half at this position, he worked briefly in Washington, D.C. as a clerk in the Census Bureau, Department of the Interior. During these years, he had studied for the Holy Orders and in 1862 was ordained in Omaha at Trinity Church (later Trinity Cathedral) by Bishop Talbot. Dake and his family remained in Omaha for a year. In 1863, he opened Brownell Hall, an Episcopal school for young girls. The Dakes again moved in 1865 to Fremont where he organized St. James' church. He also help found Fremont College in 1869 and served on the original Board of Trustees. The family remained in Fremont until 1872, when Dake accepted the chair of Belles Lettres at the University of Nebraska. He became the first faculty member to publish a book when in 1871 his volume of poetry, Nebraska Legends and Other Poems,was published. He published second volume of poetry, Midland Poems, in 1873. Orsamus Dake died suddenly Oct. 18, 1875 of a cerebral hemorrhage. He was 43.
SCOPE AND CONTENT NOTE
The Orsamus C. Dake collection is arranged in six series: 1) General Correspondence, 1858-1878; 2) Diaries, 1857, 1869 and undated; 3) Manuscripts 1866-1870, undated; 4) Legal papers, 1866-1902; 5) Printed Matter, and (6) Miscellany, 1863-1875. The papers span the years from 1857 to 1902. The collection relates to Dake's career as an editor, Episcopal minister, professor at the University of Nebraska, and poet.
Series 1 contains letters relating to his career as a newspaper editor in Lincoln, Illinois, the establishment of Brownell Hall and his ministerial work in Omaha and Fremont, along with an account of his appointment to and early impressions of the University of Nebraska. The diaries in Series 2 give brief accounts of Dake's newspaper work, his stint as a clerk in Washington, and the start of his ministerial career in Fremont. Series 3 contains Sermons, drafts of his poetry, and recollections of Dake written after his death in 1875. Several of these were written by Dake's daughter, one by his granddaughter, and another was written by a former student. Land deeds, tax receipts, Dake's last will and testament and incorporation records of Fremont College and Episcopal Church in Fremont are included in Series 4. The last two series contain a family Bible, several books and other miscellaneous papers of Reverend Dake.
See photo component (RG0830.PH) for photographs.
Series 1 - General Correspondence, 1858-1878Box 1
- 1858-1861 [Photocopies]
- 1867-1871; 1873
- 1875-1876; 1878
Series 2 - Diaries, 1845, 1869, n.d.
- 1845-1869; photocopy of the diary of a horseback trip from New York to Illinois, 1853
Series 3 - Manuscripts, 1866-1870, n.d.
- Sermons, 1866-1870, undated
- Poems and essays, undated
- Recollections of O.C. Dake
Series 4 - Legal Papers, 1866-1902Box 2
- Land Deeds, 1866-1902
- Tax Statements, 1868-1899
- Fremont College papers of incorporation, 1869
- Fremont Episcopal Church papers election of church officers 1869; tax receipt 1886
- Will and Testament, 1869
Series 5 - Printed Matter
Series 6 - Miscellany
- Dake Family Bible, psalm book, incomplete book of novels
- Ordination certificate, 1862; Copyright notice, 1873
- Church Bulletin, 1875; Contents of small wallet, receipts and clippings calling cards, ads for magazine subscription, undated
Dake, Orsamus Charles, 1832-1875
Episcopal Church -- Nebraska -- Fremont
Fremont College (Fremont, Neb.)
Love, Anna Margaret (Dake)
04-19-2007 Revised TMM/tmm
For additional information about this collection, please contact our Library Staff. | <urn:uuid:3f08e032-fb67-4bc5-87ce-6ed0b70999c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nebraskahistory.org/lib-arch/research/manuscripts/family/dake-orsamus.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00073-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933003 | 1,051 | 1.75 | 2 |
This week while trying to create a few more feet of space in my study, my ever-so-helpful Hubbatzin Barry and I discovered that In 1969 I gave a session as a USYer at a National Conference titled "Did God, Moses or Aaron Hit Miriam with a Stained Glass Ceiling?" That theme continues as major in my life, as in another both we note it re-appears in my journal in regard to a battle with Dr. Bardein over his exclusion of women from leading services at was then titled the Bardein Institute. (He relented at the end of my stay there.) Then again at an ATID convention. The next decade the title of my efforts into a local BJE seminar I gave titled: "Proposed a Different Ending to Streisand's Yentel Movie." And years later, while serving as founding chair of the Jewish Women's Studies Project at rabbinical school, one of my first research paper drafts begins: "Extra! Extra! - Read All About It: Miriam Demoted: Aaron Promoted, Outraged Jewish Men & Women Protest - Extra! Extra!" And in 1991, my article demonstrating was tzara'at is not leprosy was published as "'Sarrat' Leprosy (Leviticus 13): A Review of the Literature." Korot 9 (1991) and what a thrill to have that first scholarly work accepted by a jury of professional peers. Curious? Come to my session Friday night at LimmudPhilly.
I count about an equal number of male and female teachers/clergy presenting at this LImmudPhilly. How awesome is the hard won evolution in Judaism and gender, with miles to go especially in Israel (we will get there, I fear not!) I'll also be on stage giving a professional storytelling from our new book at Reclaiming Judaism Press: Mitzvah Stories Seeds for Inspiration and Learning. And, in another session, combining mussar and mitzvot through an experiential workshop utilizing our professionally published decks of Mitzvah Cards from here at Reclaiming Judaism Press.
Back here in my study we have found some 40 years of accrued Jewish studies materials, and perhaps thousands of books that extend down the hall, under beds, into the attic...How had I managed to teach for four months in Florida without all of these riches immediately at hand? My sweet Hubbatzin Barry, a master organizer, is helping to sift. Sift, shift and ship is happening quickly, since the Archives of American Jewish History collect my files, ritual garb and work products as I'm ready to let go of them over the years. Stuff, mountains of stuff! We sent like 20 boxes to the Archive last year, seems almost impossible.
The answer is (drum roll please) over forty years of study and preparation, a suitcases of materials brought down with us to Florida, and, the Internet. One key word search yields more at our fingertips than hours of digging through volumes. Well, all is not lost, book contents come up too on Internet searches, even those I, too, have written. Thank you Jewish Lights Publishing for doing so with Reclaiming Judaism as a Spiritual Practice, Meaning & Mitzvah, and Living Jewish Life Cycle and putting them out on Kindle for easy downloading! By Hanukkah our Reclaiming Judaism Press Books will also be on Kindle.
Well it's time to get back to work on sift, shift and ship, as well as preparing sessions in order to joyfully see you this weekend at LimmudPhilly! | <urn:uuid:524a8b73-4405-4245-8dc0-b7f982c244f8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reclaimingjudaism.org/blog/miriam-demoted-aaron-promoted-inspiring-how-times-can-actually-change | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953196 | 745 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Training Sets: One Set Per Exercise
One study (Westcott 1995a) found one-set and three-set training to be equally effective for increasing upper body strength, and another study (Starkey 1994) found one-set and three-set training to be equally effective for increasing lower body strength. If training time is limited, it is good to know that single-set strength exercise is just as productive as multiple-set workouts.
Training Resistance: 75 Percent of Maximum
The exercise resistance should be high enough to produce a high rate of strength development and low enough to pose a low risk of injury. Empirical evidence clearly indicates that using 75 percent of maximum resistance meets both of these training criteria.
Training Repetitions: 8 to 12 Reps Per Set
Research (Westcott 1993) indicates that most people can complete 8 to 12 controlled repetitions with 75 percent of their maximum resistance. Generally speaking, if you cannot perform at least 8 repetitions the resistance may be too heavy, and if you can complete more than 12 repetitions the resistance may be too light. Working within the 8 to 12 repetition range is recommended for safe and effective muscle development.
Training Progression: 12 by 5 Rule
Every strength training program needs a protocol for progressing to heavier weightloads. While it is important to periodically increase the exercise resistance, it is equally important to do so gradually. A safe and productive progression is known as the 12 by 5 rule. That is, whenever you complete 12 repetitions of an exercise in good form, you increase the resistance by 5 percent or less. The 12 by 5 procedure provides small but frequent training increments to progressively stress the muscular system.
Training Speed: Six-Second Repetitions
Unfortunately, there is little consensus on the best training speed for strength development. However, research indicates that slow movement speeds may be preferred over fast movement speeds, because they produce less momentum and more muscle tension. At 6 seconds each, 8 to 12 repetitions requires about 50-70 seconds of continuous muscle effort, which provides an excellent anaerobic stimulus for muscle building. We have obtained consistently good results training with 6-second repetitions, taking 2 seconds for the harder lifting movement and 4 seconds for the easier lowering movement (Westcott 1995b).
Training Range: Full Movement Range
Research (Jones 1988) indicates that full range muscle strength is best developed through full range exercise movements. In other words, the training effect is greatest within the exercised portion of the joint movement range. Full range strength reduces injury risk and increases performance potential. Try to perform each repetition through a full range of movement, but never to a position of discomfort.
Perhaps the most important aspect of a well-designed strength training program is to address all of the major muscle groups. A comprehensive training approach produces overall strength development and reduces the risk of muscle imbalance injuries. The recommended exercises and target muscle groups are: | <urn:uuid:86962cfb-df16-47f1-9bc3-9bcd743e6f7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.healthy.net/Health/Essay/Strength_Training_For_Time_Pressured_People/234/3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938964 | 587 | 2.859375 | 3 |
Nagapattinam, the administrative headquarters of Nagapattinam District
, is an ancient port town situated 256 km to the south of Chennai
in Tamil Nadu
Nagapattinam heralds a rich past and cultural heritage. It was the erstwhile headquarters of the Cholas and the references about the city are found in the ancient Buddhist literature – Padarithitha. The city became a commercial center of the Portuguese in 1554 and a Dutch colony in 1662. The British wrested control of the town in 1781 and it remained with them until India’s Independence in 1947.
Places of tourist interest include Velankanni Church - known as the 'Mecca of South Asian Christianity' (located 12 km south of Nagapattinam), Buddha Vihar,
Nagore Dargah, Sri Rajagopalaswami temple and the 12th century Sri Rajagopalaswami temple.
Ettukkudi (28 km), Point Calimere Sanctuary (68 km), Mannarkudi (56 km) and
Swamimalai (60 km) constitute nearby excursions.
Closest airport is at Tiruchirapalli (141 km). Nagapattinam Railway Station connects it with major cities and towns in Tamil Nadu. | <urn:uuid:58edc62a-f64c-44f5-a64c-5daaa7fdbe88> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.india9.com/i9show/-Tamil-Nadu/Tiruvarur/Nagapattinam-49571.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928863 | 273 | 2.125 | 2 |
Here Comes Everybody
A new book about how the Net has changed our social interactions
Reading Twitter today I saw a reference to this blog post by Clay Shirkyon.
It’s a lightly edited transcription of a speech he gave at the Web 2.0 conference in April.
He compares the early days of the industrial revolution to the early days of TV, when we spent endless hours watching sitcoms.
"If I had to pick the critical technology for the 20th century, the bit of social lubricant without which the wheels would’ve come off the whole enterprise, I’d say it was the sitcom."
Then came the Internet and the ability to produce and share content online.
To the question – where do people find the time to produce all this online content, he figures that if everything stays 99 percent the same, that people watch 99 percent as much television as they used to, but 1 percent of that is carved out for producing and for sharing content online, that one percent would be enough to do 100 Wikipedia-sized prjoects every year.
"If we carve out a little bit of the cognitive surplus and deploy it here, could we make a good thing happen? I’m betting the answer is yes," says Shirkyon. | <urn:uuid:823c7b7b-9225-4062-b7c1-dfc737734b09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.proactivereport.com/c/social-media/here-comes-everybody/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946756 | 263 | 1.835938 | 2 |
Almost 60 years ago, social psychologists Leon Festinger, Henry Riecken, and Stanley Schachter famously studied a cult, influenced by the writing of L. Ron Hubbard, that believed Earth was poised to undergo massive, imminent physical devastation. According to the group’s leader, aliens concerned with the spiritual health of humankind would swoop down to spare true believers during the rapture, transport them to the planet Clarion for some cleansing, and then deposit the humans back onto their homeland to live a life free of sin. They subsequently prosthelytized like their neighbor's lives were on the line.
The motivation for Festinger’s research was to figure out why people stayed committed to the cult’s teachings after its major prognostication failed to come true. (The short answer was that each member was too pot committed individually -- having in many cases left jobs, moved, and been ostracized by family members -- to throw in the towel.) But during the course of their interviews, the psychologists also determined that most adherents joined the group because they were sad, troubled people who had gained little relief from more traditional coping mechanisms. Kenneth I. Pargament summarized some of their findings in his 1997 book on the psychology of religion:
One woman, Daisy, had been troubled by terrifying nightmares and fantasies of loves ones stabbed, cut, and dismembered. Attempts to eliminate her obsessions through support from her husband, changes in her daily activities, a vacation, will power, and prayer had failed. Another woman, Bertha, had struggled with infertility in her marriage of 20 years. She had become disillusioned with the Roman Catholic church, and had drifted from job to job until she became a beautician. For both of these women as well as their fellow group members, involvement in the beliefs and practices of the cult provided a way to achieve significance of various kinds: a sense of hope in the future, feelings of worth and importance, a sense of meaning in life, or feelings of spiritual connectedness.
In its disturbing recap of the movement this morning, the New York Times’ quotes an Oregon State professor who comments, accurately, that Americans are “looking for some authoritative answers in an era of great social, political, economic, as well as natural, upheaval.” Just this week, Harris Interactive produced a poll that showed, once again, Americans are rapidly losing faith in their dominant institutions. It’s pretty nuts to assume Doomsday is upon us. But when everything else seems like it’s going to shit, can we really blame the religiously eccentric for thinking the planet is next? | <urn:uuid:c5f5a3fd-c535-4477-96e1-82e5a2d1e1b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.adamdoster.com/1/post/2011/05/sympathy-for-the-believers.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980326 | 537 | 1.921875 | 2 |
[Enter ROMEO and JULIET above, at the window]
- Juliet. Wilt thou be gone? it is not yet near day:
It was the nightingale, and not the lark,
That pierced the fearful hollow of thine ear;
Nightly she sings on yon pomegranate-tree:
Believe me, love, it was the nightingale.
- Romeo. It was the lark, the herald of the morn,
No nightingale: look, love, what envious streaks
Do lace the severing clouds in yonder east:
Night's candles are burnt out, and jocund day
Stands tiptoe on the misty mountain tops.
I must be gone and live, or stay and die.
- Juliet. Yon light is not day-light, I know it, I:
It is some meteor that the sun exhales,
To be to thee this night a torch-bearer,
And light thee on thy way to Mantua:
Therefore stay yet; thou need'st not to be gone.
- Romeo. Let me be ta'en, let me be put to death;
I am content, so thou wilt have it so.
I'll say yon grey is not the morning's eye,
'Tis but the pale reflex of Cynthia's brow;
Nor that is not the lark, whose notes do beat
The vaulty heaven so high above our heads:
I have more care to stay than will to go:
Come, death, and welcome! Juliet wills it so.
How is't, my soul? let's talk; it is not day.
- Juliet. It is, it is: hie hence, be gone, away!
It is the lark that sings so out of tune,
Straining harsh discords and unpleasing sharps.
Some say the lark makes sweet division;
This doth not so, for she divideth us:
Some say the lark and loathed toad change eyes,
O, now I would they had changed voices too!
Since arm from arm that voice doth us affray,
Hunting thee hence with hunt's-up to the day,
O, now be gone; more light and light it grows.
- Romeo. More light and light; more dark and dark our woes!
[Enter Nurse, to the chamber]
- Nurse. Your lady mother is coming to your chamber:
The day is broke; be wary, look about.
- Juliet. Then, window, let day in, and let life out.
- Romeo. Farewell, farewell! one kiss, and I'll descend.
[He goeth down]
- Juliet. Art thou gone so? love, lord, ay, husband, friend!
I must hear from thee every day in the hour,
For in a minute there are many days:
O, by this count I shall be much in years
Ere I again behold my Romeo!
- Romeo. Farewell!
I will omit no opportunity
That may convey my greetings, love, to thee.
- Juliet. O think'st thou we shall ever meet again?
- Romeo. I doubt it not; and all these woes shall serve
For sweet discourses in our time to come.
- Juliet. O God, I have an ill-divining soul!
Methinks I see thee, now thou art below,
As one dead in the bottom of a tomb:
Either my eyesight fails, or thou look'st pale.
- Romeo. And trust me, love, in my eye so do you:
Dry sorrow drinks our blood. Adieu, adieu!
- Juliet. O fortune, fortune! all men call thee fickle:
If thou art fickle, what dost thou with him.
That is renown'd for faith? Be fickle, fortune;
For then, I hope, thou wilt not keep him long,
But send him back.
- Juliet. Who is't that calls? is it my lady mother?
Is she not down so late, or up so early?
What unaccustom'd cause procures her hither?
[Enter LADY CAPULET]
- Lady Capulet. Evermore weeping for your cousin's death?
What, wilt thou wash him from his grave with tears?
An if thou couldst, thou couldst not make him live;
Therefore, have done: some grief shows much of love;
But much of grief shows still some want of wit.
- Juliet. Yet let me weep for such a feeling loss.
- Lady Capulet. So shall you feel the loss, but not the friend
Which you weep for.
- Juliet. Feeling so the loss,
Cannot choose but ever weep the friend.
- Lady Capulet. Well, girl, thou weep'st not so much for his death,
As that the villain lives which slaughter'd him.
- Juliet. What villain madam?
- Juliet. [Aside] Villain and he be many miles asunder.—
God Pardon him! I do, with all my heart;
And yet no man like he doth grieve my heart.
- Lady Capulet. That is, because the traitor murderer lives.
- Juliet. Ay, madam, from the reach of these my hands:
Would none but I might venge my cousin's death!
- Lady Capulet. We will have vengeance for it, fear thou not:
Then weep no more. I'll send to one in Mantua,
Where that same banish'd runagate doth live,
Shall give him such an unaccustom'd dram,
That he shall soon keep Tybalt company:
And then, I hope, thou wilt be satisfied.
- Juliet. Indeed, I never shall be satisfied
With Romeo, till I behold him—dead—
Is my poor heart for a kinsman vex'd.
Madam, if you could find out but a man
To bear a poison, I would temper it;
That Romeo should, upon receipt thereof,
Soon sleep in quiet. O, how my heart abhors
To hear him named, and cannot come to him.
To wreak the love I bore my cousin
Upon his body that slaughter'd him!
- Lady Capulet. Find thou the means, and I'll find such a man.
But now I'll tell thee joyful tidings, girl.
- Juliet. And joy comes well in such a needy time:
What are they, I beseech your ladyship?
- Lady Capulet. Well, well, thou hast a careful father, child;
One who, to put thee from thy heaviness,
Hath sorted out a sudden day of joy,
That thou expect'st not nor I look'd not for.
- Juliet. Madam, in happy time, what day is that?
- Lady Capulet. Marry, my child, early next Thursday morn,
The gallant, young and noble gentleman,
The County Paris, at Saint Peter's Church,
Shall happily make thee there a joyful bride.
- Juliet. Now, by Saint Peter's Church and Peter too,
He shall not make me there a joyful bride.
I wonder at this haste; that I must wed
Ere he, that should be husband, comes to woo.
I pray you, tell my lord and father, madam,
I will not marry yet; and, when I do, I swear,
It shall be Romeo, whom you know I hate,
Rather than Paris. These are news indeed!
- Lady Capulet. Here comes your father; tell him so yourself,
And see how he will take it at your hands.
[Enter CAPULET and Nurse]
- Capulet. When the sun sets, the air doth drizzle dew;
But for the sunset of my brother's son
It rains downright.
How now! a conduit, girl? what, still in tears?
Evermore showering? In one little body
Thou counterfeit'st a bark, a sea, a wind;
For still thy eyes, which I may call the sea,
Do ebb and flow with tears; the bark thy body is,
Sailing in this salt flood; the winds, thy sighs;
Who, raging with thy tears, and they with them,
Without a sudden calm, will overset
Thy tempest-tossed body. How now, wife!
Have you deliver'd to her our decree?
- Lady Capulet. Ay, sir; but she will none, she gives you thanks.
I would the fool were married to her grave!
- Capulet. Soft! take me with you, take me with you, wife.
How! will she none? doth she not give us thanks?
Is she not proud? doth she not count her blest,
Unworthy as she is, that we have wrought
So worthy a gentleman to be her bridegroom?
- Juliet. Not proud, you have; but thankful, that you have:
Proud can I never be of what I hate;
But thankful even for hate, that is meant love.
- Capulet. How now, how now, chop-logic! What is this?
'Proud,' and 'I thank you,' and 'I thank you not;'
And yet 'not proud,' mistress minion, you,
Thank me no thankings, nor, proud me no prouds,
But fettle your fine joints 'gainst Thursday next,
To go with Paris to Saint Peter's Church,
Or I will drag thee on a hurdle thither.
Out, you green-sickness carrion! out, you baggage!
- Juliet. Good father, I beseech you on my knees,
Hear me with patience but to speak a word.
- Capulet. Hang thee, young baggage! disobedient wretch!
I tell thee what: get thee to church o' Thursday,
Or never after look me in the face:
Speak not, reply not, do not answer me;
My fingers itch. Wife, we scarce thought us blest
That God had lent us but this only child;
But now I see this one is one too much,
And that we have a curse in having her:
Out on her, hilding!
- Nurse. God in heaven bless her!
You are to blame, my lord, to rate her so.
- Capulet. And why, my lady wisdom? hold your tongue,
Good prudence; smatter with your gossips, go.
- Nurse. I speak no treason.
- Nurse. May not one speak?
- Capulet. Peace, you mumbling fool!
Utter your gravity o'er a gossip's bowl;
For here we need it not.
- Capulet. God's bread! it makes me mad:
Day, night, hour, tide, time, work, play,
Alone, in company, still my care hath been
To have her match'd: and having now provided
A gentleman of noble parentage,
Of fair demesnes, youthful, and nobly train'd,
Stuff'd, as they say, with honourable parts,
Proportion'd as one's thought would wish a man;
And then to have a wretched puling fool,
A whining mammet, in her fortune's tender,
To answer 'I'll not wed; I cannot love,
I am too young; I pray you, pardon me.'
But, as you will not wed, I'll pardon you:
Graze where you will you shall not house with me:
Look to't, think on't, I do not use to jest.
Thursday is near; lay hand on heart, advise:
An you be mine, I'll give you to my friend;
And you be not, hang, beg, starve, die in
For, by my soul, I'll ne'er acknowledge thee,
Nor what is mine shall never do thee good:
Trust to't, bethink you; I'll not be forsworn.
- Juliet. Is there no pity sitting in the clouds,
That sees into the bottom of my grief?
O, sweet my mother, cast me not away!
Delay this marriage for a month, a week;
Or, if you do not, make the bridal bed
In that dim monument where Tybalt lies.
- Lady Capulet. Talk not to me, for I'll not speak a word:
Do as thou wilt, for I have done with thee.
- Juliet. O God!—O nurse, how shall this be prevented?
My husband is on earth, my faith in heaven;
How shall that faith return again to earth,
Unless that husband send it me from heaven
By leaving earth? comfort me, counsel me.
Alack, alack, that heaven should practise stratagems
Upon so soft a subject as myself!
What say'st thou? hast thou not a word of joy?
Some comfort, nurse.
- Nurse. Faith, here it is.
Romeo is banish'd; and all the world to nothing,
That he dares ne'er come back to challenge you;
Or, if he do, it needs must be by stealth.
Then, since the case so stands as now it doth,
I think it best you married with the county.
O, he's a lovely gentleman!
Romeo's a dishclout to him: an eagle, madam,
Hath not so green, so quick, so fair an eye
As Paris hath. Beshrew my very heart,
I think you are happy in this second match,
For it excels your first: or if it did not,
Your first is dead; or 'twere as good he were,
As living here and you no use of him.
- Juliet. Speakest thou from thy heart?
- Nurse. And from my soul too;
Or else beshrew them both.
- Juliet. Well, thou hast comforted me marvellous much.
Go in: and tell my lady I am gone,
Having displeased my father, to Laurence' cell,
To make confession and to be absolved.
- Nurse. Marry, I will; and this is wisely done.
- Juliet. Ancient damnation! O most wicked fiend!
Is it more sin to wish me thus forsworn,
Or to dispraise my lord with that same tongue
Which she hath praised him with above compare
So many thousand times? Go, counsellor;
Thou and my bosom henceforth shall be twain.
I'll to the friar, to know his remedy:
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