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Moonwalking with Einstein: The art and science of remembering everything tells how Joshua Foer's tried to tarmac memory lane – but is that desirable?
DURING his quest to become a master of memory, Joshua Foer finds himself perched on a folding chair in his parents' basement. It's early; he is still in his underwear. He is also wearing fluffy earmuffs and goggles that are painted black except for two small openings, so as to screen out distractions. He is trying to memorise a page of 800 random digits. "I suddenly looked up, wondering- remarkably for the first time- what was I doing with myself?"
Me too. Or rather, I was wondering why anyone would want to memorise hundreds of random digits. And also whether it's entirely necessary to wear weird headgear- in which case I'd rather just limp along with my own imperfect recollections. "Ugh, memory freaks!" my son remarked, ...
To continue reading this article, subscribe to receive access to all of newscientist.com, including 20 years of archive content. | <urn:uuid:19a5f99b-5d36-4a02-a533-33c6785a771b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg20928021.700-one-mans-quest-to-become-a-memory-champion.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982748 | 222 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Balancing the Discussion: Faith in ChristBy: jmb275
Because I have had my own trials of faith, and have stood in the figurative shoes of those who see things from a non-believing standpoint, I have become increasingly aware of the language we use and the ways in which it contributes to our cultural peculiarities and often times sets people up for failure. Sometimes people genuinely deconstruct each aspect of their faith and nothing can be done to bring them back. But many times I am convinced that if we merely modified our rhetoric and vernacular surrounding various topics, we could prevent much of the cultural baggage we carry, and move toward an appropriate inoculation of “hard” realities that often become stumbling blocks later on.
One important topic that was recently taught in our ward is faith in Christ. In our YoungMen’s lesson we discussed what it means to have faith in Christ, and what blessings can come from exercising faith and obedience to Christ. Some of these blessings took the form of stories about miraculous healings from a priesthood blessing. Near the end of the lesson, the instructor bore his testimony of the atonement. At this point he also shared that he “knew that Christ saw each of their (the young men’s) faces, and understood the burdens of each one of us as he accomplished the atonement.”
It is no doubt important to bear testimony, and it is no doubt critical to discuss faith in Christ. Faith in Christ has power to heal us spiritually, and has power to move us to action. Additionally, faith is a complex topic, not easily defined or understood. Nevertheless, it is a rich topic that has much to offer us in the real world of our everyday lives without the need for perpetuating a magical worldview. It is certainly possible that Christ saw my face and yours as he completed the atonement, but there isn’t any scriptural support (or prophetic that I know of) for such a statement. It is also possible that people have been literally healed by a priesthood blessing. But it’s an empirical reality that people of many faiths believe they have been healed in a similar way.
It might seem like I’m being overly dramatic here. After all, it’s a small statement, by an innocent young men’s instructor – certainly not a revelation of any sort. The problem is that this is a larger systemic problem of careless language that, rather than being couched in reality with an emphasis on technical precision of communication and presentation, seeks to create an emotional response by appealing to our magical worldview and credulity. It seeks to promote faith by aggrandizement rather than a deep abiding confidence that one’s chosen path draw them nearer to God.
The punchline is that this is what ends up destroying faith because its inaccuracy is surely to be discovered in short order. It seems to me that in the past, our approach has been to try and suppress the discovery that similar pronouncements (whatever they may be) were inaccurate. As has been pointed out by such heavy hitters as Dan Peterson, and Richard Bushman it is necessary to be accurate and completely forthcoming in the first place to avoid the feeling of being “lied to.”
In these cases I think there are small changes in our language that could treat topics with all the sacredness and seriousness they deserve without setting us up for disappointment. In this particular case, I think faith in Christ can be a springboard for a discussion into Maxwellian true discipleship, as a motivating factor for caring for our fellows, and perhaps most importantly putting ourselves in their shoes to avoid unrighteous judgment and the beam/mote paradigm. Why not present a lesson about small changes the young men can make to show gratitude to their parents or leaders? Or what about a lesson on how our faith in Jesus Christ should govern how we treat the inactive young man who comes to church to pass the sacrament in a mohawk, jeans, and t-shirt? After all, it is the implementation of faith translated to action stemming from knowledge that produces true discipleship:
One mistake we can make during this mortal experience is to value knowledge apart from the other qualities to be developed in submissive discipleship. Knowledge—discovery, its preservation, its perpetuation—is very important. Yet, being knowledgeable while leaving undeveloped the virtues of love, mercy, meekness, and patience is not enough for full discipleship. Mere intellectual assent to a truth deprives us of the relevant, personal experiences that come from applying what we profess to believe. There were probably orientation briefings in the premortal world about how this mortal life would unfold for us, but the real experience is another thing!
Thus, while knowledge is clearly very important, standing alone it cannot save us. I worry sometimes that we get so busy discussing the doctrines in various Church classes that talking about them almost becomes a substitute for applying them. One cannot improve upon the sobering words of King Benjamin, who said, “Now, if you believe all these things see that ye do them” (Mosiah 4:10). Such is still the test. Deeds, not words—and becoming, not describing—are dominant in true discipleship. - Neal A. Maxwell, Becoming a Disciple
Virtually all groups redefine words and/or create language to solidify the group and help identify insiders and outsiders. It’s natural that Mormonism has developed such a paradigm as well. But I think the long term damage it can cause is serious and unnecessary. We can teach lessons that maintain scriptural and historical integrity, and still deepen our faith in the Gospel. As an added bonus, I think as we shift our language and rhetoric to be more true to real life with greater scriptural and historical precision, we will find it easier to apply Gospel principles to our everyday lives in a way that can help us draw nearer to God. | <urn:uuid:30aa5f53-1c99-43b0-b389-8c7a3cd7d57e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wheatandtares.org/5067/balancing-the-discussion-faith-in-christ/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96142 | 1,220 | 1.757813 | 2 |
There are many blogs, and many bloggers out there, talking birth. Some are bloggers who blog about birth occasionally, while others talk birth regularly. Regardless of the frequency, they blog about the statistics, the interventions and the cesareans. They talk about the good births, the bad births, the post partum period, breastfeeding and more. They discuss the how comes and the whys, and there is no shortage of opinions on why you should and why you shouldn’t.
Amidst these many blogs are a few bloggers who might classify themselves as Black, Mocha, African American, Mahogany, Afrikan… I call them Sista Midwives. Those few of us who in addition to blogging about birth often, and some exclusively, write posts that are written specifically for, about, and from our perspectives as Black Women. One might ask… “So is birth really THAT much different for Black Women, when compared to Latina, Asian or Caucasian women?” I say yes, Yes, YES.
Sure the babies physically are born the same way. However… the joys and the pains of birth manifest differently in our lives; the spiritual, psychological, physical, emotional and cultural difference that exist are real and significant. It is just as important to note that as no two women of ANY ethnic group birth exactly the same, the birth stories and experiences of Black Women nationally and internationally are wide are varied.
So when Diva Blogger Extraordinaire Darcel, of The Mahogany Way Birth Cafe came to me with the idea of putting together a new blog carnival I was delighted and jumped right on board. That being said, I am very excited to be introducing you to The Black Birth Carnival, that we, myself… Nicole @SistaMidwife Deggins & Darcel… @MahoganyWayMama, will bring to you throughout the year. You can follow both of us on twitter and check out #BlackBirth to get continual updates about the progress and postings of The Black Birth Carnival.
In this first Carnival: Birthing While Black… A Historical Perspective, we invite you to submit an article or blog post that incorporates in some way, the history of Black Women giving birth. Write about the images that come to mind when you read the title for this first Carnival. Tell us how your birth choices today are affected by your personal historical perspective. How do you think our birthing history affects the birth choices of women in our/your community? What unique bit of history can you share about the historical perspective of Birthing While Black? What gives you special pride when you look back into history and visualize Black Women giving birth? Submit an article or blog about anything that you feel will highlight and incorporate our theme Birthing While Black… A Historical Perspective.
What is a Blog Carnival
A blog carnival is a collection of blog posts from a variety of bloggers on a particular subject, published on the same day. This blog carnival will be published/go live Tuesday March 27th. In addition to posting his/her article, each blogger provides links to all of the other posts submitted. Because of this, blog carnivals are a great way to learn about other fabulous bloggers. They give you an opportunity to connect with others and have the potential to increase traffic to your blog. If you do not have a personal blog and want to participate, please email us ASAP at BlackBirthCarnival at gmail dot com so that we can find a host blog for your article submission.
Guidelines and Instructions for Submissions
We are looking for posts that are well written, informative, thought provoking and relevant to the theme of the carnival. We prefer that you submit a new, unpublished post for the carnival however, if you feel you have the “perfect post” that has been previously published we will accept it.
Please email your post to us at BlackBirthCarnival at gmail dot com no later than Tuesday, March 20th (Attention: We have decided to extend this date and now submissions are due no later than 11:59PM on Wednesday, March 21st) Be sure to put March Carnival in the subject line of the email and don’t forget to give us the title of your post. We cannot accept your submission without a title.
You will receive an HTML code with instructions via email no later than March 26th. You will need to place this code in your blog post so that you will link up with all of the other blogs participating in the carnival. For the success of the carnival, it’s important that you add this code. Please do not publish your post until after midnight on the 27th. We are excited about this new Blog Carnival and we look forward to receiving your submissions.
In Birth and Love
Darcel @mahoganywaymama & Nicole @SistaMidwife
Let’s Celebrate #BlackBirth | <urn:uuid:7cb4f882-8354-4f19-8ba2-037f651b6bce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nicoledeggins.com/2012/03/08/the-black-birth-carnival-call-for-submissions/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943709 | 1,014 | 1.601563 | 2 |
Social media enthusiasts can expect fewer live Twitter and Facebook updates from Metro Council members during meetings.
Council attorney Jon Cooper informed members that “twittering,” text-messaging and other forms of Internet-updating might violate Tennessee’s open meetings act. He didn’t offer an official legal opinion on the matter, only advice.
Over the past year, online tools have been popular devices for a handful of members to offer unfiltered accounts of Council proceedings to their constituents. Among those who have turned to Twitter is East Nashville Councilman Erik Cole, who said he would oblige Cooper’s recommendation.
“Basically they’re advising us to not do any sort of social media communications on the floor during meetings,” Cole said. “It’s tied to two aspects of the open meetings act.”
For starters, Cole said live updates on the social media website Facebook, for example, are not accessible to the entire public. The other point raised by legal counsel, he said, involves questions over officially notifying the public on social media updates.
“The crux of it is around deliberation,” Cole said. “It’s just so you’re not [using Twitter, Facebook or text-messaging] to deliberate over substantive matters on the floor, which honestly I don’t think anybody’s ever done.” | <urn:uuid:3c67a652-37a0-440c-9206-64efcce5001e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nashvillecitypaper.com/content/city-news/council-twitter-feeds-may-violate-state-law | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922753 | 295 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Auburn (ôˈbərn) [key]. 1 City (1990 pop. 33,830), Lee co., E Ala.; inc. 1839. The city's economy centers around Auburn Univ.; there is some manufacturing. 2 City (1990 pop. 24,309), seat of Androscoggin co., SW Maine, on the Androscoggin River (crossed by several bridges) opposite Lewiston; settled 1765 on the site of a Native American village, inc. 1842. With Lewiston, Auburn long formed one of the most important industrial complexes in Maine. Abundant water power spurred a large variety of manufactures, including shoes (manufactured there since c.1835) and bricks; in the late 20th cent., however, industry declined. Nearby Mt. Apatite is a source of apatite and feldspar. 3 City (1990 pop. 31,443), seat of Cayuga co., W central N.Y., in the Finger Lakes region, on the outlet of Owasco Lake; settled 1793, inc. 1848. Its manufactures include transportation equipment, machinery, rope, fiber-optic instruments, leather products, steel, fuel oil tanks, and electronic parts. It is the site of Auburn State Prison (built 1816), in which Thomas Mott Osborne, the prison reformer (who was born in Auburn), served a voluntary term. The city's museum has collections of historical documents and Native American relics. The houses of William H. Seward and Harriet Tubman are preserved. 4 City (1990 pop. 33,102), King co., W Wash., on the Green and White (Stuck) rivers, between Seattle and Tacoma; settled 1855, inc. 1914. It is a railroad junction and farm trade center. Auburn also possesses a large aircraft industry and is the site of a Federal Aviation Administration air traffic control center.
More on Auburn from Infoplease:
See more Encyclopedia articles on: U.S. Political Geography | <urn:uuid:0e60ede7-abbb-4fbb-aad5-db7ae295d5e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.infoplease.com/encyclopedia/us/auburn.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915986 | 415 | 2.4375 | 2 |
Not the Baltimore Orioles (the baseball team) but a phenomenon of chimney swifts who fly into these industrial sized chimneys for a period during the early fall. They sleep in the chimneys at night having flown in as a tremendous group at dusk. The Baltimore Bird Club (aka the BBC !) watches and counts these birds each year.
Thanks for filming this and sharing it Roberta!
CHIMNEY SWIFTS AT DUSK, DRUID HILL PARK CONSERVATORY (GREENHOUSE) Join the BBC SwiftWatch Team for "Swift Night Out" as Chimney Swifts pour into the Conservatory chimney. Swifts are counted and results, nationwide, are listed at Chimneyswifts . Baltimore has some of the highest counts in the nation. Come at 7:15 if the weather is cloudy or gray. (the date for this was Sept 14 but as of Sept 18 they were still flying in. No frost yet.)
In addition to the conservatory, you can try these locations - Mill Center at 3000 Chestnut Street and/or the Freestate Bookbindery at 3110 Elm Avenue, Baltimore.
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This is not quite a tutorial today, but rather a where-to-find. I believe I had this screensaver on a former computer. However, having ...
I'm not usually a gullible person. I'm pretty much hip to the ways of devious people but...This year on April 1st, I was fooled. I ...
Lots of exercise classes are good for the body but somehow once again, scrapping has fallen behind. I know it's much better to be moving...
During my many years living abroad, I (we) had servants. Gardeners, cooks, that sort of things, and when it was deemed necessary, a guard to...
Sometimes I think it's all in how you look at things. I often use the example of a chair. If you walk up to the back of it, it's an ...
great artichokes, not so great crust
Recently, I've heard more and more people say 'scrub' in PSE/CS tutorials when they were adjusting a function that had a number ...
Somehow, I am having a hard time getting the Project Life pages done in the following week. I think that's due to the various times I...
I have always had a hard time with extractions, and when I saw this tutorial over at Scotty Girl Designs , I thought I'd give it a t... | <urn:uuid:52ed4044-7ba7-4608-8f88-0dd0b7837ba4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cookingmylife.blogspot.com/2008/09/baltimore-birdsno-not-those-birds.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939835 | 820 | 1.515625 | 2 |
At Tuesday's District 1 Board meeting, considerable discussion took place regarding the abundance of education bills in the Wyoming Legislative Session. Superintendent Sue Belish comments.
Belish urges others besides fellow educators to contact legislators to “get those good stories out there.”
To contact the legislators while they are in Cheyenne, click here: http://www.sheridanmedia.com/qui...
A list of several of the education bills and brief descriptions follows:
Tenure or Continuing Contract Status: This bill would eliminate continuing contract status, supposedly making it easier to dismiss or terminate teachers who were not meeting expectations. It would allow any teacher who was not recommended for rehire to request a hearing in front of an independent hearing officer, which could be a very costly and time consuming process.
Parent Trigger: This bill would allow parents to petition for major changes at their child's school if it is determined to be “failing.” Parents would be able to request new leadership or that a school become a public charter school.
Accountability in Education Act: This bill creates an accountability system for schools based on student achievement in reading and math measured by test scores on PAWS. This is the first phase of the system. A second phase would tie student achievement data to individual teachers and principals to measure employee effectiveness. Phase two will probably include additional student achievement data.
Longer School Year: This bill would extend the required number of students school days from 175 to 180.
Teacher Merit Pay: This bill would require the state superintendent to develop criteria for performance-based pay increases for teachers. A committee of lawmakers, education officials, and educators will decide the specific performance measurements.
Hathaway Success Curriculum: This bill would add performing arts and career/vocational courses as an option to the foreign language requirement for the Hathaway Scholarship Program.
Charter School Restriction: This bill would repeal prohibitions on charter school applications and allow charter schools to be created to avoid consolidation or closure, to convert a private school to a public school and to contract with a third-party management company. It would also change some timelines.
Charter School Appeals: This bill would strengthen the appeals process for charter school applications denied by local school boards.
Seclusion and Restraint in Schools: This bill would require the state superintendent and local school boards to adopt guidelines for secluding or restraining students in schools.
School Finance Local Resources: This bill changes how money is collected from counties and distributed to school districts. County treasurers would send local tax money to the state for distribution to districts.
School Facilities Commission Reorganization: This bill would establish the School Facilities Department as an administrative agency of government, clarify responsibilities and authority of the commission and the school facilities department.
School Facilities Adequacy Assessment: This bill would revise and clarify how to rank buildings based on need and require periodic review of the process.
School Finance (Recalibration): This bill keeps most of the current funding formula in place with very few changes. | <urn:uuid:a81c6a8d-f334-4d52-96b5-fd973f8c4d58> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sheridanmedia.com/news/district-1-discusses-legislative-issues14328 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957487 | 620 | 1.914063 | 2 |
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Organophosphorus Chemistry provides a comprehensive annual review of the literature. Coverage includes phosphines and their chalcogenides, phosphonium salts, low coordination number phosphorus compounds, penta- and hexa-coordinated compounds, tervalent phosphorus acids, nucleotides and nucleic acids, ylides and related compounds, and phosphazenes. The series will be of value to research workers in universities, government and industrial research organisations, whose work involves the use of organophosphorus compounds. It provides a concise but comprehensive survey of a vast field of study with a wide variety of applications, enabling the reader to rapidly keep abreast of the latest developments in their specialist areas. Specialist Periodical Reports provide systematic and detailed review coverage of progress in the major areas of chemical research. Written by experts in their specialist fields the series creates a unique service for the active research chemist, supplying regular critical in-depth accounts of progress in particular areas of chemistry. For over 80 years the Royal Society of Chemistry and its predecessor, the Chemical Society, have been publishing reports charting developments in chemistry, which originally took the form of Annual Reports. However, by 1967 the whole spectrum of chemistry could no longer be contained within one volume and the series Specialist Periodical Reports was born. The Annual Reports themselves still existed but were divided into two, and subsequently three, volumes covering Inorganic, Organic and Physical Chemistry. For more general coverage of the highlights in chemistry they remain a 'must'. Since that time the SPR series has altered according to the fluctuating degree of activity in various fields of chemistry. Some titles have remained unchanged, while others have altered their emphasis along with their titles; some have been combined under a new name whereas others have had to be discontinued. The current list of Specialist Periodical Reports can be seen on the inside flap of this volume.
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Marriage matters as a political issue, a fact we were starkly reminded of when an Iowa judge recently redefined marriage.
In his ruling, Polk County District Court Judge Robert Hanson wished into law the right of "individuals to marry a person of their choosing," with no gender restrictions. He said that Iowa's extant marriage law must be nullified, severed and stricken, and that all references to "marriage" be "read and applied in a gender neutral manner so as to permit same-sex couples to enter into a civil marriage pursuant to said chapter."
There's nothing like a judge's bypassing the democratic process to spur responses from democratic leadership.
Since Iowa is a key state in the presidential election process, the location of this latest judicial overreach naturally encourages candidates' responses. But most GOP candidates wish the issue had never come up, since it's a touchy subject for a party of wide stances.
As it happens, only one of the leading Republican candidates -- Mitt Romney -- supports a federal marriage amendment, which would constitutionally prevent marriage redefinition in the states. So Romney was quick to denounce the Iowa ruling as "another example of an activist court and unelected judges trying to redefine marriage and disregard the will of the people" -- and to declare that this "once again highlights the need for a Federal Marriage Amendment to protect the traditional definition of marriage."
Romney first confronted this issue in Massachusetts. He was governor when the state's highest court executed a similar coup -- the first in the nation to do so. Kris Mineau, president of the Massachusetts Family Institute, calls the Iowa ruling "Massachusetts deja vu" and says it will have major repercussions: "It certainly makes the case for a Federal Marriage Amendment.
The defeat of the current Massachusetts marriage amendment in the state legislature on June 14 has emboldened the same-sex marriage advocates around the nation. They will undoubtedly press this Iowa issue to the fullest, and I believe same-sex will be a major issue in the 2008 election."
Tom McClusky of the Family Research Council points out that Florida, too, has a marriage showdown looming just in time for the presidential campaign -- and he tells me that while the national GOP might be too "clueless or spineless" to take on the issue, it's in the party's interest to do so.
Fox News' Roger Ailes: Administration's Excuses Won't Work, Americans Died For Press Freedom | Katie Pavlich | <urn:uuid:92ad5b76-653b-4251-a481-e0ca7ab55eed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://townhall.com/columnists/kathrynlopez/2007/09/11/same-sex_ruling_spurs_awkward_gop_debates | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00012-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956257 | 499 | 1.734375 | 2 |
Take a look at some of the pearls of wisdom we found in everybody’s favorite oyster-like treat.
Fortune cookies delight us in so many ways: the brittle sweetness, the excitement of finding out what’s inside, the promise of a check still unpaid. But whatever we choose to tip our surly but admittedly efficient waiter, at least we get advice that’s good enough to eat.
- Lady luck will visit you at work, but you will be in the middle of something.
- You are a wise, fortunate person given to ordering more food from great Chinese restaurant.
- With each passing day you become more malleable.
- You will find happiness, then lose it again, then find that you’ve lost it.
- Please sit down. There is much to discuss.
- You should not have come here, young one.
- Do not trust anyone over thirty or under thirty-one.
- You have an acceptable sense of direction.
- The road to hell is paved with good intentions, but the road to heaven is not yet paved due to a stalled ordinance.
- In bed.
- A suitable metaphor for your life is on the horizon.
- Do not make important decisions while skydiving.
- Trust your enemies, not your friends, for some reason.
- ‘Good things come in small boxes’ is an underused innuendo. | <urn:uuid:799afb61-02de-4b06-90c5-9b347e5ef0fb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://weeklyworldnews.com/headlines/7285/worlds-weirdest-fortune-cookies/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902553 | 300 | 1.875 | 2 |
Vickroy: The curious case of Sherlock’s fandom
DONNA VICKROY firstname.lastname@example.org | (708) 633-5982 July 13, 2012 10:04PM
Jack Levitt is a Homewood resident and authority on the fictional detective Sherlock Holmes. | Larry Ruehl~Sun-Times Media
Sherlock Holmes’ nemesis, Professor Moriarty, was a mathematical genius.
Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s cases and stories have been translated into several languages, including Braille, shorthand and pig Latin. Jack Levitt has a copy of “The Hound of the Baskervilles” written in Hebrew.
About 500 letters are received at 221B Baker St., Holmes’ address in London, each year. An insurance company claims that address today, but a secretary there answers all inquiries about Holmes with a note explaining the esteemed detective is in retirement.
Holmes is said to have used a 7 percent solution of cocaine, which was not considered illegal.
It’s also believed he used morphine and was a chain smoker. His sidekick, Dr. John Watson, tried tirelessly to get him to kick the drug habit.
Holmes played the violin, but not just any violin. He played a Stradivarius.
Holmes refused to eat while working on cases, believing that starvation would increase blood flow to his brain.
Updated: August 16, 2012 6:09AM
How to explain Jack Levitt’s fascination with famous fictional sleuth Sherlock Holmes?
Really, it’s elementary.
“It may sound strange that a fictional character is my hero.” Levitt said. “But in a day and age when we only celebrate celebrities, Holmes stands out as a man who is patriotic, honorable and respectful.”
Not to mention the whole genius thing.
Levitt, 80, recently hosted “My Fascination with Sherlock Holmes” at the B’Nai Yehuda Beth Sholom temple in Homewood. About 40 people turned out to hear him talk about Holmes’ continued popularity among the detective story-loving public. Many also admired Levitt’s collection of books, games, movie posters and puzzles.
Levitt began his lecture by pointing out that with 300 movies, 65 stage productions and some 700 radio shows inspired by Holmes, his personal fascination is hardly an aberration.
“There’s even a Holmes-inspired ballet,” Levitt said.
For the former math teacher and currency exchange operator, the hobby began when he read Sir Arthur Conan Doyle’s “The Adventure of the Speckled Band” as a freshman in high school.
“I don’t remember the other stories we read that year, but I sure remember that one,” he said.
Since then, he’s read everything about Sherlock Holmes, again and again.
In 1972, Levitt went to a meeting of the Criterion Bar Association, a group dedicated to discussing and honoring Holmes. Levitt said he met lots of interesting people, solved a cryptogram and left with a prize book.
Now in its 40th year, the Criterion club, like other Holmes societies around the world, holds an annual party for the detective on Jan. 6, the date believed to be the detective’s birthday.
In 1984, Levitt became a charter member of the South Downers, a south suburban club aimed at preserving the scholarly memory and study of Sherlock Holmes. The group meets the last Wednesday of every month at Carlo’s Restaurant in Chicago Heights.
“You go to these things and you forget your troubles,” Levitt said. “The meetings always begin with a toast to somebody. Holmes, Queen Victoria, Irene Adler. The members come from all walks of life. We talk about the books and the movies. It’s fun.”
Levitt, a widower, said he finds Holmes’ logical nature and his ability to differentiate between law and justice captivating.
“He is a unique character, not a superman but an apex of what man could be,” he said. “Many of his ideas and ideals are very contemporary, a reminder that a man can be great yet not perfect.”
Levitt told the audience that from 1887 to 1904, Doyle published short stories and novels in which Holmes solved cases of murder, blackmail, vampirism, even students cheating on a final exam.
Doyle, who earned a degree in medicine and wrote to cure boredom, based Holmes on a real-life doctor named Joseph Bell, while Holmes’ sidekick, Dr. John Watson, was based on Doyle himself.
Levitt’s favorite Holmes novel is “The Hound of the Baskervilles.”
“Read it on a winter’s night when the wind is howling,” he said. “Love its surprise ending.”
His favorite Holmes actor is Jeremy Brett, who played the esteemed detective in a long-running PBS series.
“He has all the tics and mannerisms of the fictional detective,” Levitt said. “And he looked like what Holmes would look like.”
Levitt doesn’t care for actor Robert Downey Jr.’s portrayal of the sleuth in the 2009 film version and its 2011 sequel. But 12-year-old Tyler Burnett, who attended the presentation, does.
“The movies are exciting. I like mysteries. I like figuring things out,” Tyler said.
Dory Machtinger, of Flossmoor, also attended. She loves the Holmes series because it features mysteries set in Victorian England.
“Plus the fact that he’s so smart and picks up such small subtleties,” she said. “It’s all fun and it’s all not for real.”
Diane Wolf, of Homewood, said she attended because, “I like mysteries of all kinds. That’s the dark side of me — I like murder.”
Levitt understands completely.
“Read the stories, then close your eyes and you can see the hansom cabs, the gas lights, the men in long capes,” he said.
And you can also imagine a tall, thin detective with a deerstalker hat and a long-stemmed briar pipe getting to the bottom of things.
For more information on the South Downers group, contact Kenn Czarnecki at (708) 429-4326. | <urn:uuid:72c00e74-5385-489e-a43e-79ff51fcb2c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://southtownstar.suntimes.com/lifestyles/13699946-452/vickroy-the-curious-case-of-sherlocks-fandom.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95124 | 1,403 | 1.78125 | 2 |
You need to look at how the GPLed code is associated with the proprietary code. If the GPLed portion won't compile on its own, then definitely the code as a whole is a derivative work of the GPLed code, and must be released under the appropriate GPL or not released at all. (You can still use it for internal use, but the implication was that you would distribute it as part of a device.) Similarly, if the GPLed and proprietary code compiled separately but statically linked together, that's a derivative work of the GPLed code.
If you were to separate out the GPLed and proprietary code so that they were separately compilable programs, communicating only by standard inter-process communication protocols, then the GPLed and proprietary code would be two separate works, and only the GPLed portion would be under the GPL.
Anything in between is up for question. The Free Software Foundation takes a fairly liberal view of what constitutes a derivative work, but ultimately it's a matter for a court to decide.
As always, when trying to use software with a license with restrictions in ways that weren't intended by the license, either get a different license from the copyright holders (if possible and affordable), or consult a lawyer. Nobody here (unless the actual copyright holders are on programmers.se) can reliably advise you on exactly what's allowed and exactly what isn't. | <urn:uuid:00ce72b2-b1da-44b5-93de-9dc397afe8f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://programmers.stackexchange.com/questions/72844/is-it-appropriate-to-only-release-the-gpl-licensed-part-of-the-code-as-open-sour/72876 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.963404 | 280 | 1.648438 | 2 |
In the year 1813 a young boy of 11 left his Scarborough home and ‘signed on’ to the sailing brig “British Volunteer”, to begin a life-time association with the sea and shipping.
Over the next 20 years John Good developed his seagoing experience on sailing ships trading in the Baltic, White Sea and Mediterranean, before finally gaining his Master’s Certificate.
In 1833 he returned to England and set up an office in Hull, founding John Good & Co. as Ship Chandlers, Agents and Brokers, utilising the connections he had built up with Baltic and Finnish ship owners.
John developed the company over the next 30 years, expanding into owning his own ships. After retiring in 1864, two of his sons continued to run the company, and in 1883, John Good & Sons obtained its first regular liner agency, for the Finnish Steamship Company’s new cargo and passenger services between Finland and Hull. The development of this Finnish trade helped the company to prosper, and in 1908, the company became a private limited company, John Good & Sons Ltd.
After this, progress was hampered by a series of fires and the national strikes at the beginning of the 20th century and compounded by two World Wars. The wars disrupted the shipping lines to Finland and the Baltic, and damage from the German bombing of Hull destroyed several working premises.
After the Second World War, the company rebuilt, and gained new agencies from across Europe during the 1950s. During the second half of the century, John Good & Sons expanded and kept at the forefront of the industry, adapting quickly to developments such as palletisation, containerisation and ro-ro. In this period, the company also diversified, adding road haulage services and additional warehousing to its offering.
Today, the company is still family owned, and continues to expand. Now offering a complete service, from ship agency, liner agency and freight forwarding to warehousing and distribution, John Good Shipping is recognised across the UK as a leading provider of shipping services.
|1801||John Good born|
|1807||Slavery abolished in British Empire|
|1813||John Good goes to sea|
|1815||Battle of Waterloo|
|1826||John Good becomes Master of his own vessel|
|1833||John Good opens chandlery store at 60, Salthouse Lane, Hull|
|1854||Crimean War starts and trade with Finland halts|
|1864||Joesph and Thomas Good take control of the company|
|1869||Suez Canal opens|
|1870||Good Bros & Co formed as a shipping line and the SS Caroline bought|
|1876||Death of John Good|
|1901||First Finnish travel programme issued by John Good & Sons|
|–||Death of Queen Victoria|
|1908||John Good & Sons Ltd formed|
|1914||Start of the First World War and Finnish business halts|
|1925||John Good & Sons appointed agent for United Baltic Corporation|
|1929||Wall Street Crash heralds the start of world depression|
|1939||Second World War Starts|
|1941||John Good & Sons offices destroyed by bombing|
|1950||John Good buys offices in London|
|1955||Hellenic Lines becomes John Good & Sons’ first general UK agency|
|1961||First manned space flight|
|1962||John Good & Sons (London) formed|
|1965||John Good & Sons open new offices in Ipswich|
|1968||Container terminal opened in Felixstowe|
|1970||Transtainer Systems formed|
|1973||Britain joins the Common Market|
|1974||General Cargo Brokers becomes a wholly owned subsidiary|
|–||Orwell Data Services formed|
|–||John Good & Sons takes a stake in North Sea Trailers|
|1981||John Good & Sons (Shipping) Ltd formed|
|1984||John Good becomes President of the ICS (Institute of Chartered Shipbrokers)|
|1990||First Gulf War|
|2001||Matthew Good joins the company|
|2003||John Rutherford appointed group managing director|
|2005||Cooper House Felixtowe opened|
|2005||New offices opened in Brentwood|
|2006||Major expansion of warehousing in Felixstowe and Felixstowe Warehousing Co Ltd formed|
|2006||Alan Platt appointed managing director of John Good Shipping|
|–||Matthew Good appointed director of John Good & Sons Ltd and John Good Shipping|
|–||New offices opened in Brentwood|
|–||Major expansion of warehousing in Felixstowe and Felixstowe Warehousing Co Ltd formed|
|2007||John Good Denizcilik (Turkey) formed|
|2008||Trans European Port Services acquired|
|2009||Focs Logistics formed as a joint venture with OPDR|
|2010||Dan Shipping & Chartering acquired|
|2011||Alan Platt and Matthew Good are Joint Managing Directors of John Good & Sons Ltd| | <urn:uuid:7fbfaf9e-9e8e-4b91-a3cd-af3f01a24409> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.johngood.co.uk/about_us/history | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.912961 | 1,083 | 1.890625 | 2 |
Visiting Scientists at CAER
Mark E. Dry is a professor with the Department of Chemical Engineer at the University of Cape Town in Cape Town, South Africa, where he works in the Catalysis Research Unit. Dr. Dry will be at CAER from April 3 to May 13 to collaborate with various members of the Fischer-Tropsch Catalyst group to improve the understanding of the theoretical aspects of the FT project.
He worked in the R & D department of Sasol, South Africa from 1959 - 1993.
His research experience includes laboratory, pilot plant and demonstration plant research and development in the field of Fischer-Tropsch catalysis as well as catalytic research of downstream processes such as hydrofining, selective wax hydrocracking, etc.
On February 10, Tsevi Minster arrived for a four month stay at the CAER as a visiting scientist. Minster is from the Geological Survey of Israel in Jerusalem, Israel. This is his second time as a visiting scientist at the CAER.
Copyright © 1995-2003
Center for Applied Energy Research
University of Kentucky
All Rights Reserved. Do not duplicate or mirror this site | <urn:uuid:ef3aef3e-5973-4b57-a762-41d13ebf0f6b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.caer.uky.edu/newsroom/events95_02/visitors.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941366 | 234 | 1.648438 | 2 |
Marion, speaking about the decline of education said:
> Perhaps I overgeneralized. But I don't think so. Where, for
>example, in America's traditional kindergarten-thru-graduate school
>curriculum, are students required to think about their assumptions having
>to do with causation?
In the April 22, 1996, issue of Forbes magazine, page 156, there is an
article by Peter Brimelow titled "The Devalued College Diploma". He
mentions a recent report titled "The Dissolution of General Education
1914-1993" put forth by a group at Princeton, N. J., called "The National
Association of Scholars". The report describes the results of a survey of
50 "institutions of higher education generally viewed as the most
selective in the country in terms of admission."
Here are a few of the findings, snipped for brevity:
o In 1914, about 90% took a beginning history course; today 2%
o In 1914, over 75% took a philosophy course, today 4%
o In 1914, 82% had specific math requirements, today 12%
o In 1914, no remedial English, today 70%
o In 1914, 304 courses offered, on average; today, 1,418
o In 1914, 8% of the courses had no prerequisites, today 41%
o In 1914, classes in session for 204 days, today 156
o In 1914, tuition averaged $609, today (adjusted for inflation) $4,000, at
the "representative state school, U. of Michigan"
I'm ordering the report. I suspect that it understates the deterioration.
John N. Warfield
Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <email@example.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/> | <urn:uuid:e7fe0d2c-2524-4a2d-a596-55c7ff4f4892> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://world.std.com/~lo/96.04/0329.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.915675 | 401 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Depending on the type of product or service you provide, Supply Chain Management can be a complex job. There are few companies that are lucky enough to be self-sufficient. Most businesses rely on suppliers and outsourcing for at least part of their business, producing a delicate supply chain which can quickly fall apart if something disturbs any piece of it. Supply Chain Management Software (SCMS) is designed to make monitoring and managing supply chain transactions easier.
There are several things that SCMS can handle, including:
- Customer requirement forecasting
- Purchase order processing
- Inventory tracking
- Warehouse management
- Delivery tracking
- Supplier management
While there are lots of vendors in the SCMS industry, there are a handful of key players that own the majority of the market share. They include:
JDA offers Supply Chain Management Software for a huge range of industries, including grocery stores, aerospace and defence companies, pharmaceuticals, and the hospitality industry. They offer a one-stop solution that covers supply chain management, transportation, and retail. Their software is aimed at major enterprises.
SAP is a company that specialises in providing software for businesses. Their Supply Chain Management solution aims to “transform your linear supply chain into a responsive network”. It covers supply and demand planning, logistics, fulfilment, and delivery tracking. SAP offers a range of solutions that will cater to most sizes of business. They also offer SAP events where people can learn more about their products.
Intelex have been producing business software for 20 years, and service hundreds of major businesses. Their SCM software makes it easy to track supplier performance, evaluate and rate different suppliers, produce performance reports, and follow up on issues.
3PL Warehouse Manager is an enterprise-level supply chain management application aimed at the logistics market. It offers automated reporting, EDI, and barcode scanning. This software makes billing, logistics and tracking a breeze.
Accuware’s ProActive Inventory Manager is a web-based inventory solution which has been built to run on Microsoft ASP.net and Microsoft SQL server. This software is available in two forms – a self-hosted version, and a SAAS version hosted on ProActive’s servers. ProActive Inventory Manager has a standard, inexpensive version for small and medium sized businesses, and a more sophisticated enterprise version.
Choosing Supply Chain Management Software
It’s important that you find the right supply chain management software early in your business’ life. Investing in the wrong version can cause costly mistakes which could damage your reputation. Deploying new software, and transferring over your existing inventory and orders can be a struggle.
Before you invest in any SCMS, consider attending a few industry events. Whether you choose to attend SAP events and JDA events, and shop around in that fashion, or go to one of the major logistics conferences is up to you. Consider taking up some free trials, and spending a weekend or two running test orders through different systems until you find one that you and your employees like to use. | <urn:uuid:7377711d-e2df-46ae-92a7-314be52ec0d4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bayintegratedmarketing.wordpress.com/2012/08/23/supply-chain-management/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943016 | 623 | 1.726563 | 2 |
GRADUATE STUDENTS AND
THE FIVE YEAR GOAL
Stony Brook will provide excellent graduate education and postdoctoral programs in a supportive environment. Many graduate students and post-graduates come to Stony Brook from elsewhere and find it difficult to integrate into University life. In order to attract and retain people of the highest quality, the University will provide first-rate academic programs, competitive stipends, and good working and living conditions. Strong orientation and training programs will improve graduate students' experience and increase their success.
Develop programs to support sponsored students, such as those on Fulbright and USAID scholarships, and increase their number. (2.1, Dean, Graduate School )
A dean for international academic programs was appointed in fall 2003 with responsibilities including the coordination and further development of these programs. A USAID grant awarded in 2003 to support restoring Iraq 's higher education infrastructure will fund approximately 10 students and several visiting faculty.
Establish campus-wide procedures for evaluating instructors in graduate classes and use the results in activities and programs that ensure teaching quality. (2.2, Provost; Vice President, Health Sciences Center )
The University teaching evaluation form is used throughout the campus to evaluate graduate as well as undergraduate classes. The results are reviewed by faculty and chairs to assess teaching quality, and used in promotion and tenure decisions. In addition, new faculty and those up for tenure are observed and evaluated by experienced teachers, and some units, such as the Harriman School and the School of Medicine , have developed their own evaluation forms for graduate classes.
Establish department-based professional development programs for graduate students and postdoctoral associates to facilitate their success in achieving professional goals. These programs should include discussion of career options both in and outside the academy, and they should address such issues as improving oral and written communication skills, computer skills, and job interview skills. (2.2, Provost, Vice President, Health Sciences Center )
All the professional schools focus on career preparation through curricula, advising, and student services that develop students' knowledge of career options, computer and communication skills, and interview techniques. Arts and Sciences departments have training programs to assist their graduate students with publishing, presentations, and job search in and outside academia. The Career Center offers workshops on interview and presentation skills to all students and postdoctoral associates.
Investigate the potential for enhancing graduate degrees through new certificate programs and internships, including initiatives offering advanced training and experience in pedagogy. (2.2, Provost; Dean, Graduate School )
Four new graduate certificate programs have been initiated since fall 2000, in Industrial Management, Computer Integrated Engineering, Composition Studies, and Forensic Social Work. The Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT) has offered a variety of programs for graduate students wishing to develop their teaching skills.
Develop a program to reward teaching assistants who are consistently successful teachers. (2.3, Provost; Dean, Graduate School )
Every year the University gives five President's Awards for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student, which include a financial reward. In 2001-02, the Graduate Council Fellowships and Awards Committee initiated a second award—the GCAC Special Commendation for Excellence in Teaching by a Graduate Student—to students nominated for the President's Award who have demonstrated excellence.
SB Home | Welcome Center | Admissions | Academics | Research
Faculty and Staff | Athletics | For Students | In the Greater Community
Hospital and Health Care | <urn:uuid:c8e5d56d-1980-472d-965f-465174314fad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stonybrook.edu/sb/5yrplan03-04/graduate.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959965 | 711 | 1.625 | 2 |
The Government has today announced plans to ensure the future of the Feed-in Tariffs scheme to make it more predictable. Transparency, longevity and certainty are at the heart of the new improved scheme.
The reforms will provide greater confidence to consumers and industry investing in exciting renewable technologies such as solar power, anaerobic digestion, micro-CHP, wind and hydro power.
The Feed-in Tariffs (FITs) scheme provides a subsidy, paid for by all consumers through their energy bills, enabling small scale renewable and low carbon technologies to compete against higher carbon forms of electricity generation.
The surge of solar PV installations in the latter part of last year, due to a 45% reduction in estimated installation costs since 2009, has placed a huge strain on the FITs budget.
Climate Change Minister Greg Barker said: “Today we are announcing plans to improve the Feed-in Tariffs scheme. Instead of a scheme for the few the new improved scheme will deliver for the many. Our new plans will see almost two and a half times more installations than originally projected by 2015 which is good news for the sustainable growth of the industry. We are proposing a more predictable and transparent scheme as the costs of technologies fall, ensuring a long term, predictable rate of return that will closely track changes in prices and deployment.
“I want to see a bright and vibrant future for small scale renewables in the UK and allow each of the technologies to reach their potential where they can get to a point where they can stand on their own two feet without the need for subsidy sooner rather than later.”
A BETTER FIT SCHEME FOR CONSUMERS AND COMMUNITIES
- A tariff of 21p/kWh will take effect from 1st April this year for domestic-size solar panels with an eligibility date on or after 3rd March 2012. Other tariff reductions apply for larger installations.
- The Department has listened carefully to feedback on the energy efficiency proposals that we put forward in the consultation of 31st October. Properties installing solar panels on or after 1st April this year will be required to produce an Energy Performance Certificate rating of ‘D’ or above to qualify for a full FIT. The previous proposals for a ‘C’ rating or a commitment for all Green Deal measures to be installed was seen as impractical at this stage. We estimate that about half of all properties are already eligible for a ‘D’ rating.
- From 1st April 2012, new ‘multi-installation’ tariff rates set at 80% of the standard tariffs will be introduced for solar PV installations where a single individual or organisation is already receiving FITs for other solar PV installations. This reflects the lower costs of such installations, as they benefit from the economies of scale. Based on the feedback received, the threshold is set at more than 25 installations. Individuals or organisations with 25 or fewer installations will still be eligible for the individual rate. DECC is now consulting on a proposal that social housing, community projects and distributed energy schemes be exempt from these multi-installation tariff rates.
- The tariff for micro-CHP installations will be increased to recognise the benefits this technology could bring and to encourage its development.
A BETTER FIT SCHEME FOR INDUSTRY
- In line with the evidence of falling costs for solar PV, DECC is proposing to peg the subsidy levels to cost reductions and industry growth to provide more certainty for future investments. This will ensure that subsidy levels keep in step with the market. It builds on the best of the existing German system and will remove the need for emergency reviews.
- Using budget flexibility to cover the overspend resulting from high PV uptake this year, while still allowing £460 million for new installations over the Spending Review period. This won’t have any impact on consumer bills beyond the agreed overall cap on renewable subsidies as it will primarily be funded from an under spend on the budget allocated for large-scale renewables. | <urn:uuid:d71ccdaa-95b9-40e2-969f-4544f78ced1a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://solarfeedintariff.co.uk/2012/02/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928311 | 813 | 2.125 | 2 |
For six years, the Alliance Mentoring Project has provided
opportunities for students to work with schoolchildren at St. John
the Baptist Parish in the Bedford-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn,
the original site of St. John’s University. Elementary school
students are matched with one of over 200 St. John’s volunteers.
The mentors travel to St. John the Baptist elementary school eight
times each week to assist the grade school students with finishing
homework and reviewing class assignments. They also counsel the
children on issues such as drugs, violence and conflict
The Annual Walk for the Homeless has been in existence for more
than 20 years and has for many people become a Good Friday
tradition. The 2004 Walk raised over $23,000 to benefit programs
for the homeless in New York City and members of the St. John’s
community who find themselves in emergency situations.
Service opportunities for our student athletic teams were
prolific. Ninety percent of our student athletes participated. The
Red Storm helped the needy in the Bread and Life Soup Kitchen, St.
John’s Home for Boys, St. John the Baptist School and the St.
Nicholas of Tolentine shelter.
“Fridays in the Kitchen,” where volunteers serve meals at St.
John’s Bread and Life Soup Kitchen, Brooklyn, has added yet another
service opportunity. On Tuesdays, students and staff get together
in the Quad Lounge to make as many as 200 sandwiches. These
sandwiches are then distributed and served with fruit and drink
from Mobile Soup Kitchens set up around New York City to feed the
Over 350 students, faculty, administrators and alumni
participated in the Second Annual Service Day – nearly twice the
number of last year’s volunteers. The many services provided
included painting playgrounds in poor neighborhoods, serving meals
to the hungry, visiting the incarcerated and entertaining the
The Elder Law Clinic celebrated its 10th Anniversary. Thirty-one
students participated, representing 48 clients in state and federal
courts and in administrative forums. Public education presentations
were held at 30 senior citizen centers in Queens.
The School of Law opened the doors of an Immigration Rights
Clinic. Catholic Charities Community Services, Archdiocese of New
York, co-sponsored this full-year (two-semester), eight-credit
clinical program. Second and third-year law students represented
some of New York’s most vulnerable newcomers. Real-life courtroom
experience was gained in the Immigration Courts at the Queens U.S.
Immigration and Customs Enforcement Detention Facility tribunal at
More than 270 Red Storm student-athletes made a difference in
the community through service. Team services included: serving
meals to the homeless at St. John Bread and Life Soup Kitchen and
gathering toys and groceries for those in need during the holidays
through the Sponsor-a-Family Program. | <urn:uuid:48e3ea5c-154f-4594-b5c4-0decd1a2096d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.stjohns.edu/about/president/report/03_04/service/lending.stj | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943969 | 623 | 1.53125 | 2 |
Cataract is the main cause of blindness around the world. The older generation is primarily affected; in around 90 percent of the cases, this disease occurs with old age. Colloquially, it is known as age-related cataract. The disease begins as a gray veil that initially impairs vision and then leads to blindness.
The good news: the affected lenses can be replaced with artificial lenses in an uncomplicated surgical procedure. In Germany alone, almost a half million cataract procedures are performed every year. Technology from Carl Zeiss supports this procedure with a new instrument: Visalis 100 removes the diseased crystalline lens of the eye using the phaco-emulsification technique with ultrasound and suction. From the diagnostics instrument to intraocular lenses, surgical microscopes and follow-up devices, Carl Zeiss provides a complete line for the treatment of cataract.
The new Visalis 100 system is already being used in India where its ease of use and absolute precision have made it a star. Innovations for growth markets are in demand, particularly in Asia where there is considerable need for medical devices for ophthalmology. Carl Zeiss actively participates in fighting preventable blindness and in the advancement of eye care in developing regions. The company’s contribution to the "Vision 2020 — The Right to Sight" project makes it possible to help those most in need.
September 8, 2009 | <urn:uuid:d99fbd3e-d370-433e-87fd-ae950a6dc6c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://corporate.zeiss.com/about/en_de/news/did-you-know/did-you-know-40.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934816 | 288 | 3 | 3 |
Valentine's Day. It's here every Feb. 14 and we always know when it's coming. Everything in the stores turns pink and red and, suddenly, your television set seems to have lost the ability to air commercials for things other than jewelry and chocolate.
For me, Valentine's Day passes like just another day of the year. For some reason, though, Valentine's Day seems to raise some of the most heated opinions of all the holidays.
This once-religious holiday has become a day for young lovers to exchange gifts and for everyone else to sit at home either watching chick flicks and eating self-bought chocolate or, like me, simply letting it pass.
Those who dislike Valentine's Day often refer to it as being an unnecessary commercial ploy. It is also often said that people shouldn't need a special day set aside to appreciate those they love and argue that it typically won't even do much for the state of a relationship.
Fans of Valentine's Day say the opposite.
Lily Friedman, a sophomore at City Honors School, says she likes Valentine's Day because "a lot of holidays are based on religious aspects, but I think over time Valentine's Day became more about appreciating other people rather than being about gifts and worship."
And who could forget passing out those cute little cards and candies at your elementary school Valentine's Day party?
I suppose I can see the good and the bad in this holiday. I would have to say, however, that it seems overall not worth it to me to get as fired up as some people do over Valentine's Day. After all, its just another day.
Anna Hyzy is a sophomore at City Honors. | <urn:uuid:83b39033-9e26-467e-99b3-44fbf543e895> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.buffalonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20110210/LIFE04/302109951/1306 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.984607 | 347 | 1.773438 | 2 |
Reframing Eminent Domain: Unsupported Advocacy, Ambiguous Economics, and the Case for a New Public Use Test
David A. Dana
Northwestern University - School of Law
Vermont Law Review, 2007
Northwestern Public Law Research Paper No. 07-20
Northwestern Law & Econ Research Paper No. 07-03
The two eminent domain reform alternatives currently on the political agenda are a flat ban on condemnations or a ban on only economic development condemnations coupled with continued allowance of blight condemnations (the approach in most reforming states). Although the possible effects of reform are central to the current debate, scholars have not carefully addressed those effects. With regard to the quantitative effects of reform, this Article uses an accessible model to demonstrates that: (1) a flat ban on all exercises of eminent domain will result in some less development in urban areas (poor or not poor) and some more development in exurban or rural areas; (2) a ban on only economic development condemnations (which allows so-called blight or blight removal condemnations to continue as before) will result in some more development in poor urban areas (but not necessarily in urban areas as a whole) and in exurban or rural ones, and less development in suburban areas (at least non-poor suburbs); and (3) the extent to which alternative means of subsidizing new development (such as tax relief) will offset the loss of eminent domain depends on the level of competition among localities for new development prior to ban or restrictions on the use of eminent domain. We can say less about the quality of the development after eminent domain reforms than we can about the quantity of development after eminent domain reforms, as the qualitative claims about the nature of the development that will be encouraged or discouraged as a result of eminent domain "reforms" lack both theoretical and empirical support. Stated simply, there is no defensible way to categorize as good or bad, economically viable or non-viable, efficient or inefficient, socially beneficial or socially harmful, the development in urban areas that will be lost as a result of a flat ban on eminent domain or (in poor urban areas at least) that will be gained as a result of a ban on economic development condemnations coupled with continued allowance of blight condemnations. Given that, a new approach to the public use component of eminent domain law is needed.
Number of Pages in PDF File: 53
Keywords: Environmental Law, Property and Land Use, Law and Economics, Constitutional LawAccepted Paper Series
Date posted: July 12, 2007
© 2013 Social Science Electronic Publishing, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
This page was processed by apollo2 in 0.344 seconds | <urn:uuid:aaa0f259-1634-495e-8e78-084ea8d345c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=999616 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91279 | 550 | 1.617188 | 2 |
View Full Version : De*natrate Exhausted
Quote from Seachem; "As long as nitrate concentrations remain under control, the product is not exhausted. Each 500 mL of de*nitrate™ treats about 100–200 L (25–50 gallons*), depending on initial nitrate concentration and the current biological load."
Does 500 ml of De*natrate treat 25 to 50 gallons in its life or is that how much it can handle at one time? Why would it become exhausted?
Tech Support DD
500mL of de*nitrate will treat 25 to 50 gallons of water at one time (for the life of the product). de*nitrate may become exhausted if the pores of the product get clogged. As long as the nitrate concentration in your tank remains under control, the product is not exhausted. Many people get several years of use out of de*nitrate.
I did not know that de nitrate has can be exhausted. May I ask if this applies to matrix as well? Is it possible to regenerate de nitrate by unclogging the pores?
Tech Support EH
Since de*nitrate, Matrix,and Pond Matrix are all biological support media, they do not actually ever exhaust as chemical filtration resins tend to do. Instead, they can grown less efficient with use by pore clogging. Chemical resins will actually reach a capacity where they are no longer able to remove impurities. This is not true of biological media. Prefiltering the water(with mechanical and chemical filtration) before it passes through de*nitrate will extend its useful life. Rinsing the product of any slime build-up, etc will typically restore its capacity to house denitrifying bacteria. It is always a good idea to add some Stability when you do this, in order to re-establish some of the colonies that were lost during rinsing. | <urn:uuid:5e82df69-4b07-4d7d-b875-15c76c9e02f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.seachem.com/support/forums/archive/index.php/t-2827.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.935456 | 395 | 1.671875 | 2 |
August 5, 2011
Energy in the West key to economic recovery
The Denver Post
August 5, 2011
By: Reps. Doug Lamborn and Scott Tipton
As many Colorado families continue to lose jobs, homes, or even hope for a brighter future, they may not realize that one key to our nation's economic recovery lies right beneath them. Colorado and our Western neighbors are home to vast energy reserves that, if tapped and developed responsibly, could fuel our nation's economic recovery. Unfortunately, the Obama administration's misguided energy policies have put much of those reserves off-limits.
We are trying to increase access to our petroleum, natural gas, critical minerals and alternative energies like wind and solar, through an all-of-the-above energy approach. This will do three things: increase energy supplies and bring down the cost of gasoline at the pump; create high-paying jobs; and increase revenues to the federal government to help pay down our enormous national debt.
One of the most obvious ways to grow our Western energy production is by eliminating excessive government regulations and encouraging environmentally responsible development. The House Natural Resources committee recently passed legislation that would help eliminate the regulatory confusion, lawsuits and permitting delays that are currently stifling wind and solar development.
Recently, the Western Energy Alliance, a Denver-based coalition of independent Western energy producers, released a comprehensive report on the impact of government regulations on Western jobs and energy production. The report shows that just six major oil and natural gas producing states in the West have the ability to help rebuild the economy and create jobs while displacing foreign imports.
The study concludes that if Western producers are allowed to develop the vast domestic energy resources found on public lands, investment in the region will double to $58 billion annually by 2020, and direct, indirect, and induced jobs will increase by 16 percent. Included in the coalition's recommendations are:
A thorough review and comprehensive reform of the entire federal on-shore process, including leasing, project environmental analysis, and permitting;
A moratorium on new and expanded layers of regulation; and
Limits to litigation that unreasonably obstruct domestic energy production and economic growth.
Earlier this year, the House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade examined the impact that regulations on the energy industry have had on small businesses. Business owners told us that they are struggling to cope with the additional costs of energy resulting from overregulation.
We believe it is important that reasonable regulations remain in place requiring that drilling for oil and gas be done responsibly in a safe and healthful manner. And it must be done in a way that is not disruptive to the surface owners. The increased cost of new regulations should also be considered.
That's because those costs will either be absorbed by the businesses — diverting resources away from investment and expansion — or passed along to cash-strapped consumers who have already tightened their belts and cut back. In either case, they are frequently roadblocks to economic recovery and job creation.
This poses a significant challenge to small businesses, which account for 70 percent of all new jobs created in the U.S. and will be the driving force of any economic recovery. As long as the duplicative and punitive regulations remain in place that have created a de facto moratorium on oil and gas exploration and stunted the development of renewables, businesses will continue to suffer, and we will continue to remain stuck in a rut of unemployment that has remained over 8 percent for 29 consecutive months.
We will continue to work to open up energy production in Colorado and nationwide. This will get people back to work and reduce the financial stress on the families and business owners struggling to fill up their tanks and pay the bills. We will continue to seek solutions to spur on job creation and economic recovery.
Rep. Doug Lamborn, R-Colorado Springs, chairs the House Natural Resources Subcommittee on Energy and Minerals. Rep. Scott Tipton, R-Cortez, chairs the House Small Business Subcommittee on Agriculture, Energy and Trade.
Printable PDF of this document | <urn:uuid:14bd5661-e6b5-4292-a0fa-2f4a17ee3515> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://naturalresources.house.gov/news/documentsingle.aspx?DocumentID=255254 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00024-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947654 | 818 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why the gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.
Although it may pass largely unnoticed in the United States, November 5th is marked in the United Kingdom with fireworks and bonfires, where effigies of the famous Gunpowder Plot conspirator are burned. While the occasion is ostensibly to celebrate the foiling of the 1605 plot to blow up the Houses of Parliament, Fawkes has become a hero in his own right for his attempt to stand up to the Crown's persecution. Fawkes was even reintroduced to popular culture recently through the 2005 movie hit "V for Vendetta," adapted from David Lloyd's graphic novel of the same name, in which the protagonist "V" wears a Guy Fawkes mask and threatens to blow up Parliament to protest a totalitarian, Orwellian government.
Supporters of Texas congressman and former Republican presidential candidate Ron Paul took up the revolutionary theme and used it to raise a staggering and unlikely sum of more than $4.2 million last November 5th, setting a single-day GOP fundraising record in the process. | <urn:uuid:51acbf5f-9f19-4439-85fa-22ce4bf6fa97> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://reason.org/blog/show/happy-guy-fawkes-night | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965025 | 235 | 2.578125 | 3 |
WHAT ARE PERENNIALS?
Perennial plants are an important aspect to include in your garden planting and landscaping design. Perennial flowers and perennial plants are plants that have a continuing life cycle, and perennials will come back year after year instead of dying and having to be replanted. The term perennial means perpetual and recurrent, which is exactly how you should think of perennial plants and perennial flowers. They will bloom over and over in your garden, depending on the season.
PERENNIAL FLOWERS FOR LANDSCAPING DESIGN
Perennial flowers for landscaping design last for an indefinitely long time as long as they are properly cared for. Flowering perennials from The Garden Gates are high quality and beautiful perennial plants. Perennial flowers and perennial plants come in beautiful varieties, colors and combinations. Incorporating perennial flowers and shrubs are important to work into your landscape design so you are not replacing all your places each season. Ask one of The Garden Gates' experienced landscape designers and architects today about how to choose the best perennials for your garden, outdoor area or patio today.
PERENNIAL SHRUBS AND PERENNIALS FOR SHADE
Perennial shrubs and perennial plants can live in a number of areas around your home to maximum enjoyment and beauty. Many perennial flowers and perennials plants will thrive in the shade just as there are a multitude of perennial plants that will flourish and grow in sunny spots. Many celebrated shrubs, flowering plants and shade plants are perennials - just ask The Garden Gates' friendly staff today if your favorite flowering plants are perennials. Perennial plants and perennial flowers can easily be worked into most landscaping designs and even existing gardens to provide some color and greenery throughout the year.
FLOWERING PERENNIALS AND GROUND COVERS
Perennial plants, ground covering plants, vines and flowering jasmines are the perfect addition to any types of home and garden. Because perennial flowers offer blooming through the seasons as well as year after year, they make excellent gifts for friends and family alike. Perennial vines and flowering jasmines are great ways to create privacy areas when planted withtrellises or anarbor because of the lasting nature of these plants for continued privacy. Ground covering perennial plants have become more popular in the last few years as a way to help reduce the maintenance in a garden. Also, ground covering perennial plants typically are planted to cover or fill in the spaces in your garden which creates a desirable and lush green garden.
PERENNIAL PLANTS FOR OUTDOOR DECOR
Perennials are flowering plants and shrubs that will live for more than one season with the right care. Often, perennial plants and perennial flowers are planted and become dormant until they bloom the following season. Many perennial plants can last for several growing seasons with proper care. A nice selection of perennial flowers and perennial plants are salvia, holly hocks, fox gloves, black-eyed susans and delphiniums just to name a few. Perennials are the perfect addition to any outdoor space, including gardens and patios. Perennials offer blooming through the seasons as well as year after year. Call to speak with one of The Garden Gates' talented landscaping designers and architects to get a free estimate for your garden, lawn or outdoor space. The Garden Gates offers specialized customer care for any space to be updated, re-designed or maintained. From lawncare to complete design work, The Garden Gates offers professional service with a smile. | <urn:uuid:fa566733-28c5-4887-9cab-37c30dc8e1b5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thegardengates.com/perennials-ground-covers-jasmines-vines-cp1152.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941602 | 728 | 2.359375 | 2 |
If you’re still standing on the sidelines in cash at the moment, here are three good reasons that you should be invested in stocks right now.
- An investor’s choice of asset allocation is the single largest factor that will influence the probability of long-term success. Historical evidence suggests that cash investments return the least amount over the long run.
- There is significant upside potential in equities for long-term investors right now. Stock valuations are, despite Q2’s rebound, well below their highs and have a long way to go to be back in line with what we consider to be fair value.
- Sustained low interest rates and dramatic increases in money supply combined with increased deficits have many fearful of the inflationary impact once economic recovery takes hold. Money market investments, non-market linked CD’s and high interest savings accounts offer little protection against the wealth eroding effect of inflation.
That is not to say that there is no downside. In fact, there is an inherent risk when investing in equities. However, I beleiive the risk vs. reward payoff still favors the equity investor at this time. | <urn:uuid:fdad00c2-47cc-48c8-ace9-b0148a3c0237> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://seekingalpha.com/article/149314-3-reasons-to-be-invested-in-stocks-right-now | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940914 | 238 | 1.554688 | 2 |
Bees (First Discovery Book) - non fiction
The picture to the right is a photograph of the finished craft. The diagram instructions are drawn. (drawings load faster than photos over the internet)
Press firmly for the body and wings and gently for the head and stinger. Firm presses make oval shapes, gentle presses make circle shapes.
Stamp your thumb in yellow paint.
Make one stamp on the paper at whatever angle you want your bee to be flying (we made ours pointing slightly upwards.
Dip your pinkie finger into black paint.
Gently dot on a head and make an even smaller dot for the stinger.
Make two side by side dots (about stinger size) in the middle for the black stripe.
Stamp your index finger into the black paint. Stamp many times onto a piece of scrap paper or paper towel until almost all the paint is gone. Then stamp a wing above the body at a slight angle and a second wing above the body at an opposite angle.
Make Fingerprint bees on cards on cards or painted terra cotta pots. | <urn:uuid:f9d9e73d-35d1-488a-ab8d-9e4f50222de0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dltk-kids.com/Crafts/miscellaneous/fingerprint_bees.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91394 | 225 | 3.4375 | 3 |
While most western media attention has been focusing on the Lebanon war that erupted on 12 July 2006, there has been a marked escalation in violence in both Afghanistan and Iraq. Some of the key events in the recent phase of conflict in these countries was reported in earlier columns in this series (see, for example, "Haditha: a question of responsibility" [8 June 2006] and "Afghanistan's war season" [22 June 2006]). In both countries, however, the cost to civilians has risen to even higher levels in the past few weeks, even as the position of occupying United States, British and other coalition troops has become more precarious.
Afghanistan: the Taliban campaign
United States sources claim that on 25-26 July their forces' operations killed as many as twenty-two suspected Taliban paramilitaries in southern Helmand province. This is just the latest in the escalation of violence that has cost 1,700 lives in the first seven months of 2006. Most have been civilians, but many have been Afghan police as well as seventy foreign troops, including another American soldier killed on 26 July.
US sources have suggested that as many as 600 Taliban have been killed in the past month alone, a dubious figure given other official reports that speak of a total of only 1,000-2,000 Taliban in Afghanistan as a whole (see Richard Norton-Taylor, "600 Taliban killed in bloodiest month for 5 years", Guardian, 26 July 2006).
Paul Rogers is professor of peace studies at Bradford University, northern England. He has been writing a weekly column on global security on openDemocracy since October 2001
Paul Rogers tracks the July 2006 war in a series of daily columns:
Israel, Lebanon, and beyond: the danger of escalation"
(17 July 2006)
"War defeats diplomacy" (18 July 2006)
"A proxy war"
(19 July 2006)
"Israel: losing control" (20 July 2006)
"Hit Beirut, target Tehran" (21 July 2006)
"Lebanon in the wider war" (25 July 2006)
"Lebanon: no quick fix" (26 July 2006)
It is certainly the case that the past few weeks have been the most violent period in Afghanistan for nearly five years. At the same time, the claims for Taliban deaths have to be put alongside other accounts stating that some tens of thousands of paramilitaries are available in safe districts across the border in Pakistan, with easy movement over that border.
There has been a particular problem for the 3,000 British troops operating in Helmand province, where their original expectation of an operation focused on a "hearts-and-minds" approach has changed into something more akin to "search-and-destroy", or at least force-protection. The soldiers have turned out to be operating in an adverse security environment that has a direct impact on their ability to engage with local communities.
Under conditions of low levels of violence, a substantial proportion of a given troop contingent, perhaps as much as 60%, can be involved in reconstruction, with the remainder in a support role. An adverse environment changes this entirely base-protection becomes a priority, with guards being mounted twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. Patrols have to go out heavily armed and with substantial numbers held in reserve in the base in case a particular patrol needs emergency help. The end result is that few if any of the troops can be involved in reconstruction and the nature of the operation changes out of all recognition.
This is what has happened to the British forces in Helmand, with levels of violence so high that further armoured vehicles and helicopters are having to be supplied as a matter of urgency. For the much larger US forces, aggressive operations against Taliban and other militia have been underway for several years, although with an increased intensity over the past three months. US forces have been prone to use their immense firepower advantage, including the recent use of B-1B and B-52 heavy bombers, but the resulting collateral damage and civilian casualties have tended to turn ordinary opinion in the country against the United States and other foreign troops. The nature of current US military attitudes, though, make any substantive change in tactics unlikely.
The deterioration in security in Afghanistan has only attracted attention in the British media when British soldiers have been killed, and there has been a marked tendency for ministers to claim that these were isolated incidents. In one of the most surprising indicators of the true state of affairs, such views were contradicted on 21 July by the head of Nato's International Security Assistance Force (Isaf), Lieutenant-General David Richards; he described the situation as "close to anarchy", and spoke of feuding between agencies, extensive government corruption, poorly regulated private-security companies and shortages of equipment for Isaf (see Richard Norton-Taylor, "Afghanistan close to anarchy, warns general", Guardian, 22 July 2006 and the letter on 25 July from Isaf's chief information officer, Chris Borneman, clarifying the remarks).
Iraq: the insurgency defiant
In Iraq, the security situation is far worse and shows no signs of any improvement. The level of violence is much higher than at any time in the past three years, with Iraq Body Count (one of the independent sources) recording a major upsurge in civilian deaths in the past six months, to a total of around 45,000. These are very much baseline figures drawn from press reports, and recent UN figures suggest a much higher toll, with 14,338 killed in the first six months of 2006 alone, the highest figure being 3,149 in June.
What is so disturbing is the contrast between the current levels of violence and the very public predictions from the Bush administration that the death of Abu Musab al-Zarqawi at the end of May, followed by a rigorous clampdown on insurgents in Baghdad, would lead to a wholesale decline in the insurgency. Far from that happening, the reverse is true, with the Nouri al-Maliki government quite unable to exercise any overall control.
In addition to his weekly openDemocracy column, Paul Rogers writes an international security monthly briefing for the Oxford Research Group; for details, click here
A collection of Paul Rogers's Oxford Research Group briefings, Iraq and the War on Terror: Twelve Months of Insurgency, 2004-05 is published by IB Tauris
Lebanon: the next war
It is an extraordinary fact that in a matter of days, these developments have been sidelined by the war in Lebanon. The influential policy circles in Washington now regard the Lebanon war as central to the whole global war on terror, and have relegated Afghanistan and Iraq with barely a mention.
This consignment to oblivion of two countries that have been central to US military strategy for almost five years promotes a subtle but definite message. In its essence, this is that the real problem is not the Taliban, or the various insurgent groups in Iraq, or even Hizbollah in Lebanon: it is Iran. An extraordinary example of displacement behaviour now sees the regime in Tehran as the central enemy in the whole war on terror. In this mindset, Tehran is the world's leading sponsor of terrorism, Tehran is responsible for many of the problems in Iraq, and Tehran has even been giving shelter to significant al-Qaida figures from Afghanistan.
The bizarre logic loops back to southern Lebanon, where Hizbollah becomes a key player because it is a manifestation of an Iranian state that is directly and comprehensively threatening Israel. Defeat Hizbollah and Tehran will be chastened, the argument runs. The implication is clear: Israel is on the frontline of the global war and must be supported to the hilt by being vigorously rearmed and having its policies endorsed from Washington.
This interpretation of events is also a reflection of the strength of the pro-Israeli lobby in the United States, one that has been hugely boosted in recent years by the rise in influence of the Christian Zionist movement (see "Christian Zionists and neocons: a heavenly marriage", 3 February 2005).
In its most extreme form, there is a developing view in Washington that a defeat for Hizbollah will be the start of a new era in middle-east politics, with the dangerously rising influence of Iran dealt a blow from which it will not recover. For this reason alone, it becomes obvious that there is no commitment whatsoever in Washington to an early ceasefire. Indeed, from this perspective such a development would be intensely undesirable. For reasons of wider regional geopolitics and because of the remarkably deep United States-Israel relationship, this is a war that is still in its early stages. | <urn:uuid:be1c5b44-a2ed-41f5-a62b-869eed28ffc6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.opendemocracy.net/conflict/triple_front_3771.jsp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96442 | 1,756 | 2.015625 | 2 |
If you are faced with a survival situation you should know the importance of proper care and use of your weapons, tools, and equipment. This is especially true of your knife. You must always keep it sharp and ready to use. A knife is your most valuable tool in a survival situation. Imagine being in a survival situation without any weapons, tools, or equipment except your knife. It could happen! You might even be without a knife. You would probably feel helpless, but with the proper knowledge and skills, you can easily improvise needed items.
In survival situations, you may have to fashion any number and type of field-expedient tools and equipment to survive. Examples of tools and equipment that could make your life much easier are ropes, rucksacks, clothes, nets, and so on.
Weapons serve a dual purpose. You use them to obtain and prepare food and to provide self-defense. A weapon can also give you a feeling of security and provide you with the ability to hunt on the move.
WARNING – This post contains graphic material that may be unsuitable for queasy stomachs.
You hold clubs, you do not throw them. As a field-expedient weapon, the club does not protect you from enemies. It can, however, extend your area of defense beyond your fingertips. It also serves to increase the force of a blow without injuring yourself. There are three basic types of clubs. They are the simple, weighted, and sling club.
A simple club is a staff or branch. It must be short enough for you to swing easily, but long enough and strong enough for you to damage whatever you hit. Its diameter should fit comfortably in your palm, but it should not be so thin as to allow the club to break easily upon impact. A straight-grained hardwood is best if you can find it. | <urn:uuid:c0dd30e2-f3b4-4073-a3a5-ec6f67731457> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sharedsurvivalknowledge.com/tag/clothing-and-insulation/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953326 | 379 | 2.59375 | 3 |
Once upon a time, IT departments controlled the kinds of mobile devices allowed to connect to their organizations’ networks. Laptops were issued, owned, controlled and maintained by IT. Only approved applications could be installed and run. It was all very tidy, users rarely complained and everyone lived happily ever after.
Well, those fairy-tale days are over. First, it was the doling out, albeit reluctantly, of Blackberry hand-held devices that could access e-mail servers. Then it was iPhones. And Android. And Windows Mobile. And tablets, lots of tablets. Today, with the multivendor, multiplatform BYOD (bring your own device) revolution in full swing, it’s more like the wild, wild west than Aesop’s fables. It’s enough to make any IT director wonder exactly when he or she lost control.
A decade ago, users set up their home offices to mimic their IT-prescribed office at work. Today, it’s just the opposite. “Organizations can no longer dictate what devices are allowed and not allowed into their work environment,” says Bob White, vice president at Red Thread, a Boston-based workspace architectural furniture and design consultancy. “Limit access to certain kinds of devices and people will get frustrated. You still need to attract and hire top talent, and those people want to work the way they want to work.”
Blame it on the consumerization of IT. Research firm Gartner is.
Speaking at a conference earlier this year, Terrence Cosgrove, research director at Gartner said | <urn:uuid:f5010eb7-b497-46db-bae9-db34cdd5928c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://worshiptechdecisions.com/article/house_of_worship_mobile_device_management_its_time_to_get_on_board | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955466 | 337 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Afghan President Hamid Karzai admitted to CNN on Monday that he has received cash payments from Iran after a New York Times report fingered his chief of staff as carrying bags of money back from trips to Iran.
Little noticed in his interview, however, is that he said that President George W. Bush knew Afghanistan was getting cash from their western neighbor.
“Even when we were at Camp David [Maryland] with President [George W.] Bush, this is nothing hidden,” Karzai remarked.
Karzai likened the bags of cash that he received, which his staff doled out to “Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and even Taliban commanders to secure their loyalty,” to the billions of dollars in US aid his country receives.
“The cash payments are done by various friendly countries to help the president’s office and to help dispense assistance in various ways to the employees around here, to people outside, and this is transparent and this is something that I have discussed,” Karzai said. Iran, he added, “asked for good relations in return and for lots of other things in return.”
“We are grateful to Iran for the help that they are giving and to those receiving that help under my instruction,” he said.
Iran’s ambassador to Afghanistan delivered the cash — in euros — in large plastic bags, according to a New York Times report published last night.
According to an Afghan official on the plane, Mr. Maliki handed Mr. Daudzai a large plastic bag bulging with packets of euro bills. A second Afghan official confirmed that Mr. Daudzai carried home a large bag of cash.
“This is the Iranian money,” said an Afghan official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “Many of us noticed this.”
The bag of money is part of a secret, steady stream of Iranian cash intended to buy the loyalty of Mr. Daudzai and promote Iran’s interests in the presidential palace, according to Afghan and Western officials here. Iran uses its influence to help drive a wedge between the Afghans and their American and NATO benefactors, they say.
The payments, which officials say total millions of dollars, form an off-the-books fund that Mr. Daudzai and Mr. Karzai have used to pay Afghan lawmakers, tribal elders and even Taliban commanders to secure their loyalty, the officials said. | <urn:uuid:e11d9166-804f-40c9-8442-600ba024d6ec> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2010/10/25/afghan-president-karzai-bush-knew-bags-cash-iran/ | 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 | 0.976342 | 507 | 1.515625 | 2 |
The last time I visited Kennedy Space Center, the U.S. was months away from launching the space shuttle for the first time. My return visit was last week, a little more than a year after the spacecraft was retired. Much has changed at Kennedy in the time between.
When I was there in 1980 as a teenager, there was an air of expectation and optimism surrounding the shuttle. In 2012, it seems that all is left is nostalgia or perhaps the different frames of mind reflect the two stages of my life I was at during my visits.
While there are attempts to hype future projects like the Orion Multi-Purpose Crew Vehicle, which is more theoretical at this point than realistic, much of Kennedy Space Center focuses on past glories like the Apollo program and the Space Shuttle era which is rapidly slipping into the rear view mirror of history.
None of that detracts from the attraction. When I visited, I managed to spend an entire day there with my family and we didn’t come close to exhausting the activities we could have enjoyed during our visit. And that’s on the base ticket which doesn’t include upgrades which allow you to tour special areas such as the Vertical Assembly Building (VAB) or the launch pads.
Visitors are free to explore the centre at their own pace. Armed with a schedule of events, you can customize your visit to your own taste. The first thing you see as you enter is the “rocket garden,” a display of rockets from NASA’s history, such as a Jupiter-Redstone from the Mercury missions or an Atlas rocket from the Gemini program. It’s the perfect place to peruse your guide as you orient yourself and a place that you will return to a few times throughout the day.
We started with one of the day’s highlights, the astronaut encounter. People pack an auditorium to hear that day’s astronaut describe his experiences. On our visit it was Marcos Pontes, Brazil’s first man in space.
He was a charming fellow and an entertaining speaker. He told lots of interesting anecdotes and showed some home videos and photos of his time in space which were fascinating to watch. For the inevitable question from kids in the audience about how they could one day become astronauts, he said that if they want to attain their dreams, they should study hard and persist no matter what obstacles life throws at them. It’s probably a lesson that still applies to us grownups.
Next up, we went on the bus tour which takes about two hours, but can take longer depending on how long you stay at the different sites. The first part of the tour drives by the massive Vertical Assembly Building where the shuttle was coupled to its rocket boosters and external fuel tank. Before that, it was used to assemble the huge Saturn V rockets that were used by the Apollo program that took astronauts to the moon. Hardcore space fans can purchase separate tour tickets that take them inside the building for a close-up tour.
You also get to see the crawler that ferried the shuttle out to the launch pad from the VAB, some other launch equipment and a drive by the Launch Control Center (LCC). Again, there are separate tours for the LCC for those NASA fans who are devoted enough to have memorized the many acronyms likes to use, like the LCC and VAB.
From there, you drive out to an observation tower that gives you a panoramic view of launch pad 39-A that was originally built for Apollo, but later modified for use the space shuttle. You can also observe other launch pads used for earlier space missions and are still in use today. You also can see launch pad 39-B which is now being modified for the Orion program.
With the nearest launch scheduled nearly a month away, the area was quiet, but it was easy enough to imagine what it was like back when throngs of people would come to cheer on the astronauts as they rode on rockets roaring into space.
To help you in the imagination department, visitors can hop on the next shuttle bus to the next stop on the tour which is a re-enactment of the Apollo 8 launch, the second manned Apollo mission after the disastrous Apollo I fire that claimed the lives of three astronauts. Apollo 8 also had the distinction of being the first in the program where astronauts flew to the moon and back, although they only flew around it and didn’t land.
The climax of the tour is at the next stop, the Apollo exhibit that features an honest-to-goodness Saturn V rocket, still the largest rocket ever built. Close up, it is truly gargantuan. When I was there back in the day, the Saturn V was sitting on its side in front of the visitor center, slowly rusting in the sun. It’s now housed in a modern facility that lets you admire it from stem to stern.
Also on display are a lunar lander that was never used, a lunar rover, a command module and even a piece of moon rock that you can touch. There is a movie theatre and several other displays of historical artifacts from the lunar program.
If all of what I’ve described above is not enough, there’s more. We returned to the visitor center and had our choice of two IMAX movies to watch. There was one about the Hubble space telescope and another about the International Space Station. We’d seen the latter, so we went for the former. All I can say is that seeing those dazzling space views on the towering IMAX screen in 3D makes them even more awe-inspiring.
The next item on the agenda, and the most popular with my kids, and probably the grownups as well, was “The shuttle experience.” It’s a flight simulator that is supposed to recreate the sensations of a space shuttle launch. After an amusing introductory video, visitors enter the simulator which lets them imagine they are sitting in a module in the shuttle’s cargo bay.
There is a lot of shaking and rattling, inversions and rolls to be worthy of a roller-coaster ride. About the only thing missing are the high G-forces that a real astronaut would encounter, but it’s still a lot of fun.
Once that’s done, you can take a sneak peek at a real space shuttle, the Atlantis. It was only rolled out to the Kennedy Space Center Visitors Complex on November 2 so it’s still not ready for display. The special building that will house it is still under construction, but when it opens next summer, it should be a star attraction at a site that already has its share of star attractions.
IF YOU GO:
The Kennedy Space Center Visitor Center is located on Florida’s “Space Coast.” You can visit on a day trip from Orlando, but you’d be better off staying near the ocean in a place like Titusville or Cocoa Beach.
All the info you’ll need for your visit can be found at www.kennedyspacecenter.com | <urn:uuid:c0f7f469-e83a-4e03-8bbc-7294e888c92b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.leaderpost.com/travel/Space+fans+geek+with+visit+Kennedy+Space+Center/7540506/story.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9697 | 1,469 | 1.765625 | 2 |
On a recent gourmet getaway to Aspen, I had the pleasure of tasting a fantastic Tres Leches cake at the Hotel Jerome (pictured below). Chef Christopher Keating, crediting his wife for the recipe, explained it was one of the items that he just couldn’t take off the dessert menu. As I made my way through the moist, milky goodness, I knew why — this was a great cake.
I'm sure I'd had it before, but I couldn't recall where or when, so it was like tasting it for the first time. Normally a soggy cake would not be a good thing, but here it's genius. The cake is soaked with a sweet milk syrup made from condensed milk, evaporated milk, and half and half (hence the name, Tres Leches). It's like eating cake and drinking milk, but in the same bite!
I won't pretend this version is better than the Hotel Jerome's made-from-scratch recipe, but since this is my Mom's version, it's at least a tie. She would have normally made this from scratch also, but time was short, and the humidity was high (life-threateningly high), so she used a yellow box cake mix, which worked just fine.
Whenever I post an ethnic recipe like this, I like to research the name and history. Here I didn’t bother, since the cakes origins are so obvious once you see how it's made. So, with no facts to back up my story, here is how the Tres Leches cake was born.
Somewhere in either Mexico or Nicaragua, someone made a cake. They were going to serve it with milk, as people tend to do, but something happened which caused the milk to spill on to the cake. Not wanting to waste a good piece of cake, soggy though it may be, the Mexican or Nicaraguan cook served it anyway. People loved it, and eventually a sweet tres leches (three-milk) syrup was developed for soaking the spongy cake.
That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Whether you make a cake from scratch, or use Pauline's shortcut, give this delicious dessert a try! Enjoy.
For the Tres Leches-
1 can (12-oz) evaporated milk
1 can (14-oz) sweetened condensed milk
1 cup half and half
For the Cake-
1 box yellow caked mix
1 cup water
1/4 cup vegetable oil
1 tsp vanilla
shortening to grease pan | <urn:uuid:66861c0f-94a5-4172-9ed1-9f26fb91e8d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://foodwishes.blogspot.com/2009/08/tres-leches-cake-perfect-example-of-why.html?showComment=1251321656734 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00004-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975693 | 536 | 1.601563 | 2 |
This special topics course comprises a semester-long project experience geared towards the development of skills to design realistic and practical embedded/mobile systems and applications that enhance various aspects of the training, coaching, playing and scouting of different sports, including football, hockey, baseball, soccer, etc. Students will work in teams on a project that will involve the hands-on design, configuration, engineering, implementation and testing of a prototype of an innovative embedded sports technology of their choice. Students will be expected to leverage proficiency and background gained from other courses, particularly with regard to embedded real-time principles and embedded programming. The project will utilize a synergistic mixture of skills in system architecture, modular system design, software engineering, subsystem integration, debugging and testing. From inception to demonstration of the prototype, the course will follow industrial project practices, such as version control, design requirements, design reviews, user studies and quality assurance plans. The lecture content will cover background material intended to complement the project work, and will also leverage lessons learned from other sports technology, the physics of sports and real-world lessons and guest lectures from experts in the field. The remainder of the course will consist of regular team presentations of key project milestones, current project status, a final project presentation and functional demonstrations of various subsystems, even as the entire prototype is being developed. | <urn:uuid:c3d04ecc-b514-4662-8f08-a87250f59b84> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ece.cmu.edu/courses/items/18848D.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.917256 | 266 | 2.46875 | 2 |
By Liam Migdail-Smith
Syracuse, NY -- In the 1940s, Curtis Irwin ushered in a new era of air combat, flying P-47 fighters during World War II.
On Friday, the now 86-year-old Irvin, who went on to achieve the rank of general and commanded the Syracuse-based New York Air National Guard’s 174th Fighter Wing, saw the beginning of another era — the use of unmanned aircraft in combat.
Irwin was among military and government officials who cut the ribbon on the 174th’s new MQ-9 Reaper Field Training Detachment at Hancock Field.
The first and only of its kind, the facility will train Air Force, Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard personnel to perform maintenance on the newest unmanned military aircraft, the MQ-9 Reaper.
Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt, director of the Air National Guard, applauded the efforts of New York military leaders in helping to bring the program to Syracuse.
“You can sit back and wait for a new mission to come your direction,” he said. “Or you can reach out and boldly grab that new mission.”
In mid-November, the 174th Fighter Wing will begin piloting combat missions with the Reaper from Hancock Field.
The Reapers are sent in pieces and assembled in areas of conflict, such as Afghanistan or Iraq. Then, using satellites, pilots at Hancock Field can control the Reapers from thousands of miles away.
Missions are controlled in teams of two — a pilot flies the plane and another operator controls a camera that provides video.
The Reaper carries slightly less weaponry and is a little slower than a standard F-16 fighter, but it can stay in the air more than 20 hours, giving it the ability to hover over targets longer.
In addition to being able to find and attack targets with laser-guided missiles, the Reaper has several features to assist ground troops. One is radar that can detect where a hole has been dug — helpful in identifying where there may be a risk of roadside bombs. Another is the ability to shine a light on targets that can only be seen by those wearing night vision goggles.
By March, the 174th Fighter Wing will have phased out its F-16 fighter planes and will focus entirely on the Reaper. The only other location that controls Reaper missions is Creech Air Force Base in Nevada.
Friday’s opening brought a mix of military and elected leaders, including Maj. Gen. Joseph Taluto, adjutant general for the New York Air National Guard; Col. Kevin Bradley, commander of the 174th Fighter Wing; U.S. Rep. Dan Maffei (D-DeWitt), State Sen. Dave Valesky (D-Oneida) and state assembly members Al Stirpe, William Barclay and Joan Christensen.
The facility will offer five specialized training courses in maintenance on the Reaper for students who have already completed the general aircraft maintenance courses at Sheppard Air Force Base in Texas.
“We’ve never had anything like this,” said Capt. Anthony Bucci, public affairs officer for the 174th.
Within a few years, members of the 174th Fighter Wing will begin running training missions with Reapers in the restricted military airspace at Fort Drum, Bucci said.
The Air National Guard is working the Federal Aviation Administration to come up with a way that wing can safely practice with the Reapers in the public airspace around Hancock Field, Bucci said. | <urn:uuid:71ca6f3b-8aa8-45d1-8aae-b8943d5ccab5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2009/10/air_force_opens_first_reaper_r.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00031-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942303 | 725 | 2.15625 | 2 |
The news from the National Marine Fisheries Service this week was as inevitable as it was devastating: The number of days fishermen are allowed to harvest their catch would be cut again this year, to only 20 days for some. After years of reducing so-called “days at sea” and putting areas off-limits to fishing, both fishermen and conservation groups agree a new approach is needed. They would be wise to team up and devise one, based on localized management, before the federal government does.
NMFS announced Wednesday that it planned to reduce days at sea by 18 percent for the groundfishing season that begins May 1, with further reductions for a large portion of the Gulf of Maine.
Fishermen in New England are now limited to 48 days at sea. In 1996, they were allowed to fish for 110 days per year.
Despite increasing restrictions, the number of fish remains too low in many commercial species. The most recent assessment by the fisheries service found that 13 of 19 groundfish species remain overfished. New England has the highest percentage of overfished stocks of any region in the country.
Reducing days at sea or putting more areas of the ocean off-limits to fishing clearly is not the answer. The direct approach of limiting catch is overdue.
NMFS has said this is the direction it hopes to move toward, perhaps in new comprehensive rules that are scheduled to go into effect May 1, 2010.
In the meantime, the proposed rule will cause great harm to fishermen with little benefit to fish.
“I am appalled and profoundly troubled that the agency would even consider the draconian measures contained in this proposed regulation, much less actually present them as a viable solution to the current crisis in the groundfishing industry,” said Sen. Olympia Snowe, the ranking member of the Senate Subcommittee on Oceans, Atmosphere, Fisheries and Coast Guard.
She has pledged to ensure NMFS understands the financial consequences of the proposed rule, especially on Maine’s shrinking fishing fleet.
The rule “will not solve our problems and may well cost many of the region’s fishermen their livelihoods,” said Peter Baker, manager of the Pew Environment Group’s End Overfishing in New England campaign. “The time for a new approach has come.”
That new approach should be a quota system with a mechanism to divide the catch among fishermen within localized regions.
Regional management has worked well for the state’s lobster fishery. It, coupled with a strict catch limit and localized quotas, could be the answer to New England’s long-standing overfishing. | <urn:uuid:5fa53d4e-f001-405e-b748-64ea1cee327f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bangordailynews.com/2009/01/15/opinion/days-at-sea-failure/print/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965869 | 541 | 2.546875 | 3 |
U.S. Water News Online
PHOENIX -- Legislation intended to protect the Army's Fort
Huachuca by letting area residents chart their own course on
protecting one of the state's few free-flowing rivers could be a
model for use in other water-short areas of rural Arizona, the
state's top water official said.
The Senate Appropriations Committee voted 6-1 for a compromise
bill that would allow residents of Sierra Vista and other nearby
parts of Cochise County decide whether to create a special district
to plan and provide ways to augment water supplies in the San Pedro
If enacted, the bill (HB2300) would establish a nine-member board
charged with preparing a plan to be sent to voters in the proposed
district in southwestern Cochise County.
Other rural areas with population growth pressures and challenged
water supplies where similar approaches could be taken include
western Mohave County, envisioned by some as becoming a bedroom
community to Las Vegas, and the Yavapai County's Verde River valley,
said Herb Guenther, state Water Resources Department director.
"This is the first of its kind," he said of the San Pedro River
The San Pedro region doesn't fit criteria established under a 1980
groundwater law for state-imposed regulation of groundwater pumping,
Arizona political, civic and economic leaders fear Fort Huachuca
could be targeted in the next round of military base closings because
of a federal law that links the installation's future to efforts to
protect the San Pedro River and its sensitive habitat.
Fort Huachuca, a major Army base located in Sierra Vista, is one
of southern Arizona's largest employers and is home to several Army
commands as well as signals and intelligence brigades.
"We have to protect the river to protect the fort," said Rep.
Jennifer Burns, the bill's sponsor.
Similar San Pedro watershed legislation was considered earlier
during this year but was hung up over several concerns, including
some lawmakers' insistence that local residents decide whether to
create the proposed district and whether it should have taxing
The revised San Pedro River proposal is the Legislature's latest
effort on rural water concerns. Lawmakers have already passed bills
this session to give rural areas new powers to tie development
projects to adequate water supplies and to set up a new fund -- with
no money in it initially -- to help pay for projects to augment
communities' water supplies.
Though there's plenty of water in the aquifer to support
population growth, continued pumping in excess of recharge levels
will put the river's surface flow -- and the Army base -- in
jeopardy, said Burns, a Tucson Republican whose district includes
part of Cochise County.
Sierra Vista would become a "ghost town" if the base closes, Burns
Mary Ann Black, a Sierra Vista real estate agent and a board
member of a local conservation district, said the new water district
isn't necessary because the area can do more to meet its water needs
through conservation and recharge.
"This whole thing is a scare tactic to create a taxing authority
and power and authority for a certain elite group in our community,"
Sen. Jake Flake, a Snowflake Republican who held out for a local
vote on the district's creation, said it's essential to let the
affected communities decide how to handle the problem rather than
have the state impose mandates.
"In this state there is no one size fits all," Flake said.
The Appropriation Committee's vote for the San Pedro proposal
jettisoned the bill's unrelated original contents and sent the new
version to the full Senate for likely consideration. Senate passage
would send it to the House for an up-or-down vote.
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Hi, I thought you might like to read this article. | <urn:uuid:cba89a3a-b410-4293-a73e-232a5fff14d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.uswaternews.com/archives/arcconserv/7sanxpedr6.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00050-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.923553 | 828 | 1.898438 | 2 |
Playtime Starter, A & B Teacher's Resource Pack Stories, DVD and play- start to learn real-life English the Playtime way!
Claire Selby (illustrations Annabel Tempest)
The fun, new three-level British English course with fully integrated DVD motivating pre-schoolers to learn through memorable stories and songs.
- ISBN: 978-0-19-404679-4
- Binding: Mixed media format
This great new series focuses on the real-life pre-school environment, a familiar setting for little ones to start learning English through other subjects.
Monkey (the puppet) starts every lesson in a fun way and the children's enthusiasm for English builds from the beginning.
Through easy-to-follow classroom routines for each lesson, children also learn to develop good habits and good behaviour.
Playtime's lively stories present natural language in familiar contexts - using integrated DVD as well.
Where to OrderContact your local Oxford office or distributor for information or advice on any of our materials, or to find your local ELT bookseller.
Part of... Playtime
- DVDs for each level of Playtime
- Big Story Books for each level of Playtime
- Routine posters - supports a lesson routine (A2 size)
- Pocket poster - used in many ways to practise vocabulary throughout the course (A1 size)
- Flashcards - up to 50 vocabulary, numbers, character and photographic flashcards per level
1. The Playtime Class Book appeals to all styles of learning, embodied in the four playful, child characters - Rocket, Twig, Star and Melody.
2. The teacher is provided with the widest variety of flexible components in a pre school course, including DVDs
3. Children are introduced to each story by a friendly monkey puppet who guides their repeated contact with the language through memorable songs, story songs, digital classroom resources and craft-based activities.
4. The cross-curricular approach helps learners explore their first experience of English through other subjects and see English in a real-life British context through photographs and DVD
5. Parents and learners are supported by a website with additional practice and content - building on a child's learning in school at home
Playtime is one of the first courses to offer fully integrated DVD for pre-school English.
Your young learners can see real British children and families along with the animated stories.
There is one DVD for each of the three levels of Playtime with:
- Animations of the six stories
- Animation of the six story songs
Levels A and B also contain:
- Six cross curricular film sections
- A vocabulary review for each cross-curricular film
- A monkey puppet - which is a cuddly toy who only "speaks" English - he can HUG children, climb around and stick together with his VELCRO paws and pick up FLASHCARDS with his mouth
- Big Story Books for each level of Playtime - each with six stories
- Flashcards showing characters, core vocabulary, numbers and cross curricular photographic cards
- Routine posters - for each level | <urn:uuid:b70e1529-0e29-4d58-8138-045584ec4975> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://elt.oup.com/catalogue/items/global/pre-school/playtime/starter/9780194046794?cc=global&selLanguage=en&mode=hub | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.918274 | 645 | 2.71875 | 3 |
Survey a decent number of people and at least a few of them will probably say most anything—even the utterly outrageous. After all, nearly 20 percent of Americans tell pollsters that the sun revolves around the earth and about an equal percentage admit to believing in witches. So to call up thousands of people and find not a single one willing to agree to a proposition is pretty unusual. But one poll recently managed it.
What did the survey ask? When virtual-office company Intelligent Office recently queried more than 1,000 Americans about their career ambitions, exactly no one said they wanted to be a corporate executive. Not one. Entrepreneurship, however, was an amazingly popular dream. "Nearly 65 percent of survey participants desire to work as an entrepreneur or independent," according to the survey release.
This result comes on top of other recent findings that reveal the popularity of entrepreneurship among 20-somethings. The increasing attraction of the start-up lifestyle for young people has been put down to the rotten job market they're facing, as well as the example of stratospherically successful young entrepreneurs like Mark Zuckerberg. Experts have also noted that many once "safe" career paths have become far riskier, making starting a business less of a risk and more attractive in comparison. But the Intelligent Office survey suggests that much of the appeal of being a business owner may be less generation specific.
Intelligent Office found that 61 percent of respondents desire more flexible work hours than the traditional nine to five and "overwhelmingly, people aspire to have more mobility in their work life." This suggests that, whatever a person's age, one of the primary drivers of entrepreneurial dreams is a wish to escape the confining dictates of traditional corporate environments, as well as the fading allure of the traditional, all-consuming power career. (Plus, the recent recession can't have improved the reputation of America's corporate elite.) The importance of culture and lifestyle to career ambitions was underlined recently by author Alexandra Levit on her blog Water Cooler Wisdom:
I see it every day. Employees at all levels—especially women—are stepping away from positions that will pay them the highest salary, and moving into ones that provide them a better quality of life.
A friend of mine, Lucy, was a talented fifth-year associate at a Top 5 law firm in Manhattan. She made so much money that her husband didn't have to work, ever. But just as her partner was getting ready to buy a new set of golf clubs, Lucy quit. She went to work as internal legal counsel for a company that manufactures environmentally-friendly home products. Lucy makes $100k less in this new position, but her office is sunny and collaborative and her colleagues respect her personal time. She loves it.
The title of Levit's post? "Good Culture Is In, Inflated Salaries Are Out." Being an entrepreneur—despite the risks, hard work and uncertain monetary rewards—represents autonomy and a less kafkaesque work culture than what often predominates in the traditional corporate world. Looking at the Intelligent Office survey and Levit's post, that seems to be in. Being a corporate executive seems most definitely to be out.
Do you agree that the allure of being in the C-suite is fading? Will it return? | <urn:uuid:762829c5-4d40-4d59-98ff-01190d1805db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.inc.com/jessica-stillman/no-one-wants-to-be-a-corporate-executive_Printer_Friendly.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971957 | 675 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Earlier today, I was reading a chapter of The Screwtape Letters. I’m not loyal about reading it every day but I do like to try. The message stuck in my head but I was quickly distracted. I kept the message during these distractions, but it didn’t last forever.
As I sit here typing, I have no idea what it was about. So I’m going to go back and reread the section and type the parts that got me. If you are not aware, The Screwtape Letters is about a higher demon/devil writing to a newer one, his nephew. His nephew has been assigned a person and we meet them as the person is a new Christian and the demon is trying to get him to come back to the “correct” side, so his uncle is writing him advice.
In other words, it’s something we can learn from by looking at the other side. “The Enemy” is God and “Our father” is Satan. This chapter is about how people think they own anything on this earth and how absurd it is that humans think that, but the demons can use it for their own benefit. Here’s a part of it
The sense of ownership in general is always to be encouraged. The humans are always putting up claims to ownership which sound equally funny in Heaven and in Hell and we must keep them doing so. Much of the modern resistance to chastity comes from men’s belief that they “own” their bodies – those vast and perilous estates …It is as if a royal child whom his father has placed, for love’s sake, in titular command of some great province, under the real rule of wise counselors, should come to fancy he really owns the cities, the forests, and the corn in the same way as he owns the bricks in the nursery floor.
You know what I thought of when I read that? I thought of abortion and the argument that “I can do whatever I want with my body”. At that same time, I wanted to allow it to apply to my own life because it stuck me so heavenly. Another example is the man who feels his 24 hours a day is his own and that other people who “waste” it are a bother. But what right does he have to time? It is not a gift? It would be like saying that the sun and moon are yours to own. And how if God Himself came in the flesh and demanded total service for one full day, we (in this case he) would not refuse! Any second there that we focus on ourselves becomes the waste, any second not doing what God has asked us to do is the waste. Not other people coming to us because they are too talkative or because we did not expect them. Not traffic. Nothing. We do not own the hours in the day, so other people cannot waste “our” time. Because it is not “our” time.
The chapter was about the possessive words in the English language and how if we really sat down and thought of any basis to the argument – there would be none.
And in the end… no human can say “this or that is mine”. Because in the end, it either belongs to Christ or the demons (or course, we know who wins in that battle). It ends like so (The enemy being God, of course):
They will find out in the end, never fear, to whom their time, their souls and their bodies really belong – certainly not to them, whatever happens. At present the Enemy says “Mine” or everything on the pedantic, legalistic ground that He made it.
PS: please please PLEASE leave a comment about either a book you have read that taught you a lot (even if you would like to direct me to a chapter in the Bible) or your take on this chapter of Screwtape Letters (or the book as a whole if you have read it) | <urn:uuid:8997ff5d-5c9a-4860-b1a3-93b815f55732> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jaymieallover.com/2010/10/25/where-did-all-my-thoughts-go/ | 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 | 0.978885 | 835 | 1.703125 | 2 |
Most Active Stories
- What Kentucky Teachers Think Of Their Schools, Education Department Releases Survey Results
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- Survey Finds McConnell Leading Over Democratic Challengers
Mon January 12, 2009
By Angela Hatton
Louisville, KY – Kentucky US Senator Mitch McConnell reached a milestone this past weekend. McConnell is now the state's longest-serving senator with twenty-five years of representation. He surpasses previous record-holder Senator Wendell Ford who retired in the mid-nineties. At a press conference over the weekend, McConnell remembered his Senate election in 1984.
"My party in the Senate which was in the majority at the time actually went down lost ground. And I was the only Republican who defeated a democratic incumbent that Senate that day in the whole country. So in Washington they thought it was quite an accomplishment. Down here they thought of it as a fluke."
McConnell won a narrow victory that year over Democrat Dee Huddleston. The Senator won his fifth term last November. | <urn:uuid:d3b60cbe-5362-495e-96c7-d46b074173eb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wkms.org/post/mcconnell-longevity | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955757 | 242 | 1.515625 | 2 |
While at Garret this morning friend Stephanie gave me a call telling me that she had re-found the Yellow-Throated Warbler that had been reported yesterday. We were all able to get fine views of this extremely rare visitor to the park. Typically these birds are found in southern New Jersey, or along the Delaware River. So this was my first time seeing this species in the decade or so of coming here.
Around the pond we had Sandpipers of Spotted and Solitary, and newly arriving Warbling Vireos. The other notables are the Wood Warblers, and these 15 species were seen today: Nashville, Parula, Yellow, Chestnut-Sided, Black-Throated Blue, Yellow-Rumped, Black-Throated Green, Blackburnian, the aforementioned Yellow-Throated, Pine, Prairie, B&W, Ovenbird, Common Yellowthroat, and an early Canada Warbler.
A Lincoln's Sparrow was a nice find, as were the M/F pair of Orchard Orioles. | <urn:uuid:ea76a1f9-f14d-49bc-a23c-59b84dd74113> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jerseybirder.blogspot.com/2011/05/april-30-garret-mountain-yellow.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00054-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973938 | 217 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Water level in Kerala Sholayar reservoir not full
Kerala’s decision to approach the Supreme Court against Tamil Nadu for denying enough water for the Chitturpuzha irrigation scheme has not stopped its neighbouring State from committing another violation of the Parambikulam Aliyar Project agreement.
On February 1, the Kerala Sholayar reservoir will not have water to the full reservoir level of 2,663 feet, which the agreement enjoins Tamil Nadu to ensure. The water level is 2,646 feet, 17 feet below the full reservoir level.
On last September 1 also, Tamil Nadu committed the violation, with water six feet lower, officials of Joint Water Regulatory Board for implementing the agreement said here on Thursday.
The agreement stipulates full reservoir level on the two days. But Tamil Nadu has been honouring this condition more in its breach since 1970-71, data available with the Board show.
During the 41 years, Tamil Nadu has honoured the September 1 stipulation only 15 times and violated it 26 times. The full reservoir level had been ensured from 1977-78 to 1980-81.
Thereafter, it has been 10 years of violation. The full reservoir level had been maintained in 1991-92, 1993-94, 1997-98, 1998-99, 1999-2000, 2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07, 2008-09, 2009-10 and 2010-11.
The February 1 stipulation has been violated more. In the 41 years, the full reservoir level has been maintained only six times — 1971-72, 2005-06, 2008-09, 2009-10, 2010-11, and 2011-12.
The full reservoir level on February 1 is crucial for Kerala, especially in a year of drought as this, as the State gets 5.42 tmcft of water for the lean months from February to May. The condition was made to compensate for the inter-basin diversion of the tributaries of Parambikulam, Peruvarippallom, Thunacadavu and Sholayar to the east, officials said.
The agreement says Tamil Nadu has to release 12.3 tmcft of water into the Kerala Sholayar reservoir every year for power generation, irrigation and drinking-water supply. As much as 7.25 tmcft of water has to be released at the Manacadavu weir for the Chitturpuzha irrigation scheme. This year, just 4.4 tmcft of water was released, affecting the standing paddy crop on 45,000 acres of land.
Between 1970-71 and 2006-07, Tamil Nadu violated the agreement 12 times by not providing enough water at the weir, Water Resources Department officials said.
Kerala has sought the release of 350 cusecs of water at the weir from February 1. But Tamil Nadu agreed to release only100 mcft for the first quarter of February, which will not save the crop, Agriculture Department officials here said. | <urn:uuid:db18835c-84f5-480c-a7ea-a6786499f157> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thehindu.com/todays-paper/tp-national/tamil-nadu-in-another-breach/article4367769.ece | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00025-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954291 | 626 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Six years ago Friday, choreographer Erika Chong Shuch went to San Francisco City Hall to witness hundreds of same-sex couples marry in the gleaming Beaux Arts rotunda. "There was an overwhelming feeling of love and joy in that space - a tidal wave of community," Shuch said.
To mark the anniversary, Shuch created "Love Everywhere," a public dance performance the 35-year-old San Francisco native said is intended to re-create "the emotions and energy" of Valentine's Day weekend 2004. The performance is a commission of the Onsite Project of the Dancers' Group, which seeks to engage new audiences and increase the visibility of local dance artists.
Shuch was bleary-eyed from exhaustion when interviewed last week. She had stayed up until the wee hours of the night, sewing and dyeing costumes with her mother for the performance. What will the 60 dancers wear? Wedding clothes, of course, as well as purple gowns and suits, to break up the more traditional black and white garb.
The music also will be heavily themed. Shuch and composer Daveen DiGiacomo selected about 20 to 30 vows - some from same-sex couples who married in 2004, some not - and have used them as fodder for lyrics. The score will be conducted by David Möschler and performed live by a chamber orchestra of 15 musicians. Shuch is excited by the tonal departure of "Love Everywhere" - as well as by the opportunity to engage both dancers and members of the audiences. (The piece promises to be interactive.) "Usually, the work I create is about difficult things that I can't comprehend and want to investigate," said Shuch, a resident artist at Intersection for the Arts. "This piece, though about the struggle for marriage equality, is really mostly about joy."
"Love Everywhere" will take place noon-1 p.m. Friday at the City Hall Rotunda. On Saturday from 1 to 6 p.m., there will be impromptu performances downtown. (For updates: twitter.com/dancersgroup.) Two other performances will be at Glide Memorial Church at 9 and 11 a.m. Sunday.
Museumgoers contribute to the People's Torah
It is said that every one of the 304,805 letters in the Torah corresponds to a soul. Since Jan. 24, 2,795 souls - or in this case, hands - have volunteered to take part in the virtual writing of a communal Torah. What would Moses say? We'll never know. But one thing that's clear from the People's Torah ( www.peoplestorah.org), an interactive, multimedia artwork online and at the Contemporary Jewish Museum, is that it's attracting an international crowd. Within three weeks of its digital unveiling, almost 3,000 people from 55 countries have contributed an image of their hand (photographed at the museum or uploaded to the Web site), which when touched by a museum visitor is transformed into the next available letter in the Five Books of Moses.
So far, the online artwork has caused no uproar from Conservative Jews. (The Torah is the holiest object in Jewish life, and its writing is considered a sacred undertaking.) But the hope is that new media artists will be impassioned by the project's aesthetics. For the People's Torah is that rare creation of the digital age - a beautiful Web site. Created by New York interactive studios Cabengo and Studio Mobile, it is at once artful, sensual and ethereal. The Hebrew letters evaporate and emerge like ever-moving specks of sand.
"Every letter represents a discrete connection between virtual and physical worlds," said Hillary Leone, one of the artists behind the People's Torah. "It is a visual meditation on immanence and transcendence, autonomy and community, figure and ground. It is a communal Torah for the 21st century."
Counting the ways
Yes, Valentine's Day is upon us and arrives, no less, on a weekend, giving lovers and loners and those in between a chance for 48 hours of romance, fights and fits of annoyance. But, as usual, there's plenty to do, culturally speaking. From 7 to 10 p.m. Sunday, author Maxine Hong Kingston will host an evening of poetry and film called "Tenderness" at the Hillside Club in Berkeley, as part of a KPFA Radio-Poetry Flash-Mrs. Dalloway's Books collaboration. Two films will be shown by Haydn Reiss, featuring poets William Stafford, Robert Bly, Kingston, Alice Walker, Naomi Shihab Nye, Coleman Barks, W.S. Merwin, Michael Meade and Kim Stafford. The $10-$12 ticket includes wine and hors d'oeuvres.
Opera film series
Saturday is the start of San Francisco Opera's Grand Opera Cinema Series at Sundance Kabuki Cinemas. Opera lovers and lovers in general will have the opportunity to see through March 24 acclaimed productions of Puccini's "Madama Butterfly" and "La Rondine," Mozart's "Don Giovanni" and Saint-Saëns' "Samson and Delilah" in high-def, with a coffee or cocktail in hand. "Madama Butterfly," Giacomo Puccini's classic story of colliding hearts and cultures - starring soprano Patricia Racette as the tragic heroine Cio-Cio-San, tenor Brandon Jovanovich as Lt. B.F. Pinkerton and mezzo-soprano Zheng Cao as Suzuki - will screen at 10 a.m. Saturday and 6:30 p.m. Wednesday. For the full calendar of forthcoming Saturday morning and Wednesday evening screenings: sfopera.com/cinemaseries.
More than fair Shakes
California Shakespeare Theater has received a two-year, $160,000 grant from the Dean & Margaret Lesher Foundation to support its operations, plus a $100,000 investment to reinvigorate the spectacular outdoor Bruns Amphitheater in Orinda as the theater's permanent home. Cal Shakes' 2010 season begins with John Steinbeck's "The Pastures of Heaven," written by Octavio Solis and directed by Jonathan Moscone, June 2-27. | <urn:uuid:0ff25639-4f98-4f9e-b42b-b4edc8b816ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sfgate.com/performance/article/Dance-piece-captures-joy-of-04-same-sex-unions-3200673.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95159 | 1,291 | 1.570313 | 2 |
What is Carlton Pearson's "Doctrine of Inclusion?"
By Gary Amirault
I was asked by Carlton Pearson to write an editorial for the Tulsa Beacon, a Christian newspaper in Tulsa Oklahoma on behalf of himself as to what Carlton's "Doctrine of Inclusion" consisted of. I assumed since he asked me to write it that he (Carlton) believed like I do, that is, that Jesus will accomplish what He came to do -- save the world --save those who died in Adam, which is all of us. The prophets, Jesus and His apostles attest to this. Here is what I first wrote for the newspaper. Here is what I first wrote. I had to condense it considerably for the newspaper version:
In a nutshell, this doctrine is nothing but Jesus Christ's mission on the earth. "He came not to judge the world but to save the world," not just a part of it. (John 12:47) Throughout church history, there have always been those who had faith great enough to take the bold declarations of Christ's triumph seriously and literally. Oftentimes, this great faith, especially during these end times, has been ridiculed as ridiculous when in fact it's more ridiculous not to believe plainly stated scriptures. Most Christians today do not take seriously hundreds of Scriptures which plainly state that when Jesus is finished with His work on earth, He will "reconcile all things unto Himself...whether in heaven or earth." (Col. 1:20) While some Christians have great faith for big cars, homes and health, they berate those who believe in great scriptural promises like: "This is a faithful saying and worthy of ALL acceptance. For to this end, we both labor and suffer reproach, because we trust in the living God, who is the Savior of ALL men, especially those who believe. These things command and teach." (1 Tim. 4:9-11) That, in a nutshell, is Carlton Pearson's "Doctrine of Inclusion," that Christ is in deed and in fact, the Savior of both the whole world AND the "especially" ones, that is, the church. (John 4:42; 1 John 4:14) It's the only gospel that can give hope to the deepest of sinners because it knows NO limit. The traditional gospel fails most of mankind leaving those in deepest condemnation hopeless.
In 1 Timothy chapter 2, Paul exhorted us to "pray for all men." If we pray in faith according to God's will, will we not receive what we ask? (Mark 11:24) Well, according to most of the "little faith" church, Jesus will only save a handful of all those He died for. But according to scores of Scriptures, Jesus did fulfill God's will and desire: "God will have all men to be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth." (1 Tim. 2:4, KJV) Why does most of the church not believe these and scores of other plain scriptures? Well, Paul warned that most of the church would fall away from this glorious truth. He warned there would be those inside the church who would draw disciples after themselves. Today there are over 30,000 denominations dividing the body of Christ from each other. We can plainly read Paul's warnings NOT to divide, yet we do it anyway, proving that most Christians "honor Christ with their lips, but their hearts are far from Him." (Isa. 29:13; Matt. 15:8)
Some of the main scriptures supporting the teaching that all mankind will be eventually restored back to God are: 1 Tim. 2:4-6; 4:9-11; John 4:42; 12:32; 12:47; 1 Jn 4:14; Col. 1:16-20; 1 Cor. 15:22; Phil. 2:9-11; Acts 3:20, 21; Rev. 5:13; Gen. 12:3 and many more. (For more, see http://www.tentmaker.org/books/ScripturalProofs.html)
By the fifth century AD, the church had pretty much abandoned the Scriptures. The Scriptures were translated into Latin by Jerome who introduced many mistakes in the translation. Later, the people were forbidden to read the Scriptures in any language including Latin. During this period, the church incorporated thousands of pagan doctrines, rituals and traditions that, according to Jesus "made the word of God of no effect." (Matt. 15:6-9) While the Protestant church has discarded many of those traditions that nullify the plain word of God, it still has much Dark Age baggage on its back. Some of that baggage got into some our English Bible translations. The "lying pen of the scribes" (Jer. 8:8, NIV) added some of that Dark Age theology to our Bible versions. They put mythological characters like unicorns and satyrs into translations like the KJV even though we know today such creatures never existed. But the King James translators believed in them in seventeenth century England and so we have in some translations many things NOT found in the Hebrew or Greek.
The biggest tradition of fallen men that translators added to some Bible translations was the pagan teaching of a Hell of everlasting punishment. The word "Hell" comes from Teutonic mythology, NOT from the sacred Hebrew and Greek Scriptures. Most Christians do not even know there are major differences between English Bible translations. Most do not know there are many translations that do NOT contain the concept of a hell of eternal punishment. Here are a few of them: Young's Literal, Rotherham's Emphasized, Weymouth's N.T. in Modern Speech, Concordant Literal N.T., 20th Century N.T. as well as many more. While not popular in Hell-teaching circles, these Bibles can be ordered through most Christian book stores.
Clearly, the early believers of Christ and the church leaders taught universal salvation. St. Basil the Great, writing in the fourth century wrote, "The mass of men (Christians) say that there is to be an end of punishment to those who are punished." (De Asceticis) St. Jerome wrote in the same century, "I know that most persons understand by the story of Nineveh and its king, the ultimate forgiveness of the devil and all rational creatures." St. Augustine, while himself teaching eternal torment wrote, "There are very many (imo quam plurimi, which can be translated majority) who though not denying the Holy Scriptures, do not believe in endless torments." (Enchira, ad Laurent)
An honest look at history shows that the majority of the early church believed that all would eventually be saved. The Encyclopedia of Religious Knowledge by Schaff-Herzog says in volume 12, page 96, "In the first five or six centuries of Christianity there were six theological schools, of which four (Alexandria, Antioch, Caesarea, and Edessa, or Nisibis) were Universalist; one (Ephesus) accepted conditional mortality; one (Carthage or Rome) taught endless punishment of the wicked." A most crucial and important in point in church history: when Emperor Constantine militarized and politicalized the church, the teaching of Hell became a more powerful weapon of control than a loving God who loved all mankind. At that point the teaching of universal salvation began to be stamped out through severe persecution. The result? The church created what we now call "The Dark Ages."
Before the Dark Ages, the church was vibrant with the teaching of God's love for all mankind. The second major church council composed of hundreds of bishops from the entire church met in Constantinople in 381 AD and elected Gregory of Nazianzus, an avowed Universalist, as president proving clearly that the great majority of the church leadership at the end of the fourth century believed in universal salvation. Yet today universal salvation is considered a heresy in most denominations. The early church better versed in the original languages of the Scriptures and closer to the apostles' teachings thought otherwise. Who do you think is more likely to have the truth? The early Church or the thousands of divisions of Christianity formed by men "drawing disciples after themselves" centuries later? (Acts 20:30)
Well-known and great men and women have embraced the "larger Hope" (as some coined the teaching of the salvation of all mankind.) Abraham Lincoln believed it. Perhaps his belief in the salvation of all mankind was Lincoln' s driving force to end slavery in this country. Benjamin Rush, a signer of the Declaration of Independence believed it. Famous theologians like Karl Barth, B.F. Westcott, and William Barclay embraced it.
Those who embrace this scriptural doctrine today are usually born from above, morally conservative, serious students on the Bible and are usually more versed in church history and the original languages of the Bible than the average Christian. They believe that Jesus is the way, the truth, and the life and they are very Scripture-centered. The main difference between those who believe in the "Doctrine of Inclusion" is that they have greater faith in God's love, mercy, and power to save than those who think God's going to trash most of mankind. And this belief, that Jesus will do what He promised to do...save the world...is the source of great persecution by the hands of our own brothers and sisters in the Lord. In Carlton's case, it may have cost him the election. Another trait of these believers in the Glorious Gospel is that they believed denominationalism spoils the witness of one Lord and Savior and one body in the earth.
Tulsa, Oklahoma is known for its great "faith" preachers. One would think that with all the Word/faith preaching going on in this city that Carlton's doctrine would be easy to believe; yet that apparently isn't the case. Apparently, the faith in this city is what Jesus called "little faith." They believe for their own health and prosperity, but not for saving God's children gone astray. This doctrine will not fit into narrow minds or small hearts that dare to limit God from achieving His plan to restore all things back to Himself through the work of Jesus Christ.
There are those who believe that Love NEVER fails -- there are some who believe it fails for most of mankind. (1 Cor. 13:8) There are those who believe nothing is impossible with God, while some believe that man's will is greater than God's will to save all mankind. (Luke 1:37) There are those who have great faith in God's promises that all the families and nations of the earth shall be blessed and there are those who don't. (Gen. 12:3; 12:18) Carlton prefers to believe Jesus over the Dark Age traditions perpetuated by those with little faith. Carlton takes Jesus at His word when He said, "And I, if I am lifted up from the earth, will draw (drag in the Greek) all mankind unto Myself." (John 12:32) There are some Christians like Carlton who rejoice when they read Scriptures like the following one and there are those who want to twist it and diminish Christ's glory, honor and power, "And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself and became obedient to death-- even death on a cross! Therefore God exalted him to the highest place and gave him the name that is above every name, that at the name of Jesus EVERY knee should bow, in heaven and on earth and under the earth, and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord, to the glory of God the Father." (Phil. 2:8-11) (We know that no one can say this except with the Holy Spirit.) Unless one has the faith of a little child, one cannot see the kingdom of God and all its glory. Some have faith to see the finished work of the cross for all mankind, some don't...yet...but eventually everyone will...and that includes you, dear reader. That's what Carlton Pearson's "Doctrine of Inclusion" is all about - it's inclusiveness - it includes everyone! "Oh, you of little faith. Why do you doubt" the power and love of the Savior of the world and His Awesome Father!?
Gary Amirault, editor, Tentmaker Publications | <urn:uuid:411e3dd1-8f15-40e4-a521-bc34deb69e33> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://tentmaker.org/articles/Carlton_Pearson-Doctrine_of_Inclusion.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961277 | 2,554 | 1.617188 | 2 |
May 30, 2011 Some birds that live near noisy sites can alter their songs to deal with din. But closely related species with similar songs may tweak their tunes in different ways, says a new study led by Clinton Francis of the National Evolutionary Synthesis Center in Durham, NC.
The study is part of a growing field that looks at noise pollution and its effects on wildlife. Honking horns, blaring sirens, and roaring machinery are particularly problematic for birds, Francis said.
Birds rely on songs to defend their territories and attract a mate. "When something interferes with their ability to hear each others' songs, it can lead to a communication breakdown," Francis explained. Noise can drown out other sounds in the environment too, like approaching predators, he added.
While some birds can cope with noise by altering their songs, less flexible birds may have to abandon noisy areas altogether. Can we predict which species will be able to adjust their songs, and which will be forced to flee?
Scientists would like to be able to predict which species will be most threatened by an increasingly noisy world, Francis said. To do that, it helps to know if closely related species respond similarly to noise.
To find out, Francis and his colleagues surveyed two closely related species with similar songs -- the grey vireo and the plumbeous vireo -- both living near natural gas extraction sites in the Bureau of Land Management's Rattlesnake Canyon Wildlife Area in northern New Mexico.
Since 2005, Francis has studied the effects of industrial-grade noise from natural gas wells on songbirds. The advantage of studying these sites, Francis notes, is they offer plenty of noise without the confounding factors that plague noise studies near roadways, such as pollution and collisions.
Some gas wells are coupled with noisy compressors that extract the gas and transport it through pipelines. The compressors roar and rumble day and night, 365 days a year at greater than 95 decibels -- a noise level comparable to a motorcycle less than 50 feet away. "You need hearing protection if you're next to them," Francis said.
The researchers counted and recorded plumbeous vireos and grey vireos living near natural gas wells with noisy compressors. They then compared this data with song and survey data they collected from quiet wells without compressors. The results, published this week in Biology Letters, showed the two species are just as common in noisy sites as quiet ones, but they alter their songs in different ways.
Each vireo's song is a short whistled phrase with multiple notes, like a musical score, Francis explained. "Plumbeous vireos raised the pitch of the lowest part of their song, while grey vireos raised the pitch of the highest part of their song," Francis said.
Singing higher-pitched songs may make them easier to hear above the low frequencies typical of human-made noise, he added.
Both birds also changed the length of their songs, but in opposite ways. Whereas plumbeous vireo songs got shorter with increased background noise, grey vireo songs grew longer. "Grey vireo songs in noisy sites were nearly one and a half times as long as their counterparts in quiet sites," Francis said.
The results back up other studies showing some birds can cope with noise by altering their songs. But given the different modifications made by closely related species, it may be difficult to predict what these altered songs will sound like in diverse bird communities, Francis said.
"Closely related species may use different strategies to deal with noise," he said.
The researchers report their findings in the May 25 issue of Biology Letters.
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- C. D. Francis, C. P. Ortega, A. Cruz. Different behavioural responses to anthropogenic noise by two closely related passerine birds. Biology Letters, 2011; DOI: 10.1098/rsbl.2011.0359
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Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava, center, and his daughter Sofia release two doves at a ceremony to launch construction of the World Trade Center Transit Hub.AP
Rendering of World Trade Center Transit Hub
Architect Santiago Calatrava loves New York: “This is one of the great qualities that the city has; it welcomes you and it makes you part of it.”
Calatrava adds that this feeling often comes over you quickly.
“After a while, a very short while, sometimes maybe just a half an hour, you feel really, ‘This is my city,’ indeed I love this city.”
Santiago Calatrava began life in Valencia, Spain. A student of both engineering and architecture, he has designs that can be found across the globe. In a few years he will add another accomplishment to his already impressive list. When speaking with Calatrava, his excitement over this project is obvious. After all, this building will rise in his beloved, adopted, home of New York City.
“This enormous battle of bringing to a reality and to fruition this project [at] Ground Zero, we are enormously proud, we think it is an historical opportunity,” Calatrava said.
He is talking about the World Trade Center Transit Hub, designed to depict a bird taking flight. Calatrava has a grand vision for how this building will be seen by those who pass through it.
“Well you see although it’s a building, it’s a functional building; I would like the people to experience the place as a piece of art,” he said.
It may sound fanciful. It’s just a train station. But for Calatrava, places like train stations are more than just buildings. They are where we spend our lives, or a significant part of them. As a result they become part of our lives, and their design and appearance, when executed well, make our lives better.
Calatrava wants commuters and others to enjoy the spaces he helps create. His hope is to create a place you might pause to admire, if briefly, as you move through your life. By way of example, he references a building familiar to millions, one that also happens to be in New York City, just a short ride from the World Trade Center.
“You see stations keep us maybe five minutes, ten minutes of our day? Very important, very important,” Calatrava said. “Somebody who enters Grand Central, I think in a way you feel dignified, you feel dignified you see. What a beautiful space.”
As he sees it, the elegant design of a space like Grand Central Terminal is a reminder to all who use it that they matter.
“This is part of the sequence of my day you know, and going from my home into my work I pass through, go back to my home, I pass through again. So the dignity of this space is telling you, you are an important fellow you know, we like you," Calatrava said.
Calatrava’s station won’t open until 2014, but he sees the wait and frustration as worthwhile because the challenge is what makes reaching one’s goal rewarding.
“That [is] the positive part of the life, and the belief in democracy and in justice and especially belief in the next generations,” he said. “You see in the future the fellows who are now kids and will inherit this station as we inherit Grand Central, they can be proud of us and proud of the city.”
To see the latest segment in the Rise of Freedom series, tune into Fox Report with Shepard Smith, tonight at 7 p.m. ET. You can also catch up on all our segments and see exclusive extras with Santiago Calatrava by going to www.foxnews.com/freedom. You can also visit www.calatrava.com to see more of the architect's work. To learn even more about the work and progress at the new WTC you can visit these sites: www.wtc.com, www.panynj.gov/wtcprogress and www.national911memorial.org.
Martin Hinton is a senior producer for Fox News Channel. | <urn:uuid:e1346458-1554-453f-9056-7a02d608ba64> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/01/05/rise-freedom-dignity-design/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957751 | 912 | 1.84375 | 2 |
- Kids Toys
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- Home & Garden
Live in a place where it snows? Teach your kids to monitor the inches of snow by creating a snow measuring stick. This is a cool way to educate children on what inches are and get children curious about how much snow is falling each time it snows.
Whether you are watching the snowflakes accumulate on the ground or you wish to see snow fall, making a snow globe can fascinate your children and be a wonderful creation to make!
Shaking snow globes that are bought during the holidays are fun and beautiful but what could be more exciting than making your own snow globe?! The ingredients to make this snow globe are easy to find in stores and all you need is a clear jar or bottle to contain the pretty decorations.
The next two crafts can be made whether you live in a hot or cold region and will be tons of fun for the kids to create and showcase around the house.
Making masterpieces of animals that live in the arctic will be fun for the whole family. Also, it does not have to be just a penguin that the kids create; they can also create snowmen out of Styrofoam too. These pieces of artwork will be nice to display around the house to make it more festive even after the holidays are over.
This craft is simple and you can probably find these items already lying around the house if your children like doing artsy activities. Mittens are easy to make and each child can personalize their mittens by the color of the construction paper and paint their own unique design. This is another great decoration that can be hung around the house during winter. Also, if you are from a warmer region, you can teach your children why wearing mittens and gloves are important when you are in cold weather. This is great opportunity for those that do live in regions of colder climates to talk about the dangers of not wearing gloves or mittens.
Which winter time crafts are you planning on making with your children?
Eating cake, cookies, burgers, pizza, and other delicious foods may be a delectable meal for some, but it can also be an unhealthy lifestyle to pursue all the time. Teaching and encouraging healthy eating habits to your children may help with their development. There is no guarantee that your children will not become picky eaters, but suggesting the importance of being healthy may open their mind to at least trying new foods.
We found this article on PBS that explains ways to encourage healthy eating habits for your little ones. Here are some of the highlights:
Get them involved by bringing them along. Taking children to the grocery store can an adventure or a struggle, but bringing them, will allow an opportunity for your children to choose the food you purchase. Let them pick out the fruits, vegetables, cheeses, bread and other food you are planning on buying. Try to give them a simple description of what the particular food they have picked tastes like. A great way to stay away from unhealthy food is to try to avoid going down the aisles that supply it. If a child cannot see their favorite unhealthy food in front of them, they may not even think about it or want it.
Go to the source. Speaking of describing how a food tastes to children, it is equally important to increase your children’s food knowledge. Sometimes, instead of going to the grocery store travel to your local farmer’s market. Your children can meet the people that actually grow and pick the fresh fruits and veggies. Even planning a day to go to a dairy farm will teach them where dairy products come from. Besides, showing your children where healthy foods come from- stocking up on plenty of nutritious snacks in your home is a smart idea too!
Have healthy snacks readily available. Having the fridge and cabinets filled with sliced apples, cut up carrots, whole grain crackers, and water bottles is never a bad idea. These are snacks that children can access without your help. In addition, they are snacks that can travel with them in the car. Portable snacks help keep children busy! Besides feeding children healthy snacks, being a role model and eating healthy too can benefit both you and your children.
It takes dedication to eat healthy but if a family tries to do it together, it becomes a group effort. Kids look up to their parents and want to imitate what the adults are doing. If children see their parents eating the same food as them, they may be influenced to enjoy these nutritious and delicious foods instead of complaining.
Overall, implementing health conscious food choices into the family’s meals and snacks is a fantastic way for everyone to receive their daily nutritional requirements. What do you do to try to get your children to eat healthy?
Have you ever considered your home or play room a disaster zone because the kids have made it their duty to leave their toys everywhere? Cleaning up after your children can be exhausting. After play time is over, maybe suggesting that clean up can be fun will encourage children to tidy up more.
Focusonthefamily.com suggests creating a point system You can encourage kids to clean up by developing a point system. Each time they clean up their toys you can give them a sticker by their name. Once they reach a certain amount of stickers by their name reward them with their favorite food.
Putting toys away every day could get tiring, so set a day and time each week, or twice a week, to straighten up toys. This will help teach kids how to stick to a routine. Clean up can be fun and rewarding if you make it challenging and rewarding. Try to emphasize the benefits of cleaning up to your children such as: they will be able to find their toys better, they will not step on their toys, and they will prolong the life of their toys.
A great way for children to straighten up their toys is by having an organizer to arrange their toys in. The Fun Time Room Organizer will help children to put their toys away while harmonizing where their toys belong at the same time. The vibrant bin colors and dry-erase labels will allow children to locate and return toys easily. There is even a Corvette Room Organizer for the little car enthusiast in your life!
What tips do you have for helping children to clean up?
The winter season is in full effect. During snow days and weekends, kids may be looking for something fun to do. Making snowmen and snow angels can be a blast but why not try some new creative ways to play in the snow? If you and your children are feeling adventurous, use your Step2 toys outside during winter.*
Turn water play into winter play
Use a sand and water table while the snow is on the ground for a different way to play with a table that may only be used for the spring and summer time. Instead of filling up the play table with sand and water, fill up both parts of the table with snow. For added fun, pat down and smooth the snow on the table to create an ice rink for dolls and action figures. What if it does not snow where you live? Do not worry, we have an idea! You can fill up the sand and water table with ice cubes and still pretend it is a roller rink!
Winter Wonderland Playhouse:
Are some of your kids’ playhouses too big to be brought inside for the winter? Take the fun outside and play in them! Dust the snow off of them and suggest that the children pretend that they live in an arctic region. Have the children create snow decorations (like snowmen) around their little house and afterwards, go into their house and pretend to warm up with some hot chocolate. For those living in an area with no snow, cut out snowflakes from paper and tape them to the playhouse. Also, tear up more paper and throw it over and around the playhouse to act like it is snowing.Ask your child it imitate an Eskimo while in their playhouse. It is always fun to pretend!
Do you have a Skyward Summit that lingers outside during the winter months because it is too big to bring inside? Step2 was inspired by Mama Loves Her Bargains’ review on the Skyward Summit. As you can see below, it is tons of fun to climb and hang out on the Skyward Summit during the winter. Also, it can help children to stay active during the cold weather. Make sure to watch carefully over the kids during this activity because their boots may be being slippery while climbing on these products.
How are your children playing with Step2 toys during the winter?
*Disclaimer: The Step2 Company LLC does not promote or condone the use of our products in ways other than the original intent. This blog was solely written for the purpose to encourage creativity during the winter months. Please refer to the instruction sheets for all Step2 products for the appropriate age, weight, and height limitations.
As the flu continues to spread rapidly, it is important that everyone takes the necessary precautions to stay healthy. There are many steps you can take to make sure that your children do not get the flu this year. CNN.com had many great tips to keeping your children healthy during this time of year.
Has the flu bug hit your household this year? Please share your tips with us to prevent the spread of this nasty bug. Flu Activity Video:
The first week of January is over and for most children, this means that winter break is over too. After almost two luxurious weeks off, it may be hard to transition back into “school mode.” However, just like resolutions, after winter break can be a great time to re-establish a better work ethic and more organized routine for children. TodaysTHV.com had many suggestions for helping children transition from their winter break.
One possibility when getting used to going back to school can be sitting down with your kids and creating a morning routine and an evening routine. Ask them what they think the most important thing is that they need to do in the morning and at night. Working on this routine together can help a child readjust better instead of being forced into a routine they may not agree with.
In addition to working on a routine together, try to make small steps toward this organized routine. The first few days of going back to school may not be easy. If both you and your child keep calm, the morning and nights may go a lot easier.
Another great advantage to a New Year beginning is explaining what resolutions are to children. Although they may not have a list of resolutions, it may be fun to create a list of goals that your children would like to complete during 2013. One goal could be finishing their homework before dinner or eating everything on their dinner plate for a week straight. Come up with fun yet challenging goals that the kids will enjoy.
Also, while the transition back to school is occurring, it may be nice to continuously tell your kids that you are always here to help and if they are struggling with anything, to please let you know right away. Problems that your children are having at home or at school can sometimes be handled faster if children feel comfortable knowing that you are open to hearing how they feel and that you will always lend a helping hand.
Good luck with the transition of back to school! What suggestions do you have for making the transition easier? | <urn:uuid:df1d9771-447f-42c9-a690-4af221f33fb4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.step2.com/category/hints-and-tips/page/3 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.964283 | 2,323 | 3.0625 | 3 |
CPAs Mandated To Take Live Training
Continuing Professional Education courses are delivered in a variety of formats including seminars, conferences, resort events (even on cruises!), webcasts, and self-study. As in all things CPE related, each state Board of Accountancy sets the rules for what format they will accept from licensees.
- The Arizona Board of Accountancy now requires licenses to complete a minimum of 16 hours “in a classroom setting or through an interactive webinar.”
- New Jersey requires licensees to take a minimum of 60 credit hours of through “didactic instruction,” Meaning? By their definition: “in-person instruction including interactive telephone or electronic instruction.”
- South Carolina now allows: “not more than fifty (50%) percent (20 hours) of the required hours may be in self study programs.”
by Sue Anderson - Based on 30 years of experience in continuing education for accountants. Currently program director for online CPE provider, CPE Link. Formerly with the California CPA Education Foundation managing key operational areas including marketing, program development, and distance learning. | <urn:uuid:29545a1c-15f9-45bf-b7f4-1afd7fed20c4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.accountingweb.com/blogs/sueatcpelink/continuing-education/cpas-mandated-take-live-training | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913949 | 236 | 1.59375 | 2 |
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Herbert Southworth and the Civil War
News buzzes around the internet by zig-zags. News of the death of Herbert Southworth (1908-1999) came to me from Hoover Curator Helen Solanum. It was originally picked up from ALBA (Abraham Loncoln Brigade Archives), in itself proof that the Spanish Civil War divides scholars sharply, including WAISers. The obituary was written by WAISer Paul Preston, who admires Southworth:
Herbert Southworth, a legendary book-collector and for many years the intellectual scourge of General Franco's dictatorship, has died in France aged 91. His book on the bombing of Guernica is one of the three or four most important of the many thousands of volumes written on the Spanish Civil War. [This puts him at odds with WAISer Brian Crozier, who in his biography of Franco repeated the story that the bombing of Guernica was the work of retreating Republicans.]
His writings as a whole saw the Francoist Ministry of Information set up an entire department just to counter his demolition of regime propaganda. [The Minister was Fraga Iribarne, whose relationship with WAISer Burnett Bolloten was a tragedy comedy.]
His extraordinary passage from poverty in the American West to crusading left-wing journalist during the Spanish Civil War had elements of a Steinbeck novel. His later transformation into successful radio station magnate and then into a scholar of world-wide reputation was reminiscent of one of Theodore Dreiser's self-made heroes.
He was born in Canton, a tiny Oklahama town, on 6 February 1908. When the town bank, owned by his father failed in 1917, the family moved briefly to Tulsa in eastern Oklahoma. They stayed longer in Abilene, Texas, where his father prospected for oil. Herbert's principal memory of that time was reading his father's collection of the Harvard Classics. The theft of one of the volumes when he was twelve affected him so deeply that it was perhaps the beginning of his own obsessional book-collecting. He educated himself among the stacks of the Carnegie Public Library in Abilene. There, after months of reading The Nation and The New Republic, he decided to abandon Protestantism and the conservative Republicanism of the Bible belt. He became a socialist and an avid lifetime reader of what he joyfully called 'the muckraker's school of journalism'. It was to be the basis of his astonishing transformation into a formidable scholar in Europe.
He went to secondary school in Abilene until the age of 15. He worked at various jobs in the construction industry in Texas, then in a copper mine in Morenci, Arizona. There, he learned Spanish working with Mexican miners. The collapse of the price of copper after the Wall Street crash left him unemployed. He then decided to work his way through Arizona University and when his savings ran out, he went to the Texas Technological College in Lubbock -- better known as the birth-place of Buddy Holly. [Never heard of him. The Stanford Information tells me that he was a rock and roll player who died in an airplane crash. Known to Paul Preston in London!] There, he lived in acute poverty, paying for his studies by working in the College library. He majored in History with a minor in Spanish. The work in the library had deepened his love for books. With the encouragement of the College Librarian, he left, in 1934, with only one thought in mind - to seek work in the world's most important book collection, the Library of Congress in Washington D.C. When he finally got a post in the Document Department, it was at a salary less than half of what he had received in the copper mines. Yet, although it barely allowed him to eat, he was happy just to be able to pass his days among the bookshelves.
When the Spanish Civil War broke out, he began to review books on the conflict for the Washington Post. Already emotionally affected by the struggle between fascism and anti-fascism, he always said thereafter that that the events in Spain gave direction to his life. His articles brought him to the notice of the Republic's Ambassador, Fernando de los Ríos, who asked him to work for the Spanish Information Bureau. He left his ill-paid but secure government post in the Library and moved to New York. There he worked with passion writing regular press articles and pamphlets, including Franco's Mein Kampf. During this time, he took a Masters degree at Columbia University and formed an enduring friendship with his colleague Jay Allen, the distinguished war correspondent.
While in New York, he also met and married a beautiful young Puerto Rican woman, Camelia Colón, although it was not to be a happy marriage. Herbert was devastated by the defeat of the Republic although, after the war ended, he and Jay continued to work for the exiled premier Juan Negrín. He also wrote a book about the Spanish fascist party, the Falange, which was rejected by publishers on the grounds that it was too scholarly.
Shortly after Pearl Harbour, Herbert was recruited by the U.S. Office of War Information. In 1943, he was sent to Algeria to work for the Office of Psychological Warfare. Because of his knowledge of the Spanish situation, he was posted to Rabat in Morocco to direct Spanish-language broadcasts to Franco's Spain. At the end of the war, he decided not to use his demobilization air passage home but stay in Rabat, partly to await the fall of Franco but largely because he had fallen in love with a strikingly handsome and powerfully intelligent French lawyer, Suzanne Maury. When both were free to do so, they married in 1948. Knowing that there were no controls on broadcasting from Tangier, Suzanne advised him to buy a quantity of US Army surplus radio equipment with which he founded Radio Tangier.
During that time, he traveled regularly to Spain in search of material for what would become the largest ever collection of books and pamphlets on the Spanish Civil War (which now resides at the University of California, San Diego). The radio station was nationalized by the Moroccan Government at midnight on 31 December 1960. Herbert and Suzanne went to live in Paris. He lost money in an effort to launch the potato crisp in France. That, together with an incident in which he was beaten up by policemen during a left-wing demonstration, inclined him to leave the capital. [He invited me to his apartment, from the balcony of which we watched a Communist demonstration marching in good order from the Place de la République to the Place de la Bastille, followed by the trouble-making anarchist casseurs. This must have been before the trouble mentioned, which presumably took place on the street below his apartment. It looks as though he went downstairs and joined les casseurs.]
The problem of housing his by now enormous library saw him move south. In 1962, he and Suzanne bought the run-down Château de Puy in Villedieu sur Indre. Some years later, they moved to the faded magnificence of the secluded Château de Roche, in Concrémiers near Le Blanc [south of Tours]. In the centre of the house was a relatively modernised core, the equivalent of a four-bedroom house where they lived. On the third floor and the other wings, lived the books and the bats.
Once established there, he wrote a series of books which obliged the Franco regime to change its falsified version of its own past. The most celebrated was The Myth of Franco's Crusade, a devastating exposé of right-wing propaganda about the Spanish Civil War, published in Spanish and French by José Martínez of Ruedo Ibérico, the great anti-Franco exiled publishing house. Smuggled into Spain and sold clandestinely, its impact obliged the then Minister of Information, Manuel Fraga, to set up a department solely dedicated to the modernization of regime historiography. Its director, Ricardo de la Cierva, in a losing battle with Southworth, went on to write eighty books in defence [American: defense] of the Franco regime.
In 1965, Southworth wrote a second book, Antifalange, also published by Ruedo Ibérico, a massively erudite commentary on the process whereby Franco converted the Falange into the single party of his regime. Based on a staggering array of sources, Guernica! Guernica! A Study of Journalism, Diplomacy, Propaganda and History (Berkeley, California, California University Press, 1977) is an astonishing reconstruction of the effort by Franco's propagandists and admirers to wipe out the atrocity at Guernica. On the advice of the great French historian, Pierre Vilar, the manuscript was presented in 1975 - successfully - as a doctoral thesis at the Sorbonne. [Vilar, great? Possibly, but not pleasant--a sour Marxist.]
Southworth had already lectured in universities in Britain and France but this was the beginning of a belated academic recognition of Southworth's work in his own country. In the mid-1970s, he became Regents Professor at the University of California.
Herbert was never fully welcome in the U.S. academic community, because of his inveterate subversiveness and his mischievous humour. [Well, he did not have scholarly even-handedness and fairness; admittedly plain dullness is often a substitute for this.] He made no secret of his contempt for Washington's policies in Latin America which evoked for him the betrayal of the Spanish Republic. Everyday, as an avid observer of what he considered to be the hypocrisy of political theatre, he devoured a stack of French and American newspapers. Along with his political passion, he had a wonderful sense of the absurd and an irresistibly infectious laugh. He was particularly keen on multi-lingual puns, never ceasing to be tickled by the delivery to any restaurant-table in Spain of a bottle of fizzy water with its label 'sin gas'. I remember on one occasion at a conference in Germany, the assembled participants were led by the director of the host foundation to see a sumptuous carpet which we were proudly told had once belonged to Adolph Hitler. Herbert dropped to his knees and began shuffling around, peering closely at the pile. Herr Direktor asked with concern what was the matter and was completely nonplussed when Herbert replied in his slow Texan drawl, 'I'm looking for the teeth marks!'
His demolition of the fake scholarship of others was often extremely amusing, most notably in his chapter entitled 'Spanica Zwischen Todnu Gabriet', in which he traced minutely how Francoist author after Francoist author cited a book which they had never read (Peter Merin's Spanien zwischen Tod und Geburt --Spain between Life and Death), but merely mis-copied its title. He once asked me to ensure that his gravestone carried the epitaph 'HIS WRITINGS WERE NOT HOLY WRIT / BUT NEITHER WERE THEY WHOLLY SHIT'. Despite his austere inquisitorial style, he was a rotund and jolly trencherman.
After the death of Franco, Herbert was regularly invited to give lectures Spanish universities where he was a major cult figure. His influence was seen in the work of a new generation of British and Spanish scholars.
Southworth's remorselessly forensic writings imposed new standards of seriousness on writing about the war. A pugnacious polemicist, he regularly took part in literary arguments, most notably with Burnett Bolloten and Hugh Thomas [both WAIS Fellows- Paul Preston likes Southworth much more than I do. He was cock-sure, and his criticism hurt my close friend Burnett Bolloten, who was more even-handed and careful about facts.]
Southworth ceased writing for a time. In 1970, he saw that his outgoings on books dramatically exceeded income and he decided that he must sell the collection. It was sold to the University of California at San Diego as 'The Southworth Collection' and remains the world's single most important library on the Spanish Civil War. With income from savings dwindling, he and Suzanne also had to sell the Château de Roche in 1978.
I had assumed that, as they had both entered their seventies, they would move to a modern house. Instead, they bought a medieval priory in the village of St Benoît du Sault, an intriguing but inconvenient house in which every room was on a different level and whose stone spiral staircase led to another bat-infested study. Inevitably, Herbert began to rebuild his collection and had started to write again. He enjoyed the friendship of the Pierre Vilar, of numerous Spanish scholars and of the venerable Dutch anarchist thinker, Arthur Lehning. They lived happily in St Benoît until Suzanne's health broke down in the 1994. Herbert nursed her devotedly until her death on 24 August 1996. He never recovered fully from that blow and, after a stroke, his health deteriorated. Although bed-ridden, with the devoted help of an English neighbour, Susan Walstra, he continued to research. Only three days before his death in the hospital at Le Blanc, he delivered a more fitting epitaph than that quoted above, in the form of the manuscript of Conspiracy and the Spanish Civil War: The Brainwashing of Francisco Franco, which will be published in Spain by Editorial Crítica and in England by Routledge next year.
[Paul Preston sounds as devoted to Southworth as I was to Bolloten.]
Ronald Hilton - 11/22/99 | <urn:uuid:3ff94c22-7037-4c03-b8f5-fb957819e51e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://wais.stanford.edu/Spain/spain_hsouthworth.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.97833 | 2,844 | 1.898438 | 2 |
ts is from a letter to the Government by Sir Stamford Raffles, written from Bencoolen in 1818; which we give bodily from his Life, written by his widow in 1830. It is a paper which gives evidence of the soundness of his views upon this subject, and indeed it may be truly said, that with every question with which he had to deal he always displayed the greatest judgment and keenness of insight.
It is as follows:--
"But there is another class of people that call for immediate consideration. Since 1787 a number of persons have been transported to this place from Bengal for various crimes of which they have been found guilty.
The object of the punishment as far as it affects the parties must be the reclaiming them from their bad habits, but I much question whether the practice hitherto pursued has been productive of that effect. This I apprehend to be, in a great measure, in consequence of sufficient discrimination and encouragement not having been shown in favour of those most inclined to ame | <urn:uuid:d1aee3ee-5d73-4eb0-adf9-c4790279b8ac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://manybooks.net/titles/baylissw2697426974-8.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.985685 | 205 | 1.726563 | 2 |
There’s no doubt that you’ve been walking or running along, and all of a sudden you get a stabbing sensation in your side that makes you stop in your tracks. Anyone that exercises has experienced a side ache, and anyone that’s had one wants to know how to avoid them.
When you exercise, blood flow is shunted from your abdomen, where most of it usually hangs out, and is redirected to your exercising muscles which are usually your arms and legs. This shunting is called vasoconstriction, and when it is done too abruptly, that lack of blood can cause pain in your abdomen. Warming up allows your blood to slowly redistribute to your exercising muscles to avoid such a fast and painful stitch in your side. | <urn:uuid:88268699-b433-49a7-ba1d-ac180fce62e6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.dietsinreview.com/diet_column/tag/side-aches/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967753 | 156 | 2.609375 | 3 |
NEW YORK, Nov. 28, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Today, fashion designer and Project Runway All Stars winner, Mondo Guerra, in collaboration with Merck, unveiled an original dress created by the designer and inspired by the HIV Community. The dress is an embodiment of the Community's courage and commitment, and was designed to help inspire people living with HIV to have an open dialogue with their doctor - a key component of the I Design campaign that Mondo and Merck have been bringing to the Community this year. The one-of-a-kind dress will be premiered on World AIDS Day, commemorated on the first of December each year, and will be unveiled on the campaign website, www.ProjectIDesign.com.
"I believe that fashion, as with many forms of art, can serve as a great conversation starter," said Mondo Guerra. "I was inspired by the people I've met through the I Design campaign and a mural created by the HIV Community, and artistically wanted the dress pattern to be abstract to symbolize how every person is different. I hope this dress created for World AIDS Day can be used to further remind people living with HIV about the importance of having meaningful discussions with their doctors."
The commemorative World AIDS Day dress marks another occasion for Mondo, through his work with the I Design campaign, to further spark awareness around the importance of patient-physician communication. On the I Design website visitors can:
- Draw upon their own artistic expression, by creating a digital textile representing their "tailored" approach to treatment
- Download a conversation checklist, the inspiration for the dress, which offers tips on how to engage in an open and honest dialogue with your doctor
- Watch a new video of Mondo and renowned HIV specialist, Dr. Michael Gottlieb, discussing the importance of patient-physician communication
About Mondo's "One-of-a-Kind" HIV Community Inspired Design
The "muse" for the dress' design was a mural created by the Community at the 2012 United States Conference on AIDS (USCA), one of the largest annual HIV gatherings in the nation. Each person's artistic and expressive contributions visually demonstrate how everyone approaches managing HIV differently. In constructing the dress, Mondo used design elements representing the multiple layers of the I Design campaign:
- The black bodice and silhouette represent laying the foundation Taking some time to prepare for appointments can help patients make the most out of every doctor visit
- The use of color blocking represents personalization Meaningful dialogue with a doctor is important in taking into account each person's unique medical and personal needs
- The red sheer overlay symbolizes the finishing touch People living with HIV are all different, which is why patients should work with their doctor to find a "tailored" treatment plan
About I Design
I Design is a national HIV education campaign led by Merck and fashion designer Mondo Guerra aimed at helping to empower people living with HIV to have open and meaningful discussions with their doctors about their treatment plan based on their medical and lifestyle needs. To learn more about the campaign visit www.ProjectIDesign.com, where you can design a digital textile illustrating your approach to managing HIV, download a conversation checklist to help patients work with their doctor to "tailor" their treatment plan, and view videos and photos. For additional tips and to follow Merck and Mondo's collaboration on I Design, join Merck and Mondo on Twitter @Merck and @LoveMondoTrasho.
About Mondo Guerra
After an emotional disclosure of his HIV-positive status during Season 8, fashion designer Mondo Guerra won the hearts of the judges, fellow contestants and viewers on the hit reality TV show Project Runway. This spring marked his triumphant return to Project Runway All Stars as the winner of the show.
Mondo has been HIV-positive for more than 10 years, and since his courageous disclosure, has become an advocate for HIV awareness. He is currently collaborating with Merck on I Design, a national HIV education campaign to help empower people living with HIV to play an active role in working with their doctors to design an HIV treatment plan. Mondo continues to serve as a role model in the HIV Community by speaking openly about his status and encouraging others to do the same.
Today's Merck is a global healthcare leader working to help the world be well. Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada. Through our prescription medicines, vaccines, biologic therapies, and consumer care and animal health products, we work with customers and operate in more than 140 countries to deliver innovative health solutions. We also demonstrate our commitment to increasing access to healthcare through far-reaching policies, programs and partnerships. For more information, visit www.merck.com and connect with us on Twitter, Facebook and YouTube. | <urn:uuid:4623be2d-92e1-40f1-91a3-7285d3fc3467> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biospace.com/News/merck-co-inc-release-mondo-guerra-of-project/280928 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956176 | 993 | 1.640625 | 2 |
The 32nd President of the United States, Franklin D Roosevelt, set out four goals in his famous 1941 State of the Union address: freedom of speech and expression; freedom of worship; freedom from want; freedom from fear. The Four Freedoms Park - a spatial celebration of and memorial for what is commonly known as Roosevelt's Four Freedoms speech - is finally about to open, almost 40 years after it was originally conceived.
Designed by American architect Louis Kahn in 1973, the space sits on the southern tip of Roosevelt Island in the East River of New York City. Due to Kahn's death in 1974, and the lack of political and financial backing at the time, its plans were shelved for some 30 years and it wasn't till 2010 that construction work began.
The Four Freedoms Park - a strikingly geometrical, triangular space - revolves around a focal point near its very tip; the 1,050-pound bronze bust of President Roosevelt created by artist Jo Davidson.
It also includes a square granite area that Kahn called the 'Room' - an open-air plaza looking towards the water and the United Nations building across the river. True to the architect's vision, the stone used was the same one that Kahn specified in 1973 (granite from North Carolina's Mont Airy).
The beautifully landscaped park also features five Copper Beech trees, which mark its entrance, as well as 120 Little Leaf Linden trees elsewhere within the grounds.
This is the only Louis Kahn project in New York City and the last in the architect's remarkable career that spanned about 50 years and included key work such as the Yale University Art Gallery and the Salk Institute in California.
The Four Freedoms Park is set to become a key city landmark, a highlight in the fields of architecture and education alike. It also offers a brand new 12.5-acre waterfront public space with spectacular views of the Manhattan skyline. | <urn:uuid:16fcd0a7-f142-4433-9ef8-41fc0d6d12a4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wallpaper.com/architecture/franklin-d-roosevelt-four-freedoms-park-new-york/6137 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962346 | 389 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Cinema: The Whole Story takes a close look at the key time periods, genres and key works in world cinema. It places the burgeoning world of cinema in the context of social and cultural developments that have taken place since its beginnings. Organized chronologically, the book traces the evolution of cinematic development, from the earliest days of film projection to the multiscreen cinemas and super-technology of today. Illustrated, in-depth text charts every genre of cinema, from the first silent films to epic blockbusters, CGI graphics and groundbreaking effects of the 21st century. Cinema: The Whole Story is an indispensable book for all those who love watching and reading about films and who want to understand more about the world of cinema. | <urn:uuid:ab70cbe6-a384-487b-bdb7-57171250d2d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amazon.co.uk/Cinema-Whole-Story-Philip-Kemp/dp/0500289476 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.90721 | 147 | 2.640625 | 3 |
There's an old saying, 'The dosage makes the poison.' Overindulgence in anything can be bad, including exercise. Pushing your body to its limits can make it stronger; pushing your body beyond its limits can cause serious damage. Running and aerobics put an enormous strain on the feet and ankles. Proper shoes can compensate for some of this, but caution is still the best course. If you run, don't increase your distance by more than 10% per week. If you do aerobics, try using a soft mat or trampoline to minimize the shock to your feet. It's especially important to warm up prior to your exercise session. Stretching can loosen up the muscles and tendons of the foot and make them more resilient. Prior to embarking on any exercise program, a thorough checkup by a doctor is highly recommended. For more information on exercise and your feet, consult a foot care specialist in your area. | <urn:uuid:f5b4cce8-3e58-4e5c-ac52-77bc50208aac> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.woai.com/guides/health/feet/story/Stretching-and-overtraining/Yq24OUpFGkaCyC655MrCTw.cspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93516 | 193 | 2.46875 | 2 |
Frequently Asked Questions
My wife has rosacea. Can I catch the disease?
No, rosacea is not an infectious disease and is not transmitted by physical contact.
I have rosacea in the central part of my face. Does that mean that I will also get it on other parts of the body?
Rosacea may affect other parts of the body such as the neck, chest and back but this is rare.
I have recovered from rosacea. Does it frequently reoccur? How can I prevent this?
Patients need a treatment schedule that is determined by the stage and the severity of rosacea and often needs continuation when minor lesions persist. If patients are cured they keep the disposition to flushing and developing rosacea lesions. Patients should prevent aggravating factors.
I am on isotretinoin for rosacea. How long do I have to take this?
The intake of isotretinoin is usually recommended in a dosage of 0.1 - 0.5 mg/kg body weight. The dosage and the duration of this therapy depends on the severity of the disease. The treatment schedule should be fixed by your dermatologist and needs close-meshed care.
Can I use my cosmetic products again once rosacea has improved or healed?
Usually, rosacea patients have skin that is more vulnerable to chemical and physical stimuli compared than that in non-affected. We therefore recommend to use special products for rosacea patients that have regard for skin conditions such as seborrhoea and vasodilatation. Sun screen should be used when exposed to the sun. Topicals containing blood supplying ingredients should not be applied.
Is there a certain diet to help rosacea curing?
No, there is no rosacea-specific diet. Rosacea patients should not eat hot and spicy food, drink alcoholic or hot beverages because this kind of food can induce flushing and therefore cause vasodilatation that aggravates rosacea.
Is rosacea equivalent to an allergic reaction?
No, rosacea is not an allergic reaction. The mechanism behind completely differs. It may happen that rosacea patients additionally develop contact allergy but the frequency of this is the same compared to non-affected individuals.
Do patients with acne frequently develop rosacea?
No, these are two different diseases. There is a clinical similarity to acne in some stages and patients but if a patient does develop one disease, it does not mean that he/she will develop the other one.
Does rosacea lead to scarring?
Usually, rosacea does not lead to scarring. Thickening and coarsening of the skin can persist for some time after the acute lesions resolved. In severe forms such as rosacea fulminans and rosacea conglobata, scarring of the skin may occur, especially when nodules, abscesses and draining sinus are predominant. Early evidence suggests that in general the potential for scarring runs in families but this remains to be proven. Patients must not sqeeze or press the lesions because this frequently leads to scarring of the skin. | <urn:uuid:caf2659c-5435-4079-82e0-df5b76daa313> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://rosacea.dermis.net/content/e11faq/e01faq/index_eng.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00066-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928062 | 652 | 1.75 | 2 |
President Barack Obama has been called the most digital president in American history. And now he could maybe control of the Internet.
Cross cyber terrorism off of your list of things to worry about. President Barack Obama has it covered.
A Senate bill on cyber security that scared Internet companies and civil liberties groups last spring is back with a revised edition and firewalls everywhere are still worried.
Democratic Sen. Jay Rockefeller's bill would give Obama the ability to take control of private-sector networks during a cyber emergency, a power one Senate source compared with President George W. Bush's decision to halt all air travel following the attacks on Sept. 11.
CNET News obtained a copy of the 55-page draft (pdf), which still contains the controversial presidential seizure powers of the initial draft of the bill. Security experts and civil rights groups worry the bill would give the president too much power to control the Internet.
The new version of the bill would give Mr. Obama the ability to "direct the national response to the cyber threat" for "the national defense and security" of the country, CNET reported. The bill would also allow the president to "declare a cyber security emergency" over "non-governmental" computer networks and to decide the necessary response.
One expert said the bill, if approved, would give the government far reaching powers over a so-called "critical" company, including who those companies could hire, what information they would be forced to disclose to the government and of course the ability to take control over their computers and networks.
A Rockefeller aide said the bill is still being developed and he declined to comment because several people familiar with the bill were unavailable because of the congressional summer recess. | <urn:uuid:a2e96e1e-34c5-4804-b811-ad0f5236e73d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nbcsandiego.com/news/tech/Web-Emergency-No-Sweat-Obamas-Got-It-55898932.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958776 | 346 | 1.875 | 2 |
Cost and coverage of birth control pills at Columbia
Originally Published: April 6, 2001 - Last Updated / Reviewed On: February 28, 2011
Can you tell me how much birth control pills cost on the Columbia University Health plan?
Most students, understandably, are looking for actual costs when considering their contraception options. However, the short answer is that cost of birth control may vary by student, depending on whether s/he has Columbia or alternate insurance, what level of insurance coverage s/he has, and what brand (or generic) birth control s/he uses. Following are some key points that will help students who are covered by the Columbia Student Medical Insurance Plan determine the cost of contraception (students at Barnard are covered by insurance through their parents, spouses, partners, or an employer will need to contact that insurance plan directly for information on costs).
The Columbia plan does cover prescription contraceptive devices and medications. Contraception that is available over-the-counter (such as condoms, spermicide, the sponge, and as of 2006, emergency contraception) are not covered by insurance. Health Services at Columbia provides free condoms to all students.
Specifically, the Columbia insurance plan covers the pill, the ring, the shot (a.k.a. Depo Provera), Implanon, the patch, IUDs, and diaphragms. The out-of-pocket cost to students will vary based on:
- The type of contraception (i.e. brand name or generic medication)
- Whether there will be a co-pay for an in-office procedure (like with IUD insertion)
- Whether the student is on the basic or comprehensive level of Columbia's insurance plan (the comprehensive level covers a higher total dollar amount for prescriptions)
- Whether the student fills their prescription at an Aetna "preferred" pharmacy
Ok, let's get down to some numbers.
Students covered by Columbia's insurance plan have a co-pay for prescription drugs (most insurance plans in the United States have a similar co-pay system). On the Columbia plan, prescription co-pays range from $7 to $40 for a one month supply of birth control, depending on the brand (see a chart explaining co-pay amounts in further detail). A prescription co-pay is the amount that you'll pay to the pharmacist when you pick up your medications. The cost of the co-pay depends on what "tier" of drug you are prescribed; generally brand name drugs have a higher co-pay than generics. Insurance companies (Aetna, in the case of the Columbia plan) determine which drugs fall into which tier.
Basic or Comprehensive Level of the Columbia Insurance Plan
At the beginning of each school year students on the Columbia plan select either the basic or comprehensive level of insurance coverage. The basic level has a maximum prescription benefit of $1500 total per academic year, after which students pay out-of-pocket the full cost of prescriptions. For this reason, Columbia recommends that any student who has one or more regular prescriptions choose the comprehensive level of insurance (which has a $7500 per year total prescription benefit). For either level, once a student reaches the annual maximum, it's still a good idea to fill prescriptions at an Aetna participating pharmacy in order to take advantage of the discounted rate.
In-Office Procedures (IUD, Implanon)
Certain contraceptive methods may require an office visit to a provider outside of Columbia, for example to have an IUD inserted. For these office visits, students would pay a co-pay for their visit to a health care provider within the Aetna network (keep in mind this would be a one-time co-pay, since with these methods there is no monthly prescription).
Aetna has a large network of "preferred" pharmacies where Columbia students can fill prescriptions at the lowest cost. Most major pharmacy chains are included; you can verify whether yours through Aetna's DocFind feature. Students can also fill prescriptions outside the "preferred" network, however they may be asked to pay in full at the pharmacy and submit a claim for reimbursement to Aetna Pharmacy Management.
Whew. That's a lot of financial information to consider, on top of deciding which method of contraception is right for you. If you are concerned about the costs of birth control, it would be a good idea to speak with your health care provider about the methods that would best suit your medical needs and your pocket book. Columbia students can make an appointment at Primary Care Medical Services by logging on through Open Communicator or by calling x4-2284.
Best of luck making a decision, | <urn:uuid:ca48bd52-8712-4c12-8b39-e24c5c561c16> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://goaskalice.columbia.edu/cost-and-coverage-birth-control-pills-columbia | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934737 | 959 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Berkeley and the Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area attracts millions of visitors a year to its marquee venues: Fisherman's Wharf, Alcatraz, Napa Valley, the Golden Gate Bridge. But as locals, our students have the luxury of experiencing a side of paradise that tourists rarely see. The options are infinite, whether people's interests run to politics of poetry, food or film, nature or nightlife.
Berkeley boasts cosmopolitan cuisine, a vibrant mix of cultures, and dazzling art, music, and film. For those who crave more civilization, Berkeley's western suburb—San Francisco—glitters across the bay. And those who crave less civilization can choose from a limitless array of options. Berkeley Law lies mere moments from peaceful hiking and spectacular mountain biking, and a scant couple of hours from surfing beaches and snowboard runs. No other law school comes with giant redwoods on campus and the Golden Gate Bridge a glance away.
A walk down Telegraph Avenue can transport the adventuresome diner around the world in the space of a few blocks. Vietnam, India, Thailand, Indonesia, Japan, Jamaica, China, France, Italy, Ethiopia, Greece, Burma, Mexico, and Lebanon all have culinary embassies here in Berkeley—many within lunch distance. And within a 10-mile driving radius—encompassing San Francisco—diners can select from a planet's worth of choices, whether their tastes run to the hot, the haute, or the hybrid.
The list of local film festivals offers something for everyone. Irish-film freaks will be happy to know that there's an entire festival just for them. Same with Arab film. And Jewish. Plus Asian American, African-American, Italian, French, and Taiwanese. There's also the Women of Color Film Festival. The Silent Film Festival. And Spike & Mike's Sick and Twisted Festival of Animation. The grande dame of them all is the San Francisco International Film Festival, which celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2007 with showings of 120 films to more than 80,000 people.
Just two blocks from Berkeley Law is Blake's, where on any given night they might be serving up ska, funk, jazz, rock, or world music—along with their 15 microbrews. Over in Oakland is Yoshi's, where music lovers can take in a set of James Carter or Maria Muldaur over a plate of sushi. In San Francisco, the possibilities run from the sublime—Beethoven's Ninth at Davies Symphony Hall, say—to the rambunctious: Smashing Pumpkins at the Fillmore or Lavay Smith & Her Red Hot Skillet Lickers at Biscuits & Blues. For big-name rock acts, there are major venues dotting the region, of course.
When it comes to sports, we have major-league venues on both sides of the Bay, including McAfee Coliseum, home of the Oakland A's, and AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants. The Golden State Warriors basketball team holds court in Oakland. And if you're into pro hockey, the San Jose Sharks are just 45 miles down the road. But our athletics scene is far richer than that. When World Cup soccer time rolls around, fans tap into the madness by watching the games with frenzied expatriates of almost any nationality in their favorite hangouts: Italian cafés, Algerian coffee shops, or Brazilian bars. And for a very local form of madness, thousands of people sign up to walk or run in the annual Bay to Breakers race across San Francisco—a serious race for the few, and a jubilant, costumed stroll for the many.
Just east of campus is Tilden Regional Park, with a golf course, swimming spots, and more than 30 miles of hiking, biking, and horse trails. On the far side of the Berkeley Hills is Wildcat Canyon, with 22 miles of hiking trails. And fewer than 200 miles farther to the east lie three national forests, the soaring granite splendors of Yosemite National Park, and Lake Tahoe, home to nearly two dozen winter ski resorts. And that's to the east. A look to the north, west, or south will yield comparable opportunities for hikers, boaters, campers, surfers, rafters, picnickers, bird watchers, and wine lovers.
The diversity that characterizes Berkeley Law and UC Berkeley makes for a lively local scene. The blocks bordering the law school are practically international fairs in themselves, offering a microcosm of global cuisine, clothing, and music. And throughout the Bay Area, cultural diversity and pride play out in the streets via countless festivals a year: Cinco de Mayo. Carnaval. Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, Transgender Pride. Aloha. Urdu. Filipino. Bulgarian. Dragon Boat. Mandolin. Moon. Between Berkeley and San Francisco, some group of like-minded people is dancing in the streets almost every week.
It is easy to get around Berkeley via foot, bicycle, or public transportation. UC Berkeley runs a campus shuttle service, with routes that connect with city bus stops and the downtown Berkeley subway (BART) station. | <urn:uuid:b89a877a-748f-4296-8a3a-23a047427b29> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.law.berkeley.edu/432.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00058-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.905429 | 1,059 | 1.523438 | 2 |
SANTIAGO - It’s July of 1990, and the two Germany’s have just united, marking the end of the Cold War, and capped with West Germany’s soccer World Cup victory over Argentina.
As the images of the defeated players travelled the world (who can forget Diego Maradona’s tears?), in New York, a Latin American company was symbolically ending the lost decade. A lot of water has passed under the bridge since that summer when the Telephone Company of Chile (CTC) managed to get listed on Wall Street, for an amount that seems quaint today - $75 million.
Two decades later, developed countries are in the middle of an unprecedented crisis and investors are turning to Latin America. With its positive growth rates, large investment projects, controlled inflation, rising commodity prices and political stability, Latin America and its companies have become very attractive.
Companies like Ecopetrol from Colombia, Pacamayao from Peru and Cencosud from Chile have shown this by ringing the bell in the most important stock exchange in the world, as well as by attracting investors to local stock exchanges.
How can we take advantage of the momentum and transform it into a structural change?
For Jorge Errazuriz, the Chilean president of Celfin Capital who worked on the CTC listing, Latin America has to believe in itself more. He also says that the ideal situation would be for more of the investments to happen through local stock exchanges, something that is already taking place.
And it is not only foreign investors who are taking note. There are many new investment funds popping up around Latin America and investing in local projects, particularly in Brazil, Mexico, Chile, Colombia and Peru, which are considered the largest markets in the region. Taken together, these markets are capitalized at $3.9 billion.
The rest of Latin America, on the other hand, is generating little interest, given the size of their stock exchanges and the number of companies listed. “They are what’s called borderline economies, which implies that the liquidity, rules and regulations are not attractive or stable enough for investors to invest without major risks,” explains Daniel Velandia, a Colombian economic researcher.
Integrated markets and synergy
Velandia says there is a lot of opportunity in the Latin American Integrated Market (MILA), which includes Peru, Chile and Colombia. The three countries have complementary strengths; Chile has financial and retail companies, Colombia has energy companies and Peru mining companies. Although Colombia and Peru have relatively few listed companies, the integrated market can generate a lot of positive synergy. It could get even better, if Mexico decides to join the MILA.
However, experts agree that the MILA hasn’t taken off yet, due to a lack of standard practices among the different countries. According to Errazuriz, the countries in MILA should act like their financial markets were part of a "United States of Latin America."
“All of the markets should be interrelated, so that someone here could buy stock in Mexico with the same ease as if he or she were in Mexico,” says Jaime Humberto Lopez, president of the Colombia Association of Stock Exchange Agents.
As attractive as it is, the region still faces risks that derive, at least in part, from its own success. An example that illustrates the challenges for the region, according to analysts, is the situation in Brazil, where a revaluation of the currency caused volatility in the markets.
For Sandra Manuelito, an economic affairs officer at CEPAL, the resistance among Latin American companies to list themselves on the stock market is another limiting factor. “Many of the companies in the region belong to families or small groups, and listing on the stock market means opening up the company and sharing control,” she explained.
Companies are also reluctant to make their information public, which is one of the conditions to listing on the stock market. The different actors in the financial markets have to convince companies of the advantages of being listed in the stock exchange.
Up to a certain point, that is working, because investors are clamoring for new offerings. But in spite of it all, both analysts and stock exchange directors agree that they should avoid artificially accelerating the transition.
Juan Pablo Cordoba, the president of Colombia’s stock exchange, sums it up well, “We’re talking about a major structural change, about how to convert this global economy into a source of financing and growth.” | <urn:uuid:e736c939-b2e6-4cf4-8b55-0e577cb2393c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.worldcrunch.com/business-finance/as-global-markets-go-south-investors-turn-to-latin-america/brazil-mexico-peru-colombia-stock-markets-capital/c2s9816/ | 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 | 0.9636 | 931 | 1.726563 | 2 |
Tzivanu Applies Today
The basis for observance of mitzvoth and ritual lies in the word tzav. The
Torah does not present us with many options when it comes to observing God’s
explicit commandments. Before the performance of a mitzvah, we are to recite
a blessing that clearly states asher tzivanu – that we have been commanded
and instructed to perform this mitzvah. We naturally retain our free will as
to whether we wish to perform the mitzvah or not.
But we are to understand that the ultimate reason for the performance of the
mitzvah is not because we deem it to be pleasant or worthy or any other
rational human explanation for its performance. We observe and perform the
mitzvah ultimately and perhaps solely because God has commanded us to do so
and we committed ourselves at Sinai that we will do what we are instructed
Now all of this flies in the face of contemporary wisdom, custom and mores.
We live in a time when the right to do what I want to do supersedes all
instructions and guidance - parental, school or just plain good old common
good sense. This contradiction in values and worldview lies at the heart of
much of the divisions that exist within the Jewish world.
Our generation is permanently stuck in the teenage years; it resents anyone
telling it what to do. And since this feeling is part of the general package
of free will that the Lord has endowed us with, it is difficult in the
extreme to understand vtizvanu in the absence of training, habit, intensive
Jewish education and historical perspective.
It should be obvious that people would wish to follow good, proven,
beneficial instructions. But that certainly is not the case with human
nature. Millions of people engage in harmful activities that have been
conclusively proven medically to be life shortening.
Over the long run of Jewish history all of the groupings that have rejected
the idea of vtizvanu have eventually disappeared from the Jewish scene.
History is always unforgiving as to human foibles and grievous errors. Yet
just as anti-Jewish hatred resurrects itself in all generations no matter
that history records what a terrible toll it always takes on the haters, so
too does the tzivanu rejecters constantly reappear amongst us in different
guises and with ever more populist names.
The rejecters are “progressive,” “democratic,” “peace and love people.” The
only problem is that they are wrong and ultimately harmful to themselves and
to the Jewish people as a whole. Again, all of Jewish history and experience
shows how truly wrong they are. The Lord does not allow Himself, so to
speak, to be second guessed and His commandments to be improved upon. The
prophet Malachi states the matter quite succinctly: “I, the Lord, have not
changed and you, the children of Israel have not been exterminated.”
Since the Lord has not changed and the Jewish people are still around to
serve as His special people, the tzivanu imperative still applies. That is
why the very existence of this parsha of Tzav is of such vital importance.
Rabbi Berle Wein | <urn:uuid:9688d581-5d85-451f-90ae-b78eaf4538b6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://torah.org/learning/rabbiwein/5772/tzav.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939706 | 704 | 2.21875 | 2 |
Everyone has a shoe story. A treasured baby shoe; the first pair of high heels; a worn pair of summer sandals; and for some, the fetishized shoe of a celebrity or a screen icon.
Dr. Edna Nahshon, associate professor of Hebrew at The Jewish Theological Seminary, will discuss her new book, Jews and Shoes (Berg, 2008), and show images of its rich illustrations, at 7:30 p.m. on Thursday, December 4. The program will take place at JTS, 3080 Broadway (at 122nd Street), New York City.
Jews and Shoes, conceived and edited by Dr. Nahshon, explains that in addition to their utilitarian usefulness, shoes can be read as biographical documents and as artifacts that convey theological, social, and economic concepts.
The book is unprecedented in scope and subject matter. It is handsomely illustrated, with images collected from around the globe. The topic of shoes, shoelessness, and shoemakers in Jewish life from the Bible to the modern world is approached from a wide range of cultural, artistic, and historic perspectives.
Dr. Nahshon is also senior associate of Oxford University Centre for Hebrew and Jewish Studies. She holds a PhD in Performance Studies from New York University. She is the author of Yiddish Proletarian Theatre: The Art and Politics of the Artef, 1925–1940 (Greenwood Press, 1998), From the Ghetto to the Melting Pot: Israel Zangwill's Jewish Plays (Wayne State UP, 2005), and is the contributing editor of the forthcoming Jewish Theatre, a collection of essays (Brill Academic Publishers, 2008).
Sponsored by The Library of The Jewish Theological Seminary, the event is part of the 2008-2009 series of book talks by JTS faculty moderated by Dr. David Kraemer, JTS Joseph J. and Dora Abbell Librarian and professor of Talmud and Rabbinics. The series continues on January 22 with Dr. David Roskies, who will discuss his new memoir, Yiddishlands.
Autographed copies of the book will be available for purchase. The talk is open to the community at no charge; reservations are required. For further information and to RSVP, please contact Hector Guzman at (212) 678-8075. | <urn:uuid:f706ac2b-740b-427c-abdf-5d4942c18984> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jtsa.edu/News/Press_Releases/Library_Book_Talk_-_Nahshon.xml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933518 | 483 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Social anxiety disorder or social phobia (SP) is defined as "the intense fear of becoming humiliated in social situations, specifically of embarrassing yourself in front of other people" (National Institute of Mental Health, 2000). It affects between 6% and 15% of the general U.S. population (1), is the third most common psychiatric disorder, and is extremely debilitating to those who have it. Individuals with SP are extremely fearful and avoid social situations (APA, 2000). The fear is caused primarily by feelings that they will be humiliated or embarrassed. The onset of SP is usually in childhood or adolescence, and the disorder occurs more often in women than in men. Many people are so affected by it that they cannot work and cannot start or maintain personal or professional relationships; in addition, an unusually high rate of comorbid depression is seen in individuals with SP. More recently, interest has focused on the development course of SP, leading to a reconceptualization of the disorder as a chronic neurodevelopment illness rather than one manifesting for the first time in adulthood (2). In recent years, our knowledge of SP has included important advances in the understanding of the epidemiology, neurobiology, and neural circuitry of SP. In this clinical synthesis, we will review the diagnosis, psychopharmacological treatment, and recent questions and controversy regarding this debilitating, yet treatable, disorder. DSM-IV-TR criteria for social anxiety disorder are listed in Table 1. | <urn:uuid:d1b9fdda-18c1-4d87-b2f1-e31f6e67efc1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://focus.psychiatryonline.org/article.aspx?articleid=178203 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950786 | 294 | 3.296875 | 3 |
(CNN) -- Welcome to the multiple-mobile-gadget world.
AT&T on Wednesday became the latest wireless carrier to announce it will offer a range of "shared" data plans, which let customers buy a pool of data and share it among several Internet-connected mobile devices, like smartphones and tablets.
Verizon made a similar move in June when it announced its "Share Everything" plans.
Not to be outdone on the marketing front, AT&T calls its new plans "Mobile Share." Customers aren't forced to switch to the new one-big-pool-of-data plans. AT&T says in a news release that the "bucket" data plans prep the company for a multiple-device world.
"Today we think of people's smartphones and tablets sharing a bucket of data," David Christopher, chief marketing officer for AT&T Mobility, said in a written statement.
"But in the future we'll see health care monitors, connected cars, security systems and other devices in the home all connected to the mobile Internet."
The new plans will be available in late August.
The shared plans are designed for households that own several Internet-connected mobile devices and to encourage people to purchase wireless data connections for all of those devices. Currently, many tablet owners, for example, only connect to the Internet with Wi-Fi, which is free, because they don't want to purchase new mobile plans for tablets. The company is trying to encourage those people to pay more per month to get wireless data service, but without having to create a new plan entirely.
The data is shared between the devices in the sense that all gadgets connected to the plan would draw from the same overall pool of data. This may work well if only one of the devices is a "data hog," but multiple data-sucking devices could become costly.
Tablet and e-reader ownership is becoming more common, with 29% of American adults owning at least one of those mobile devices, according to a January survey from the Pew Internet & American Life Project.
More than half of all U.S. cell phone users own a smartphone, which is distinguished because it usually connects to the Internet and requires a data plan.
For AT&T's new plan, customers pay for an overall pot of data -- 1 GB per month is $40; 20 GB is $200 -- and then pay additional fees to add extra devices. Smartphones cost between $30 and $45 per month, depending on the amount of data a person purchases. A person can add a tablet computer or gaming device for $10 per month. The per-gadget and per-GB rates get cheaper, relatively, as you add more devices and more data.
AT&T describes this graduated payment system as "the more you share, the more you save," but, of course, customers will actually pay more in total for additional services.
Let's do a quick comparison of the old and new plans.
Depending on how many devices you have, the plan may or may not be smart.
Say you have a smartphone and a tablet computer and you want 6GB of data per month, between the two gadgets. Under the new "shared data" plan, you would pay $35 for the phone, $10 for the tablet and $90 for the data. That's a monthly total of $135.
Under the old plan, 3GB of data for a tablet would cost $30 per month, with a contract. A phone with unlimited talk and text (that's offered on the "shared" plan) costs $90 per month. And then the remaining 3GB of data on the phone costs $30.
So that's a total of $150, or $15 more than the new "shared" plan.
The shared data plan can include up to 10 devices, however, and the prices per GB and per gadget drop as the plan becomes more involved and includes more devices.
For more information, see this online guide to the new pricing structure (PDF). AT&T also has a "data calculator" to help customers decide how much data they use. There are overage fees for going over the data limit, and AT&T says other fees may apply. (A company representative could not immediately be reached for comment on this matter).
The tech news site CNET says the plans are better for large groups of people.
"While these plans aren't the best deals for individuals, large families or even groups of really, really close friends may want to consider them," writes Roger Cheng. "That's because the more people who sign on, the lower the price per gigabyte and user. Of course, if someone is a heavy data user, that person may want to stick with an individual plan, or risk hogging up the total available data for everyone."
That site also has posted charts that compare the AT&T and Verizon shared-data plans.
"Individuals who don't use a lot of data and are considering the entry-level option would save a bit of money with AT&T, although those savings are negated when a second person jumps on the plan because of the higher smartphone fee," CNET writes.
"At the 10GB mark, however, Verizon gets the edge if an individual was buying into that plan. But the price is the same if a second person signs on to the plan, and is actually a better deal if more members join."
As CNNMoney reports, the cheapest shared plan is more expensive than the least expensive existing data plan. "Today, the cheapest available AT&T smartphone plan is $60 a month, giving users 300 MB of data and 450 voice minutes per month. The cheapest Mobile Share plan, with 1 GB of data, is $85 per month," that site writes.
Once you take a look at the plans, let us know what you think in the comments. | <urn:uuid:eba08234-087f-4151-bc30-1a16f78d17d5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/18/tech/mobile/att-shared-data/index.html?hpt=ibu_mid | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.952273 | 1,212 | 1.828125 | 2 |
March 22, 2012
Looking into Anne Frank’s unblinking eyes
Is the image of Anne Frank heading in the same commercial direction as Edvard Munch’s “The Scream”?
Munch’s Expressionist painting, once an iconic representation of horror, for years has been available as a party inflatable, an action figure mask, even a bobblehead. With the installation of a lifelike wax figure of the famed Holocaust diarist on display in Madame Tussauds in Berlin, could Frank’s image be susceptible to the same misappropriation and exploitation?
Considering that a 1999 issue of Time magazine listed Anne Frank as one of the most important people of the 20th century, and that the “Diary of Anne Frank” is one of the best-selling books of all time, it probably should not be surprising us that publishers and manufacturers are cranking out Anne Frank posters, postcards, limited edition T-shirts and key chains in an effort to cash in on her celebrity.
The fact that Madame Tussauds has locations worldwide indicates tourist acceptance of the museums, which are filled with kitschy wax likenesses of celebrated personalities such as John Kennedy, Albert Einstein, Marilyn Monroe and Rihanna—all done up in unblinking cosmetic perfection. But are we ready for a young Jewish martyr and personification of the Holocaust to be melted into the waxy mix?
It’s not entirely clear. The German publication Der Spiegel noted that the wax figure of Adolf Hitler, which the museum reintroduced after it was beheaded by a visitor in 2008, is in the next room. Chris Hale, a producer who lives in Berlin, wrote on his blog that Frank’s likeness is displayed in “the city where the diabolical plan to murder all the Jews of Europe was hatched.”
But with several metal sculptures of Frank already on display in the U.S. and Europe—there’s even one near the Anne Frank House in Amsterdam—why all the fuss? Isn’t a wax figure just a sculpture done in a different medium?
Madame Tussauds did not respond to JTA’s request for comment. But museum spokeswoman Nina Zerbe told Der Spiegel that the museum wanted to convey a “sense of optimism” with the figure and that “It’s important to let the story continue.”
Perhaps it is the motionless three-dimensional quality of the wax likeness. Frank is shown seated at her writing desk in the attic room made famous in her diary, complete with frozen smile that adds a dimension of jittery concern. The projects that put her and her world into motion—a Tony Award-winning Broadway play, a movie, a Japanese animation, a PBS movie of her life and a CD with a virtual tour of the house where she hid—all escape this effect.
An Anne Frank comic book even seems to capture her spirit better.
In 2010, The Anne Frank House in Amsterdam approached two American comic book artists, writer Sid Jacobson and illustrator Ernie Colon, to create “Anne Frank, The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography.” Published that year by Hill and Wang, the book was among the first major projects in print to move beyond the boundaries of presenting Frank simply in word and in photos.
“Can Anne Frank’s Story Be Told in a Comic Book?” Time magazine asked when the book first came out, foreshadowing some of the concern that the boundary-breaking Frank wax figure has received.
“With a graphic format we could make a more truthful presentation of the story,” Jacobson said in a recent interview from his home in Los Angeles. From traveling to Amsterdam and seeing the house and the research, he knew he wanted to put the Frank story in context by also telling the story of the rise of Nazism.
“Seeing a person that you know introduced in a few quick panels is so much more effective than reading,” said Jacobson, a former executive with Marvel and Harvey Comics and one of the writers of the comic book classic “Richie Rich.” Jacobson also was the author of another retelling of tragedy, “The 9/11 Report: A Graphic Adaptation.”
The book, even in its two-dimensional comic book flatness, is better able than a wax statue to take the viewer inside the attic where Frank hid from the Nazis. It graphically illustrates where the rooms were situated. It also shows us the joy of Frank’s first kiss with fellow hider Peter Van Pels, the horror of her discovery by the SS, and her mother and sister’s awful death from typhus in Bergen-Belsen.
As the book had broken boundaries when it was published—it has since been translated into Dutch, German, French, Italian and Spanish with plans for a Hebrew edition—I wondered what its author thought about the Frank wax likeness.
“I found it offensive, I think they should have stayed away from it,” Jacobson said, adding that “Ours was done with dignity.”
On the Madame Tussauds website there is this introduction to a museum visit: “You’ll find yourself saying sorry to someone for nearly bumping into them before realizing it’s a wax figure of Penelope Cruz or Johnny Depp. That’s the skill of our sculptors.”
But what if you are not ready for waxen verisimilitude or simply don’t want to bump into Anne Frank?
A few years ago while visiting the Hollywood Forever cemetery in Los Angeles, I was startled by the engraved lifelike images in a section where many Russian Jews were buried. I had never seen an image of the dead on a headstone. They were done in such realistic detail that they creeped me out.
I had a similar feeling at an open casket funeral, which is not a Jewish tradition. On both occasions I was ready to honor the dead and was curious about their life story. But did I want to encounter them? No.
In Judaism, the viewing of a dead person is considered a violation of their modesty. We can look at them, but they cannot gaze back. In Madame Tussauds, when we look into those unblinking Anne Frank eyes, there is no return teenage glare that says, “How could you let this happen?”
And there can be no look that says, “Don’t let this happen again.”
Anne Frank, The Anne Frank House Authorized Graphic Biography, $11.29, Amazon.com.
Madame Tussauds, Berlin: Admission, age 15 and older, 18.85 euro (about $25); ages 3-14, 14.35 euro (about $19).
Have something that might be good for Goods for the Jews? Contact Edmon J. Rodman at firstname.lastname@example.org. | <urn:uuid:1102833f-7756-4803-8129-42a063442c9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jewishjournal.com/culture/article/looking_into_anne_franks_unblinking_eyes_20120322 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959055 | 1,467 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Health care for citizens of the United States is pivotal to both the physical wellbeing and economic security of the nation. We asked Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) and Helen Hadley ’71, president of VantagePoint HealthCare Advisors, whether access to affordable health care is a public right or a personal responsibility.
Kennedy: All citizens have the right to affordable, high quality health care. It’s a moral issue, a public health issue, a homeland security issue and an economic and international competitiveness issue. It is unfathomable that 45.7 million people in the wealthiest nation on Earth are forced to live without health insurance. The U.S. is the only industrialized country in the world that does not provide some form of universal health care, and our health outcomes are the indicators that our way of doing things isn’t working. Two of the leading indicators of overall health — infant mortality and life expectancy — are worse in the U.S., not only in comparison to our main competitors, but also to countries with far less developed economies.
Whether you have access to life-saving prescriptions or medical treatments shouldn’t be dependant on how much money you have. A parent should never have to choose between money for housing and food or medical treatment for a child. It’s unjustifiable for even one family to be faced with such a draconian choice in a country that is built, and has flourished, on promises of life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.
The role of government, as our founding fathers envisioned it, was to protect and promote these unalienable rights for all citizens. The majority of Americans has long been supportive of guaranteeing health care to all citizens, and I’m enthusiastic about the point in history where we now stand, with an administration dedicated to enacting meaningful health care reform.
Hadley: For too many Americans, health care is not affordable and until it is, the question of access being a public right or personal responsibility is just an interesting philosophical debate. To make health care affordable, experts agree it will take a massive effort — combining public and private initiatives with a commitment by every American to accept personal responsibility.
Until individuals — not businesses — are considered the “customer,” individuals won’t have the leverage or financial power to force changes to the system. Personal responsibility will play a role in making health care affordable, but can only have a limited impact on the big picture.
It is our personal responsibility to use health care resources wisely and to maintain healthy lifestyles to avoid abusing these resources. However, if we want people to accept personal responsibility, we must have a system in which the individual has a financial interest in his health, has control over how his money is spent, and has information to make intelligent decisions.
Beyond the personal actions each of us can take, making health care affordable will take a major overhaul of the current system, requiring the government, insurance companies, hospitals, physicians, employer groups, pharmaceutical companies and others to work together. or example, consider three critical areas that could have substantial financial impacts, but need major reform: changing the basic payment structure from quantity of care to quality of care; increasing payments to primarycare physicians; and malpractice reform.
When the system is reformed and affordable health care is available, we will surely find that it took both public action and personal responsibility to make it happen. | <urn:uuid:40a900f3-3431-472c-9819-96f70b5d178f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jwu.edu/magazineintro.aspx?id=40220 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953099 | 697 | 2.625 | 3 |
Community Sustainable Energy Programme (CSEP)
Please note that this new scheme is due to open in April 2008.
What is the Community Sustainable Energy Programme?
The Community Sustainable Energy Programme (CSEP) is an open grants programme run by BRE, an award partner of the Big Lottery Fund. Part of the Fund's Changing Spaces programme, CSEP has been set up to help community based organisations in England to reduce their energy bills and environmental impact. The scheme is also designed to raise public awareness of the social and environmental advantages to reducing energy consumption and carbon emissions in order to combat climate change.
Who can apply?
Grants will only be awarded to eligible not-for-profit community based organisations in England. This includes:
community groups governed by a written constitution
registered charities and trusts
schools and colleges
companies with a charitable purpose and community focus
church based and other faith organisations
What can be funded?
Two types of grant are available: capital and project development.
Capital Grants are available for the purchase and installation of any of the technologies listed below along with various energy efficiency measures, including cavity wall insulation, loft insulation, heating and lighting controls.
Solar Thermal Hot Water
Ground Source Heat Pumps/Air Source Heat Pumps
Automated Wood Pellet Stoves
Wood Fuelled Boiler Systems
Energy Efficiency Measures
Project Development Grants are available for studies investigating the feasibility of installing the above mentioned technologies.
How much can I apply for?
The maximum Capital Grant available is £50,000 or 50 per cent of the project cost (whichever is lower).
The maximum Project Development Grant available is £5,000 or 75 per cent of the study cost (whichever is lower).
When can I apply?
It is anticipated that the Community Sustainable Energy Programme will open for applications in April 2008.
How do I find out the latest information on the Community Sustainable Energy Programme?
They will keep their website updated with the latest news on CSEP. Alternatively, you can email your contact details and they will contact you with any updates. | <urn:uuid:0070c47f-bf28-4bd9-83a0-2cf80f547dcc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://ew.ecocongregation.org/resources/module7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.908373 | 430 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Two church members were going door to door, and knocked on the door of a woman who was not happy to see them. She told them in no uncertain terms that she did not want to hear their message and slammed the door in their faces.
To her surprise, however, the door did not close and, in fact, bounced back open. She tried again, really put her back into it, and slammed the door again with the same result, the door bounced back open.
Convinced these rude young people were sticking their foot in the door, she reared back to give it a slam that would teach them a lesson, when one of them said, "Ma'am, before you do that again, you need to move your cat." | <urn:uuid:4d36a725-9fb1-4994-a130-3f53fd3fe3a1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://laughs4free.com/laugh4free_139.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.993522 | 153 | 1.523438 | 2 |
“Do you say, then, that this guarantees that they have themselves suffered, so that in spirit they are identified with their teaching?”
He answered bravely: “No—I do not—I cannot say that in fact it is always so.”
“Is not then their teaching born of forms, and not of the spirit?”
He rose; and with a sort of deep sorrow at my stubbornness said: “We are not permitted to know the way of this; it is so ordained; we must have faith.”
As he stood there, turned from me, with his hat off, and his neck painfully flushed under the sharp outcurve of his dark head, a feeling of pity surged up in me, as if I had taken an unfair advantage.
“Reason—coherence—philosophy,” he said suddenly. “You don’t understand. All that is nothing to me—nothing—nothing!” 1911
Though dew-dark when we set forth, there was stealing into the frozen air an invisible white host of the wan-winged light—born beyond the mountains, and already, like a drift of doves, harbouring grey-white high up on the snowy skycaves of Monte Cristallo; and within us, tramping over the valley meadows, was the incredible elation of those who set out before the sun has risen; every minute of the precious day before us—we had not lost one!
At the mouth of that enchanted chine, across which for a million years the howdahed rock elephant has marched, but never yet passed from sight, we crossed the stream, and among the trees began our ascent. Very far away the first cowbells chimed; and, over the dark heights, we saw the thin, sinking moon, looking like the white horns of some devotional beast watching and waiting up there for the god of light. That god came slowly, stalking across far over our heads from top to top; then, of a sudden, his flame-white form was seen standing in a gap of the valley walls; the trees flung themselves along the ground before him, and censers of pine gum began swinging in the dark aisles, releasing their perfumed steam. Throughout these happy ravines where no man lives, he shows himself naked and unashamed, the colour of pale honey; on his golden hair such shining as one has not elsewhere seen; his eyes like old wine on fire. And already he had swept his hand across the invisible strings, for there had arisen, the music of uncurling leaves and flitting things.
A legend runs, that, driven from land to land by Christians, Apollo hid himself in Lower Austria, but those who ever they saw him there in the thirteenth century were wrong; it was to these enchanted chines, frequented only by the mountain shepherds, that he certainly came. | <urn:uuid:a194e24b-031b-4e18-a7de-968c1c090848> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.bookrags.com/ebooks/3254/2486.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00070-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980126 | 614 | 1.875 | 2 |
- Taxes on some wealthy French top 100 pct of income: paper
- North Korea fires short-range missiles for two days in a row |
- Shooting death of gay man rocks New York's cradle of gay rights
- Israel warns against Russian arms supply to Syria
- Female hostage died from police bullet in New York standoff: official
NZ PM Key brushes off idea to print money to lower currency
WELLINGTON (Reuters) - New Zealand's Prime Minister John Key brushed off suggestions by opposition party to print money to lower the country's strong currency because it would create inflation and increase business costs.
"The latest idea of the Green (Party) to print money that is a pretty whacky idea," Key told Television New Zealand on Monday.
"Printing money makes you rich. Zimbabwe would be the richest country on the planet and it's not."
Key reiterated inflation remains the primary focus of the country's monetary policy, adding that increasing money supply would raise inflation.
"That means your interest rates will go up. Your mortgage costs will go up, your business costs will go up. The costs of everything you buy will go up," he said.
"It might bring your currency down, it might be a by-product of that, but it's quite a cost and risk to the consumers."
Key said New Zealand's economy was not in a "bad shape", adding that it was growing at one of the fastest rate in the countries grouped under OECD.
(Reporting by Mantik Kusjanto)
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- Digg this | <urn:uuid:793f4a91-f30e-44c1-826a-6793ca741e8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/10/07/us-newzealand-economy-key-idUSBRE8960FV20121007?feedType=RSS&feedName=worldNews&utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Reuters%2FworldNews+%28Reuters+World+News%29 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95632 | 325 | 1.59375 | 2 |
Learning the Popular Styles of Yoga
There are many styles of yoga, but teachers should be familiar with the nine main forms of yoga, from India, and their relationships to contemporary styles. The nine main styles are: Bhakti, Hatha, Jnana, Karma, Kundalini, Mantra, Raja, Tantric, and Yantra Yoga. Bhakti yoga is widely practiced in India, yet barely known by the masses outside of India.
If you’re looking to become a yoga instructor, you must be thoroughly trained and ready to cater to a variety of student needs. A competent yoga instructor should be well-versed in many aspects of yoga. Different styles emphasize varying aspects of yoga. Some may focus on the coordination of breath and movement, while others focus on the proper alignment of the body. Others use atmospheric conditions as the basis of the style.
Globally, one of the most popular styles is Hatha yoga. This is a style that focuses on slow, meditative breathing and relaxed postures. A yoga instructor will slowly guide students through poses one at a time. Many people, who attend Hatha classes, appreciate the relaxed feeling they get from the exercise aspects. Some people, who try Hatha classes, do not like the slow-pace and are searching for a higher-intensity exercise.
Vinyasa yoga, sometimes called Flow or Power yoga, contains a completely different focus, in comparison to the meditative Hatha. Vinyasa is called, Flow or Power, because of its emphasis on smooth and powerful movements. The teacher will guide students through a series of poses, changing them in rhythm with the breath.
The poses run together like a dance. Vinyasa classes can be either, high or low intensity, depending upon the yoga instructor’s emphasis. Vinyasa can be very diverse because it allows the yoga instructor to interject their personality into the routines.
Vinyasa, Flow, or Power yoga, draws sequences from Hatha or Raja yoga, depending upon the instructor’s lineage. Raja is the form of yoga, which Maharishi Pantanjali describes in the Yoga Sutras. It should be noted that Raja is sometimes called, Ashtanga, which means “eight limbs.”
Ashtanga yoga can also be an athletic style of yoga. It is based on a demanding series of pose changes, sometimes connected by jumps. Designed for flexible, and usually young, bodies, Ashtanga has gained popularity in the Western world because of its intensity. Some popular students of this style are Madonna and Sting. An advantage of this style is that it can be self-led.
Usually the yoga instructor will teach students a series of poses and lead them in the routine. After mastering the poses and changes, the students can go through the routine at their own pace. Since this is done in the company of the yoga instructor, and other students, progress can be monitored and mistakes corrected.
For a completely different experience, there is Bikram yoga. Also known as Hot yoga, Bikram is a modern style, focusing on a set series of poses performed in a heated room. The creator of the style, Bikram Choudhury, designated twenty-six poses that constitute the Bikram style. The temperature of the room is ideally set to 105 degrees.
By keeping the room at a high temperature, the muscles of the body are more flexible. This is a controversial style because of an intellectual property lawsuit by Choudhury. Only those yoga instructors, certified in his method, are permitted to teach Bikram yoga.
On the other end of the timeline is Kundalini yoga. An ancient form, that is relatively new to the West, Kundalini focuses on the spiritual aspects of yoga. The yoga instructor leads students through a series of poses, making sure that movement is linked with breath.
The idea behind this discipline is to cause dormant energy in the lower body to become free and move upwards. For students seeking an athletic workout, Kundalini is not the place to look; but it is still an important style for a yoga instructor to understand.
From the purely physical yoga, to the more spiritual forms, a yoga instructor must be well versed. If you want to be a great yoga instructor, you should understand the basics of each major style, even while you focus on your favorite style. In this way, you’ll be ready to answer any student’s question and guide them to the right style.
Copyright 2008 – Paul Jerard / Aura Publications
Paul Jerard, E-RYT 500, is a co-owner and the director of Yoga teacher training at: Aura Wellness Center in, Attleboro, MA. He is an author of many books on the subject of Yoga and has been a certified Master Yoga teacher since 1995. | <urn:uuid:a9f51b09-16d7-4dee-9457-41b6de7e9b31> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nidrayoga.com/tag/intensity-exercise/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943248 | 1,005 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Full Day Kindergarten in Massachusetts
One of the goals of the Early Education for All (EEA) Campaign is to ensure access to high-quality, full school-day public kindergarten for all families who desire it.
Kindergarten in Massachusetts Today
The mandatory school age for children in Massachusetts is six. Current Massachusetts regulations mandate that 425 hours – 2.5 hours per day for the academic school year – of kindergarten be provided by all public school districts and be made available to all children. More and more districts in Massachusetts are able to offer full-day kindergarten, but there is wide variation as to how kindergarten is implemented from district to district. Many of Massachusetts’ kindergarteners still remain in half-day classrooms, and when districts offer full-day kindergarten, there is often a high demand for limited slots, requiring families to submit to a lottery or a waiting list. Additionally, many school districts require families to pay a fee for their children’s participation in full-day kindergarten,and these fees vary widely.
Initiatives Currently Underway in Massachusetts
In Fiscal Year 2000, the Commonwealth began a long-term plan to support cities and towns in the transition to full-day kindergarten programs with the creation of the Massachusetts Department of Education's Kindergarten Development Grant program. With the support of a broad coalition, EEA was able to help secure $10 million in increased investments for Full-Day Kindergarten (FDK) Expansion Grants since FY06. Currently 66% of Massachusetts’s kindergarteners are in full-day public school kindergarten, up from 38% in FY00.
EEA's Current Work
In order to expand access to full-day kindergarten, EEA is currently advocating for increased funding for the Kindergarten Development Grant Program in the FY09 state budget.
Reprinted with the permission of the Early Education for All Campaign. © Strategies for Children / Early Education for All. All rights reserved.
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- Smart Parenting During and After Divorce: Introducing Your Child to Your New Partner | <urn:uuid:3bd11d32-e129-48a0-a7fd-6bb39c0311b1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.education.com/reference/article/Ref_Full_Kindergarten_2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00075-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.922088 | 517 | 2.375 | 2 |
James Rice Buckley
Sir William Goscombe John, 1860-1952
Bronze on a granite pedestal
By Llandaff Cathedral, Cardiff, Wales
James Rice Buckley had been Vicar of Llandaff from 1878 to 1913, and then Archdeacon of Llandaff from 1913 to 1924. In this entirely natural, unposed likeness, he seems to be stepping out again towards the Cathedral which he had served for so many years [see view of statue from rear]. There are several other works by this Cardiff-born sculptor in and around the cathedral, including a fine war memorial on the green, and a dignified bronze plaque for Buckley inside the cathedral (see the well-illustrated record for John at the government's National Archives site); but there is an affection here that speaks of Goscombe John's local roots and knowledge of his subject. NB The placing of this statue is important, and contributes much to its effect (cf. Martin Jennings's much more recent statue of Sir John Betjeman at St Pancras Station, in London).
Photograph and text by Jacqueline Banerjee, 2009.
[You may use these images without prior permission for any scholarly or educational purpose as long as you (1) credit the photographer and (2) link your document to this URL in a web document or cite the Victorian Web in a print one.] | <urn:uuid:ad706207-5fbd-4ad9-adba-0e40d4390be9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://victorianweb.org/sculpture/john/16.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00013-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954328 | 281 | 2.28125 | 2 |
On the evening of Friday October 28 the award-winning screenwriter and acclaimed author Frank Cottrell Boyce delivered the Inaugural Newman Lecture.
The lecture, which was delivered at Notre Dame University in Trafalgar Square, London, was entitled “A footling little parson: The greatest of English prose writers” and focused on the craft of writing, exploring the source of a writer’s creativity and inspiration.
Mr Cottrell Boyce won a Carnegie medal for his novel Millions, about a boy who is obsessed with saints, which was turned into a film by director Danny Boyle in 2004. He has most recently written the official sequel to the children’s novel, Chitty Chitty Bang Bang. His other credits include the children’s book Framed (filmed by the BBC) and Cosmic (being filmed by Walden Media).
He also wrote the BBC play God on Trial which dramatised the apocryphal trial of God which was supposedly staged by a group of rabbis in the Auschwitz concentration camp. His other screenplays include Welcome to Sarajevo, Hilary and Jackie and 24 Hour Party People.
He is currently working with Danny Boyle on the opening ceremony for the 2012 Olympic Games and in September 2011 delivered a BAFTA lecture.
The Newman Lecture is offered in support of the legacy of the 2010 papal visit to Britain and is an initiative of the bishops’ conference department for evangelisation and catechesis.
Bishop Kieran Conry, chairman of the department, said: “Cardinal Newman was a very imaginative writer whose works not only influenced theological debate but he also left a treasure for people of all faiths and none in his hymns, prayers and meditations. The aim of the first Newman Lecture is to affirm the craft of writing and stimulate reflection and discussion about what makes for good writing and where does creativity and inspiration find its source.” | <urn:uuid:52f622c4-1d1c-41a8-b1dd-ec7216d801fe> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.catholicherald.co.uk/catholiclife/2011/11/02/author-hails-art-of-newman/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972929 | 400 | 1.679688 | 2 |
is a state
located in Northern Nigeria
.A mainly agricultural state,it was Created on August 27, 1991, Yobe state was carved out of present-day Borno State
. The capital of Yobe state is Damaturu
The state borders the Nigerian states of Bauchi, Borno, Gombe
, and Jigawa
. It borders Diffa Region
and Zinder Region
to the north in The Republic of Niger
. Because the state lies mainly in the dry savanna
belt, the state is dry and hot for most the year except in the southern part of the state which has a milder climate.
Yobe State came into being on the 27 August, 1991
. It was carved out of the old Borno State
by the Babangida
administration. Yobe State was created because the old Borno State was one of Nigeria's largest states in terms of land area and was therefore considered to be too large for easy administration and meaningful development. Ethnic rivalries within the old Borno State also contributed to the decision.
Local Government Areas
Yobe State consists of 17 local government areas
, or LGAs. They...... | <urn:uuid:3e63d005-9c72-4b86-8720-509b4924273c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://pages.rediff.com/yobe-state/898227 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00041-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957169 | 245 | 2.796875 | 3 |
SWOS students serve at Best Friends Animal Society
By Patti Ledford, SWOS teacher, and Brianna Provstgaard, SWOS student
Special to the Journal
It’s amazing how original purposes can get redirected when you least expect it. Students from the Lower House Seminar class at Southwest Open School scheduled a couple of days of volunteer work at Best Friends Animal Society in Kanab, Utah to help care for and comfort shelter animals. What they didn’t expect was to experience a personal bolstering of spirit.
The 15-member group, comprised of twelve students and three adults, first traveled to Wire Pass trail head where they camped and spent the next day hiking through the pass into Buckskin Gulch, the longest slot canyon in the Southwest. This annual rite of passage is one of the highlights of the SWOS school year. The group, led by SWOS assistant director, Dave Finlay, teacher Patti Ledford and intern Kim Johnson, explored the slot canyon in two groups. The trek included three somewhat precarious passes through mud and water, but all made it through without incident thanks to teamwork and the typical SWOS, “We can do it together,” spirit. The students enjoyed the awe-inspiring topography of the gulch and even took on the challenge as a unique “physical education experience.”
The third and fourth days of the trip included dry camping at a local state campground and volunteer work at Best Friends Animal Society. This no-kill shelter, one of the few of its kind, was established in 1984 by a group of friends who felt it was important to change the thinking of that time that shelters and humane societies had no option other than to euthanize unadoptable animals. The society is funded through donations and 90 percent of their staff is volunteer. The shelter staff explained to the students that it costs over $100,000 a day to feed, shelter, and care for the animals along with administrative costs. Animals in residence at the sanctuary (typically around 1,700 on any given day) include: horses, burros, pigs, birds of all types, rabbits, goats, various “wild” animals, and of course, a large number of dogs and cats.
The SWOS students spent their time at Best Friends performing a variety of services including: walking and socializing shelter dogs; talking to birds; cleaning rabbit enclosures; reinstalling rain protection for outdoor rabbit enclosures; feeding and watering rabbits; and clearing a new horse pasture in preparation for some new residents that were on the way. One of the highlights of their experience was meeting one of the 22 “Victory” dogs rescued by Best Friends from Michael Vick’s collection of abused pit bulls. Layla, a shy but loving, toffee-colored pit, was the object of lots of love and affection from the SWOS kids. Several of the students mentioned the similarity between the Victory dogs and themselves. “People often fear what they don’t understand; some of us have had a rough start in life, but that doesn’t mean we aren’t kind and loving beings with tons of potential. We just needed SWOS, like Layla and the other Victory dogs needed Best Friends.” So even though the intention of the trip was to perform service and provide love and care for animals, the animals in turn, shared their love and understanding with our students.
For more information, visit the Best Friends Society website at www.bestfriends.org. | <urn:uuid:0e3ca19f-8cb8-4958-8d97-5aa1518d8c46> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cortezjournal.com/article/20121119/NEWS03/121119883/0/20121114/SWOS-students-serve-at-Best-Friends-Animal-Society | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00002-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962527 | 727 | 1.671875 | 2 |
Classes for Children
We believe in getting children to swim from an early age - that's the best way to make sure children grow up to be strong, confident swimmers.
At O'Tooles, we know that swimming for children is a great way to bond with your family and to keep healthy and fit as a family. The sooner a child starts to swim the easier they'll pick it up too.
More and more parents are sending their children to swimming lessons and the numbers are growing. This is because of the sudden and growing realisation of the value of swimming for children of all ages and how it can later benefit them in life.
It's really important for swimming lessons to have a good structure, so we're proud to have developed our very own course syllabus which has taken guidance from the ASA National Plan for Teaching Swimming. The swimming lesson programme is delivered by fully qualified ASA or STA trained teachers and covers the basics of swimming for children, through to gaining complete confidence in the water.
We assess all new learners so they enter the swimming programme at the appropriate level, helping them learn with people of a similar ability.
So treat your children to swimming lessons and show them how much fun swimming can be! | <urn:uuid:c8506470-efe0-4c62-93a1-2502cf802d7b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.otooles.co.uk/swim-school-1/childrens-classes/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979495 | 250 | 2.109375 | 2 |
Remarks of Jim Hall, Chairman
National Transportation Safety Board
before the FAA/SAE Conference on Fuel Flammability
Washington, D.C., October 7, 1997
I want to thank the Federal Aviation Administration and SAE-Aerospace for inviting me to speak to this very important conference.
On July 17, 1996, TWA flight 800 exploded over the Atlantic Ocean shortly after taking off from Kennedy Airport. The loss of the 230 persons aboard that flight shocked our nation; indeed, it shocked the world. It also triggered the largest transportation accident investigation in American – and possibly world -- history, led by the National Transportation Safety Board.
The American people have spent tens of millions of dollars so far in this investigation, and while we have made significant progress, we cannot say at this time how long it will be before we complete the investigation.
The fact that we have not as yet issued the probable cause of this accident has masked a very important fact about the investigation, and that is that we know what happened to the aircraft.
What has brought us here is the event that started the breakup sequence: there was a fuel/air explosion in the almost-empty center wing tank. What ignited the explosive fuel/air vapors in that tank is not yet known.
A big issue is whether the precipitating event was a mechanical malfunction or an act of sabotage. That is why we have had two parallel investigations, ours and the FBI’s. Our finding so far is that there is no evidence of a bomb or a missile impact in the wreckage, but of course the investigation continues.
Looking at mechanical causes, we know that there are numerous potential sources of ignition in a variety of fuel tanks despite the FAA certification process to engineer-out sources of ignition.
When we began this undertaking, we were surprised at how little was known about the explosive characteristics of Jet A fuel, what it takes to ignite the vapors associated with fuels, the temperature and vibrational characteristics associated with airplane fuel tanks, and the vapor concentrations in the tanks.
That is why we have been conducting tests in laboratories all around the country and even overseas, which I’d like to summarize for you:
• Laboratory Studies of Jet A Fuel: An extensive series of studies of Jet A fuel has been carried out at the California Institute of Technology to determine the flame speed and pressure characteriscs of Jet A vapors, as well as minimum ignition energy as a function of pressure and altitude. You will be hearing about the results of some of this work from Dr. Joe Shepherd today.
• Flight Tests on Boeing 747/100 Aircraft: Nine test flights were conducted in a Boeing 747/100 aircraft to measure temperature, pressure, vibration and vapor concentrations in the fuel system. These test flights were completed on July 19, 1997. The objective of these tests was to determine the environmental conditions in the center wing tank at the time of the explosion on TWA 800, and under flight conditions designed to minimize fuel flammability, consistent with the Board’s recommendations to the FAA.
• Chemical Characterization of Jet A Vapor: Laboratory tests to determine the chemical composition of Jet A fuel vapor as a function of temperature and ratio of ullage to liquid volume have been carried out at the University of Nevada, Reno.
• Bruntingthorpe B-747/100 Explosion Tests: A series of tests was conducted in England to examine the sound spectral characteristics of explosions in a 747/100 aircraft, and also to examine the collateral damage created when small high explosive charges were placed on the exterior surface of the center wing tank. This test program also evaluated the effects of a fuel/air explosion in the center wing tank.
• Quarter Scale Explosion Testing: A quarter scale model of the 747 center wing tank, having multiple compartments, is being constructed to carry out explosion testing. This is being conducted for the Safety Board by CalTech and Applied Research Associates at a site near Denver, Colorado.
• Computer Modeling: Computer modeling studies are being carried out simultaneously with the quarter scale experimental work by Sandia National Laboratories in Albuquerque and the Christian Michelson Research Institute in Norway to determine if we can adequately model on a computer the explosion dynamics that occur in the fuel tank and ultimately determine the location of the ignition.
The NTSB agrees that the task of engineering out ignition sources is an important and desirable one, but we also recognize that it is a task we might never accomplish. That is why the Board issued its recommendations last December.
It was the explosive nature of the vapors in the fuel tank that allowed the blast – whatever its origin – to bring down flight 800. We believe that mechanisms exist that could, even in the short term, reduce the probability of a recurrence.
Our four recommendations to the FAA, which have been added to the Board’s Most Wanted List, urged both short-term and long-term actions to reduce the potential for a fuel/air vapor explosion in the center tanks of Boeing 747s, as well as in fuel tanks of other aircraft. We suggested possible means to reduce the explosive potential of the fuel vapor, such as adding cold fuel to the center tank before takeoff, providing insulation or other methods to reduce the transfer of heat from the air conditioning units beneath the center tank, or inerting the tank by replacing the explosive vapor with a harmless gas.
We are not saying that these changes will prevent every accident in the future. The Safety Board agrees with the FAA and the industry that the policy of eliminating sources of ignition should continue. As I’ve stated, the problem is that there is no way we can assure ourselves that all ignition sources will ever be eliminated; TWA 800 shows that they haven’t been all eliminated yet.
If there is a source of tension between the NTSB and the FAA on this issue, it is that the request for comments wasn’t issued until April, with comments not due until August. The Board expected a more timely response.
It is no secret that the industry has not embraced our recommendations. But I’m happy to say that since those recommendations went out, industry has turned its attention to the problem. I read with great interest the response of ATA, AEA, AAPA, AECMA and AIA – filed jointly – to FAA’s call for comments on proposals. While it disagrees with our recommendations, importantly, it contains two pages of "industry initiatives."
For example, industry plans to undertake a survey of aircraft or major fuel tank inspection programs to verify the integrity of wiring and grounding straps; the conditions of fuel pumps, fuel lines and fittings; and the electrical bonding on all equipment. This program will include not just Boeing 747s, but also Airbuses and aircraft of other manufacturers.
Folks are looking seriously at heat sources under center tanks. There is movement toward making Jet A fuel even less explosive. All to the good, if pursued with vigor. And, of course, both the FAA and the SAE are to be commended for organizing this conference.
It is healthy that the industry engage in a thorough examination of the practicality and benefits of our safety recommendations. That is what is going on now with the center fuel tank recommendations. What I don’t want to see, though, is a reflexive action by industry that leads to our recommendations being rejected out of hand.
It was asserted shortly after the crash of TWA flight 800 that, even if the center wing tank exploded, it could not have brought down the plane. In addition, we were told that center fuel tanks of 747s are virtually never in an explosive state. I think most of us are convinced otherwise by now.
The American people can be proud of the total effort expended by its government and the aviation industry in pursuit of the cause of the TWA tragedy. This week’s conference is an example of how those two segments of our society are working together to eliminate the flammability of vapors in fuel tanks and therefore try to ensure that another flight 800 doesn’t happen.
The Safety Board will continue to follow every avenue that might lead us to what ignited the center wing tank of flight 800. As you probably know, we’ll be holding a public hearing in Baltimore the first week of December. But, regardless of what we find to be the ignition source of that blast, we must do all we can to render these fuel tanks non-explosive. I hope this gathering provides big steps in that direction.
Thank you for allowing me take part, and good luck on achieving the goals of this conference. | <urn:uuid:833952a8-c9e7-42ba-adb6-e5d5504f0d9a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ntsb.gov/news/speeches/hall/jh971007.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.958007 | 1,764 | 1.960938 | 2 |
Myth 1: The consequences of poor oral health are restricted to the mouth
Expectant mothers may not know that what they eat affects the tooth development of the fetus. Poor nutrition during pregnancy may make the unborn child more likely to have tooth decay later in life. “Between the ages of 14 weeks to four months, deficiencies in calcium, vitamin D, vitamin A, protein and calories could result in oral defects,” says article author Carole Palmer. Some data also suggest that lack of adequate vitamin B6 or B12 could be a risk factor for cleft lip and cleft palate formation.
In children, tooth decay is the most prevalent disease, about five times more common than childhood asthma. “If a child’s mouth hurts due to tooth decay, he/she is less likely to be able to concentrate at school and is more likely to be eating foods that are easier to chew but that are less nutritious. Foods such as donuts and pastries are often lower in nutritional quality and higher in sugar content than more nutritious foods that require chewing, like fruits and vegetables,” says Palmer. “Oral complications combined with poor diet can also contribute to cognitive and growth problems and can contribute to obesity.”
Myth 2: More sugar means more tooth decay
It isn’t the amount of sugar you eat; it is the amount of time that the sugar has contact with the teeth. “Foods such as slowly-dissolving candies and soda are in the mouth for longer periods of time. This increases the amount of time teeth are exposed to the acids formed by oral bacteria from the sugars,” says Palmer.
Some research shows that teens obtain about 40 percent of their carbohydrate intake from soft drinks. This constant beverage use increases the risk of tooth decay. Sugar-free carbonated drinks and acidic beverages, such as lemonade, are often considered safer for teeth than sugared beverages but can also contribute to demineralization of tooth enamel if consumed regularly.
Myth 3: Losing baby teeth to tooth decay is okay
It is a common myth that losing baby teeth due to tooth decay is insignificant because baby teeth fall out anyway. Palmer notes that tooth decay in baby teeth can result in damage to the developing crowns of the permanent teeth developing below them. If baby teeth are lost prematurely, the permanent teeth may erupt malpositioned and require orthodontics later on.
Myth 4: Osteoporosis only affects the spine and hips
Osteoporosis may also lead to tooth loss. Teeth are held in the jaw by the face bone, which can also be affected by osteoporosis. “So, the jaw can also suffer the consequences of a diet lacking essential nutrients such as calcium and vitamins D and K,” says Palmer.
“The jawbone, gums, lips, and soft and hard palates are constantly replenishing themselves throughout life. A good diet is required to keep the mouth and supporting structures in optimal shape.”
Myth 5: Dentures improve a person’s diet
If dentures don’t fit well, older adults are apt to eat foods that are easy to chew and low in nutritional quality, such as cakes or pastries. “First, denture wearers should make sure that dentures are fitted properly. In the meantime, if they are having difficulty chewing or have mouth discomfort, they can still eat nutritious foods by having cooked vegetables instead of raw, canned fruits instead of raw, and ground beef instead of steak. Also, they should drink plenty of fluids or chew sugar-free gum to prevent dry mouth,” says Palmer.
Myth 6: Dental decay is only a young person’s problem
In adults and elders, receding gums can result in root decay (decay along the roots of teeth). Commonly used drugs such as antidepressants, diuretics, antihistamines and sedatives increase the risk of tooth decay by reducing saliva production. “Lack of saliva means that the mouth is cleansed more slowly. This increases the risk of oral problems,” says Palmer. “In this case, drinking water frequently can help cleanse the mouth.”
Adults and elders are more likely to have chronic health conditions, like diabetes, which are risk factors for periodontal disease (which begins with an inflammation of the gums and can lead to tooth loss). “Type 2 diabetes patients have twice the risk of developing periodontal disease of people without diabetes. Furthermore, periodontal disease exacerbates diabetes mellitus, so meticulous oral hygiene can help improve diabetes control,” says Palmer.
1. Palmer CA, Burnett DJ, Dean B. It’s More than Just Candy: Important Relationships between Nutrition and Oral Health. Nutrition Today. 45(4): 154-164. July/August 2010. DOI: 10.1097/NT.0b013e3181e98969
2. Image by AimanStudio | <urn:uuid:d77745ce-c582-42d5-a7e6-b2a6febc2b71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.elements4health.com/how-nutrition-affects-oral-health-and-dental-myths-debunked.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947811 | 1,035 | 3.703125 | 4 |
Canada and Seychelles established diplomatic relations after the country’s independence in 1976.
In Seychelles, Canada is represented by the Canadian High Commission in Tanzania.
Seychelles is represented in Canada by a High Commissioner in New York, U.S. The Seychelles also has an Honorary Consul based in Montreal.
Canada and Seychelles, both members of the Commonwealth and La Francophonie, enjoy good bilateral relations. Canada and Seychelles share common issues of concern on various topics, such as migratory fish stocks, climate change, and the global financial system.
Due to its relative prosperity, Seychelles is not a recipient of bilateral CIDA development assistance. The Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) does however provide aid to Seychelles through multilateral projects. Canada also provides counter-piracy assistance to Seychelles through the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
Canada’s trade and investment with Seychelles is minimal; in 2008, two-way trade totalled $3.2 million. In that year, Canada’s exports to Seychelles consisted mostly of gas turbines and wood, while Canada’s imports from Seychelles consisted mostly of optical and medical instruments, and woven apparel. | <urn:uuid:b4cdad32-4e6a-4e63-88ef-bed1918f64af> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.canadainternational.gc.ca/tanzania-tanzanie/bilateral_relations_bilaterales/canada_seychelles.aspx?menu_id=78 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933928 | 276 | 2.328125 | 2 |
Addressing the blood fat problems -- sky-high triglycerides, often combined with increased total cholesterol, increased LDL cholesterol (the bad or lousy kind of cholesterol) and decreased HDL cholesterol (the good or healthy kind) -- that many people on HAART are developing is crucially important to help provide long-term protection against artery damage and heart disease. There have been many reports from clinicians on serious arterial blockage and resulting angina (pain around the heart) in patients on HAART.
Thus, it is highly advisable for PHAs to do everything they can to lower their risk for heart disease by:
It is definitely time to be concerned if:
Factors that would add to the concern include the following:
For more info on nutrition for a healthy heart, see "Have a Heart" in the Fall/Winter 2003 issue of CATIE's Positive Side magazine, available at www.positiveside.ca or by calling 1.800.263.1638 [if you're in Canada].
would usually begin with advising dietary changes to lower fat intake, but the experience of most clinicians, as well as the findings from a couple of small studies, indicate that changing what people eat is unlikely to be of substantial benefit when HAART meds are the main cause of the problem. On the other hand, if someone is on a French fry/milk-shake/cheeseburger meal plan, then this could certainly be contributing to the high blood fats. In such cases, aiming for less fat intake, along with increases in fruits, vegetables and whole grains (especially oats) -- all of which contribute soluble fibre that can block cholesterol absorption -- could help. Soluble fibre sources like psyllium seed (Metamucil) may also be useful. You may want to consult with a nutritionist who can help you with healthy eating.
On the topic of overall cardiovascular protection, it is very important to reduce your total fat intake and eliminate partially hydrogenated fats/oils from your diet. These are chemically modified fats that are found in most margarines, vegetable shortening and a large percentage of commercial ready-to-eat baked goods and snack foods. Everyone who cares about protecting their cardiovascular system needs to read labels and try to avoid these artery-damaging fats to the greatest extent possible. Instead, stick with the fats Mother Nature made, especially the monounsaturated fats like olive oil.
Several switch studies have shown that blood fats that were elevated during protease inhibitor therapy fell after people switched from the protease inhibitor (PI) to either the non-nuke nevirapine (Viramune) or the nuke abacavir (Ziagen, ABC). Switching to the non-nuke efavirenz (Sustiva) has not been shown to consistently improve blood fat levels. Thus, some "PI-sparing" regimens may work better than others, although much more research will be required to determine what really may be best in this regard. It will be very important to take into account the treatment history for anyone considering switching drugs, since some people may really need the PI(s) to maintain viral control.
With high cholesterol readings, drugs that act as cholesterol-lowering agents -- commonly called statins -- are often recommended. There have been a number of reports on the successful use of such drugs, but the specific agents need to be chosen carefully because of the potential for drug interactions with protease inhibitors. Statin drugs help prevent the chemical conversion of fats into cholesterol, but some of these drugs use the same liver enzyme pathway used by protease inhibitors (CYP 3A4) while others do not. Thus, the risk of negative interactions with PIs varies considerably between the different drugs. Currently, it is thought that the most acceptable choices are pravastatin or atorvastatin, with fluvastatin considered a secondary possibility. Rosuvastatin is another option.Lovastatin and simvastatin should not be taken with PIs. It is also important to be careful about interactions with herbs. The heavily promoted cholesterol-lowering herbal compound called Cholestin works similarly to the statins and may cause similar interaction problems. All statin drugs severely deplete co-enzyme Q10; supplementation with 100-400 mg daily is needed with these drugs.
Fibrates are another class of lipid-lowering drugs which may help with blood fat abnormalities. They are considered the best choice for those who have only elevated triglycerides (and no cholesterol problems). Some believe that of the available fibrate drugs, fenofibrate may be preferable to gemfibrozil because it is easier to take and may do a better job lowering elevated LDL cholesterol. Sometimes the two classes of lipid-lowering drugs (statins and fibrates) are used together to improve effectiveness, but it is important to know that this increases the risk of muscle toxicity, a side effect of statins. Some fibrates, including gemfibrozil, deplete both vitamin E and co-enzyme Q10. Supplementation with vitamin E (800 IU daily) and co-enzyme Q10 (100-400 mg daily) is needed with these drugs.
Because of drug interaction problems, when it comes to lowering blood fats some doctors prefer the B vitamin niacin (1,000 mg daily), which can lower overall cholesterol, LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. Niacin actually works better than the statin drugs to raise HDL cholesterol, although the statins do work well to lower LDL cholesterol. However, there are several potential problems with niacin. First, a lot of people get flushing, redness, warmth and, in some people, painful stinging and itching for a period of a half-hour or more after it's taken. A sustained-release, no-flush form is much less likely to cause these problems, especially if combined with a baby aspirin taken 30 minutes before the niacin. Taking it in the middle of a meal will also help. Niaspan (500 mg per tablet) can be taken with breakfast and dinner, and the tablet can be cut in half if even that dose causes problems. If the dose is tolerable but insufficient for normalizing blood fats, it can be increased until good results are seen, but this increases the risk of niacin's second important potential problem: liver toxicity. Liver enzyme tests should be done to watch for such toxicity. Blood glucose (sugar) levels should also be monitored because niacin has the potential to affect blood sugar levels. Some experts say that niacin's potential to increase insulin resistance makes it inadvisable for HAART takers (since many people on HAART will develop insulin problems), and that is particularly true for anyone already showing signs of blood sugar problems.
Another important possibility for lowering triglycerides is the amino acid L-carnitine (the prescription form of which is Carnitor). Not yet studied for HAART-caused problems, it was shown in the past to be effective in normalizing HIV-elevated triglycerides when used in doses of 6,000 mg per day. Some doctors have found that using a combined approach with Carnitor or acetyl-L-carnitine and one of the lipid-lowering drugs can result in normalization of blood fats when drugs alone do not do the job, so that may be an approach worth considering.
Omega 3 fatty acids, found in fish oil and flaxseed oil, can help to lower triglyceride levels. Eating fatty fish (such as salmon, mackerel, sardines, tuna, cod and halibut) is a tasty way to get those fatty acids, and studies of the general population (not HIV-specific) have shown reduced incidence of heart disease in those who consume several helpings of such fish weekly. However, the use of fish oils has not been studied in those with PI-caused high triglycerides, so it is not known if they would work as well in this population.
It is important to remember that even when blood fats can't be completely normalized, you can lower your overall heart disease risk by combining regular exercise (as little as 30 minutes of cardiovascular training three times a week is great), nutrient supplementation and meditation and other stress reduction therapies.
The following nutrients may help prevent arterial damage and protect the heart:
For more info on many of the supplements and vitamins discussed here, see CATIE's Supplement Sheets, available at www.catie.ca/supple-e.nsf or by calling 1.800.263.1638 [if you're in Canada].
If you experience any of these symptoms, call your doctor or go the emergency room right away. | <urn:uuid:65b678e6-dfb8-44ef-8c11-b67736ff359b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thebody.com/content/art46575.html?ts=pf | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94686 | 1,809 | 2.65625 | 3 |
So Zahida Kazmi has been hailed. She has been driving a cab since 1992 when she was widowed at the age of 33 with six children to feed:
She took advantage of a government scheme in which anybody could buy a brand new taxi in affordable instalments. She bought herself a yellow cab and drove to Islamabad airport every morning to pick up passengers.Her story is fascinating. But it is unlikely that something of this sort could happen today:
In a perilous and unpredictable world, Zahida at first kept a gun in the car for her own protection and she even started off by driving her passengers around wearing a burqa, a garment that covers the entire body.
Her initial fears soon dissipated.
"I realised that I would scare passengers away," she said. "So then I only wore a hijab [head covering]. Eventually I stopped covering my head because I got older and was well-established by then."
But had Zahida been starting out now, things would be quite different as she would be entering the workforce in a country torn between the forces of liberalism and Islamic radicalism.Zahida tells that young women don't want to follow in her footsteps, her own daughters included, and who would blame them? The consequences for them might be very different in a radicalized society than in the more open society of the early 1990s.
Pakistan in 1992 was a more moderate place: it was opening up to the world; the dish antenna had been introduced; Pakistan had won the cricket world cup. Zahida says society felt fairly open to her.
But the Taliban presence in many parts of Pakistan has intensified over the years.
The article is of interest because it points out how few jobs Pakistan has for women without college education. Most women work for the family in some role or another and usually don't get paid for that work officially. This, of course, makes them more dependent on the family network for their well-being which, in turn, supports the patriarchal arrangements. | <urn:uuid:260cb77c-a147-425b-8185-c74acdbdda59> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.echidneofthesnakes.blogspot.com/2011/03/pakistans-first-female-taxi-driver.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.986736 | 407 | 2.171875 | 2 |
While numerous detailed studies have been conducted of the annual cycle of convection over other regions (e.g., the Asian summer monsoon and the West African summer monsoon regions), the annual cycle and its modulation in the tropical South American region has received attention only relatively recently. Most of the annual total rainfall observed over tropical South America occurs during the austral summer and autumn months. The large-scale meteorological systems that modulate rainfall during these periods are linked to the strength and movement of large-scale climatological features -- in particular, the Intertropical Convergence Zone (ITCZ) and the South Atlantic Convergence Zone (SACZ). It is well known that the anomalous patterns related to the El Niño/Southern Oscillation (ENSO) influence the ITCZ and SACZ patterns, with strong interannual and seasonal variations over tropical and subtropical South America.
The goal of this chapter is to analyze the influence of ENSO events on the regional Hadley and Walker cells and their respective impacts on South American seasonal rainfall. As is well documented, ENSO events influence regional precipitation patterns over South America, with the strongest influences in the Amazon/Northeast Brazil and southern South America.
Basically, two separate responses can be composited for each phase of the ENSO cycle. El Niño (La Niña) Composite 1 is the canonical ENSO warm (cold) event with well-known impacts on large-scale atmospheric circulation and regional precipitation patterns over South America, indicating that the central-eastern Pacific sea surface temperature anomaly (SSTa) is the dominating feature in this case. On the other hand, the El Niño and La Niña Composite 2 analyses characterize the influence of the intertropical Atlantic SST gradients as being significant in modulating the influence of ENSO by intensifying the SACZ and ITCZ in some cases. For these latter composites, evidence of a completely reversed atmospheric circulation and regional precipitation patterns is found during the summer and autumn seasons. The analysis demonstrates that interaction of ENSO events with the South American monsoon produces changes in the time and space evolution of convection and circulation over northern South America, which can also be reinforced by the Atlantic. Thus, depending on conditions in the Atlantic, the South American rainy season may be strongly affected. These results suggest that some care always must be taken in producing precipitation (and impacts) forecasts based on ENSO indices and composites alone. | <urn:uuid:5b7125da-c8cb-4dba-a950-1d92872edde1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.esrl.noaa.gov/search/pubs/ambrizzi0401.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00046-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.920228 | 508 | 2.953125 | 3 |
Role of folliculo-stellate cells in the anterior pituitary: a historical review
Cell developmental studies have frequently used the hypophysis as a model for complex differentiation pathways. Nevertheless, many of this work has been focused on the hormone-producing cell types of the anterior pituitary (AP), whereas the so-called folliculo-stellate cells (FS cells) have often been ignored in these studies. FS cells form an enigmatic, non-hormone-secreting cell group. Initially designated as supportive cells, they were soon found to be the putative source of many, newly discovered peptides and growth factors. They were also shown to be involved in paracrine communication with other pituitary cell types and in communication through electrically coupled syncytia. Moreover, several authors have provided evidence for their possible role in pituitary cell regeneration and processes of cell transdifferentiation.
So far, little is known about the precise embryological origin of the mature FS cells. Since the discovery of adult stem cell populations in various organs, several authors have indicated a possible role of FS cells in this respect too. Also new evidence relating FS cells to the production of cytokines, their involvement in nitric oxide signaling and an in vitro immune accessory function were added to the list of physiological roles of the FS cells. The question however is whether these multiple functions can be ascribed to one, homogeneous but pluripotent cell type, or whether the pituitary FS cells represent a heterogeneous cell group consisting of various subtypes (unrelated or related to a common ancestor cell type).
We previously demonstrated the partial overlap between immunocompetent MHC-class II-positive dendritic cells (DC) and S100 protein-positive FS cells. In a transgenic mouse model for conditional DC ablation, we showed that early macrophages could be prevented from colonizing the AP. Also, around embryonic day 12 of chick development, early macrophages were detected in the anterior pituitary before pituitary cell differentiation was completed and well before FS cells obtained their mature phenotype.
The present historical review of FS cell research highlights the importance of conceptual frameworks in cell lineage studies. Cell biological systems from the past, like the reticulo-endothelial system or the more recent mononuclear phagocyte system, nowadays are considered obsolete and incomplete. Still there is a need for theoretical frameworks in new annotation studies and for the clinical applications of contemporary research. The FS cell model not only is very interesting for the study of development of organs with two or more embryonic Anlagen. Also, questions related to the therapeutic usefulness of pituitary cell regeneration are envisaged in cases of pituitary dysfunctioning or hypopituitarism. | <urn:uuid:33f5398b-3b3e-4e50-a001-e8f8224081d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.endocrine-abstracts.org/ea/0014/ea0014s19.1.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.944721 | 570 | 2.5625 | 3 |
"Vision and Art: The Biology of Seeing"
an illustrated lecture by
Dr. Margaret Livingston,
De Young Museum San Francisco, April 21st 2006
Professor Charles Ramskov with his Teacher Assistant Cristina Gatti and two students of the General Psychology Class who particpated at the Biology of Seeing Award.From left:Imelda Lim, Min-Hui Chu (the winner),Charles Ramskov and Cristina Gatti.
Stanford Honor Thesis Lecture
De Anza College Human Experimental Psychology Course Presents
Stanford Department of Psychology Honors Thesis
Professor Charles Ramskov with Matt Estrada (left) and Nick Hollon (right)after the Honor Thesis Lecture at the Human Experimental Psycology class at De Anza College.
Matt Estrada �When remembering causes forgetting: negative affect and retrieval-induced forgetting�
Many studies implicate the process of remembering itself as a mechanism of forgetting. Retrieval-induced forgetting refers to the phenomenon whereby memory for studied words sharing a cue will be differentially affected by practicing retrieval for some of the words prior to test. Studies also demonstrate the fact that negative emotional memory traces perseverate in memory. This study investigated the degree to which perseverant negative memories are susceptible to mnemonic suppression using the retrieval-induced forgetting paradigm. Ss (N=18) studied 15 categories, each consisting of one cue coupled with three neutrally and three negatively valenced associate words (6 associates total). Directly following the study phase, Ss completed a cued-recall task to practice retrieval for 3 targets from ten of the fifteen categories. A final cued-recall test revealed slight performance impairments for unpracticed negatively-valenced associate words in practiced categories, in accordance with the theory that competitive memory retrieval recruits an inhibitory mechanism and can cause long term forgetting effects.
Matt Estrada answering the student Naila Qureshi after his lecture: "When Remembering causes forgetting: negative affect and retrieval induced forgetting"
Nick Hollon �Close to me: the neural basis of self-referential and close others-referential memory�
Advisors: Rebecca Ray and James Gross, Psychophysiology Lab,Stanford University
The Self-Reference Effect refers to superior memory for information encoded in reference to the self. Neuroimaging studies have found self-referential processing to be associated with activations in the medial prefrontal cortex (MPFC) and have concluded that MPFC activity is responsible for the memory advantage for self-referential encoding. One puzzle, however, is that prior studies using an interpersonally close other as a referent condition have found that this close other processing also recruits MPFC activity, but does not produce the same memory advantage as self-referential encoding. The present fMRI study compared the neural correlates of relating words to the self versus relating words to a close other, namely one�s mother. Extensive MPFC activation was found for both the Self and Close Other conditions. A sub-cluster in the MPFC showed greater activation for Self when directly contrasted with Close Other. Functional connectivity analyses using MPFC voxels as a seed region of interest revealed common networks of correlated activity for both the Self and Close Other conditions. Distinct connectivity between the MPFC and right hippocampus was found in the Self condition and may provide evidence consistent with the memory advantage observed for self-referential encoding.
Nick Hollon presenting his Honor Thesis: "Close to me: the neural basis of self-referential and close to others-referential memory"
Contact: Charles B. Ramskov
Building: Office F21a | <urn:uuid:d57e0670-fa67-4ce8-ab42-ddb6c53a2129> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.deanza.fhda.edu/psychology/gallery.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.903562 | 747 | 2.125 | 2 |
Click if You See a Female Cyclist in Manhattan
By Christine Haughney
It is a commonly used figure in the world of New York City cycling: Male cyclists outnumber female cyclists three to one. But that number has transit experts in a lather as they argue that this ratio, arrived at through census data, misses out on most of the cycling world.
Caroline Samponaro, director of bicycle advocacy at Transportation Alternatives, set out last week to come up with her own calculations. She arrived at 8 a.m. at the corner of Sixth Avenue and 25th Street, which has a separate bike lane, and counted exactly how many women on bicycles passed by, compared to men.
Ms. Samponaro, who had help from a fellow Transportation Alternatives bike advocate, Aja Hazelhoff, gazed steadily at the oncoming traffic and pressed on her metal counter each time a woman passed. There were plenty of distractions as a parade of fashionable cyclists steadily rode by, and cyclists tried to navigate around thick Manhattan morning traffic. In two hours, 28 percent of those counted appeared to be women.
But Ms. Samponaro knew that traffic along Sixth Avenue didn't tell the entire story. So she set up other counts. At Seventh Avenue and Charles Street, where there are no bike lanes, only 14 percent of the cyclists were women. At Second Avenue and Ninth Street, where there is a dedicated and protected bike lane, the proportion of women cyclists jumped to 31 percent.
While the data was not groundbreaking and did not show much variance from the three-to-one ratio, Ms. Samponaro felt her data reflected a more simple equation.
"The safer the streets, the more bike riders reflect New York as a whole," she said. "More women ride when bicycle traffic is protected from motor vehicles because bike lanes keep bicyclists, pedestrians and drivers out of each other's way."
Submitted by joseph on December 21, 2011 - 17:54. categories [ ] | <urn:uuid:2c38413e-9ab4-46b8-a561-a1e5ae0bf8c3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.transalt.org/newsroom/media/5574 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971256 | 409 | 1.921875 | 2 |
The Wall Street Journal (4/22/12) headlined the story “A Quixotic Quest to Mine Asteroids,” about a number of well known, respected individuals who have formed a company (Planetary Resources, Inc.) to search for natural resources in space, with the potential to mine asteroids.
The article states that “Such mining could yield large amounts of water, oxygen and metals to help further space exploration by allowing people to fuel spacecraft, build space stations and other constructs. The resources could potentially be brought back to Earth as well.” WSJ goes on so point out that a NASA study suggests that such missions could be accomplished by “around 2025.
The venture appears to be based largely on known technologies developed and tested over many years, primarily by NASA, and appears to be a continuation of man’s desire to explore and develop space. The investors appear to be driven both by the desire to pioneer in space and to develop new (and hopefully profitable) sources of metals and minerals. The WSJ article suggests iron and nickel for example.
All a logical extension of the world’s efforts in space.
The May-June issue of The Futurist includes an article Tsvi Bisk, “Limiting Energy’s Growth” that suggests transformational change over the next decade which could see carbon nanotubes displacing many common metals. Bisk suggests that carbon nanotubes, because of their extreme strength and light weight could replace metals in many applications, and that the cost of producing carbon nanotube products is falling. Moreover, carbon nanotube material “conducts electricity like copper and disperses heat like steel or brass.”
Bisk goes on to state that ”It is a reasonable conjecture that by 2020 or earlier, an industrial process for the inexpensive production of carbon nanotubes will be developed…”
So, here we have two views of the future, both unfolding over the next ten to fifteen years. Are they mutually exclusive? Not necessarily. Regardless of the success, failures or problems with the asteroid mining adventure, the development of carbon nanotube materials will continue.
But how will the development of super light, super strong materials that conduct electricity affect the demand for metals and other resources here on earth? Or in space? Will carbon nanotube products substantially displace metals in manufacturing and design of new products? How will that affect asteroid mining?
What will be the impacts and implications? What do you think? Here’s an opportunity for you to use the “Comment” space below. Or, if you prefer, send me an email at firstname.lastname@example.org
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This is my last posting for the next few days. I will be taking my office apart so that we can move to our new apartment downtown next Tuesday. I will be unplugged and disconnected except by tablet. Expect me to be back in the saddle before the end of next week probably in time to provide you with some more headlines. In the interim these are the stories I share with you this week:
Today, literally thousands of alternative transportation vehicles are coming out of the woodwork and they nearly all have the same problem – no place to drive them. Most are banned from biking and hiking trails, and they are neither licensed, nor licensable, for use on the streets. I’d like to discuss some new possible solutions and why Colorado is poised to take the lead in the alternative transportation marketplace.
In a recent conference promoting not only their latest gizmos but their company's animating vision as well, Google executives declared they were working toward a future in which technology "disappears," "fades into the background," becomes more "intuitive and anticipatory." Commenting on this apparently "bizarre mission for a tech company," Bianca Bosker warns that their genial and enthusiastic promotional language masks Google's aspiration to omnipresence via invisibility, an effort to render us dependent and uncritical of their prevalence through its marketing as easy, intuitive, companionable.
Occasionally during meetings one of my staff – an avid birder – will elbow me and I’ll look up and glimpse a bald eagle. Each time, I am in awe. I live in Washington State, which is home to a plethora of eagles, where pods of Orca ply the waters near the San Juan Islands, and where roads are sometimes blocked by herds of elk.
In this month's Report on Business Magazine, a supplement that comes with The Globe and Mail, one of Canada's national newspapers, Stanford University's Mark Jacobson provides a best case scenario
According to The Hollywood Reporter, celebrity tech CEO Peter Thiel is upset that movies like The Matrix and Avatar make technological innovation seem "destructive and dysfunctional."
A team of researchers are asking the public to help them locate and count all the sources of CO2 coming from power plants on the planet.
Initial results from a selective breeding program at the National Institute of Agricultural Botany based in Cambridge in the UK, indicate the successful creation of a new super wheat. | <urn:uuid:ce4319f1-6588-4413-911d-9d5d1bea70d0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wfs.org/blogs/verne-wheelwright/when-visions-future-collide | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934779 | 1,200 | 2.796875 | 3 |
Ghosts are a frequent presence in children's literature. In which novel do the transgressions of a poltergeist - which range from written accusations of witchcraft to the vandalism of a doctor's surgery - land his unwilling apprentice into trouble?
The Subtle Knife by Philip Pullman
Tom's Midnight Garden by Philippa Pearce
The Children of Green Knowe by LM Boston
The Ghost of Thomas Kempe by Penelope Lively
"Horses did neigh, and dying men did groan,
And ghosts did shriek and squeal about the streets ... "
These supernatural manifestations occur in one of Shakespeare's plays. Who is describing them, and in which play?
Puck, in A Midsummer Night's Dream
Rosencrantz, in Hamlet
Lennox, in Macbeth
Calpurnia, in Julius Caesar
Which of this year's Booker-longlisted titles featured Alison, a medium who, with her business manager, Colette, and her singularly unpleasant spirit guide, Morris, plied her trade around the suburbs and dormitory towns of the M25?
Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
Shalimar the Clown by Salman Rushdie
The People's Act of Love by James Meek
Saturday by Ian McEwan
In a short story by Edith Wharton, the ghost of a man who he ruined comes back to haunt a husband and his wife in their idyllic Dorsetshire country house. What's the name of the story?
The Descent of Man
Which of the ghosts in Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol manifests itself as "a jolly giant, glorious to see"?
The ghost of Christmas past
The ghost of Christmas yet to come
The ghost of Christmas present
Which character in a poem "bought an old castle, complete with a ghost"?
Macavity the Mystery Cat
Colonel Fazackerley Butterworth-Toast
In this short story, a clairvoyant is convinced by the family she's visiting that the ghost she saw was in fact a model pulled along by a string. What's the title, and who is the author?
The Corner Shop by Cynthia Asquith
Ringing the Changes by Robert Aickman
The Canterville Ghost by Oscar Wilde
The Hedgehog by Saki
Which of Henry James's novels begins with guests gathering at an old house on Christmas Eve to listen to one another's ghost stories?
The Turn of the Screw
The Other House
In which Victorian novella does an old woman see the ghost of herself as a young woman - and as a result is "carried to her bed that night never to rise again"?
Miss Jeromette and the Clergyman by Wilkie Collins
Man-Size in Marble by Edith Nesbitt
The Old Nurse's Story by Elizabeth Gaskell
The Withered Arm by Thomas Hardy
Which fictional detective uncovers a ghost during his search for a missing cat?
Lord Peter Wimsey | <urn:uuid:1fa72285-df5c-4da0-9b1e-4149563915be> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://books.guardian.co.uk/quiz/questions/0,,1605490,00.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.934848 | 623 | 2.6875 | 3 |
Saint Xavier University breaks ground on new residence hall
Second to be built to LEED Silver environmental standards
Chicago (Nov. 9, 2007) – Saint Xavier University broke ground in a ceremony Thursday for a new residence hall to be located on the northeast quadrant of its Chicago campus.
University officials anticipate the 108-bed facility, approved by the SXU Board of Trustees at its Oct. 10 meeting, will be finished by August 2008. The new facility is in keeping with the University’s Strategic Plan, which calls for a minimum of 1000 students to be living on its Chicago campus. Currently, approximately 700 live on campus and another 140 in off campus housing.
“This new residence hall represents Saint Xavier’s continued growth and strength as a leading comprehensive Catholic university,” said SXU President Judith A. Dwyer, Ph.D.
Saint Xavier will build the new residence hall to LEED Silver environmental standards as set forth by the U.S. Green Building Council. SXU’s Arthur Rubloff Hall, which opened fall 2006, became the first university building in the state of Illinois to receive the coveted LEED Gold designation.
“Today’s groundbreaking is a continuing commitment by Saint Xavier to go green,” said SXU Board of Trustees Chairman Thomas E. Chomicz. “It is a commitment to the construction of an energy efficient building...It represents an effort in a small way to make the world a better place.”
Also taking part in the ceremony were 19th Ward Alderman Virginia Rugai; Mike McDermott of Environmental Systems Design, Inc.; William Callaghan of Henry Bros. Co., Kyle Kim of Solomon Cordwell Buenz and Associates, and SXU student Alyson Kelley of Aurora.
The 36,664 square-foot residence hall will have both natural and mechanical ventilation and a 50-foot high circular glass stair tower. It will use passive solar and wind energy for summer night pre-cooling and winter heating to improve building energy efficiency and occupant comfort with natural ventilation.
The building will use 100 percent Green Power from a wind farm to carbon offset all electrical energy consumed in the residence. The roof will have 40 solar panels for solar thermal water heating and a rain garden to collect roof water runoff.
The indoor air quality in the student rooms will be significantly above American Society of Heating, Refrigerating and Air-Conditioning Engineers Inc. (ASHRAE) standards. All student rooms will have windows that can be opened to promote natural ventilation air patterns, harvest natural daylight and allow beautiful views of the Saint Xavier campus, providing all students with a closer connection to nature.
The architectural firm Solomon Cordwell Buenz and Associates provided designs for the building. The firm designed three previous residence halls for Saint Xavier, including Rubloff. The construction management firm will be Henry Bros. Co. Civil engineering will be conducted by Terra Civil Engineering.
Environmental Systems Design, Inc. will provide mechanical engineering.
Last spring, ASHRAE presented Saint Xavier University and
Environmental Systems Design, Inc. with Chapter and Regional Engineering Technology Awards for Rubloff Hall. The awards recognized achievements in the design of new heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems and retrofits.
A leader in green practices, Saint Xavier is a member of the Illinois Sustainable University Compact, which has pledged to accomplish multiple environmentally sound goals by Dec. 31, 2010. These goals include energy purchases from renewable sources, reduced carbon emissions, and requiring green building practices for all new construction. More recently, SXU became the first Chicago university to sign the Presidents Climate Commitment, joining 415 other schools nationwide in a pledge to eliminate greenhouse gas emissions.
Founded by the Sisters of Mercy in 1846, Saint Xavier University was the first Mercy college in the United States and is Chicago’s oldest Catholic university. Serving approximately 5,700 students at its campuses in Chicago, Orland Park and its Loop location, the University offers 35 undergraduate majors; more than 40 graduate program options in arts and sciences, business, education and nursing; and a variety of program options in continuing and professional studies. Recognizing Saint Xavier’s excellence in education, U.S. News and World Report has ranked SXU consistently among the Best Colleges in the Midwest. | <urn:uuid:53a98f16-0239-4e18-9c26-ad16400ca919> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sxu.edu/news/archive/news_story.asp?id=1021 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.931805 | 878 | 1.78125 | 2 |
Last modified: 2011-06-10 by zoltán horváth
Keywords: barbados | caribbean | trident | barb | west indies | fig tree | dolphin | pelican | pelican island | sugarcane | st. andrew | west indian federation |
Links: FOTW homepage | search | disclaimer and copyright | write us | mirrors
image by eljko Heimer, 24 Febuary 2001
Official Name: Barbados
Government Type: Constitutional Monarchy (Queen Elizabeth II)
Flag adopted: 30 November 1966
Designer: Grantley Prescod
Coat of arms adopted: 21 December 1966
ISO Code: BB
National flag. CSW/C-- 2:3 - Different sources differ in the
representation of the shape of the trident - possibly it is not
entirely defined or it may have changed over the years. All
sources seem to agree that the blue shade is lighter then the
standard blue used in the UJ (and in the Governor
General of Barbados flag) and yellow is in all representation
dark, almost orange. [smi80]
designate the flag as CSW/CSW, but since BB has no navy and since
(as it seems) the white ensign was introduced in the mean time (Naval and Coast Guard Ensign), the usage
designation seems to be all right as shown in Album 2000.
eljko Heimer, 24 Febuary 2001
Barbados flag colour shades from Album 2000 [pay00] are:
Pantone --- CMYK
B 280c --- 100-70-0-20
Y 123c --- 0-30-90-0
Santiago Dotor, 26 Febuary 2001
When I was in Barbados I checked the flag. The blue was
uniformly a medium-dark; darker than that usually seen in the
French flag, for example, but lighter than that of the US. I'd
simply call it B+ in quick descriptions. Likewise the yellow is
Y+, rather rich in tone.
Al Kirsch, 26 Febuary 2001
According to Politikens Flagbook [rya00a] the flag was the winning
proposal in a nation-wide contest, and was designed by an
Grantley Prescod, teacher of arts.
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 7 October 2001
In English heraldry a "barbe" is a trident with
barbed points, hence the world's only canting national flag (as
far as I know), Barbados.
James Dignan, 9 November 2004
The word "Barbados" comes from Portuguese (or maybe
Spanish) meaning "beard [ones]", refering to local
mangove-like sea-side trees. So, as we know, the trident is more
recent than the name, and its etymology is convoluted (though not
Antonio Martins, 9 November 2004
A few extra facts were found on this official page.
British Standard colour code numbers: "Ultramarine: BCC148, Gold: BS0/002".
The designer of above flag, Grantley W. Prescod, died in 2003. Quote from above site concerning the flag's selection process and some biographical information:
"His design was chosen from 1,029 entries in an open competition organised by the Government of Barbados. Mr. Prescod was awarded a Gold Medal, an inscribed scroll from the government and $500 which was donated by the Advocate Company Limited. The judges of the competition were Mr. Bruce St. John, Chairman, Major Leonard Banfield, Mr. Maurice Cave, Mr. Neville Connell, Mrs. Enid Lynch and Mrs. B. Ward.
Mr. Prescod attended St. Barnabas Boys School. He taught before undertaking a one year course at the West of England College of Art for Specialist Teachers of Art in 1962-63. He also attained a certificate in Education from Bristol University. Between 1967-72 he studied f[or] the Master of Education degree majoring in Art Education at Temple University, Philadelphia, U.S.A.
Mr. Prescod has taught at the Parkinson Secondary School. He served as an Education Officer from September 1977 until he retired in February 1987.
Mr. Prescod died on November 12, 2003 at the age of 77."
Obituary, photo, and more design details (quote following) at <www.islandmix.com>.
"Prescod did not only win the competition to design the island's symbol of Independence, he actually made the first Barbados flag, after having been sent to Cave Shepherd by then Premier Errol Barrow to choose the lightest of fabrics in the identified colours.
In an interview last year, Prescod recalled that he chose "yards and yards and made about seven large flags". A neighbour of his sewed the pieces together."
Jan Mertens, 3 November 2007
The blue on the left is for the sky, the gold for the sand,
the right blue for the sea. The trident in the middle represents
the break with England at independence - the trident is broken,
thus only the top is showing. The name of Barbados comes from the
Portuguese name Os Barbados meaning bearded one, because
of the bearded fig tree that used to cover the island. The three
points of the trident represent the three principles of democracy
- government of, for and by the people.
James Dignan, 22 November 1995, "Amanda" from Barbados, 20 May 1998
According to Politikens Flagbook [rya00a] (my translation):
"Prescod explains the stripes as symbol for the blue sea and
the golden sand, that encircle the island. The trident is taken
from the previous flag-charge, which showed Britannia holding a
trident (symbol for her rule
over the seas). Here, the trident is without shaft as a symbol for the break with the colonial past. Simultaneously it symbolizes the sea god Neptune and reflects the sea's large significance for Barbados."
Peter Hans van den Muijzenberg, 7 October 2001
from the official site of the Barbados government :
image by eljko Heimer and António Martins-Tuválkin, 14 December 2005
When reporting BB stamps with flags, Ron Lahav
mentioned a Barbados flag with horizontal rather than vertical
stripes, which is shown in stamp
SG 677, issued in 1981 for the Carifesta (Caribbean Festival
of Arts), Barbados.
I cannot swear that the thing in the middle of this blue-yellow-blue horizontal equial triband is a black trident, but there's something there alright.
António Martins-Tuválkin, 14 December 2005
The Government of Barbados Information Service does proclaim
that it is the Barbados flag at <www.barbados.gov.bb>.
Ned Smith, , 14 December 2005
This is not correct. There is no Horizontal
variant. This layout is used in banners at parades and
to decorate buildings on Independence day. It represents the
national colours but is not a flag. It is never used as a
flag. The image on the stamp must be an art error, or
it was a special event banner on that occasion.
Craig Ashby, 19 June 2006
Barbados is divided to 11 parishes. There are no known flags
of those parishes. The parishes are:
- Saint Andrew
- Christ Church
- Saint Peter
- Saint George
- Saint John
- Saint Lucy
- Saint Michael
- Saint Joseph
- Saint Philip
- Saint James
- Saint Thomas
List based on Administrative divisions of the World.
Dov Gutterman, 25 October 2004
According to this WMO
page, Barbados uses signals 45a and 41a: 45a, a green flag,
is defined as "The island is out of danger. The green flag
of the day signal has a white diagonal stripe" which really
means that the 45a picture does not apply to Barbados, as it is
incomplete. 41a is the well-known set of two black flags pierced
red,meaning "Hurricane conditions are expected within 24
Jan Mertens, 1 November 2007
The 100th anniversary of Barbados Cadet Corps was commemorate
with a series of stamps, one
of which show its flag.
Barbados Postal Service web site show it at: <bps.gov.bb> with a description:
"The Cadet Banner features the Corps Crest worn on the headdress of the Cadet Corps members. The Crest, which is blue and gold, is set on a blue background. Over the years the Cadet Crest has been in the form of the Star of David. The centre design of the Crest has been altered each time there has been a change within the structure of the military in Barbados. For instance, in the days of the Barbados Regiment, the Crest showed the Queen with the Trident in hand. The current Crest shows the hand holding two pieces of sugar cane which is part of the Coat of Arms of Barbados. This Banner was established within the early 1980s after the establishment of the Barbados Defence Force.
Dov Gutterman, 24 September 2008
I feel bound to point out that the lady brandishing the
trident in the erstwhile colonial badge of Barbados was, in fact,
Peter Johnson, 24 September 2008
image from Barbados Yacht Club web site
Yacht Club web site:
"As deemed appropriate in March 1991, the Management Committee and Commodore Charles F. Packer commissioned a contemporary emblem for the Barbados Yacht Club. The previous insignia featured a Royal Coronet, a chevron and a flying fish, and was utilized from 1932 to 1967. It was granted to the Yacht Club during the empirical reign of King George V. Therefore a new design was sought to convey the heritage of the past within the society of a post independence Barbados.
The Board of Management retained the expertise of Heraldic Artist Ann Rudder, who prepared a portfolio of sample logos for the Yacht Club with relevant marks of identity for the Flag, Burgee, Letterhead and all Properties thereof. The chosen logos were submitted to the Cabinet Office of the Government of Barbados. Permission of use was granted on October 17, 1991; for the following emblem as blazoned:
Sable, issuant of a fess wavy Aqua and Azure at honour point a chevron Or, conjoined in chief each to the dexter and sinister with three piles nebuly Argent; surmounted in pale by a trident anchor stocked of the first, fimbrated and fluked of the last, cabled and bearing an annulet of the fourth, upon which the initials B Y C are displayed.
The Coat of Arms of the Barbados Yacht Club depicts a Golden Chevron arising from a wavy blue sea. This symbol has been retained from the original grant. The word is derived from French chevron, to describe a gable rafter for the roof of a building or the central beam for the keel of a ship. Symbolically this would convey protection or shelter on land or sea. An early grant for the Carpenters Guild dated 1333, displayed the chevron with three drafting compasses. Other worshipful companies such as the Joiners and the Masons added the L square to their badges. Such fraternities were concerned with the mutual assistance of members of their brotherhoods in poverty, sickness and death. The duty of building individual moral character within the preservation of these essentially all male craft guilds was the foundation of most Masonic lodges, which retain the compass and L square emblem into modern times.
The Anchor originated from pre Roman times. It became known to Christian seafarers whose scriptures told of, Which hope we have as an anchor of the soul, both sure and steadfast. Hebrew 6:19. Subsequently the anchor became symbol of Bishop Nicholas, Patron Saint of sailors, travelers and children. Mythically Poseidon [Neptune] ruler of oceans possessed the Trident-Staff upheld by Britannia who ruled the seas. Although Barbados broke from empire on November 30, 1966, the trident head was retained to indicate a civil independence, and is foremost of all national emblems. Therefore the grant to the Barbados Yacht Club is significant."
Dov Gutterman, 11 October 2008 | <urn:uuid:4c438e91-f748-47ee-a95a-d1c631381fb0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fotw.us/flags/bb.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704392896/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113952-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93766 | 2,643 | 2.28125 | 2 |
Jun. 5, 2006
Poem: "At Tea," by Thomas Hardy, from The Complete Poems. (Macmillan Publishing Co.) (buy now)
The kettle descants in a cosy drone,
And the young wife looks in her husband's face,
And then at her guest's, and shows in her own
Her sense that she fills an envied place;
And the visiting lady is all abloom,
And says there was never so sweet a room.
And the happy young housewife does not know
That the woman beside her was first his choice,
Till the fates ordained it could not be so. ...
Betraying nothing in look or voice
The guest sits smiling and sips her tea,
And he throws her a stray glance yearningly.
Literary and Historical Notes:
We don't know when Adam Smith (books by this author), was born, but it was on this day in 1723 that Smith, the economist who popularized the idea of free trade, was baptized in Kirkcaldy, Scotland. His first important book was The Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), in which he argued that all people are selfish, but that the combined selfishness of many people benefits everyone. He wrote, "[We are] led by an invisible hand ... without knowing it, without intending it, [to] advance the interest of the society." He developed this idea in the book for which he is best remembered, Wealth of Nations (1776). That book established many of the most important principles for economists for the next two hundred years.
Adam Smith wrote, "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker, that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest."
Today is also the birthday of the economist John Maynard Keynes, (books by this author), born in Cambridge, England (1883). He's best known for his book The General Theory of Employment, Interest and Money, published during the Great Depression in 1935. He argued that governments can correct severe depressions by spending lots of money, even if it means running a deficit, to put people back to work. Keynes greatly influenced Franklin D. Roosevelt's New Deal policies, and his ideas have been used to justify budget deficits ever since.
It's the birthday of David Wagoner, (books by this author), born in Massillon, Ohio (1926). He's written many books of poetry, including Baby, Come On Inside (1968), Whole Hog (1976), and The Hanging Garden (1980).
It's the birthday of novelist Margaret Drabble, (books by this author), born in Sheffield, England (1939). She's the author of many novels, including The Millstone (1965) and The Needle's Eye (1972). Her most recent novel is The Red Queen, which came out in 2004.
It's the birthday of essayist and critic Alfred Kazin, (books by this author), born in the Brownsville section of Brooklyn, New York (1915). He was the son of poor Jewish immigrants, and he had a sense from the time he was very young that the only way he would escape poverty was through his education. He became obsessed with literature, and he spent most of his spare time sitting on the fire escape of his tenement building reading whatever he could get his hands on. He said, "I read as if books would fill my every gap, legitimize my strange quest for the American past, remedy my every flaw, let me in at last into the great world that was anything just out of Brownsville."
Kazin spent most of his career as a journalist and book critic, but he's also remembered for having written one of the great American memoirs: A Walker in the City (1951). He got the idea for the book while living in an artist's loft in Columbia Heights. The building had once caught fire, and Kazin could still smell the smoke on the walls. One day, he was sitting on his bed, smelling that smoke, when he decided that he wanted to write a book about it that wouldn't be a novel or a work of history, but instead a kind of sensory tour of his old neighborhood. He would just describe what he saw and smelled and heard there, and all the memories wrapped up in his sensations.
A Walker in the City begins: "Every time I go back to Brownsville it is as if I had never been away. From the moment I step off the train at Rockaway Avenue and smell the leak out of the men's room, then the pickles from the stand just below the subway steps, an instant rage comes over me, mixed with dread and some unexpected tenderness. ... As I walk those familiarly choked streets at dusk and see the old women sitting in front of the tenements, past and present become each other's faces; I am back where I began."
When asked why he'd spent so much of his life working as a critic, Kazin said, "I am dissatisfied, profoundly so, with the world as it is. But I would be dissatisfied with any world. And I'd hate to lose my dissatisfaction."
It's the birthday of the poet Federico García Lorca, (books by this author), born in Granada, Spain (1898). In 1928 he published a book of poems based on gypsy folklore called The Gypsy Ballads. It made him Spain's most popular living poet. His poems appealed both to the literary critics and the common people, and many of them were set to music. García Lorca once heard a prostitute singing a song in the street, and he was shocked to realize that he had written the lyrics she was singing. In 1998, on the hundredth anniversary of his birth, the Spanish government flew a helicopter over García Lorca's home city of Granada and dropped 100,000 leaflets of his poetry.
Be well, do good work, and keep in touch.® | <urn:uuid:554e33cf-93df-42e0-b06b-cf84068ccd8e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://writersalmanac.publicradio.org/index.php?date=2006/06/05 | 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 | 0.983345 | 1,246 | 2.9375 | 3 |
As a 36-year veteran of the Chaska, Minn., police force, I have seen the devastating toll of gun violence in the suburbs of Minneapolis. As chairman of the National Law Enforcement Partnership to Prevent Gun Violence, I saw it in police departments across the country. As an American, I see it in the 33 people who are murdered with guns every single day.
But I have also seen it go completely ignored in the halls of Congress. Among the Senate’s newest members, few have embraced this dereliction of duty more than Democratic Sen. Heidi Heitkamp of North Dakota. Just three weeks after the murder of 20 first-graders in Newtown, Conn., Heitkamp said the gun- violence-prevention proposals being floated by the White House were “way in extreme of what I think is necessary or even should be talked about.”
Heitkamp was responding to a Washington Post article published earlier that day, which mentioned common-sense public safety measures such as extending criminal background checks to all gun sales, giving law enforcement the tools to track crime guns and increasing penalties for existing laws.
Like so many politicians before her, Heitkamp deflected the conversation by calling for a “broad discussion” before any new gun laws could even be considered. But while a discussion of gun violence must also include issues such as mental health, Heitkamp cannot ignore the fact that it is our broken gun laws — more than anything else — that are killing our children every single day.
Approximately 40 percent to 50 percent of guns are sold privately, which means they are not subject to a background check under federal law. Last year, that amounted to 6.6 million firearms sold without any knowledge of the criminal record or mental health of their purchasers. The market for guns is akin to an airport where almost half of all airline passengers don’t go through a security check.
We wouldn’t stand for that at our airports and we shouldn’t stand for it at our gun shows. That’s why 10 national law enforcement agencies have endorsed legislation that would close the private-sale loophole and increase mental health records reporting to the background-check system.
Like most Americans, we believe the Second Amendment goes hand in hand with keeping guns out of the hands of dangerous people. Many gun rights organizations have called for improving records reporting to the background check system, and 82 percent of all gun owners — including 74 percent of NRA members — support extending background checks to private sales.
A more robust background-check system would prevent much of the gun violence that claims so many innocent lives across the country, including in Heitkamp’s own backyard. Last November, a gunman killed one woman and three of her grandchildren in the quiet North Dakota suburb of New Town. The shooter was prohibited from purchasing a firearm because he had recently pleaded guilty to a felony, but our broken background-check system easily allowed him to acquire the rifle he used in the shooting.
Whether it’s New Town or Newtown, we see so many similar stories play out every day in communities across the country. Of the 12,000 Americans murdered with firearms every year, many of them are innocent children, their lives cut short prematurely by a gun in the wrong hands.
Roll Call has launched a new feature, Hill Navigator, to advise congressional staffers and would-be staffers on how to manage workplace issues on Capitol Hill. Please send us your questions anything from office etiquette, to handling awkward moments, to what happens when the work life gets too personal. Submissions will be treated anonymously. | <urn:uuid:d49fa41c-0751-459a-9b4a-9767102c97f3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.rollcall.com/news/knight_congress_has_a_duty_to_respond_to_gun_violence-221102-1.html?pos=oplyh | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00018-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960652 | 734 | 1.617188 | 2 |
|Coming into Sunday's Final, Spain's dominant frontcourt duo of Marc Gasol and his brother Pau combine for 33.9 points and 15.5 rebounds per game|
Enough with the emotional aspect of the Final, what about the facts? Just like any great event, the EuroBasket gold medal game comes with its own set of interesting statistics.
FIBAEurope.com asked Yarone Arbel to take pen and paper and make a list:
EuroBasket Finals Facts
Ø Six teams stepped up and won the title already on their first appearance, as France hope to do.
Ø Eight teams lost the first title game they played in.
Ø The team with the most EuroBasket titles is the USSR with 14.
Ø The USSR won eight of those titles in one streak.
Ø Yugoslavia is behind with eight titles, these two former countries combine for 22 of 36 EuroBasket titles.
Ø Lithuania is third with three titles, followed by Italy and Greece with two each.
Ø Only the USSR, Yugoslavia and Lithuania won back to back titles.
Ø No team repeated title in the last six EuroBaskets.
Ø Other than Russia's win in EuroBasket 2007, all the title games since 1995 were decided by eight points or more.
Ø France's loss to Spain in the Second Round has been their only one so far in this EuroBasket.
Ø Spain also hold a nearly perfect record with just a single loss.
Ø Spain played in the first EuroBasket final, in 1935.
Ø Their first title however came only two years ago, in 2009.
Ø In 2009 they beat Serbia by 22-points, 85-63.
Ø Spain have a chance to join Greece and Italy if they win tonight and separate themselves from a list of six other teams that have won the title just once.
Ø Spain can become the first team since Yugoslavia of 1995 and 1997 to win the title back to back.
Ø Spain share the top spot with Czechoslovakia for most silver medals, with six each.
Ø As Czechoslovakia finished twice in the second place in a Round Robin system, Spain is the team that lost more title games than any other team, as all six silver medals came after a loss in the final.
Ø Spain played for the title in three of the last four EuroBaskets.
Ø The only time they missed the event - in 2005, they were knocked out in the semi-finals by a clutch shot by Germany's Dirk Nowitzki.
Ø Spain is the only team to have more than one appearance in the finals in the 21st century.
Ø Spain have the best offense in the EuroBasket with 83.9 points per game.
Ø Spain rank 1st is Free Throws Made.
Ø Spain rank 2nd in Field Goal Attempts with 64 per game.
Ø Spain isn't in the Top 3 in Defensive or Offensive Rebounds but they are 1st in Total Rebounds.
Ø Spain dished more assists than any other team with 19.5.
Ø Spain rank 5th in turnovers with only 11.4 per game.
Ø Spain rank 2nd in steals with 8.1
Ø Pau Gasol and Juan Carlos Navarro are between the Top 10 scorers of the EuroBasket. Gasol is 5th with 20.4 and Navarro is 8th with 17.9.
Ø The Gasol brothers rank in the Top 10 rebounders of EuroBasket. Pau is 5th with 8.1 and Marc is 9th with 7.4
Ø Spain dished out more assists than any other team in EuroBasket 2011 yet the highest individual ranked is of Rudy Fernandez in the 23rd spot with 3.2.
Ø Pau Gasol ranks 7th in Field Goal Percentage with 54.2%.
Ø This is the first ever title game for France.
Ø France won the silver medal in 1949. Back then the title was decided in a Round Robin system.
Ø The last medal France won was in that 2005 EuroBasket over Spain, and it was their first medal since 1959.
Ø France is the team with more EuroBasket appearances than any other team in Europe.
Ø France doesnot feature in the Top 5 in Points or Points Allowed.
Ø France, not a great shooting team normally, ranks 4th in 3 Pts Field Goal Percentage.
Ø France ranks second in Field Goal Percentage.
Ø France ranks 2nd in Free Throws Percentage.
Ø France ranks 2nd and Spain 3rd in 2 Pts Field Goal Made.
Ø France ranks 3rd in Free Throws Made.
Ø France ranks only 15th with 59.5 Field Goal Attempts.
Ø France ranks only 17th in assists with 12.3.
Ø France is right behind Spain with 7.8 steals in the 4th spot.
Ø Tony Parker ranks 3rd in Points with 21.7.
Ø Joakim Noah is the only French player in the Top 10 of rebounders, with 8.0 rpg, that is good enough for the 6th spot.
Ø Parker ranks 9th in Assists with 4.3.
Ø Parker and Nicholas Batum are in the Top 10 in Steals with Batum having 2.1 to be second only to Andrei Kirilenko and Parker is 7th with 1.7.
Ø Gelabale ranks 2nd in 3 Pts Field Goal Percentage with 12 made shots in 20 attempts - 60%.
Ø Batum ranks 5th in Field Goal Percentage with 55.7% | <urn:uuid:ec890267-7a27-4018-909c-bfcdbc339d00> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.eurobasket2011.com/en/cid_4,w7QjPeH-M,ty138LH2l3.pageID_XOpVouobJPEQAcdAo-Zmj0.compID_qMRZdYCZI6EoANOrUf9le2.season_2011.roundID_7991.coid_kAyg,s61I960dHW58LjQW3.articleMode_on.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969711 | 1,205 | 1.617188 | 2 |
A SHORT HISTORY OF THE SRI LANKA MEDICAL COUNCIL
?Sri Lanka Medical Council? was established by the Medical (Amendment)
Act No. 40 of 1998 when the title was substituted for the ?Ceylon
The Ceylon Medical
Council (CMC) was established by the Medical Council Ordinance No. 24
of 1924. The first meeting of the CMC was held on 22nd June 1925 at
3.00 p.m. in the Colombo Medical Library, chaired by the first
president, Dr. N. Duncan Walker. The other members of the Council were
Doctors J.S.R. Gunawardana, R. Pestonjee, E.A. Cooray, J.O.B. Van
Langenburg, Lucian De Zilva, H.M. Peiris, P.J. Chissel, Frank
Gunasekera and G. Thornton. At this meeting, Dr. Lucian De Zilva was
elected the Vice President and Prof. F.O.B. Ellison, the Registrar.
Council meetings were held in the medical library up to January 1930
when meetings were held in the Board Room of the Medical College. The
clerical and secretarial work of the Council was carried out by the
staff of the Medical College until an office room was provided in the
administrative block of the medical faculty in 1968. An office
assistant and a peon were recruited with a part-time clerk.
1971, the medical faculty requested the Council to vacate its office
for expansion of the library and the Council office was shifted to a
room on the first floor of the CMA (present SLMA) building at Wijerama
Mawatha. The venue of Council meetings then became the Council Room of
the Medical Association. After some time, the Council accepted an offer
of a bigger room at the SLMA House for the payment of a rent of Rs.
55,000 per month to be paid as an advance for five years and this was
tried to construct its own building but could not obtain state land in
a convenient place. A site belonging to the Health Department was
offered in 1999, behind the premises of the Health Department Sports
Club but the architects were of the opinion that the cost for filling
the land would be too high. In 2001, the Council purchased a 17 perch
block of land in extent at No. 31, Norris Canal Road, Colombo 10 and
laid the foundation stone for the building in December that year. The
construction of the building was completed in December 2002 and the
Council moved into the premises in January 2003.
Registration of Practitioners
One of the chief functions of the Council is to register practitioners engaged in providing healthcare.
Colombo Medical College was opened in June 1870 and admitted twenty
five students. They were awarded a diploma of Licentiate in Medicine
and Surgery (L.M.S.). In 1880, the College was named the Ceylon Medical
College and the L.M.S. was registrable with the General Medical Council
of Britain without further examinations.
The Medical Registration Ordinance was passed in 1905 and persons with L.M.S. (Ceylon) were recognized as medical practitioners and
registered to practice medicine and surgery by the Ceylon Medical
College Council (C.M.C.C.). Any person registered in a country which
recognized this diploma was also registered.
The Medical Registration (Amendment) Ordinance No. 36 of 1908 made legislative provision to register apothecaries and estate dispensers
to practice medicine and surgery in the government sector on the
approval of the Principal Civil Medical Officer, the equivalent of the
present Director General of Health Services.
In 1915, the Dentists Registration Ordinance was introduced to register dentists
to practise dentistry. Following the establishment of the
University of Ceylon by the University Ordinance of 1942, the M.B.B.S.
degree and the B.D.S. degree awarded by it were recognized for
registration in place of the L.M.S. and L.D.S. awarded by the College
The Medical Ordinance No. 26 of 1927 makes provision for registration of pharmacists,
and dispensing of drugs and poisons was restricted only to registered
pharmacists and pharmaceutical chemists. There is provision even in the
present Medical Ordinance to register Apothecaries (or Assistant
Medical Practitioners) and Estate Apothecaries as pharmacists.
The Medical Ordinance No. 10 of 1949 makes provision for registration of nurses.
The register of nurses has several parts, Part A for registration of
Female General Nurses, Part B for Male General Nurses, Part C for
Public Health Nurses, who should be registered as General Nurses and
Midwives, Part D for Assistant Nurses, Part E for nurses who practised
for more than three years before the introduction of the amendment and
Part F for nurses who qualified abroad and satisfied the Council that
they possess the knowledge and skill to practise efficiently as a nurse.
were earlier registered under the Midwives Ordinance No. 02 of
1920. Provision was made in the Medical Ordinance of 1924 for the
registration of midwives. Eligibility for registration as midwives has
been restricted to women.
The Medical (Amendment) Act No. 30 of 1987 makes provision for the registration of para-medical Assistants. Persons
who were included in this category are: radiographers, medical
laboratory technologists, physiotherapists, occupational therapists,
electrocardiograph recordists, audiologists, clinical physiologists,
speech therapists, chiropodists, dieticians, ophthalmic auxiliaries and
(Amendment) Act No. 40 of 1998 makes provision for radiographers,
medical laboratory technologists, physiotherapists and occupational
therapists to be registered as professions supplementary to medicine, removing them from the category of para-medical assistants.
Medical (Amendment) Act No. 25 of 1946 makes provision for the
temporary registration of medical practitioners when there is a delay
in the award of a degree and subsequent amendment for registration on
other grounds. Medical (Amendment) Act No. 30 of 1987 makes provision
for persons who are employed as medical officers in government service
to be granted registration under Section 31.
Medical (Amendment) Act No. 37 of 1961 makes provision for temporary
registration of medical practitioners, dentists and nurses who are
invited by the government to serve the country. This was amended by the
Medical (Amendment) Act No. 31 of 1997 where registration is
recommended by the Secretary, Ministry of Health, the Director General
of Health Services or a Dean of a medical faculty. Registration is
restricted for a period of twelve months; the skill and knowledge of
the applicant is judged by the Council.
The Medical (Amendment) Act No. 16 of 1965 makes provision for
registration of citizens of Sri Lanka who have obtained a degree or
diploma from a medical school outside Sri Lanka and recognized by the
Council to be registered following a special examination conducted by
the Council and after serving internship. The special examination was
commonly known as the Act 16 exam and is now referred to as the
Examination for Registration to Practise Medicine (ERPM) in Sri Lanka.
Medical (Amendment) Act No. 15 of 1996 makes provision for registration
of citizens of Sri Lanka who have obtained a degree or diploma from a
medical school outside Sri Lanka and recognized by the Council, to be
registered if they were in employment of the Department of Health
Services prior to May 17, 1991.
(Amendment) Act No.23 of 1955 makes provision for provisional
registration of medical graduates to obtain pre-registration experience
by serving a period of internship. It includes ?good character? as a
requirement for registration of a person.
Erasure of Name from the Registers
Medical Registration Ordinance of 1905 also makes provision for erasure
of the name of a registered person, and the Medical (Amendment)
Ordinance No. 26 of 1927 makes provision for erasure on disciplinary
grounds. The procedure for disciplinary inquiries currently applicable
was published in the Government Gazette No. 757/7 of March 10, 1993.
The Medical (Amendment) Act No. 30 of 1987 introduced the requirement for renewal of registration.
Powers of the Council
Medical (Amendment) Act No. 30 of 1987 makes provision for the Council
to enter and make inquiries at recognized universities and institutions
to ascertain whether the courses of study, the degree of proficiency at
examinations conducted for conferment of qualifications and staff,
equipment and facilities provided at such universities and institutions
conform to prescribed standards. If they fail to conform to prescribed
standards, the council may recommend to the Minister to withdraw such
The general duty of
the Council is to protect the public and uphold the reputation of the
profession. The Council does this by maintaining and publishing
registers of qualified persons in different categories to practise each
discipline, by prescribing the standard of education and standard of
medical education, providing advice on professional conduct and medical
ethics and taking action against those who are registered with the
council if it appears that they have become unfit to practise and
exercise the privileges of registration.
PRESIDENTS OF THE SRI LANKA MEDICAL COUNCIL
1. Dr. N. Duncan Walker (June 1925 ?Dec. 1926)
2. Lt. Col C.D. Myles ( June 1927 - Dec. 1929)
3. Dr. J.O.B. Van Langenberg (Dec. 1929-Jan 1930)
4. Dr. R. Briercliffe (Jan. 1930 - March 1937)
5. Dr. S.T. Gunasekara (March 1937 - Sept 1941)
6. Dr. S.F. Chellappa (Sept. 1941 ? Oct. 1949)
7. Dr. W. G. Wickramasinge (Oct. 1949 - Dec. 1953)
8. Dr. J. Kahawita (Dec. 1953 ? Sept. - 1959)
9. Dr. W.A. Karunaratne (Sept 1959 - June 1964)
10. Sir Nicholas Attygalle (June 1964-Dec. 1969)
11. Dr. E.M. Wijerama (Dec. 1969 - Dec. 1974)
12. Dr. S.H.P. Nanayakkara (March 1975-June 1980) 13. Dr. O.R. Medonza (July 1980 - Oct. 1988)
14. Dr. S.A. Cabraal (Oct. 1988 - Sept. 1996)
15. Dr. G.C. Uragoda (Oct. 1996 ? February 1999)
16. Dr.H.H.R. Samarasinghe (June 1999 to date)
VICE PRESIDENTS OF THE SRI LANKA MEDICAL COUNCIL
1. Dr. Lucian d,e Zilva (June 1925 - Feb. 1933)
2. Dr. Frank Gunasekara (Feb 1933 - March 1952)
3. Sir Nicholas Attygala (March 1952 - May 1952)
4. Prof. John R. Blaze (June 1952 - Sept 1957)
5. Sir Nicholas Attygala (Sept 1957- June 1964)
6. Dr. E.M. Wijerama (June 1964 - December 1969)
7. Dr. W.D.L. Fernando (March 1970 - June 1973)
8. Dr. S.A. Cabraal (June 1973 - March 1991)
9. Dr S.M.G.Wijeroonaratne (March I991-July 1992)
10. Dr. W.S.S. De Alwis (July 1992 - July 1998)
11. Dr. Ananda Samarasekra (August 1998 ? to date)
REGISTRARS OF THE SRI LANKA MEDICAL COUNCIL
1. Prof. F.O.B. Ellison (June 1925 - June 1938)
2. Dr. W.C.O. Hill (June 1938 - March 1939)
3. Prof. Milroy A Paul (March 1939 - May 1982)
4. Prof. H V.J Fernando (Dec. 1980 - Sept. 1994)
5. Prof. P.S.S. Panditharatne. (Sept. 1994 ? Feb. 2005)
6. Dr. N.J.Nonis (Feb. 2005 to date)
ASSISTANT REGISTRARS OF THE MEDICAL COUNCIL
1. Prof. P.S.S. Panditharatne (Dec 1993 ? Sept 1994)
2. Dr. N.J. Nonis (July 1999 ? Feb. 2005)
3. Dr. H.M.S.S.D. Herath (May 2005 to date) | <urn:uuid:e3f9d51f-d154-4410-8d60-b2dc433f27c6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.srilankamedicalcouncil.org/aboutus.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00045-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.947554 | 2,772 | 2.03125 | 2 |
Stars and their planets
Monday, May 31st, 2010
As astronomers discover more and more planets we learn more about their relationships. What’s been most interesting is the incredible array in which planets can interact with their star. For example, one planet is so close to its star it’s actually sharing material with its star in a detrimental way that will ultimately mean its demise. Earth has a more favorable position with its star. We consider this the “Goldilocks” position, not too far from the sun, but not too close. Don’t forget that June 21st is the official start of summer and don’t miss what’s in the night sky on this week’s Sky Talk. | <urn:uuid:88137ee6-a210-4df7-8df9-cf98314f7440> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://whyy.org/cms/news/skytalk/2010/05/31/stars-and-their-planets/39217 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00061-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957107 | 152 | 2.84375 | 3 |
[Satellite TODAY 07-04-12] The European Space Agency
(ESA) has decided to retire its GIOVE-A satellite after confirming that its first two Galileo in-orbit validation (IOV) spacecraft were functioning nominally, the agency announced July 3.
ESA formally ended GIOVE-A’s mission at the end of June, but said it would continue to gather radiation data and results from a GPS receiver under the care of prime contractor Surrey Satellite Technology Ltd. (SSTL).
GIOVE-A, launched by a Russian Soyuz rocket in 2005, helped ESA to secure sections of RF spectrum needed for its GNSS program and flight-tested atomic clocks and other equipment in space. The agency said the spacecraft long exceeded it original purpose and design life. | <urn:uuid:f35a9525-e6e2-464f-a4b9-9f112f1d12a9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.satellitetoday.com/st/headlines/ESA-Retires-GIOVE-A-Satellite_39079.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00057-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946797 | 163 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Volunteers sought to publicize cancer prevention study
CHARLESTON, S.C.(WCIV) -- The American Cancer Society is looking for volunteers to help publicize a nationwide cancer prevention study.
The study, dubbed CPS-3, will help researchers "understand the genetic, environmental and lifestyle factors that cause or prevent cancer," according to a news release from the society.
A kick-off event is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Oct. 22 at Trident Medical Center, 9330 Medical Plaza Drive, in Charleston. There, "CPS-3 volunteer champions" will receive information about educating and recruiting community members to participate in the study.
The study will begin in January.
"This is a once-in-a-generation opportunity for Americans to participate in lifesaving cancer research," said Dr. Alpa Patel, a lead researcher on the study. "We are excited to offer this opportunity for area residents to make an appointment and enroll in the study at their convenience between Jan. 29 and Feb. 1."
To RSVP for the kick-off event, call 843-744-1922. You can learn more about the study by clicking here.
Evangelist Franklin Graham prayed on a sidewalk outside the Pentagon Thursday after his invitation to a prayer service inside was withdrawn because of comments that insulted people of other religions. More>> | <urn:uuid:5776dfb6-c573-451a-8c66-70f60ff0ddff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.abcnews4.com/story/19844767/volunteers-sought-to-publicize-cancer-prevention-study | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948044 | 282 | 1.710938 | 2 |
There is a a talk I give that is nominally about ladders on San Diego freeways. While the topic might seem loopy, and it sort of is, it is really about data debris, the kinds of information we throw off as a byproduct of our actions. It’s what we tell by what do, mostly by accident — and it often tells more about what we really think and plan than do our conscious disclosures.
Consider the following example (courtesy of RecordedFuture). What do we say, as countries, in response to disasters around the world? By how much do state officials’ mentions of the country increase after the event, and what relation, if any, does it have to our geopolitical interests?
The following chart shows that data from the U.S. In response to a series of recent crises around the world, official statements jump up in the days after the event. This isn’t particularly surprising, even if there are a number of plausible explanations, which I will return to towards the end of this post.
Now, let’s compare to China officials’ statements post-crisises elsewhere. When the crisis were outside Asia we see marked increases in official comments, but when the crises were in Asia (see Indonesia, Pakistan, and Taiwan, the number of officials’ statements declined.
What does it all mean? You could read the U.S. response as simply showing that U.S. only notices other countries when something goes wrong, so all official comments go up in those events. Less cynically, it is fair to say that the U.S. is almost ways the first to respond to major events around the world, especially humanitarian ones. China, however, has less obvious interests, and is even arguably playing something more like realpolitik, with it less concerned about Asian troubles than with troubles in countries elsewhere, especially when it has some sort of resource-related strategic interest.
Intriguing stuff. [-] | <urn:uuid:88fd7c93-0faa-489d-9155-9872b6782c6f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://paul.kedrosky.com/archives/2010/12/china_quote-min.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00029-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96488 | 407 | 1.882813 | 2 |