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In a move that may heighten tensions in the capital, the Organization for Human Rights on the Temple Mount (OHRTM) called for Jews to visit the east Jerusalem compound, which houses the al-Aqsa Mosque.
During a rightist event held in Jerusalem Sunday evening, just hours after Muslims rioted
in and around the Temple Mount amid reports that Jewish extremists were planning to visit the site, Professor Hillel Weiss said,
"The (third) temple must be built now. The mosques do not have to be destroyed in order for us to do this."
Sunday's riots in east Jerusalem (Photo: AP)
The conference, which was attended by a number of Knesset members and leading rabbis, was held in protest of the decision to seal off the compound due to the recent violence.
"It's time that we stop surrendering to violence," Temple Institute Director Rabbi Yehuda Glick said, adding that "before his assassination, prime minister Yitzhak Rabin said the greatest threat to Israeli democracy is bowing down to violence.
"Unfortunately, lately police are surrendering and withdrawing in the face of the Palestinians' violence," said the rabbi.
Kiryat Arba Chief Rabbi Dov Lior said, "It is vital that the Israeli people visit the (Temple Mount). We are suffering because a large segment of the populations is indifferent towards this issue.
"Reclaiming our sovereignty over (the Temple Mount) will bring redemption closer," said the rabbi.
Far-right activist Moshe Feiglin told the conference that the Temple Mount riots and the Goldstone Report,
which accuses the IDF of committing war crimes during its December-January conflict with Hamas in Gaza, both constitute attempts to "undermine our legitimacy in this land." | <urn:uuid:71d178c6-0f3c-4709-b8c9-915c1cc769c9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3795297,00.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.972133 | 368 | 1.695313 | 2 |
Many people, mostly theologians, have accused Einstein of being an atheist; such a scientist, say his detractors, could hardly be religious. Einstein's view of religion did not include a personal God, which in the first half of the twentieth century was tantamount to saying he was atheistic. But no atheist spent so much time, and put so much thought, into celebrating God. And perhaps no physicist ever considered so deeply the link between science and religion. When asked how he accounted for being both a scientist and a man known for religious musings, Einstein replied: "Well, I do not think that it is necessarily the case that science and religion are natural opposites. In fact, I think that there is a very close connection between the two. Further, I think that science without religion is lame and, conversely, that religion without science is blind. Both are important and should work hand-in-hand. It seems to me that whoever doesn't wonder about the truth in religion and in science might as well be dead."
Then there are the theological issues raised by Einstein's scientific discoveries. For example, Hindu philosophers have frequently suggested that Einstein's famed equation, E=mc2 (that mass and energy are different manifestations of the same thing), is remarkably parallel to certain concepts in Hindu philosophy. Other aspects of his work, such as the mutability of time, have intriguing parallels in the philosophies of India. At the request of Hinduism Today who gave me the assignment despite my lack of philosophical credentials I ventured into the fascinating world of Albert Einstein's religious beliefs and the theological consequences of his scientific discoveries.
Born to Jewish parents in Germany in 1879, Albert Einstein's first education was at a strict Catholic school in Munich, where order and discipline were instilled in the students. The experience left him with a lifelong disdain of regimentation and a distrust of authority figures. Apparently to balance the Catholicism Albert was learning in primary school, his parents hired a distant relative to tutor him in the fundamentals of Judaism. These studies sparked a spiritual interest in young Albert, who began preparing for his bar mitzvah, the religious rite Jewish boys undergo when turning 13. He eagerly read the scriptures of his faith and even gave up eating pork. While other boys were dreaming of becoming soldiers and going to war, Einstein abhorred the thought of being in the military. "When I grow up, I don't want to be one of those poor people, " he told his parents. He would remain a devout pacifist throughout his life. He spent a lot of time deep in thought, and he credited his trait of profoundly wondering about things with helping him in his scientific endeavors. Einstein even believed his childlike curiosity, allowing him to think without boundaries, set the stage for his discovery of the relativity theory as an adult.
Einstein maintained a deep interest in his Jewish studies until a family friend lent him several books on natural science. Suddenly, he viewed the world through an empirical lens. He wrote in his autobiography: "Through the reading of popular scientific books, I soon reached the conviction that a lot in the Bible stories could not be true. The result was downright fanatical freethinking, combined with the impression that young people were being lied to by the state: it was a shattering discovery." Einstein turned his back on organized religion and refused to take his bar mitzvah; he was, therefore, not a proper member of the Jewish community something that might have later become an issue had he taken up Israel's 1952 offer to be the country's second president.
The young Einstein soon focused his attention on geometry, finding in Euclid's axiomatic-deductive method a clarity and certainty that he had not found in the Torah and Talmud of his Jewish instructions. From higher mathematics it was only a short and logical step to the world of philosophical thought. With an analytical mind and a passion for deep thinking, he was equal to the task of absorbing Immanuel Kant's Critique of Pure Reason, a complex work addressing issues of human existence.
The influence of Spinoza
Einstein most admired the seventeenth-century Dutch philosopher Baruch Spinoza, whose writings he had discovered in his twenties. In Spinoza he found a kindred spirit. Both were solitary, pensive Jews who were eventually alienated by their religious heritage. Einstein was especially impressed by Spinoza's major work, Ethics, in which the philosopher uses Euclidean geometry to prove the validity of ethical ideas. Spinoza argued that "God, or substance, consisting of infinite attributes, of which each expresses eternal and infinite essentiality, necessarily exists." According to Spinoza, infinite substance is indivisible. "God is One, hence, in the nature of things, only one substance is given, " Spinoza wrote in Ethics. Philosophically, his position that whatever exists is a part of a single substance is called, in Western philosophy, "monism." A similar concept exists within many forms of Hindu philosophy.
Spinoza believed in a form of pantheism, from the Greek pan and theos, meaning "everything is God." Adherence to monism specifically, his belief in pantheism has parallels with the tenets of several Hindu systems of thought, including Advaita Vedanta. The common scientific view is that there is nothing but the physical universe that we can see and measure with our instruments. What separates Spinoza, and later Einstein, from this is two-fold. One, that "what exists " likely extends far beyond our human ability to perceive and analyze it, and two, that "what exists " is divine, Godly and not inert matter.
Some place Spinoza's philosophy under the heading of modified pantheism, in which God is believed to be the reality behind nature. In this way his philosophy differs from Sankara's Advaita Vedanta, in which Brahman alone is reality and all else is illusion. In his Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion, William Reese calls Advaita Vedanta "Acosmic Pantheism, " the belief that God is in and beyond the manifest world, which does not enjoy true existence.
But Spinoza's view is similar to the view of Saiva Siddhanta and several others systems that the universe is the body and mind of God, while at the same time God transcends the universe. It's a difficult task to compare these Western and Eastern philosophies, not only because they use different terminology, but because the Western philosophies are generally reasoned out, while the Eastern philosophies rely more upon meditative experience and insight. One also has to keep in mind that from the 17th century onward, in Europe and America, Western religion was under full-scale attack from the emerging philosophy and discoveries of science. The relationship between science and religion in the West remains largely hostile. Not so in the East.
Spinoza's views on religion therefore provided something of a way around the hostilities, and they validated ideas that were already germinating in Einstein's mind. "I am fascinated by Spinoza's pantheism, " he said, "but admire even more his contribution to modern thought, because he is the first philosopher to deal with the soul and body as one, and not two separate things." Einstein viewed the human being as a single unit, and scoffed at the idea of a soul which transcended death.
"I am not an atheist."
Einstein's ideas on spirituality enjoyed some influence due to his revolutionary work in physics. Some theologians felt threatened by his scientific theories, and Einstein was frequently asked to contribute articles about religion, perhaps in part to demonstrate he was not an atheist attempting to disprove the existence of God or to demonstrate he was, since both sides interpreted Einstein's ideas to suit their own agenda. These articles, interviews and essays are some of the best evidence we have of Einstein's philosophy.
One, titled "Science and Religion, " presented at the 1940 Conference on Science, Philosophy and Religion in New York, became the center of controversy. "A person who is religiously enlightened, " he wrote, "appears to me to be one who has, to the best of his ability, liberated himself from the fetters of his selfish desires and is preoccupied with thoughts, feelings and aspirations to which he clings because of their superpersonal value." He then went on to define religion as "the age-old endeavor of mankind to become clearly and completely conscious of these values and goals and constantly to strengthen and extend their effect."
Einstein concluded his paper with a statement about the conflict between science and religion, which he believed has its root in the concept of a personal God. Theologians attending the conference were in an uproar, misinterpreting Einstein's statement as a denial of God. He was asked straight out if he believed in God, and he replied: "I believe in Spinoza's God who reveals himself in the orderly harmony of what exists, not in a God who concerns himself with fates and actions of human beings." One faction took this to mean Einstein was a believer in God as they understood God. An opposing camp said Einstein's believing in Spinoza's nonpersonal God was the same as believing in no God at all.
In an attempt to define why and in what way he was "religious, " Einstein said, "Try and penetrate with our limited means the secrets of nature and you will find that, behind all the discernible concatenations, there remains something subtle, intangible and inexplicable. Veneration for this force beyond anything that we can comprehend is my religion. To that extent I am, in point of fact, religious."
One person asked Einstein to define God. He replied in this fashion: "I'm not an atheist, and I don't think I can call myself a pantheist. We are in the position of a little child entering a huge library filled with books in many languages. The child knows someone must have written those books. It does not know how. It does not understand the languages in which they are written. The child dimly suspects a mysterious order in the arrangement of the books, but doesn't know what it is. That, it seems to me, is the attitude of even the most intelligent human being toward God. We see the universe marvelously arranged and obeying certain laws, but only dimly understand these laws. Our limited mind grasps the mysterious force that moves the constellations."
Einstein was blunt in his rejection of the central tenets of Western religion. "I cannot conceive of a God who rewards and punishes his creatures, " he said, "or has a will of the kind that we experience in ourselves. Neither can I, nor would I want to, conceive of an individual that survives his physical death; let feeble souls, from fear or absurd egoism, cherish such thoughts. I am satisfied with the mystery of the eternity of life and with the awareness and a glimpse of the marvelous structure of the existing world, together with the devoted striving to comprehend a portion, be it ever so tiny, of the Reason that manifests itself in nature."
An unusual aspect of Einstein's beliefs, again following Spinoza, was in "determinism, " the position that every event or occurrence is determined, that is, could not have happened other than it did. For Spinoza, the feeling of being free is simply the state of ignorance concerning the cause. Einstein's belief in determinism was in part behind his lack of acceptance of quantum mechanics, which held one could not deduce the future state of the universe from the present one. He famously said, "God does not play dice with the universe." However, despite his best efforts, he could not disprove quantum mechanics.
The "cosmic religion "
Einstein summarized his philosophy in what he termed the "cosmic religion, " which is characterized by a feeling of awe and an experience of the mysterious that he declared to be the source of his religiosity. In this experience, God does not punish or reward. Although his cosmic religion does not include a personal God (i.e., Ishvara), which he believed was devised due to fear of the unexplained, Einstein believed, "The religious geniuses of all ages have been distinguished by this kind of religious feeling, which knows no dogma and no God conceived in man's image; so that there can be no church whose central teachings are based on it." At this point, for Einstein, religion and science meet, for the cosmic religious experience "is the strongest and noblest driving force behind scientific research."
In response to a question about whether or not modern science can offer spiritual insights where organized religion has failed, Einstein said, "Speaking of the spirit that informs modern scientific investigations, I am of the opinion that all the finer speculations in the realm of science spring from deep religious feeling, and that without such feeling they would not be fruitful. I also believe that this kind of religiousness, which makes itself felt today in scientific investigations is the only creative religious activity of our time." Einstein said that science cannot teach men the importance of ethics and morality, for the simple reason that science deals with what is, and ethics with what should be.
Among the most famous Einstein dialogues took place in 1930, when Rabindranath Tagore visited him in Germany. Einstein reserved the highest admiration for Tagore, as well as Mahatma Gandhi, and they, in turn, regarded him with esteem. They were united in their concern for the poor and the state of the human condition. Tagore and Einstein shared a love of music and the belief that religion is not found in rituals and tradition. But the poet and the physicist disagreed on at least one point. When Einstein said he agreed with Tagore's concept that beauty is inseparable from man, but that he did not agree that the same held true for truth, Tagore asked, "Why not? Truth is realized through man." After a long pause, Einstein replied simply, "I cannot prove that my conception is right, but that is my religion." Tagore finally declared, "If there be some truth which has no sensuous or rational relation to the human mind, it will ever remain as nothing so long as we remain human beings." To this Einstein replied, "Then I am more religious than you are!"
Relativity in the light of Vedanta
In Einstein's theory of relativity, E=mc2, he postulates that mass is equivalent to energy. Both space and time, deduced Einstein, are no longer absolutes. Consider his theory in light of the Vedanta system of Hindu philosophy. All matter throughout the universe is the outcome of one primal matter called akasha. Moreover, all force, whether gravitational or electromagnetic, is the outcome of one cosmic energy called prana. Prana acting on akasha is creating or projecting the universe. Einstein had thus proven mathematically what Vedantists had known for years. Some theologians have taken the theory of relativity one step further, speculating that Einstein's mass-energy equivalence also accounts for energy and matter as true functions of each other. A God of pure energy could thus become an avatar a doctrine held by some Hindus, Tibetan Buddhists and Christians.
Relativity may also be explored in terms of the system of 36 tattvas, or categories of existence, common to several systems of Hindu philosophy. These begin with shuddha maya, pure spiritual energy, the first evolutes, emanations or creations out of God. The first five tattvas are forms of consciousness, while the next seven are forms of spiritual-magnetic energy, including time (number 7, kala tattva). The final 24 consist of magnetic-gross energy, and include the mental faculties, organs of perception and action and finally the elements ether, air, fire, water and earth. The system of tattvas also regards matter as a form of energy. The major difference is that Einstein did not appear to speak in terms of consciousness as Hindus do, and his religious concepts seemed for the most part to deal with physical reality and not these higher realms of knowing or the subtle worlds spoken of in the Vedas.
The search for a unified field theory
In 1933, Einstein renounced his German citizenship and accepted a position in the United States at the new Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He spent the rest of his life as an American citizen in Princeton with his wife, Elsa. They lived in a simple house, and most mornings he walked a mile or so to the Institute to work on his unified field theory. He was attempting to link all known phenomena to explain the nature and behavior of all matter and energy in existence, work that caused some excitement among nonscientists then and now. Paramahansa Yogananada praised the physicist in his 1946 autobiography. "Reducing the cosmical structure to variations on a single law, " Yogananada wrote, "Einstein has reached across the ages to the rishis who proclaimed a sole fabric of creation: a protean maya."
More recently, Eknath Easwaran wrote in his commentary on the Bhagavad Gita that Einstein's quest is a theme found in Hinduism: "One of the most fervent hopes of Einstein was to find an overriding law of nature in which all laws of matter and energy would be unified. This is the driving question in some of the ancient Hindu scriptures, too. Mundaka Upanishad 1.1.3 asks, 'What is That by knowing which all other things may be known?' "
Einstein's search for proof of a unified field eluded him his entire life, although his perception of existence seemed as clear to him as it was to the rishis. He wrote, "A human being is a part of the whole, called by us 'Universe,' a part limited in time and space. He experiences himself, his thoughts and feelings as something separated from the rest, a kind of optical delusion of his consciousness. This delusion is a kind of prison for us, restricting us to our personal desires and to affection for a few persons nearest to us. Our task must be to free ourselves from this prison by widening our circle of compassion to embrace all living creatures and the whole of nature in its beauty. Nobody is able to achieve this completely, but the striving for such achievement is in itself a part of the liberation and a foundation for inner security."
For more information on Albert Einstein, log on to the new Einstein web site, http://www.alberteinstein.info. additional references are "Einstein and Religion " by Max Jammer and "Dictionary of Philosophy and Religion " by William Reese. | <urn:uuid:51f40d9a-c7ab-4669-8a42-2eb3527097e9> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://hinduismtoday.com/modules/smartsection/print.php?itemid=1642 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00048-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975744 | 3,833 | 2.78125 | 3 |
'Pitching' is when a writer has to try and sell a project (which at that point might exist solely in their mind) to a producer or commissioner by using out-loud words from their voice box.
Most writers have a weird love/hate relationship with pitching, I suspect because pitching seems like the purest possible form of storytelling. With none of that high-tech 'things written down on paper' nonsense, writers are stripped down to their most primal form: a lone bard in a smoky hall, weaving stories out of thin air in the hope their thane won't immediately pull out a sword and behead him because he's realised the story is clearly Beowulf with the serial numbers filed off (which most stories are).
The truth is, most writers are crap at pitching, because if they were easily able to hold a room of execs spellbound with their words, they wouldn't be making a living writing things down for other people to read out loud. And, weirdly enough, telling a gripping story isn't what you need to do in order for a successful pitch - what you're doing is showing the people with the chequebook that you have all the ingredients to make a whole succession of gripping stories if they'd just let you go away and get on with it.
You might think that going in with enormous confidence and giving the execs plenty of detail and colour would guarantee you that they'll at least give you a bit of cash to go away and write a ten page treatment or summat, but you would be this: WRONGO. And here's why.
I reckon, and this is in no way backed up by 'facts' or 'science', that two thirds of the execs you have pitching meetings with have already decided before you came in the room whether they were going to commission something or not. The other third might have a bit of cash floating about, which they're prepared to throw at you in a whim if something you say tickles their fancy. So your job is to not to mess it up, and one way you can do this is to go steamrolling in like Russell Crowe doing a radio interview for a project he REALLY believes in (if you heard him banging on about the Magna Carta for hours on end for that Robin Hood film, over the bludgeoned corpses of various BBC presenters, you'll know what I mean).
There are two kinds of writers who take the 'bludgeoning on for hours on end' approach: starting writers who need to conceal their terror of rejection, and more experienced writers who have a few series under their belts, and thus have become convinced they are storytelling GODS, from whose lips words drip like honey &c &c.
The worst pitch meeting I had was a few years ago with a very nice lady film producer I realised too late had spared me half an hour out of basic politeness. I decided to go in all guns blazing with a Thirties-set semi-historical monster movie that was loosely tied in with my own family history (no monsters in that, sadly). Sadly, this required describing a bit of background first, and I realised too late that there is nothing more boring than listening to someone else's family history, and I hadn't even got to the film idea yet. Also, it turned out the nice lady producer hadn't actually read any of my previous scripts, which meant she wouldn't get the tone I was going for. So I started skipping bits, grimly determined to get the end of my pitch, which, as I recall, ended with me sweating all over my fat face as I recited the deathless phrase 'and then they realise it wasn't the Owlman all along, and the Nazis leave, and, arm, it all works out fine'. READER, I DID NOT GET A FEATURE SCRIPT COMMISSION THERE AND THEN.
The same producer left the company a week or so later, which suggests she didn't have any money to spend anyway, which was of some small comfort.
The best pitch session I ever had was with another lady producer, for television this time, who had read plenty of my previous scripts, hurrah, and who I'd already had a couple of meetings with and knew to be totally nerd-friendly. I only found out later that she'd just sat through a pitch from a VERY distinguished television writer, which had already gone like this for half an hour:
DISTINGUISHED WRITER: … at which point Jake, of course you remember Jake, he's the one with the gammy leg, Jake makes the SHOCKING and APPALLING discovery that Helen, you remember Helen, she's the one with the twitchy eye, Helen is not his mother, BUT HIS SISTER!
Distinguished Writers sits back with a satisfied smirk. Lady Producer manages to drag herself back up from where she has slumped onto the sofa.
LADY PRODUCER: Right, well, that was very-
DISTINGUISHED PRODUCER: (triumphantly) ACT TWO!
LADY PRODUCER: (mumbles) Oh my fucksie.
Another half hour later, the Distinguished Writer departs, his PA scattering rose petals before him &c and I bumble in.
ME: Look, I'm completely fucked with a hangover, so can I just give you the gist of the thing in about three minutes? I can ABSOLUTELY give you more details if you need them, but I will need a very nice young lady or young man to bring me quite a strong cup of coffee first.
I give them the gist. THREE MINUTES LATER:
LADY PRODUCER: We'd like a script please.
ME: (puzzled) Are you sure? Don't you want a treatment or anything?
LADY PRODUCER: Nope, go and write a script, we'll talk to your agent.
ME: WOO HOO! Ow.
This is not to say I recommend going in to pitch meetings with a hangover, I totally do not. Unless it works for you, in which case, go for it. | <urn:uuid:b807b2be-feb3-4a15-bad3-2643de349e94> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://jamesandthebluecat.blogspot.com/2012/01/pitching.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979323 | 1,289 | 1.5 | 2 |
Sweden's spending on R&D tops the OECD league table. No other OECD country produces as many PhDs. And according to London-based think tank Demos, Sweden leads the Euro-Creativity Index, which ranks countries according to talent, technology, and tolerance--three factors supposed to indicate a country's creative potential.
So the Swedish economy must be booming then, the country teeming with new companies and filled to the brim with hopeful new entrepreneurs, right?
Not Much Entrepreneurial Activity
Well, no. According to the yearly Global Enterpreneurship Monitor, just 4% of the adult Swedish population is involved in enterprise, either just starting a new business or having launched one in the last 42 months. Although this makes Swedes more entrepreneurial than the French (2%), the country lags behind Finland (almost 7%), Norway (7.5%), and the U.S. (almost 12%).
Homing in on talent and technology doesn't improve the picture. A study of 222,000 technology, science, and medicine graduates showed that between 1990 and 2000 they started 49,000 new companies--a proportion no higher than among the adult population at large. What's more, many of the companies were part-time activities, often in areas unrelated to the founder's degree, such as restaurants, hotels, and retail. Even worse, half of the companies folded within a couple of years.
And according to a study by economist Roger Svensson, even though Swedish universities account for a third of all the country?s R&D, in the medicine and hygiene sectors university-related scientists and companies own only 10% of recent patents.
Why is this? The philosophical gulf between academia and industry is often given as an explanation, as is the lack of an entrepreneurial tradition in Sweden, where a handful of large companies have played an extremely important role as employers.
To turn this tide, Minister of Education and Research Thomas Östros recently told the academic world to put more emphasis on innovation and commercialisation. Scientists should be encouraged to move between industry and academy, and all universities should create special units to foster research ideas with possible commercial value.
In fact, this is already happening. At Lund University, for instance, units such as LU Innovation, a technology transfer office, and the business incubators Venture Lab and The Greenhouse have been created. Their aim is to help students and researchers develop their ideas with the help of experienced entrepreneurs.
Lund University also boasts two new undergraduate courses in entrepreneurship and innovation, as well as a new research centre called the Centre for Innovation, Research and Competence in the Learning Economy, or CIRCLE. Lund, as Sweden's largest university, may have more of this kind of activity than others, but similar efforts are being started all over.
Östros also proposes abolishing the so-called lärarundantaget, the "teachers' exception." This clause gives university researchers exclusive rights to the commercialisation of their findings. Today, researchers may choose between developing their patents with the help of their university or going it alone. Östros would prefer a model more like that in the U.S., where researchers would have to inform their employer of findings with commercial potential and split the gains (if any) with their universities.
Would this make a difference? Opinions are mixed. "I think abolishing the teachers' exception is a good idea. That way, commercialisation of research ideas would be in the common interest of both the university and the scientist," says Helen Dannetun, dean of technology at Linköping University. But her colleague Christer Svensson, professor of electronic devices at Linköping and a holder of many patents, disagrees. It's his opinion that most universities still don't have the resources and the competence needed to take a patent all the way to the market.
Less Seed Money to Go Around
Others point at the lack of seed money as the main problem. Whereas private sources provided new companies with around SKr 250 million (?27 million) in 2001, this dropped to only SKr 80 million (?8.6 million) in 2003. And instead of compensating for this loss, public finance too has been decreasing.
"You used to be able to get seed money to tide you over the first year's work on a new idea," says Johnny Öberg, project manager at the IT company Notegra. "Now inventors must try to make a living from other sources--research grants, scholarships, unemployment benefits, half-time employments. ... It's a tough situation, especially if you have children to support!"
Kista Innovation & Growth CEO Pär Hedberg agrees. According to him, new initiatives are sorely needed at both central and regional level. Without them, many new and promising companies will fold, he warns.
Meanwhile, despite the lack of evidence that higher education leads to greater entrepreneurship, the government is sticking to its goal of sending 50% of young people to university. Might not this money be put to better use elsewhere?
London-based professor Alison Wolf suggested just that in the leading Swedish daily Dagens Nyheter last summer, but her proposal didn't spark any general discussion.
Surprisingly enough, though, the National Agency for Higher Education seems ready to question the value of mass university education. A report published last autumn points out that the Swedish labour market's need for such a high number of university graduates has been overestimated. The report suggests that government efforts should be geared not only towards academically-minded young people, but also towards the large number of high school graduates who want to start working rather than go on studying.
Given its position in national life, one might expect the agency's report to have an impact on official policy or at least to have started a policy discussion. So far, however, it hasn't. Questioning the goal of mass university education remains politically incorrect, and the link between this expansion and economic growth is still taken for granted.
So for now it's business as usual in Sweden ... which might mean still not getting very much business for your money. | <urn:uuid:508756dd-46f2-42c8-8d4f-d4aa9d8e6bb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://sciencecareers.sciencemag.org/career_magazine/previous_issues/articles/2004_05_07/nodoi.15564676598330309833 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961447 | 1,250 | 2.140625 | 2 |
In this morning’s developments, we have prominent skeptic Michael Shermer, in Much Ado About Nothing, making the case that the Multiverse finishes off that “God” business, using “multiverse hypotheses predicted from mathematics and physics”.Krauss doubles down against bad reviews with his Atlantic interview:
Philosophy is a field that, unfortunately, reminds me of that old Woody Allen joke, "those that can't do, teach, and those that can't teach, teach gym." And the worst part of philosophy is the philosophy of science; the only people, as far as I can tell, that read work by philosophers of science are other philosophers of science. ... [philosophy] hasn't progressed in two thousand years. ...So his title is flamebait, but it suckered Dawkins into endorsing the book by saying that it is the "deadliest blow to supernaturalism" since Darwin.
Well, I read a moronic philosopher who did a review of my book in the New York Times ...
But if you can show how a set of physical mechanisms can bring about our universe, that itself is an amazing thing and it's worth celebrating. I don't ever claim to resolve that infinite regress of why-why-why-why-why; as far as I'm concerned it's turtles all the way down. The multiverse could explain it by being eternal, in the same way that God explains it by being eternal, but there's a huge difference: the multiverse is well motivated and God is just an invention of lazy minds. ...
The religious question "why is there something rather than nothing," has been around since people have been around, and now we're actually reaching a point where science is beginning to address that question. And so I figured I could use that question as a way to celebrate the revolutionary changes that we've achieved in refining our picture of the universe. ...
"the remarkable revolutions that have taken place in our understanding of the universe over the past 50 years -- revolutions that should be celebrated as the pinnacle of our intellectual experience." ...
If I'd just titled the book "A Marvelous Universe," not as many people would have been attracted to it.
Krauss continues to defend himself, and attack philosophers, in a comment to Coyne's blog
I haven’t responded to the review by Albert simply because it seemed to me not worthy of response.. and nothing has changed my mind about that.and now in a SciAm article:
Which brings me full circle to the question of nothing, and my own comments regarding the progress of philosophy in that regard. When it comes to the real operational issues that govern our understanding of physical reality, ontological definitions of classical philosophers are, in my opinion, sterile. ...
That question can be phrased as follows: How can a universe full of galaxies and stars, and planets and people, including philosophers, arise naturally from an initial condition in which none of these objects—no particles, no space, and perhaps no time—may have existed? Put more succinctly perhaps: Why is there ‘stuff’, instead of empty space? Why is there space at all?
About the only philosopher Krauss credits is Peter Singer, the wacky animal rights guru.
I attack philosophers myself on this blog, and in my book. But the NY Times reviewer, David Z. Albert, was a legitimate physicist before he turned to philosophy, and his criticisms are never directly address by Krauss. Albert wrote a book on the many-minds interpretation of quantum mechanics, which is pretty goofy, but not directly relevant.
The core of the problem is that modern physics has nothing to say about nothingness. There is no such thing, as far as we know. The closest we can get to empty space is the luminiferous aether, also called the quantum vacuum state. Our best quantum theories, such as quantum electrodynamics (QED), are really perturbation theories of the aether. That is, what seems like empty space to us is really a complicated set of fluctuating relativistic quantum fields.
A few decades ago, cosmologists proposed that the observable galaxies are the remnants of quantum fluctuations during the first nanosecond of the big bang. Krauss elaborations on this, and says that the whole universe might be the result of quantum fluctuations. As he tacitly admits, he is not really telling us Why There Is Something Rather Than Nothing, but rather giving a modern variant of Turtles all the way down.
All of this nonsense would be hardly worth commenting on, except that Krauss and Dawkins are two of our leading science expositors, and they are peddling nonsense. They should know better. I don't bother attacking crackpots. I started this blog when I realized that our leading academic scholars were promoting ideas about science that are entirely mistaken. The current May SciAm cover story is a wildly speculative story about combining supersymmetry and gravity into supergravity:
More profoundly, the novel methods breathe new life into a unified theory that physicists left for dead in the 1980s. The force of gravity looks like two copies of the strong subnuclear interactions working in unison.The tipoff is that the authors keep talking about how radical and revolutionary their approach is, but cannot point to any substantive progress since the 1980s when many experts decided that it was a dead-end. The same issue has a separate article explaining why supersymmetry is dead. While there is some debate about that, supergravity is surely dead and not worthy of a SciAm cover story. | <urn:uuid:7a4f98bd-10de-499c-aa19-14c7066d3cd8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.darkbuzz.com/2012/04/why-there-is-something-rather-than.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00076-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.968941 | 1,147 | 1.539063 | 2 |
- Italy's most famous food, pasta, has been granted a museum of its own. On entry, the visitor is given a portable CD player that explains all the exhibits in Italian, English, French, German and Japanese. The collection includes pasta making machines from the distant past to modern times, and prints and photos of people, whether famous or not, tucking into a good plate of pasta.
- © wcities.com 2013
Ask a local about Museo Nazionale delle Paste AlimentariLocals have answered 170 questions about Rome.
Ask Rome Locals about Museo Nazionale delle Paste Alimentari | <urn:uuid:1fd3f50a-b3ff-4ec4-a302-562fe5c95e09> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nileguide.com/destination/rome/things-to-do/museo-nazionale-delle-paste-alimentari/581871 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.92839 | 131 | 1.914063 | 2 |
April 10, 2002 -- President Bush yesterday called once again for Israel to withdraw its forces from the West Bank "without delay." Until last week, Mr. Bush had displayed remarkable courage in resisting demands to curtail Israel's right to defend itself against relentless Palestinian terror. Now, abandoning that principled position in the quest for an elusive cease-fire, the president has revived the expectation that the Israelis must cease while the Palestinians keep firing. More tragically, he has reverted to a misconceived U.S. policy in the Middle East that, for over 50 years, has consistently backfired.
Since its creation in 1948, Israel has been the target of Arab terror. In the 1950s and '60s, "armed infiltration," as it was then called, caused hundreds of casualties and made life on Israeli streets and border settlements nearly as precarious as it is today. Yet, in spite of these losses and Israel's clear-cut case for avenging them, the U.S. denied Israel's right to retaliate. "The USG has consistently opposed reprisal raids," Secretary of State John Foster Dulles wrote in March 1955. "Such raids dangerously heighten existing tensions." Similarly, in November 1966, Dean Rusk declared, "We have said frequently that we cannot agree to or condone [Israeli] retaliatory action."
The rationale behind this policy was not so much moral as it was economic and strategic. American leaders claimed that Israeli reprisals could interrupt the flow of Arab oil to the West, while driving moderate Arab states into Soviet -- later, Islamic radical -- arms. There was also the belief, ultimately belied by Jordan's King Hussein, that an Arab defeated by Israel is an Arab less willing to make peace.
America's policy helped produce the very wars it sought to preclude.
None of these scenarios ever transpired, however, and, rather than peace, America's policy helped produce the very wars it sought to preclude. The terrorists learned that Jews could be killed with impunity, while frustrated Israeli leaders concluded that if they were going to be condemned for minor retaliations, they might as well respond massively.
Such was the case in 1956, when the Israelis, forbidden by America to strike back at terrorist bases in Egyptian-controlled Gaza, went ahead and drove the Egyptians from Gaza and Sinai. In 1967, again, Washington's refusal to let Israel go after Yasser Arafat and his al-Fatah terrorists emboldened Egypt's President Gamal Abdel Nasser to remilitarize Sinai and rally the Arab armies to war. Israel replied with a pre-emptive strike that snowballed into the Six Day War. The pattern resurfaced in 1982 when Israel, fed up with rocket attacks over its northern border, and America's objections to punishing the PLO for launching them, invaded Lebanon.
Once war broke out, America repeatedly pressured Israel to cease firing before it could achieve its objectives. The results were disastrous. By forcing Israel to relinquish its gains in Sinai in 1948 and 1956, for example, the U.S. aided Egypt's ability to threaten Israel's existence again in 1967. The U.S.-imposed cease-fire in the 1973 Yom Kippur War saved attacking Arab armies from destruction but impaired Israel's deterrence power for years. The current onslaught of Palestinian terror can be traced in part to Arafat's last-minute evacuation from Beirut in 1982, another feat of U.S. intervention.
To be sure, Israel has not always yielded to American dictates on security. During the latter stages of the Six Day War, Israeli leaders ignored U.S. insistence on a cease-fire and proceeded to capture Jerusalem, the West Bank and the Golan Heights. Paradoxically, Israel's determination to stand up for itself strengthened rather than dampened its image in the U.S.
The rule was again demonstrated in Israel's 1981 attack on the Iraqi nuclear reactor, an act that President Reagan at first denounced but then rewarded by elevating U.S. cooperation with Israel. Conversely, when Israel buckled to pressure -- in the Gulf War, when Prime Minister Yitzhak Shamir agreed not to respond to Iraqi scud attacks -- it earned Washington's contempt, and gained nothing in terms of defense.
For over half a century, U.S. attempts to rein in Israel militarily have encouraged Arab aggression and contributed to a series of inconclusive wars, setting the stage for even bloodier clashes. By submitting to restrictions, Israel has compromised, not enhanced, its security.
The question of peace and war in the Middle East today hangs in the balance. Either President Bush can continue to bend to pressure and try to prevent Israel from defending itself, or he can allow Israel to finish rooting out the terrorist infrastructure in the territories. The first path, as history proves, leads only to escalating terror and larger-scale Israeli reactions, with a risk of regional war. Only by standing firm with Israel in its legitimate fight against terror can President Bush pave the way toward a viable cease-fire and renewed negotiations on ending the conflict. It is not too late -- the pattern can still be broken. | <urn:uuid:5c314605-552f-410e-a6df-e349b8c87314> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.aish.com/jw/me/48892212.html?s=rab | 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 | 0.961501 | 1,034 | 2.078125 | 2 |
Even the experts can’t seem to get cyber-security right. Wouldn’t you like to get out of the business of guarding your customers’ data?
During a closed-door cyber-security meeting last month, I listened to network and policy experts discuss the vulnerabilities that define our connected nation and world. The threats are numerous and the attack tactics manifold, even if the motivations are relatively limited—profit, anarchic tendencies, and nationalistic fervor.
States face threats to their critical physical infrastructure, their banking systems, and their highly confidential information. Private companies are vulnerable to theft of intellectual property, exposure of their customers’ important data, and other maladies.
Many private businesses seem baffled and flat-footed when it comes to cyber-security. That’s no surprise, given that a leader in cyber-defense, RSA Security, was itself the victim of a significant hack just months ago.
So, it occurred to me, as I watched the cyber-experts scratch their heads last month, that one of the original objections companies voiced about cloud computing may eventually become its greatest virtue. In essence, a company that runs its ERP system in the cloud or rents storage from a cloud service provider is outsourcing the security of its data to that provider. For the moment, security certifications for cloud computing providers resemble the chalkboard at an ice cream shop: too many flavors to choose from.
But soon the industry will rally around a winning security standard for cloud computing. Then the real battle will begin—crafting service-level agreements that will define the responsibility for any breaches of data. Of course, no private company will welcome a data breach that exposes its customers’ sensitive data. But it may welcome the chance to point a finger at the cloud computing provider.
Against the advanced persistent threats that exist in today’s networked world, even paragons of cyber-security can become victims. Wouldn’t you want to shift that responsibility to another company if you could? | <urn:uuid:9cf63c6e-3ae5-43f2-9852-29791952b59b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blog.techmatchpro.com/2011/07/protecting-customer-data-in-the-cloud/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.929345 | 411 | 1.734375 | 2 |
The New Scientist has an excellent article on the conflict of interest involving so-called “grassroots” patient organizations that receive drug company funding for support. I’d like to thank the reader of my site that provided me the link to the story. Long excerpts (with my emphasis) below.
"They are supposed to be grassroots organisations representing the interests of people with serious diseases. But Drummond Rennie, professor of medicine at the
Rather than grassroots, the word Rennie uses to describe such organisations is "astroturf". Originating in the black arts of politics and public relations, astroturfing is the practice of disguising an orchestrated campaign as a spontaneous upwelling of public opinion.
Other health specialists don't go as far, but they are still uneasy about the financial relationships between drug firms and prominent patient groups. "I think there are grounds to be concerned," says Joel Lexchin, who studies pharmaceutical policy at
So is the charge of astroturfing fair? How much money are patient groups typically taking from pharmaceutical and medical device firms, and does this affect their behaviour? To investigate, New Scientist conducted the largest survey to date of industry donations to patient groups based in the
In each case, we tried to determine the percentage of a group's total funding that came from the pharmaceutical and medical device industry in the most recent year for which figures were available. This was not always easy, as US non-profit organisations are not required by law to disclose their donors' identities. Tax returns and annual reports provided some of the information, but in most cases, obtaining a figure required the group concerned to provide it voluntarily.
The extent of industry funding varied widely
In total, seven groups received 20 per cent or more of their funding from pharmaceutical and medical device companies, including all four linked to the conditions over which accusations of disease-mongering have been made.
One of these groups, the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance, said it received more than half of its 2005 funding from industry. The group did not provide an exact percentage, but combined information from its annual report and tax return reveals that 77 per cent of its revenue for 2005 came from 15 major donors, 12 of which are drug or device companies.
The Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Foundation, for instance, received more than $450,000 of its $1.4 million revenue in 2005 from GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) and nearly $178,000 from Boehringer Ingelheim. GSK's drug Requip was approved for the syndrome in 2005, while Boehringer Ingelheim has a drug pending FDA approval. Both drugs are intended to control the symptoms of RLS over long periods. While these symptoms can seriously disturb sleep, critics claim that their prevalence has been exaggerated by GSK and in media reports.
The extent of industry funding of the RLS Foundation is "pretty incredible", says one such critic, Steve Woloshin of
By contrast, groups in our survey that received no industry funding seemed to be for diseases that drug companies have little opportunity to profit by. For example, the people supported by Faces, the National Craniofacial Association, are typically treated with surgery, while the Ehlers-Danlos National Foundation is for people with a disorder of the body's connective tissue for which there is no specific treatment. The Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis Association received just 0.6 per cent of its $16 million budget for 2005 from pharmaceutical companies. This neurodegenerative disease is typically fatal within four years of diagnosis, and there is only one drug approved by the US Food and Drug Administration to treat it. Aventis, which manufactures the drug, provided $10,000 to the association.
The timing of donations also suggests a link to marketing interests, though donations to individual groups can vary from year to year for various reasons. Pfizer, for example, was a major donor to the RLS Foundation in 2003 and 2004. In July 2004 the firm announced that it had ceased developing its candidate RLS drug, and the following year donations to the patient group ceased.
Meanwhile, concerns about the safety of psychiatric drugs in children, which reached new heights in 2004, have hit the Child and Adolescent Bipolar Foundation hard. Its donations from industry fell from about 40 per cent of its total revenue in 2004 to 20 per cent in 2006. "Pharmaceutical companies are not as willing to support us because of increased scrutiny around psychiatric treatments in children," says Susan Resko, the foundation's executive director. As a consequence, she has had to lay off more than half of her staff.
Information on the websites of some groups in our survey raises further questions. For example, the treatment section of the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance's site was developed with an "educational grant" from Neuronetics, a company which gave at least $10,000 and possibly as much as $150,000 to the alliance in 2005. One page describes transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) which both aim to treat mood disorders by stimulating neural activity. Neuronetics makes equipment for TMS, which has not yet been approved as a treatment. Nevertheless, the site provides web links and telephone numbers for Neuronetics and Cyberonics, a VNS equipment maker that donated between $150,000 and $500,000 to the alliance in 2005."
Read the whole story here.
My View: I am certain that it nearly always starts innocuously. A group that wants to support people with condition X starts humbly, scraping scarce resources together in a truly grassroots effort. Then company Y notices that this group needs some money, and we all know what people, as individuals or groups, will often do for money. It is my belief that most of these patient groups truly believe they are not influenced by drug company funding, but when perusing their websites, it is hard to believe this is true. Influence can be completely subconscious. I’ll write more on the Depression and Bipolar Support Alliance soon. Link to another very good story on the Requip/Restless Legs issue here. | <urn:uuid:53cfd9bc-aede-44c4-9cab-bfbe789040b8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://clinpsyc.blogspot.com/2006/10/patient-groups-grassroots-or-astroturf.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.96714 | 1,266 | 1.84375 | 2 |
Psychology News and Research Briefs Tag Archive:
Parents of ADHD Children Also Taking Medication
Parents of children prescribed drugs to treat Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) are more than nine times likely than other parents to also take the drugs, says a study by Medco Health Solutions. Moreover, if one parent and child in the househo...
Continue reading Parents of ADHD Children Also Taking Medication
Improving Tourette's Symptoms with Parent Management Training
A study by researchers at the Yale University School of Nursing shows that using Parent Management Training (PMT) can reduce the symptoms of children with Tourette's Syndrome and chronic tic disorders.
Continue reading Improving Tourette's Symptoms with Parent Management Training
Study: How Childhood Abuse Impacts Adult Interactions
New York University psychologists have shown that adults may have difficulties meeting someone who reminds them of a parent who emotionally or physically abused them as children. In the study, published in the November issue of Personality and Social Psych...
Continue reading Study: How Childhood Abuse Impacts Adult Interactions
Fathers Vital to Child Language Development in Dual-Income Homes
A new study shows that in families with two working parents, fathers play a greater role in child language development than do mothers. Researchers videotaped couples interacting with their two-year-old children. Returning a year later, they found that whe...
Continue reading Fathers Vital to Child Language Development in Dual-Income Homes
Parenting-Focused Infotainment Helps Real-Life Families
Reality shows where seasoned professionals help clueless parents learn to discipline and care for their unruly offspring may be more than just fluff entertainment. Watching programs promoting good parenting skills and children's behavioral problems can actu...
Continue reading Parenting-Focused Infotainment Helps Real-Life Families
Half of Relationships Suffer After First Child
A study of Australian couples shows that nearly half of couples report a "significant decline" in their relationship after they have children. However, intervention programs that address expectations about being parents and teach communication and conflict ...
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Article: Parents' Jobs Stress Children Too
The average American work week has increased ten hours in the last 30 years and with this jump has come more stress at home--for parent and child alike, scientists reported this week at the annual meeting of the American Psychoanalytic Association. A study...
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Infant Education Helps Depressed Moms
Infants rely on parental interaction for stimulation and healthy development. Unfortunately, that interaction is often interrupted by the post-partum depression which affects about 30 percent of mothers. However, a new Canadian study published in this month...
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Study: Family Stability And Behavior Problems In Children
The twists and turns of parental love lives can have drastic effects on the behavior and academic success of children, particularly where divorce is involved. A new study shows just how important a stable family is to child behavior and achievement, even if...
Continue reading Study: Family Stability And Behavior Problems In Children
One Third Of Child Drinkers Get Booze From Parents
Seventeen percent of children have tried alcohol before they finished grade school, shows a study published in this month's Preventative Medicine. By the end of junior high, that number jumps to 41 percent, the longitudinal survey of 3,709 racially diverse ...
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PsychBriefs: November 25-December 1, 2007
Our weekly wrap-up of news, interesting research, and noteworthy happenings in the worlds of psychiatry, psychology, and social work.
Continue reading PsychBriefs: November 25-December 1, 2007
How Childhood Relationships Affect Expectations About Motherhood
A study of 160 women in the last trimester of their first pregnancy shows a woman's relationship with her parents during early childhood has a substantial impact on her expectations about motherhood.
Continue reading How Childhood Relationships Affect Expectations About Motherhood
This is an archive page containing articles from Psychology Briefs, the FindCounseling.com Blog. | <urn:uuid:5917e95e-a176-4c0e-a7bc-5c22025a5943> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.findcounseling.com/help/news/tags/parents/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913543 | 860 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Johannesburg - Slow global economic growth will make attaining the country's employment targets difficult, Gauteng economic development MEC Nkosiphendule Kolisile
said on Friday.
"The crisis itself makes our national target of creating five million jobs by 2020 extremely difficult to attain," he told the Gauteng legislature.
"We have to pursue new markets for our commodities, industrial products and services."
Kolisile said in the current economic climate job creation remained a problem for Gauteng.
"While we contribute 34% to the GDP, we are still faced with an unemployment rate of 25.4%," he said.
"Our ability to alter this reality depends on the strategies we put in place to ensure that our economy grows from the current 3% to 7% per annum."
He said the Marikana shooting reminded government that inequality was "a dreadful beast that threatened to devour our society into chaos".
Government had a critical role to play in addressing the legacy of inequality in the country, he said.
"We have also been emphatic on the need to ensure that our economy is inclusive and that the wealth created in our province is adequately redistributed."
Kolisile said his department had made inroads in formalising businesses and creating jobs in townships.
One initiatives was setting up Township Enterprise Hubs which would help grow township businesses.
Another was a project called Y-Age, which had attracted over 100 000 young people who wanted to succeed as entrepreneurs, and will also offer them training.
Last year, he said, the Gauteng Growth and Development Agency had successfully promoted investments that generated 2 000 permanent jobs and 1 346 temporary jobs.
This brought to 3 346 the number of jobs created by property development, information and communications technology, manufacturing and green economy sectors, the MEC said. | <urn:uuid:b489c13b-c8b3-4794-bc48-65370f2bab26> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.fin24.com/Economy/MEC-Job-targets-difficult-20120921 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00027-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970814 | 380 | 2.0625 | 2 |
Skeptical Shopper: Are Green Phones a Groundbreaker or a Gimmick?
Cell phone manufacturers don't have the greatest reputation for environmental awareness, but now they are jump-starting programs to improve their standing by lessening their carbon footprint. Perhaps the biggest leap is the introduction of green phones--cell phones composed of recycled materials and designed for greater energy efficiency.
But what features will you miss out on if you choose such a model? Let's look at three of the newest green phones: the Samsung Blue Earth, the Motorola Renew, and the Sony Ericsson C901 GreenHeart.
The Samsung Blue Earth, the only touchscreen phone of the bunch, has solar panels designed to harness the sun's energy and power the phone's battery. Made from recycled bottles, the Blue Earth features a built-in pedometer to track how much walking you've done and calculate the volume of CO2 emissions you have avoided by not driving. Samsung hasn't disclosed any other details regarding the phone's specs, availability, or pricing. But the effectiveness of a solar-powered phone remains untested, and the Blue Earth seems unlikely to have special features beyond the environmental ones, since nothing else has been advertised.
The Sony Ericsson GreenHeart--the most feature-rich of the three new phones--has a pedometer, a 5-megapixel camera, a media player, and a NetFront browser. It ships with an electronic in-phone manual rather than a paper guide, and is made of recycled plastics. Though the GreenHeart delivers just about everything you could want in a basic phone, it has a small (2.2-inch) display and offers no touchscreen or QWERTY keyboard--so forget about sending e-mail or texting unless you're very patient. Sony hasn't announced pricing; the phone will be available in late 2009.
The Motorola W233 Renew is currently available (from T-Mobile). Reasonably priced at $30, the Renew is made from recycled bottles and comes packaged in 100 percent recycled materials. The Renew doesn't have a camera, however, and its small, 1.6-inch, 128-by-128-pixel display isn't suitable for watching video.
Overall, these three phones are pretty single-minded: If you're looking for a handset that does more than make calls and count your steps, they probably won't suit you. None of them are smartphones (meaning that they don't run on a platform like Windows Mobile or Symbian), so you won't have access to a variety of apps and there's little room for customization.
If you're seeking something more full-featured but you still want to be eco-conscious, a wiser decision may be to purchase a phone from a manufacturer with a good environmental track record. According to Greenpeace's "Guide to Greener Electronics," LG, Motorola, Nokia, Samsung, and Sony Ericsson have relatively successful recycling programs and have taken steps toward eliminating toxic chemicals in products and reducing factory CO2 emissions. You can also purchase solar-powered chargers, such as the Solio charger, which works with most cell phones and smartphones.
Perhaps the best thing that you can do as a responsible consumer is be aware of your own usage. Unplug your charger when it's not in use. Recycle your old cell phone at a certified depository when you get a new one, and then reuse or recycle any packaging your new phone comes in. | <urn:uuid:04ba200f-7064-4ccf-acc6-afad8f45c5f6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pcworld.com/article/168889/skeptical_shopper_green_phones.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951598 | 700 | 2.375 | 2 |
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Network World - A range of companies with wireless LANs are discovering that 50% to 90% or more of Ethernet ports now go unused, because Wi-Fi has become so prevalent.
They look at racks of unused switches, ports, Ethernet wall jacks, the cabling that connects them all, the yearly maintenance charges for unused switches, electrical charges and cooling costs. So why not formally drop what many end users have already discarded -- the Ethernet cable?
"There's definitely a rightsizing going on," says Michael King, research director, mobile and wireless, for Gartner. "By 2011, 70% of all net new ports will be wireless. People are saying, 'we don't need to be spending so much on a wired infrastructure if no one is using it."
Many of these issues were predicted in fall 2007 by Burton Group Analyst Paul DeBeasi, in a report provocatively titled "The end of Ethernet?" In it, he argued that the demand for mobility and the advent of 802.11n networks with shared throughput of 150M to 180Mbps would lead enterprises to cut the Ethernet access cord. (See our Clear Choice Test of four 802.11n vendors' gear.)
"We're struggling a bit to wrap our heads around what amounts to a pretty significant change in culture," says the lead wireless technologist for a big East Coast university, who requested anonymity. Cisco is the wired and wireless network vendor. Like many other schools, this one has a wired port for every student bed. Now, 80% to 90% of these ports are idle. "Many students are clueless about what to do with a patch cord to begin with. They grew up with wireless," he says. "So how do we react to the change, without shooting ourselves in the foot?"
More companies are debating that very question, as they face replacing older switching gear, or deciding on the switching infrastructure for new buildings. And there is no clear or simple answer.
Many are unconvinced that enterprise Wi-Fi networks, even the high-throughput draft 802.11n flavor, can offer the reliability, security, and bandwidth demanded by current applications. Others are equally convinced they can. Some insist that future IP-based television services require a wire; others are not so sure and wonder if IPTV justifies having hundreds of idle switches on yearly maintenance contracts, which can run hundreds of dollars per box.
"It depends on the application," says the CTO, who requested anonymity, of a one-thousand-bed hospital system in the southeast, with Cisco as the wired and wireless vendor. The WLAN supports several applications to facilitate clinical workflow, and a separate visitors' network. "But if you talk about 24/7 applications and critical access, everything from security to guaranteed access in a power outage…we're still building robust wired networks for that," he says.
"The question is: when can you consider wireless the primary network," says John Turner, Director for Networks and Systems, Brandeis University, Waltham, Mass., and an Aruba Networks WLAN site. Facing a tough cabling challenge in a new campus science building, Turner concluded that a mix of 802.11abg and 802.11n access points, with new Aruba software for optimizing radio signals, would adequately support most user access. The building was completed with less cabling and fewer switches than originally planned. | <urn:uuid:db8c62fa-d626-4c82-a9b8-c420eeef6eed> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.networkworld.com/news/2009/043009-wireless-ethernet-cable.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.95508 | 749 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Lifestyle Changes Help Type 2 Diabetics Keep Moving
WEDNESDAY, March 28 (HealthDay News) -- Weight loss and regular exercise help prevent disability in obese people with type 2 diabetes, according to new research.
After four years, 21 percent of people enrolled in a lifestyle-intervention program focusing on diet and physical activity had severe disability compared with 26 percent of those enrolled in a diabetes support group. What's more, the lifestyle-intervention group had about half the risk of losing their mobility compared to the support group.
"The lifestyle intervention combined caloric restriction and increased activity," said study author, W. Jack Rejeski, a professor of health and exercise science at the Wake Forest University School of Medicine, in Winston-Salem, N.C. "More of the lifestyle intervention group remained in the good-mobility category. And, that was with modest changes. Just a 6 percent change in body weight helped to ward off an important outcome."
Results of the study are published in the March 29 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.
The study included slightly more than 5,000 overweight or obese adults who had type 2 diabetes. All were between the ages of 45 and 74, with an average age of 59. The researchers excluded anyone with a hemoglobin A1C (HbA1C) above 11 percent. HbA1C is a long-term measure of blood-sugar control, and the American Diabetes Association generally recommends that people with diabetes should aim for an HbA1C of less than 7 percent. They also excluded people with very high blood pressure or high triglycerides (a type of blood fat).
At the start of the study, just one-third of the study volunteers reported good mobility. That means around two-thirds had at least some type of mobility disability, according to the study.
The volunteers were randomly assigned to one of two treatment groups. The first included lifestyle interventions to lose weight and get more physical activity. The goal in this group was to lose more than 7 percent of body weight and exercise more than 175 minutes a week, according to the study. The second group was a diabetes support and education program.
To evaluate mobility, the researchers asked the study volunteers how well they could perform certain activities, such as running, lifting heavy objects, pushing a vacuum cleaner, playing golf, climbing a flight of stairs, bending, kneeling, stooping, walking more than a mile or walking one block.
At the end of four years, those in the lifestyle intervention group had a 48 percent reduction in mobility-related disability compared to the support group.
Almost 39 percent of the lifestyle intervention group reported good mobility at the end of the study compared to 32 percent of those in the support group, according to the study.
For every reduction of 1 percent of body weight, there was a 7.3 percent reduction in the risk of mobility disability. For every 1 percent improvement in fitness, there was a 1.4 percent drop in the risk of mobility disability. But, Rejeski pointed out that doing both interventions is best for your overall health.
"If all you do is lose weight, the danger of losing muscle mass is greater. The message is that you need to lose weight and be active to enhance your function and not lose muscle mass," he said.
Dr. Joel Zonszein, director of the clinical diabetes center at Montefiore Medical Center, in New York City, said lifestyle changes are as important as medications. "Papers like this continue to show how important lifestyle changes are," Zonszein said. "But, the issue always is in the implementation. We can tell patients to exercise and lose weight, but we don't have the resources to follow up as they do in clinical trials."
For people who want to make changes on their own, Rejeski recommended trying to cut calorie consumption to about 1,800 calories a day. Then, he said, find a place to walk -- the mall, a walking path, a school track -- and get a walking buddy so that you can each keep the other one accountable. If you haven't exercised in a while, start by walking just a little bit, and then the next day add a few more steps. "Eventually, you'll make progress. And, the lower your function was to start with, the more you'll notice the change," he said.
Current U.S. government recommendations are to exercise at a moderate pace for at least 30 minutes most days of the week.
Learn more about how exercise can benefit you from the U.S. National Institute on Aging.
SOURCES: W. Jack Rejeski, Ph.D., Thurman D. Kitchin professor, health and exercise science, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, N.C.; Joel Zonszein, M.D., director, clinical diabetes center, Montefiore Medical Center, New York City; March 29, 2012, New England Journal of MedicineRelated Articles
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May 16, 2013
Learn More About Sharp
Sharp HealthCare is San Diego's health care leader with seven hospitals, two medical groups and a health plan. Learn more about our San Diego hospitals, choose a Sharp-affiliated San Diego doctor or browse our comprehensive medical services.
Copyright ©2012 HealthDay. All rights reserved. | <urn:uuid:bd3d0b0d-2b12-4697-a3dc-313182a4730f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sharp.com/news/health/newsArticle.cfm?articleID=33910&channelID=35 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957411 | 1,134 | 2.640625 | 3 |
Brockenhurst, the only village within the Perambulation of the New Forest whose value in the Domesday survey of 1086 was doubled (to £4.00) when that of many others was reduced, was also the only village mentioned as having a church. St. Nicholas, built upon a mound, may date back to Pagan times. Roman "bricks" and parts of Second and Third Century masonry have been built into the South porch and, in the South wall of the knave, typical herringbone masonry, possibly from an earlier church, can be seen. Both the doorway and the nave show late Norman work.
A service is held each year on the Sunday nearest to Anzac Day by the memorial in the churchyard, commemorating the New Zealand soldiers who died in the 1914-18 war.
The churchyard also contains the grave of Brusher Mills, the snake catcher, a famous local character, his headstone being suitably engraved.
The main attractions of the village are the Ford, running across the end of Brookley Road, the main shopping area, and the cottages, many of which, built by the Morant family who lived at Brockenhurst Park (now demolished and replaced by a modern house) have the letter M incorporated in the woodwork.
St. Saviours' Church was built by Lieutenant-Commander and Mrs. E.W. Walker-Munro, who also enlarged and rebuilt Rhinefield House between 1880 and 1890.
The Parish of Rhinefield was incorporated with that of Brockenhurst by the Local Government Act of 1972.
Artsway - A charitable trust for contemporary art...
Calshot Castle - Part of Henry VIII's chain of coastal defences to counter a European invasion
Hurst Castle - Built by Henry VIII, and used as a prison for Charles I
Lepe Country Park
Longdown Dairy Farm
Lymington Keyhaven Nature Reserve
National Motor Museum, Beaulieu
Roydon Woods, Lymington - A Nature Reserve cared for by the Hampshire Wildlife Trust
The Solent Way
Tourist and Other Information sources
Local Tourist Information
Visitor Information Centre,
Main Car Park,
Hampshire SO43 7NY
Telephone: (023) 8028 3914 or (023) 8028 3444
New Forest District Council,
Hampshire SO43 7PA
Telephone: (023) 8028 5000
Parking in Brockenhurst
The main public car park is situated behind the main High Street and has easy access to the villages shops.
There are a variety of pubs and places to eat in the village including tea rooms, restaurants and hotels.
Access by Public Transport
Brockenhurst has a BR Station (service from Southampton and Bournemouth. Public Bus Service operates to Brockenhurst from Southampton, Bournemouth, Salisbury. | <urn:uuid:cc7e2418-17ce-4c01-bdea-c4c017db8edf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www3.hants.gov.uk/index/your-area/localpages/south-west/brockenhurst/brockenhurst-attract.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951888 | 598 | 2.03125 | 2 |
ENG 362 Literary Journalism (3 credits)
This reading-intensive course provides an historical overview of a genre most often referred to as "literary journalism," once called "new journalism," and now sometimes dubbed "new new journalism" or "immersion journalism." Students may read works by writers such as Nellie Bly, Stephen Crane, John Hersey, Joan Didion, Truman Capote, Tom Wolfe, Hunter S. Thompson, Ted Konover, Sonia Nazario, Adrian Nicole LeBlanc, and Susan Orlean, among others. In addition to their literary consumption and interrogation of the field, students will produce several short exercises in the style of the genre and one final project. Does not fulfill GEP Art/Lit requirement. | <urn:uuid:5f2f0943-4665-4795-9dd9-a7628dc8fe7d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sju.edu/int/academics/catalogs/eng-362-literary-journalism-3-credits.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.939142 | 152 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Butterfly is one of the greatest offerings of the natural wealth of Indonesia spreading from Sabang to Merauke. Now, the wealth of assorted butterflies is gathered in a beautiful and tranquil park named Butterfly Park situated at Wanasari Village, Tabanan Regency, about 5 km north of Tabanan town. Every day hundreds of colorful butterflies fly around the park where some of them have been famous in the world such as the bird of paradise-winged butterfly (Omithoptera paradisea), Omithoptera priamus and various other types. The only one butterfly park in this archipelago is trying to breed and cultivate those species for the purposes of science as well as education in the future.
Oongan Dam is a favorite tourist object for Balinese people in the 1980s. Every holiday such as Galungan, Kuningan, Ngembak Geni, New Year and other holidays, the dam area is…Read more
One more unique tradition owned by Karangasem County is the mesantalan ritual procession or Ketupat War at Apit Yeh village, Manggis subdistrict became an interesting cultural attraction. This tradition was…Read more
Hindu community in Bali has a unique performing art known as Calonarang. The performing art poses a dance-drama whose artists should master the elements of dance, music and vocal. A…Read more
Graduate Program (PPS) of the Ngurah Rai University (UNR) Denpasar hosted the comparative study for students from the University of Haluoleo Kendari. Aside from having the same faculty, the success…Read more
As having been aspired and armed with the hobby and passion to get involved in accounting field, Siti...08 June 2013 Read more...
Merthasari Temple located approximately 1.5 km to the south of Negara town is one of the Dang Khayangan...08 June 2013 Read more... | <urn:uuid:52866906-2407-4fb4-8b29-6893b5cd9444> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bali-travelnews.com/Tabanan/bali-butterfly-park.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.919627 | 403 | 1.8125 | 2 |
Tiny Factory Could Make Solar Panels AnywhereAlternative Energy Tuesday, August 28th, 2012
(InnovationNewsDaily) Making clean energy fit into a person’s pocket would be a neat trick, and two inventors have begun working on the solution. They envision tiny automated factories that make solar panels as small as a person’s fingers.
The table-size Solar Pocket Factory could churn out a solar panel every 15 seconds, giving full-size factories in China a run for their money, say Shawn Frayne and Alex Hornstein, who are hoping to raise $50,000 on the crowd-funding website Kickstarter to finish their prototype and prepare for a product launch in 2013.
The two inventors have already tested microsolar panels for charging mobile phones, powering energy-charging stations at the High Line park in Manhattan, and even replacing the batteries in a daughter’s toys.
Today’s small solar panels cost about twice as much as big solar panels and typically fail within two to five years. Frayne and Hornstein say they have figured out how to shave 30 percent off the cost and make “microsolar” panels that would last five times longer.
The solution comes from building an automated factory that can churn out solar panels of a consistent quality based on higher-quality materials. Such automation not only would sidestep the costs of human labor required to glue and assemble every part of the tiny panels by hand, it would cut down on the costs of dealing with flawed panels that get thrown out and wasted, the two inventors say.
Read the full article:
Image: Shawn Frayne, Alex Hornstein | <urn:uuid:7a8e0e18-5687-4cd4-a24f-36adbd7287f4> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://consciouslifenews.com/tiny-factory-could-make-solar-panels-anywhere/1135735/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94602 | 341 | 2.765625 | 3 |
(click on links below to read their essays)
Pictured in the photo, left to right: Sarah Jones, David Hilden, James Schiffer, Patrick Arnold, Derek O’Connell, Robbie Goodrich. Suzanne Williams not pictured.
This prize was established by Rabbi Samuel and Lynn Stahl and Nancy and Paul Oberman, in honor of the 65th wedding anniversary of their parents, Lois and Willard Cohodas. The goal of the competition is to provoke serious thought about one or more of the following topics:
--Enhancing religious, racial and cultural understanding
--Eliminating hatred and racism
--Promoting awareness of the Holocaust
Awards: First Place: $500 Second Place: $250 Third Place: $100
Judges in the contest were Professors Sarah Jones (philosophy), Suzanne Williams (chemistry), Robbie Goodrich (history), and James Schiffer (English) | <urn:uuid:4f251a29-68aa-4bd6-a3db-043cb0202913> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.nmu.edu/english/node/82 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00059-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.900307 | 189 | 2.171875 | 2 |
What does "grand slam" mean?
A sweeping success or total victory, as in This presentation gave us a grand slam—every buyer placed an order. This term originated in the early 1800s in the card game of whist (forerunner of contract bridge), where it refers to the taking of all thirteen tricks. It later was extended to bridge and various sports, where it has different meanings: in baseball, a home run hit with runners on all the bases, resulting in four runs for the team; in tennis, winning all four national championships in a single calendar year; in golf, winning all four major championships. In the 1990s the term was used for four related proposals presented on a ballot at once.
Learn more about grand slam | <urn:uuid:a00c8543-7a4d-4049-be12-2eb10092d0d3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://idioms.yourdictionary.com/grand-slam | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.970595 | 150 | 3.25 | 3 |
Branding: Marketing Your Company. Uniquely.
At times we get a somewhat glazed look from Clients when we start talking about Marketing and Branding in the same sentence. What does branding have to do with marketing? The answer is EVERYTHING.
Let’s start by defining ‘Branding.’ According to the American Marketing Association a BRAND may consist of the company’s name, logo, tag line, motto, color palette and design.
At the end of the day your Brand is the impression left in the mind of your Clients, Customers and Prospects after they discover you. Some of that impression is controllable, some of it is not.
A good branding strategy paints your company honestly and positively. A good strategy leaves your ‘significant others’ in business wanting more and happy to be associated with your company.
GOiMarketing starts with a review of your current brand. Sometimes the brand is fine, sometimes it is troubled, and most times it is not well defined.
From the initial review, we come up with a strategy to maintain, improve, or define your brand as needed. The process is ongoing and it MUST evolve over time. GOiMarketing will have a ringside seat to monitor your brand while we are marketing your business; from there we can adjust as needed to power your image and professionalism to new heights.
Contact GOiMarketing at 866.SEO.1232 to learn more about branding your business! | <urn:uuid:09eccccc-9c40-409d-9134-3134d816790d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://goimarketing.com/services/online-branding.asp | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943639 | 309 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Twenty-five celebrated Latino writers delight and move us with their recollections of Christmas in this splendid holiday extravaganza.
From Julia Alvarez's tale of how Santicló delivered a beloved uncle from political oppression to Junot Díaz's story of his own uneasy assimilation on his first Christmas in America, to Sandra Cisneros's poignant memories of her late father's holiday dinners, Las Christmas gives us true stories from writers of many traditions--memories of Christmas and Hanukkah that vividly capture the pride and pain, joy and heartbreak, that so often accompany the holidays in the Americas.
Richly illustrated and embellished with songs and poems, along with recipes for an unforgettable Christmas dinner--from traditional sweet tamales to Puerto Rican asopao (stew) and coquito (coconut eggnog)--this is an enduring treasury of Latino writing to read again and again.
A heartwarming holiday gift.
About Esmeralda Santiago
Esmeralda Santiago is the author of the memoirs When I Was Puerto Rican, Almost a Woman, which she adapted into a Peabody Award–winning film for PBS’s Masterpiece Theatre, and The Turkish Lover; the novel América’s Dream; and a children’s book, A Doll for Navidades. Her work has appeared in The New York Times, The Boston Globe, and House & Garden, among other publications, and on NPR’s All Things Considered and Morning Edition. Born in San Juan, Puerto Rico, she lives in New York.
Esmeralda Santiago is represented by Random House Speakers Bureau (www.rhspeakers.com)
About Joie Davidow
JOIE DAVIDOW cofounded L.A. Weekly and founded L.A. Style and Sí magazines. She edited the anthologies Las Mamis and Las Christmas with Esmeralda Santiago and is the author of Infusions of Healing. She lives in Rome and Los Angeles. | <urn:uuid:e920f2ea-0b9b-4ada-9ee2-41ad9405c15c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.randomhouse.com/book/160624/las-christmas-by-esmeralda-santiago-and-joie-davidow/9780375701696/ | 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 | 0.907432 | 415 | 1.703125 | 2 |
The news does not look good for Jaws. A new study has found that the number of sharks has declined precipitously over the last decade. The findings, published in the current issue of the journal Science, suggest that the fierce predators may in fact be in danger of succumbing to human exploitation.
Julia K. Baum and her colleagues at Dalhousie University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, analyzed more than 15 years of logbook data collected by the U.S. National Marine Fisheries Service, which included one of the longest records of shark statistics available. The records covered longline fishing in the Northwest Atlantic Ocean and included nine species of sharks. With the exception of one species, the mako, all of the sharks experienced declines of more than 50 percent over the past eight to 15 years. The hammerhead shark population was the hardest hit, declining 89 percent since 1986. The results imply that sharks should be given conservation attention equal to that currently provided to other threatened marine animals, the scientists conclude. Carefully designed marine reserves and a reduction in fishing, they write, "could hold promise for safeguarding sharks and other large pelagic predators from further declines and ecological extinction." | <urn:uuid:3d9eeb4d-f0e8-4bb1-a6ee-513639462364> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=atlantic-shark-population | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.936646 | 240 | 3.328125 | 3 |
A doctor goes out and buys the best car on the market, a brand new Ferrari GTO. It is also the most expensive car in the world, and it costs him $500,000.
He takes it out for a spin and stops at a red light. An old man on a Moped, looking about 100 years old, pulls up next to him. The old man looks over at the sleek shiny car and asks, “What kind of car ya got there, sonny?”
The doctor replies, “A Ferrari GTO It cost half a million dollars!”
“That’s a lot of money,” says the old man. “Why does it cost so much?” “Because this car can do up to 320 miles an hour!” states the doctor proudly.
The Moped driver asks, “Mind if I take a look inside?”
“No problem,” replies the doctor.
So the old man pokes his head in the window and looks around. Then, sitting back on his Moped, the old man says, “That’s a pretty nice car, all right, but I’ll stick with my Moped!” Just then the light changes, so the doctor decides to show the old man just what his car can do. He floors it, and within 30 seconds, the speedometer reads 160 mph. Suddenly, he notices a dot in his rear view mirror. It seems to be getting closer!
He slows down to see what it could be and suddenly WHHHOOOOOOSSSSSHHH!
Something whips by him going much faster! “What on earth could be going faster than my Ferrari?” the doctor asks himself. He floors the accelerator and takes the Ferrari up to 250 mph. Then, up ahead of him, he sees that it’s the old man on the Moped! Amazed that the Moped could pass his Ferrari, he gives it more gas and passes the moped at 275 Mph.
WHOOOOOOOSHHHHH! He’s feeling pretty good until he looks in his mirror and sees the old man gaining on him AGAIN!
Astounded by the speed of his old guy, he floors the gas pedal and takes the Ferrari all the way up to 320 mph. Not ten seconds later, he sees the Moped bearing down on him again! The Ferrari is flat out, and there’s nothing he can do!
Suddenly, the Moped plows into the back of his Ferrari, demolishing the rear end. The doctor stops and jumps out and unbelievably the old man is still alive. He runs up to the mangled old man and says, “Oh My Gosh! Is there anything I can do for you?”
The old man whispers:…. “Unhook … My suspenders …. From your … Side view … Mirror.” | <urn:uuid:3af9898f-f235-4bf2-9da2-b39e9677c1a7> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://mythoughtsideasandramblings.com/2007/01/02/wow/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00056-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961227 | 617 | 1.617188 | 2 |
"Edward Hopper" book
Supports: Museum Store Association (Denver, CO)
Item Number: 101
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"Edward Hopper"--288 Pages, 11.3" x 10.8", written by Carol Troyen, Judith Barter, Elliot Davis and Edward Hopper, and published by MFA Publications.
One of the most enduringly popular painters of the 20th century, Edward Hopper produced many works now considered icons of Modern art. Canvases such as Drugstore, New York Movie and the universally recognized (and often parodied) Nighthawks not only reshaped what painting looked like in America, but created a visual language for middle-class life and its discontents. This extensive new assessment of Hopper, which accompanies a major traveling exhibition, examines the dynamics of the artist's creative process and discusses his work within the cultural currents of his day--examining the influence not only of other painters, but also of such media as literature and film. And while most studies have tended to see Hopper as the great painter of alienation, this one takes a much broader, more nuanced, and ultimately more representative view. Spanning the entirety of Hopper's career, but with particular emphasis on his heyday in the 30s and 40s, "Edward Hopper" highlights the artist's greatest achievements while discussing such topics as his absorption of European influences, critical reactions to his work, the relation of Realism to Modernism, the artist's fascination with architecture, his depiction of women and the struggle in his last years to produce original works.
Illustrated with more than 150 oils, watercolors and prints, and including essays by several noted scholars in the field and an extensive chronology and bibliography, this is the most comprehensive volume on Hopper produced in the last decade.
Item will be shipped directly to the winning bidder from the donor when the auction closes. Shipping is included in the winning bid. Items needing to be shipped internationally will be charged extra. | <urn:uuid:bf5213b6-28c6-465e-8cb1-dbe09d524ed5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.biddingforgood.com/auction/item/B4GItem.action?id=178373546&s_icid=slider3_7 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00064-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957275 | 442 | 1.757813 | 2 |
A century after his death, Gustav Mahler is the most important composer of modern times. Displacing Beethoven as a box-office draw, his music offers more than the usual listening satisfactions. Many believe it has the power to heal emotional wounds and ease the pain of death. Others struggle with the intellectual fascination of its contradictory meanings. Long, loud and seldom easy, his symphonies are used to accompany acts of mourning and Hollywood melodramas. Sometimes dismissed as death-obsessed, Mahler is more alive in the 21st century than ever before.
Why Mahler? Why does a Jewish musician from a land without a name capture the yearnings and anxieties of post-industrial society? Is it the music, it is the man, or is it the affinity we feel with his productive peak - a decade when Freud, Einstein, Picasso, Joyce and Mahler reconfigured the ways we understand life on earth?
In this highly original account of Mahler's life and work, Norman Lebrecht - renowned writer, critic and cultural commentator - explores the Mahler Effect, a phenomenon that reaches deep into unsuspecting lives, altering the self-perceptions of world leaders, finance chiefs and working musicians. Why Mahler? is a multi-layered exploration of the role that music plays as a soundtrack to our lives. | <urn:uuid:a23e99e2-4308-40bc-9837-c14abdbb423e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.amazon.co.uk/Why-Mahler-Symphonies-Changed-World/dp/0571260780 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948426 | 274 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Pakistan: Now or Never?
Perspectives on Pakistan
While much of the media attention during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Japan this week was focused on a free trade deal the two sides failed to agree on, another pact that could have even greater consequences for the region was quietly pushed through.
This was a security cooperation agreement under which India and Japan, once on opposite sides of the Cold War, will hold military exercises, police the Indian Ocean and conduct military-to-military exchanges on fighting terrorism.
It doesn’t sound very grand, but its significance lies in the fact that pacifist Japan has such a security pact with only two other countries – the United States and Australia.
And it comes in the same month that India and the United States closed a nuclear cooperation deal that won New Delhi a place on the world’s nuclear high table, ending three decades of isolation following its first nuclear tests in 1974. (more…)
Time was when every time militants set off a bomb in Pakistan, India’s strategic establishment would turn around and say “we told you so”. This is what happens when you play with fire … jihad is a double-edged sword, they would say, pointing to Pakistan’s support for militants operating in Kashmir and elsewhere.
Not any more. When India’s opposition Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party – which has consistently advocated a tougher policy toward Pakistan – tells the government to be watchful of the fallout of the security and economic situation in Pakistan, then you know the ground is starting to shift.
U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will be in New Delhi this weekend to celebrate a hard-fought nuclear deal that to its critics strikes at the heart of the global non-proliferation regime by allowing India access to nuclear technology despite its refusal to sign the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons Treaty (NPT) and give up a weapons programme.
China and Pakistan are not amused although both stepped aside as they watched an unstoppable Bush administration push the deal through the International Atomic Energy Agency and then the Nuclear Suppliers Group in one of its few foreign policy successes.
In Pakistan, disgraced nuclear scientist A.Q. Khan kicked up a storm by saying that the Pakistan Army under President Pervez Musharraf knew about the illegal shipment of uranium centrifuges to North Korea in 2000 — contradicting his earlier confession that he acted alone in spreading Pakistan’s nuclear arms technology to Iran, North Korea and Libya. Although Khan has subsequently suggested his remarks may have been overplayed, they are nonetheless likely to raise anxieties overseas about Pakistan’s nuclear programme. His statement, and partial retraction, have also spawned a range of conspiracy theories about which of Pakistan’s squabbling politicians stood to gain from it, as seen in the comments to this blog on All Things Pakistan.
It’s early days yet, but people are already trying to work out what any Israeli attack on Iran would mean for Pakistan. (The idea that Israel might attack Iran to damage or destroy its nuclear programme gained currency this week when former U.S. ambassador John Bolton predicted in an interview with the Daily Telegraph that it would do so after the November U.S. presidential election but before the next president is sworn in.)
Pakistan defence analyst Ikram Sehgal paints an alarming, and perhaps deliberately alarmist, picture in The News of what this could mean for Pakistan: ”Could Israeli or (US) planners afford the risk of leaving a Muslim nuclear state with the means of missile delivery intact if there is war with Iran? Can they take this calculated risk in the face of a possible Pakistani nuclear reaction because of military action on a fellow Muslim nation and neighbour…?” he writes. ”Should one not be apprehensive that India as the ‘newly U.S. appointed policeman of the region’ takes the opportunity … for launching all-out Indian military offensive….?” | <urn:uuid:c58ab1a2-588e-486c-85a6-7d827d5cd4a2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://blogs.reuters.com/pakistan/tag/nuclear/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956791 | 824 | 1.84375 | 2 |
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CBS BOSTON – When stretching out for a run on the Esplanade in Boston, Preston Curtis looks like he forgot something. The bottoms of his feet are covered with dirt, a clear sign he’s been walking around without shoes. But it wasn’t an oversight; Curtis skipped the shoes on purpose. “When I run barefoot, my feet really feel good. They actually feel like they’re getting a message,” he said.
It may sound a bit crazy, but barefoot running is actually a new craze and you’ll see people all over Boston running without shoes. According to Jeff Dengate of Runner’s World Magazine, the sport has a passionate following. “The idea behind it is it’s sort of the way we were born to run. It’s the natural way of running,” he said.
Those who can’t imagine the idea of no protection at all are opting for minimalist shoes. “The truly minimalist or barefoot-like shoes are nothing more than a layer for abrasion resistance and something to hold it onto your foot,” Dengate explained.
According to Dr. Holly Johnson of Mass General Hospital and The American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons, leaving the shoes at home causes most runners to switch up their step. “Typically, the barefoot runner lands with the front of the foot or the middle of the foot hitting the ground first, whereas the runner with shoes on will strike the ground with their heel first,” she explained.
Many runners, including Curtis, believe barefoot running actually helps prevent injury, even though they’re exposed to problems other runners don’t face. “I’ve only had three tiny shards of glass get in my foot and they’ve really caused no problem,” he said.
Dr. Johnson is not buying the fact that going barefoot means fewer injuries. “There’s really no evidence out there that shows that barefoot running either prevents injury or cause more injury,” she said.
It’s common for Dr. Johnson to see several barefoot runners a week. “The most common injury I see in a barefoot runner is a stress fracture or a tendon problem that occur typically when the patient is transitioning from shoe wear to no shoes,” she said.
According to Dengate, runners should make that transition gradually. He said it can take some runners months or even up to a year to ditch the shoes completely. | <urn:uuid:99138324-1bfc-43ae-9957-e3b9d0f7a329> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://washington.cbslocal.com/2012/08/07/new-trend-emerging-for-runners-go-barefoot/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.961304 | 547 | 2 | 2 |
You know, Our Lady of Vladimir Mission in St. John’s, Newfoundland isn’t the first community of Orthodox Christians on Newfoundland. It’s the first one in a long time, but it’s not even the second community of Orthodox Christians on Newfoundland. Leif Ericson the Viking explorer and his men were Orthodox Christians, they settled on Newfoundland (L’Anse aux Meadows) for some years and even had a priest with them. But it is believed that other Orthodox Christians, even earlier than the 10th century, were on Newfoundland. Some say that St. Brendan the Navigator and his monks from Ireland came to Newfoundland in the 6th century.
And here we are, some 1,400 years after St. Brendan’s great voyage and Fr. John and I are in the midst of planning our move to Newfoundland to serve the Orthodox community there. (We hope to settle there by September). And even though I want to move to Newfoundland, and even though I have family there, and even though I am happy to be home in Canada, and even though I consider all of Atlantic Canada as home in a sense, I keep hearing St. Brendan’s prayer run through my head when I think about moving to “the Rock”.
Holy Hermitage of the Annunciation, New Germany, Nova Scotia
See, my “native land” isn’t simply New Brunswick, nor even Greece: It’s a mindset. It’s familiarity, comfort. My heart feels pulled in multiple directions; my mind is full of doubting questions, “Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy, without silver, without a horse, without fame, without honor?”
Sometimes our will corresponds with the will of God and it makes life changes easier, even pleasant. But there are other times when the will of God is, at least in some ways, contrary to our own will for ourselves, for our future. It is in those latter times when we must push ourselves the most. Since what is this temporal life after all? The Prophet David tells us, “As for man his days are as the grass, as the flower of the field so shall he blossom forth”. Odd as it may sound, the fact that my earthly life is quickly passing away helps me. Why shouldn’t I surrender to the will of God? Why shouldn’t I abandon the “soft comforts of home” or “turn my back on my native land”? this vain life in which man “spends like a shadow” (Ecc. 6:12)?
Fredericton: Fr. John’s hometown and the capital of New Brunswick – not as nice as the city of Saint John, but nice nonetheless
So I will say goodbye to my beautiful, green New Brunswick. I wave farewell to my holy city of Thessaloniki. For unless I evade citizenship in this world how will I become a citizen of Heaven? The “present forms of this world are passing away” (1 Cor. 7:31). All we have to cling to are the unchanging forms of the world to come in which there is no distance from loved ones, no other “native land” but the one Kingdom and its worthy citizens, with whom we will glorify the One True King of all, the Lord of Hosts.
As we set out on our own journey, facing “towards the sea”, I ask your prayers, your patience, and your fellowship. I’m sure there will be lots of changes. I hope I will have time to keep the blog up, but things will be different. The number of posts may decrease, but I will try my best to communicate with you all and come up with something interesting to say despite the serious decline in monastery-visits I will be experiencing.
Through the prayers of St. Brendan, and countless other holy missionaries who set out on difficult paths in order to offer themselves as kindling for the fire of God’s love, may we find Christ’s help on the “wild waves” yet to come!
Shall I abandon, O King of mysteries, the soft comforts of home?
Shall I turn my back on my native land, and turn my face towards the sea?
Shall I put myself wholly at your mercy,
without silver, without a horse,
without fame, without honor?
Shall I throw myself wholly upon You,
without sword and shield, without food and drink,
without a bed to lie on?
Shall I say farewell to my beautiful land, placing myself under Your yoke?
Shall I pour out my heart to You, confessing my manifold sins and begging forgiveness,
tears streaming down my cheeks?
Shall I leave the prints of my knees on the sandy beach,
a record of my final prayer in my native land?
Shall I then suffer every kind of wound that the sea can inflict?
Shall I take my tiny boat across the wide sparkling ocean?
O King of the Glorious Heaven, shall I go of my own choice upon the sea?
O Christ, will You help me on the wild waves?
Read Full Post » | <urn:uuid:0c1e58ee-d5d2-4401-8f33-818593da766c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lessonsfromamonastery.wordpress.com/category/orthodoxy-in-different-lands/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00005-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.940212 | 1,107 | 1.984375 | 2 |
Remember the dotcom bubble? You know, that wacky window in the late '90s when profitless technology companies scored billion-dollar valuations like bouquets on Valentine's Day. This isn’t 1999, but the tech sector is getting frothy. Hot targets of late: Facebook, Groupon, 3Par, Huffington Post, among others. This time, at least, the beneficiaries are generating some profits--and profits are ultimately the basis for what any company is worth to investors in the long run.
To bring things more down to earth, we decided to assess the profit-making ability of small businesses in a variety of more traditional industries.
With the help of Sageworks, a Raleigh, N.C.-based accounting consultancy and private-company data provider, Forbes assembled a list of the 20 most profitable types of businesses, on a pretax basis. At No. 1: offices of Certified Public Accountants, with an average pretax margin of 16.5%. Offices of physicians (except mental health specialists), which clock an average 10.4% margin, brought up the rear.
The data are drawn from financial statements on nearly 300,000 companies, most with under $10 million in annual revenue, and bucketed by five- and six-digit North American Industry Classification System codes. The figures were gathered between Jan 1, 2003 and Jan 1, 2011, to capture an entire business cycle. To be considered, each category included at least 100 companies. (Banks were excluded from the analysis, as their accounting methods are not comparable to other industries'.)
Here is a list of the 20 most-profitable industries and their average pretax margins:
1. Offices of Certified Public Accountants
Average Pretax Margin, 2003-2010: 16.5%
The most profitable niche of the bunch enjoys a nice mix of pricing power (everybody needs accountants, no matter how the economy is doing), low overhead and marketing scale, thanks to plenty of repeat clients.
2. Offices of Chiropractors: 15.3% Some question the medicinal value of their service. Hard to question their financial performance, though.
3. Freestanding Ambulatory Surgical and Emergency Centers: 15%
Services include orthoscopic and cataract surgery on an outpatient basis; setting broken bones, treating lacerations, or tending to patients suffering injuries as a result of accidents, trauma or other problems that need immediate attention. These facilities include operating and recovery rooms, and specialized equipment, such as anesthetic or X-ray machines. In short: If a big rock falls on your leg, you're going to find a way to fix it--fast. (For more on the economics of the air ambulance business, check out Rescue Helicopters Elevate Profits.)
4. Other Accounting Services: 14.9%
Various accounting, bookkeeping, billing and tax preparation services in any form, handled not necessarily by a Certified Public Accountant. (See #1.)
5. Offices of Dentists: 14.7%
Dentists enjoy operating scale--that is, they can handle several patients at once. Some of the equipment is expensive, but hygienists don't cost much. Better yet, a lot of customers pay out of pocket. That gives dentists more pricing power relative to other medical providers.
6. Tax Preparation Services: 14.7% Who likes paying taxes? Exactly.
7. Offices of Orthodontists: 14.4%
Who likes crooked teeth? Exactly.
8. Offices of Lawyers: 13.4%
Odd that they aren't higher on the list, given their fees. (For more on how to get the best out of your legal counsel, check out columns by Forbes contributor Robert Bovarnick here.)
9. Sales Financing: 13.3%
These companies are popular in a credit crunch. They lend money for the purpose of providing collateralized goods through a contractual installment sales agreement, either directly from, or through, arrangements with dealers. For more on alternative ways that small businesses can raise quick cash, check out Nine Alternative Ways To Raise Cash Right Now and Where To Find Capital Now.
10. Portfolio Management: 12.2%
11. Drilling Oil And Gas Wells: 12%
12. Offices of Optometrists: 11.5%
13. Lessors of Nonresidential Buildings (except Mini-warehouses): 11.3%
14. Offices of Real Estate Appraisers: 11% 15. Lessors of Miniwarehouses and Self-Storage Units: 11%
16. Insurance Agencies and Brokerages: 11%
17. Other Activities Related To Credit Intermediation: 10.7%
18. Investment Advice: 10.7%
19. Offices of Physical, Occupational and Speech Therapists, and Audiologists: 10.6%
20. Offices of Physicians (except Mental Health Specialists): 10.4%
Thirteen of the top 20 categories involve professional services that require years of training and certification, from healing the sick to balancing financial accounts. Three big perks with professional services: consistent demand, relatively low overhead and what economists call "high switching costs." (If someone's been doing your taxes for 20 years, why would you switch?) Little surprise that manufacturing and retail--industries with few economies of scale--didn't make the cut.
Size matters too, even within the small-company universe. Tiny shops may not require a lot of overhead, but at some point--say, a few million dollars in revenue--the relative level of overhead spikes, crimping margins.
To be fair, these numbers are something of a snapshot, as the profitability of a given industry ebbs and flows with the overall economy. (Some industries get permanently disrupted along the way--just ask those of us in the publishing business.) Another thing to remember about profit margins: A business can appear very profitable on a percentage basis but not generate great piles of money--especially if the principals are pulling out every last dollar to cover private-school tuition fees and summer-home mortgages. There are also tax reasons to play with recorded salaries. Many small businesses are structured as "pass-through" entities, such as S corps and limited liability companies (as opposed to C corporations, as publicly traded firms are). That means the income "passes" straight to shareholders, who then pay taxes on it at their ordinary income rate, thus avoiding the corporate tax. (Losses flow through, too, allowing shareholders to offset income from other sources.)
For more on understanding the paths (and roadblocks) to greater profitability, check out The 20 Most Important Questions In Business, The 10 Questions You Should Never Stop Asking and The 10 Ingredients Of A Great Business Plan. | <urn:uuid:97e3aceb-3aa7-47d2-9ef1-9f0b44975550> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://smallbusiness.yahoo.com/advisor/most-profitable-small-businesses-000844284.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927952 | 1,411 | 1.804688 | 2 |
|Introduction||| Print ||
|Written by Jesse Kline|
The Internet offers many promises. Promises of a world where information is free, where citizens have the knowledge and resources to make informed democratic choices. A world of free trade, where goods and services are exchanged across borders, allowing everyone to focus on their aptitudes and exchange the product of their labour in a virtually limitless marketplace. A world free from tyranny, where governments cannot stop the free flow of information and ideas. A world of democracy and free speech, where people exchange idea and debate the issues of the day, without fear of censorship or retaliation.
I first started using the Internet in the early 1990s. I remember tying up our household's one telephone line as I dialled into the Internet and surfed the web with a text-based browser. Back then the possibilities seemed endless. The Evil Empire had fallen and a new era of peace and prosperity seemed to be upon us. And here we had this new communications medium, which was free from government control. Back then the Internet was often compared to the Wild West. This inspired images of the lone cowboy, at liberty to do as he pleased, to travel wherever the wind may take him, free from any authorities telling him what to do and think. The Internet was something organic, an interconnected world of communities built from the ground up by individuals acting of their own volition. This was a world where the politicians who ran our lives in the physical world were no longer needed.
For many years, governments took a hands-off approach to the Internet, and the world witnessed technological innovations that were beyond our wildest dreams. From the creation of e-mail and the World Wide Web, to the browser wars of the '90s, to the creation of online payment systems, streaming video, Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) technology, and the open source movement, a spirit of competition and innovation created the modern-day Internet. Likewise, personal web pages, blogs, and other technologies have given people around the world the ability to express themselves to a mass audience. The low barriers to entry that the technologies provide created a marketplace of ideas that is unparallelled in any other communications medium and at any other point in history.
Yet all this seems to have changed. Nowadays, net neutrality advocates portray Internet service providers as the big bad wolf, arguing that government must step in to save us from the multinational corporations. Security hawks say that government must spy on us to protect us from terrorism. And the politically correct crowd tells us that our ideas should be censored because they might offend someone else. At the same time, governments are introducing strict laws that prevent people from using the technology to its full potential. Laws that prevent us from sharing our lives and participating in our own culture.
It is now clear that the Wild West is gone and in its place we have something far more tame and much less free. The Internet, however, has become an indispensable tool in many of our lives. People rely on it for business, education, entertainment, and communication. The future of the Internet is, therefore, more important than ever and the policy decisions that governments around the world make will have a profound effect on the future of the Internet and freedom in general. This website explores two of the emerging public policy issues of the digital age: copyright law and net neutrality.
|Last Updated on Thursday, 25 March 2010 14:50| | <urn:uuid:f6e7ad20-7fc1-42cc-9e62-b8b7f02dcb86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://thesis.kline.ca/component/content/article/48-introduction | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.955745 | 697 | 2.546875 | 3 |
Chant of the Wind Horse Prayer Flag
A special screening and presentation about Tibetan culture
Time: 7:30 – 9:30pm on August 12
Address: Richmond Cultural Centre (7700 Minoru Gate,
Cost: Free, with one-time annual membership of $5
Language: English & Tibetan & Mandarin
Our Monthly Film Series comes back in August with a special evening of film and lecture about contemporary Tibetan culture.
This special event is hosted by a Tibetan scholar Yongdrol Tsongkha. It will provide local residents a chance to understand Tibetan culture from a new perspective.
Professor Tsongkha has just completed a lecture tour in the universities of United States and will visit Canada in August. On this event, Tsongkha will use photos and video to share with audience the colourful folk arts of the contemporary Tibet, and will show part of his recently completed documentary In the Steps of Joseph Rock: Exploring A Lost Tibetan Kingdom in the Sino-Tibetan Borderlands. This film was screened on the 1st edition of New Asia Film Festival in 2008.
Tsongkha is a professor of Ethnology at the Lanzhou University of China and a Research Associate at the Indiana University of the States. He was born in a beautiful village, Choshidewa, on the northeastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Choshidewa is part of the Kumbum area, home to many Tibetan historical figures, including Je Tsongkhapa (1357-1419), the founder of Gelek School of Tibetan Buddhism and the XIVth Dalai Lama. But when Tsongkha was born in middle 1960s, the rich traditions of Tibetan culture in his hometown were fading.
Tsongkha traveled throughout Tibet in his youth, lived in Beijing for many years, earned a PhD in Tibetan Medical History (1995), and worked as a research professor at Chinese Academy of Sciences (1995-1999), then went to the U.S. as a visiting scholar.
In 2003, after many years of living in North America, Tsongkha returned home and embarked on a journey to preserve the Tibetan culture from inside. He initiated several traditional folk arts festivals in his village and nearby areas, strived to make some universities in China to accept Tibetan dances and language into their curriculum, and also made film and TV programs about Tibetan and other indigenous cultures.
He uses traditional games, dances, and music to help his people regain the pride and dignity of their own culture. His vision is deeply rooted in the understanding of Tibetan religion, and at the same time ranges beyond the limits of nations and geography.
About the Film
In the Steps of Joseph Rock: Exploring A Lost Tibetan Kingdom in the Sino-Tibetan Borderlands
(2008-2009/Director: Yongdrol. K.Tsongkha, Donnak Sonam Dorje/110 min/documentary )
Language: Tibetan and Mandarin + English Subtitle.
Choni is a beautiful place on the north-eastern edge of the Tibetan Plateau. Still rarely known to the western world, it was a Tibetan Principality with over 500 years of history and a vital cultural center on the Chinese-Tibetan borderlands. Eighty years ago, Joseph Francis Rock (1884-1962), one of the last classic explorers, embarked on his extensive expeditions across the Tibetan plateau. His remarkable article in National Geographic in 1928, “Life Among the Lamas of Choni,” along with his extraordinary visual materials of the Chinese-Tibetan borderlands and its people, are unique and remain invaluable to the history of this region.
Eighty years later, this carefully crafted documentary follows in the footsteps of this legendary explorer. By blending over 500 original photographs from Rock’s expeditions with modern images, and by weaving an extensively research chronology via narration and excerpts from his dairies, the film not only shows how eastern Tibet looked in the 1920s, but also portrays how the same places and people look now. It is a memorial meeting of the east and west, a long lasting dialogue between the past and the present. | <urn:uuid:e31de52c-51a7-4215-a28e-c271d8daf71c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vnaff.ca/tag/yongdrol-tsongkha/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.948558 | 857 | 1.90625 | 2 |
It is almost 60 years since Rudolph Nissen performed a three-staged procedure of ileostomy, total colectomy, and ileoanal anastomosis. During the last 15 years, the ileoanal operation has gained wide use in treating mucosal ulcerative colitis and familial polyposis.
The authors have written an extremely interesting and complete textbook based on information from four continents. The last complete textbook on the pelvic pouch, edited by Roger R. Dozois, MD, of the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minn, was entitled Alternatives to Conventional Ileostomy and was published in 1985.
In the 15 chapters of their text, the authors have succeeded in addressing the technical and metabolic problems associated with pelvic pouch procedures. They also have addressed all of the known complications, providing detailed advice regarding treatment. The drawings are simple line drawings, but are very illustrative. The authors draw heavily on results of their physiologic studies in writing an excellent review chapter on | <urn:uuid:6e39f7ac-4f0a-4422-b4f0-6ba18e73a21b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://archsurg.jamanetwork.com/article.aspx?articleid=595496 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00052-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949322 | 207 | 1.703125 | 2 |
- Organization: SHARE! Exchange Program
- Causes: Educational
- Date(s): Year-round
- Contact person: Brenda Hornberger
- Phone: 1-866-900-3738
- Email: email@example.com
- Website: www.erdtshare.org
Local Families Needed to Share America with Exchange Students
American freedom and democracy are a part of our everyday lives and something that we often take for granted. Have you ever thought about sharing with the rest of the world what makes America so special? You can by hosting a teen from one of more than thirty countries for the upcoming school year or semester.
Lexington families are still needed to host students who will study at local high schools for a semester of school year. Families of all types are eligible to host: those with young children or teens or families with no children at home. They are expected to treat their exchange students as family members. The students, who will arrive in August, are participating in the SHARE! High School Exchange Program to learn firsthand about Americans and our way of life. They speak English, have medical insurance, and bring spending money for personal expenses. The SHARE! Program, sponsored by Educational Resource Development Trust (ERDT), a global educational nonprofit foundation, was created to provide opportunities for greater understanding between Americans and peoples of the world. | <urn:uuid:8974dfb0-08d0-434f-9649-76b336b191dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://lexington.patch.com/announcements/host-an-exchange-student-ba464abb | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00069-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941806 | 281 | 1.875 | 2 |
Frugal Family Gardening Tips
This week’s Frugal Family is a collection of frugal tips for gardening.
Living frugally. Whether you do it because you have to or because you prefer to spend wisely, we can all agree that everyone has tips and tricks for saving money.
This week we're going back to the topic of gardening. Once you have your garden growing, how do you frugally keep it going, avoiding pests and problems? Once you have that smorgasbord out there, the furry locals may visit as well and help themselves.
Thus far this year I’ve learned that metallic pinwheels (that cost maybe $1 each from a local drug store) keep animals from eating my impatiens. How did I find this out? The flowers in one planter were eaten while ones in the other (with the pinwheels) were not touched. I put a few pinwheels in the garden and can honestly say that I have spinach, cucumbers and sunflowers growing happily.
Another tip I read about and tried was to put baby food jars on sticks and place them in the ground. Supposedly if these jars are at the eye level of garden ‘pests,’ the light reflections keep them away.
Is it a coincidence or does this actually work? For a few bucks it’s worth a shot.
Used coffee grounds are also great for garden soil. When the grounds are added to the soil they add nitrogen as they decompose. You only need to add an inch or so at a time around a plant (never directly at the base of the plant but maybe a ½ inch away). You can get free used grounds from some local coffee houses. Starbucks has a program in which you can walk in and ask for a free bag, so next time you head to your favorite coffee spot request the grounds on the side.
What's more frugal than using what you already have around the house? If you drink milk, don't throw that milk container away just yet -- fill it with water and use that diluted milk and water mixture to water your plants. Besides providing nutrients to plants, milk can help prevent and cure some fungus problems. Last summer it worked on eliminating mildew on my squash plants. A spray bottle full of diluted milk every few days in the morning hours helped save two of my three plants. Could I have gone to the garden store to buy something? Sure, but we're talking frugality here.
If slugs are a problem in your garden, use crushed eggshells around tender plants to kill them. (You fertilize your soil at the same time). Copper pot scrubbers are known to work as well since, apparently, slugs are not fans of copper.
Another frugal and eco-friendly way to keep bugs away is to plant mint. Spearmint especially is a great natural bug repellent. Plant some in your garden (in a container since mint is known for its ability to take over an area). Even just putting plain mint mouthwash in a spray bottle to be used as a bug spray supposedly works! I’ll be trying that on my next camping trip.
If you’re not a fan of mint, plant garlic, rosemary or sage, which can help prevent insects in the garden.
Check your local plant nursery or home store for an assortment of herbs, vegetables and fruit plants that are ready to be planted. It's far from being too late to start a garden -- you can even start to plan out your Fall/Winter garden now. | <urn:uuid:9afcf271-a96e-4a71-8218-4733e11217de> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://southwhitehall.patch.com/articles/frugal-family-gardening-tips | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967282 | 743 | 2 | 2 |
Scythe have found a way to further enhance performance of traditional 120mm system fans by increasing the fan thickness from the common 25mm to 38mm, this apparently allowing the fan to operate with a higher "Static Pressure".
Dubbed the "Ultra Kaze 120", these series of fans are offered in three flavours, 1,000RPM, 2,000RPM and 3,000RPM. To give you an idea of the improved performance characteristics of these new fans, the slowest 1,000RPM model is still capable of pushing 44,44CFM.
Scythe have included a couple of charts in their press release to further give you an idea of the advantages to the new design over previous fans available in their range. Click the image below to get a better look at the results.
Scythe Co., Ltd (Tokyo, Japan) announces three new 120mm fans. These new fans provide a better performance by integrating the higher "Static Pressure" feature. Unlike the common fans with 25mm thickness, the new "Ultra Kaze 120" comes with 38mm thickness. The slowest model (DFS123812L-1000) is specified with 1000RPM, 19,81dBA and 44,44CFM. Furthermore, it is designed for silent operation in a PC system. Other models of "Ultra Kaze 120" (DFS123812L-2000 and DFS123812L-3000) aim for enthusiasts who are seeking high performance and high airflow for their PCs.
Further Reading: Read and find more news at our news index page. | <urn:uuid:e8eb85f5-c003-4598-9dd5-eeff6c48686d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.tweaktown.com/news/8345/scythe_improves_120mm_fan_design/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368710006682/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516131326-00026-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933492 | 330 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Here I compare blue lasers with green lasers found on the hobby market today. I explain the pros and cons of each and demonstrate their features.
I got a lot of requests for this video after I posted my video comparing red lasers to green lasers.
Man is God.
He is everywhere, he is anybody, he knows everything.
This is the Prometeus new world.
All started with the Media Revolution, with Internet, at the end of the last century.
Everything related to the old media vanished: Gutenberg, the
copyright, the radio, the television, the publicity.
The old world reacts: more restrictions for the copyright, new laws against non authorized copies. Napster, the music peer to peer company is sued.
At the same time, free internet radio appears;
TIVO, the internet television, allows to avoid publicity; the Wall Street Journal goes on line; Google launches Google news.
Millions of people read daily the biggest on line newspaper. Ohmynews written by thousands of journalists; Flickr becomes the biggest repository in the history of photos, YouTube for movies.
The power of the masses.
A new figure emerges: the prosumer, a producer and a consumer of information. Anyone can be a prosumer.
The news channels become available on Internet.
The blogs become more influential than the old media.
The newspapers are released for free.
Wikipedia is the most complete encyclopedia ever.
In 2007 Life magazine closes.
The NYT sells its television and declares that the future is digital. BBC follows.
In the main cities of the world people are connected for free.
At the corners of the streets totems print pages from blogs and digital magazines.
The virtual worlds are common places on the Internet for millions of people.
A person can have multiple on line identities.
Second Life launches the vocal avatar.
The old media fight back.
A tax is added on any screen; newspapers, radios and televisions are financed by the State; illegal download from the web is punished with years of jail.
Around 2011 the tipping point is reached: the publicity investments are done on the Net. The electronic paper is a mass product: anyone can read anything on plastic paper.
In 2015 newspapers and broadcasting television disappear, digital terrestrial is abandoned, the radio goes on the Internet.
The media arena is less and less populated. Only the Tyrannosaurus Rex survives. The Net includes and unifies all the content. Google buys Microsoft. Amazon buys Yahoo! and become the world universal content leaders with BBC, CNN and CCTV.
The concept of static information - books, articles, images - changes and is transformed into knowledge flow.
The publicity is chosen by the content creators, by the authors and becomes information, comparison, experience.
In 2020 Lawrence Lessig, the author of 'Free Culture', is the new US Secretary of Justice and declares the copyright illegal.
Devices that replicate the five senses are available in the virtual worlds. The reality could be replicated in Second Life.
Any one has an Agav (agent-avatar) that finds information, people, places in the virtual worlds.
In 2022 Google launches Prometeus, the Agav standard interface.
Amazon creates Place, a company that replicates reality. You can be on Mars, at the battle of Waterloo, at the Super Bowl as a person. It's real.
In 2027 Second Life evolves into Spirit. People become who they want.
And share the memory. The experiences. The feelings. Memory selling becomes a normal trading.
In 2050 Prometeus buys Place and Spirit. Virtual life is the biggest market on the planet. Prometeus finances all the space missions to find new worlds for its customers: the terrestrial avatar.
Experience is the new reality.
Voice: Philip K. Dick Avatar.
Date: 6th April 2051 | <urn:uuid:d0a5adb7-39cc-4f45-8425-7087e72fc633> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bcmoney-mobiletv.com/tag/electronic/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902258 | 798 | 1.789063 | 2 |
Involuntary memory, also known as involuntary explicit memory, involuntary conscious memory, involuntary aware memory, and most commonly, involuntary autobiographical memory, is a subcomponent of memory that occurs when cues encountered in everyday life evoke recollections of the past without conscious effort. Voluntary memory, its binary opposite, is characterized by a deliberate effort to recall the past.
Occurrences of involuntary memory
There appear to be at least three different contexts within which involuntary memory arises, as described by J.H. Mace in his book, Involuntary Memory. These include those that occur in everyday life, those that occur during the processes of voluntary and involuntary recall, and those that occur as part of a psychiatric syndrome.
Precious fragments
These include involuntary memories as they arise in everyday mental functioning, comprising the most common occurrences. They are characterized by their element of surprise, as they appear to come into conscious awareness spontaneously. They are the products of common every-day experiences such as eating a piece of cake, bringing to mind a past experience evoked by the taste. The term "precious fragments" was coined by Marigold Linton, a pioneer in the study of autobiographical memory research.
By-products of other memories
These are less common, and appear to be the result of voluntary/involuntary retrieval[vague]. Characteristic of such occurrences is the triggering effect this has, as one involuntary memory leads to another and so on. Again, Linton describes her own experiences with such memories as "...coming unbidden sometimes when my mind is silent, but also as by-products of searches for other information."
Not so precious fragments
Finally, some involuntary memories arise from traumatic experiences, and as such are fairly rare compared to other involuntary memories. Subjects describe them as salient, repetitive memories of traumatic events. The troubling nature of such memories makes these occurrences important to clinical researchers in their studies of psychiatric syndromes such as Post-traumatic Stress Disorder.
Hermann Ebbinghaus
Born in Bremen, Germany in 1850, Hermann Ebbinghaus is recognized as the first to apply the principles of experimental psychology to studying memory. He is especially well known for his introduction and application of nonsense syllables in studying memory. Nonsense syllables are combinations of letters that do not follow grammatical rules, and are meant to lack any meaning. Ebbinghaus designed the use of them to study his own memory by memorizing lists of nonsense syllables and testing his own recall after specified time intervals. From this he discovered the Forgetting curve and the Spacing effect, two of his most well-known contributions. Ebbinghaus was also the first to attempt a description of involuntary memory, stating that, ‘Often, even after years, mental states once present in consciousness return to it with apparent spontaneity and without any act of the will; that is, they are reproduced involuntarily. Here, also, in the majority of cases we at once recognize the returned mental state as one that has already been experienced; that is, we remember it. Under certain conditions, however, this accompanying consciousness is lacking, and we know only indirectly that the "now" must be identical with the "then"; yet we receive in this way a no less valid proof for its existence during the intervening time. As more exact observation teaches us, the occurrence of these involuntary reproductions is not an entirely random and accidental one. On the contrary they are brought about through the instrumentality of other immediately present mental images. Moreover, they occur in certain regular ways that, in general terms, are described under the so-called laws of association.
Marcel Proust—Proustian Memory
Marcel Proust was the first person to coin the term involuntary memory, in his novel In Search of Lost Time (or Remembrance of Things Past). Proust did not have any psychological background, and worked primarily as a writer. He was considered sickly as a child, and suffered from what was most likely Borderline personality disorder.
Proust viewed involuntary memory as containing the "essence of the past", claiming that it was lacking from voluntary memory. In his novel, he describes an incident where he was eating tea soaked cake, and a childhood memory of eating tea soaked cake with his aunt was "revealed" to him. From this memory, he then proceeded to be reminded of the childhood home he was in, and even the town itself. This becomes a theme throughout In Search of Lost Time, with sensations remind Proust of previous experiences. He dubbed these Involuntary memories.
Current research
One idea that has recently become the subject of studies on involuntary memory is chaining. This is the concept that involuntary memories have the tendency to trigger other involuntary memories that are related. Typically, it is thought to be the contents of involuntary memories that are related to one another, thereby causing the chaining effect.
In a diary study done by J.H Mace, participants reported that frequently, when one involuntary memory arose, it would quickly trigger a series of other involuntary memories. This was recognized as the cueing source for involuntary memories.
In work by Bernsten, the diary method was also applied to the study of involuntary memory chaining. The main hypothesis was that chaining would also occur on autobiographical memory tasks. Participants were asked to report the presence of involuntary memories while performing an autobiographical memory task. Results showed that participants did experience involuntary memory recall when they were recalling the past deliberately (also known as voluntary memory). This implies that involuntary memory production occurs as a product of chaining from voluntary memory—deliberate recall of the past.
A common question in the study of involuntary memory is related to priming; what is it that activates such a memory? Various recent studies have been done to observe the conditions under which involuntary memories are primed.
Mace, in one of his recent studies, wanted to test the notion that basic cognitive activities, such as thinking about the past, may prime involuntary memories. To test this idea, Mace set up a diary method study in which participants recorded involuntary memories they experienced during a two-week period, in a diary. During this two-week period, participants also had to come into a laboratory at intervals, and were instructed to recall memories from certain life periods (e.g., high school, first five years of marriage). Following this, comparing their involuntary memories to a control condition found that a significant number of their involuntary memories related to the time period they were instructed to recall. Such findings suggest that involuntary memories may be primed by even the simplest of cognitive tasks—namely, reminiscing and recalling the past.
Neurological basis
Research studies regarding the neurological functions of involuntary memory have been few in number. Thus far, only two neuroimaging studies have been conducted comparing involuntary memories to voluntary memories using Positron Emission Tomography (PET).
The first study found that involuntary memory retrieval is mediated by the hippocampus, which is known to be associated with successful episodic memory retrieval. In addition, activity in areas such as the left inferior frontal gyrus, left superior temporal gyrus, left hippocampus, and right superior occipital cortex, have been implicated in involuntary memory when dealing with involuntary word recognition tasks. Areas implicated with executive control processes such as right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and bilateral medial/lateral parietal cortex were more active during voluntary word recognition tasks.
The second study found that the medial temporal lobe, the posterior cingulate gyrus, and the precunueus, are activated during retrieval success with or without executive control seen within right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. This implies that involuntary memories are successfully retrieved using the same system as voluntary memory when retrieving perceptual information. Voluntary and involuntary recall were both associated with increased activations in the posterior cingulated gyrus, left precuneus, and right parahippocampal gyrus. In addition, right dorsolateral prefrontal cortex, and left precuneus were more active during voluntary recall, while left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex was more active during involuntary recall. It is suggested that the activation seen in left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex during involuntary memory recall reflects the attempt to prevent the recollected material from interfering with the semantic judgment task.
Effects of age
While age plays a role in memory capabilities, it has been found that general strategies used to encode (to remember) memories is more important. Those that are better at memorizing information are more likely to have more involuntary memories.
In younger children (ages 10 and under), it has also been found that inducing involuntary memory during testing produced significantly better results than using voluntary memory. This can be accomplished by posing a vague, mildly related question or sentence prior to the actual test question. In older children (aged 14 and above), the opposite holds, with strictly voluntary memory leading to better test results.
Reminiscence bump
The Reminiscence bump is the phenomenon where in memories formed during adolescence and early adulthood are more commonly remembered than those throughout other periods in life. This is due to the formation of self-identity in this period. It has been found that this is true for both voluntary and involuntary memories. Age has been found to have a difference on the amount of memories recalled, but no age differences were found in the specificity of involuntary memories.
The role of emotion
Emotion intensity on involuntary memory
Emotion plays a strong role in relation to memory. It has been found that memories associated with stronger emotions (i.e.: being happy at your wedding) are more easily remembered and quickly recalled, as are those formed during moments of intense stress. The same holds true for involuntary memories, with happy involuntary memories occurring twice as often as unhappy or neutral involuntary memories.
In clinical disorders
Posttraumatic Stress Disorder
Often people who have been the victims of some type of trauma describe vivid memories that intrude on their thoughts spontaneously and without warning. Such mental intrusions, if maintained over time compose the hallmark symptom of Posttraumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD).
The DSM-IV defines a trauma as an event in which someone experiences, or witnesses’ severe injury to themselves or others or a threat to their integrity. The person must also have responded with fear, helplessness or horror at the time of the trauma. The main psychological consequences of this include re-experiencing the traumatic event (through both intrusive thoughts and images), avoidance of trauma-related stimuli, and increased arousal levels.
When it comes to involuntary memory, researchers are mainly interested in the concept of these trauma-related intrusions, which generally involved some form of re-experiencing the event, including a sensory component (e.g., imagery in any modality be it visual, auditory etc.). These intrusions, often termed, “Flashbacks” make the victim feel as though they are reliving the trauma, and cause high levels of emotional arousal, and the sense of an impending threat. Typically, they are parts of the traumatic event that were most salient at the time, known as “hotspots” and have the definitive feature that they cause high levels of emotional distress, and may be difficult to recall deliberately. Although this is a defining feature of PTSD, intrusive memories are also frequently encountered in anxiety-based disorders, psychotic disorders and even within the general population. Regardless of the context in which they are encountered, intrusions tend to have the same central feature; that the stored information is being recalled involuntarily. It is thought that intrusions arise when an individual encounters stimuli similar to the stimuli that were processed and stored during the trauma, thus triggering the memory into the conscious mind. A common example is one in which someone who has the victim of a car crash, upon hearing the screeching of tires experiences a flashback of their own collision, as if they are back at the original event.
Stressful and traumatic events, which may manifest as involuntary memories called flashbacks, may trigger a wide range of anxiety-based and psychotic disorders. Social phobia, bipolar disorder, depression, and agoraphobia, are a few examples of disorders that have influences from flashbacks.
Psychosis is defined as a range of perceptual presentations, with the associated symptoms frequently referred to as either positive or negative. Positive symptoms are delusional, and may include hallucinations, while negative symptoms are characterized by a “lack” of functioning, which may include a lack of affect (emotional feeling) and loss of motivation. One study found that there was a high prevalence of trauma in patients with severe mental illness. However, only a small percentage had been diagnosed with PTSD when displaying PTSD-like symptoms. Therefore, the more complex symptoms of psychosis may prevent the clinical detection required when diagnosing PTSD. In addition, those who have been diagnosed with PTSD and have an identified form of trauma show positive symptoms of psychosis such as delusions and/or hallucinations. Finally, it has been suggested that individuals suffering from psychosis may be more vulnerable to intrusions.
- John H. Mace (2007). Involuntary memory. Wiley-Blackwell. ISBN 978-1-4051-3638-9.
- Ebbinghaus, H. (1885/1964). Memory: A contribution to experimental psychology, (trans. H.A. Ruger and C.E. Bussenius). Dover, New York.
- Bernstein, A. E. (2005). The contributions of Marcel Proust to psychoanalysis. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis and Dynamic Psychiatry, 33(1), 137–48.
- Rugg, M. D., Fletcher, P. C., Frith, C. D., J, R. S., & Dolan, R. J. (1997). Brain regions supporting intentional and incidental memory: a PET study. Neuroreport (Oxford) , 8 (5), 1283-1287.
- Hall, N. M., Gjedde, A., & Kupers, R. (2008). Neural mechanisms of voluntary and involuntary recall : A PET study. Behavioural brain research , 186 (2), 261-272.
- Sophian, C., & Hagen, J. W. (1978). Involuntary memory and the development of retrieval skills in young children. Journal of Experimental Child Psychology , 26 (3), 458–471.
- Roberts, T. A. (1989). Developmental aspects of activating voluntary and involuntary memory processes during reading. Contemporary Educational Psychology , 14 (1), 1–11.
- Conway, M. A., Wang, Q., Hanyu, K., & Haque, S. (2005). A cross-cultural investigation of autobiographical memory. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 36, 739–749. doi:10.1177/0022022105280512
- Schlagman, S., Kliegel, M., Schulz, J., & Kvavilashvili, L. (2009). Differential effects of age on involuntary and voluntary autobiographical memory. Psychology and Aging, 24(2), 397–411. doi:10.1037/a0015785
- D'Argembeau, A., & Van, d. L. (2005). Influence of emotion on memory for temporal information. Emotion, 5(4), 503–507. doi:10.1037/1528-35126.96.36.1993
- Hall, N. M., & Berntsen, D. (2008). The effect of emotional stress on involuntary and voluntary conscious memories. Memory (Hove.Print), 16(1), 48–57.
- Berntsen, D., & Rubin, D. C. (2002). Emotionally charged autobiographical memories across the life span: The recall of happy, sad, traumatic and involuntary memories. Psychology and Aging , 17 (4), 636–652.
- Berntsen, D., & Rubin, D. C. (2008). The reappearance hypothesis revisited: Recurrent involuntary memories after traumatic events and in everyday life. Memory & Cognition (pre-2012) , 36 (2), 449-60.
- Hackmann, A., Clark, D. M., & Mcmanus, F. (2000). Recurrent images and early memories in social phobia. Behaviour Research and Therapy, 38(6), 601–610.
- Mansell, W., & Lam, D. (2004). A preliminary study of autobiographical memory in remitted bipolar and unipolar depression and the role of imagery in memory specificity. Memory, 12, 437–446.
- Kuyken, W., & Brewin, C. R. (1994). Stress and coping in depressed women. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 18(5), 403–412.
- Day, S. J., Holmes, E. A., & Hackmann, A. (2004). Occurrence of imagery and its link with early memories in agoraphobia. Memory, 12, 416–427
- Mueser, K. T., Trumbettam S. L., Rosenberg, S. D., Vivader, R., Goodman, L. B., Osher, F. C., Auciello, P., & Foy, D. W. (1998). Trauma and post-traumatic stress disorder in severe mental illness. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 493–499.
- Lindley, S. E., Carlson, E. B., & Sheikh, J. I. (2000). Psychotic symptoms in posttraumatic stress disorder. CNS Spectrums, 5(9), 52-57.
- Steel, C., Fowler, D., & Holmes, E. A. (2005). Trauma-related intrusions and psychosis: An information processing account. Behavioural and Cognitive Psychotherapy, 33(2), 139–152. | <urn:uuid:255980b0-b5a6-4f86-b31a-5f0fcf1a7787> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Involuntary_memory | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00006-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94561 | 3,703 | 2.84375 | 3 |
Do GM Crops Increase Yield? The Answer is No
Lies, damn lies, and the Monsanto website. Tell a lie a hundred times, and the chances are that it will eventually appear to be true. When it comes to genetically modified crops, Monsanto makes such an effort – and it could be that you too are duped into accepting their distortions as truth.
My attention has been drawn to an article titled "Do GM crops increase yield?" on Monsanto's web page, although I must confess that this is the first time I have visited their site.
This is how it begins: “Recently, there have been a number of claims from anti-biotechnology activists that genetically-modified (GM) crops don’t increase yields. Some have claimed that GM crops actually have lower yields than non-GM crops. Both claims are simply false.”
It then goes on to explain the terms germplasm, breeding, biotechnology, and then finally explains yield.
Here is what it says: “The introduction of GM traits through biotechnology has led to increased yields independent of breeding. Take for example statistics cited by PG Economics, which annually tallies the benefits of GM crops, taking data from numerous studies around the world:
- Mexico - yield increases with herbicide tolerant soybean of 9 percent.
- Romania – yield increases with herbicide tolerant soybeans have averaged 31 percent.
- Philippines – average yield increase of 15 percent with herbicide tolerant corn.
- Philippines – average yield increase of 24 percent with insect resistant corn.
- Hawaii – virus resistant papaya has increased yields by an average of 40 percent.
- India – insect resistant cotton has led to yield increases on average more than 50 percent.”
These assertions are not amusing, and can no longer be taken lightly. I am not only shocked but also disgusted at the way corporations try to fabricate and distort the scientific facts, and dress them up in such a manner that the so-called 'educated' of today will accept them without asking any questions.
At the outset, Monsanto's claims are flawed. I have seen similar conclusions, at least about Bt cotton yields in India, in a study by The International Food Policy Research Institute (IFPRI) – although I have always said that IFPRI is an organisation that needs to be shut down. It has done more damage to developing country agriculture and food security than any other academic institution.
Nevertheless, let us look at Monsanto's claims.
The increases in crop yields that Monsanto has shown in Mexico, Romania, the Philippines, Hawaii and India are actually not yield increases at all. In scientific terms these are called crop losses, which have been very cleverly masqueraded as yield increases. By indulging in a jugglery of scientific terminologies that take advantage of the layman’s ignorance, Monsanto has made claims based on evidence that does not exist.
As written in Monsanto's article: “The most common traits in GM crops are herbicide tolerance (HT) and insect resistance (IR). HT plants contain genetic material from common soil bacteria. IR crops contain genetic material from a bacterium that attacks certain insects.”
This is true. Herbicide tolerant plants and insect resistant plants do perform broadly the same function as chemical pesticides. Both the GM plants and the chemical pesticides reduce crop losses. In fact, GM plants work more or less like a bio-pesticide - the insect feeds on the plant carrying the toxin, and dies. Spraying the chemical pesticide also does the same.
In the case of herbicide tolerant plants, the outcome is much worse. Biotech companies have successfully dove-tailed the trait for herbicide tolerance in the plant. As a result, those who buy the GM seeds have no other option but to also buy the companies own brand of herbicide. Killing two birds with one stone, you might say.
GM companies have only used the transgenic technology to remove competition from the herbicide market. Instead of allowing the farmer to choose from different brands of herbicides available in the market, they have now ensured that you are only left with a Hobson’s choice. As several studies have conclusively shown in the US, the use of herbicide does not go down over time, but rather increases.
Here is the question that must now be asked: if the chemical herbicide used by Monsanto’s herbicide tolerant soybeans (so-called 'Roundup Ready') truly increases yields, then why don’t all the other herbicides available in the market also increase yields?
Surely, if all herbicides do the same job of killing herbs, then all herbicides should increase crop yields. Am I not correct? So why are we led to believe that only Roundup Ready soybeans (a GM crop) increase yields, whereas others do not?
When was the last time you were told that herbicides increase crop yields? Chemical herbicides are only known to merely reduce crop losses. This is what I was taught when studying plant breeding – a fact that is still being taught to agricultural science students everywhere in the world.
A similar story holds true for cotton. We all know that cotton consumes about 50 percent of total pesticides sprayed, and these chemical pesticides are known to reduce crop losses. I am sure that Monsanto would also agree without question that pesticides do not increase crop yields, and I repeat DO NOT increase cotton yields.
Monsanto's Bt cotton, which uses a gene from a soil bacteria to produce a toxin within the plant that kills certain pests, also does the same. It only kills the insect, which means it does the same job that a chemical pesticide is supposed to perform. The crop losses that a farmer minimises after applying chemical pesticide is never (and has never) been measured in terms of yield increases. It has always been computed as savings from crop losses.
If GM crops increase yields, shouldn't we therefore say that chemical pesticides (including herbicides) also increase yields? Will the agricultural scientific community accept that pesticides increases crop yields?
This brings me to another relevant question: Why don't agricultural scientists say that chemical pesticides increase crop yields?
While you ponder over this question (and there are no prizes for getting it right), let me tell you that the last time the world witnessed increases in crop yields was when the high-yielding crop varieties were evolved. That was the time when scientists were able to break through the genetic yield barrier. The double-gene and triple-gene dwarf wheat (a trait that was subsequently inducted in rice) brought in quantum jumps in yield potential. That was way back in the late 1960s. Since then, there has been no further genetic breakthrough in crop yields. Let there be no mistake about it.
Monsanto is therefore making faulty claims. None of its GM crop varieties increases yields. At best, they only reduce crop losses. If Monsanto does not know the difference between crop losses and crop yields, it needs to take some elementary lessons again in plant breeding.
But please, Monsanto, don't try and fool the world by distorting scientific facts.
For the record, let me also state that when Bt cotton was being introduced in India in 2001 (its entry was delayed by another year when I challenged the scientific claims made by Mahyco-Monsanto), the Indian Council for Agricultural Research had also objected to the company's claim of increasing yield. It is however another matter that ICAR's objections were simply brushed aside by the Department of Biotechnology, and we all know why.
Interestingly, ISAAA and several consultancy firms (and how can we believe them anyway after their role in the economic collapse now facing the world) have been claiming that cotton yields in India increased after Bt cotton was introduced. Such claims are made about other crops too. I have seen this happening again and again over the past two decades; whenever the crop yields increase, the scientists and agribusinesses take the credit. But when the crop yields go down, the blame invariably shifts to weather conditions.
Which may make you wonder why agricultural scientists and companies never thank the weather at times of bumper harvest. As a former Indian Agriculture Minister, Mr Chaturanand Mishra, always used to say, the only real Agriculture Minister is the monsoon.
This year, cotton production estimates in India have been scaled down by 14 per cent. Using the same yardstick, does it not mean that the productivity of Bt cotton is also falling? But of course the blame cannot lie with Bt cotton. You guessed right – it must be the fault of inclement weather.
Devinder Sharma is a New Delhi-based food and trade policy analyst. | <urn:uuid:a67956a2-eb48-4f31-9db4-cecea78fa209> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.zcommunications.org/do-gm-crops-increase-yield-the-answer-is-no-by-devinder-sharma | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00060-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.953054 | 1,787 | 2.671875 | 3 |
The largest olive orchard in the Middle East is a direct result of the work of The Negev Foundation!
Beginning in 1986, The Negev Foundation provided funds for research that would discover the best “recipe” for growing orchard crops in the Negev Desert, a region with abundant brackish (salty) water combined with limited reserves of sweet water. Since olive orchards require minimal irrigation, they are an appropriate crop for extensive cultivation in the Negev.
As a result of the research funded by the Negev Foundation in the 1980’s, advanced irrigation technology has been developed. This technology has enabled olive oil company, Halutza™ to succeed in stimulating the economy of the region and becoming an international company. Halutza produces extra virgin oil made exclusively from olives grown and picked from trees maturing on Kibbutz Revivim in the Negev and irrigated with brackish water.
Halutza, originally created for the Israeli market, can currently be found in specialty markets throughout Israel, and has been awarded the “# 1 Olive Oil in Israel” prize twice by the Israeli Olive Board. Halutza has also been awarded with a number of international titles and can be found in American grocery and specialty stores and online. The Negev Foundation promotes Halutza to the Midwest market as a part of the Foundation’s Ohio-Israel Agricultural Initiative.
“Rich with natural minerals, this brackish water is irrigated to nourish Halutza orchards using the latest in irrigation technology. Halutza’s distinct award winning flavor is derived from the ideal combination of the hot desert sun, cool evenings, pollution-free air, and the salty brackish water. This natural ecosystem, along with around-the-clock care, produces larger, juicier and tastier fruit.”
For more information visit: http://www.halutza.com/ | <urn:uuid:74ca389d-2002-4212-9304-42e8f69fc3bb> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://negev.org/OurWork/success.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00001-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921383 | 410 | 2.21875 | 2 |
The Benjamin T. Rome School of Music presents The Merry Widow, the famous operetta by Austro-Hungarian composer Franz Lehár, at the Ward Recital Hall, Catholic University, tonight, Nov. 15 to 18.
Show dates and times are tonight, Nov. 15 to 17 at 7:30 p.m., and Nov. 18 at 2 p.m. Tickets are $20 for general admission, $15 for CUA alumni, and $10 for seniors, students, faculty, and staff, and can be purchased online at http://music.cua.edu. Call 202-319-5416 for more information.
“We have a cast of mostly undergraduate singers and many freshmen,” said Sharon Christman, professor and head of the voice division. “We are proud of each and every one of them. Along with a few of the leads who are graduate students, we have included much dancing – folk and waltz – to bring out every facet of this intriguing and beautiful operetta.”
As music director Katerina Souvorova explains, The Merry Widow has quite a history. Originally titled Die Lustige Witwe, The Merry Widow was written in 1905 by Lehár and premiered in Vienna in the famous Theater an der Wien. The libretto by Viktor Léon and Leo Stein is based on the play L’attaché d’ambassade by Henri Meilhac.
“It is one of the most successful and popular theatrical sensations of the last century,” says Souvorova.
The operetta is set in Paris at the turn of the 20th century. At the embassy of the fictional country Marsovia, everyone awaits the arrival of Hanna Glawari, a wealthy widow whose husband died during their honeymoon, leaving her 20 million francs.
The Marsovian ambassador, Baron Zeta, plans to introduce Hanna to a few native bachelors, hoping that, if she chooses one, her money will stay in Marsovia, thereby saving the country from bankruptcy.
At the party, the rich widow meets a man she was in love with many years before. Prince Danilo, whose family rejected Hanna as being a poor match for him, now is disappointed in life and spends all his time at a cabaret.
Hanna and Danilo are still in love, but do not want to admit it to each other. When Hanna announces that according to her late husband’s will she will lose her fortune if she remarries, offers of marriage slip away — and Prince Danilo finds himself without rivals. | <urn:uuid:8da85966-6d1f-48d5-b87d-84a963b7d5ea> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://dc.broadwayworld.com/article/Benjamin-T-Rome-School-of-Music-Presents-THE-MERRY-WIDOW-1115-18-20121114 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00042-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.954877 | 548 | 1.53125 | 2 |
First, a square gives the greatest area, but the length and width are whole numbers. 4 doesn't go equally into 46, but since it does in 48, the results should be a close to 12 X 12 as possible, so the size is 12 meters by 11 meters 2l + 2w =p 2(12) + 2(11) = p 24 + 22 = 26
I need help on finding sales tax and discount
If the river is flowing downstream at 1.5 mi/h and he can swim 2.0 mi/h then the angle he would need to swim at in order to swim straight across would be arctan(1.5/2) which is equal to 36.87 degrees. This is because you can form a right triangle with 1.5 being opposite the an...
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Solve the proportion x / 12 = 91 /84
Can anyone help me answer this question... Find the area of a right isoscles triangle if the altitude on the hypotenuse is 4 cm.
240 m of fencing material is going to be used to enclose three sides of a rectangular lot. What should the dimensions of the lot be so that the enclosed area is as large as possible? (I'm supposed to solve this using a quadratic equations but I don't know how...)
don't get it
A train leaves a city heading west and travels at 50 miles per hour. Three hours later, a second train leaves from the same place and travels in the same direction at 65 miles per hour. How long will it take for the second train to overtake the first train.
For Further Reading | <urn:uuid:14d8d5c4-dd38-44b7-842c-0c75fc1522fc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.jiskha.com/members/profile/posts.cgi?name=Avery&page=4 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00030-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942444 | 369 | 2.53125 | 3 |
The Office of Innovation and Improvement, Transition To Teaching program has awarded funding for Project KNOTtT (Kansas, Nevada, Ohio, and Texas) to develop a system to address the common teacher preparation program needs of an across state consortium of alternative certification programs.
The KNOTtT partners are university Colleges of Education (Institutes of Higher Education), high need school districts, non-profit organizations, and foundations that will work independently and interdependently to recruit, prepare, support, and retain 545 teachers of record in four states in the core academic secondary subjects of mathematics, science, English/language arts, foreign languages, English as second language, and special education (K-12).
ABOUT PROJECT KNOTtT
Project KNOTtT is a federally funded Transition to Teaching (TtT) partnership designed to support recruitment, selection, training, coaching, and mentoring to retain teachers in high need, hard to staff school districts. As a national initiative, Project KNOTtT addresses the teacher shortages in the subject areas of math, science, English/language arts, foreign languages, English as a second language, and special education (K-12). This five year project serves 545 new teachers pursuing nontraditional routes to certification in four states: Kansas, Nevada, Ohio, and Texas. Led by The Ohio State University, these four states will collaborate with national partners to knot together three strategic strands of support for alternative certification programs:
Strand 1: Online Learning Community
Strand 2: Mentoring
Strand 3: Quality Indicators
National partners include the National Association of Alternative Certification, Association of Teacher Educators, Youth Policy Institute, and The Thomas B. Fordham Institute.
OUR GOAL = QUALITY!
Through the synergy of connecting programs, participants, and partners to three strategic strands, Project KNOTtT’s goal is to produce quality in nontraditional education programs. The first strategic strand is building an online learning community to host a variety of online resources and e-tutorials to help teachers pass their state mandated subject matter tests. The second strategic strand focuses on e-content coaching and program mentoring. The third strategic strand connects national resources to identify effective characteristics of nontraditional teacher preparation programs through quality indicators. | <urn:uuid:25029be6-099c-45ea-a1e8-83d1796891e0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://knottt.net/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.916838 | 467 | 2.09375 | 2 |
The battle over the hearts and minds of women continue as Republicans continue to put their feet into their mouths. This latest incident of this nonsense came from a Wisconsin state senator, who criticized the state’s now repealed equal pay law.
From The Daily Beast:
Grothman says companies are being bombarded with false accusations of discrimination. “It’s an underreported problem, but a huge number of discrimination claims are baseless,” he says. “Most of them are filed by fired employees, and really today almost anybody is a protected class.” As a result, he says, many companies are forced to pay fired employees to go away. He argues that the Wisconsin law, which allowed for damages of up to $300,000, the same amount as in federal law, raised the cost of doing business in the state to intolerable levels. “It just puts Wisconsin way out of whack with other states,” he says. “I’m not sure there are any other states this bad off.”
Actually, there are—according to data from 9to5, 33 other states have either no cap on damages or the same $300,000 cap as Wisconsin. Still, even if the law isn’t an outlier, it’s not surprising that Grothman would see it as unjust, because he believes that the whole idea of pay discrimination against women is fraudulent.Whatever gaps exist, he insists, stem from women’s decision to prioritize childrearing over their careers. “Take a hypothetical husband and wife who are both lawyers,” he says. “But the husband is working 50 or 60 hours a week, going all out, making 200 grand a year. The woman takes time off, raises kids, is not go go go. Now they’re 50 years old. The husband is making 200 grand a year, the woman is making 40 grand a year. It wasn’t discrimination. There was a different sense of urgency in each person.”
He continues, “What you’ve got to look at, and Ann Coulter has looked at this, is you have to break it down by married and unmarried. Once you break it down by married and unmarried, the differential disappears.”
In fact, despite Coulter’s well-known expertise in the field, this is incorrect. A 2007 study by the American Association of University Women found that college-educated women earn only 80 percent as much as similarly educated men a year after graduation. Part of that is attributable to differences in life choices and family circumstances, but not all. “After accounting for college major, occupation, industry, sector, hours worked, workplace flexibility, experience, educational attainment, enrollment status, GPA, institution selectivity, age, race/ethnicity, region, marital status, and number of children, a 5 percent difference in the earnings of male and female college graduates one year after graduation was still unexplained,” it said. After 10 years in the workforce, there’s an unexplained 12 percent gap…
Grothman doesn’t accept these studies. When I ran the numbers by him, he replied, “The American Association of University Women is a pretty liberal group.” Nor, he argued, does its conclusion take into account other factors, like “goals in life. You could argue that money is more important for men. I think a guy in their first job, maybe because they expect to be a breadwinner someday, may be a little more money-conscious. To attribute everything to a so-called bias in the workplace is just not true.”
Oh, boy. That’s just too much male chauvinist nonsense for me to tackle in one post, but I will try my best.
One: that “different sense of urgency” between men and women could exist because societal pressures often weigh heavily on working women. Along with some women who really desire to stay at home with their children, the working world is all too hostile for women with children. Working women with children often have to balance demanding schedules, rigid employment rules and regulations, work environments hostile to women who may need to pump breast milk during the day and places in which there are no on-site daycares. The working world just doesn’t make any accommodations for women with children and often frown upon women who can’t mold themselves into the superwoman myth.
But this just takes the cake:
You could argue that money is more important for men. I think a guy in their first job, maybe because they expect to be a breadwinner someday, may be a little more money-conscious. To attribute everything to a so-called bias in the workplace is just not true.”
While many men out there are under societal pressures to be breadwinners, I find it absolutely offensive this esteemed senator would even stoop to a male chauvinist point of view about women and money. In his world, Grothman most likely believes young women show up to work out of habit–something to do. Young women like myself could care less about making enough money to survive. Hell, we just completed our Mrs. Degree, so we’re just working to pass the time until we deliver birth and go home to raise the children since that’s the most pressing things on our mind. Why should women need money anyway when we can rely on all those men out there whose first priority is to become the primary breadwinners?
I find it laughable that so many of these male politicians have so much insight into the minds and opinions of women. I mean, just because you have two heads doesn’t mean you’re a genius or give you some special insight into those beings with uteri and vaginas. | <urn:uuid:4cef969c-a78c-43ad-9672-f69e7d4a6a43> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://newblackwoman.com/2012/04/12/glenn-grothman-money-is-more-important-to-men/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00009-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.971362 | 1,205 | 1.679688 | 2 |
I have never experieneced this before but this happened to me three times over the summer. I frequently pickup bees in front of hives for tests and observation. On three separate occasions, I've picked up a drone and its sexual organs popped out immediatedly after having it between my fingers (with the sound of a bubble being pop from a bubble wrapping). No excessif force was used . I was checking for any wing deformation since most I tend to check out do not fly.
Any thoughts as to why they had an orgasm at that particular moment? | <urn:uuid:f379339b-edbe-4aab-8434-3c23c474298d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.beesource.com/forums/showthread.php?222915-drones-sexual-organs-popping-out&p=357768 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.980507 | 114 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Ray Kurzweil's vision of the "singularity" -- when nanobots make humans immortal and computer progress is so fast that the future becomes profoundly unknowable -- is a bad idea.
That's the perhaps surprisingly contrary opinion of Joichi Ito, who as a high-tech investor and director of the MIT Media Lab might be expected to be a natural ally. The lab, after all, aims to be at the center of today's technology revolution.
Ito, speaking today at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland, said he believes the singularity vision puts the wrong priorities first.
"… Read more | <urn:uuid:b8f2c430-a82a-44b4-b020-eebc32a74057> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cnettv.cnet.com/8300-5_53-0.html?keyword=economics | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.913439 | 129 | 1.679688 | 2 |
Sri Lankan cinema took a revolutionized twist with screening of Jackson Anthoney’s epic ‘Abba’ a big budgeted film that went down our own rich history. Then several award winning directors followed the footsteps and engaged in massive projects to explores our roots and project Sri Lanka’s rich cultural traditions to the world. ‘Mahindagamanaya’ and ‘Kusa Paba’ are the latest films which got tremendous attraction of the Sri Lankan movie lovers. ‘The God King’ and ‘ Veera Puran Appu’ were two of the old hits in the history of Sri Lankan cinema based on historic epics. They all proved one common fact; films based on historic epics have never failed to enthrall the audience. Packed with action, battle scenes and drama such films have the uncanny touch to leave a ‘historic impact’ in the industry.
Sugath Samarakoon’s epic ‘Vijaya Kuweni’ – Rejuvenating of Kuveni the Yakka Princess
Well known playwright and actor Sugath Samarakoon is the latest artiste to take to the task with his epic film ‘Vijaya Kuweni’. Samarakoon well-known for his controversy ridden plays like ‘Uthure Rahula Himi’ and ‘Commando Diyasena’ in 1980s has returned to the limelight with this massive cinematic venture, a story of the ‘Mahawamsa. It is only after doing an in-depth analysis for seven years on the Vijay-Kuveni story that Samarakoon started work on the project to present the injustice done to Kuveni.
“I don’t think the Mahavamsa tells the real story about our ancestors. Ven Mahanama thera does not tell the real story of Kuveni. For some reason or other, he has buried the true details and tried to highlight the heroics of king Vijaya. Kuweni was branded a traitor because she helped Vijaya capture the island. However it was Vijaya who betrayed her in the end because his friends and advisors requested him to bring an Aryan princess to bear fair skinned children as future heirs to the throne,”
Filming was done in Anuradhapura, Rajanganaya, Gampaha and Pilkuththuva. Roger Seniviratne plays the role of King Vijaya while the Dulani Anuradha of Aba fame gives life to Kuveni. Minister Mervin Silva portrays the role of Kuveni’s father. | <urn:uuid:da33c903-dbe6-4894-9e06-72cbb575a45f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://films.lk/FilmDetails.php?id=2017 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00011-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.950619 | 558 | 1.546875 | 2 |
Ideally, volunteers find the donation of their time and energy a meaningful experience for themselves as well as for the organization. A true win-win situation.
Volunteering is a rewarding, beneficial experience for people of all ages. There are many ways to give back to your community, from highly-skilled positions like being on the Board of Directors at a local organization to more foundational volunteering such as providing administrative assistance, mentoring or companion services, there is lots to choose from. Volunteer for a short time or start building a Living Legacy with your family. Whatever your interest, you can find a volunteer opportunity to fit.
Who can Volunteer?
Volunteering is for EVERYONE. Volunteers from all walks of life, all cultural groups and all economic backgrounds and all ages make a difference. There are volunteer opportunities that are right for you!
- to help others and make a difference to the community
- to use personal skills in a new setting
- to find new friends and develop new relationships
- to develop a sense of accomplishment and self-worth
- to learn new skills and get experience
- to meet requirements of a course or program
- to challenge themselves
- to work for a cause that affects them personally
- to gain recognition for their abilities
- to help improve the quality of community life
- to develop patience and compassion
- to increase knowledge of current issues faced in their community
What can I do as a Volunteer?
There are many different volunteer positions available in the community. A volunteer may assist an agency’s clients directly or help with administrative or organizational duties.
How much time do I need to Volunteer?
When considering a volunteer position, consider how much time you have to contribute and the frequency you are available. Some volunteer positions offer regular weekly or monthly hours while others are casual or event/project based. Many volunteer agencies are very flexible and will match the availability of volunteers to the needs of the organization.
Where do I volunteer?
All of the volunteer opportunities listed on this website come from registered non-profit and charity organizations in the City of Brantford, County of Brant or the Six Nations of the Grand River.
Types of Volunteer Positions
There are many types of positions you can volunteer for in the community such as:
- Animal Care
- Artistic Work/Crafting
- Care Giving/Health Care Support
- Emergency Response
- Events and Facility-General Assistance
- Event Planning
- Goods Collection/Distribution
- Info-line/information and Referral
- Landscaping/Gardening/Yard work
- Leadership Roles
- Retail Sales
- Security/Public Safety
- Telephone Support
- Tour Guide
- Trades Positions/General Handiwork
Please download the following document for a SAMPLE outline for the various types of volunteer positions that are often required.
Get Started Today! Review the Volunteer Opportunities currently available. | <urn:uuid:059eec97-748b-41aa-bdca-7016e2a2c3c0> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.brantford.ca/residents/Volunteer/Pages/Volunteering.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702810651/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516111330-00023-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933227 | 602 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Museums, Galleries & Visual Arts
The Samuel P. Harn Museum of Art has a permanent collection of more than 8,000 original works including paintings, sculptures, prints, ceramics, photographs and cultural objects. Among the artistic traditions represented are those of the Americas, Asia, Africa, Europe and the South Pacific Islands. The museum also features a variety of changing exhibitions, and a full range of educational programs. Admission is free.
The Florida Museum of Natural History is Florida’s state museum of natural history, dedicated to understanding and preserving biological diversity and cultural heritage. With more than 25 million specimens of amphibians, birds, butterflies, fish, mammals, mollusks, reptiles, fossils and plants, the Florida Museum is the largest natural history museum in the Southeast. Admission is free.
The College of Design, Construction and Planning Gallery hosts regular displays of student projects, and also showcases traveling exhibitions of significant works from noteworthy architects past present, providing you with exposure to historical precedents and contemporary currents in the field. “the gallery” in the J. Wayne Reitz Union features artwork by UF students, faculty, staff, and alumni.
The College of Fine Arts School of Art and Art History supports three campus galleries. The University Gallery hosts six exhibitions per year that bring current ideas in contemporary art to UF students and the surrounding community. The Focus Gallery provides exhibition spaces for students of the College of Fine Arts to show their work in a public forum. Grinter Gallery in Grinter Hall exhibits art created by international students and area artists, as well as traveling shows of internationally based art. WARPhaus, opened in October 2010, features studio classrooms, a covered outdoor workspace, and a gallery for rotating exhibitions of student artwork. Additionally, the College of Fine Arts School of Art and Art History supports the Harn Eminent Scholar Chair in Art History Program (HESCAH) which holds lecture series and symposia featuring distinguished art historyscholars from all over the world.
Music & Concerts
UF Performing Arts hosts a variety of musical and theatrical events in three venues. The Phillips Center for the Performing Arts attracts world-class symphony orchestras, Broadway plays, opera and large-scale ballet performances to its 1,800-seat facility. The University Auditorium includes a concert stage, seating for 867 and is suitable for musical concerts, special lectures, convocations and less technically demanding dance concerts and pageants. It is one of several university buildings included in the National Register of Historic Places. The Baughman Center is a small facility (seating capacity of 96) for silent meditation, public performances, weddings, memorial services, honorary society acknowledgments, and related types of activities. The College of Fine Arts School of Music produces many music events throughout the year including jazz, choral, orchestral, band and other solo and ensemble performances by students, faculty and guest artists.
UF’s landmark Century Tower houses a cast-bell carillon; one of only four such instruments in Florida. The Sunday Afternoon Concert Series offers listeners the chance to hear the UF Carillon performed in a 50-minute recital. The Carillon can also be heard on special UF occasions as well as 15-minute concerts some weekdays.
Theatre & Dance
The Curtis M. Phillips Center for the Performing Arts also hosts UF Department of Theatre and Dance productions and local ballet performances in addition to the large variety of Broadway plays, operas and ballets. The College of Fine Arts School of Theatre and Dance hosts numerous musical, theatrical and dance events on campus in its Constans Theatre, Black Box Theatre and Dance Studios in the Nadine MacGuire Theatre and Dance Pavilion. The H.P. Constans Theatre, adjacent to the Reitz Union, houses a 420-seat proscenium theatre, and State Two, a black box theatre with approximately 40 seats.
Tickets for events at the Constans Theatre, Phillips Center, O’Connell Center & various other campus venues are sold at the University of Florida Box Office.
Radio & Television
UF’s College of Journalism and Communications is home to two television stations and four radio stations and a number of media-related websites including the College’s primary news and information site for the Gainesville-Ocala market WUFT.org.
WUFT-TV, Channel 5, has been the home of Public Broadcasting in north central Florida since 1958 and remains a leader in providing the highest quality educational, entertainment and news programming. WUFT-TV’s award-winning local newscast, produced entirely by UF telecommunications and journalism students, airs weeknights at 5:30 pm.
WRUF-TV launched in 2011 as the region’s leading source of local weather information and University of Florida Gator athletics. Through a unique and cutting-edge partnership with University Athletic Association, WRUF-TV provides viewers with a behind the scenes look at the Florida Gators, live Gator athletic events and local newscasts from the WUFT-TV news department.
WUFT-FM (Florida’s 89.1, WUFT-FM) and its satellite station, WJUF-FM, are public radio stations serving North Florida and are the market’s leader in local news and information. WUFT-FM/WJUF-FM are National Public Radio affiliates and are typically one of the top-rated radio stations in Gainesville.
WRUF-AM or more commonly known as WRUF, Sportsradio 850, was Gainesville’s first local radio station, is one of the oldest in Florida and has been the home of the Florida Gators for more than 70 years. WRUF, Sportsradio 850 serves 13 counties in north Florida with six+ hours of local sportstalk daily from its 5,000-watt transmitter.
WRUF-FM, Country 103.7, The Gator, is one of the market’s leading commercial radio stations broadcasting with a 100,000-watt signal to more than 16 counties in the region. WUFT.org forms the basis for the College’s local news and multimedia content operation. The combination of commercial and public radio and television properties paired with an extensive suite of web products positions the University of Florida’s College of Journalism & Communications uniquely among institutions in the world educating tomorrow’s media professionals.
Arts & Academics
Interdisciplinary centers within the College of Fine Arts enable traditional academic units ( Art and Art History, Music and Theatre and Dance) to become part of a global campus. Through collaborative, multidisciplinary and intercultural arts projects, the Center for World Arts and the Digital Worlds Institute connect UF to the world through productions, cutting-edge technology, exhibitions and the creation of new works. The Center for Arts in Healthcare is committed to advanced research, education and practice in the arts and healthcare, locally and globally. The Center for Arts in Healthcare was developed as the educational component to the Shands Arts in Medicine program which connects volunteer community artists and artists-in-residence with patients, families and staff. | <urn:uuid:3e9a17c0-21e2-4533-90fc-9b14701c91dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://assistive.usablenet.com/tt/www.ufl.edu/campus-life/arts/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00003-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937942 | 1,473 | 1.90625 | 2 |
Copyleft is a play on the word copyright to describe the practice of using copyright law to offer the right to distribute copies and modified versions of a work and requiring that the same rights be preserved in modified versions of the work.
Copyleft is a form of licensing and can be used to maintain copyright conditions for works such as computer software, documents, music and art. In general, copyright law is used by an author to prohibit others from reproducing, adapting, or distributing copies of the author's work. In contrast, an author may give every person who receives a copy of a work permission to reproduce, adapt or distribute it and require that any resulting copies or adaptations are also bound by the same licensing agreement. Copyleft type licenses are a novel use of existing copyright law to ensure a work remains freely available. The GNU General Public License, originally written by Richard Stallman, was the first copyleft license to see extensive use, and continues to dominate the licensing of copylefted software. Creative Commons, a non-profit organization founded by Lawrence Lessig, provides a similar license called ShareAlike.
Copyleft can also be characterized as a copyright licensing scheme in which an author surrenders some but not all rights under copyright law. Instead of allowing a work to fall completely into the public domain (where no ownership of copyright is claimed), copyleft allows an author to impose some restrictions on those who want to engage in activities that would more usually be reserved by the copyright holder. Under copyleft, derived works may be produced provided they are released under the same copyleft scheme. The underlying principle is that one benefits freely from the work of others but any modifications one makes must be released under the same terms. For this reason copyleft licenses are also known as reciprocal licenses, they have also been described as "viral" due to their self-perpetuating terms.
While copyright law protects the rights of the author by allowing control of distribution and modification, the idea of copyleft is to grant subjective libre freedom to users. Copyleft licenses do not contain clauses which the author considers to impede libre freedom of the user. In computing, free software licenses often require that information necessary for reproducing and modifying the software (e.g. source code) be made available to the user in the same way as the licensed software. The source code files will usually contain a copy of the license terms and acknowledge the author(s).
An early example of copyleft was the Tiny BASIC project started in the newsletter of the People's Computer Company in 1975. Dennis Allison wrote a specification for a simple version of the BASIC programming language. This design did not support text strings and only used integer arithmetic. The goal was for the program to fit in 2 to 3 kilobytes of memory.
The Tiny BASIC contents of the newsletter soon became Dr. Dobb's Journal of Tiny BASIC with a subtitle of "Calisthenics & Orthodontia, Running Light Without Overbyte." Hobbyists began writing BASIC language interpreters for their microprocessor based home computers and sending the source code to Dr. Dobb's Journal and other magazines to be published. By the middle of 1976, Tiny BASIC interpreters were available for the Intel 8080, the Motorola 6800 and MOS Technology 6502 processors. This was a free software project before the internet allowed easy transfer of files. Computer hobbyists would exchange paper tapes, cassettes or even retype the files from the printed listings.
Jim Warren, editor of Dr. Dobb's Journal, wrote in the July 1976 ACM Programming Language newsletter about the motivations and methods of this successful project. He started with this: "There is a viable alternative to the problems raised by Bill Gates in his irate letter to computer hobbyists concerning 'ripping off' software. When software is free, or so inexpensive that it's easier to pay for it than to duplicate it, then it won't be 'stolen'." The method was to have an experienced professional do the overall design and then outline an implementation strategy. Knowledgeable amateurs would implement the design for a variety of computer systems. Warren predicted this strategy would be continued and expanded.
The May 1976 issue of Dr. Dobbs Journal had Li-Chen Wang's Palo Alto Tiny BASIC for the Intel 8080 microprocessor. The listing began with the usual title, author's name and date but it also had "@COPYLEFT ALL WRONGS RESERVED". A fellow Homebrew Computer Club member, Roger Rauskolb, modified and improved Li-Chen Wang's program and this was published in the December 1976 issue of Interface Age magazine. Roger added his name and preserved the COPYLEFT Notice.
A later instance of copyleft arose when Richard Stallman was working on a Lisp interpreter. Symbolics asked to use the Lisp interpreter, and Stallman agreed to supply them with a public domain version of his work. Symbolics extended and improved the Lisp interpreter, but when Stallman wanted access to the improvements that Symbolics had made to his interpreter, Symbolics refused. Stallman then, in 1984, proceeded to work towards eradicating this emerging behavior and culture of proprietary software, which he named software hoarding.
As Stallman deemed it impractical in the short term to eliminate current copyright law and the wrongs he perceived it perpetuated, he decided to work within the framework of existing law; he created his own copyright license, the Emacs General Public License, the first copyleft license. This later evolved into the GNU General Public License, which is now one of the most popular Free Software licenses. For the first time a copyright holder had taken steps to ensure that the maximal number of rights be perpetually transferred to a program's users, no matter what subsequent revisions anyone made to the original program. This original GPL did not grant rights to the public at large, only those who had already received the program; but it was the best that could be done under existing law. The new license was not at this time given the copyleft label.
Richard Stallman stated that it comes from Don Hopkins, whom he calls a very imaginative fellow, who mailed him a letter in 1984 or 1985 on which was written: "Copyleft—all rights reversed." The term "kopyleft" with the notation "All Rites Reversed" was also in use in the early 1970s within the Principia Discordia, which may have inspired Hopkins or influenced other usage. And in the arts Ray Johnson had earlier coined the term independently as it pertained to his making of and distribution of his mixed media imagery in his mail art and ephemeral gifts, for which he encouraged the making of derivative works. (While the phrase itself appears briefly as (or on) one of his pieces in the 2002 documentary How to Draw a Bunny, Johnson himself is not referenced in the 2001 documentary Revolution OS.)
Some have suggested that copyleft became a divisive issue in the ideological strife between the Open Source Initiative and the free software movement. However, there is evidence that copyleft is both accepted and proposed by both parties:
Common practice for using copyleft is to codify the copying terms for a work with a license. Any such license typically gives each person possessing a copy of the work the same freedoms as the author, including (from the Free Software Definition):
(Note that the list begins from 0 due to a coding tradition — the first array element in C and many other programing languages is numbered as 0.)
These freedoms do not ensure that a derivative work will be distributed under the same liberal terms. In order for the work to be truly copyleft, the license has to ensure that the author of a derived work can only distribute such works under the same or equivalent license.
In addition to restrictions on copying, copyleft licenses address other possible impediments. These include ensuring the rights cannot be later revoked and requiring the work and its derivatives to be provided in a form that facilitates modification. In software, this requires that the source code of the derived work is made available together with the software itself.
Copyleft licenses necessarily make creative use of relevant rules and laws. For example, when using copyright law, those who contribute to a work under copyleft usually must gain, defer or assign copyright holder status. By submitting the copyright of their contributions under a copyleft license, they deliberately give up some of the rights that normally follow from copyright, including the right to be the unique distributor of copies of the work.
Some laws used for copyleft licenses vary from one country to another, and may also be granted in terms that vary from country to country. For example, in some countries it is acceptable to sell a software product without warranty, in standard GNU GPL style (see articles 11 and 12 of the GNU GPL version 2), while in most European countries it is not permitted for a software distributor to waive all warranties regarding a sold product. For this reason the extent of such warranties are specified in most European copyleft licenses. Regarding that, see the CeCILL license , a license that allows one to use GNU GPL (see article 5.3.4 of CeCILL) in combination with a limited warranty (see article 9 of CeCILL).
Copyleft is a distinguishing feature of some free software licenses. Many free software licenses are not copyleft licenses because they do not require the licensee to distribute derivative works under the same license. There is an ongoing debate as to which class of license provides the greater degree of freedom. This debate hinges on complex issues such as the definition of freedom and whose freedoms are more important, or whether to maximize the freedom of all potential future recipients of a work (freedom from the creation of proprietary software). Non-copyleft free software licenses maximize the freedom of the initial recipient (freedom to create proprietary software).
In common with the Creative Commons share-alike licensing system, GNU's Free Documentation License allows authors to apply limitations to certain sections of their work, exempting some parts of their creation from the full copyleft mechanism. In the case of the GFDL, these limitations include the use of invariant sections, which may not be altered by future editors. The initial intention of the GFDL was as a device for supporting the documentation of copylefted software. However, the result is that it can be used for any kind of document.
The copyleft governing a work is considered to be "stronger", to the extent that the copyleft provisions can be efficiently imposed on all kinds of derived works. "Weak copyleft" refers to licenses where not all derived works inherit the copyleft license; whether a derived work inherits or not often depends on the manner in which it was derived.
"Weak copyleft" licenses are generally used for the creation of software libraries, to allow other software to link to the library, and then be redistributed without the legal requirement for the work to be distributed under the library's copyleft license. Only changes to the weak copylefted software itself become subject to the copyleft provisions of such a license, not changes to the software that links to it. This allows programs of any license to be compiled and linked against copylefted libraries such as glibc (the GNU project's implementation of the C standard library), and then redistributed without any re-licensing required.
The most well known free software license that uses strong copyleft is the GNU General Public License. Free software licenses that use "weak" copyleft include the GNU Lesser General Public License and the Mozilla Public License. Examples of non-copyleft free software licenses include the X11 license, Apache license and the BSD licenses.
The Design Science License is a strong copyleft license that can apply to any work that is not software or documentation, such as art, music, sports photography, and video. It is hosted on the Free Software Foundation website's license list, but it is not considered compatible with the GPL by the Free Software Foundation.
"Full" and "partial" copyleft relate to another issue: Full copyleft exists when all parts of a work (except the license itself) may only be modified and distributed under the terms of the work's copyleft license. Partial copyleft exempts some parts of the work from the copyleft provisions, thus permitting distribution of some modifications under terms other than the copyleft license, or in some other way does not impose all the principles of copylefting on the work. For example, the GPL linking exception made for some software packages (see below).
Share-alike imposes the requirement that any freedom that is granted regarding the original work must be granted on exactly the same or compatible terms in any derived work: this implies that any copyleft license is automatically a share-alike license, but not the other way around, as some share-alike licenses include further restrictions, for instance prohibiting commercial use. Some permutations of the Creative Commons licenses are examples of share-alike.
Copyleft licenses are sometimes referred to as "viral licenses" because any works derived from a copyleft work must themselves be copyleft when distributed (and thus they exhibit a viral phenomenon). The term 'General Public Virus', or 'GNU Public Virus' (GPV), has a long history on the Internet, dating back to shortly after the GPL was first conceived. Many BSD License advocates used the term derisively in regards to the GPL's tendency to absorb BSD licensed code without allowing the original BSD work to benefit from it, while at the same time promoting itself as "freer" than other licenses. Microsoft vice-president Craig Mundie remarked "This viral aspect of the GPL poses a threat to the intellectual property of any organization making use of it." In another context, Bill Gates declared that code released under GPL is useless to the commercial sector (since it can only be used if the resulting surrounding code becomes GPL), describing it thus as "a cancer that attaches itself in an intellectual property sense to everything it touches". The term 'viral' may be read as an analogy of computer viruses. According to FSF compliance engineer David Turner, it creates a misunderstanding and a fear of using copylefted free software. David McGowan has written that there is no reason to believe the GPL could force proprietary software to become free software, but could "try to enjoin the firm from distributing commercially a program that combined with the GPL’d code to form a derivative work, and to recover damages for infringement." If the firm "actually copied code from a GPL’d program, such a suit would be a perfectly ordinary assertion of copyright, which most private firms would defend if the shoe were on the other foot."
Popular copyleft licenses, such as the GPL, have a clause allowing components to interact with non-copyleft components as long as the communication is abstract, such as executing a command-line tool with a set of switches or interacting with a Web server. As a consequence, even if one module of an otherwise non-copyleft product is placed under the GPL, it may still be legal for other components to communicate with it normally. This allowed communication may or may not include reusing libraries or routines via dynamic linking — some commentators say it does, the FSF asserts it does not and explicitly adds an exception allowing it in the license for the GNU Classpath re-implementation of the Java library.
One should also note that on one hand this 'viral' effect is a normal property of any conventional license on derived works of non-copyleft free material, on the other hand the intended effect when using BSD-licensed works as part of proprietary software. The GNU project using BSD code is in this respect no different from Microsoft or Apple OSX using BSD code.
|This page or section does not have any sources. You can help Wikipedia by finding sources, and adding them. Tagged since April 2009|
Copyleft is a name for a type of a license for free content or free software. It is not the opposite of copyright, but its purpose is the opposite of the purpose of the frequently seen copyright type of license (which uses copyright to forbid changing, giving, or selling something). A copyleft license uses copyright to forbid forbidding changing, giving, or selling something.
Both copyleft and non-copyleft (“permissive”) licenses for free content or free software can be used for things like documents (for example books), art, music and software; they always allow people to change the works, and to give or sell them to other people. It should be noted that, although people might think that copyleft content is not copyrighted, that's a myth. Copyleft is a form of licensing: it is not just another name for public domain.
However, in a copyleft license, when a person gives or sells a work (changed or not changed) to a friend, the person must allow the friend to do the things which the author of the original work has allowed in the license to the person. This often means, for example, that if another person licensed a book under a copyleft license, and you changed it into a new book, you would have to license your new book under the same license. | <urn:uuid:1f4a16c7-afb5-4fbb-9082-f5d369ab25bf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.thefullwiki.org/Copyleft | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.937699 | 3,587 | 3.453125 | 3 |
Science and Technology Entry Program (STEP)
A New York State funded program, STEP is designed to assist economically disadvantaged secondary school students from DeWitt Clinton High School, and other Bronx high schools, in acquiring the skills needed to pursue courses of study and careers in science and mathematics, technology, and health related fields.
Funded through the New York City Department of Youth & Community Development, the Out-of-School Time Initiative offers a four-week summer bridge at Lehman College and quality after-school services to ninth graders at Pelham Prep Academy and the Walton campus.
The goal is 100 percent promotion into the tenth grade.
Funded through the U.S. Department of Education, the mission of TRIO Student Support Services (SSS) is to provide coordinated academic support services to currently enrolled college students who are first generation college students, with limited income, and/or with disabilities, enabling them to persist and graduate from Lehman College.
The mission of TRiO Student Support Services – Pathways to Success is to provide a comprehensive, interconnected series of customized career exploration, academic support, and life-planning services to help students make valuable academic, professional, and personal connections and ultimately gain the skills and knowledge necessary to embark on their unique paths to life-long success. Visit Pathways to Success for more information.
Last modified: Jan 31, 2013 | <urn:uuid:52ac39b5-7148-434d-b222-1e015c3436ce> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lehman.cuny.edu/school-college-collaboratives/index.php | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706153698/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120913-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.949423 | 281 | 2.09375 | 2 |
Environmental Considerations for PWCs
When operating your personal watercraft, always consider the effect you may have on the environment.
- Make sure that the water you operate in is at least 30 inches deep. Riding in shallow water can cause bottom sediments or aquatic vegetation to be sucked into the pump, damaging your PWC and the environment.
- Avoid causing erosion by operating at slow speed and by not creating a wake when operating near shore or in narrow streams or rivers.
- Do not dock or beach your PWC in reeds and grasses. This could damage fragile environments.
- Take extra care when fueling your PWC in or near the water. Oil and gasoline spills are very detrimental to the aquatic environment. Fuel on land if possible.
- Never use your PWC to disturb, chase, or harass wildlife. | <urn:uuid:01475180-db71-4a80-bbcb-e88074fe900c> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.boat-ed.com/idaho/studyGuide/Environmental-Considerations-for-PWCs/10101401_700052232 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00053-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.911857 | 170 | 2.53125 | 3 |
Eating healthy takes some effort, no doubt about it. Let’s face it, today we might be excited to make a tasty, creative recipe that’s good for our waistline, but tomorrow may not bring the same enthusiastic mood. So we slip for the next few busy days and grab something more convenient, with higher calories and much less nutritional value.|
What if we chose one weekend out of the month, the weekend when our stars aligned and we actually felt enthusiastic about shopping for the right ingredients and cooking them up? We’re talking about some big batch cooking. This is a strategy that lets us take advantage of when we feel high energy and we’re determined to do something productive for ourselves and our family. Big Batch Weekend is devoting several hours to meal preparation so that meals become healthier and convenient for weeks to come. It means making a big batch of something today and freezing it in meal-size portions so that we can pull out easy-to-reheat lunches and dinners time and again. It takes the thinking out of making healthy choices when you need a ready-made meal.
How about making a big batch of healthy soup, stew, or a casserole for convenient freezing and reheating? Not only will it be a time-saver, but it’s more economical as well. Why pay for all those low-calorie frozen dinners that cost $3-6 when we’re perfectly capable of creating our own for much less per meal? Some recommendations for big batch freezing are listed below along with maximum storage time in the freezer.
(Storage time of 3-4 months)
Spaghetti or rice dishes
Lasagna (with meat or vegetables)
Soups (lentil, split pea, black bean)
Stews (beef, veal, vegetarian)
Chili (lean beef or chicken)
(Storage time of 1-2 months)
Whole Grain Muffins
Whole-wheat waffles or pancakes
Some foods do not freeze well and do not retain good quality after thawing. These include: cabbage, celery, lettuce, parsley, radishes, cooked egg whites, cream or custard fillings, milk sauces, sour cream, cheese or crumb toppings, mayonnaise, salad dressing, gelatin, and fried foods. Depending on the meal you’re freezing, some of these items can be added in fresh after heating up your batch.
Here are some tips to remember as you start implementing your regular Big Batch Weekends. | <urn:uuid:6fce1816-4318-4d0c-bb51-4414ea191630> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_articles.asp?id=165 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00020-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.91002 | 533 | 1.625 | 2 |
Georgia, Tbilisi, Feb. 25 / Trend, N. Kirtzkhalia /
Russia will never cede to Georgia, especially on Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said at a joint briefing with the European Commissioner for Home Affairs Cecilia Malmström in Tbilisi on Monday.
"I personally proposed that Russian President Vladimir Putin changes the geopolitical orientation in exchange for returning Abkhazia and South Ossetia," he said. "However, he told me personally that Russia does not change our territory on our own geo-strategic aspirations."
Saakashvili said that he has voiced this issue at least 50 times, but the answer was always the same.
Unfortunately, I have heard from some young people: let's abandon the EU and NATO, but return Abkhazia and Tskhinvali. Unfortunately, Russia voluntarily has never ceded to anyone, this is a matter of history."
The Georgian President again urged the new government to preserve freedom of the press, as well as the coexistence of parties. This will give Georgia an opportunity to get associate membership at the Vilnius summit.
Large scale military actions were launched in South Ossetia in Georgia on August 8, 2008.
Later, Russian troops occupied Tskhinvali and expelled the Georgian military. Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and Abkhazia late in August. Tbilisi ended diplomatic relations with Moscow in response and has declared the two unrecognized republics of Abkhazia and South Ossetia occupied territories.
Do you have any feedback? Contact our journalist at email@example.com | <urn:uuid:2c928d6c-c416-4efb-8d07-97718aca6f10> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://en.trend.az/regions/scaucasus/georgia/2123539.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699881956/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516102441-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946285 | 353 | 1.6875 | 2 |
Online from: 1971
Subject Area: Information and Knowledge Management
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Article citation: Francesco A. Calabrese, (2010) "KM and culture", VINE, Vol. 40 Iss: 3/4, pp. -
About the Guest Editor
Francesco A. Calabrese
Founder/President/CEO of the Enterprise Excellence Management Group, Int’l. Inc. (ExMG), a leadership and enterprise strategies consulting firm. He is an Adjunct Professor in The George Washington University, School of Engineering and Applied Science, specializing at the graduate level in the fields of: transformational enterprise change, leadership, knowledge management, systems engineering, decision support systems, and technology impact analyses; and also serves as Managing Director of GWU’s Institute for Knowledge and Innovation. He has had extensive writings in project and information management methods/tools/techniques; technical reports in geodetic, cartographic, engineering and intelligence systems; authored technical manuals in engineering and guided missiles subject areas; and has recently been publishing in the KM field on cultural behavior influences, system implementation structures, and holistic models and frameworks. A major portion of his 50 plus professional years have been spent in project management and enterprise leadership/mentoring roles. The spectrum embraces government military and civilian service assignments; large corporate full P&L responsibilities for a global 52 site, 2,500 person staff; and individual/small business technical and mentoring consultant/advisor engagements.
Calabrese holds degrees in Civil Engineering, Management, and Systems Engineering. He is a Fellow of the American Society for Engineering Management; a Charter Member of Epsilon Mu Eta, the Engineering Management Honor Society; a Member of Chi Epsilon, the Civil Engineering National Honor Society; and a member of the Order of the Engineer. He is a graduate of Dartmouth University’s Executive Program “Beyond the Bottom Line”; attended two winter sessions at the Jungian Institute on the “Psychology of Human Behavior”; and was a Certified Nuclear Weapons Analyst and the US Army’s Program Manager and Technology Representative for Mapping and Geodesy during the 1960s change management era in moving from ground, sea and air to satellite based technology and processes for acquisition and production of cartographic and geospatial intelligence materials and products.
As a child immigrant being raised in Philadelphia, “culture” was not part of my vocabulary. That is not until I was “expelled” from the first grade. Like so many immigrant families we had been raised as a clan unto ourselves. Two brothers married to two sisters, six children between the two families all sharing one home (rented); no indoor plumbing (standard); an “ice box” for a refrigerator; tomatoes, hot pepper, basil, bean plants in the back yard and a delicious fig bearing tree wrapped in cloth, tar paper, and plastic against the cold of winters. The now famous “Rocky 9th Street Market” with delicious New Jersey garden offerings and “Pat’s Steaks” (off budget, but the aroma was worth many sniffs). The six cousins, virtually genetically identical, with strict but “tough love” parenting. Life was good! – eh?. Who needed any outside influences? Not by the parental standards in that household!
Alas, I never got turned loose on “the street” until the short walk to school, with the stern reminder to mind the teacher, and do good because, “we came here so you children can get an education and a better life!” So why on the third day did the teacher take me by the ear to a big office and then put me back on the street toward home? As Paul Newman’s Cool Hand Luke said:Q Boss, what we have here is a failure to communicate …Understandable since there was no “political correctness” pressuring a first grade teacher at that time to be able to speak Italian, and a dialect version at that. At least that expelling got me out on the street and into the language, and I am not sure I have ever been happier or sought to retreat indoors again.
Like my co-editor, colleague, and friend, Dr Michael A. Stankosky, I have lived, worked, and adapted to the European, North African, and Asian worlds in my years of service in the public, private, and academic sectors. The mid-East, South America, the rest of Africa and Australia are on my “futures” agenda! Throughout my interludes abroad I have sought to live and sample the culture of each place through its people, customs, food, and dress. Textbooks, however eloquent about the similarities of humankind, can never be as effective as the palatable experience of capturing a sense of life with the global tribes of humanity. It comes as no surprise to my colleagues that I am always “up” for helping to mentor visiting scholars from any part of the world, and using them as “guides” to the best local establishments for their native cuisines and as live sources of information on their native language, customs, and culture.
Our knowledge horizons and memory experiences expand with active fulfillment and pursuit of life-long learning. A countryman of mine, arguably perhaps, may have been the first “immigrant” to our hemisphere shores to prove the world was not flat but Columbus’ explorations had to do with the earth’s topological dimension. Leveraging from Michael’s reference, Thomas Friedman’s text makes our world “flat” in the ease of connectivity and global multidimensional linkages which I view as “collaborative encirclement” in a knowledge world context.
The colleagues whose papers are assembled for this special edition form but a sliver of the earth girdling cultures which have graced our space and/or graciously hosted us in their native surroundings. A listing of all the countries where we have shared or plan to share kinship through our common interests in the “Knowledge Management; Theory to Practice Continuum” is an invitation to errors of omission. But with an apology upfront if an omission occurs let me give you a sense for the breadth of “our world”: Barbados; Brazil; Bulgaria; Canada; China; Colombia; Cyprus; France; Hong Kong (China); India; Italy; Japan; Kuwait; Macedonia; Mexico; Pakistan; Peru; Romania; Russia; Saudi Arabia; Slovenia; Taiwan etc. etc.
My immigrant affiliation bias would allow me to commit a much more egregious error if I left the impression that “KM and culture” is purely one of national cultural influences. Turning inward to our own nation we have tangible instances of cultural “divides” in addition to the history of America’s “immigrants melting pot”. A few are:
I have sat on many dissertation defense committees in my 13 years at The George Washington University. I am especially reflective at those where a visiting scholar is defending. I empathize with the tremendous achievement they personify when I think of what it would be like to research, prepare and defend such an undertaking in a language other than the English with which I, and my colleagues, have gained some proficiency. To all “fellow/female humans”: Welcome; come let us share stories and memories together in the language of lifelong learners exchanging “knowledge.” There will be no expulsions here!
What we didn’t know we knew until we needed to know it …
… and found we could apply it intelligently for measurable results (Calabrese, 2010). Francesco A. Calabrese
Institute for Knowledge and Innovation, The George Washington University, Washington, DC, USA | <urn:uuid:af301737-a70f-41a5-805b-ff352b1c11e1> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://oberon.emeraldinsight.com/journals.htm?issn=0305-5728&volume=40&issue=3&articleid=1889765&show=html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705559639/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115919-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.938907 | 1,659 | 1.570313 | 2 |
Pigeon Parades in Venice, Italy
Simon celebrated his fourth birthday in Venice, Italy. He picked the itinerary on birthday day, which meant we spent most of the day in St. Mark’s Square, feeding popcorn to the pigeons and feeding ice cream to Simon. Our secret to successful travel with a preschooler was bribery of gelato ice cream at the end of each hike or museum. Simon learned the Italian words for numbers and flavours. By the end of the trip we could all speak gelato!
To prepare Simon before the trip, we read him picture books. In Angelo by David Macaulay, an Italian stonemason restoring the façade of a church befriends an injured pigeon. However, the one we were asked to read over and over was Papa Piccolo by Carol Talley. A tomcat living in Venice adopts two homeless kittens. We acted out the scene in which the cats fall in the canal by falling off the bed onto the blue carpet.
Since our trip, two new picture books with Venetian settings have been published. I took home The Famous Nini : a Mostly True Story of How a Plain White Cat Became a Star by Mary Nethery, and Simon declared it “good for young kids”.Olivia Goes to Venice by Ian Falconer has the famous cartoon pig superimposed on Venetian photos. My favourite line was, “As they went through the airport, Olivia was searched for weapons. She was very pleased.” That certainly reflected Simon’s attitude to removing his shoes at security. We worried he would be worried, but Simon was too busy trying to get a look at the x-ray luggage screen to think about it.
At age four, Simon was too young for one of Mom’s favourite books, The Thief Lord by Cornelia Funke. This would be enjoyed by kids 9 to 13. It’s about two orphans trying to survive on the streets in Venice. They are given sanctuary in an abandoned movie theatre by the Thief Lord, a mysterious teenager. Simon has since enjoyed the movie version from the library.
Adults might enjoy The City of Falling Angels by John Berendt, the author of Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. It’s a true story filled with some unique characters who call Venice home.
Simon’s favourite Venetian activities:
· Looking at the fish in the outdoor market. He helped a little snail in its escape from the sale table into the canal
· Riding boats up and down the canal- vaporetto and traghetti are cheaper than gondolas
· Being four, Simon spent a lot of time looking at cars and trucks in Calgary. In Venice, he watched for the Italian counterparts: the garbage boat, the delivery boats, fireboats, and the Police boat. We watched a high speed police boat chase when we visited the island of Murano
· Running up and over the endless bridges with Grandma in hot pursuit | <urn:uuid:5dddea2f-d639-4d1c-8816-1c45c23231d8> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://calgarypubliclibrary.com/blogs/the-good-life?m=201101 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704713110/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516114513-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.969019 | 619 | 1.820313 | 2 |
Saturday 15 June
Black rat (Rattus rattus)
Black rat fact file
- Find out more
- Print factsheet
Black rat description
Also known as the ship rat (2), the black rat (Rattus rattus) was introduced to Britain with the Romans (4). Generally smaller than the brown rat (Rattus norvegicus), the black rat is typically a uniform black to tawny brown colour, with lighter underparts (1). The tail, which is longer than the head and body, is hairless, and is used for balance (2).
- Rat Noir.
- Rata Negra.
Black rat biology
The black rat is nocturnal, although it may become more active in the day in undisturbed areas (4). It is an omnivore, but tends to prefer plant matter (4) such as fruits and seeds, although it will also feed on insects, carrion, refuse and faeces (2). On Lundy Island these rats feed on crabs along the shore (4). This rat lives in groups called 'packs', consisting of several males and two or more dominant females (4). They are skilled climbers and can also swim well (2). Nests are constructed from grass and twigs, often in roof spaces, a habit which earned the species the further common name of 'roof rat' (2).
Breeding takes place between March and November; three to five litters can be produced in a year, each litter containing 1 to 16 young (although the average is seven). A single female can therefore produce a huge number of offspring; 56 young were recorded on a London ship for a single female (4). At 12 to 16 weeks of age, females are capable of breeding; they are also able to conceive whilst still suckling the previous litter, which further maximises their reproductive capability (1). Maximum lifespan in the wild is less than 18 months; populations have very high mortality rates, mainly as a result of widespread pest control measures (4). The black rat is a notorious pest, and was the host of the fleas that carried bubonic plague (2). It also carries a host of other diseases and is damaging to property and food stores (1).Top
Black rat range
This species was once widespread throughout Britain until the brown rat was introduced (4). The black rat originates from Asia, and today is widely distributed around the globe (4). It has been restricted to largely transient populations in Southwark, London and Avonmouth since 1884, and has undergone a drastic decline in range since the 1950s (4). It also persists on Lundy Island in the Bristol Channel and the Shaint Islands in the Outer Hebrides (4).Top
Black rat habitat
The black rat is closely associated with buildings around the world, although in Britain it tends to inhabit rocky shores and cliffs. On the islands it occasionally occurs on rubbish dumps and around buildings (4).Top
Black rat status
The black rat is classified as Least Concern (LC) on the IUCN Red List (). It is not legally protected in the UK. No conservation designations (3).Top
Black rat threats
The future of this once devastating pest in Britain is now uncertain. Improved hygiene and control measures on ships makes further introductions highly unlikely, and control measures such as poisoning with rodenticides are ever-prevalent, particularly close to human habitation, where the black rat occurs (4).Top
Black rat conservation
The question as to whether the black rat should now receive a level of protection due to its poor status is a highly contentious issue (4).Top
Find out more
For more on the black rat:
This information is awaiting authentication by a species expert, and will be updated as soon as possible. If you are able to help please contact:
- The flesh of a dead animal.
- Active at night.
- An organism that feeds on both plants and animals.
IUCN Red List (March, 2011)
- Burnie, D. (2001) Animal. Dorling Kindersley, London.
- The Environment Agency (1998) Species and Habitats Handbook. The Environment Agency, Bristol.
Macdonnald, D. W. & Tattersall, F. T. (2001) Britain's mammals- the challenge for conservation. The Wildlife Conservation research Unit, Oxford University.
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Originally appeared in the Fall 2008 Culture+Travel.
Since Google graphically shrank the Earth, the most far-out trips start at your desk.
When I first logged in to Google Earth, I felt liberated from gravity, space, and time—unmoored from the planet and allowed to soar, like a great bird, and discover the world’s mysterious grandeur. I could go anywhere from my computer. And where, unfettered at last, did I travel first? To the tar roof of my own building. I had no idea there were so many air-conditioning units up there. Is that my clothesline in the back? Are those my socks? The irony was at my own expense. Google Earth is positively pregnant with potential for travelers. And yet my first impulse—yours, too, I bet—was to examine the contours of my own living space, in case the view from above was more than tar. The temptation is deep to explore what you already know, as if an undiscovered screen image were just as harrowing and foreboding as an undiscovered country. But professional travelers have begun exploiting Google Earth, both to find new sites for exploration and to enrich their knowledge of places they’ve already visited. Nathaniel Waring, president of the high-end tour outfit Cox & Kings, scouts potential adventure-tour locations by prowling Google Earth obsessively. Scouring coastlines for surfing destinations, for example, he points out the wispily serrated shore of Scorpion Bay, in Baja California. The wisps suggest “a very good point break,” he says, something no atlas can convey. Read the rest of this entry » | <urn:uuid:ad933e7d-6923-468f-8c6b-e5ff927a7581> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://gcaw.net/category/magazines/culturetravel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.957104 | 350 | 1.9375 | 2 |
Naresh Kadyan's activism against the improper use of State Emblem of India along with advise to Anna Hazare
There are set procedure for the proper use of the State Emblem of India but many major Constitutional bodies are ignored the concerned legislation's for Emblem and Flag Code of India but Naresh Kadyan moved RTI petition along with advice to Anna Hazare for their negative activism opposing ruling congress party with out vision and alternatives.
To, 1. The Secretary to the HE the President of India, New Delhi. 2. The Chief of Indian Army Staff, New Delhi. 3. The Secretary to the Ministry of Home Affairs, New Delhi. 4. The Commissioner of Delhi Police, New Delhi. 5. The Secretary to the Ministry of Defense, New Delhi. 6. The Registrar General, Supreme Court of India, New Delhi. 7. The Secretary to the Chairperson, National Advisory Council, New Delhi. Subject: Petition under the Right to Information Act, 2005 for proper display and use of State Emblem Of India regarding. Greetings, As per PBI release: The State Emblem of India is an adaptation from the Sarnath Lion Capital of Emporer Ashoka, who ruled from 272 BC to 232 BC. It is preserved in the Sarnath Museum, near Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh. The Lion Capital has four lions standing back to back mounted on a circular abacus. The frieze of the abacus is adorned with sculptures in high relief of an elephant, a galloping horse, a bull and a lion separated by intervening Dharma Chakra (Wheels of Law). The abacus rests on a bell-shaped lotus. The profile of the Lion Capital showing three lions mounted on the abacus with a Dharma Chakra in the centre, a bull on the right and a galloping horse on the left, and outlines of Dharma Chakras on the extreme right and left has been adopted as the State emblem of India. The bell-shaped lotus has been omitted. The motto "Satyameva Jayate" (truth alone triumphs) – written in Devanagari script below the profile of the Lion Capital is part of the State Emblem of India. The motto is taken from an ancient scripture the Mundaka Upanishad. For the accurate reproduction of the State Emblem, two standard designs have been approved. First design is in a simplified form and is intended for reproduction in small sizes such as for use in stationery, seals and die-printing. For reproduction in bigger sizes, only second design, which is more detailed should be used. All reproductions of the State Emblem should strictly conform to the designs In order to obtain photographic designs of the State Emblem interested individuals can get in touch with the Manager, Photo Litho Wing, Government of India Press, New Delhi. Samples of standard dies of the State Emblem can be obtained from the Office of the Chief Controller of Printing and Stationery, New Delhi. The State Emblem has also been adopted by the governments of Assam, Bihar, Gujarat, Maharashtra, Nagaland, Rajasthan and West Bengal. It has been incorporated in the Emblems adopted by the governments of Andhra Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala, Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka, Orissa, Punjab and Tamil Nadu. The governments and administrations of all Union Territories other than Chandigarh and Himachal Pradesh use the State Emblem. The Union Territory of Chandigarh has incorporated the State Emblem in the emblem adopted by it. Official Seals The State Emblem is the official seal of India. As such, use of the State Emblem for official seal is restricted to the President, the Vice President, Union Ministers, Ministers and others Officers of the Central Government including diplomatic missions abroad, Governors, Lieutenant Governors, Chief Commissioners and Administrators of Union Territories and Ministers and departments and offices of the State governments and of Union Territory governments and administrations who have adopted the State Emblem. Offices of Central Government permitted to use distinct emblems of their own may, however, use the same in their seals. The State Emblem, on demi-official stationery used by Ministers, when printed or embossed should appear on the top left hand corner in blue colour,. The lettering like "Home Minister" or "Ministry of Home Affairs" should appear on the top right hand corner. The demi-official stationery used by officers should be embossed or printed in red colour except when an officer is specifically authorised to use such stationery in some other colour. Names of officers, however, should not be printed on such stationery. The Members of Parliament may have the State Emblem embossed or printed on their stationery. The colour to be used for the purpose in the case of the Members of the Lok Sabha is green and red for the Members of the Rajya Sabha. Such stationery when supplied by the Chief Controller of Printing and Stationery, does not contain the names or addresses of the Members. But the Members may, at their discretion get such stationery, with their names and addresses printed at private presses approved for this purpose by the Government of India in the Ministry of Urban Development. Where the stationery used by the Members of Parliament, contains the State Emblem it should not bear words like "Advocate, Supreme Court/High Court" and "Editor…..Journal", below their names in the letter-heads. The Members of Legislative Assemblies of Union Territfories and the Members of Metropolitan Council of Delhi may have the State Emblem embossed or printed on their stationery. The stationery containing the State Emblem, however, should not bear words like "Advocate, Supreme Court/High Court" and "Editor…..Journal", below their names in the letter-heads. Design and Display The designs of the brass seals and rubber stamps consist of the State Emblem enclosed in oval frame of adequate thickness. The name of the Ministry or Office should appear between the inner and outer rims of the frame. The abbreviated forms of names of Ministries/Offices may be inscribed where it is not possible to accommodate the names in full. Offices/Officers already permitted to use round shaped brass seals may, however, continue to use them. Round shaped rubber stamps may be used by Indian Missions/Posts abroad and Ministry of External Affairs for special purposes such as on Passports, diplomatic identity cards, visas or entry permits. The round shaped embossing machine consisting of State Emblem is also being used by passport authorities in India and abroad and Ministries of the Government of India on communications addressed to Indian Missions/Posts abroad. There is also a provision for the display of the State Emblem on vehicles. Cars of Rashtrapati Bhavan, Raj Bhavans or Raj Niwases when the President, Vice-President, Governor of the State, or the Lt. Governor of the Union Territory or their spouses are traveling by such vehicles within the State or the concerned Union Territory. In the event of visiting heads or spouses of Foreign States, Vice-Presidents of Foreign States or dignitaries of equivalent status, visiting Heads of Foreign Governments or dignitaries of equivalent status like Crown Prince and Princess of Foreign States, cars of Rastrapati Bhavan can display the State Emblem. The Emblem may be displayed only on very important public buildings like the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Raj Bhavans, Raj Niwases, Supreme Court, High Courts, Central Secretariat, Parliament House, State/Union Territory Secretariats and Legislatures. The State Emblem may be displayed on the premises of India’s Diplomatic Missions abroad and residences of Heads of the Missions . It may be displayed on the buildings occupied by India’s Consulates abroad at the entrance doors thereof and on the residences of Heads of Consular posts subject to the laws, regulations and usages of the receiving State. Other Uses The State Emblem may be used on publications issued and films produced by the Government, coins, currency notes, promissory notes and postal stamps with such modifications as may be considered necessary by the Mint or the Press; Medals and Sanads instituted by the Government; Invitation cards for State functions; New Year and Greeting Cards sent by officers of Indian Missions abroad for legitimate representational purpose; Representational Glassware Crockery and Cutlery used at the Rashtrapati Bhavan, Raj Bhavans, Raj Niwases and Indian Missions/Posts abroad; and Badges, collars, buttons of uniforms of Police and Excise Constabulary which carried before adoption of this Emblem, the old Coat-of-Arms or Crown; Uniforms of various categories of Class IV staff of Rashtrapati Bhavan and uniforms of Class IV staff of the Indian Missions/Posts abroad. The use of the State Emblem on the uniforms and badges of the Armed Forces shall be governed by the instructions laid down by the Ministry of Defence in this behalf. Besides, it may be printed in school textbooks, books on history, art or culture or in any periodical as part of the text of a Chapter and Section for the purpose of explaining or illustrating the origin, significance or adoption of the State Emblem. It shall not be used on the front page, title or cover of any publication except a Government publication. The State Emblem shall not be used for any trade or profession or in the title of any patent, or in any trade mark or design except in such cases and under such conditions as may be prescribed by the Central Governments under Section 3 of The Emblems and Names (Prevention of Improper Use) Act, 1950. Unauthorised use of the Emblem for such purposes is an offence under the Act. Private persons, bodies of persons and sports associations are not permitted to use the State Emblem on their letter-heads, seats, crests, badges, house flags or for any other purpose except with the permission of the Government.(PIB Features) So under the RTI Act, 2005 following points’ clarification and information required: 1. Whether all officers of Indian Police, Para Military Forces, Indian Ordinance Factories, Indian Amy, the Territorial Army and the President's Bodyguard as well are using proper state emblem of India or not on their shoulder and cap as a rank, seal, banner etc.?, if no then what action would you like to take and how much time required to place proper state emblem? 2. Whether Indian Ordinance Factories of India’s are fixing the state emblem on their weapons with out Devanagari words, which is the violation of the legislation’s concerned then what action would you like to take and how much time required for replacement with proper state emblem on the distributed weapons amongst public since beginning till date? 3. Whether state emblem of India fixing on the number plate of a vehicle, which is the place below the belt, foot break even and some one fixing it on the back top of their chair is right or wrong, where as state emblem is fixed with out Devanagari words on the front gate of the Governor House of Punjab at Chandigarh, which is the violation of the concerned legislation’s. 4. THE STATE EMBLEM OF INDIA (PROHIBITION OF IMPROPER USE) ACT, 2005: Prohibition of improper use of emblem: Notwithstanding anything contained in any other law for the time being in Force, no person shall use the emblem or any colourable imitation thereof in any manner which tends to create an impression that it relates to the Government or that it is an official document of the Central Government, or as the case may be, the State Government, without the previous permission of the Central Government or of such officer of that Government as may be authorised by it in this behalf. Prohibition of use of emblem for wrongful gain: No person shall use the emblem for the purpose of any trade, business, calling or profession or in the title of any patent, or in any trade mark or design, except in such cases and under such conditions as may be prescribed Previous sanction for prosecution: No prosecution for any offence punishable under this Act shall be instituted, except with the previous sanction of the Central Government or of any officer authorized in this behalf by general or special order of the Central Government. Where as Delhi State Rifle Association is using state emblem of India with out Devanagari word in their official logo, complaint has been lodged with the Hauz Khas Police Station in New Delhi, like wise matter has been raised before the Superintendent of Police, Bhiwani for improper use of state emblem of India by Boxer Vijender Singh but no action has been taken against offenders, why? Please supply me the copy of authorised officials to give previous sanction for prosecution under this Act and how many sanctions have been issued against whom, by which authority and how many previous sanctions were not accorded, under which circumstances since beginning till date? FLAG CODE OF INDIA: The National Flag of India shall be made of hand spun and hand woven wool / cotton / silk Khadi bunting. Where as plastic materials have been used while preparing National Flag of India, which is the violation of the Flag Code of India and 30,000 plastic flag were caught in the presence of Delhi Police, complaint has been lodged with the Police Post, Rohini Court, Delhi under jurisdiction of the Prashant Vihar Police Station but no action has been taken so far against the offenders, why? His Excellency Padmashree Dr. D Y Patil, Governor of Tripura fixing Padama awards Padamshree before his name is right or wrong, if wrong then what action would you like to take? The required fee postal order worth rupees ten is attached here with. Yours truly, Naresh Kadyan, Founder Secretary General, National Khadi and Village Industries Board Employees Federation (An apex body of the all State KVIB Employees Union’s), C-38, Rose Apartment, Prashant Vihar, sector-14, Rohini, DELHI - 110085 A copy is forwarded for information and necessary action to: Shri Anna Hazare Ji, RALEGAN SIDDHI PARIWAR , At Post - Ralegan Siddhi, Tal -Parner, Dist. Ahmednagar, Maharashtra with humble request that under signed has moved first RTI application on October 19, 2005 and then filed a PIL for appointment of Lokayukta in Haryana, same was appointed but I am sorry to say that ACTIVISM doesn’t mean to defame any one, where as you and your associates moved a negative campaign against Congress party in power, which seems to be a violation of the natural principles of the activism, if they are opposing congress party with a political gain or hidden agenda then these kinds of activities harm your reputation, here Hissar in Haryana these your associates opposed congress party with out alternatives, which helps rest of two candidates belongs to Late Shri Bhajan Lal along with Shri Om Parkash Chautala’s son. In my opinion their action was not reflected a healthy activism because that was a vested interest campaign and opposing congress party with out vision. Let voter have a opportunity to decide them selves at their own freedom to vote. Naresh Kadyan, Founder Secretary General, National Khadi and Village Industries Board Employees Federation (An apex body of the all State KVIB Employees Union’s), C-38, Rose Apartment, Prashant Vihar, sector-14, Rohini, DELHI - 110085 | <urn:uuid:f96deb24-2f56-449f-b2d5-79f76ea61a42> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.docstoc.com/docs/99012998/Naresh-Kadyans-activism-against-the-improper-use-of-State-Emblem-of-India-along-with-advise-to-Anna-Hazare | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00040-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.933438 | 3,156 | 2.109375 | 2 |
When I spied these at the market I had to look twice and then, look again. While I've enjoyed baby beetroot in the past I'd never seen any examples as tiny as these - for some in my bunch they really are at the earliest stage of crossing that line from root to beetroot.
Having purchased them, the question then became, what will I do with them? Whatever I needed to do had to something that was quick - just enough to wilt the leaves and heat the root. A stir fry perhaps but it needed something else and that something else turned out to be garlic shoots.
They may look quite pretty and gentile but there is nothing gentile about their aroma - they pack a powerful garlic scent. I'll use them in a two fold matter - a fine julienne will be left to infuse in a neutral oil which will then in turn be used to stir fry the beetroot shoots. Profound yet simple - a striking side dish was born.
Sautéed Beetroot Shoots
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
*I don't know how readily available beetroot shoots are but if you are growing beets in your garden, you might like to try this dish using the shoots that are thinned out.
Prepare the oil:
Don't use an extra virgin or olive oil as it might overpower the dish - use a neutral or light flavoured oil.
Chop the root and tips from a garlic shoot and cut 2" cylinders - slice the cylinders in half and then finely julienne. Place this into a bowl and drizzle in enough oil to cover - let this infuse for a couple of hours.
Prepare the beetroot shoots:
As the entire shoot is used, it's important to clean it thoroughly. Drop them into a bowl of tepid water to remove the larger grit and then carefully rinse under running water.
Once they've been cleaned, stand them up in a jug that will hold them snugly and fill with water. Let them sit for an hour, this should dislodge anything that remains.
Cook the dish:
Place a wok on a medium heat and let it come up to temperature - drizzle in some of the infused oil (but not the garlic shoots), it should sizzle.
Remove the beetroot from their container and add to the oil - give it a quick toss and then add in the julienned garlic shoots. Keep tossing the ingredients and cook until the leaves have just wilted and the roots have warmed through. Season with salt and pepper, toss a final time and then tip out onto your serving dish.
While you can enjoy them hot from the wok, they also are quite delicious when cold. | <urn:uuid:9da084f9-7abc-46aa-adc4-0cb8393af8e2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://cookalmostanything.blogspot.com/2009/08/whb-197.html?showComment=1251267167009 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962302 | 560 | 1.539063 | 2 |
- dialogue + -ical (Wiktionary)
“The expression dialogical logic refers to a research tradition that can be traced back to Greek antiquity, when logic was conceived as the systematic study of dialogues in which two parties exchange arguments over a central claim.”
“Our Lord's method, which we may call the dialogical, has been vindicated by modern research into the dynamics of communication, which has demonstrated conclusively that the to-and-fro process between teacher and pupil, between parent and child, provides the most dependable and permanent kind of education.”
“This democratic small "d!" dialogical safe space really all stems from the program's founder Alan Crippen.”
“A final characteristic that makes an overview of Joseph Ratzinger's theology difficult is the fact that his theology is a dialogical theology through and through -- a theology that develops not only through a listening to what the sources have to say, but also through a critical conversation with other perspectives, a conversation that is not afraid to identify errors and sometimes to argue quite polemically.”
“Psychoanalytic therapy is a dialogical method for bringing this pre-reflective organizing activity into reflective self-awareness so that, hopefully, it can be transformed.”
“The best: in a collaborative fashion (texts and images), dialogical and self-organized.”
“The liturgical chant of our Catholic tradition, on the other hand, privileges the responsorial, dialogical, antiphonal and acclamatory modes of performance.”
“The two models allow us to see Judaism in diametrically opposed ways: The vertical-authoritarian model reflects an atavistic, anti-modern approach that relies on superstition and magic to express Jewish values, while the horizontal-dialogical model encapsulates the wisdom of Talmudic-Maimonidean tradition in a form of critical inquiry which seeks to empower human beings to free themselves of the shackles of magical irrationality.”
“This Biblical hermeneutics forms a vertical axis which places the reader at the mercy of an interpreter who has occult access to the "truth" which is now not dialogical/human, but pneumatic/paranormal.”
These user-created lists contain the word ‘dialogical’.
A roster of adjectives that infrequently surface in typical conversation and writing. Many are dredged from scientific or other technical jargon or sieved from examples of disused archaic forms.
Looking for tweets for dialogical. | <urn:uuid:097f2fc5-1bc3-4dab-97be-36185e136254> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wordnik.com/words/dialogical | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00021-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.926278 | 538 | 2.546875 | 3 |
It's Food Revolution Day: Time to Get Involved
Jamie Oliver, the British chef and food icon, is to be credited for his exploits in attempting to get Americans to eat more healthily. His Food Revolution TV show was canceled in 2011 for lack of commercial support but he has taken to the streets and internet and created a foundation.
On a well promoted show, he went to the fattest state in the nation, West Virginia, the fattest town, Huntington and he attempted to inspire the residents there to change their eating habits. He despaired, because when he went to the school and led the cafeteria staff in selecting and preparing other food items for the children, for example, instead of pizza for breakfast, not only did they revolt, the children clamored against the veggies and yeahed for the pizza, hamburgers and fries.
Though his show faltered (Gee, I wonder why there were few corporations who wanted to jump on board with advertising.), Oliver's mission blossomed. He brought attention to the problems with America's food supply: highlighting the lobbying efforts of its industrial farms and food producers whose practices with genetically modified produce and unsanitary conditions often fly under the radar. The inhumane animal practices of industrialized farms and often contaminated product has prompted him to support local farmers and sourcing. Most importantly, he emphasized the unhealthiness of the food industry's chemically processed and preserved foods, and their relationship to obesity.
Oliver also alerted us to Pink Slime. To think that the company, Beef Products, Inc. allowed him to go into one of its facilities, not understanding how he would be using the video shot there, is amazing. (It has laid off another round of employees since the campaign against pink slime began.) Pink slime went viral with a petition by Bettina Siegel and the supporters piled on eventually prompting congressional action for schools to opt out of purchasing and using pink slime for their hamburgers. Jamie Oliver's website continues to fight against pink slime and remove it from the nation's schools, and perhaps the food supply completely (many fast food restaurants have claimed to stop using the product).
Continued on the next page | <urn:uuid:d6ed9309-d16a-4280-a026-3ddd7b18ebb3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://technorati.com/women/article/its-food-revolution-day-time-to1/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706499548/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516121459-00072-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.973579 | 440 | 1.867188 | 2 |
Iron ore mining in Minnesota has a $3.2 billion annual impact on the state's economy, according to a new University of Minnesota Duluth study, but that's only half the story if copper mining begins as expected.
The study, released Wednesday, Feb. 6, by UMD's Labovitz School of Business and Economics, found that the existing iron ore industry -- mining, processing and shipping taconite -- pumped $3.2 billion into the state economy in 2010 and was responsible for 11,500 jobs.
But if the wave of new copper mines and expansion of traditional taconite mining planned in northeastern Minnesota come to fruition, those numbers would more than double to $7.7 billion and 27,000 jobs, the study concluded.
Those numbers don't include temporary construction jobs to build the projects like the proposed PolyMet open-pit copper mine near Hoyt Lakes, the massive underground Twin Metals mine proposed near Ely and the new Essar Steel taconite plant under construction in Nashwauk, among other projects on the books.
The study found that mining accounts for 30 percent of the gross regional product of northeastern Minnesota -- the largest sector of the economy -- dwarfing other big sectors such as tourism at 11 percent and forestry at 10 percent.
Mining is slightly larger than the health care industry in the region, which comes in just under 30 percent, said Jim Skurla, chief author of the study and director of the Bureau of Business and Economic Research at the Labovitz
The study said mining accounts for more than 5 percent of the state's economy.
"Regionally, mining remains the single-largest contributor to the health of our economy," Craig Pagel, president of the Iron Mining Association of Minnesota, said.
The study updates previous UMD assessments of the mining industry's importance to the regional and state economies and was being touted today by mining supporters as reason to push ahead with mining projects. Those projects are pending state and federal environmental reviews and permitting.
Supporters say the proposed copper mining projects -- which also include nickel, platinum, palladium, gold and other minerals -- will create an economic boon for the region. Critics say the potential long-term environmental degradation from copper-mining waste and runoff may not be worth the tradeoff.
The study was funded by mining associations as well as Minnesota Power, the Iron Range Resources and Rehabilitation Board, the state Department of Employment and Economic Development and UMD's Natural Resources Research Institute.
Frank Ongaro, president of Mining Minnesota, the state's copper mining industry group, said no other industry has the potential to add as many jobs in the region.
"The opportunity to create high-quality jobs in the future, more than 15,000 jobs that can support families and communities, is second to none," Ongaro said in a statement on the study's release.
Skurla said the study updates a nearly identical report released in 2009 based on data from 2007, just before the global recession. While the overall employment and economic impact numbers are as large or larger, the slower pace of development of the copper-mining sector has pushed back those benefits to 2016 and beyond, several years later than assumed in the 2009 report, he said.
"The recession really slowed things down. The companies' ability to get funding, as well as the slower pace of the permitting process, have moved those dates back by several years, although the same potential is still there," Skurla told the News Tribune. "I think there was just a timeout waiting for the economy to pick up."
Taconite iron ore mining generated nearly $152 million in direct tax payments based on 2010 tonnage, the study noted, of which $64 million went to school districts and the University of Minnesota.
The study also found that each actual mining job creates 1.8 "spinoff" jobs and servicing related to the mining industry.
According to the study, if all currently planned expansions and construction takes place, the construction jobs will have an impact on the state's economy from 2012 to 2016 and beyond of $5.3 billion and an average of 2,423 jobs per year for five years.
Before any copper mining has started, the copper-mining industry contributed $157 million to the state economy in 2010 through exploration, engineering and other pre-mining activities, the study found.
Douglas County (Wisconsin) was included in the study as part of the northeastern Minnesota economy. | <urn:uuid:68446e08-150f-41ab-a5e6-3e56124f55ff> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.twincities.com/minnesota/ci_22534688/big-bucks-from-rocks-study-shows-minnesota-mining?source=most_emailed | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00010-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.959384 | 909 | 2.421875 | 2 |
You hold in your hands the definitive version of Writings of Halfard. It is one of the most famous books in History, and with good reason, being chronicle of a period of time in the Fourth Fused Universe, 1419-1819. This was, of course, the time of Puff. This version of the book holds all materials ever incorporated into it. This means it will be quite thicker than most university editions, which are non-definitive.
Halfard was Puffs Elfish secretary. He lived from about 40,000,000 BC to 2487 AD. It is unclear of the circumstances in which he wrote this, but it may be assumed that most of it was written off his notes, and the rest was gradually fitted in between his writing and the posthumous publication in 2493 AD. Halfard was an interesting person, in that he wrote such an important book, but was barely mentioned in other writings, or even in this. We shall, sadly, know very little about him, but what we do is sufficient for now.
Since Halfard was an Elf, we do fortunately have that odd Elfish style which is a sure sign of anyone’s origin. This is mainly how we know certain things were added after the original writing.
If Halfard is interesting, Puff is more so. He was born in the dark depths of Russia, and his family emigrated to England in the Yaga-Gnomic War of the 800’s. St. George then promptly killed his family. This leads to an interesting thought. Puff is known for being a great lover of freedom and equality of peoples. But he intensely hated knights, and, during his government, launched wars for their destruction. These contradictions are interesting, but I should not deign to address everything in the introduction. Good reading.
John Kivvers, Editor.
All material in this book, except that written by myself, was originally written in a foreign language. I have attempted to translate it as literally as possible without making it unintelligible. If a line has been left in its original language, that is because it is a foreign language to the author, and intentionally written in that language. Any of these will be translated in the appendix. | <urn:uuid:3a8fbb41-98d3-43b3-b05f-3a39ea2b1f71> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/showthread.php?53559-Writings-of-Halfard-Translated-and-edited-by-John-Kivvers&p=1201912&viewfull=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708142388/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516124222-00000-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.987476 | 466 | 2.625 | 3 |
It has always struck me that Karl Marx’s prediction that capitalism would be eclipsed by socialism and then by communism was a self-denying prophecy: because he made this prediction, and because of the widespread popularity of his (and other socialists’) ideas, politicians and businessmen were moved to act in ways which allowed capitalism to adapt, rather than to die. It seems that the end of communism may have been partly due to similar reflective-system effects.
In her book, Stasiland: True Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall, Anna Funder writes the following about the opposition to the Socialist Unity Party (SED) in the former German Democratic Republic (the DDR):
I once saw a note on a Stasi file from early 1989 that I would never forget. In it a young lieutenant alerted his superiors to the fact that there were so many informers in chuch opposition groups at demonstrations that they were making these groups appear stronger than they really were. In one of the most beautiful ironies I have ever seen, he dutifully noted that it appeared that, by having swelled the ranks of the opposition, the Stasi was giving the people heart to keep demonstrating against them. (pp. 197-198)
NOTE: A comment about the processes which led to the end of communism in the USSR is contained in this post.
Anna Funder : Stasiland: True Stories from Behind the Berlin Wall. (London, UK: Granta Books). | <urn:uuid:f86505c9-9b7d-4ee1-8cc5-c1b28d9c760e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.vukutu.com/blog/2011/11/page/2/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00032-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.982003 | 301 | 2.421875 | 2 |
Gatherings: La Push Pummel
Winter wave seekers gather on Washington coast for annual weekend surf session
By Rob Casey
Published: March 8, 2011
It was 25 years ago when Washington state whitewater kayaker Sprague Ackley founded the La Push Pummel as a casual gathering for paddlers seeking to surf large winter waves. Washington Kayak Club eventually took over the reins, and in 1998 Ken and Ellen DeBondt became the organizers. Photos from Joel Rogers show kayakers perched atop gnarly wind-blown storm waves up to 20 feet tall.
La Push is a tiny fishing town squeezed between the two coastal strips of Olympic National Park on the Quileute Indian Reservation fours hours outside Seattle. Jagged sea stacks and tree-lined islands with vertical cliff faces line First Beach, the main surfing area. A steep beach, First Beach is known for its pounding shorebreak at higher tides preventing paddlers from getting out without injury, broken fins, or both. The Pummel was previously held in January, but due to wild conditions in recent years, it was moved to late February in 2009.
Thirty surf kayakers, sea kayakers and standup paddleboarders made the trek to La Push the weekend before last, Feb. 25-27, through slush-covered roads and high winds. Tsunami Ranger and filmmaker Michael Powers traveled from Northern California to shoot footage for a documentary on the gathering. Waist-high waves greeted paddlers Friday evening, with light offshore winds, and a beautiful sunset. The SUP crowd surfed ‘til dark as sea kayakers took advantage of the small summer-like swell to paddle around James Island at the mouth of the Quileute River. Saturday morning was flat with air temperatures in the lower 30s but a northwest swell and strong onshore winds picked up mid-day giving paddlers mushy head high waves. Sea kayakers paddled to rock garden in sea stacks south of La Push. Ken and Ellen provided local dungeness crab for the annual Saturday evening pot-luck, which was well attended.
Sunday morning greeted paddlers with gale force winds, horizontal rain, and huge shorebreak, making surfing impossible. On the journey home, many surfed glassy chest high waves in several locations along the wind protected Strait of Juan de Fuca.
Tragically, La Push’s co-organizer, Ellen DeBondt, was killed in a traffic accident Sunday morning, March 6. Story from the Peninsula Daily News here. Look for further remembrances here on CanoeKayak.com this week. Meantime, our condolences go out to Ellen’s family and friends.
Photographer and writer Rob Casey is author of “Stand Up Paddling Flat Water to Rivers and Surf” by Mountaineers Books. He teaches standup paddling and kayaking in Seattle through his business, Salmon Bay Paddle. | <urn:uuid:07019852-d8d2-4b3c-a455-982ad3d8aa22> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.canoekayak.com/whitewater-kayak/gatherings-la-push-pummel/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700264179/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516103104-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.93926 | 603 | 1.523438 | 2 |
Nvidia's Project Shield was unveiled at the Consumer Electronics Show (CES) several weeks ago -- and now the chipmaker has offered insight into what it took to make sure the portable gaming device was ready in time.
The chipmaker's gaming device, Nvidia Shield, comes with a quad-core Tegra 4 processor, offers between five and 10 hours of gameplay, and is smaller than a Wii U controller. Able to connect to the cloud in order for a user to access Android and TegraZone games -- as well as PC games with compatible GeForce graphics cards -- once it hits the market, Shield will potentially allow users to access thousands of game titles.
Still a prototype, the Android-based gaming device heralds a shift for Nvidia from purely processors to consumer hardware -- a process detailed within a post on Nvidia's blog.
According to Nvidia, the first prototype was assembled in 2012, which was no more than a "game controller fastened to a smartphone with wood." Based on this, Nvidia's in-house team refined and fashioned the small controller before installing the processors and Android software.
It was important to make Shield stand out from the crowd, and so the open Android platform seemed the best bet to keep the gaming ecosystem from becoming restrictive, and give it the capability to play thousands of titles. One engineer commented:
"The challenge in the past -- with the old model consoles -- is software; but thanks to Android we didn't have to come at it trying to build a walled-garden ecosystem."
However, according to the chipmaker, the secretive project was hampered by a lack of time. In order to try to announce the device at CES, engineering teams were flown in from Texas and China to try and keep the project -- ran by Andrew Bell -- on schedule.
In a cloak-and-dagger setup, parts for Shield were hand delivered from partners in Austria, Taiwan and China.
By December, two prototypes were complete, "painful" flaws notwithstanding. With 19 days remaining, the team began living on a diet of fried chicken and pressure; testing the Tegra 4 mobile processor, soldering, and working long hours to try and finish a product that would wow the audience at CES.
They managed it, of course, and hopefully it won't be too long before we can have a play on some of the units. Take a look at the blog post for the full story.
This story originally appeared at ZDNet's Between the Lines under the headline "Nvidia lifts the lid on Project Shield. | <urn:uuid:5fb0b623-6569-48e3-8289-96dd11fef4dd> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.cnet.com/8301-10797_3-57566837-235/nvidia-heres-how-we-built-our-shield-game-player/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00062-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966415 | 519 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Within organizations, some very smart people want to understand enough to know whether their SEO agency is doing a good job. While good results are pretty easy to define, what's more concerning to these folks is that it's unclear how their agency is achieving results; and that carries risk.
Why should it matter about the quality of the work when you’re getting results?
If you care enough to ask the pivotal question, then you’re more than likely working for a credible, sustainable business that has a reputation to consider. As such you’re likely to be investing in additional marketing services from brand advertising, to PPC (pay-per-click search advertising) and maybe even print advertising, TV or billboard depending on the size and nature of your business and investment capital. If that’s the case, then it is important to be sure that the methods that any one of your marketing teams/suppliers employs won't jeopardize the total effort and investment.
SEO may be a little different in that there’s no dedicated industry regulatory body or code of conduct as such; but if your SEO agency is using poor quality tactics that contravene a search engines’ guidelines, then your business presence in the search engine index is at risk. Imagine if you sign-off on a drive-time radio ad which tells listeners to search for [brand name], and then suddenly you’re nowhere to be found!
Why Are Methods Unclear?
You’re paying good money for a service. You have every right to know exactly how that service will be provided.
Even if your agency uses proprietary technology such as a tool to identify a list of bloggers suitable to approach for outreach projects, they should be able to explain how the technology searches and identifies targets, and how such identified targets would be qualified and approached; without disclosing the proprietary element.
If methods are unclear, request a minimum ToS for communications, such as a meeting every two weeks. If you can set the time aside to listen to your agency you may be pleasantly surprised by how much they want to talk to you. You may also get faster results the more content and information you can share with them in these updates.
Is Language Used to Illustrate or Obfuscate?
Image Credit: Memegenerator
SEO is full of abbreviations and technical terms, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Every profession or academic discipline has its own language of specific or technical terms that convey a deeper or more precise meaning to the initiated; and herein is the problem, in that to the uninitiated to avoid technical language may come across as patronizing.
If your doctor said to you, “I’m afraid you have an ouchy between your toes and I must refer you to a foot doctor” they would probably go down in your estimations in terms of credibility and professional capability. Instead we would expect to be told “I’m afraid you have a neuroma between your toes and I must refer you to a podiatrist.” However, we would expect to have our condition and course of treatment fully explained to us, including any words we may be unfamiliar with.
Your SEO agency should use whatever technical language is required to describe the work they are doing for you. At the same time, they should check if at any stage you require anything explained in more detail.
If you suspect your SEO agency is using technical terms or acronyms to try to intimidate you or obfuscate what they are actually doing, then you should never be afraid to call them on it. A good agency should be all too happy to break down and explain the mechanics of what they are doing. It may even have been the case that they were previously worried about boring you with the details.
However, beware: if your agency says that they can't fully explain their language or methods due to any form of “special relationship” with any search engine, then it's time to review your supplier.
Are They Refusing to Provide Any Proof of Work?
If your SEO agency is tasked with growing links to your website, then they should be
- Transparent about exactly how they do this, including making you aware if they recommend any tactic that is outside of any search engine guidelines.
- Able to show you where they have succeeded in securing links regardless of method.
Some good quality SEO agencies may choose to provide a representative sample of links placed if they have managed to place a number within a given time, so as to reduce time spent reporting or focus reports more on results than method. If so, that’s just a reporting convention and should you wish to see the full list of links placed, then you should be provided with one. If your SEO agency refuses to provide proof of links placed yet continues to take your money, then it’s time to look elsewhere.
If It Ain’t Broken Today, It Might Be Tomorrow
I can understand why it may be more difficult or daunting to assess the quality of work your SEO agency is providing as in many situations we may use the adage “if it ain’t broken, don’t fix it.” However, this principle lacks merit when applied to business.
Progress, change and extraordinary success don't come without challenge; but it can be difficult to challenge an agency providing a service which has generated some results. If you feel uncomfortable, listen to your gut feel and think about how you would accept this service arrangement when applied to another discipline.
Early Bird Rates have been extended!
June 12-14, 2013: Join industry experts at SES Toronto for a crash course in the latest strategies in Online Marketing and Advertising.
Save $300 when you register by Thursday, May 23. | <urn:uuid:561cc8ed-6b7f-4660-8bbc-e1900b250e3f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://searchenginewatch.com/article/2217273/Is-Your-SEO-Agency-Any-Good | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703682988/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112802-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.960292 | 1,190 | 1.585938 | 2 |
Texas school 911 call: "Put the gun down!"
This 2011 photo provided by the Gonzalez family shows Jaime Gonzalez. / AP Photo/Courtesy of the Gonzalez Family
BROWNSVILLE, Texas - A 911 recording reveals the tense moments in a Texas middle school when police confronted an eighth-grader who was brandishing a realistic-looking pellet gun.
Officers repeatedly yelled "Put the gun down!" When 15-year-old Jaime Gonzalez refused, they fatally shot the boy Wednesday at Cummings Middle School in Brownsville.
A six-minute recording of the 911 call that summoned police was obtained Thursday by the Brownsville Herald.
Listen to the 911 call here:
An assistant principal made the call. As officers arrive, she says Gonzalez is drawing the weapon. A moment later, police yell that Gonzalez is running through the hall.
Someone can be heard yelling that the student says he's willing to die. And an administrator is yelling, "Lock the door."
The weapon turned out to be a pellet gun that closely resembledthe real thing. No one else was injured.
Meanwhile, the Brownsville Police Department said they have received death threats after the shooting.
Interim Brownsville Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez confirmed to The Brownsville Herald that the police department's dispatch center received threatening telephone calls and officers have been advised to remain cautious.
Gonzalez's parents demanded to know why officers took lethal action.
"Why was so much excess force used on a minor?" asked the boy's father, Jaime Gonzalez Sr. "Three shots. Why not one that would bring him down?"
The older Gonzalez said he had no idea where his son got the gun or why he brought it to school, adding: "We wouldn't give him a gift like that."
The boy's mother, Noralva Gonzalez, showed off a photo on her phone of a beaming Jaime in his drum major uniform standing with his band instructors. Then she flipped through three close-up photos she took of bullet wounds in her son's body, including one in the back of his head.
"What happened was an injustice," she said angrily. "I know that my son wasn't perfect, but he was a great kid."
Interim Police Chief Orlando Rodriguez said the teen "had plenty of opportunities to lower the gun and listen to the officers' orders."
The chief said his officers acted to protect themselves and other students, firing three shots. There were few others in the hallway at the time.
Shortly before the confrontation, Jaime had walked into a classroom and punched a boy in the nose for no apparent reason, Rodriguez said.
Police did not know why he pulled out the weapon, but "we think it looks like this was a way to bring attention to himself," the police chief said.
Authorities declined to share what the boy said before he was shot.
The shooting happened during first period at the school in Brownsville, a city at Texas' southern tip just across the Mexican border. Teachers locked classroom doors and turned off lights, and some frightened students dove under their desks. They could hear police charge down the hallway and shout for Gonzalez to drop the weapon, followed by several shots.
David A. Dusenbury, a retired deputy police chief in Long Beach, Calif., who now consults on police tactics, said the officers were probably justified.
If the boy were raising the gun as if to fire at someone, "then it's unfortunate, but the officer certainly would have the right under the law to use deadly force."
The school was closed Thursday, but students were able to attend classes at a new elementary school that isn't being used.
Superintendent Carl Montoya remembered Gonzalez as "a very positive young man."
"He did music. He worked well with everybody. Just something unfortunately happened today that caused his behavior to go the way it went. So I don't know," he said Wednesday.
The boy's father was struggling to reconcile recent events, saying his son seemed to be doing better in school and was always helpful around the neighborhood mowing neighbors' lawns, washing dogs and carrying his toolbox off to fix other kids' bikes.
Two dozen of his son's friends and classmates gathered in the dark street outside the family's home Wednesday night. Jaime's best friend, 16-year-old Star Rodriguez, said her favorite memory was when Jaime came to her party Dec. 29 and they danced and sang together.
"He was like a brother to me," she said.
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- Clean-up efforts underway in Okla. 29 Photos | <urn:uuid:a0e85f64-3b1d-423e-ac36-392a6ecd382e> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-201_162-57353265/texas-school-911-call-put-the-gun-down/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705953421/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516120553-00055-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983733 | 1,032 | 1.671875 | 2 |
What is Whalesong?
What is Whalesong?
Why would anyone care?
* Because it allows Racket programs to be deployed on the web.
* Because my previous attempt at this produced a slower evaluator;
this is much faster.
What do you want to show?
I want to show the tool in action, programs that use it
- like World programming, FFI
I want to show performance numbers (which means benchmarks...)
I also want to show some of the internals, to show why the
How do you use it?
I have a command line tool that consumes Racket programs and
I'll be using this as the underlying evaluator for WeScheme
What were the technical advantages of your approach?
Reusing the Racket compiler. Strong possibility of reusing most
of the Racket standard library, as soon as we can bootstrap
What were some of the technical challenges?
Supporting the features of the Racket virtual machine (tail calls,
What needs to be done next?
Adding enough primitives to run racket/base
The story for the presentation:
will be used to support World programming for the web. It will be the
evaluator for the upcoming versions of Moby Scheme, as well as
We can support simple animations, as you'd expect:
(Show a world program: the falling rain drops program.)
We can do programs that have interactivity, such as:
(Show another world program: pacman.)
A core idea behind Whalesong is to reuse Racket's infrastructure as
much as possible. I'm not a compiler person, so I cheat, by
piggibacking on Matthew's work. Whalesong reuses the bytecode
I really am reusing the linguistic features of Racket. For example,
let's look at the less-than-impressive program output below.
(Show the hello world program)
This is trivial, right? Let's look at the source code.
(Reveal that the program was written in BF)
Yes, this is unholy, but it works. We really are using Racket's
underlying language features to handle reading, macro expansion, and
Because we're on the web, we may even want to use functions that we've
written in Racket as a part of regular web pages. Whalesong lets us
(Show the factorial example, and how it can be used by external
There's quite a bit that's missing: we don't yet have all of the
primitives necessary to compile racket/base, so all Whalesong programs
currently have to be in a language that ultimately bottoms to (planet
I'm going to get a release out in the following month, and the new
versions of Moby Scheme for Smartphones, as well as the WeScheme
environment, will be using the underlying evaluator of Whalesong.
If you're interested, please talk to me during the break. Thanks! | <urn:uuid:daf10428-1ccb-4c0a-882c-c376358256db> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://planet.racket-lang.org/package-source/dyoo/whalesong.plt/1/1/notes/racket-days-abstract.txt | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.904681 | 635 | 1.695313 | 2 |
In an article in the Daily Mail this week, British cosmologist Stephen Hawking outlined not one, but three, theoretically realistic ideas for traveling through time, one of which he says is even practical.
First, though, you have to get your head around the notion that time is a dimension, just like width, height and length.
Hawking uses the example of driving in your car: You go forward. That’s one direction. You turn left or right, that’s a second. You journey up a mountain road, that’s a third. The fourth dimension is time.
“Time travel movies often feature a vast, energy-hungry machine. The machine creates a path through the fourth dimension, a tunnel through time. A time traveler, a brave, perhaps foolhardy individual, prepared for who knows what, steps into the time tunnel and emerges who knows when. The concept may be far-fetched, and the reality may be very different from this, but the idea itself is not so crazy,” Hawking writes.
The laws of physics actually accommodate the notion of time travel, through portals known as wormholes.
“The truth is wormholes are all around us, only they’re too small to see. They occur in nooks and crannies in space and time,” Hawking writes. “Nothing is flat or solid. If you look closely enough at anything you’ll find holes and wrinkles in it. It’s a basic physical principle, and it even applies to time. Even something as smooth as a pool ball has tiny crevices, wrinkles and voids.
“Down at the smallest of scales, smaller even than molecules, smaller than atoms, we get to a place called the quantum foam. This is where wormholes exist. Tiny tunnels or shortcuts through space and time constantly form, disappear, and reform within this quantum world. And they actually link two separate places and two different times.”
The tunnels, unfortunately, are far too small for people to pass through — just a billion-trillion-trillionths of a centimeter — but physicists believe it may be possible to catch a wormhole and make it big enough for people, or spaceships, to enter, Hawking writes.
“Theoretically, a time tunnel or wormhole could do even more than take us to other planets. If both ends were in the same place, and separated by time instead of distance, a ship could fly in and come out still near Earth, but in the distant past. Maybe dinosaurs would witness the ship coming in for a landing,” Hawking writes.
Ultimately, scientists may find that only travel into the future is possible, as the laws of nature may make travel to the past impossible so the relationship between cause and effect is maintained. For example, if you could travel in the past and do something that prevents yourself from being born, how could you exist in the future to travel back in time?
Hawking suspects radiation feedback would collapse any wormholes scientists managed to expand to useable sizes, rendering them useless for actual travel. But there’s
another way — navigating the variable rivers of time.
“Time flows like a river and it seems as if each of us is carried relentlessly along by time’s current. But time is like a river in another way. It flows at different speeds in different places and that is the key to traveling into the future,” Hawking writes.
Albert Einstein first proposed this idea 100 years ago that there should be places where time slows down, and others where time speeds up, notes Hawking. “He was absolutely right.”
The proof, says Hawking, lies in the Global Positioning System satellite network, which in addition to helping us navigate on Earth, reveals that time runs faster in space.
“Inside each spacecraft is a very precise clock. But despite being so accurate, they all gain around a third of a billionth of a second every day. The system has to correct for the drift, otherwise that tiny difference would upset the whole system, causing every GPS device on Earth to go out by about six miles a day,” Hawking writes.
The clocks aren’t faulty — it’s the pull of Earth that’s to blame.
“Einstein realized that matter drags on time and slows it down like the slow part of a river. The heavier the object, the more it drags on time,” Hawking writes. “And this startling reality is what opens the door to the possibility of time travel to the future.”
The keys to time travel are black holes, objects so dense that not even light can escape their gravitational grip.
“A black hole … has a dramatic effect on time, slowing it down far more than anything else in the galaxy. That makes it a natural time machine,” Hawking writes.
Here’s how it might work:
Imagine a spaceship orbiting the super-massive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy, 26,000 light years away. From Earth, it would look like the ship is making one orbit every 16 minutes, Hawking writes.
“But for the brave people on board, close to this massive object, time would be slowed down,” Hawking writes. “For every 16-minute orbit, they’d only experience eight minutes of time.”
If they circled for five years, local time, 10 years would have passed back on Earth.
This scenario doesn’t produce the paradoxes inherent in wormhole travel, but it’s still pretty impractical, Hawking acknowledges.
But there’s one more possibility: traveling super fast.
“This is due to another strange fact about the universe,” writes Hawking — the cosmic speed limit: 186,000 miles per second, or the speed of light.
“Nothing can exceed that speed. It’s one of the best established principles in science,” writes Hawking, but “believe it or not, traveling at near the speed of light transports you to the future.”
“Imagine a track that goes right around Earth, a track for a super-fast train. Onboard are passengers with a one-way ticket to the future. The train begins to accelerate, faster and faster. Soon it’s circling the Earth over and over again.
“To approach the speed of light means circling the Earth seven times a second. But no matter how much power the train has, it can never quite reach the speed of light, since the laws of physics forbid it.
“Instead, let’s say it gets close,” writes Hawking. “Something extraordinary happens: Time starts flowing slowly on board relative to the rest of the world, just like near the black hole, only more so. Everything on the train is in slow motion.”
This happens to protect the cosmic speed limit, Hawking said. Here’s why:
Say there’s a child running forward up the train. “Her forward speed is added to the speed of the train, so couldn’t she break the speed limit simply by accident? The answer is no,” writes Hawking. “The laws of nature prevent the possibility by slowing down time onboard. Now she can’t run fast enough to break the limit. Time will always slow down just enough to protect the speed limit.”
This is the essence of why time travel into the future is possible.
“Imagine that the train left the station on January 1, 2050. It circles Earth over and over again for 100 years before finally coming to a halt on New Year’s Day, 2150. The passengers will have only lived one week because time is slowed down that much inside the train. When they got out they’d find a very different world from the one they’d left. In one week they’d have travelled 100 years into the future,” Hawking writes.
Right now, the fastest motion on Earth is taking place in the circular tunnels of the world’s largest particle accelerator at CERN, in Geneva.
“When the power is turned on (particles) accelerate from zero to 60,000 mph in a fraction of a second. Increase the power and the particles go faster and faster, until they’re whizzing around the tunnel 11,000 times a second, which is almost the speed of light. But just like the train, they never quite reach that ultimate speed. They can only get to 99.99 per cent of the limit. When that happens, they too start to travel in time. We know this because of some extremely short-lived particles, called pimesons. Ordinarily, they disintegrate after just 25 billionths of a second. But when they are accelerated to near-light speed they last 30 times longer.”
To accelerate humans to that speed, we’ll need to be in space, concludes Hawking, noting that so far, the fastest that people have traveled is 25,000 mph aboard Apollo 10.
“To travel in time we’ll have to go more than 2,000 times faster (than Apollo 10). And to do that we’d need a much bigger ship, a truly enormous machinebig enough to carry a huge amount of fuel, enough to accelerate it to nearly the speed of light. Getting to just beneath the cosmic speed limit would require six whole years at full power.
“We could, in theory, travel extraordinary distances within one lifetime,” Hawking writes. “A trip to the edge of the galaxy would take just 80 years.”
Image: An artist’s impression as to how it might look as you enter the mouth of a wormhole (source). | <urn:uuid:11bb15a1-8cfe-4c3e-9cda-638396359e0f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://news.discovery.com/space/stephen-hawkings-time-machine.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00014-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.941174 | 2,054 | 2.90625 | 3 |
Vocational Education To Curb Unemployment in Nigeria
At this critical point in our sojourn as a nation, we need an educational system that works for us. Far from the massive crave for university education with its flawed curriculum, we have to move swift into being technology producers. China is running with her plans to create a big pool of entrepreneurs through technical skills acquisition while Germany has been described as an intern nation.
Internship has been one of the reasons Germany is a model in the engagement of her youths. As these youths are caught early and trained in different trades and technical skill set even as they move into university, when they choose to. It is not hard to see that they get into the workplace ready and can even set up shops for themselves.
It is on this backdrop we demand vocation education should be pursued with all vigour. Unemployment is a ticking time-bomb; we have to reverse the poor enrollment of our kids in vocational schools.
Recently, Professor Emeritus, Imo State University, Obioha Nwana condemned the poor number of students’ enrollment into trade centres and technical colleges. It is common scenario to see these students opting for the regular secondary schools or university.
One of the reasons that have been adduced for student lukewarmness in taking up vocational studies is its perception. Graduate from vocational and technical schools are looked at with disdain. They are made to look inferior and so discouraging others from enrolling in such schools.
We applaud the Nigerian Educational Research and Development Council (NERDC) effort at overhauling our secondary school education curriculum. Expunging obsolete contents and standards in the old program and including inculcation of entrepreneurial skills is inevitably going to impact positively in the burgeoning labour market.
While we will be securing their livelihood, we will be smart to look for success stories from vocational school graduates and tell these stories as a media campaign to encourage technical and vocational learning. The time for massive retraining of our young graduates is now; it is unavoidable if we want to be relevant in the 21st century. | <urn:uuid:719f3d36-5310-4f72-b053-23161061349b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://afripol.org/archive/item/399-vocational-education-and-technical-training-as-tools-to-curb-unemployment.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00071-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966789 | 419 | 2.015625 | 2 |
1 And Adam hearkened unto the voice of God, and called upon his sons to repent.
2 And Adam knew his wife again, and she bare a son, and he called his name a. And Adam glorified the name of God; for he said: God hath appointed me another seed, instead of Abel, whom Cain slew.
3 And God revealed himself unto a, and he rebelled not, but offered an acceptable b, like unto his brother Abel. And to him also was born a son, and he called his name Enos.
4 And then began these men to a upon the name of the Lord, and the Lord blessed them;
5 And a a of b was kept, in the which was recorded, in the c of Adam, for it was given unto as many as called upon God to write by the spirit of d;
6 And by them their a were taught to read and write, having a b which was c and undefiled.
7 Now this same a, which was in the beginning, shall be in the end of the world also.
8 Now this prophecy Adam spake, as he was moved upon by the a, and a b was kept of the c of God. And this was the d of the generations of Adam, saying: In the day that God created man, in the likeness of God made he him;
9 In the a of his own b, male and female, c he them, and blessed them, and called their d Adam, in the day when they were created and became living e in the land upon the f of God.
10 And a lived one hundred and thirty years, and begat a son in his own likeness, after his own b, and called his name Seth.
11 And the days of Adam, after he had begotten Seth, were eight hundred years, and he begat many sons and daughters;
12 And all the days that Adam lived were nine hundred and thirty years, and he died.
13 Seth lived one hundred and five years, and begat Enos, and a in all his days, and taught his son Enos in the ways of God; wherefore Enos prophesied also.
14 And Seth lived, after he begat Enos, eight hundred and seven years, and begat many sons and daughters.
15 And the children of a were numerous upon all the face of the land. And in those days b had great c among men, and raged in their hearts; and from thenceforth came d and bloodshed; and a man’s hand was against his own brother, in administering death, because of e f, seeking for g.
16 All the days of Seth were nine hundred and twelve years, and he died.
17 And Enos lived ninety years, and begat a. And Enos and the residue of the people of God came out from the land, which was called Shulon, and dwelt in a land of promise, which he called after his own son, whom he had named b.
18 And Enos lived, after he begat Cainan, eight hundred and fifteen years, and begat many sons and daughters. And all the days of Enos were nine hundred and five years, and he died.
19 And Cainan lived seventy years, and begat Mahalaleel; and Cainan lived after he begat Mahalaleel eight hundred and forty years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of a were nine hundred and ten years, and he died.
20 And Mahalaleel lived sixty-five years, and begat Jared; and Mahalaleel lived, after he begat Jared, eight hundred and thirty years, and begat sons and daughters. And all the days of Mahalaleel were eight hundred and ninety-five years, and he died.
21 And Jared lived one hundred and sixty-two years, and begat a; and Jared lived, after he begat Enoch, eight hundred years, and begat sons and daughters. And Jared b Enoch in all the ways of God.
22 And this is the genealogy of the sons of Adam, who was the a of God, with whom God, himself, conversed.
23 And they were a of b, and spake and c, and called upon all men, everywhere, to repent; and d was e unto the children of men.
24 And it came to pass that all the days of Jared were nine hundred and sixty-two years, and he died.
25 And Enoch lived sixty-five years, and begat Methuselah.
26 And it came to pass that Enoch journeyed in the land, among the people; and as he journeyed, the a of God descended out of heaven, and abode upon him.
27 And he heard a a from heaven, saying: b, my son, c unto this people, and say unto them—Repent, for thus saith the Lord: I am d with this people, and my fierce anger is kindled against them; for their hearts have waxed e, and their f are dull of hearing, and their eyes g see afar off;
28 And for these many generations, ever since the day that I created them, have they gone astray, and have a me, and have sought their own counsels in the dark; and in their own abominations have they devised murder, and have not kept the commandments, which I gave unto their father, Adam.
29 Wherefore, they have foresworn themselves, and, by their oaths, they have brought upon themselves death; and a a I have prepared for them, if they repent not;
30 And this is a decree, which I have sent forth in the beginning of the world, from my own mouth, from the foundation thereof, and by the mouths of my servants, thy fathers, have I decreed it, even as it shall be sent forth in the world, unto the ends thereof.
31 And when Enoch had heard these words, he a himself to the earth, before the Lord, and spake before the Lord, saying: b is it that I have found favor in thy sight, and am but a lad, and all the people c me; for I am d of speech; wherefore am I thy servant?
32 And the Lord said unto Enoch: Go forth and do as I have commanded thee, and no man shall pierce thee. Open thy a, and it shall be filled, and I will give thee utterance, for all flesh is in my hands, and I will do as seemeth me good.
33 Say unto this people: a ye b, to serve the Lord God who made you.
34 Behold my a is upon you, wherefore all thy words will I justify; and the b shall flee before you, and the c shall turn from their course; and thou shalt abide in me, and I in you; therefore d with me.
35 And the Lord spake unto Enoch, and said unto him: Anoint thine eyes with a, and wash them, and thou shalt see. And he did so.
36 And he beheld the a that God had created; and he beheld also things which were not visible to the b eye; and from thenceforth came the saying abroad in the land: A c hath the Lord raised up unto his people.
37 And it came to pass that Enoch went forth in the land, among the people, standing upon the hills and the high places, and cried with a loud voice, testifying against their works; and all men were a because of him.
38 And they came forth to hear him, upon the high places, saying unto the a: Tarry ye here and keep the tents, while we go yonder to behold the seer, for he prophesieth, and there is a strange thing in the land; a b man hath come among us.
39 And it came to pass when they heard him, no man laid hands on him; for a came on all them that heard him; for he b with God.
40 And there came a man unto him, whose name was Mahijah, and said unto him: Tell us plainly who thou art, and from whence thou comest?
41 And he said unto them: I came out from the land of a, the land of my fathers, a land of b unto this day. And my father c me in all the ways of God.
42 And it came to pass, as I journeyed from the land of Cainan, by the sea east, I beheld a vision; and lo, the heavens I saw, and the Lord spake with me, and gave me commandment; wherefore, for this cause, to keep the commandment, I speak forth these words.
43 And Enoch continued his speech, saying: The Lord which spake with me, the same is the God of heaven, and he is my God, and your God, and ye are my brethren, and why a ye yourselves, and deny the God of heaven?
44 The heavens he made; the a is his b; and the foundation thereof is his. Behold, he laid it, an host of men hath he brought in upon the face thereof.
45 And death hath come upon our fathers; nevertheless we know them, and cannot deny, and even the first of all we know, even a.
46 For a book of a we have b among us, according to the pattern given by the finger of God; and it is given in our own c.
47 And as Enoch spake forth the words of God, the people trembled, and could not a in his presence.
48 And he said unto them: Because that Adam a, we are; and by his fall came b; and we are made partakers of misery and woe.
49 Behold Satan hath come among the children of men, and a them to b him; and men have become c, d, and devilish, and are shut out from the e of God.
50 But God hath made known unto our fathers that all men must repent.
51 And he called upon our father Adam by his own voice, saying: I am God; I a the world, and b c they were in the flesh.
52 And he also said unto him: If thou wilt turn unto me, and hearken unto my voice, and believe, and repent of all thy transgressions, and be a, even in water, in the name of mine Only Begotten Son, who is full of b and truth, which is c, the only d which shall be given under heaven, whereby e shall come unto the children of men, ye shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, asking all things in his name, and whatsoever ye shall ask, it shall be given you.
53 And our father Adam spake unto the Lord, and said: Why is it that men must repent and be baptized in water? And the Lord said unto Adam: Behold I have a thee thy transgression in the Garden of Eden.
54 Hence came the saying abroad among the people, that the a hath b for original guilt, wherein the sins of the parents cannot be answered upon the heads of the c, for they are d from the foundation of the world.
55 And the Lord spake unto Adam, saying: Inasmuch as thy children are a in sin, even so when they begin to grow up, b conceiveth in their hearts, and they taste the c, that they may know to prize the good.
56 And it is given unto them to know good from evil; wherefore they are a unto themselves, and I have given unto you another law and commandment.
57 Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must a, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no b can dwell there, or c in his d; for, in the language of Adam, e of Holiness is his name, and the name of his Only Begotten is the f, even g, a righteous h, who shall come in the meridian of time.
58 Therefore I give unto you a a, to b these things freely unto your c, saying:
59 That by reason of transgression cometh the fall, which fall bringeth death, and inasmuch as ye were born into the world by water, and blood, and the a, which I have made, and so became of b a living soul, even so ye must be c into the kingdom of heaven, of d, and of the Spirit, and be cleansed by blood, even the blood of mine Only Begotten; that ye might be sanctified from all sin, and e the f of g in this world, and eternal life in the world to come, even immortal h;
60 For by the a ye keep the commandment; by the Spirit ye are b, and by the c ye are d;
61 Therefore it is given to abide in you; the a of heaven; the b; the c things of immortal glory; the truth of all things; that which quickeneth all things, which maketh alive all things; that which knoweth all things, and hath all d according to wisdom, mercy, truth, justice, and judgment.
62 And now, behold, I say unto you: This is the a unto all men, through the b of mine c, who shall come in the meridian of time.
63 And behold, all things have their a, and all things are created and made to b of me, both things which are temporal, and things which are spiritual; things which are in the heavens above, and things which are on the earth, and things which are in the earth, and things which are under the earth, both above and beneath: all things bear record of me.
64 And it came to pass, when the Lord had spoken with Adam, our father, that Adam cried unto the Lord, and he was a by the Spirit of the Lord, and was carried down into the water, and was laid under the b, and was brought forth out of the water.
65 And thus he was baptized, and the Spirit of God descended upon him, and thus he was a of the Spirit, and became quickened in the b man.
66 And he heard a voice out of heaven, saying: Thou art baptized with a, and with the Holy Ghost. This is the b of the Father, and the Son, from henceforth and forever;
67 And thou art after the a of him who was without beginning of days or end of years, from all eternity to all eternity.
68 Behold, thou art a in me, a son of God; and thus may all become my b. Amen. | <urn:uuid:ca8582bf-a2a0-4fdf-90c0-e52ec65fb1ee> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.lds.org/scriptures/pgp/moses/6.27-29?lang=eng | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698207393/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095647-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.983411 | 3,102 | 1.585938 | 2 |
In roughly a dozen countries — from the deserts of North Africa, to the mountains of Pakistan, to former Soviet republics crippled by ethnic and religious strife — the United States has significantly increased military and intelligence operations, pursuing the enemy using robotic drones and commando teams, paying contractors to spy and training local operatives to chase terrorists…
While the stealth war began in the Bush administration, it has expanded under President Obama, who rose to prominence in part for his early opposition to the invasion of Iraq. Virtually none of the newly aggressive steps undertaken by the United States government have been publicly acknowledged. In contrast with the troop buildup in Afghanistan, which came after months of robust debate, for example, the American military campaign in Yemen began without notice in December and has never been officially confirmed…
Instead of “the hammer,” in the words of John O. Brennan, President Obama’s top counterterrorism adviser, America will rely on the “scalpel.” In a speech in May, Mr. Brennan, an architect of the White House strategy, used this analogy while pledging a “multigenerational” campaign against Al Qaeda and its extremist affiliates.
Leading this effort is Michael Vickers, Assistant Secretary of Defense for Special Operations/Low-Intensity Conflict & Interdependent Capabilities who was appointed by President Bush. “President Obama announced on February 26, 2009, that Mr. Vickers would continue to serve as ASD (SO/LIC&IC).”
So what makes Vickers such an adept leader for our efforts internationally?
Vickers, a former Green Beret and CIA operative, was the principal strategist for the biggest covert program in CIA history: the paramilitary operation that drove the Soviet army out of Afghanistan in the 1980s…
Today, as the top Pentagon adviser on counterterrorism strategy, Vickers exudes the same assurance about defeating terrorist groups as he did as a 31-year-old CIA paramilitary officer assigned to Afghanistan, where he convinced superiors that with the right strategy and weapons, the ragtag Afghan insurgents could win.
When first appointed he described his office’s plan this way:
Today Vickers’s plan to build a global counterterrorist network is no less ambitious. The plan is focused on a list of 20 “high-priority” countries, with Pakistan posing a central preoccupation for Vickers, who said al-Qaeda sanctuaries in the country’s western tribal areas are a serious threat to the United States. The list also includes Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, the Philippines, Yemen, Somalia and Iran, and Vickers hints that some European countries could be on it. Beyond that, the plan covers another 29 “priority” countries, as well as “other countries” that Vickers does not name.
From today’s report, it sounds as if not much has changed under the current administration. A former colleague of Vickers described him to the Washington Post this way “He tends to think like a gangster…” and one has to say the description sounds horribly appropriate when we look at his record in Yemen so far.
A Navy ship offshore had fired the weapon in the attack, a cruise missile loaded with cluster bombs…
An inquiry by the Yemeni Parliament found that the strike had killed at least 41 members of two families living near the makeshift Qaeda camp. Three more civilians were killed and nine were wounded four days later when they stepped on unexploded munitions from the strike, the inquiry found.
(Remember that the US has not signed the international convention against cluster bombs though we claim to only use “good” ones)
Then in May:
At first, the news from Yemen on May 25 sounded like a modest victory in the campaign against terrorists: an airstrike had hit a group suspected of being operatives for Al Qaeda in the remote desert of Marib Province, birthplace of the legendary queen of Sheba.
But the strike, it turned out, had also killed the province’s deputy governor, a respected local leader who Yemeni officials said had been trying to talk Qaeda members into giving up their fight.
At the same time that the Obama administration is amping up military involvement in Yemen, it is lowballing funding for social development while internal corruption in the Sanaa government we support,tensions over the unification with potentially oil rich South Yemen against their wishes and an uprising in the North by tribal Houthis create a chaotic situation in which already poor conditions for many Yemenis worsen:
Mohsen Noman is a building constructor with four children. He finds it hard to get a job and has been looking to work for two months in vain. He said that he cannot afford to support his children as prices increase rapidly.
He participated in a protest in Taiz governorate with thousands of other people feeling the same.
On Thursday the Joint Meeting Parties (JMP) organized a protest in which thousands of people participated demanding the state to stop what they called the policy of causing poverty and hunger against the people…Among the protests were soldiers, governmental employees and people from parties other than the JMP.The JMP distributed a statement among the protesters that they refuse the commodities price hikes…
… Abdulhafedh Al-Faqhih, the chairman of the executive authority in the JMP’s branch in Taiz… that people keep asking about the reason behind the 50 percent increase in electricity and water bills and cooking gas prices.
“40 per cent of Yemen’s children suffer from malnutrition and 50 per cent of them are born underweight” and Unicef is reporting that children in Yemen are “increasingly vulnerable.”
Just a few days ago, the BBC reported that:
According to the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) a third of the country – more than seven million people – struggle daily to afford enough food to lead a healthy and productive life. Some 2.7 million are classified as severely food insecure, spending more than 30% of their meagre income on bread alone.
The UN’s first humanitarian aid appeal for Yemen remains, in the words of a recent statement from the White House, “woefully under-funded”, receiving by the middle of the year less than a third of its required $187m (£118m).
In June, the WFP was forced to halve rations it provides to some of the 300,000 internally displaced persons (IDPs), driven from their homes by war in north Yemen. Rations were also cut to 17,000 Somali refugees living in Kharaz camp in south Yemen, who are entirely dependent on food aid.
Despite a recent donation from the US of nearly $13m in cash and food to support its IDP operation, the WFP warns that a $55m shortfall in the second half of 2010 will mean 90% of its planned 3.1 million monthly beneficiaries will be without critical food and nutrition support. They include wasting children, pregnant mothers, school girls and severely food insecure people.
Meanwhile, US funding for weapons and war in Yemen increases:
Between FY 2002 and 2009, less than 52 percent of Yemen’s overall aid package was allocated to security over nonsecurity programs. President Obama’s FY 2010 enacted budget, on the other hand, prioritizes security assistance to the tune of 66 percent, allocating over $174 million to security programs, compared to $90 million in nonsecurity programs. Although the substantial increase in humanitarian and development aid is laudable – the FY 2010 budget allocates nearly 150 percent more nonsecurity aid than does FY 2009 for example ($90 million versus $36 million) – the even sharper bulge in security assistance underscores the need for a paradigm shift in how the US seeks to promote security and stability in Yemen.
If we listened to the Yemenis, we might look for other options:
Yemenis insist that their biggest problem is not al-Qaida but the Houthi rebellion in the north as well as the ineffectiveness and corruption of the central government, rapid population growth, unemployment and the depletion of both oil and water reserves. Combined, some analysts fear these factors could lead to the ultimate failure of the Yemeni state.
But once again, we are seeing the Obama administration not only continue but expand the counterproductive policies of the Bush team:
One military official told the Washington Post that the Obama administration had given the military “more access” than former President George W. Bush. “They [the Obama administration] are talking publically much less but that are acting more. They are willing to get aggressive much more quickly.”
Videos: The first is of a young boy in Sanaa singing. The second is a youtube by a Yemeni based in the UK advocating for the independence of South Yemen, a good example of one of the many forces in play in Yemen which makes the country a chaotic site for US meddling. The third a report on Yemeni attitudes to the one day international conference held in London this winter as part of the followup to the US strike in December. All provide some views – not definitive views – of Yemen and seemed a good way to begin exploring. | <urn:uuid:5a8e5ee7-55fc-496b-b227-c34215c8b117> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://firedoglake.com/2010/08/15/obama%E2%80%99s-war-%E2%80%9Cscalpel%E2%80%9D-wielded-by-the-wise-guy-who-armed-the-afghan-mujahadeen/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696382584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092622-00033-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.965444 | 1,886 | 1.71875 | 2 |
Apprenticeships at the Saint John's Pottery
The Apprenticeship Program is designed to train post-graduate art students in sustainable resource development and ceramic art production. Working closely with Richard Bresnahan and the Saint John's Pottery, apprentices take part in a learning methodology that has informed a lineage of indivudals working in clay.
From 1981 to the present, over two dozen art students from colleges around the country received stipends funded through the Grotto and McGlynn Foundations to apprentice with at the studio. The program is supported by Saint John's University and individual donors who have committed to offering this ancient and life-changing approach to teaching.
The success of this program is demonstrated by the fact that all former apprentices are still involved in the creative process working with clay either in a teaching environment or in their own private studios. A handful of former apprentices are highlighted in the national exhibition tour and catalogue Stoked: Five Artists of Fire and Clay.
Guidelines for Application to the Apprenticeship Program
The Apprenticeship Program at the Saint John's Pottery is an immersive experience, based on traditional models of generational learning. Apprentices are expected to participate in all aspects of material preparation, develop self-discipline in their training, and to hone their attention through regular journaling.
Historically, the program has welcomed candidates with wide ranges of experience, from near beginner to advanced. Apprenticeships generally last for two to three years. Occasionally, a longer or shorter term apprenticeship may be arranged depending on the specific developmental goals of the applicant.
When possible, interviews for apprenticeship are held during a fall firing of the Johanna kiln. Former apprentices working on the stoking shifts play a key role in helping the applicant understand if a formal apprenticeship is a good match for their needs. For more information on the Apprenticeship Program at the Saint John's Pottery, please contact Ryan Kutter. | <urn:uuid:a9f4bb1c-4088-4950-8936-45507ccdf137> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://csbsju.edu/Saint-Johns-Pottery/Education/Apprenticeship-Program.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.951806 | 393 | 1.914063 | 2 |
Originally Posted by scribeman
I suppose the lifestyle is there, although frankly I'm shocked at the idea of England being "tax friendly". I'll need to see some hardcore evidence before I buy into that.
Maybe this will help you understand...
The World's Richest People: The U.K.'s Billionaires
There are 24 British citizens on our most recent annual list of the world's richest people. And 32 of the world's richest people list the U.K. as their place of residence.
Twenty-one appear on both lists, with the Duke of Westminister being the highest ranking home-team billionaire, ranked No. 100 overall and the fourth richest man in the U.K. after Lakshmi Mittal at No. 5, Roman Abramovich at No. 11 and Hans Rausing at No. 56.
While his day job is as assistant chief of the U.K's defense staff responsible for reservists, his fortune comes from his privately held family company, the Grosvenor Group, with £9.1 billion of real estate assets around the world under management at the turn of the year, including 300 acres of prime Mayfair and Belgravia property in central London.
The three British billionaire ex-pats are retailer Philip Green, or more exactly his wife Christina (though they count as one for the purposes of our list); Clive Calder, the South African born ex-record-label tycoon who discovered Britney Spears; and currency trader turned investor Joseph Lewis. They live in Monaco, the Cayman Islands and the Bahamas respectively.
Now here's the twist: While those three places have long had a certain tax appeal to the wealthy, many of the non-Brit billionaires based in Britain, such as Mittal, Abramovich and Rausing, are attracted to the U.K.'s own emerging reputation as a tax haven with good schools, nice homes and safe streets.
And while the foreign-born take advantage of a well-known tax provision for non-domiciled residents ("non-doms") that allows those who live in the U.K. for some but not all the time be taxed only on their U.K. earnings, it seems that the legions of financial advisers that exist in Britain's billionaire support ecosystem can make the U.K hospitable to home-grown wealth, too.
According to a newly published study by accountancy firm Grant Thornton and commissioned by the Sunday Times newspaper, U.K. billionaires paid income tax totaling £14.7m ($29.1m) on their £126 billion combined fortunes last year, and only a handful paid any capital gains tax.
Grant Thornton estimated that three in five billionaires paid no personal income taxes
, although they would have paid indirect taxes such as value-added and council (local authority services) taxes. Business income would have been tucked away in offshore trusts and companies. Most of the rest who did pay taxes would have paid themselves in dividends rather than with a salary. Dividends are taxed at an effective rate of 25% rather than the 40% higher rate of income tax.
Accepting that there is a degree of guesswork in the numbers given that neither individual tax returns nor the details of more arcane tax shelters are public documents, but taking them at their face value, we estimate that Britain's billionaires paid an effective income tax rate of barely 0.4%.
We are assuming a conservative 7% rate of return on the capital. If you are a billionaire you probably have the financial nous or can afford the financial advisers to beat that.
We also allocated the combined wealth of the billionaires between the doms and non-doms in proportion to their numbers and switched Green and Formula One motor racing Chief Bernie Eccelstone to the non-dom tally. Although domiciled in the U.K, they take full tax advantage of having non-resident wives. We calculate that these adjustments cut the collective taxable fortune of true-Brit billionaires to £49 billion, throwing off £3.4 billion of annual income.
Those billionaires are clearly effective at sheltering their income from the tax man. U.K. residents and those domiciled with U.K. companies will often draw out of their companies only what they need, and they will accumulate capital at corporate tax rates with a long-term plan to realize it at a 10 % rate using the U.K's business-taper rules. The rules progressively reduce capital gains taxes on long-held assets, or during a five-year period overseas, which might be an option for a peripatetic billionaire such as Sir Richard Branson, the Virgin Group entrepreneur with a zest for business matched only by his flair for self-promotion and love of globetrotting. How high does a balloon have to be before the tax man counts it as being out of the country?
The Inland Revenue forgoes a nominal billion pounds in income tax on the basis of our interpretation of Grant Thornton's figures, Critics of the U.K.'s tax regime point to this and to the social cost of rising house prices, especially in London and the southeast of England, and of widening wealth disparities, to argue that the tax regime should change. But as Mike Warburton, the Grant Thornton partner in London involved in compiling the survey, points out, "There is no need for many of these individuals to stay here. Even if we changed the rules, their offshore structures are already in place so very little additional tax would be collected."
Offset against that the value-added tax receipts on the goods and services those billions of pounds of capital imported tax free are spent on and corporate taxes, which Warbuton says, "will be considerable in some cases" plus the taxes paid and jobs created within the support system, from bankers to gardeners. This all adds up to sufficient income, it must be assumed, to keep Britain's officials minded not to change the rules.
© 2006 Forbes.com LLC™ | <urn:uuid:07d2cdfc-7318-4c5c-ae71-305088771205> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?t=121457 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00035-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962247 | 1,226 | 1.65625 | 2 |
Apr. 11, 2009 Scientists at the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) are testing an innovative technological system in the Detroit area this month that ultimately will help protect drivers from being surprised by black ice, fog, and other hazardous weather conditions.
The prototype system is designed to gather detailed information about weather and road conditions from moving vehicles. Within about a decade, it should enable motor vehicles equipped with wireless technology to transmit automated updates about local conditions to a central database, which will then relay alerts to other drivers in the area.
"The goal is to reduce crashes, injuries, and deaths by getting drivers the information they need about nearby hazards," says Sheldon Drobot, the NCAR program manager in charge of the project. "The system will tell drivers what they can expect to run into in the next few seconds and minutes, giving them a critical chance to slow down or take other action."
NCAR's road weather system is part of IntelliDrive(SM), a national initiative overseen by the Department of Transportation (DOT) to use new technologies to make driving safer and improve mobility. Officials envision that, over the next 10 years or so, motor vehicles will begin to automatically communicate with each other and central databases, alerting drivers to threats that range from adverse road conditions to nearby vehicles that are moving erratically or are running through a red light. The goal of the DOT is to reduce motor vehicle accidents by 90 percent by 2030.
The national program brings together federal and state transportation officials, motor vehicle manufacturers, engineering and planning firms, consumer electronics companies, and others.
An estimated 1.5 million motor vehicle accidents annually are associated with poor weather, resulting in about 7,400 deaths and 690,000 injuries, according to a 2004 National Research Council report, "Where the Weather Meets the Road." The report called for improving safety by establishing a nationwide observation system to monitor weather conditions along roads and warn drivers about potential hazards.
For the road weather portion of IntelliDrive, vehicles will use sensors to measure atmospheric conditions such as temperature, pressure, and humidity. An onboard digital memory device will record that information, along with indirect signs of road conditions, such as windshield wipers being switched on or activation of the antilock braking system.
The information will be transmitted to a central database, where it will be integrated with other local weather data and traffic observations, as well as details about road material and alignment. The processed data will then be used to update motorists in the area when hazards are present and, when appropriate, suggest alternate routes.
The incoming data would be anonymous. Officials are working on guidelines to allow drivers to opt out of the system for privacy considerations.
In addition to providing motorist warnings, such a system will alert emergency managers to hazardous driving conditions and enable state highway departments to efficiently keep roads clear of snow. It can also help meteorologists refine their forecasts by providing them with continual updates about local weather conditions.
Motor vehicle manufacturers plan to install the onboard equipment in every new vehicle sold in the United States within a few years as part of a voluntary program to improve driving safety.
On the prowl for bad weather
NCAR scientists and engineers are testing the weather piece of the system by collecting information from 11 specially equipped cars in the Detroit area. Test drivers are on the prowl for adverse conditions, especially heavy rain and snow. Engineers will analyze the reliability of the system by comparing data from the cars with other observations from radars and weather satellites. They will also look at whether different models of cars-in this case, Jeep Cherokees, Ford Edges, and a Nissan Altima - produce comparable measurements of weather and road conditions.
The tests, which began early this month and will run for about two weeks, will help the NCAR team refine its software to accurately process data from motor vehicles. In the future, the team also hopes to study which types of weather information will be most useful and how that information can be clearly and safely communicated to drivers, possibly through a visual display or audio alert.
"The results look very encouraging," Drobot says. "The tests show that cars can indeed communicate critical information about weather conditions and road hazards."
Processing a deluge of observations
One of the biggest challenges for NCAR is to determine how to process the enormous amounts of data that could be generated by about 300 million motor vehicles. The center has worked with the Department of Defense, the aviation industry, and other organizations to analyze complex weather observations. But the new system incorporates information from far more sources, and those sources are moving.
NCAR engineers are developing mathematical formulas and other techniques to accurately interpret the information and eliminate misleading indicators. If a driver, for example, turns on the windshield wipers in clear weather to clean the windshield, the NCAR data system will identify that action as an outlier rather than issuing a false alert about precipitation.
"It's not enough to process the information almost instantaneously," says William Mahoney, who oversees the system's development for NCAR. "It needs to be cleaned up, sent through a quality control process, blended with traditional weather data, and eventually delivered back to drivers who are counting on the system to accurately guide them through potentially dangerous conditions."
IntelliDrive is a service mark of the U.S. Department of Transportation.
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Note: Materials may be edited for content and length. For further information, please contact the source cited above.
Note: If no author is given, the source is cited instead. | <urn:uuid:b627e555-e5f3-46ec-8cb3-d395c2b397d6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/04/090408194818.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.9403 | 1,130 | 3.203125 | 3 |
First of all, any job is a good job. Many child care providers or "baby sitters" as you call them, get paid good money. It shows your age that you are not mature enough understand any paying job which is legal is an honorable job. Mowing lawns is also a very good way to earn good money. I paid my lawncare provider $35 a month for mowiing twice a month, and this man who did this had many clients who needed differant amounts of lawn and yard care. He is a hardworking enterprising man and I am sure he would not appricaite a kid calling his job "stupid".
You are not going to get far in life if you continue with the attitude you have about honest and good paying work for those who are willing to put in the effort and dedication to build up a cilent base. Employors want workers who are not afraid or think they are too good to do hard work and get their hands dirty. They do not want a kid who will snivil about they type of work he is asked to do.
You certianly don't expect to start at the top of a field at fourteen do you? I should hope not. Those who are as young, uneducated, unskilled as you start at the very bottom. Even those coming right out of graduate school, which is higher education, start at the bottom of their fields and then work hard to get promotions and slowly work their way up. They know they will need to work hard, be willing to get their hands dirty if need be in order to move ahead in life.
You have an attitude problem and prospective employers are going to pick up on it. You also seem to have a chip on your shoulder and empoyers will notice this too. They do not want to waste their valuable time on employees who have attitude problems and chips on their shoulders. Nobody owes you a thing, not even your parents aftter you turn eighteen. Then you will be expected to make your own way in this world the same as any other individual. This is what men and women do every single blessed day.
However, adults do not get to spend their money any way they wish. What money you earn right now at fourteen is money you can spend as you wish. Unless you are honorable and help out your family. As a good son should. Anyway, while you are this age you have few responsibilities, unless you are silly enough to lealve home this young. If you did that you really would be silly. Unless you are being abused, then you should get the support of social services and take advantage of the programs available to help you. There are all types of programs, like life skills and independant transitional living, and college grants to help you gain a college education. In the meanwhile if you do have a good family, which it sounds like you do because I can tell by the attitude problem, stay home and be a kid. There will be time enough when you are eighteen that all your money will need to go towards rent, utilities, telaphone, cable, internet service, food, clothing, etc. (If you can afford TV, internet, and phone that is most young adults can't.)
So, you want a job in New York for a fourteen year old. Well, there is the Fast Food chains. Maybe dish washing at a local resteraunt, or cleaning up at a local groucery store, or working at the docks. These are all hard jobs, but there really are not that many who hire fourteen year olds, especially those who have an attitude problem.
I really don't know what you expect. All jobs are hard work, that is why they are called "Work" and not "Play" or "fun". 95?f Americans work in hard jobs. It doesn't matter if it is a office job (which you will not get without an education anyway) or an outside job. If you don't expect work to be hard, you are in for a very rude awakening.
It doesn't matter if you can get your "work permitt" at age fourteen. There are not many places, even in New York City, which hires that young. Plus, you have to get pass this attitude problem first, or you will never get hired. Or if you do you will not last long, because soon you will tire of the hard and demanding work, call it stupid and walk off, or get fired for having a fresh mouth.
Listen, I am not trying to be mean here. I really am trying to help you. Anybody reading your question will view it much the same as I did. A young kid who thinks he knows everything about everything, disdains good honest work, and has a smart mouth. This is not going to endear you to prospective employors. I would not hire you.
Try to understand that there is not any "stupid" work when it comes to making ends meet, to feeding and supporting yourslf and/or a family. If you think childcare and mowing lawns is stupid work, then you are not going to get far. Grownups do this work and support entire families on their earnings!! All legal jobs which pays a wage is good and honest work, worthy of taking pride in.
I would gladly hire a young man who was not so arrogant to disdain honest work, who was willing to work hard and take pride in that work what ever it was. So, do yourself and your future a favor and pull back those shoulders, such in that gut, and do an honest days work for an honest days pay. Don't expect something for nothing, and get shut of that attitude before it shuts the door on your butt as you leave the office without a job.
Once you do those things, lower your expectations of the types of jobs uneducated, immature, half grown boys can get in this world,stop looking down on honest work, and get ready for some hard work, then you will be ready for the job force. If you did these things I would be more than happy to hire you on to my construction crew for grunt work while you learn the trade.
Answered By: Serenity - 5/8/2006 | <urn:uuid:30f80daa-6bc4-404f-b9a7-65855ba2f4c2> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://answers.monster.com/a-1006050817547.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368702448584/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516110728-00036-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978229 | 1,283 | 1.765625 | 2 |
Originally Posted by fishtar
And what is the heater box assembly. As in, what does it do?
The dummy term is the thing that provides heat to the inside of the car, you know so you keep warm in the winter or your windows don't freeze up?
As Rudy said, it's required for safety to have a working defroster.
Track cars usually have all that stuff removed, since heat or a/c isn't needed in a race car. | <urn:uuid:68318e50-03da-4993-b711-58579742ae01> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.maxbimmer.com/forums/showpost.php?p=1467420&postcount=12 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00051-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.979143 | 98 | 1.882813 | 2 |
Brazilian government lists preferred Open Source applications
The Brazilian government wants its public administrations to check an Open Source reference guide before launching new IT projects. This moves taken by the Government of the 5th world economy, confirms Brazilian leadership and long term commitment on open source software.
The "Instruction for Contracting IT Services" was recently published by the Secretary of Logistics and IT, part of the Ministry of Planning. The instruction is intended prevent equivalent software solutions from being developed several times.
"The portal should be consulted by public managers before starting a new software development project, to check whether a comparable software solution already exists", an introduction on the web site explains. If a solution exists, the procurement can then be adapted to improve on that software project.
Brazil is the world's fifth largest country both by population and geographical area. The country has some 187 million inhabitants.
Proven Open Source experience in Brazilian public sector
SERPRO, the main IT solution provider for the Brazilian Government, is actively using Plone and Zope as its primary Portal construction tool for Government Web Content Management Solutions. SERPRO is responsible for all IT services within the Ministry of Finance and key information systems for the federal government. Principal products are Internet access services, Intranet portal solutions, consultancy and network communication services, and government applications (cities, states and federal).
SERPRO counts on an impressive list of reference. | <urn:uuid:f18b6f65-5294-4e91-9ee4-4698dfde1944> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://plonegov.org/articles/brazilian-government-lists-preferred-open-source-applications | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368708766848/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125246-00049-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921258 | 284 | 1.828125 | 2 |
September Anesthesiology News Briefs
(August 24, 2011)
A study and editorial published in the September issue of Anesthesiology
explore postoperative pain, one of the most common adverse events after surgery. They also analyze whether a non-opioid drug is effective in decreasing pain when administered before surgery.
The most common medication used to treat postoperative pain is opioids. However, this type of drug has a high risk for producing side effects such as nausea, vomiting, constipation, drowsiness and itching, leaving many patients to choose between adverse side effects and pain relief.
Dexamethasone, an anti-inflammatory steroid, is commonly used to prevent postoperative nausea and vomiting. Researchers from Northwestern University reviewed previously collected data from over 2700 patients to determine whether a slightly higher dose of the steroid would decrease postoperative pain. Their analysis showed that dexamethasone administered before surgery had a large effect in reducing pain, as well as the consumption of opioids after surgery.
“Postoperative pain is a major factor associated with poor patient satisfaction,” said lead study author Gildasio S. De Oliveira, Jr., M.D. “The use of dexamethasone can help patients reduce their amount of postoperative pain and side effects, likely resulting in higher patient satisfaction with their anesthesiologist and other health care providers.”
In an accompanying editorial by researchers from the Cleveland Clinic, the role of steroids on pain control after surgery was discussed. The editorial recognized that while there is good evidence that steroids ameliorate acute postoperative pain, the risk-benefit ratio remains unclear.
“The De Oliveira study is the most quantitative literature review of perioperative dexamethasone for pain,” said lead editorial author Alparslan Turan, M.D. “There is further work that could be done to evaluate if adverse events are associated with the use of steroids for postoperative pain management.”
For more information, visit the Anesthesiology
website at www.anesthesiology.org
THE AMERICAN SOCIETY OF ANESTHESIOLOGISTS
Anesthesiologists: Physicians providing the Lifeline of Modern Medicine TM. Founded in 1905, the American Society of Anesthesiologists is an educational, research and scientific association with more than 50,000 members organized to raise and maintain the standards of the medical practice of anesthesiology and improve the care of the patient.
For more information on the field of anesthesiology, visit the American Society of Anesthesiologists website at www.asahq.org.
For patient information, visit | <urn:uuid:3918085a-87fe-43c1-b2b7-137a19df2f9b> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.asahq.org/For-the-Public-and-Media/Press-Room/Anesthesiology-and-Other-Scientific-Press-Releases/September-Anesthesiology-News-Briefs.aspx | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368699273641/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516101433-00039-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.927411 | 552 | 2.3125 | 2 |
"A small percentage (1.3%) of donors experience a serious complication due to anesthesia or damage to bone, nerve or muscle in their hip region," according to Be the Match.
On the whole, it's a very low-risk procedure, and it's the one I chose.
However the more common option is to donate peripheral blood stem cells. This requires one injection each day for five days of a drug called filgrastim, which moves stem cells out of the bone marrow, and into the blood stream. During this process, the donor feels achy and sore.
On the fifth day, the donor is connected to an apherisis machine, which draws blood from one arm, isolates the stem cells now circulating in the blood, and then transfuses the donor's blood right back into the other arm. This typically takes four to six hours.
The drug filgrastim is widely considered to be safe by clinicians, with the one caveat that there's limited data specifically about the long-term effects of the drug on healthy donors.
As a donor, that gave me pause. So I looked into what we do know.
In 2009, researchers found that there's "no evidence of increased cancer risk," though study participants had been followed for, on average, about four years.
Miller, who is also one of the study authors, says the latest data continues to indicate no increased risks from taking filgrastim for a PBSC donation.
Donating PBSC simultaneously enrolls you in an ongoing clinical trial to assess long-term risks and benefits.
Making the donation | <urn:uuid:65abd2aa-868e-4b48-9217-d88970780765> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.wapt.com/news/health/Bone-marrow-donor-shares-lifesaving-journey/-/9156800/17894044/-/item/2/-/dftydr/-/index.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00063-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.956123 | 329 | 2.5625 | 3 |
Organizer Maggie Martin is interviewed about our work at Fort Hood, 11 years into America's longest war.
This article by Sarah Lazare published by War Times on September 9th 2012 features an interview with IVAW organizer Maggie Martin and offers insight into our powerful organizing work at Fort Hood. Please read and share the article widely.
As the war in Afghanistan drags through its eleventh year, discussion of U.S. occupation has been forgotten in election cycle discourse.
Yet in Fort Hood, Texas, a community of military veterans, soldiers, and allies who are unable to forget are organizing their community in response to the widespread trauma that underlies U.S. policies of endless war. Calling their campaign Operation Recovery, members of Iraq Veterans Against the War and The Civilian-Soldier Alliance are working with Under the Hood Cafe and Outreach Center to demand service members' right to heal.
Even as the U.S. military claims to draw down its forces, suicide rates among active duty service members and veterans continue to climb. According to the Army's own studies, the year 2011 set a record for the highest number of Army suicides in military history. That same year also marked a spike in sexual assaults within the ranks of the military. While comparable studies of trauma in occupied populations do not exist, the death count in the “Global War on Terror” continues to rise, with over 12,000 Afghan civilians killed since 2006 and more than 185,000 Afghan civilians displaced in 2011 alone, marking a 45 percent jump from 2010.
War trauma is acutely felt at Fort Hood, the largest military base in the country that houses many soldiers on their way to and from war zones. The Army reported in 2010 that the base's suicide rate was double the national average, and today the base's sexual assault counselors and healthcare providers cannot meet the swelling need for help. Military communities have decided to take matters into their own hands by organizing within this sprawling military installation for the right to heal from war's trauma and an end to the dehumanization and abuse that underwrites U.S.-led occupation.
Maggie Martin is a two-time Iraq War veteran and a Field Organizer for Iraq Veterans Against the War, currently based at Fort Hood. In this interview, Maggie discusses campaign strategy, talks about Fort Hood military communities, and explains how healing is a force against war.
Can you tell me what you and other IVAW members are doing at Fort Hood?
We're here organizing an active duty outreach drive for Operation Recovery. We're trying to get the word out about the work we're doing at Fort Hood around the right to heal. We're also collecting stories and information from soldiers here about the situation on the ground, particularly around issues of access to mental and physical healthcare.
People are experiencing things like stigma for trying to seek care. People are having profiles violated. Medical profiles are from doctors and healthcare workers to put restrictions on certain kinds of work for service members related to what they're capable of due to their mental health status. Violating a profile means assigning service members work that is unsafe for them.
What kind of response have you been getting from active duty service members?
Most people who have experience with traumatic injuries are able to tell us some of the things that have been difficult for them around getting treatment. A lot of people are still afraid to get help because of stigma. There are also issues of unofficial punishment where there is not necessarily a paperwork trail but people are getting disrespected and treated badly for seeking care. This is not necessarily across the board - we've heard from some folks that their command and leadership are doing the right thing and really encouraging soldiers to get care and help. It is important that everyone get the care they need and deserve, and we are trying to figure out how to ensure that.
What is the focus of the campaign right now?
We're trying to set up interviews, do house visits, and have one-on-one conversations with new members at the Under the Hood Cafe and Outreach Center, both IVAW members and potential members. This includes people who come to our ribs and rights events, as well as different trainings we put on, including Warrior Writers and G.I. rights trainings. We are trying to solidify people's roles in the community and understand more about why they came into the community and why they're interested in Operation Recovery as well as what they want to see for the future. Next Saturday, before I leave, we're going to have a larger IVAW chapter meeting for the Fort Hood chapter and the Austin chapter that's forming. We'll invite potential members as well, both active duty and veterans. That should help us get a sense of where the community here wants to take the campaign and how they see themselves continuing as an area of operation for the campaign.
Have you found that talking about trauma is an effective starting place to relate to service members?
Yeah, it is. I think that our one-on-one conversations with people show us that the reason they came to Under the Hood is because of the injustices that are happening around service-members' care, and they feel really betrayed that they have given so much and their comrades have given so much but can't even get decent healthcare. It is an important issue to people. It is something that can be seen as a really blatant disregard for the dignity and respect of soldiers. With the reduction of the military, we are seeing so many more folks being forced out and not allowed to re-enlist. Many of them are people who have been deployed repeatedly and are now struggling with their own physical and mental health issues and are now being disregarded and discarded.
As a veteran, how does it feel to be organizing active duty service members at a massive military base like Fort Hood?
I think one thing that's really interesting for me about going back to a military base is remembering where I was when I was in the military, what was important to me, what issues I thought about, and what power and control over my own life I thought I had, which was pretty much none when I was in. Going back, I feel like I know a lot more about how widespread the issues are that service members are facing. I know more about service members' rights. I think it is really helpful to remember back to where I was and try to be a bridge for people to understand more or to explore their own ideas just by inviting them to Under the Hood Cafe and Outreach Center, asking questions, and making space. It's also cool being able to organize around service members' rights while not being in the military anymore because there is a lot more freedom and less fear of the military legal system.
How is Operation Recovery an anti-militarist campaign?
Militarism and dehumanization go hand in hand and really work off of each other. Operation Recovery is predicated on reclaiming our humanity through talking about human rights. I think that if people and soldiers see themselves as people worthy of dignity and respect and healthcare, then that's a step in the direction away from the dehumanization that happens to soldiers in their training that is carried on to the work they do overseas.
That reminds me of this quote we used as a prompt for our Warrior Writers workshop yesterday from Thich Nhat Hahn, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk: "Veterans are the light at the tip of the candle, illuminating the way for the whole nation. If veterans can achieve awareness, transformation, understanding, and peace, they can share with the rest of society the realities of war. And they can teach us how to make peace with ourselves and each other, so we never have to use violence to resolve conflicts again." I think that the military is so separated from the rest of American culture, and people believe that the military is happy to participate in these things and that everything we engage in is for this greater just cause. The reason I joined IVAW is because I believe that it is powerful for people who have been immersed and participated in the military to counter the popular belief that the military is a separate group of heroic people carrying out the needs of our country. I think that soldiers speaking out creates a shift in the American consciousness.
How does the trauma that service members face relate to the trauma faced by those living under occupation?
I think that we see cycles of trauma repeat themselves within families and communities with service members here in the States. We know a lot less about this trauma in occupied countries because we are so separated from what is happening in occupied countries. People in the military aren't getting care, they're struggling with drugs and alcohol and prescription drug abuse, they can't sleep at night, they're having nightmares and flashbacks, they have a hard time distinguishing when they're safe and in danger. You add some hardcore weaponry to that equation, and it is pretty obvious this is a recipe for disaster.
What was Ft. Hood like under Fort Hood Commanding General Donal Campbell? General Campbell has been tapped for the role of new commander of U.S. Army Europe, which amounts to a promotion. Can you tell us a little about his track record so far?
General Campbell was a target of Operation Recovery because he was in control of such a large military installation that had been repeatedly deploying many soldiers since the early stages of the war. Soldiers at Fort Hood have been through a lot of serious combat, a lot of multiple deployments, and a lot of traumatic injuries. In 2010, this base had the highest suicide rate of any military installation. It is important for us to identify and hold accountable the military leaders who are responsible.
General Campbell recently held a Facebook "town hall" meeting that purportedly aimed to get feedback about base policy from the Fort Hood community. In reality, it seemed to be more about public relations than about how to help service members. We got a lot of political non-answers to tough questions we were asking. In response to questions highlighting lack of access to care for service members, General Campbell responded by telling people to contact his office if they are having problems. We really think that's ridiculous. If someone gets turned down from help from their supervisor, if they get told they are weak and need to suck it up, they are not going to feel comfortable going to the post commander to ask for help. The town hall responses were disingenuous and lacked any concrete solutions or steps for improvements. We also know that one of the active duty service members we have been working with is being targeted and penalized by his command for demanding his right to heal at that Facebook town hall meeting.
What does General Campbell's promotion say about the values of the U.S. military?
I think it shows that they want these tough leaders who are going to carry out orders and make hard decisions and be willing to put soldiers' welfare second to the needs of the military. It shows that the military has no accountability to the community or even to the soldiers under their command, and the only way we're going to be able to make a difference is to go to the people who control their promotions and cash flow.
What's next for Operation Recovery?
We're going to release an Appeal for Redress for service members' and veterans' right to heal. IVAW members and other veterans and service members across the country will be invited to sign on to the Appeal for Redress and engage with their congressional representatives. An Appeal for Redress is a protected form of communication for active duty service members to resolve an issue and seek redress through their congressional representatives. It is protected under the Military Whistle-Blower Protection Act that is supposed to keep service members safe from reprisals from command and leadership that they're trying to address. We're in the process of figuring out what we want to come out of this and what local campaigns will be happening under the larger umbrella of Operation Recovery. I think there will be specific demands for specific local targets. Our overall goal will be to put pressure on congressional representatives and build up to open hearings for service members and veterans to be able to share their stories about dealing with traumatic injuries in the military and VA system. The hope is that congress will put pressure or force military and VA to give proper care.
Why is this organizing relevant now?
I think it is crazy that we're in the eleventh year of the war in Afghanistan, in a presidential election year, and the war is not even an issue in the presidential campaigns: it's not even being discussed. Soldiers coming home from Afghanistan, and soldiers who have come home from Iraq, are starting to see mental health issues surface in their lives. More and more service members and veterans are dealing with the consequences of traumatic injuries, yet this issue is getting less and less coverage and spotlight in the political arena. We think it is really important to keep standing up for service members and let people know that the wars are not over for those who participated and for those who were and are occupied. We need to remember these things and learn from mistakes as we move into the future. | <urn:uuid:47afd6bb-9459-4d39-859d-84c192cec5f5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.ivaw.org/blog/organizer-maggie-martin-interviewed-about-our-work-fort-hood-11-years-americas-longest-war | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.978397 | 2,656 | 1.804688 | 2 |
Basic 5 Steps
1. Application Process
- Carefully review your Student Aid Report (SAR).
- If you did not include an email address on your FAFSA application, you will receive your SAR by mail.
- If you did include an email address on your FAFSA, you will receive your SAR as an email attachment.
Scholarships - PVCC Scholarships and search engines
There are three types of scholarships that can help fund your education at a Maricopa Community College:
- Maricopa Community Colleges Foundation Scholarships are privately funded and open to all Maricopa Community College students. In most cases they may be used at any Maricopa Community College and, in some cases, non-Maricopa colleges and universities. A Free Application for Federal Student Aid (FAFSA) is not required to apply. Apply for Foundation scholarships or check the status of your application.
- College-Specific Scholarships are available through each of the Maricopa Community Colleges and are generally restricted to one campus (for example, Presidential or honors scholarships). Learn more about scholarship opportunities at your campus.
- External Scholarships are offered through various local and national organizations. Free scholarship search engines are available to aid in your search for funding and enhance your knowledge about financial aid. View external scholarship resources.
Because students sometimes have errors on their application, colleges develop procedures for verifying the reported information. This process is called verification. Applications are selected for verification either by the FAFSA processor or by the college. Students can learn if their application is selected for verification by reviewing their SAR and/or by the Office of Student Financial Assistance will notify student through their message center, My.Maricopa.edu.
A school must verify any application information that it has reason to believe is incorrect [34 CFR 668.54(a)(3)] or discrepant [34 CFR 668.16(f)] (Code of Federal Regulations).
IMPORTANT NOTE: An application that is selected for the verification process is not VALID until the verification process is complete. The suggested award amount(s) mentioned on the FAFSA Confirmation and on the SAR are NOT valid and will NOT be awarded until the verification process is complete. Award amount may change upon completion of the verification process.
Students are required to frequently check their Student Center located at my.maricopa.edu to review “To Do List” to be certain that all required documents have been submitted.
Sometimes during the verification process, the Office of Student Financial Assistance (SFA) will ask the student and/or their parent(s) for addition documentation. The need for these item(s) is not always known until the detailed verification process has begun.
3. Maintaining Financial Aid Elgibility
All students must maintain Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) to continue to receive financial aid funding. You may need to complete the Academic Appeal & Student Engagement/Student Success, Satisfactory Academic Progress & Default Prevention Workshop or Academic Extension process to regain financial aid eligibility.
- Semester Progress Measurement: Students must successfully complete 2/3 (66.67%) of all attempted course work during the semester.
- Maximum Time Frame Measurement: Students have attempted more than 150% of the published credits required for their program of study or who have already earned a bachelor’s degree or higher are considered not meeting SAP.
- Classes will not be held for students with outstanding SAP issues.
- Financial Aid Students who are not enrolled in an eligible program of study, will not be awarded financial aid funding.
- Financial Aid Students should only be enrolled in classes that are part of their eligible program of study.
4. Award Process
To view your award, go to My.maricopa.edu and click on “View Financial Aid”.
You may need to complete additional processes to receive your financial aid funding. Review your award and carefully read all instructions and related comments. Be sure that there is enough financial aid funding per semester to cover your tuition & fees.
Effective Fall 2011, Book Vouchers are being replaced with Book Advances
- Book Advance information was placed on the My.maricopa.edu login page, listed under Paying for College on the left hand side of the screen at http://my.maricopa.edu/book-advances/
- Book Advance options are found in your Student Services Center under the Finance Section.
- To receive a Book Advance you must have an actual award greater than your charges. Some awards may not be eligible for a Book Advance.
- Review your "Opt In" or "Opt Out" choices to ensure it reflects the correct status. If no action is taken a Book Advance may not be issued.
- If you choose to "Opt In" your Book Advance monies will be disbursed as early as 5 business days prior to the start of your first class.
- Book Advances will be issued through the Maricopa Student Refund Program (MSRP). Debit card or direct deposit options are the fastest ways to receive your advance. http://my.maricopa.edu/refund/
5. Disbursement Process
If all of your financial aid processing is complete, and in some cases your enrollment has not changed, your financial aid funds will be disbursed.
- Disbursement is when the financial aid funds on your award letter are transferred (credited) to your account in the Cashier’s Office to pay your current term tuition, fees and books.
- REFUND is when you have remaining financial aid funding after your tuition, fees, and books are paid, you will be notified by Citibank through your g-mail account with payment options.
- DO NOT WRITE CHECKS BASED ON ANTICIPATED FINANCIAL AID DISBURSEMENTS. The college will not pay fees related to late payments or account overdrafts. | <urn:uuid:c80b9e3a-8316-411c-ab76-0a37826898ad> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.pvc.maricopa.edu/finaid/basic-5-steps | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368711005985/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516133005-00008-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.928542 | 1,233 | 1.695313 | 2 |
P.L. 2005, c. 127 was approved on July 2, 2005. The new statute amends the corporation business tax and the gross income tax to disallow a deduction for certain qualified production activities income that was recently provided for federal income tax purposes under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 (Pub. L. 108-377). The legislative purpose and intention of the law relating to uncoupling from the federal deduction is set forth in the Statement to A 4294 (2004-2005).
P.L. 2005, c. 127 decouples the New Jersey Corporation Business Tax
and Gross Income Tax
from the federal IRC Section 199 deduction of certain qualified production activities as recently enacted under the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004 for taxable years beginning after December 31, 2004.
The allowable New Jersey Domestic Production Activities Deduction is based exclusively on domestic production gross receipts derived from a lease, rental, sale, exchange or other disposition of qualifying production property which was manufactured or produced by the taxpayer in whole or in significant part within the United States. Manufactured or produced are as defined under as defined under N.J.S.A. 54:10A-4(k)(2)(J) and 54A:5-15.
Deductions are not
allowed if they are applicable to or pertaining to production property grown or extracted; films, electricity, natural gas, potable water, computer software or sound recordings produced by the taxpayer; construction activities; engineering or architectural services.
Gross Income Tax
For gross income tax purposes, the allowable deduction is calculated on Form 501–GIT, New Jersey Gross Income Tax Domestic Production Activities Deduction. Form 501 GIT and instructions
are available on the Division’s web site.
The allowable deduction will be taken into consideration in determining the net distributive share of partnership income; net pro rata share of S corporation income; net profits from business; net gains or income from disposition of property; and net gains or income from rents, reportable on a NJ-1040, NJ-1040NR, or NJ-1041.
Corporation Business Tax
For corporation business tax purposes, P.L. 2005, c. 127 requires that certain domestic production expenses that had been claimed for federal purposes are not deductible for New Jersey purposes. Accordingly, New Jersey Corporation Business Tax Form 501 is used to calculate the New Jersey adjustment. For a corporation filing the CBT-100, the adjustment computed on Form 501 is carried to Schedule A-5, where a calculation is performed with the result from A-5 carried to CBT-100, Schedule A, line 33(b).
In the case of an S Corporation, the result from New Jersey Corporation Business Tax Form 501
is carried directly to CBT-100S, Schedule A, line 37(e). Form 501-GIT is used to calculate the deduction to be reported on Schedule K, Form CBT-100S. | <urn:uuid:ac2db7d3-ca89-4e4b-88c2-4b85b15fc67f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://nj.gov/treasury/taxation/dompro.shtml | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368700958435/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516104238-00022-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.921601 | 604 | 1.578125 | 2 |
Just a quick congratulations to the ECB (European Central Bank), which apparently has more integrity and is far more honest than the left in the U.S.
Following is an excrept from their latest study, confirming the IMF and Harvard findings, that found that spending restraints is the only sure way of fighting indebtedness while tax increases do not work well at all:
"Our results suggest that the composition of the fiscal adjustment plays an important role in explaining the success of a debt reduction. The expenditure dummy which reflects the size of the change in the primary expenditure relative to the change in the primary balance has the expected positive sign and is statistically significant. The results indicate that the discrete change of the expenditure dummy from 0 to 1 increases the probability of a major debt reduction by more than 10 percent. The revenue dummy, on the other hand, turns out to be statistically insignificant. Therefore, it seems that expenditure-based consolidations have a higher probability to succeed, while tax increases are less likely to contribute to a large and persistent debt reduction."
The revenue section of the findings is in accordance with long term observations in the U.S. that regardless of tax rates (which were as high as 92% for the top brackets in the 40s and 50s, and as low as 35% recently), federal tax revenues remain constant at around 18% of the GDP.
Progressive liberals fail to see that entrepreneurs (and people in general) adjust their behavior accordingly when tax rates are pushed up. This lack of dynamic analysis capability, along with their demented view of social justice and equality, is in large part the reason why progressives are incapable of seeing the folly of their ways and progressivism has never succeeded as a viable system anywhere at any time.
Even Frederic Bastiat, the great classical liberal theorist, could see the folly of progressive thinking almost two centuries ago when he said: "Government is the great fiction, through which everybody endeavors to live at the expense of everybody else." | <urn:uuid:5b37d94c-aa8b-4c52-8539-3005fb11588a> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://defendourconstitution.blogspot.com/2011/01/bravo-ecb.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368709037764/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516125717-00007-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967247 | 400 | 1.539063 | 2 |
Johannes Brahms (1833-1897): Four Hand Piano Music Vol. 9
Piano Concerto No. 1 Academic Festival Overture
Johannes Brahms was born in Hamburg in 1833, the son of adouble-bass player and his much older wife, a seamstress. His childhood wasspent in relative poverty, and his early studies in music, as a pianist ratherthan as a string-player, developed his talent to such an extent that there wastalk of touring as a prodigy at the age of eleven. It was Eduard Marxsen whogave him a grounding in the technical basis of composition, while the boy wasable to use his talents by teaching and by playing the piano in summer inns,rather than in the dockside taverns of popular legend, a romantic idea which hehimself seems later to have encouraged.
In 1851 Brahms met the emigre Hungarian violinist Remenyi,who introduced him to Hungarian dance music that had a later influence on hiswork. Two years later he set out in his company on his first concert tour,their journey taking them, on the recommendation of the Hungarian violinistJoachim, to Weimar, where Franz Liszt held court and might have been expectedto show particular favour to a fellow-countryman. Remenyi profited from thevisit, but Brahms, with a lack of tact that was later accentuated, failed toimpress the Master. Later in the year, however, he met the Schumanns, throughJoachim's agency. The meeting was a fruitful one.
In 1850 Schumann had taken up the offer from the previousincumbent, Ferdinand Hiller, of the position of municipal director of music inD??sseldorf, the first official appointment of his career and the last. Now inthe music of Brahms he detected a promise of greatness and published his viewsin the journal he had once edited, the Neue Zeitschrift f??r Musik, declaringBrahms the long-awaited successor to Beethoven. In the following year Schumann,who had long suffered from intermittent periods of intense depression,attempted suicide. His final years, until his death in 1856, were to be spentin an asylum, while Brahms rallied to the support of Schumann's wife, thegifted pianist Clara Schumann, and her young family, remaining a firm friend untilher death in 1896, shortly before his own in the following year.
Brahms had always hoped that sooner or later he would beable to return in triumph to a position of distinction in the musical life ofHamburg. This ambition was never fulfilled. Instead he settled in Vienna,intermittently from 1863 and definitively in 1869, establishing himself thereand seeming to many to fulfil Schumann's early prophecy. In him his supporters,including, above all, the distinguished critic and writer Eduard Hanslick, sawa true successor to Beethoven and a champion of music untrammelled byextra-musical associations, of pure music, as opposed to the Music of theFuture promoted by Wagner and Liszt, a path to which Joachim and Brahms bothlater publicly expressed their opposition.
The monumental nature of much of the orchestral work ofBrahms is in part a sign of the great pains that went into its construction.His first piano concerto, which made no concessions to contemporary taste, wasconceived originally as a sonata for two pianos, following his earlier threepiano sonatas. This was written during a difficult period in the composer'slife, after the breakdown of Schumann, to whose encouragement he owed a greatdeal, and the perceived necessity of offering practical support to ClaraSchumann and her young family. The sonata then became a symphony, with somehelp in orchestration from his Gottingen friend Julius Otto Grimm, to reach itsfinal metamorphosis as the Piano Concerto in D minor, Op. 15, completed in thisform in 1859. Developed during the difficult final years of Schumann's life inthe asylum at Endenich, where he was being treated, it suggests, particularlyin its slow movement, to which Brahms added the words Benedictus qui venit innomine Domini, a Requiem for Schumann. Brahms also seems to have identified theslow movement with Clara Schumann and recent scholars have pointed out apossible reference to E.T.A. Hoffmann's novel Kater Murr and the fictionalKapellmeister Johannes Kreisler, with whom Brahms sometimes identified himself.
The concerto had its first private rehearsals, with Brahmsas soloist, in Hanover in 1858, with Joachim conducting. They introduced thework to the public in January the following year to a polite reception. Thisrelative success persuaded Brahms to the more ambitious step of a performancein Leipzig with the Gewandhaus Orchestra, conducted by Julius Rietz, onceMendelsson's assistant in D??sseldorf and now established in Leipzig insuccession to Niels W. Gade. The reaction of the audience to such a demandingwork was hostile, with ironic applause from one or two and hissing from many. Awell known critic found nothing good to say about the concerto and even less tocommend in Brahms's performance as a pianist, at the time his principal meansof earning a living. His later supporter Hanslick, indeed, writing three yearslater, found that Brahms played more like a composer than a virtuoso, praisinghis honesty, his interpretative abilities, yet aware of inaccuracies howevercompelling the whole performance. A subsequent performance of the concerto inHamburg met a better reception. In the following years the work gradually wonwider acceptance, finding its way early into the repertoire of Clara Schumann,a strong advocate. The concerto is massive in its symphonic conception,described by one contemporary as a symphony with piano obbligato, and clearlyposed problems to its first audiences, lacking any trivial or superficialbrilliance in its writing and calling for sustained attention over its veryconsiderable length. As the symphonies Brahms was to write might seem anextension of the work of Beethoven half a century earlier, so the first of histwo piano concertos seemed to continue and develop the pattern set byBeethoven's Emperor Concerto. In November 1855 Brahms had appeared as a soloistwith orchestra for the first time in a performance of that concerto andincluded Beethoven's Fourth Concerto and Mozart's D minor and C minor Concertosin his concert repertoire at this time. These all had an observable influenceon his own writing.
The first movement opens with a feeling of tragicsignificance, the marked trills adding to its ominous nature, before a gentlerelement, a foretaste of the second subject, intervenes, followed by a suddenoutburst from the orchestra, which returns to its opening mood, hushed only bythe entry of the soloist. The pianist succumbs, in turn, to the initial themewith its fierce trills, leading to the second subject, a hymn-like themeannounced by the soloist. The material is developed in a section that makesheavy demands on the solo instrument and the recapitulation brings its ownsurprising shifts of key. The massive first movement is followed by acontrasting slow movement. A long-drawn theme is played by the strings, with the soloist adding a meditation onthe melody. The solo instrument continues its progress towards a new theme. Themood of the opening returns, extended in a cadenza of great serenity. The lastmovement, a Rondo, has a marked and energetic opening that may remind one ofBeethoven, both in his Concerto in C minor and in other final movements,including, even, in some of the keyboard writing, that of the first pianosonata. The rondo form allows the inclusion of a number of contrasting ideas,leading to a cadenza, marked quasi fantasia and using a dominant pedal-point, asustained note to underpin changes of harmony, a feature characteristic ofBrahms, and a moving conclusion.
The concerto was not accepted for publication by Breitkopf undHartel, but the o | <urn:uuid:6de89ce5-5c74-4fd9-bbd7-7198ecd7b103> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://naxosdirect.co.uk/items/brahms-four-hand-piano-music-vol.-9-christian-kohn-silke-thora-matthies-toonstudio-van-geest-naxos-8.554116-145498 | 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 | 0.96433 | 1,751 | 2.1875 | 2 |
Saudi Arabia knows how to keep up with the Joneses. The Burj Khalifa in Dubai has officially been the world’s tallest building since its opening early last year, but by 2016-ish Saudi Arabia plans to let the UAE know exactly who the big brother is on the Arabian Peninsula. The Saudis have inked a deal between the Kingdom’s holdings company and a certain Bin Laden Group to build the world’s tallest building, an elegant yet extreme tower that will rise 3,281 feet above the streets of Jeddah.
There aren't too many YouTube videos capable of inducing measurable feelings of vertigo while you watch comfortable at your desk, but this is one of them. It was filmed by a brave, brave Scotsman standing on top of the world.
Five amazing, clean technologies that will set us free, in this month's energy-focused issue. Also: how to build a better bomb detector, the robotic toys that are raising your children, a human catapult, the world's smallest arcade, and much more. | <urn:uuid:ed9d6ce9-2f41-4ab4-9ad7-77227b5a3cfc> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.popsci.com/category/tags/burj-dubai | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697380733/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516094300-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.94637 | 213 | 1.625 | 2 |
Adaptive Equalization: Theory and Practice
Adaptive equalization determines the corrective filter in a dynamic manner based on the current channel transfer function. The same basic adaptive equalization principles (identification and correction) apply to both analog and digital communication systems. A model of the channel transfer function is determined based on information obtained from the transmitted signal, then a receive filter that mitigates the channel distortion is synthesized. Many methods exist for both the identification and correction processes of adaptive equalization.
This tutorial is divided into two sections: a theoretical review of adaptive signal processing and adaptive equalization and a practical presentation of adaptive equalization techniques in both an analog and digital communication system. The theoretical section includes a discussion of the adaptive linear combiner, the performance surface, gradient estimation, LMS and RLS algorithms and filter structures.
The practical section begins with analysis and simulation results, including fixed point considerations, for an NTSC ghost canceling system, covering the aspects of equalization for an analog/continuous signal. The practical section concludes with an investigation of the performance of the many types of adaptive equalizers utilized for digital/discrete signals: synchronously spaced, fractionally spaced, decision feedback, reference directed, decision directed and blind. | <urn:uuid:e02ad137-0bfc-4765-935d-c43084465347> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://techonline.com/electrical-engineers/education-training/tech-papers/4129723/Adaptive-Equalization-Theory-and-Practice | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00017-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.902625 | 251 | 3.171875 | 3 |
When Salman Rushdie received his knighthood from Queen Elizabeth II in 2007, there were protests throughout the Muslim world. To many Muslims, Rushdie's name was synonymous with blasphemy, and England's action was therefore seen as an endorsement of blasphemy.
In Pakistan, for instance, Sher Afgan Khan Niazi, the minister for parliamentary affairs, said "this is a source of hurt for Muslims and will encourage people to commit blasphemy against the Prophet Mohammad."
Is Salman Rushdie a blasphemer or a humanizer?
Here is a perspective from Big Think blogger and self-proclaimed Muslim apostate Tauriq Moosa, who described his first exposure to Rushdie:
Rushdie’s words, like an exquisite assassin’s blade whose beauty makes you forget your throat is slit, stayed with me for days. Like flies, his thoughts and anger followed me. I can still smell the original copy.
What was so wounding at first (and then ultimately enlightening) to Moosa as a Muslim was that Rushdie had humanized Muhammad. In doing so, Moosa writes, "Rushdie also [humanized] the faith."
Religion is a manmade construct, as well as fiction, and yet the veil is not often lifted. In Salmon Rushdie's highly anticipated and well-received memoir, the veil has been lifted on the writer, and Rushdie has succeeded at humanizing Rushdie.
The New Yorker has published an excerpt from Rushdie's memoir in which the author writes in the third person of the day the fatwa was issued against him:
Somebody gave him a printout of the text as he was escorted to the studio for his interview. His old self wanted to argue with the word “sentenced.” This was not a sentence handed down by any court that he recognized, or that had any jurisdiction over him. But he also knew that his old self’s habits were of no use anymore. He was a new self now. He was the person in the eye of the storm, no longer the Salman his friends knew but the Rushdie who was the author of “Satanic Verses,” a title that had been subtly distorted by the omission of the initial “The.” “The Satanic Verses” was a novel. “Satanic Verses” were verses that were satanic, and he was their satanic author. How easy it was to erase a man’s past and to construct a new version of him, an overwhelming version, against which it seemed impossible to fight.
Here is a selection from the audio edition of Joseph Anton: A Memoir, read by Salman Rushdie. In this section of the prologue, Rushdie gives his personal account about his years in hiding after the Ayatollah Khomeini issued a fatwa against him following the publication of The Satanic Verses in 1989.
Image courtesy of Shutterstock
Follow Daniel Honan on Twitter @Daniel Honan | <urn:uuid:593a4dce-60ea-445a-ab49-2c1c9fd77fd5> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bigthink.com/think-tank/a-fatwa-revisited | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368706890813/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516122130-00044-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.988507 | 615 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Today's Reading Assignment
Ralph Peters in the New York Post, on Iraq: What Went Right. He attributes the rapidly-improving security situation to a combination of factors: courage, skill, luck and exhaustion.
He also notes the importance of staying the course--against the prevailing currents of conventional wisdom and political expediency. As Lt Col Peters writes:
We didn't quit: Even as some of us began to suspect that Iraqi society was hopelessly sick, our troops stood to and did their duty bravely. The tenacity of our soldiers and Marines in the face of mortal enemies in Iraq and blithe traitors at home is the No. 1 reason why Iraq has turned around.
Without their valor and sacrifice, nothing else would've mattered. Key leaders were courageous, too - men such as now-Lt. Gen. Ray Odierno. Big Ray was pilloried in our media for being too warlike, too aggressive and just too damned tough on our enemies.
Well, the Ray Odiernos, not the hearts-and-minds crowd, held the line against evil. Only by hammering our enemies year after year were we able to convince them that we couldn't - and wouldn't - be beaten. If the press wronged any single man or woman in uniform, it was Odierno - thank God he was promoted and stayed in the fight.
What a difference a year makes. Thanksgiving 2006 was filled with talk about a rapid U.S. withdrawal from Iraq, with little regard for the security consequences. There was also talk from James Baker (and other so-called wise men) to develop some sort of political settlement with other countries in the region, including Iran. What a disaster that would have been. Yet, it was viewed as a serious policy option--perhaps our only viable option--barely a year ago.
We have much to be thankful for this holiday season, beyond the usual blessings that come with being an American. We should thankful for heroes like General Odierno--and the thousands of soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines--who held the line, and accomplishing what the "experts" claimed could never be done. | <urn:uuid:90972cb6-6b6c-4f56-8706-39a3fda16d86> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://formerspook.blogspot.com/2007/11/todays-reading-assignment_21.html?showComment=1195687740000 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368697974692/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516095254-00037-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.975338 | 447 | 1.609375 | 2 |
|Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary|
27:1-25 Those who live at ease are to be lamented, if they are not prepared for trouble. Let none reckon themselves beautified, any further than they are sanctified. The account of the trade of Tyre intimates, that God's eye is upon men when employed in worldly business. Not only when at church, praying and hearing, but when in markets and fairs, buying and selling. In all our dealings we should keep a conscience void of offence. God, as the common Father of mankind, makes one country abound in one commodity, and another in another, serviceable to the necessity or to the comfort and ornament of human life. See what a blessing trade and merchandise are to mankind, when followed in the fear of God. Besides necessaries, an abundance of things are made valuable only by custom; yet God allows us to use them. But when riches increase, men are apt to set their hearts upon them, and forget the Lord, who gives power to get wealth.
Verse 9. - The ancients of Gebal. The word is used in the sense of "elders" or "senators," the governing body. Gebal, for which the LXX. gives Biblii, is identified with the Greek Byblus. The name appears in Psalm 83:7 in connection, among other nations, with Tyre and Asshur, as allied with them against Israel; in Joshua 13:5 as near Lebanon and Hermon; in 1 Kings 5:18 (margin Revised Version) as among the stonemasons who worked with Hiram's builders. Byblus was situated on an eminence overlooking the river Adonis between Beirut and Tripoli. Its modern name, Gebail, retains the old Semitic form, and its ruins abound in marble and granite columns of Phoenician and Egyptian workmanship. The work of the caulkers was to stop the chinks of the ship, and the men of Gebal appear to have been especially skilful in this. We note that the metaphor of the ship falls into the background in the latter clause of the verse, and does not appear again.
Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible
The ancients of Gebal,.... A promontory of the Phoenicians, the same with the Gabale of Pliny (n), and with the land of the Giblites, Joshua 13:5. It was by the Greeks called Byblus; and so the Septuagint here render the words, the elders of Bybli or Byblus, a place once famous for the birth and temple of Adonis; it is now called Gibyle. Mr. Maundrell (o) says it is pleasantly situated by the seaside, and that at present it contains but a little extent of ground, yet more than enough for the small number of its inhabitants; it is compassed with a dry ditch, and a wall with square towers in it, at about every forty yards' distance; on its south side it has an old castle; within it is a church; besides which it has nothing remarkable; though anciently it was a place of no mean extent, as well as beauty, as may appear from the many heaps of ruins, and the fine pillars that are scattered up and down in the gardens near the town. The old experienced workmen of this place were employed by the Tyrians in mending and refitting their ships, and in the caulking of them, as follows:
the wise men thereof were in thee thy caulkers; or, "the strengtheners of thy breaches" (p), or "chinks"; the seams and commissures of the planks; which they stopped with tow, oakum, or such like stuff; at least this is what is used now, whatever might be by those wise men; and it seems by this that it was reckoned a very great art and mystery, and which only wise men were masters of, at least such the Tyrians employed. The Targum renders it,
"providing thy necessaries;''
as if they were the ships' husbands:
all the ships of the sea with their mariners were in thee to occupy thy merchandise; ships from all parts were in her harbours, which brought goods into her, and carried goods out of her, by way of merchandise. So the Targum,
"all that go down into the sea, and the ships; they were rowers, and they brought merchandise into the midst of thee;''
the goods of merchants from divers places; and carried back commodities again they traded for at Tyre; see Revelation 18:19.
(n) Nat. Hist. l. 5. c. 20. (o) Journey &c. p. 33, 34. (p) "roborantes scissuram tuam", Montanus; "instaurantes fissuras tuas", Munster, Tigurine version; "rimas tuas", Vatablus; "instauratores rupturaram tuarum", Piscator.
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary
9. Gebal—a Phonician city and region between Beirut and Tripolis, famed for skilled workmen (1Ki 5:18, Margin; Ps 83:7).
calkers—stoppers of chinks in a vessel: carrying on the metaphor as to Tyre.
occupy thy merchandise—that is, to exchange merchandise with thee.
Ezekiel 27:9 Parallel Commentaries
Ezekiel 27:9 NIV
Ezekiel 27:9 NLT
Ezekiel 27:9 ESV
Ezekiel 27:9 NASB
Ezekiel 27:9 KJV
Bible Hub: Online Parallel Bible | <urn:uuid:64127f4f-0b17-4f08-876d-3def0747bd2f> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://biblehub.com/ezekiel/27-9.htm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701852492/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105732-00068-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.967795 | 1,220 | 2.484375 | 2 |
Why Productivity Growth Matters So Much
One economic theory is that business cycles are caused, at least in part, by technology introductions and their resultant impact on productivity -- this is termed the real business cycle theory. While economists don't all agree on this theory (or others as well), one can conceptually understand how productivity growth has been correlated with episodic bouts of economic growth, or lack thereof. After all, productivity gains are what allow the economy to produce more with given inputs of labor (and capital, in some measures) and are essential to increasing living standards.
Researchers at the Chicago Fed recently documented this relationship. Beginning in 1973, low rates of productivity gains were associated with a moribund economy in the 1970s. Then, beginning in the early 1980s, productivity began to grow, modestly at first, and economic growth responded upward in turn. In the mid-1990s, productivity growth took off in tandem with the tech and Internet boom, and we had a booming economy....368 more words left in this article. To read them, just click below and try Real Money FREE for 14 days.
There’s no substitute for a trading floor to get great ideas, so Jim Cramer created a better one at Real Money and blogs there exclusively. We then added legendary hedge fund manager, Doug Kass, with his exclusive Daily Diary and best investing ideas. Staffed with more than 4 dozen investing pros, money managers, journalists and analysts, Real Money Pro gives you a flood of opinions, analysis and actionable trading advice found nowhere else, and allows you to interact directly with each expert.
Already a Subscriber? Please login. | <urn:uuid:9184f6a9-36b6-48af-8c8c-331a02911867> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://realmoneypro.thestreet.com/articles/12/28/2012/why-productivity-growth-matters-so-much?puc=rm | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368703298047/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516112138-00047-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.943838 | 336 | 2.234375 | 2 |
New Jersey received a piece of good news on Thursday.
Job growth is on the rise, and experts expect that to continue as the state sees a massive influx of cash to aid with the recovery from superstorm Sandy. But the news isn't all good. The unemployment rate remains stubbornly high and, with more than 40,000 people displaced, the state's citizenry is still reeling from the October storm.
A mixed bag yields mixed reactions, and in an election year, we saw New Jersey's economic conditions portrayed in the starkest of terms by Republicans and Democrats.
"We are no doubt going to hear glowing reviews from the administration on these latest figures of failure," said Senate President Steve Sweeney, D-Gloucester. "The truth remains: three years later and New Jersey's unemployed are no better off under this governor."
Tell that to the 30,000 who got new jobs in December, Gov. Chris Christie says.
The entire jobs picture in New Jersey is a conundrum. Do we look to the unemployment rate or the job growth figure for news? Do we seek broader regulatory reform in the belief it will yield significant dividends on the job front, or do we push for smaller and more targeted efforts, with a larger impact on the state budget, to stimulate growth?
The two competing philosophies were on full display Thursday when the job numbers came out. Democrats naturally focused on the stagnant unemployment rate as evidence that their jobs packages are the right way to go.
"The Legislature has and will continue to move forward on measures to create jobs in New Jersey," Sweeney continued. "It would be nice to have a partner in the governor's office willing to do the same."
Those job-creating measures, however, were called "gimmicks" by Sen. Steve Oroho, R-Morris-Sussex-Warren.
"Today's news proves that when you make government live within its means by controlling taxes and fees, companies gain the confidence to create more jobs," Oroho said.
That has been Christie's mantra for three years: tighten the state's purse strings, lift regulatory burdens and create a stable environment for business growth. The proof of the wisdom of Christie's plan, the administration says, is in the jobs numbers. The governor touts more than 100,000 jobs have been created since he took office.
Democrats counter that the unemployment rate is higher than the country's. The state's unemployment rate is currently at 9.6 percent, while the U.S. rate now is just under 8 percent.
No matter how much job creation the administration takes credit for, that unemployment rate number must begin to move down for Christie to continue to claim the state is making progress. New Jersey's unemployment rate slipped over 9 percent in June 2009, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. It has not gone below that since, an indication that the state is still mired in a sluggish economy.
The low for the unemployment rate in Christie's tenure was 9 percent in January and February of 2012. The high was 9.9 percent in August 2012.
That is why, in this election year, Christie's only Democratic opponent right now pointed directly at those numbers when criticizing the governor's economic policies.
"In December of last year, the national unemployment average was 7.8 percent, while New Jersey's average was 9.6 percent," state Sen. Barbara Buono, D-Middlesex, said. "In December of 2011, the national unemployment average was 8.5 percent and New Jersey's was 9.1 percent."
The nation, Buono surmised, is headed in the right direction; New Jersey, not so much.
What is the correct direction will remain one of the central themes of governing and campaigning in New Jersey throughout the year. Are a multiple-bill jobs package and a hike in the minimum wage tied to the Consumer Price Index effective measures to lift the struggling middle class in New Jersey? Or are they more examples of government bloat that New Jerseyans can ill afford?
If the counted-on boost from post-Sandy federal recovery money materializes, it may be harder for the Democrats to argue their position, whether or not it is fair to lump the recovery bump in with Christie's overall jobs policies. | <urn:uuid:6525c718-fa73-4aaf-9234-ab0416e8ab89> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.app.com/article/20130120/NJOPINION03/301200032 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696381249/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092621-00019-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.962178 | 878 | 1.796875 | 2 |
Date: Monday March 5
Time: 7:30 pm - 9:30 pm
Location: Knox Crescent Kensington and First Presbyterian Church 625 Godfrey Avenue, NDG
Feathering One's Nest - with David Bird
Where does Bird's Nest Soup come from? How do relics from two centuries ago end up in cormorants' nests? Which birds incubate their eggs in an Easy-Bake Oven? What nesting bird saved thousands of human lives in South America? How do birds build their nests so that their eggs do not end up as an omelette for a hungry predator? The answers to these questions, along with many more, will be revealed by Professor David Bird in yet another whimsical installment of his Ornithology 101 lectures.
As a Full Professor of Wildlife Biology and Director of the Avian Science and Conservation Centre of McGill University in Montreal, Quebec, Dr. David Bird has published over 175 scientific papers on birds of prey and supervised over 40 graduate students. He has written and/or edited several books, the most recent ones being Birds of Canada (published by Dorling Kindersley) and The Bird Almanac: A Guide to Essential Facts and Figures on the World's Birds. Dr. Bird is a regular columnist for the Montreal Gazette as well as for BirdWatcher's Digest magazine and its newsletter, Backyard Bird News | <urn:uuid:a680b734-dffc-47ac-a228-5d06e737965d> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://bpqrarebirds.blogspot.com/2012/03/bird-protection-quebec-monthly-meeting.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368704132298/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516113532-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942621 | 277 | 3.125 | 3 |
Since we were in Western Australia, we decided to take a drive northwards to spend the morning exploring the Pinnacles Desert, and the afternoon in the sleepy fishing town, Cervantes. The three hour journey there from Mosman Park (where we were staying) was well worth it, and what a lovely drive it was. Thanks to Kimmy who lent us her car.
The Pinnacles are limestone formations contained within Nambung National Park and are quite a wonder to see. The Pinnacles Desert Discovery Centre is open daily (for 7 hours) except on Christmas day. The park can be accessed outside of these hours, with payment made during the day, but overnight camping is not permitted.
Apart from visiting the Discovery Centre and enjoying the view from the Pinnacles View Lookout (which are both wheelchair accessible), you can walk through the Pinnacles Desert on the Desert View Walk (a 1.2km loop) and/or drive through on a 4km one-way loop.
Thousands of eerie limestone pillars, up to 4m tall form the Pinnacles Desert. The moonscape scenery is made by the pillars rising out of the stark desert landscape of yellow quartz sand. The raw material for the limestone of the Pinnacles came from seashells in an earlier epoch rich in marine life. These shells were broken down into lime rich sands which were blown inland to form high mobile dunes.
The limestone formations of the Pinnacles vary in size and shape; some are as small as a mouse whilst many are as big as 3.5m high. These unusually shaped rocks have been likened to tombstones, termite mounds and even fingers. The Pinnacles Desert is best seen at dawn or dusk when they cast long, strange shadows over the rippling yellow sand dunes.
Cervantes is a small town located just off Indian Ocean Drive with a population of just over 500. The town was named after a ship that was wrecked nearby. The ship, in turn, was named after Miguel de Cervantes, author of Don Quixote. The principal industry in the town is fishing. We stopped over in Cervantes to explore the area and grab a late lunch, but most of the shops were closed. We ended up making a quick stop at the “Lobster Shack” and ordered a whole lobster, which is all they had.
There’s nothing much to see or do here, except to savour the lovely views, try the fresh seafood, and visit the nearby Lake Thetis. Here are some of the views from several viewdecks set up along the coast. Absolutely beautiful!
Lake Thetis is a saline coastal lake just east of Cervantes. It is a shallow lake that is estimated to have become isolated from the sea about 4800 years ago. It is a salt lake and is approximately 1.5 times saltier than seawater. It is fed by groundwater and rainfall and the only loss of water is through evaporation.
What makes this lake special is that it is home to stromatolites or living fossils, and has been identified as a threatened ecological community. Strategies have been put in place to minimise the human impact on the area, including a walking trail 1.2km long around the lake with boardwalks in places to allow close up viewing of the stromatolites. The Lake Thetis stromatolites exhibit unusual columnar branching. These narrow, closely spaced and almost parallel columns are extremely rare in modern stromatolites.
This post is one of an 3 part entry of our trip to WA, Australia. See all the places we visited on this trip below: | <urn:uuid:b92c9c23-22e2-4b3c-92a6-9fa666e1d9e3> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://joyloh.com/blog/?p=4191&cpage=1 | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368701459211/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516105059-00034-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.966851 | 762 | 1.679688 | 2 |
India is a vast nation of more than a billion people living on more than a million square miles. A countrywide tour couldn't begin to scratch the surface, so travel companies usually offer trips to one geographical area. Pick the north for city life and wildlife viewing or the south for waterfalls and rugged landscape. The east contains a variety of ethnic villages, and the west is known for its handsome coastline.
Delhi and the North
Smithsonian Journeys (smithsonianjourneys.org) offers an 18-day tour that features the urban center of Delhi as well as the wilds of a national park. In Delhi, stops include the Tomb of Humayun, the Gandhi Memorial, the large Jama Masjid mosque and the National Museum. You also enjoy a rickshaw ride through the Chandi Chowk market and dinner with a local family. Other highlights of the tour are Jaipu, with its historic pink sandstone architecture; the village of Sanganer, known for its artisanal trades; Ranthambore National Park, boasting an array of animals including the Bengal tiger; and Agra, famous for the Taj Mahal.
Bangalore and the South
A nine-day tour in the south of India spotlights the area's natural beauty. Led by Sam-San Travels (samsantravels.com), the trip starts in Bangalore with visits to Tipu's Palace and Bull Temple. It proceeds to Mysore, where you visit the terraced Brindavan Gardens and St. Philomena's Church, and to Ooty for a tour of film locations and shopping areas. It also visits Kodaikanal, with its Green Valley viewpoint of the surrounding countryside, plus scenic waterfalls such as Silver Cascade and Bear Shola.
Arunachal Pradesh and the East
Get an introduction to eastern tribal cultures on a 15-day trip by Eastern Treasure India Tours (easternindiatours.com). The tour begins in the city of Guwahati and visits remote villages in the state of Arunachal Pradesh. Tribal groups include the Apatani, who don't have written records but keep their history alive through oral communication. You also visit Tagin villages with homes carefully crafted from cane and bamboo, plus Minyong Adi tribes known for their colorful dances.
Goa and the West
The beach is a big draw for tours in western India. An eight-day outing by Amar Tours & Travels (seaindia.com) starts in Mumbai with visits to Juhu Beach and to the Elephanta caves with their statuary carved from solid rock. You also get to participate in a mock Bollywood production complete with cameras and costumes. Then fly to Goa, where you swim and relax on the beach for four days. The tour wraps up with a flight back to Mumbai.
- Thomas Brown/Digital Vision/Getty Images | <urn:uuid:90249855-2cc3-4657-9df0-ea2eb15d5ccf> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://traveltips.usatoday.com/india-tour-destinations-40444.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368705195219/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516115315-00065-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.942616 | 596 | 2.03125 | 2 |
When Greg Munno started CNYSpeaks in June 2008, he was the civic engagement editor for the Syracuse Post-Standard in upstate New York. Inspired by the Philadelphia Inquirer’s Great Expectations project, CNYSpeaks was aimed at rallying the Syracuse community around the idea of improving the city, and it included a blog, news stories and residents’ forums. The newspaper teamed up with the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs at Syracuse University to make it happen.
In June 2009, Munno took a buyout from The Post-Standard. But he’s still running CNYSpeaks — paid as a consultant by a grant the Maxwell School obtained. The CNYSpeaks blog still appears on the newspaper’s website. Munno still pitches stories for the newspaper’s print edition, including this piece from last month that led up to a forum for mayoral primary candidates.
To me, this is a great example of the type of collaboration between academia and media that needs to happen more and more as journalism re-invents itself.
Academic institutions know how to obtain grants in a way many journalists just don’t. They often have resources and an environment that fosters innovation in a way that a busy newsroom doesn’t. And often the nearby university and the local newspaper share a common goal — engaging the community. It makes perfect sense to work together.
Collaboration of this sort can help make newspaper websites the town square that I believe they really need to become. A while back, Steve Yelvington blogged about how journalists need to perform three roles for their community: town crier, town square and town expert. He asserted that journalists often gravitate to the town crier role, but that the other roles are just important.
I couldn’t agree more. Newspaper websites, particularly those of smaller dailies, need to become the place to be in that community. They need to become the place where readers can get everything they need to make sense of living in that area. That includes linking to local blogs that aren’t affiliated with the newspaper. That also includes collaborations like CNYSpeaks and the Inquirer’s Great Expectations, which is a joint project with the University of Pennsylvania. These type of projects have the potential to serve readers, which helps the newspapers, but also to improve a community, which helps everyone. It’s the kind of effort that newspapers and universities should be leading.
In the case of CNYSpeaks, the idea was to build an audience around a specific conversation — about improving a community — rather than just covering the news as it comes, said Munno, who was a colleague of mine when I worked at The Post-Standard.
CNYSpeaks started by surveying community members about what they like about Syracuse’s downtown. That led to organizing public forums to discuss the city’s challenges and how to overcome then. Eventually, the effort produced a citizens’ agenda for Syracuse. Munno said the plan is to present that agenda to the city’s new mayor, once he or she is elected, as a show of what the people want out of government. (The CNY, by the way, stands for central New York, where Syracuse is located.)
Munno said that having the Maxwell School on board from the beginning helped. Maxwell provided technical guidance on how to produce a quality survey and a sounding board for ideas. The school’s professors also provided the theoretical framework of deliberative democracy to encapsulated the engagement CNYSpeaks was trying to accomplish. Plus, the school’s name lent credence to the effort.
“We weren’t just exercising some type of newspaper agenda here. We were working with people who had some expertise,” Munno said. “I think it legitimatized our efforts.”
When Munno decided to leave the newspaper, he pitched to both the Maxwell folks and the newspaper that he’d like to keep working on the project. After figuring out some logistics, both agreed. He’s working about 20 hours a week now instead of full time, as he did when employed by the paper. Stories he writes about CNYSpeaks now land on the newspaper’s opinion page, rather than its news pages.
I for one would like to see more of this type of creativity. The goal isn’t to save newspapers per se; it’s to improve our communities. News organizations and universities and citizens should all be part of that. I can imagine other type of collaborations:
Both are good ideas by themselves, but what makes them relevant for newspapers is that the news websites can be the conduits — the places to hold these interactive programs — to bring people together. Some of this will cost money; much would just take time, innovation, and the will to experiment. I think these ideas could be part of helping newspaper websites become places that are so vital to readers that readers feel they must visit them daily. In the end, the news websites that will thrive will be those that are just that indispensable. | <urn:uuid:49410e98-7e5c-4bbe-a439-5f78d0749072> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.niemanlab.org/2009/09/what-role-should-universities-have-in-reinventing-american-journalism/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368698924319/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516100844-00016-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.974936 | 1,064 | 1.617188 | 2 |
Raising vs. lowering bedtime insulin
I am treating a middle-aged patient with a seven-year history of insulin-dependent type 2 diabetes. He is having increasing difficulty controlling morning glucose levels. How does one determine whether to raise or lower bedtime insulin? — Ziev Moses, Hanover, N.H.
Fasting hyperglycemia can be caused by several problems:
The "dawn phenomenon," described as a rise in glucose levels in the predawn hours, is caused by abnormal hepatic glucose output at night (attributable to increased production of growth hormone and cortisol at night).
Nighttime hypoglycemia with subsequent rebound hyperglycemia, sometimes called "Somogyi effect." This can occur when a patient has autonomic neuropathy (usually from long-standing diabetes) and sleeps through low blood glucose. Secretion of counter-regulatory hormones (i.e., epinephrine, norepinephrine, cortisol and growth hormone) occurs during the low, which will raise the blood glucose hours later. In patients on insulin, more than half of all hypoglycemia occurs at night and can occur from:
- Insufficient nighttime insulin dosing
- Eating supper late at night
- Eating a high-fat dinner the night before. Large amounts of fat in a meal slow the absorption of glucose from meals, resulting in morning hyperglycemia
To help sort this out, obtain a few days' worth of middle-of-the-night glucose readings (2:00 am or 3:00 am), which requires asking the patient to set an alarm clock. Careful questioning about eating habits and meal composition is also helpful.
If the patient is having middle-of-the-night lows, decrease the bedtime basal insulin. If glucose is normal at bedtime but rises throughout the night, increase the basal insulin at bedtime (Beaser RS. Joslin's Diabetes Deskbook. 2nd ed. Boston, Mass.: Joslin Diabetes Center; 2010:157-158). - Kathy Pereira, MSN, FNP-BC, assistant professor, co-coordinator, Family Nurse Practitioner Program, Duke University School of Nursing, Durham, N.C. (160-4) | <urn:uuid:0907e0ab-409c-4045-aa52-cea5de628b70> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.clinicaladvisor.com/raising-vs-lowering-bedtime-insulin/article/226615/ | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368696383156/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516092623-00043-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.907674 | 463 | 2.890625 | 3 |
butterfly grows though much of the northern hemisphere. In Britain,
were it is rare, it is known as Camberwell Beauty.
A large black butterfly with yellow edging. When it's wings are closed a Mourning cloak resembles the dark bark of a willow or cottonwood. Flies like a Swallowtail and about the same size.
Larval plants include mostly riparian plants like willows, cottonwoods, elm, hackberry and others.
One of the old names was Aglais antiopa.
“It is a familiar insect to all who have had an interest in nature, and never fails to arouse admiration on account of its brilliant coloration and boldness of pattern.” ComstockBack to the Butterfly List | <urn:uuid:f0e8459d-3e27-4162-b4e4-80952f09a9a6> | CC-MAIN-2013-20 | http://www.laspilitas.com/butterflies/Butterflies_and_Moths/mourning_cloak_butterfly/mourning_cloak_butterfly.html | s3://commoncrawl/crawl-data/CC-MAIN-2013-20/segments/1368707435344/warc/CC-MAIN-20130516123035-00038-ip-10-60-113-184.ec2.internal.warc.gz | en | 0.946896 | 159 | 3.09375 | 3 |